In Being Love

A Simple Christmas Message ....

Christmas does not need to be complex, challenging, or chaotic.

Christmas is simply, simple ....

Long long ago

in the glow of the eastern starshine

in a rustic rough-hewn stable

amid the neighs and the moos

and the turtledove coos,

a love was born.

It was a love that would shine in the darkness,

a love that would, in its simplicity,

begin to change the world.

Seek this love, carry this love, be this love.

Simply, be love.

In being love,

may you, like the running wave upon the shores,

flow gently into hearts and souls,

bringing hope and healing to those in need.

Amen.

Let's Talk, Let's Listen

(CONSIDER READING THE LAST HALF OF THE BLOG FIRST !!!)

Conversation, is sharing.

Sharing of story, emotion, facts, wisdom, perspectives, reality and dreams.

Conversation involves listening, exploring ideas, working things out.

Asking. Telling. Understanding. Unloading and venting.

Supporting and encouraging. And so much more.

Conversations can be superficial or deep.

They can carry a tone ....

sarcasm, judgement and anger versus empathy, hope and love.

The tone can be overbearing, or barely there, or hidden. Sometimes mixed and confusing ....

And oftentimes, the dominant perceived tone can be very distracting .... Hmmmmm ....

Conversations can be focused, targeted, mission-and-vision-directed,

or, scattered, free, and wanderlusting. These latter conversations are the best kind!!!

Follow the agenda or follow your nose!

*** BUT, ENOUGH ALREADY !!! Here begins the real blog for today !!! ***

I long for meaningful conversation. I live for stirring conversation.

Deep conversation that takes us "somewhere".

Profound conversation that energizes and incites, as well as disturbs and opens eyes.

Conversation that affirms and elevates and inspires.

This does not necessarily mean intellectual conversation. But it can.

I long to go deep, to go deep in conversation with a friend or with a stranger,

to go deep knowing that someone is walking right there with me into the depths,

and isn't desperately trying to run away or return to the surface for fresh air.

Walk with me in conversation! Come with me!

Leave sarcasm and wit and holier-than-thou-one-upmanship at the door.

Let's talk. Let's share. Let's truly listen.

Listen deeply for what body mind and spirit need to hear, and to say.

Let's listen for the Sacred .... in our conversation, in our hearts, in our midst.

I'm so ready. I'm so open.

Let's talk about what really matters, here, now, this.

God will be with us, for sure. Amen.

So Thankful .... I Welcome Yet Another New Audience!

Written, spoken, with gratitude, humility, and nary a single pompous breath ....

Once upon a time, I wrote simple songs about life. They were sung, with guitar accompanienment, around summer camp campfires, to and for children and youth, and young adults in the Haliburton Highlands of Central Ontario.

Later, in my own cherished Parish Nursing Ministry, my musical offerings were in the form of homegrown prayer songs, and signature heartfelt hymns, sung for the first time ever, in United Church settings, in regular Sunday services, prayer services, and in evening healing services of Light and Hope. At best, they were songs of the moment, music of the moment, heard in the moment, and then these musical scores and notations were filed back into a manila file, for use down the road, whenever.

For a time, I chose to drop the pairing of music and prose, and I concentrated solely on writing lyrics, in poetry, prose, prayer and liturgical eloquence. I held onto all of these works, and eventually I compiled them into two Christian Contemplative Prose Collections. They were delicately interwoven with the wonders of Ancient Celtic Wisdom. I yearned to share the Celtic Wisdom with all who were open to hear it. Publishing these collections enabled me to share my Celtic Wisdom broadly, widely, with seekers and readers in the English-speaking world.

Then, my Creative Life really called out me, loudly! My writings were newly laced with imagination, and mystical whimsy, and historical mythological truths. They were grounded with deeperlings of faith, and relevance of everyday life experience. And, so my journey into Fiction-writing began. I took off my poet's hat and I began to think like a fiction writer. I wanted to reach out to avid thinkers, to contemplative thinkers, in a whole new way, through the medium of story,

And concurrently, I'm setting out on this blogging journey. Yet another new audience! May my words be meaningful, may my prose be inspiring, may my life-work reach out to the ends of the earth, bringing truth and Light to my readers, to their families, to their church communities. May my words, like the gentle running waves, continually come to the coastal shores, to new wide-river shores, to shorelines that are open and receptive to receive. Amen.

P.S.

Ego-centred? Not.

Self-aware? Yes!

Apologetic? Uh-Uh, Nope!

Simply wanting to connect with, to share with, the best audience ever? Hell Yes!!!

God bless the open-minded and the open-hearted, for their own openness can open the minds and hearts of others, in many, many, blessed ways.