The road we’re on

Some roads are smooth and free of potholes and other annoying bumps and roadblocks; at other times the road is far from smooth and the ride far from pleasurable. Sometimes we can only see clearly when gazing into the rear view mirror. Lessons of life are like that. We cannot know why the road we’re traveling is either smooth or bumpy until long after we arrive at our destination. Hind sight really is 20/20.

The highway my family is currently traveling along on is rather a bumpy road, full of potholes the size of the grand canyon and road blocks that seem insurmountable. Our daughter-in-law received the results of her biopsy yesterday. It was not the good news we’d all been hoping for. The tumor is malignant and unfortunately had grown to such a size that surgeons were unable to remove it all. Our son and his wife now have to consider what treatments to pursue and they are, quite naturally, devastated by this news. One day at a time is all we can manage as the road plunges in front of us.

I am so proud of both of them as they face these challenges, peering into the murk while standing firmly on their feet, with a touch of tongue-in-cheek humor that nearly makes me weep. Yet, I am a firm believer in the power of the Divine One, the Creator, the consummate healer and provider of peace and comfort. I know that whatever challenges lie ahead we will be given the strength and fortitude to carry on.

On the highway, going home

Help to make a difference

Divine One

Please, help us set aside our small concerns

Help us see the broken people,

The people who have lapsed into despair,

Who see no reason to hope,

No way to go on

And if it is Your will

Grant us strength to stretch out a hand

In kindness and compassion

Show us, please,

Divine One,

Where we should be in unity

With those most in need

And grant us the tools and wherewithal

To make a difference

A Prayer for strength for all

Divine One

Hard energy plagues us

The pandemic issued it in

Teach us, please, Divine One

To place our trust in you

As faith weakens

Help us turn again

Remembering past lessons

When hard energy had us on our knees

A vaccine will help us all

Or so we’re told today

But it is in Your gift of faith

We need the most of all

Divine One, please

Protect us now

From fear and anxieties

Release us from the epidemics

That would keep us weak and blind

Divine One, please

Give to each and every one

The strength and help we need

A Prayer for Strength to Carry On

Divine One

My strength has ebbed in recent months

It has all become too heavy

And I am weak

Divine One

I beg you, please

Lend me your strength

Divine One,

Are you there?

Can you hear my whispered prayer?

Lift the burdens we carry

Remove the blindness from our eyes

Shine Your light into our hearts and minds

Help us remember that all is not lost

Help us know that You are here with us

Always, and forever with us

Let us not give in to despair

But fill us with renewed hope

And joy and peace;

With loving kindness for one another,

And for you, Divine One

Let us learn what we must

And be for one another

What you would have us be

Please, Divine One

Hear my plea

And let your blessings

Of peace and healing flow

Like the lava of a volcano

Out and over this good earth

Divine One, please

And thank you, too

That here I stand, though weak,

Before you

Divine One

Thank you

Serenity Sunday: Building bridges

These photos were taken mainly in the province of Newfoundland & Labrador, a few here in Alberta, and one in Ontario. At this time of great change and great challenges I thought it would be worth sharing and contemplating, as we all need to build bridges in this world of turmoil and challenges. May we all be architects of bridges and not of walls.

“The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference.” – Andre Lorde

An old bridge that is no longer in operation, though it served the communities of Stephenville and Stephenville Crossing in Newfoundland well for many, many years.

sometimes, the gulf is not wide and we need only a little bridge to cross it. This one is part of the Gravels Nature Trail in Port au Port West, Newfoundland & Labrador

Crossing a river in St. George’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada

One of the pedways that cross above the busy street and connects the various buildings of the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, AB, Canada keeping pedestrians safe….let us build bridges of safety

Bowring Park, St; John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada

The “new” bridge over Romaine’s River near Port au Port East, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada

A bridge to safety – the overpass over highway 63 taken during the enforced evacuation during the wildfires of 2016 in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada

Even little bridges serve a function, taken in Stephenville, Newfoundland & Labrador on the “Wee Care Nature Trail” behind the Kindale Public Library

Heritage Park, Fort McMurray, Ab, Canada

also taken in Heritage Park, Fort McMurray, AB, Canada

In Riverside Park, Guelph, ON, Canada

St. George’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada

I leave you with this prayer, written by Alycia Longriver, because I believe in the power of prayer as a bridge between all peoples:

Creator, open our hearts
to peace and healing between all people.
Creator, open our hearts
to provide and protect for all children of the earth.
Creator, open our hearts
to respect for the earth, and all the gifts of the earth.
Creator, open our hearts
to end exclusion, violence, and fear among all.
Thank-you for the gifts of this day and every day.

