Labyrinth Wellness, LLC

Listening for the Sacred

2012-01-27T11:16:00.000-05:00

http://pinterest.com/pin/226024475018402679/

I want to hear the whispers behind your words. I want to ask you questions and then create a silent, sacred space that allows me to hear the your answers - not my own.

I want to become a Listener...

Sex, Marriage, & Fairytales || Spoken Word

2012-01-27T11:10:00.000-05:00

a beautiful journey

2012-01-25T12:26:00.000-05:00

I am sentimental beyond belief over hand-written letters, my kid's art work, beach sea glass and old family photos. But regular "stuff" - not so much. That's why my grief over the decision to finally trade our thirteen-year-old car yesterday truly caught me completely off-guard.

Meet Black Beauty.

Our teenage son was not even walking when she first joined our family in the late 1990's. She faithfully carried him first in his car seat and then his booster seat on countless trips back and forth to preschool, kindergarten and elementary school. When he was finally big enough to ride without a booster seat, she promised me it would be OK. When I carpooled other friend's kids and drove on school field-trips, she promised me she would protect those children as well.

Much later, when our son was nearly as tall as me, she was there for our first, nervous side-by-side conversation on the way to middle school. And her air bag did NOT spontaneously or mysteriously deploy (thank you especially for this, old friend).

Our Black Beauty carried us on many, happy family vacations. We strapped a cargo carrier to her top when we moved our aging dogs with us from KY to FL, and she never once complained. Later, after both had moved on to Heaven, she drove us home again while our son cradled his brand-new puppy in his arms. She's hauled bicycles, surf boards, golf clubs, soccer gear, kayaks and so much more. Not one time did she ever leave me stranded alone and away from the house. If she had a flat tire or needed a battery, she always let me know while we were safely still in the driveway. Beauty helped me to avoid many potential accidents, and in all those years, we were never involved in even the tiniest fender-bender.

The other day I had a nasty little exchange with an older woman driver in my neighborhood. I won't recount the details here, but I do understand now that part of my anger at this driver was related to my knowing that my days with Beauty were numbered. I felt this woman refused to see Beauty's true worth and instead saw only her 176,000 plus miles of weathered paint and dirt. Nor, could she seem to comprehend the preciousness of the cargo - my son and our dog - that Beauty was carrying for me at that moment.

So, on Monday, I spent some unhurried, prayerful time telling Beauty thank you for myself. I removed the sea turtle, butterfly, dove, cross and love chimes that were draped around her rear view mirror. Afterwards, I stopped to look at the reflection of my own eyes for several moments, thinking of all the two of us had seen on Life's highway. Under the driver's seat, Beauty gave me one final gift - a tiny piece of amber sea glass. It must have dropped out of my pocket after one of our many trips to the beach. It's crescent moon shape found a perfect resting spot here beside me at my writing desk.

Afterwards, we headed off to car line pick-up, the grocery and then one final sunset together...

It's been a very Beautiful ride.

a tiny contemplation from the Center

2012-01-19T15:12:00.000-05:00

I had sort of a cruddy afternoon yesterday. My little temper tantrum was completely self-imposed, and I invited it to stretch far into the evening and this morning.

My son commented as we were turning out the lights late last night, "Mom, you were just looking for a fight today, weren't you?" I think I totally was.

Why is that? Why do I do look for trouble more times than I want to admit? What snaps within me that takes me from laughing one minute to wanted to claw someone's eyes out the next?

Hormones? History? Hysteria?

Whatever the cause, I totally know better. I've bitten the wormy hook of hate cast in my direction by others far too many times. I always seem to learn something whenever I allow misery to reel me in, and, thankfully, those lessons usually come while I still have a bit of breath left in me. Often, I learn them on the labyrinth.

After all our walkers were finished this morning, I removed my shoes and set out on the Path myself. I had much to ponder from yesterday's happenings and other concerns of the heart. Before I realized it, I was sitting within the Center's fifth petal feeling the sun's warmth upon my back. I intended to stay just a few moments, but remained there much, much longer. I simply did not want to leave that sacred and familiar space.

I walked in with all my questions. I was hoping - maybe even expecting - some definitive answers. I received none.

Instead, I watched an ant.

With a deep, contemplative awareness that I have been unable to attain since my retreat time at Advent, I watched this ant with my entire being. He crawled beneath my outstretched knees through the Center of the labyrinth and straight out the exit. After a few more minutes, I started to get up to follow him, thinking his exit might be a sign that it was far past time for me to leave. It was then that tragedy struck.

A Live Oak leaf blew right in front of him. He scrambled up it and teeter-tottered in the breeze for a few joyous seconds. When he climbed off, the leaf blew on top of him.

I thought nothing of this at first until he didn't move for over a minute. When I got up to investigate, I realized with despair that the leaf had actually sliced off one of his middle legs. Imagine being so incredibly delicate that a leaf becomes a deadly razor capable of ending your life...

The ant now crawled in an erratic pattern around the exterior of the labyrinth's center in apparent shock. The song "Fragile" by Sting started playing in my mind. I took a few, sad steps onto the Path. When I doubled-back to check on him, he was gone.

Vanished. Like the wind. Odd.

And I am left wondering, how is it that I can have more genuine compassion for an ant than for an angry human being?

And wondering, again, if the compassion that I lack for her or for him or for you or for them might be more deeply rooted in my own lack of compassion for -

me?

I wonder.

walk the labyrinth with us tomorrow

2012-01-18T08:37:00.005-05:00

Join us tomorrow, January 19th, between 10am and 12pm for THIRD THURSDAYS ON THE LABYRINTH at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd. For more info visit http://www.goodsheponline.org

TheMotherhood.com has a brand-new design TODAY!

2012-01-17T11:27:00.000-05:00

Check out the brand-new look of TheMotherhood.com and be a part of the first Live Chat of the year beginning today at 1pm Eastern Time!

more than just words to remember

2012-01-16T07:47:00.000-05:00

Source: allposters.com via JoAnn on Pinterest

2012. May it be filled with Grace.

2012-01-12T12:45:00.001-05:00

This tiny post is in response to someone else's which read: "2012. May it be all you deserve."

God help us to receive not what we actually deserve, but rather please pour upon us Your divine Grace. Amen.

Merry Christmas Morning

2011-12-25T05:34:00.000-05:00

I was reminded of this beautiful song last night during church services. Though we didn't sing it right then, I hurried to copy down the words from the hymnal. I heard the song years ago on one of my favorite Christmas albums by Shawn Colvin. Her version is slightly different.

I had no idea that one of my favorite poets wrote the original lyrics or that it was even really a hymn.

I just love it....

Here are both versions for you as an early Christmas morning gift. Have a most blessed day, everyone.

