Thursday, April 23, 2015

The day after...

Earth Day.


My good friend June sent this to me today. I'm only sorry I didn't see it before yesterday, but whenever anyone sees it, it will be the right time. I encourage you to read the accompanying article and perhaps get involved:


We only have one Planet Earth. Let's love it and care for it like the treasure it is.
Peace and love,
Marilyn

Monday, April 13, 2015

HOW MUCH LONGER?

As most of you know, my dad died about a month ago. Having gone through periods of sadness, even though I know he is better off and no longer suffering the indignities of being frail and dependent on others for even basic care, there is a hole in my life. Since 2007, I have lost both parents and my only sibling, my sister Jean. In that same time period I have also lost a few long-time friends. Many of the ones left are beginning to have serious health issues, myself included. 

For quite some time now I have been having what I can only describe as a "life review". You know how people who are faced with near-death situations say that their whole life flashes before them? I was trying to tell a friend what was happening to me, and the only way I could describe it was that I was having a life review in slow motion. Seriously, at some of the weirdest times, incidents or images from my past will interrupt my thoughts. I cannot recognize any triggers such as sounds or  smells or music that precede them. These do not consist of anything important or traumatic. Perhaps a scene from a childhood playtime or something I picture from one of my children's early lives. Frequently, they are about something I have never remembered in the past. As I spoke with this friend, I asked her, "You don't suppose I am preparing to die, do you?" - only half joking. She reminded me, "Marilyn, we're all dying from the time we are born."

(recitethis.com)
Watching a review of the Master's tournament this weekend it was impressive when Jack Nicklaus hit a hole-in-one. After all, he's 75 years old! I wondered when I started keeping track of the ages of significant people in the news - or in my circle of acquaintances. I think most of us my age have been guilty of checking the ages in obituaries for quite a few years now. But to actually check on events that occurred in the lives of people I know started with me only recently. I find myself saying to myself, "Mother was this age when she...." and sighing with relief that I haven't done or stopped doing that same thing, and I'm much older than she was then. I really don't wish to live as long as my dad did (96), but I find myself trying to remember how old my relatives were when they died. And what lifestyle helped them to live longer or to die younger. Can any of you relate to this or am I at the beginning stages of senility?

The last time I visited my dad in the nursing facility, he had a few lucid moments when we were able to carry on a conversation. He suffered from dementia, but could sometimes relay in great detail something from his past. I asked him if he held any regrets about his life... was there anything he had done or not done that he regretted? He thought for a few moments and surprised me when he said, "No... no regrets." Unfortunately, I could think of many things he should have held a great deal of regret over! As the title to this blog states, I have "Some regrets, but still time." I hope to be able to repeat what Dad said at the end of my life, "Nope, no regrets." I'd better get busy because who knows how much longer we have on this earth?

I certainly don't mean this to be a gloomy take on growing older, so on a lighter note, I found the quote to the left most apt pertaining to me. I seem to do that more frequently as I age.

And of course there are many examples of seniors taking risks and accomplishing much. After all, Hillary is 67 years old now and look what she is taking on.

Back to politics next time. 

Peace,
Marilyn


Sunday, April 5, 2015

HAPPY, BLESSED EASTER, HAPPY, BLESSED SPRING

Easter. What memories the very word evokes. Sunday school, new clothes -
perhaps a new hat, and the wondrous Easter baskets filled with chocolate bunnies and colored eggs. As we grew older, and had children of our own to get excited about the Easter bunny, this time of the year - Christian or not - we could relate the season to our beliefs. The resurrection of our bountiful natural surroundings. We watched as spring wildflowers overcame the harshness of the winter and burst forth in all their glory. The greening of trees, blossoms in abundance, easily lift one out of the winter gloom. The perennial beauty of riotous blooms gives meaning to eternal life. 

One lovely ritual observed in a church we attended when my children were young was for the children to bring a freshly cut flower to be placed in a wire cross placed near the altar on Easter morning. Each child was then given a small potted plant to be taken home. When all of the flowers were inserted, the cross was a beautiful floral testament to the day. The message to the children was how the Crucifixion was replaced with new life in their flowers to be planted. An Overcoming of the death of the freshly cut flowers that would soon wilt and die. This was easier for the youngest children to understand than the fact that Jesus was crucified on the cross.(Image: Liberty Barn Church)
  
I carried this tradition with me to the Unity Church I attended for many years. At my request, a dear friend of mine, Dr. Carin Horn - who was a Prayer Chaplain there for several years, sent me the following which she wrote, that was used at an Easter service a few years ago:

"Our thought for today is a reflection -- a reflection of eternal life as evidenced by the changes that come with the blessings of spring.

Holy Spirit --

We know that there is nowhere where the Spirit of God is absent.
However, the wonders of early spring have a way of bringing that reality to mind:

  • The verdant hues of new leaves on old trees,
  • The buds that are everywhere present,
  • Early blossoms on mature bulbs,
  • And, the weed-like groundcover that portends of grassy green lawns.
Somehow these simple wonders speak to the miracles of life -- our lives.
They speak to your awesome presence, your love, and your grace.
They speak to your ever-present promise of eternal life,
And, for this we are grateful beyond measure, beyond words.
Thank you, dear Lord, for all that you have created.   Amen.

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No matter how you choose to celebrate this season, whether it be at a Christian service, a Jewish Passover Seder, or a family gathering and Easter egg hunt for the kiddos, remember to express your thanks for the abundance of new life and the beauty of the Springtime. 


Peace and love,
Marilyn