You don’t have to bring the past
into this moment.
You don’t have to bring the pain
with you as you move forward.
Ask yourself:
Is this helpful?
Is this useful?
Is this relevant?
Is there a purpose to this?
If the answer is “no” –
then move on.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
“She could not fix the past and she couldn’t stay trapped there.”
― Janis Wildy, The English Bookshop
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
I discovered something the other day –
I was sitting in a cranky, put-upon place
stewing in my own impatience –
and then – I shut it off. Put it behind me.
The troubles from the moment before
were no longer relevant to me.
And a laughing lightness –
a joyful presence – just wrapped itself
around me in a happy hug and –
instantly! – I felt whole and free
and at peace with the world.
I discovered I can let go of then.
I discovered I can live in now.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
(Photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell.)
Every moment we start fresh.
That one. Right there. See?
We’re new again!
(Photo of Mount Baker by Karen Molenaar Terrell.)
Tenaciously trying to tug tattered
traditions into my December –
there WILL be jangling jarring carols
on my CD player!
there WILL be cheesy Christmas movies!
And then it suddenly hits me –
my real life is so much better than these
ridiculous stories of make-believe!
I’m missing out on the Christmassy
magic going on right now, in this moment,
when I’m spending my energies
and focusing what I see
on what came before instead
of what’s right in front of me.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
I found ten perfect minutes today – sitting in the shade outside the coffee shop – all alone in the space set aside for patrons, sipping my blueberry-spinach-coconut milk smoothie. I watched the sailboats and paddle boarders and kayakers gliding by on the bay – and, with my mask securely fastened about my face – asked a pair of friends who’ve known each other for 40 years if I could take their photo for them – they said yes and thank you. Another pair of friends – a black woman and a white woman – walked by and stopped on the walk in front of me to look out at the water – and I had to comment on the beautiful sweater one of the friends was wearing – she smiled and thanked me and told me she ordered her sweater online. Just as I was contemplating leaving and continuing on with my walk a family came out of the coffee shop and joined me in the space for patrons – my table was the only one in the shade, and I told them that I was leaving and they could sit where I was. They smiled and – making sure to keep the proper social distance – we moved around each other and they took over the table out of the sun.
Ten perfect minutes is a pretty wonderful thing.
-Karen Molenaar Terrell
Yup. I had one of those today. 🙂
photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell
photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell
Adventures of the Madcap Christian Scientist 