Love, Robin

Words: Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894), before 1886

Music: "Garton," traditional Irish melody
MIDI / Noteworthy Composer / PDF / XML

Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and Angels gave the sign.

Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine;
Worship we our Jesus:
But wherewith for sacred sign?

Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.

pondering

2011-12-12T15:58:00.000-05:00

I hesitate to write this because I really don't have the words formed anywhere near just the way I'd like. But I am getting something like that pounding, bursting, hot feeling in my chest that happens occasionally when I find myself sitting in a large gathering of people and suddenly feel there is something pressing I need to say out loud. The incredibly frightening part of getting such a feeling (like that and like this) is that I rarely ever have a clue what I will actually be saying out loud until after I open my mouth. For a person (like me) who is deathly afraid of public speaking, this fairly frequent occurrence can be more than a little unsettling.

But it's been many hours since the Solitude Retreat this past Saturday morning when I sat silently on a bench staring at my own feet and outward at the feet of Mary, and this suggestion of a thought is now rambling around and around in my brain so loudly now that no matter how hard I try to distract myself, I only think it will get louder until I finally stop, submit and write it out.

(This is how things seem to go for me. Big stuff sticks and won't turn me loose. I simply have to write it out.)

Maybe this suggestion is sort of radical. Or maybe you have thought about this idea yourself for a long time and to you it makes perfect sense (if so, please let me know). Because I don't know (and hopefully I don't have to understand it, but merely name it). For me, this growing awareness began surfacing many years ago, when I finally began stretching awake from the dark and sleepy stupor of myself. Since the moment the alarm went off, my stumbling, morning walk has been equal parts comforting and terrifying in a kind of "it all seems so simple and so incredibly impossible" type of way.

But anyway, here goes...

What if the Second Advent we are preparing for during this Christmas Season of Expectation is less of an external event than it is an internal one? What if those of us who have accepted Jesus into our hearts are now being called to a deeper awareness of the physical and figurative in-dwelling of Christ? What if the Kingdom of God is so readily "at hand" that it exists right this very moment, right inside our very own hearts, and that we are walking around not even aware of it? What if, like Mary, we are each - man, woman and child alike - preparing ourselves for a great and sacred Birth that is impossible to fully comprehend and also impossible to delay? What if this "Birthing" is really a "Submitting" to the Christ who has always been Alive and Dwelling in our hearts/minds/souls from our very first breath on earth? And, what IF Christ's heavenly entry back into our broken, human world is intended and necessary and required to start in the womb of our own broken human lives and bodies? What if this miracle can only happen by way of the LOVE we commit to share with one another and ALL THE OTHERS through the surrender of the gift of our lives?

I hope this was what I was supposed to say out loud to whoever might read this today. Thanks for listening.

Peace for your Path,
Robin

sing a little song...

2011-12-11T14:50:00.001-05:00

We'll have some very special young labyrinth walkers with us this week at Good Shepherd for just a little bit. Bring your singing voices along :)

(This Thursday December 15th from 10am to 12pm)

The Friendly Beasts

Jesus, our Brother, strong and good,

Was humbly born in a stable rude,

And the friendly beasts around Him stood,
Jesus, our Brother, strong and good.

“I,” said the donkey, shaggy and brown,
“I carried His mother uphill and down,
I carried His mother to Bethlehem town;
I,” said the donkey, shaggy and brown.

“I,” said the cow, all white and red,
“I gave Him my manger for His bed,
I gave Him hay to pillow His head;
I,” said the cow, all white and red.

“I,” said the sheep with curly horn,
“I gave Him my wool for His blanket warm,
He wore my coat on Christmas morn;
I,” said the sheep with curly horn.

“I,” said the dove, from the rafters high,
“I cooed Him to sleep that He should not cry,
We cooed Him to sleep, my mate and I;
I,” said the dove, from the rafters high.

Thus all the beasts, by some good spell,
In the stable dark were glad to tell
Of the gifts they gave Emmanuel,
The gifts they gave Emmanuel.

See you on the Path!

Robin

P.S. If you'd prefer our traditional silent labyrinth walking experience, then please wait and come just a little past 11am. Thanks!

Third Thursdays on the Labyrinth is coming up next week!

2011-12-06T13:59:00.001-05:00

All walkers are welcome to drop by anytime between 10am and 12pm to enjoy an open labyrinth walk on Thursday, December 15th in celebration of Advent.

Visit the Good Shepherd website for directions: www.goodsheponline.org.

Peace for your Path,
Robin

The Great Blue Heron

2011-12-01T14:22:00.001-05:00

TheGreat Blue Heron

“andthat Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted andgrounded in love.” – Ephesians 3: 17-19

A few winters ago, I wassitting on our lanai sipping my morning coffee when the most majestic GreatBlue Heron glided past me to land gracefully at the water’s edge. I wasimmediately overcome by the metaphor of Christ’s own dramatic descent to earthto dwell among us. I trembled with the realization that the mighty Son of God temporarilyrelinquished his power over the heavens to humbly land on frail human legs sothat I might begin to comprehend the true meaning of Love...

SilentHeron Herald glides,

steel-blue wingsextend -

alight

on willow-wisp legs.

Abide.

Dwell.

Emmanuel.

( I just found this image on this lovely website: http://ucsantacruz.ucnrs.org/?page_id=1150)

LovingFather, Jesus, Spirit, thank you for the ways you speak deeply into my heartthrough the mystery of your Creation. Thank you for opening my eyes to thebeauty of your natural Love. Amen

Robin Bradley Hansel

(Special thanks to First Pres of NPB for including my poetry and reflection in their Advent Devotional again this year).

Advent candles and socks-with-sandals

2011-11-29T09:47:00.001-05:00

Transition day. I am claiming today as "Transition Day"....

Cool, cloudy Tuesday. Windows thrown open to welcome Winter's blessed breezes. Last year's Advent candles burning brightly to my right to symbolically prepare me for this newest Season of waiting...

Sting's "If On A Winter's Night..." CD is playing on my laptop while I work. Hot coffee in my cup. Fuzzy socks to warm me to my toes. Awaiting word of a new babe to be born tonight - a dear friend's first grandchild. Wow.

Life is very, very, VERY good!

Peace for your Tuesday Path, too.

Love,
Robin

[Advent Conspiracy] Enter the Story 2011

2011-11-28T14:20:00.000-05:00

WATER.

Let me explain...

Months ago, I started looking into charities committed to helping with the Global Water Crisis and fell in love with the mission of Water.Org. Then at the Casting Crowns concert last weekend all kinds of statistics were being shared about the crisis via World Vision. Last night at church, the Advent video below was shared by the Living Water International organization.

I am a (very) slow learner as additionally two weeks ago I got a very strong message one morning while making plans for our Holiday celebration. Clear, direct and decidely simple - the word that came to me was "water," and I wrote it on the chalkboard in my kitchen. All throughout our busy Thanksgiving time as a family, I looked at the word and gave thanks for the clean water flowing from my sink that I previously had taken for granted so many times.

