ContemplativeJourney

Cookies...chocolate chip cookies. An innocent enough item, and yet, something that I have to be more careful about... Yesterday was a difficult day for me. Strange dreams and major difficulty with focusing on my work all day long...I had been encouraged about the issue of mental focus at work, because Thursday and Friday of last week were very good days...but yesterday was tough, and I was discouraged. I am part of a small spiritual formation group that meets once each month, and I invited the group to meet in my home last night. In my effort to 'be the ideal hostess', I prepared fresh chocolate chip cookies for my guests...they enjoyed the cookies, but then they left...and I ate the entire remaining batch by myself. A total of 15 cookies, I think...to be honest, I lost count. There are many things I could say about the cookie binge...I have a history of compulsive eating to explain the behavior, for those of you who don't know me that well. I have also begun participating ...

I woke up this morning in a bit of a funk...not really a bad mood, but a little odd...I had a very strange dream before waking...was alternately staying at a resort where I had an assigned golf cart to get around...then trying to navigate through traffic in a major city (in the golf cart)....then turning the golf cart in on my departure day (very vivid scene, in the circular drive that is common to large resort hotels). In this particular scene, my Mom was present...not in a dramatic way, but just very matter of fact...she was standing there as I took my stuff out of the cart and turned in the keys. Next, I was running down the street to a 7-11, taking off layers of shirts (not to worry, I ultimately still had a shirt on, after the peeling of layers)...I went in to get something for lunch...in a hurry. The woman who worked there was in the back office, rather than out front...there was a line of people, and I was searching the coolers for a Diet Coke. I had a difficult time finding one...

Last night I was reading The Richest Man in Babylon , by George Clason. If you've never heard of the book, it's a classic...an allegory on the subject of how to wisely handle your finances. Sometimes when I'm reading a book, I stumble upon a statement or question that is totally unexpected in its impact, and last night was such a time. In this chapter, the story was of a young man who had squandered the money his father entrusted to him to begin his life as a man. As a consequence of his bad choices and seemingly insurmountable debt, the young man ultimately ends up being sold into slavery... While a slave, the young man has a conversation with the wife of his owner, and relays his tale of woe...how his life has been marred by "ill fortune." In response to his tale, the wife asks this question: "Have you the soul of a slave or the soul of a free man?" If you happen to be a Christian, or even if you're simply familiar with the writings of the Apostle ...

Life can certainly be mysterious sometimes...and just when I think I've figured something out, I realize how very little I know, and how very much I've yet to learn. Over the past 2 years, I've given a lot of thought to the subject of transformation, and to what it means to live an authentic life as a follower of Christ. In the past 60 days, I went through a period of questioning everything I've ever believed about either, and found myself having to start again...asking hard questions about the beliefs that make up the core of who I am. It is with a great deal of peace this morning...inexplicable peace, I might add...that I return to the roots of a faith that has served me well these last 40 years, even when I have been faithless. On the subject of faith, I read Hebrews, chapters 11, 12, and 13 last night... Here are a few of the passages that spoke to me: For faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were com...

As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man. -Proverbs 27:19 I have made a focused effort in recent days to spend more time reading the Bible. During the past week, several passages have made an impression on me, and challenged my way of thinking. Last week, I read 1 Corinthians 15. If you're unfamiliar with the passage, it is Paul's response to people who denied the bodily resurrection of the dead. In it, he says that to deny the resurrection is to deny the central message of the Gospel - that Christ died for our sins, and was raised again on the 3rd day. If indeed Jesus has risen, the rest of us will rise too...and if Jesus did not conquer death, the Christian message is moot. It should be packed up and stored in the attic, because it would be without effect or power. I do believe in the resurrection...in Christ and his atonement for sin. I affirm the core truths that led the first followers of Jesus to give up their lives in service of the Gospel. It is ...

What else have I got to do with my time? Seriously, I've recently joined an online community called Spark People ( http://www.sparkpeople.com/ ), which is a group committed to encouraging healthy lifestyles, and have been inspired to embark on a virtual journey to climb Mt. Kilamanjaro. My goal is to climb the mountain virtually in the next 3 weeks, and to someday climb the real mountain as well. I joined Spark People last week, and though these folks didn't know me at all, I received a tremendous amount of encouragement and support during the days I was sitting with my Mom. I am a Sparker for life, I'll tell ya! If you're so inclined, join me on the virtual climb...I'm using a treadmill, and today I climbed 1,122 feet on my journey toward the summit: 19,298 feet.

It is our philosophical set of the sail that determines the course of our lives. To change our current direction, we have to change our philosophy, not our circumstances. - Jim Rohn Ahoy matey! It is time once again, to set the sail of my philosophy. Since I first wrote about the 5 Major Pieces of the Life Puzzle, circumstances have changed on several fronts...the one commonality of the change is that I am not in control of the external events occurring in and around my life. I do however, have control of my mind. I am not a duck, a rabbit, or a squirrel...I am not imprisoned by dumb instinct, nor are any of us. We have the God-given ability to alter our thoughts, our perceptions, and indeed, our reactions to the circumstances that we encounter on life's journey. Part of my process for setting the sail involves listening to CDs and reading...I am subjecting my mind to things that will change my thinking for the better. One of the lessons in recent days has to do with happiness. Hap...