Joyful moments

How much joy do you have in your life? I'm not talking about money or wealth or how many friends you have or how well known you are. I'm talking about genuine bliss. What brings you happiness? Do you even take the time for joy or are you to busy with the kids or the job or trying to impress someone?

I've only lived in this neck of the woods for a few years, so I am frequently discovering new things.  On my daily morning walk, I go in different directions and sometimes encounter small animals, especially rabbits or lizards, or I might see some gorgeous flowers or other plant life. It's amazing. I have found myself smiling at some pretty simple things, even at the window of a newly opened downtown business.

Of course beauty, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder.  What brings joy to one person may not be joyful to others.  Take some time though and enjoy your beauties, wherever and whatever they may be.  Joyful moments seem to be more and more frequent. Want to be happy? Allow yourself to be! That may seem odd, but seriously, take the time. Allow yourself some joyful moments. You deserve it!

changes

If you are reading this blog for the very first time, it isn't one that shares details of my world travels or my cooking adventures or my musical ability or even my athletic abilities.  In fact, as the name indicates, this blog is NOT about me.  It is about all of us doing something powerful - making a difference.  People talk about changing the world and you know what?  We ALL have the power!  We ALL can give back.

Changes don't have to be huge ones.  Changes don't have to involves a lot of people.  Changes don't have to cost a lot of money.  The change we are talking about is making things better for ourselves and for those who come after us.  We see a need and we fill it.  This is OUR world - we should all want to make it better!

Over the years I have highlighted ideas, organizations, and individuals that have helped make things better.  I don't have all of the answers of course and from time to time I have asked for your suggestions.  This morning, I am asking again.  Do you know of an individual or organization that is doing great things?  Do you have some ideas of how to make life better for us all?  I'd really love to hear from you!

Remembering them

All Souls' Day is a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed. It is also sometimes called The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed.

Many places seem to have merged the three days of Allhallowtide, which I think is a shame. I have always felt that remembering our dead is such a good thing, regardless of your faith tradition (or lack of one). Of the three days, this is the one most often left out.

Today I will be thinking of my mother and my father, but also other family members who have passed away. I will also be remembering all my friends who have died and the famous people and the unknown. Every single life is precious, and how wonderful it is to remember the souls of all those who have come before us.

Many folks will be in church today, especially it being a Sunday. Many will head to cemeteries afterward. Do you have any personal traditions for All Souls' Day? Feel free to share them here.

I mean to be one too

Let us now praise famous men, and our fathers that begat us. This one verse from Ecclesiasticus, used to be read every year on All Saints' Day, because it gives a good summary of what the day is all about. A passage from the Revelation to Saint John also helps explain the day. "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." 

Of course, a good preacher might be explaining the whole All Saints' Day concept to us, or we can look to a wonderful hymn that does an excellent job telling the story.  Written by a young Englishwoman, Lesbia Scott and first published back in 1929, "I sing a song of the saints of God" clearly sets out what All Saints' Day is all about. 

Today we honor all the saints, known and unknown. In the belief that there is a prayerful spiritual bond between those in heaven and those still living, we honor not only the named saints (such as those pictured in the icon here), but all the faithful. The word "all" is important to me here because I firmly believe that it is not just about the Blessed Virgin Mary, Blessed Paul the Apostle, Blessed Francis of Assisi, and the rest. It is about every single one of us because we all have the ability to do good things and to make a difference. 

Lesbia Scott's words seem to say the same thing. She lists a doctor, a queen, and a shepherdess in her first verse and then continues the list adding a soldier and a priest and one who was slain, in verse number two. It's really the third verse though that give me the greatest hope: 

"They lived not only in ages past,

There are hundreds of thousands still.

The world is bright with the joyous saints

Who love to do Jesus' will.

You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea,

In church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea;

For the saints of God are just folk like me,

And I mean to be one too."

There's the kicker: "And I mean to be one too." Yes, today is a celebration of the various saints down through the ages, but that is only part of it. "They lived not only in ages past, There are hundreds of thousands still."  Celebration?  Certainly.  Today though is also an invitation.  "And I mean to be one too."

Different kind of Halloween

We all know about the traditional Halloween custom of dressing up and going door to door for candy.  It's called trick or treat because if a treat doesn't come our way (usually some kind of candy) we play a trick like toilet paper in their bushes or a few eggs thrown against their door.  I've told you before about another way to do the day though and it seems much more positive.

 

I've heard it called Backward Halloween, but it is such a good thing, it would hardly be backward.  Reverse Halloween is another way of describing it.  Instead of expecting something for you, give something to someone else.  Make it a day of volunteer service.  Help a neighbor.  Assist some of your friends with various projects.  All kinds of ideas make it a very productive experience.  Remember of course to follow safe practices, including masking (not just the Halloween kind).

 

Oh and the usual candy?  Well, instead of collecting candy, we could distribute candy.  Buy several bags of those small candy bars and go up and down your streets.  Visit some of the shops and restaurants too. Go to the fire stations, hospitals, offices, and libraries, and even to a senior center.  Don't expect people to give something to you, but instead give something to them.

 

You will be surprised at how many smiles you will generate with this different kind of Halloween.  Save something for yourself and salute your own good effort with a well-deserved treat!

The Triduum of Allhallowtide

Just the mention of the triduum of Allhallowtide probably has you scratching your head, but that is what is coming up beginning tomorrow. We first have Halloween, then All Saints' Day, and finally All Souls' Day. This started out as a Christian observance. These days, while there is certainly still a Christian celebration of All Saints, the rest has become very commercialized and secularized.

Remembering the dead, especially our own family members, is a wonderful part of the three day observance. This particularly gets attention on the last of the three days. Many Catholic and Anglican churches will have special masses on All Souls' Day to pray for the departed.

Halloween gets the most attention of course. In some places, it is practically an actual holiday! People dress up in costumes and attend parties, and it isn't just for the kids anymore! Oh and don't be surprised to find traditional foods like potato pancakes, caramel apples, colcannon (a traditional Irish dish made of mashed potatoes and kale), cider, popcorn balls, and soul cakes. There are numerous Halloween customs and trick-or-treating (going door to door in costume and asking for candy "treats") is probably the best known.  I'll tell you about another idea here tomorrow.

I could easily go on and on about the many associated traditions for these upcoming three days, but why not look into it a bit yourself? Oh, and whatever you do, be safe and have a positive experience.

Everyone smiles in the same language

I am convinced that there is just not enough happiness in the world. Why? No matter how bad anything is, there is always reason to go on. Things can always get better.

I know. Someone is going to say, "What if the doctor says you have only a few days to live"? Well, doctors can be wrong. I have heard many stories confirming that very fact. I even know a woman who was told just after her 60th birthday, that it would be her last. In fact, she was told she had only a few months to live. That woman is now 93!

We so often have trouble trusting these days. We have difficulty communicating too. Does he speak the same language as I do? Will we understand the meaning of our intentions? All of these things are valid of course, but one thing we seem to overlook. Happiness is easy to spot and easy to understand. Happiness is very easy to spread too. Happy people are more likely to make others happy.

Whatever part of the world you come from - whatever your race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or eye color, one thing is universal. We all smile in the same language!