Yeah - so I think now I am (finally) beginning to get it...WATER.

Water is Life. Water is the most basic physical need of all living creatures. Those of us who have clean water have a moral responsibility to conserve it, to protect it, and most of all, to share the blessing of it by helping EVERYONE in the world to get it.

walking and writing our gratitude

2011-11-17T07:26:00.001-05:00

Join us TODAY anytime between 10am and 12pm to walk the labyrinth.
Bring along your gratitude journals....
The Episcopal Church of The Good Shepherd

Life is Good for a Lab Named Lily

2011-11-13T17:36:00.000-05:00

sandy Sunday

2011-11-13T16:48:00.001-05:00

11/11/11

2011-11-11T21:41:00.001-05:00

"Lord, bid war's trumpet cease; Fold the whole earth in peace." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Honoring all our heroes,

yet dreaming of a world with no reason for war...

wisdom

2011-11-08T21:33:00.001-05:00

lovely words from Thomas Merton

2011-11-08T12:05:00.002-05:00

"It is a strange awakening to find the sky inside you and beneath you and above you and all around you so that your spirit is one with the sky, and all is positive night."

- Thomas Merton

nice idea Starbucks!

2011-11-04T12:01:00.001-04:00

I was finally able to get my very own "Let's Create Jobs for USA" bracelet last night at Starbucks since learning about their initiative early last month on "Morning Joe." For my $5 donation, I received this nifty little red, white and blue wristband with "Indivisible" printed on it's silver bar.

Learn more at http://www.createjobsforusa.org/. Way to go, Starbucks and Opportunity Finance Network. Really love your idea...

to our sweet Jack Skellington...

2011-10-31T11:57:00.003-04:00

...here's hoping you are Wellington today.

Happy Halloween!

P.S. We tried to make you smile.

magnificent mandalas

2011-10-27T14:47:00.001-04:00

It was such a fun night at The Episcopal Church of The Good Shepherd making nature mandalas with new and old friends. Special thanks to Merike Seely for all her preparation (and this great reflection about the evening) and all the lovely and creative GreenSpirits who attended.

Visit our Labyrinth Wellness Facebook page to see the full photo album!

gratitude to Schola Ministries for their special sharing...

2011-10-22T14:02:00.003-04:00

I was so honored this week that Schola Ministries requested a copy of the recording of The Wisdom of the Labyrinth's July 8th, 2010 episode entitled "The Sacred Music and Ministry of GreenFaith Fellow, Sister Kathleen Deignan" to post on their beautiful website under "Conversations."

Doing this interview was such a blessing to me last summer. The audio recording of it is also shared here in our own blog's sidebar. I hope you enjoy the personal stories of this amazingly soulful individual as much as I have loved listening to them again. Sister Kathleen's work in the world is truly an inspiration to our entire family.

And her loving friendship is a treasure to my heart...

walk the labyrinth with us this Thursday at The Episcopal Church of The Good Shepherd

2011-10-17T13:07:00.006-04:00

We'll be there from 10am to 12pm so please stop by any time to experience The Good Shepherd Labyrinth in its beautiful outdoor setting. The month, we'll learn more about the mission of Green Spirits:

LOOK FOR THIS UPCOMING GREEN SPIRIT EVENT:

October 26, Wednesday

Create your own

Nature Mandala. Quiet your mind and be guided by

your own creativity. No artistic ability required. All

materials provided. Free. 6:30-8:00pm in the church

office.

If you have any questions about upcoming

events or Earth Stewardship at Good Shepherd, please

call Merike Seely, the Green Spirits Committee Chairperson in the church office any weekday at 746-4674.

Visit WWW.GOODSHEPONLINE.ORG for more details

start your own chain reaction - learn more about the mission of Rachel's Challenge

2011-10-17T12:39:00.000-04:00

Whenever I complain about a problem (see below post about the lyrics of the popular song,"Pumped-up Kicks"), I try learn how to be a part of the solution. Please visit http://www.rachelschallenge.org/ and meet Rachel Scott:

Take a few moments to learn about her beautiful and too-brief life and read her powerful words...

PARENTS: IMPORTANT INFO

2011-10-15T11:11:00.002-04:00

I was loving this song when I first heard the band perform it on Saturday Night Live this past weekend. When our son told me he's heard it everywhere, and then asked me what I thought the singer was really talking about, I focused in on listening to the cheerful lyrics. And then my blood went cold...

This article is a good place to start with your own research. Please share and talk to your kids...
http://www.mercurynews.com/entertainment/ci_19056097

Robin's ladder

2011-10-12T12:41:00.001-04:00

I was feeling super out of sorts this morning, so I let Lily take me on a walk through the neighborhood. My girl is much more stubborn and strong-willed than me (yes, that is possible), so really I had no choice...

Lily led me right to a rarely visited spot behind the playground that was cool and damp and breezy. I stood for a while, quietly watching a hawk soaring high above us next to one lone, wispy cloud. Then, I stared for a few moments at a magnificent dragonfly darting in and out of the shade just above our heads.

The brilliant red flowers of a bush caught my eye. I had just moved closer to snap a photo with my phone, when I noticed these palm fronds stacked exactly like stair steps, one right after the other all the way up nearly twenty feet in a spiral around their tree.

I thought of Jacob's dream ladder in Genesis and realized that right now I feel probably about as unsure as he did when he began his journey to a new land. Although work life is changing in good and exciting and blessed and terrific ways, even "good" can be scary as hell.

In viewing my leafy ladder, I recall that dark, lonely night when God gave Jacob the vision he needed most. Today, that story of Hope has helped me to begin to shift my own vision out of the worrisome depths of wondering and back upward where it belongs.

Though I'd much prefer to SEE the path ahead of me and exactly where to step next, I do know that Path is most surely there...(somewhere).

"have the courage to follow your heart and intuition..."

2011-10-06T22:12:00.001-04:00

my personal, peaceful, and non-political plea

2011-10-06T18:57:00.002-04:00

And so it begins...again.

Each time we get close to an election year, they start arriving. The forwarded emails. And each time, feelings are sure to get hurt all around. This year I am doing a bit of lobbying of my own right from the very start.

So, here goes:
please,
Please,
P-L-E-A-S-E

(and oh, dear God, how I pray that my heart will be heard when I ask my friends once more this year)

kindly refrain from sending me any type of political-themed emails from any political viewpoint

(especially those with any overtly religious slant)

And here is why...

Because I will love you regardless of how you vote. I will. I do not care. I do not want to know who you want to win. I only want to know that you take your voting every bit as seriously as I do. Which, I do take

v-e-r-y s-e-r-i-o-u-s-l-y.

I hope that you will love me, too. And if not, then I tend to think that is your crisis of faith problem, not mine.

Yes. I know the issues. Trust me. I spend many (many) hours online every day reading and researching.
The issues? I got 'em. Thanks, though.

Yes. I know that many people of my particular faith background tend to vote a certain way. I often tend not to vote that way. And sometimes, I tend to vote that way. You see, I can actually go both ways. I study all the issues. I research all the candidates and then I pray with all my heart, soul, mind and body and then I vote.

Yes. This process works for me. This is how I do it. Thanks again for your concern, but I really, honestly, respectfully, truly, prayerfully and humbly say to you now from my deepest and most loving heart space that

I DO NOT NEED

your advice.

Really, I don't.

But I do love you! :)

compassion

2011-10-05T16:17:00.003-04:00

So, I was just Facebooking and Tweeting away all morning, happily sharing with others about our lovely partner charity for OurGift.Org of The Palm Beaches, and the beautiful community event we attended last night to learn even more about their fantastic mission when suddenly a Truth smacks me right between the eyes. Whack!

And my head is spinning as I sit here trying to remember how it all happened. I'll try to write it out until I understand it a little better. Here goes...

First, I saw a hateful photo on an old friend's profile page that made me catch my breath with disbelief. Then, I saw a quote on another blogger friend's page that made me laugh. Next, I read a new posting on The Charter for Compassion's page and began thinking of the mom who spoke last night at the Parent-Child Center, Inc. event about her young daughter who was bullied so much that all her hair fell out from the stress. And then the handsome teen who spoke of how he was also bullied in school, because, of all things, he had cancer.

The Charter for Compassion is based on The Golden Rule with the whole "Love your neighbor as yourself" idea. Well, maybe, I began to sense that all these mean things are happening through people to others because the people doing, saying, posting, and believing it all DO NOT REALLY LOVE THEMSELVES. They look into the mirror and they hate the person looking back, but they don't even realize that they do. They think they are standing up for their "rights," but it is more that they desperately need to feel they are right and that someone else is wrong. They need to "WIN!" They excuse their actions by telling themselves they are setting a good example by teaching others who aren't "deserving" an important life lesson, but they are instead acting completely out of their own personal fear and miserable self-hatred.

I am referring to the scowling lady behind you in the grocery line, the loud guy at the next table in the restaurant, the arrogant minister, the judgmental news host, the boisterous politician, and - especially - the terrified person looking back at you from the mirror. The violence our children are acting out on one another in our society is being modeled first in own cozy American homes. The blood is on all our hands...

What if the truth is that we really can't stand to look at the One behind our eyes? Could we be the person who is actually unloved, not at the hands of the strangers we call bullies or enemies, but rather by ourselves?

Why are you - why am I - so unlovable? Is it because of some past mistake that I cannot forgive myself for allowing to happen? Or is it a lie someone who also didn't love themselves told me about myself that I believed and made into my reality when it never (ever) was true?

If we are called to love others as we love ourselves, then it seems to me we have quite a bit of work to do. We could begin by understanding the pain within the one person whose bones and flesh and heart and mind we are borrowing and walking around with here on earth. Hating ourselves breeds hatred in others. We can't take the first step toward truly loving our neighbors until we begin to love ourselves. We can't have compassion for other people whose cultures are not our own until we first cultivate a deep passion for what it is we truly believe within our souls. And we surely can't forgive our enemies until we first forgive ourselves.

And that is what (I think) I learned today.

Paws on the Path

2011-10-02T18:44:00.000-04:00

Lab on the Labyrinth

2011-10-02T18:40:00.002-04:00

Today's Blessing of the Animals in Honor of The Feast of St. Francis of Assisi

2011-10-02T12:58:00.000-04:00

Here's a great article you might enjoy reading about today's beautiful tradition of bringing animals in for a special blessing:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jon-m-sweeney/blessing-our-pets-st-francis-judaism_b_951906.html

Join us at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Tequesta at 4pm. Stay and walk the labyrinth, too! Meet Lily at "Paws on the Path!"

Peace for your Path,
Robin

happy to see this talented teen share her recovery Journey

2011-10-01T09:09:00.001-04:00

amen!

2011-09-25T18:11:00.002-04:00

we make you kindly welcome...

2011-09-25T15:49:00.001-04:00

... even ye googly-eyed folks!

It was a really nice morning. Wearing my sunglasses turned out to be just fine with everyone. They gave all the new members these lovely yellow roses right before the service. I added my son's goofy eyeball glasses to the pic to make me smile once I got them home. I told my mishap story enough this morning to sweet friends that I am finally beginning to be able to laugh about it. Turns out, other people have had similarly klutzy experiences, too.

This afternoon I am remembering all the many churches in my life's history: my kindergarten/confirmation/marriage church, my husband's growing-up church, our couple-first-beginning-to- grow-together-in-faith/Disciple/bible study/service/UMW/new baby/Companions in Christ/labyrinth/spiritual formation/always our Circle of Friends church, our Florida labyrinth church, and now our newest church home.

Our family is truly blessed with the memories of all our treasured friends we have met along this Spiritual Journey of Many Churches. And I think what I have come to understand is that it maybe matters not so much where you worship, but rather that you do so with humble people that you love who are simply seeking and sharing life together as they attempt to grow in their Faith as well.

the cruelest month...

2011-09-24T17:43:00.011-04:00

...is April as T.S. Eliot reminds me in the first line of The Waste Land.

However, for me, September is historically turning out to be pretty darn crappy.

On Wednesday, I managed to severely scratch my left cornea in a freak accident here in the house that I could likely never recreate in a million, gazillion years (though I will never try).

Essentially, it happened like this:

One hurried and harried and stressed-out "me" not paying attention as we were five minutes from needing to leave for car line + One crazy, over-scheduled morning of routine doctor's appointments + One school backpack on floor + One mom (me again) being super-controlling and deciding to rearrange contents of said backpack for one teenage son who never needed my help to rearrange anything at all in his backpack as it is his backpack (and not mine) + One very sharp and ominous corner of a tall dining room chair lurking right beside the backpack = A very dramatic and depressing morning/afternoon spent at the Eye Institute (via a brief stop at the OBGYN office, but seriously, that is TOTALLY a story for another day - you don't even want to know - and I am only now just able to laugh about it the tiniest bit. "Um, Mrs. Hansel, we all greatly appreciate that you take your annual exam and mammogram so seriously, but actually, Mrs. Hansel, we all really think that you need to go to the ER (or anywhere other than here) just as soon as possible. Yes, right now. Yes, please go. Now. Go.")

An older lady, also a patient, on her way out of the Eye Institute later that morning told us that I was very lucky.

"Do you know how lucky you are, young lady? Do you have any idea?"

