Seasonal Reflections

Thank you for such encouragement! This morning, as I am sitting on the deck sipping my coffee, I almost felt sorry for myself, then, I reminded me that the sun is shining, I had food for breakfast, I am sipping on hot coffee, so what if I am all alone, so what?

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I do not know exactly what brought me here this morning except that when I got up I felt tired of being depressed when, as I am told by so many that "I have everything to be happy for". Yes, it is true, yet, I did not/do not chose to be depressed, and, as I have said so many times, when your foot hurts, you do not go around dancing thanking God because you have no toothache.

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Merry Christmas, Laurie. You’re always a beacon of light and hope, my dear. I wish you a very healthy year ahead as well as all of our Connect family! For those of us who don’t have a houseful of friends and family this year, wow, we sure have an extended family here in this forum!

I love the way you signed your message…Ever Hopeful.

“Ever Hopeful” is the foundation for those of us always looking for a positive outcome!
There are so many of us in this Connect forum with the same zest for life, the over-comers, those who persevere through adversity. In our house we call it the sprit of endurance. Laurie, (@artist01), @ess77, @jakedduck1, @lioness, @athenalee are just a tiny few of the members whom I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know in my ‘less than one year’ as a mentor. I never expected to feel the level of emotional connection with so many people I’ll never meet in person!
You all touch my heart. The overwhelming level of support and encouragement all of our members share; to lift each other, to offer hope and a shoulder to lean on is so heartwarming and leaves me, Ever Hopeful.

The holiday season always inspires renewed hope, which we all desperately need. So whatever your reason for the season, I hope it brings peace, harmony and contentment to you and your families.

Merry Christmas and best wishes for Happy and Healthy New Year for all of us!

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Thank you for such encouragement! This morning, as I am sitting on the deck sipping my coffee, I almost felt sorry for myself, then, I reminded me that the sun is shining, I had food for breakfast, I am sipping on hot coffee, so what if I am all alone, so what?

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Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem
By Dr. Maya Angelou

Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes
And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.
Flood waters await us in our avenues.

Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche
Over unprotected villages.
The sky slips low and grey and threatening.

We question ourselves.
What have we done to so affront nature?
We worry God.
Are you there? Are you there really?
Does the covenant you made with us still hold?

Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters,
Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope
And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air.
The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,
Come the way of friendship.

It is the Glad Season.
Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner.
Flood waters recede into memory.
Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us
As we make our way to higher ground.

Hope is born again in the faces of children
It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.
Hope spreads around the earth. Brightening all things,
Even hate which crouches breeding in dark corridors.

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft. Then only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is loud now. It is louder.
Louder than the explosion of bombs.

We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war. But, true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.

We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.
Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
Implore you, to stay a while with us.
So we may learn by your shimmering light
How to look beyond complexion and see community.

It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.

On this platform of peace, we can create a language
To translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.

At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ
Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues at the coming of hope.
All the earth's tribes loosen their voices
To celebrate the promise of Peace.

We, Angels and Mortals, Believers and Non-Believers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at our world and speak the word aloud.
Peace. We look at each other, then into ourselves
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation.

Peace, My Brother.
Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul.

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The Road Not Taken - by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

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I live in Texas, Houston, "the friendly state" yet everyone has his/her door locked; no one shares his/her telephone number. Last night, I wanted to follow via zoom a church service, could not get hold of any, and, out of the blue, I get an email inviting me to participate in a Jewish service via zoom. It was so touching, I was so moved, and at the end of the service, the Rabbi prayed for me by name, hearing my name moved me so much, I wanted to cry. The service was in Massachusetts, I do not know how my email got to them, all I can say was that I felt part of a Godly community.

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