Yearly Archives: 2018

How cool was THAT?!

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I woke up at 2:00 this morning feeling a cat curled up against my legs, kneading them with gentle kitty paws. “Clara,” I thought, thinking of my calico. And, still half-asleep, it occurred to me that Clara had lost some weight – she was feeling light against me.

I tried to doze off again, but the sleep didn’t come. I finally gave up and decided to get out of bed and do some work in my office. But as I was getting out of bed I reached down to pet “Clara” and realized that this cat wasn’t Clara at all – it was Sparky, our black feral cat, curled up against my legs. Which… whoah… Sparky is usually skittish and scaredy and doesn’t often let people near.

I curled my body around Sparky on top of our wool Pendleton blanket and, for the next half hour, communed with him – scratching him behind his ears, ruffling his fur, petting his paws. I could feel him purring underneath my hand – stretching out so I could pet all of him.

Eventually my husband – who first coaxed Sparky into our lives last autumn – moved abruptly in his sleep and Sparky – maybe deciding the humans were getting a little too lively – scampered off into the night.

But whoah… how cool was THAT half hour visit in the middle of the night?!

Sparky the black cat 2

Sparky last autumn.

Cast Thy Burden…

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Earlier in the school year, at a workshop for teachers, this twenty-something man conducting the workshop said something like, “You know, we all have parents we can turn to when we need help…” and I felt myself suddenly and overwhelmingly filled with a huge sense of loss and grief. My nose and eyes started filling with snot and tears.  I had to get up and leave the room.

No, I was thinking, we don’t all have parents we can turn to when we need help. My mom is dead, and my 99 year-old dad needs me to be there for him now – not the other way around. I’m responsible for his health and safety and finances and well-being.  No, I thought, don’t assume that everybody in that room has parents they can turn to for support. As I sobbed, and blew my nose into a wad of toilet paper in the bathroom – feeling all sorts of sorry for myself – I was thinking the days when I had a mother and father to turn to for help were gone for me.

But the other day, as I was contemplating the nature of God, Love, this thought came to me: God is responsible for me. It was a really simple thought, but I found it wonderfully comforting.  “God is responsible for me,” I said out loud to myself, and turned the idea of it over in my thoughts, examining it. God made me, maintains me, governs, and guides me, I reasoned. I am here because of God, and for God. I am God’s, and God is mine – my Mother and Father. I can nestle safe and secure in Love’s arms and trust She will take care of me.  God, Love, is where I can always turn when I need help.

A sense of burden was lifted from me in that moment, and a sense of peace filled me. The false sense of responsibility I’d been feeling for everyone I come in contact with dissolved. I realized God, Love, is responsible for ALL Her children – Dad, my sons, husband, friends, students, colleagues, strangers on the street, and, yes, me, too.  In that moment it was clear to me that I’m not alone, on my own, here. We really DO all have a Father-Mother we can turn to when we need help.

It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.
– Psalms 18:32

It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
– Psalms 100:3

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee…
– Psalms 55:22

As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings…
– Deuteronomy 32:11

Two eagles in a nest in Bow, WA. Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell.

Two eagles in a nest in Skagit County, Washington. Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell.

We’re not here to die, but to live…

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“See here,” she said. “Don’t let us talk about dying; I don’t like it. Let us talk about living.”
– Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

All preoccupied with warning signs
and symptoms, sickness and dying,
bouncing from one fear to the next –
expecting a crisis around every corner.
This is no way to live.

Death, you are not the boss of me.
My Creator has other plans for me.
Sickness and dying and fear
are not why Love put us here.
We’re not here to die, but to live.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
– Jeremiah 29:11

Were not here to die

What is thy birthright, man,
Child of the perfect One;
What is thy Father’s plan
For His beloved son?
– Emily F. Seal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Heaven at the Colophon Cafe

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Tucked into a little table for one
in a corner of the Colophon
Cafe after a brisk walk along
the windy wave-tossed bay –
I’m feeling mellow and at peace 
with life. It has been a lovely day.
The human-song falls and increases
in waves around me – soft exchanges,
and loud rolling laughter, female
and male blended together – ranges
from bass to soprano dance and sail
into my ears and gently tickle my soul.
In front of me a pot of steaming green tea,
African peanut soup, a soft, warm roll,
and slices of cheddar and Swiss cheese.
It is a moment of perfection.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell

 

I Have to Believe

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I have to believe we really can get better, day by day.
I have to believe that we aren’t fated to accumulate
baggage and burdens, fear and loss, problems and weight,
ailments and affliction until the day we die.
I have to believe that each challenge that presents
itself to us can be an opportunity to learn a lesson
about the power and eternal ever-presence of Love.
I have to believe there’s no problem that can’t be healed,
no limitation, and no dismal destiny that can’t be unsealed
and overcome. I have to believe there’s a divine
reason and a purpose for everyone – him, her, and you.
And me. If I can believe I can make it true
for myself. And for my world.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell

“Chronological data are no part of the vast forever. Time-tables of birth and death are so many conspiracies against manhood and womanhood. Except for the error of measuring and limiting all that is good and beautiful, man would enjoy more than threescore years and ten and still maintain his vigor, freshness, and promise. Man, governed by immortal Mind, is always beautiful and grand. Each succeeding year unfolds wisdom, beauty, and holiness…Life and goodness are immortal. Let us then shape our views of existence into loveliness, freshness, and continuity, rather than into age and blight. ”
– Mary Baker Eddy

Butterfly on Table Mountain

An alpine butterfly flits among the flowers on Table Mountain. Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell.

 

 

 

Our Student

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I’m thinking if we replace the words “the shooter” with “our student” or “my child” we might get a whole different perspective on things.

Let’s protect ALL our students.

school shooter

Leaving a Wake of Kindness

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My dear Humoristian hooligans –

I’ve been thinking about you, and feeling filled with gratitude, knowing you’re out there in the world, leaving a wake of kindness and love wherever you go. Wherever you are right now – whatever continent you’re on, or whatever ocean or sea – I know you will be working your magic today. You are transforming the universe. May your irrepressible joy bring hope to the hopeless. May the stodgy, stingy, and stuffy un-stodge and un-stuff themselves in the presence of your unstoppable silliness. May the bullies and bigots, bossybritches and busybodies, bellicose and benighted lose their fear and find their better selves in the power of your honesty and integrity. May you bring a good laugh to those desperately in need of a good laugh.
Amen.
Karen

Honoring Moz and Dad

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Dear friends,

I am going to continue to post things now and then that you may not agree with. This does not mean I don’t like you, or that I think you’re a bad person. It doesn’t mean I’M a bad person, either. It just means we disagree. It happens sometimes. But it’s not in my genetic make-up to stay silent or keep my thoughts to myself when I feel strongly about something. Moz and Dad were writing letters to newspapers since as far back as I can remember – and they set an example to me of how I should use my own First Amendment rights. I honor them by following in their footsteps.

You don’t have to read my stuff, of course – you can just skoot right by my posts and I won’t get hurt feelings or anything. But I’m going to continue to write them. For Moz. For Dad. For the causes that matter to me.

Karen

A Prayer for the World

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Feel the gentle presence of Love
enfolding all of creation.
Feel the peace of Love
settling on the world.
Feel the power of Love
renewing everything good
and healthy in us.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell

flower peace 2

O gentle presence, peace and joy and power;
O Life divine, that owns each waiting hour,
Thou love that guards the nestling’s faltering flight!
Keep thou my child on upward wing to-night.
– Mary Baker Eddy

 

Hope

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“…the exercise of the sentiments – hope, faith, love – is the prayer of the righteous.”
– Mary Baker Eddy

Hope 2