She told my husband and me that the very same thing had happened to friend of hers, and they had to take her entire eyeball out. Took it right out, she said. Thanks nice lady. That was a super helpful thing to say to me at that very moment. I will always remember you for your compassionate choice of words and your impeccable sense of timing...

The Good News - my eyesight will most likely eventually be just fine. I am deeply, incredibly grateful beyond words at this news, and I am already better today. Now it just feels like sandpaper rolling around in my eyeball and not like a searing, hot knife anymore. This is very good.

The Bad News - I am a truly lousy, wimpy, whiny, and pitiful patient as those of you know who read all about my journey with my broken ankle at very nearly the same time last September...I can only work at my computer for tiny little bits of time due to my blurry vision which is making me VERY GRUMPY.

I look only slightly better than Rocky did when he pleaded in movie #1 during his fight with Apollo, "Cut me Mick," and tomorrow morning we are finally joining the church we have been visiting for nearly three years. I will be looking very mysterious and "Hollywood" in my dark sunglasses standing up in front of the entire congregation. I suppose people might whisper to each other - "You see that one, yes, that one, the one up there in the dark sunglasses? Boy, she really needs to be here in church. God love her."

And they are exactly right. I do.

remembering a treasured friend

2011-09-20T13:19:00.001-04:00

Our Coby who told us goodbye three years ago today...

I love you, my sweet old boy,
me

We love you, Lily!

2011-09-18T20:32:00.001-04:00

Happy 3rd Birthday!
Love,
Your humans

P.S.
Sorry about the hat :(

words too beautiful to miss today...

2011-09-11T13:45:00.001-04:00

http://www.scholaministries.org/scholaministries/mailings/911-Care-Giver.php

Here is Sister Kathleen's complete blog posting if you'd like to read it. It is a completely incredible account from a person who was there in NYC serving in ministry in the days and weeks immediately following the event. This just arrived in my email box, and I am speechless with its utter beauty...Love, Robin

a prayer to share for this weekend

2011-09-10T17:42:00.002-04:00

Words to the prayer and music both written (and performed) by our treasured friend, Kathleen Deignan, CND of Schola Ministries:

Here is the link: http://www.scholaministries.org/911/
You can also share this link as an e-card if you wish

To read Sister Kathleen's entire (and simply wonderful) article on Huffington Post, please visit:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathleen-deignan/decade-911-a-prayer_b_956600.html?ref=tw

Peace for your Path,
Robin

celebrating love is SO very lovely...

2011-09-08T15:01:00.000-04:00

Thanks for the flowers, my love - me

the birthday of a marriage

2011-09-08T10:34:00.000-04:00

Twenty-one years young today.

Happy Anniversary, Scott Hansel.

I love you,

Robin Hansel

Robin's "Spiraling Back to Center" article just published in ADVANCE for Physical Therapy and Rehab Medicine

2011-09-07T17:36:00.000-04:00

Sort of an exciting day for me :)

http://physical-therapy.advanceweb.com/ebook/magazine.aspx?EBK=PT090511#

My latest article, "Spiraling Back to Center" just came out today. It is also available online on pages 15-18 if you'd like to read it via the direct link above. It will remain in the archives on www.advanceweb.com, too.

As always, thanks SO MUCH for all your support,

Robin

(And a special thanks to Brian Ferrie, Managing Editor of ADVANCE for Physical Therapy and Rehab Medicine)

FL Gov. Scott open to Glades drilling

2011-09-06T21:11:00.000-04:00

FL Gov. Scott open to Glades drilling

no, No, NO!!!

Completely, utterly, TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE in absolutely EVERY WAY!!!!

life's a HOOT!

2011-09-06T18:52:00.000-04:00

My brain is mush as I (once again) try to get it to learn something new...

Tonight? HootSuite.

(But it is pretty darn S-W-E-E-T)

Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah

2011-09-02T14:16:00.000-04:00

I have never once listened to this song without getting goosebumps - not ever.

HOPE six years later - a beautiful soul shares her story

2011-08-29T20:51:00.003-04:00

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/29/140029377/6-years-after-hurricane-katrina-much-to-be-rebuilt

If you have four minutes, please listen to the audio recording of this radio interview I heard this morning. It changed the entire course of my day.

It sparked in me a deep compassion that took me by surprise me and moved me to sobbing tears as I drove our son to school. Hearing Donald's voice and then Colleen's...I just can't put it into words how connected to them I felt. Please share it if you feel it, too.

Don't be embarrassed of your compassion, dear friends. It's OK to love people - especially strangers. The world needs our love and our HOPE as much as we need to share it.

Peace for your Path,
Robin

The Caregivers Issue of the Veriditas Journal

2011-08-24T12:34:00.000-04:00

Please let me know how you like the latest issue of The Spirit of Veriditas, Voices From the Labyrinth.

This is our Spring/Summer 2011 Caregivers Issue: http://www.veriditas.org/newsletters/journal.pdf

Happy Reading and Peace for your Path,
Robin

walking (OK, maybe RUNNING) in circles for weeks...

2011-08-20T14:56:00.001-04:00

In preparation for this last Saturday and Sunday of summer vacation, I have decided to STOP and take a bit of my own advice...

1. Unplug from my computer and phone (right after I finish this post)
2. Take a long, hot shower (since I am still sandy and salty from our morning beach romp with Lily)
3. Breathe
4. Nap
5. Walk the labyrinth (or at least trace the wooden one resting on my coffee table)

Sorry things have been so quiet here on our blog lately. Lots of new, exciting details to work out with the launch of OurGift here in the Palm Beaches while still balancing some last minute summer fun with family. Life is good! Hope yours is too....

See you soon on the Path!

Love,
Robin

Pilates on the Path: Saturday confessions...

2011-08-20T14:46:00.000-04:00

Pilates on the Path: Saturday confessions...: I've been a little busy preparing to launch OurGift.Org here in the Palm Beaches. I have to confess that my Pilates self-practice has suff...

Pono on the Path

2011-08-04T14:40:00.000-04:00

I absolutely LOVE this idea of living...(Thanks again, Amy, for another wonderful video to share).

PLEASE share this article to help get the word out to PROTECT the manatees

2011-08-03T09:00:00.002-04:00

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/cerabino-sorry-manatees-no-refuge-from-tea-partys-1686203.html

HOPE walked into the House last night!

2011-08-02T19:20:00.000-04:00

Love this article!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-raushenbush/gabrielle-giffords-hope_b_916056.html

Thank you so much, Representative Gabrielle Giffords, for reminding us just when we needed a reminder.

compromise, compassion and common sense

2011-07-26T14:10:00.000-04:00

The Chart That Should Accompany All Discussions of the Debt Ceiling - The Atlantic

Look! OurGift.Org Palm Beach is now on Twitter!

2011-07-26T11:46:00.004-04:00

Please Follow!

I REFUSE to give up HOPE!

