Passing Thoughts

Passing Thoughts

Lingering, flitting, wispy, clear –
thoughts passing through me today:
Aunt Junie’s laugh filled my mental ears
and my heart filled with love when I
remembered her support through the dark years;
Then my thoughts turned to a man
I once thought a terrible trial  –
I saw him last week as I sat in the bank
and he came up to me and smiled
and I smiled back and we
made small talk for awhile, 
and I felt nothing – not anger, nor tension –
and I was kind of surprised by that.
I guess Life has moved me past
the past, and the love has stayed,
but the bad didn’t last.

– Karen Molenaar Terrell

 

 

Establishing My Day

“DAY. The irradiance of Life; light, the spiritual idea of Truth and Love. ‘And the evening and the morning were the first day.’ The objects of time and sense disappear in the illumination of spiritual understanding, and Mind measures time according to the good that is unfolded. This unfolding is God’s day, and ‘there shall be no night there.'”
– Mary Baker Eddy

Now – as I’m rubbing the sleep from my eyes – now is the moment when i choose what kind of day I’m going to have. 

Let’s see… I think I’ll choose a day full of friendly smiles. And there will be laughter, for sure. I’m going to find something good in everyone I encounter today. I’m going to accept all the joy and love that Love presents to me – there will be no snubbing of good. I’m going to treat others fairly, and I’m going to expect to be treated fairly by others. I’m going to expect wonder and magic.

Today is a gift and I’m not going to wait to open it up and see what waits for me inside… 🙂

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I walk with Love along the way,
And O, it is a holy day;
No more I suffer cruel fear,
I feel God’s presence with me here;
The joy that none can take away
Is mine; I walk with Love today.

Who walks with Love along the way,
Shall talk with Love and Love obey;
God’s healing truth is free to all,
Our Father answers every call;
’Tis He dispels the clouds of gray
That all may walk with Love today.

Come, walk with Love along the way,
Let childlike trust be yours today;
Uplift your thought, with courage go,
Give of your heart’s rich overflow,
And peace shall crown your joy-filled day.
Come, walk with Love along the way.
– Minny M.H. Ayers

Happy Day, My Friend!

“FRIENDSHIP IS A SPIRITUAL THING. It is independent of Matter, or Space, or Time. That which I love in my friend is not that which I see. What influences me in my friend is not his body but his spirit. He influences me about as much in his absence as in his presence.” – Henry Drummond, from The Greatest Thing In the World and Other Addresses

Happy day, Kathi!

Today you celebrate the beginning of another journey around the sun. May your journey be blest with all the wonder and beauty that you are.

To celebrate this day I give you a box full of jewelry:

A ring made of the October blueberry bushes I saw on a hike to a mountain pass in the North Cascades.
A ring made of the blue sky and bay along the boardwalk in Bellingham.
A ring made from the gold of the autumn leaves on a tree outside the Village Green.
A necklace made from the purple flowers along a trail through the forest.
A ring made from the waters in the Sound connected to the Pacific connected to the Atlantic connected to you and the hike we took together once along a Nova Scotian shore.

Thank you for all the kindness you have brought into my life. Thank you for the inspiration, the wisdom, the encouragement, the spiritual support. I am blest to know you, and to call you friend.

Love you,
Karen

photo jewelry

photo jewelry by Karen Molenaar Terrell

“Be still, and know that Love is God.”

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A Box Full of Magic

(Originally published on https://ramblingschoolmarm.wordpress.com/ – my teaching blog)

Maybe nine or ten years ago my students gave me a box they’d constructed from paper. I was told that inside the box they’d put notes about me. I brought the box with me when I moved to another school, and then to another school, and then to the school where I work now. Until today I never opened it up to find out what was inside there. But today, as I was cleaning off my desk, I came upon the box again. And this time I thought to myself, “Self,” I thought, “I think now is the moment I need to open this box.” And so I did. And ohmygosh. There was magic in there! I’m not going to share everything I found inside, but I really want to share this one: “She cares about you like her own child.” I have been blest in my career with the most amazing and precious students. And I love each and every one of them.

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Box Full of Love

 

This is the day that Love hath made…

Let’s be glad and rejoice in it! 🙂

the day that love hath made

Know that Love is God

Be still, and know that Love is God…

know that Love is God

You Want to Leave the World a Better Place?

Courtesy and kindness are powerful world-changers…

Interracial Kindness 4

 

 

 

An Unremarkable and Sweet Exchange

Okay, to be honest, I debated whether I should share this moment or not. In a way, it seems almost silly for me to share it – because it SHOULD be just a matter-of-fact thing – a “no big deal” thing, really – but… after some other news I’ve heard tonight, I’m feeling impelled to put this out there…

So I’d helped my dad out of the car, and was helping my mom out, when I heard Dad say, “Thank you!” to someone who was opening the door to the apartment building for him. I looked to see what was going on back there, and saw that these two young black men with Seahawks hoodies were holding the door for Dad so he could maneuver his walker into the building. Dad nodded to the young men, and smiled, and thanked them again as I watched him go through the doors, and the young men smiled back and said, “You’re welcome!” and then went on their way. It was a small, insignificant moment, really. But… and I can’t even explain why… I find myself getting teary-eyed as I sit here recalling that simple, unremarkable, sweet exchange between a 97 year-old white man, and those two young men in the hoodies.

You know, there are a lot of really good people in this world who want to do right by each other. There is hope for us.

 

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Love Is With Thee

“Fear thou not; for (Love) is with thee: be not dismayed; for (Love) is thy God: (Love) will strengthen thee; yea, (Love) will help thee; yea, (Love) will uphold thee with the right hand of Love’s righteousness.” 

– Isaiah 41:10 and I John 4:7

photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell

photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell