Sometimes I get the feeling
that all these things we think
are of such import –
all the worries and fears
and petty prejudices we fill
our days with – are just
distractions from something
so big it’s beyond our ability
to grasp.
Just a thought. Alrighty. Carry on then.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
It’s been almost five years since then,
but it feels like yesterday that you left,
brushed by me as I slept, on your way
to the other side of infinity.
There are still days when I think I should
pick up the phone and give you a call.
But I know I don’t really need a phone
to talk with you. I feel you with me –
here and now.
The sons are both married now; and Dad
has gone – joined you on the other side
of infinity; I’m retired sort of; and we have
a new president. Everything has changed
and nothing has changed since then.
I feel your love. You must feel mine.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
I had such a fun day!
I went to Anacortes to pick up some papers and then, impulsively, drove to the marina to see if there were any cool boat reflections. (There were.) Then I thought to myself, “Self,” I thought, “I think I’ll saunter down to that gazebo on the end of the trail on the other side of the marina.” So I did that.
And then I looked up to the top of that hill over-looking Cap Sante, and I thought, “Self, you’ve never been up there. Maybe today would be a good day to check out the view up there.” And so I found a trail through the woods that led up to the top of the hill and started up.
About half-way up a deer suddenly appeared in front of me. She looked at me and decided we were friends, and calmly nibbled on branches while I snapped her photo. She was so beautiful! It was magic spending a few minutes with her.
I continued up the trail. Near the top there was a little rock scramble – that was pretty fun – and then I was standing on the boulders at the top and looking out over the harbor. (My phone tells me I climbed 13 floors.) I crossed over to the other side and saw that there was actually a parking lot there – right below the summit. (It always cracks me up when I find a parking lot at the end of a hike.) I stayed up there for maybe five minutes – shooting photos and soaking up the sun – and then headed back down.
I passed another couple coming up the trail as I was going down – it was their first time hiking up there, too – and we wished each other a good day. And then when I got back to the gazebo I discovered friendly Max and his humans. I asked Max’s humans if they’d ever been up to the top of the hill and they said they had – but they said there was an easier way to get up there than the way I’d gone. I laughed – and mentioned the parking lot I’d seen up there. But, I told them, I’d actually enjoyed that little rock scramble. I’d thought of my mountaineering dad when I was on that trail – and I know he wouldn’t have wanted to go the easy way, either.
As I was returning down the trail to my car I spotted a kingfisher sitting on a post. I love those guys. This one posed for me for a few minutes as I took his photo.
On my drive home, I stopped at the The Store to buy a cookie and a mocha for myself. As I was walking into The Store I noticed a gentleman sitting outside on a bench. As the barista was making my mocha, I ducked out of The Store to ask the gentleman if he’d like something to drink and he said a mocha would be great. So I went back in and told the barista I wanted to get a mocha for the gentleman outside. The barista immediately wanted to pay for the man’s drink himself, but I insisted on paying for it. I took the drink out to the gentleman, and when I got back inside the barista said he’d really like to give me a larger sized mocha than the one I’d ordered – and that the extra four ounces would be on him. Isn’t that nice?!
I so enjoyed meeting the people – and the dog and the deer and the kingfisher – I met today! I so enjoyed that little hike to the top of the knob over-looking the harbor. And I so enjoyed my mocha and my cookie from The Store.
Here are some photos from the day…
Let’s rejoice when we can!
Let’s not worry how long
the good will last or when it will end –
afraid of rejoicing for fear
the good will be gone tomorrow.
Let’s rejoice for the good we have
right now, and let tomorrow
take care of itself.
This moment is good.
Amen.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.”
-Matthew 6
Enveloped in the natural beauty of autumn
on Mount Rainier. Two days of peace,
immersed in the sounds and smells
of The Mountain – waterfalls and birds
and glaciers and hemlock and heather.
And then we’re leaving The Mountain –
driving through traffic and diesel fumes
on the freeway – past metal warehouses
and box stores and billboards
advertising cars and drugs and hamburgers.