2011-07-26T10:50:00.002-04:00

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." - Proverbs 12:12

"Hope" is the thing with feathers by Emily Dickinson from A Child's Garden of Poetry : Video : The Poetry Foundation

2011-07-26T10:45:00.001-04:00

Here is the link to the video:
“Hope” is the thing with feathersï»¿ : A Child's Garden of Poetry : Video : The Poetry Foundation

“Hope” is the thing with feathers

BY EMILY DICKINSON

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

Emily Dickinson, "'Hope' is the Thing with Feathers" from The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson. Copyright 1945, 1951, 8 1955, 1979, 1983 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Reprinted with the permission of The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Source: The Poems of Emily Dickinson Edited by R. W. Franklin (Harvard University Press, 1999)

LOVE the charitable mission of OurGift.Org!

2011-07-23T13:56:00.001-04:00

Want to learn more? Visit www.OurGift.Org or email me here in the Palm Beaches at RHansel@OurGift.Org

a whale of a BEAUTIFUL tale

2011-07-21T15:23:00.001-04:00

Thanks, Amy, for sharing this gift with me!

musings, manatees and Mystery

2011-07-18T08:04:00.002-04:00

I had an experience while in the Keys a few weeks ago that I keep trying to "process". Yesterday, thanks to a Truth I heard my beautiful husband speak through the poetic words of Thomas Merton written in his New Seeds of Contemplation, I am thinking that I now simply need to accept what I saw and what I felt as Mystery...It is all part of "The Cosmic Dance."

Fluidity. It is all about fluidity, I think.

Manatees Are Fluid.

Part dolphin, part cow, part elephant, part walrus, part seal, part dinosaur, part human, part angel, part river, part sea, part you, part me, part we...

The three of us were still on the snorkel boat pulling into dock when the man besides us points to the water and shouts "Manatee!" Immediately, I am on my feet, searching and scanning the water - frantic for a glimpse. My husband sees bubbles right beside the glass bottom boat parked in the slot next to us., but I see nothing.

After seven years here in South Florida, I have only seen one shadowed manatee's silhouette near the beach and the bubbles from another manatee much further out in the ocean. Recently, I saw one swimming several feet from a friend's boat while it was anchored in the Intracoastal Waterway but really just barely. Many other times I have been with people who have spotted them all around me.

Somehow, I think I must just strain too much. I want to see one so desperately that in my striving, I miss them entirely.

In minutes, we are off the snorkel boat and walking up and down the dock scanning the water for bubbles. My husband, son and I look and look for the manatee for many minutes. I could feel how close it was, but I still couldn't see a thing. Suddenly Scott sees the manatee swim under the glass bottom boat and toward us, but again, I see nothing. He and Dylan continue to walk up and down the dock long after I had essentially given up and headed up to the bathhouse. I found myself starting to feel dark and exceedingly grumpy despite a really lovely day on the water as a family...

I walk back to the dock by the kayaks, and they are both still there staring into the water along with some other French tourists. Everyone is looking in all different directions. I quit feeling sorry for myself and get swept up again in hope and join them. Scott sees them first - not one but TWO - swimming directly toward all of us. The manatee silently glide under the metal dock we are standing on and disappear for several seconds which feel like hours. I am nearly trembling now, on my hands and knees, trying to feel beneath me what I still cannot see.

And then, they appear. A mother manatee and her calf. They are gray-speckled and massive with fan tails, almost looking more leopard-spotted by the sunlight pouring into the river than the dark gray color I had always imagined they would be. The water is so shallow and clean and clear, that they are suddenly more visible and real and tangible and silent than anything I have ever seen in my life except perhaps the azure-blue, almost transparent eyes of a homeless man named Rodney (but that is a story for another day).

I am captivated. Half gasping with joy, half crying, I watch them swim over to the mangroves. The baby calf moves under his mother and begins to nurse. A young woman paddles up in a kayak, and we are all pointing at the two manatee who are literally a foot from her, yet she cannot see them. My heart aches for her. We tell her to look right then left, and that now they are in front of her, and now under her. She looks bewildered and confused and just keeps saying "I can't see them, I can't see them."

They swim downstream for a bit into the inlet, and most everyone leaves except the three of us and the kayak guy. I am unable to pull myself away. And then, they are suddenly back, under us again, and I am now nearly on my belly, chin to water, waiting, waiting, waiting....The mother swims through first, back toward the mangroves. The baby follows and then, turns back, curious perhaps about this odd weeping woman perched so precariously on the dock behind him.

Whiskers - wrinkled nose - then polished black granite eyes surface less than three feet from me. He breathes out almost in slow motion and then back in again, eyes fixed on mine. I feel his warm air on my own face, smell the river on his skin, and then he is gone. The water is once again silent.

And I am left with a Joy that still, weeks later, defies words...

remembering "REAL"

2011-07-18T06:46:00.000-04:00

And re-reading The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. Always warms my soul...

my sweet boys

2011-07-15T19:43:00.001-04:00

missing the sunsets in the Keys...

2011-07-15T19:42:00.001-04:00

feels peaceful...

2011-07-15T19:40:00.001-04:00

sparkle

2011-07-04T21:58:00.001-04:00

surveying the surf

2011-07-04T11:53:00.001-04:00

The newest member of our family...a six foot glass beauty of a board. Our son's first (of likely MANY) surfboards proudly purchased with his own money.

Heading back to the beach in a few minutes. OceanPrayers for fireworks-sized surf today. :)

Happy Fourth, Everyone!

paddle strong and surf happy!

2011-07-02T11:14:00.003-04:00

Enjoy the ride...

Peace for your Holiday's Path!

Love,

Robin

Pilates on the Path: ADVANCE Magazine Offers Wonderful Physical Therapy...

2011-06-27T07:33:00.000-04:00

Pilates on the Path: ADVANCE Magazine Offers Wonderful Physical Therapy...: "Check out their extensive listing of educational resources to share with your clients: http://physical-therapy.advanceweb.com/Article/Patie..."

so happy to find this new article about labyrinths in the workplace!

2011-06-27T06:47:00.003-04:00

http://ezinearticles.com/?New-Employee-Wellness-Tool-From-the-Ancient-Practice-of-Labyrinth-Walking&id=6341961

We devoted an entire issue of The Spirit of Veriditas, Voices From the Labyrinth to the issue of labyrinths in corporate settings in Fall 2009. Hooray!

the light from my kitchen window...

2011-06-21T18:32:00.001-04:00

...illuminated one of my favorite prayers at an important moment just now.

Thanks, Emerson. You rock.

grateful for every single precious droplet...

2011-06-20T17:52:00.001-04:00

We are in a very severe drought here in South Florida. The city of West Palm Beach is in danger of running out of drinking water. The situation is quite critical so today's brief rain shower was a particularly welcome sight. I hope you enjoy it, too...

