(Confession: I can’t count. My normal week for hosting the Friday Five is NEXT week… but this post came to me and so I posted it, with grace from Jan, a week early.)
I am an enthusiastic newspaper reader. Lately, however, world events have made it hard to read and process the pain in the world around me. Perhaps you have struggled with this, too.
So, with the events of the violence and tragedy from the Boston Marathon fresh in our memories, I thought it would be good for us to focus on where as RevGalBlogPals, we find healing, peace and strengthening. As a chaplain, there are: days where I never seem to catch my breath, and invariably, those are the days that I need it the most! So with all this in mind, share with us these healing things
1. A piece of music:
Ten Avenue North has an amazing song called “This Is Where the Healing Begins”…
2. A place:
HERE!
But also… here!
And… another shot…
3. A favorite food (they call it “comfort food” for a reason):
I am still a grilled-steak-and-corn-on-the-cob kinda gal. Mmmmmmmm…..
4. A recreational pastime (that you watch or participate in):
Ohio State Football! (And, oh yeah – BEAT MICHIGAN!)
5. A poem, Scripture passage or other literature that speaks to comfort you:
Evelyn Underhill:
There is no place in my soul, no corner of my character, where God is not.
Teresa of Avila:
Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.
John 16:33
(Jesus) “I’ve said these things to you so that you will have peace in me. In the world you have distress. But be encouraged! I have conquered the world.”
Revelation 21:1-4
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “Look! God’s dwelling is here with humankind. He will dwell with them, and they will be his peoples. God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more. There will be no mourning, crying, or pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
BONUS: People, animals, friends, family – share a picture of one or many of these who warm your heart.
An Unfinished Symphony 
Love your cats. Thanks for the Teresa of Avila quote.
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I LOVE her writing It inspires me. 🙂
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What a great Friday Five! I love all the photos of all the people/ places you love. That, truly, is what grounds me too. The person I can text in the middle of all this and say “Oh, Oh, Oh.”
Also, last week I took a con ed class at Montreat, and among the topics were monastic spirituality and mysticism. I’ve heard Evelyn Underhill’s name before, but have managed to get to this place in my life without reading her. Your quote from her really touhced me. Deeply. I need to speed her to the top of my must-read list.
Thank you for playing. Peace to you. Peace to us all.
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It is true that if we keep to the people and places where God touches us, we are always better grounded… I hadn’t thought of it that way! I find I have to read Evelyn in small doses. Each paragraph is rich with thought and implication!
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thank you for sharing with all of us and inviting us in, scheduled or otherwise! Love your song choice and I’m envious of your backyard!!
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There’s always room for another person to come weed in my back yard. Heh. Enjoyed your post as well.
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Thanks for sharing your healing spaces with us. I love the way you have the pictures looking like Polaroids – how did you do that?
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Hmmmm…. It’s the way WordPress inserts them (at least, in this schema.) I do crop them so you don’t get as many extraneous pixels loading. 🙂
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It may just have been a Holy Spirit thing, this mixing up of dates. Throw a baked potato on that plate with the steak and the corn and you may have my perfect meal. The Midwest dies hard. –Wendy
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Yeah, I think She had her hands all over this timing mix-up. Thanks be to God!
The potato! Well, that goes without saying! To NOT have a potato would deny my decidedly German propensity for Kartoffeln! 🙂
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