And there’s Rainier – rising above the concrete
and car dealerships and rusty storage units,
and I feel sad that humanity seems so heedless
of her beauty – so unappreciative – almost
disrespectful in the ugliness it’s built in front of her.
Two hours from The Mountain, I look back
and get one last glimpse – she’s still there –
still with me – majestic in the distance –
untouched by the fuss and folderol,
the ego and greed of human-kind.
And as I think about this it occurs to me
that this is true of everything that’s real, isn’t it?
All the ugly and fuss that ego builds in front
of our identities can’t destroy our real selves –
can’t destroy what we really are:
The manifestations and expressions of Love.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
“Spiritual interpreted, rocks and mountains stand for solid and grand ideas.”
-Mary Baker Eddy
(Photos by Karen Molenaar Terrell.)
Who could have guessed a year
ago that today I would have near
two new daughters, loved and dear
to me.
Life is like that, isn’t it?
In the midst of chaos there
is still joy to find and share
and in the midst of pandemic terror
the sons still found life-partners who dare
to approach life as they do – kind and ready,
brave and steady.
There were no caterers or wedding planners,
no venues, no bands, no banners,
no paid photographers, florists, or DJs,
and no invitations to each pair’s special day.
Their weddings were simple and true –
one in Hawaii and one under a blue
sky on top of the courthouse in Seattle.
We couldn’t make it to one, but we all
made it to the other.
Father, sons, new daughters, and mother.
Who could have guessed a year ago that by September’s
end I would have two new daughters?
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
“Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it.”
-Mary Baker Eddy
.
I am not a body.
I am of THE body
of I AM.
And so I AM
kind, competent, confident,
fearless, strong, intelligent,
brave, beautiful,
bursting with joy,
full of energy,
healthy, whole, and hardy,
no less than I AM
filling all space,
holding all power.
I am of I AM.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
I yam what I yam.
– Popeye
So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them…and God saw every thing that He had made, and behold, it was very good.
-Genesis 1: 27.31
And God said to Moses, “I AM THAT I AM.”
Exodus 3:14
For we, being many, are one bread and one body…
– I Corinthians 10.17
For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body…
– I Corinthians 12:13
There is one body and one Spirit…
Ephesians 4:4
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful.
Colossians 3:15
The term Mind and body literally means God and man, for man is the expression of Mind and the manifestation of Mind is the embodiment of Mind. Therefore, man is God’s body and there is but one God. Body is therefore the aggregation of spiritual ideas, forever controlled and governed by the law of Life, harmonious and eternal.
– attributed to Mary Baker G. Eddy ( https://articles.plainfieldcs.com/mary-baker-eddy/body-unabridged/ )
In that quiet space
that holy place
looking inward to look
outward to look inward
gathering energy
for the next calling
enjoying this in-between time
as important as the beginning
as important as the end
important in its stillness
importance in its peace
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
Quiet fallow field
resting unobserved in peace
preparing to grow
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
I am not a body.
You are not a body.
We are part of something
bigger than a body.
We are enveloped in infinity,
embodied in the Body of Love.
The human body is a tool
for my human experience.
It’s no less than perfect
because there’s no reason
for it to be anything less
than what I need it to be
here, for me, as I move
through the veil.
“Take possession of your body,
and govern its feeling and action.” *
I am in control of the body-tool
– the tool does not control me
or determine my existence here.
I wield it. It doesn’t wield me.
I am not a body.
You are not a body.
We are part of something
bigger.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
*”Take possession of your body, and govern its feeling and action. Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all that is unlike good. God has made man capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely bestowed on man.”
– Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
Well, dang. I just found myself
getting caught up in the endless loop
again – that spinning hamster’s hoop
again – that weird compulsion we
humans have to prove we’re right –
to send our little egos out to fight
in a battle that no one will win.
Hurling opinions and catpulting “facts”
believing that where our data lands
will bring us fresh new fans
And getting frustrated when it doesn’t
work out quite the way we planned.
Because that’s not how Love works!
Love works in kindness –
in the ties of caring that bind us.
Love brings us together for each other
– to help and hold and heal
and to embrace what’s lasting and real.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 