Pilates on the Path: Drink it in...

2011-06-20T17:48:00.000-04:00

Pilates on the Path: Drink it in...: "Always remember to hydrate well after practicing Pilates!"

breathe musical world peace...

2011-06-16T10:17:00.000-04:00

Check out http://www.tuningtheplanet.com/ for details and for even more about this incredible music, please also visit http://www.michaelfitzpatrick.com/.

S-T-R-E-T-C-H

2011-06-15T12:31:00.001-04:00

Sometimes, you just need to take a break on the Path...Peace for your day, Robin
(Photo of our Lily taken by Susan Dahlberg)

a very lovely home and garden

2011-06-15T12:18:00.000-04:00

Learn more about the acclaimed landscape and garden designing work of Jon Carloftis and the history of The Rockcastle Trading Company at http://www.joncarloftis.com/ . Jon's work has been featured in numerous major magazines and on TV. He has designed gardens for clients throughout the United States and particularly in New York City. Jon has written many books, and has an impressive line of home furnishings and garden accessories. I especially loved his functional bird house designs for Louisville Stoneware - including one depicting My Old Kentucky Home.

lovely florida lake

2011-06-15T10:15:00.000-04:00

Here is a bit of audio of the doves and other birds singing this past Sunday at Crooked Lake. Special thanks to Suzie and all the other "Ladies of the Lake." You are treasured friends to me...

sea turtles at midnight

2011-06-14T10:33:00.001-04:00

Last night, I visited heaven right here on earth. From 10pm to 1am this morning, I walked the beach under the light of an almost full moon with three other sea turtle friends. We dressed in dark clothes, spoke in careful whispered tones and moved through the darkness stopping often to scan the sand in front of us for sea turtle tracks....It was total bliss!

I felt totally primal - at One with all and completed rooted in the Present. My own bare feet transformed to flippers in the soft, damp sand before my very eyes.

Each heaving breath of the nesting females was exhaled in my very own breast...Each wet, round egg became an extension of my own body and every other living body here on our planet - desired, prepared, released and then carefully covered over by giant, ancient flippers moving with the grace of a well-rehearsed ballet.

Back home, the Surfing Madonna rode the swells of my dreams - dwelling in my heart - calling, "Save the ocean...the Ocean...Save."

Save The Ocean

2011-06-14T10:08:00.000-04:00

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS: Common Sense Should Guide Decision on Surfing Mado...

2011-06-14T10:03:00.001-04:00

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS: Common Sense Should Guide Decision on Surfing Mado...: "SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE By Editorial Board CALIFORNIA - This controversy calls for common sense. The public gets it, even if public offic..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDGV4oKfPic&feature=player_embedded

Lovely Lady of Ocean Love...

2011-06-09T14:38:00.001-04:00

http://www.artinfo.com/news/enlarged_image/37844/258729/

Here are links to many articles I have found today, too, as I continue to be inspired by this awesome story:

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/08/3686791/expert-miracle-needed-to-remove.html#mi_rss=Latest%20News

http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/37844/mystery-surfing-madonna-artist-is-unmasked-ibms-avant-garde-technology-to-save-the-mets-unicorn-tapestries-and-more-must-read-art-news/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43318550/ns/travel-destination_travel/t/surfing-madonna-mosaic-draws-mass-following/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/08/surfing-madonna-religious_n_873563.html

"The Surfing Madonna" artist Mark Patterson's first interview

2011-06-09T14:27:00.005-04:00

The full interview with Mark Patterson is available on the news station's website. It is 19 minutes in length and I highly recommend watching it. This is an AMAZING story of one man's journey in learning to be obedient to his calling and we can all be inspired to do so in our own lives.

This is really big stuff, friends. Really, really, really big stuff....you just need to hear Mr. Patterson share it in his own words.

Here is the link to the longer, unedited version: http://www.fox5sandiego.com/videobeta/c2abcffe-08f7-4c17-84e0-c8cae084476c/News/Interview-Surfing-Madonna-Artist-Speaks-Out

tomorrow is WORLD OCEANS DAY

2011-06-07T16:43:00.003-04:00

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/aroundthemall/2011/06/dancing-splash-mob-floods-the-natural-history-museum/#ooid=xlb2hpMjq2K_2ecNv_QTqToCMDV8EqwQ

Here's how they celebrated today at the Smithsonian! :)

Pilates on the Path: Restless

2011-06-06T13:21:00.000-04:00

Pilates on the Path: Restless: "Last night, I woke up at my usual 4am with my brain going a mile-a-minute. I have a whole relaxation routine I usually go through when this ..."

pilates on the path

2011-05-28T08:26:00.001-04:00

Good morning, walkers!

Yesterday, I decided to Breathe just a little deeper and expand into a way for me to reach out to the health and fitness community specifically through my Pilates and Physical Therapy background. This will hopefully provide a pathway to introducing even more people to the health benefits of walking labyrinths. We'll see what happens...

So, take a stroll over to the new "Pilates on the Path" blog and tell me what you think, OK? I have also set up sites on Facebook and Twitter and a little mini website, too.

It's been a fun little trip so far! Can't wait to see where it will all lead. Just putting one foot in front of the other right now and remembering, of course, to B-R-E-A-T-H-E.

Love,
Robin

why write?

2011-05-23T22:48:00.001-04:00

Because of this very reason:

"We write to taste life twice, in the moment, and in retrospection. We write, like Proust, to render all of it eternal, and to persuade ourselves that it is eternal. We write to be able to transcend our life, to reach beyond it." - Anais Nin

I saw the first phrase of this quote on the cover of a Journal today. I loved it this morning and finally just looked up the full reference.

I needed to read, hear, touch and breathe these words today. How about you?

so proud of our Ben!

2011-05-22T17:02:00.000-04:00

Meet the coolest cooking kid on the planet: Ben Ostertag (also my sweet godson)!

Thanks to Amy for always sharing the happenings of Ben's amazing life with me...I love you friend!

http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/may/19/wine-and-wishes-fundraiser-to-benefit-make-a/

affirmation

2011-05-18T07:34:00.001-04:00

"Let the beauty of what you love be what you do." - Rumi

Thanks Patti, Dave, Spencer and Sophia for this special reminder. These treasured words have draped across my heart all week, and I am so grateful...Love, Rob

more May flowers

2011-05-16T17:35:00.001-04:00

(I sure do LOVE this month!)

Love Day

2011-05-09T10:08:00.002-04:00

Mother's Day.

This Sunday in May always used to be a tough one for me. My husband and I longed for a child for many, many years before he finally arrived - our miracle. I know how hard Mother's Day can be for women who desperately desire to be moms or whose children or mothers are separated from them by distance or by death. My heart aches for each of you...