~ written by Alycia Longriver, Native American (Micmac), 1995

Prayer for Healing for All People

Divine One, I beg of you,

Stretch out your healing hand

So much hurt, so much pain

engulfs this world

Divine One, Do you see us?

Do you see the suffering?

So many ill, so many dying

Divine One, please

Stretch our your healing hand

Touch hardened hearts, touch mine, I plead

Grant my legs strength to walk abroad

Over hills and over vales

Divine One, touch my mind,

Help me understand

Bless these hands,

Let them work for you and for all people,

Those I know and love so well

And those I have yet to meet

Divine One, strengthen these arms

To lift the fallen ones

Give sweetness to my lips,

So that the words that fall from my mouth

May bring comfort to help sad hearts sing

Divine One, please

Deliver me and shield me please,

Now, as I go forth to serve and honour

Thee

(Please note: these words were given me as I lay in bed waiting for sleep to come. Do not ascribe these words to me but to the Divine One, who loves and watches over us all.)

Awaken Me

Barnacles image courtesy of Pixabay

Am I one of the ‘unawakened ones’?

Are there barnacles covering my soul,

Like those that encrust the ship hulls at anchor?

Please come awaken me, Divine One

Remove those crusty, bitter bits that cling

Soften any hardness in my heart

So that my soul may sing again

Repair the broken pieces

Heal the cracks and tears

If you will it, it shall be done

This I trust, Divine One

Please, come

In gratitude for this good earth

The grandeur of mountains

The secrets of the sea

Raging rivers and quietly moving streams

Lush green meadows

And valleys sweet and low

Aw, good earth, what pleasures you bestow

The stars spread across the universe

The moon that guides the tides

The sun so far above us, warming all below

Winged creatures, and those that walk on land

Whales, and fish and swimming things

Flowers and trees and more

What treasure you have given us

What wonders to be seen

Life is full and plenty, a joy to behold

I am grateful, so very grateful

For all that I can see and hear

For all the beauty of this world

Divine One, I give you thanks

For the abundance you have given

I thank you for each day I’m blessed

To be here; to be living

Let Compassion Be Our Guide

And when he lays upon that bed

Alone in his suffering,

Then will he see

Will his eyes be opened,

To his frivolity?

When he lays upon that bed

Will visions of superiority comfort him,

He that thought himself above such commonality?

When he lays upon that bed

Will arrogance still hold sway?

Or might his heart be softened,

By experiencing first hand this dread?

Do we lower ourselves to a level

We construe to be unkind?

Or do we beg for mercy

From the One and Holy Divine?

To wish not hot coals be delivered on his head

But a change of mind and purpose

For the one who has misled so many

So, come now, please Divine One

Let your compassion be our guide

And let not his sins be the occasion

For us to judge and to deride

Take from our minds the temptation,

The urge to dance ‘I told you so’

Let us seek sober thought and reason

Let us not be set adrift on the ocean of unforgiveness

Let your compassion be our guide

A Call for Mercy

Your frustration, like a toxic cloud, leaks into the air

Negative energies, like a million porcupine quills, stab my spirit

Waves of anger, hatred, cruelly aimed to pierce my soul

Disturbing my peace and sending contentment into the abyss

I try to walk away, to defend myself with space

Your anger follows me seeking that vulnerable crevice,

That crack where it can invade and poison

I cry out to the Divine One for protection, for help

And help comes, bathing me in consolation

I will not be your emotional punching bag, I refuse

And the Divine One, the great mystery, sends help

In human form with warm heart and empathy

With gentle hands and understanding eyes

And I am absolved, forgiven, for my part in this unholy dance

And in my weakness, I am given strength

To persevere, to rise above

The sharpened arrows flung with abandon

A shield surrounds me, protection given

Darkness pierced by loving kindness

And I heal, slowly, slowly I heal

And I am made whole again

And as before the emotional storm

All is well, all is well

Peace and contentment return, like a loyal dog

To dispatch the final dregs of unease

And I call this, ‘mercy’