I pray love and peace to you on this bright Monday. You are Beloved. You are no less you because of what has or has not happened in your life. You are no less blessed, and I am no more blessed.

Life is just too mysterious for words.

May you have a blessed Mother's Day

2011-05-08T14:24:00.000-04:00

centering time...

2011-05-07T13:08:00.001-04:00

Walking as ONE

Happy WORLD LABYRINTH DAY to all walkers of the world!

2011-05-07T08:32:00.000-04:00

Join your friends around the globe TODAY at 1pm (in your own time zone) as we "Walk as ONE at 1"!

Walk a labyrinth with your feet, trace a labyrinth with your fingers, draw a labyrinth, or even try an online labyrinth at your computer. Check out all the free downloadable resources and helpful links at The Labyrinth Society website!

Here's the link to share: http://www.labyrinthsociety.org/world-labyrinth-day

See you on the Path today at 1pm! Make sure and come back and share your WLD stories with me, OK? Share them here, on our Facebook page or on Twitter.

Peace for your Path,
Robin

National Day of Prayer

2011-05-05T07:20:00.003-04:00

One nation, under God....

Blessings to all on this day. Here is the link to our President's National Day of Prayer 2011 proclamation if you'd like to share it or just read it here:

THE WHITE HOUSE

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER, 2011

- – – – – – -

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

2011 NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER PROCLAMATION

From the President of the United States

2011 NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER PROCLAMATION

Throughout our history, Americans have turned to prayer for strength, inspiration, and solidarity.

Prayer has played an important role in the American story and in shaping our Nation’s leaders. President Abraham Lincoln once said, “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day.” The late Coretta Scott King recounted a particularly difficult night, during the Montgomery bus boycott, when her husband, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., received a threatening phone call and prayed at the kitchen table, saying, “Lord, I have nothing left. I have nothing left. I have come to the point where I can’t face it alone.” Dr. King said, in that moment of prayer, he was filled with a sense of comfort and resolve, which his wife credited as a turning point in the civil rights movement.

It is thus fitting that, from the earliest years of our country’s history, Congress and Presidents have set aside days to recognize the role prayer has played in so many definitive moments in our history. On this National Day of Prayer, let us follow the example of President Lincoln and Dr. King. Let us be thankful for the liberty that allows people of all faiths to worship or not worship according to the dictates of their conscience, and let us be thankful for the many other freedoms and blessings that we often take for granted.

Let us pray for the men and women of our Armed Forces and the many selfless sacrifices they and their families make on behalf of our Nation. Let us pray for the police officers, firefighters, and other first responders who put themselves in harm’s way every day to protect their fellow citizens. And let us ask God for the sustenance and guidance for all of us to meet the great challenges we face as a Nation.

Let us remember in our thoughts and prayers those who have been affected by natural disasters at home and abroad in recent months, as well as those working tirelessly to render assistance. And, at a time when many around the world face uncertainty and unrest, but also hold resurgent hope for freedom and justice, let our prayers be with men and women everywhere who seek peace, human dignity, and the same rights we treasure here in America.

The Congress, by Public Law 100-307, as amended, has called on the President to issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a “National Day of Prayer.”

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 5, 2011, as a National Day of Prayer. I invite all citizens of our Nation, as their own faith or conscience directs them, to join me in giving thanks for the many blessings we enjoy, and I ask all people of faith to join me in asking God for guidance, mercy, and protection for our Nation.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.

BARACK OBAMA

Peace for your Path,
Robin

a tale of two cities, one saint and a couple of flops

2011-05-02T13:57:00.006-04:00

These are the Reefs I told you about a couple of days ago.

First, read what I learned about St. Anthony online:

This prayer to St. Anthony asks for help in finding missing items:

"Saint Anthony, perfect imitator of Jesus, who received from God the special power of restoring lost things, grant that I may find (mention your petition) which has been lost. As least restore to me peace and tranquility of mind, the loss of which has afflicted me even more than my material loss.

To this favor I ask another of you: that I may always remain in possession of the true good that is God. Let me rather lose all things than lose God, my supreme good. Let me never suffer the loss of my greatest treasure, eternal life with God. Amen."

Here’s another good prayer:

"Wondrous Saint Anthony, glorious for the fame of your miracles, you had the happiness of receiving in your arms our blessed Lord as a little child. Obtain for me from His mercy this favor that I desire from the bottom of my heart: (mention your request)

Since you were so gracious to poor sinners, do not regard the lack of merit on the part of him who calls upon you, but consider the glory of God, which will by exalted once more through you, by the salvation of my soul and the granting of the petition that I now earnestly present to you.

As a pledge of my gratitude, I beg you to accept my promise to live henceforth more faithfully according to the teaching of the Gospel and to be devoted to the service of the poor whom you ever loved and still love so much. Bless this my resolution and obtain for me the grace to be faithful to it till death. Amen."

Now, here is the tale:

I spent this last weekend with my family across the state in St. Petersburg. I am super lucky to be the support crew for two fantastic triathletes: my son and my husband. Both were competing in events at The St. Anthony's Triathlon. It was an amazing weekend of time with friends, neighbors and teammates (which included not one but TWO flat bicycle tires in one day for my two guys) and lots and lots of prayers and Grace. In fact, the "Become Your Dream" chalk drawing pictured here on my blog was found on Saturday morning on the way to the swim venue for our son. It is now my new iPhone screen saver.

Shortly after I posted my "Shadow Walk" blog story about the black flip flops that I felt we needed to return, I found Scott preparing to pack the Reefs for our weekend away. When I started laughing at the sight of this, I learned from him that he had not yet read my blog post from that day. He said he thought he just might wear the Reefs to the swim start for the walk from the hotel on Sunday and just leave them for someone else to enjoy.

Hmmm.....

The next morning I was brushing my teeth when I thought I remembered learning many years ago from an old patient that St. Anthony was known as the Patron Saint of Lost Items. This sweet lady even went so far as to give me a prayer card because I seemed to be losing so many things at that point in my life.

I looked for that card, but unfortunately, I had lost it. So, I ran to the computer, Googled a bit and learned that I was actually correct about St. Anthony.

That's when I told Scott I thought it just might be OK to leave the shoes in St. Petersburg after all...

We prayed a lot this weekend as a family, but not anything specific like the prayers listed here. Extreme tests of mind, body and soul tend to force us to our knees. I have just included these prayers here today because I really like them, and I especially love their message of brokeness and surrender.

Anyway, Scott wound up having the most incredible race of his life, but that is his own story to tell when he is ready to share it.

The End.

to be continued...

2011-04-30T06:54:00.001-04:00

my little slice of Heaven

2011-04-26T13:36:00.002-04:00

Juno Beach, FL at the old "Turtle Tunnel" walkover

sunshine work

2011-04-26T13:35:00.002-04:00

The best place for me to learn to listen is always the Ocean...