Today there is reason to celebrate.  Five individuals I passed on the sidewalk this morning responded to my “Good Morning” with a “Good Morning” to me!  This marks a major change in behavior among people on the sidewalk.  Usually, everyone keeps their heads down and won’t even meet my eyes, much less respond to my “Good Morning.”  But, today … today, five people risked a response.

This continual effort to be civil and pleasant on the streets of DC takes me back to the time when my oldest child was a year old and we would walk the streets of the neighborhood on our way to see a cow that was in a pasture beyond our housing complex.  Each day we would pass the mailman on his route delivering the mail.  Each day I would say “hello” to him and then teach my young son the word “mailman,” and to say “hello” to the mailman.     Each day the mailman would pass us without recognition, comment, or even so much as a smile.

This went on for months.  Then on one of those days, my child spoke his first word:  “mailman.”  And, somehow the mailman was transformed.  He recognized us, smiled at us and responded with “hello.”  It became a great event of each day to meet the mailman and say our hellos.

This experience was a lesson for me in being proactive, not simply reactive.  It was a lesson in continuing.  And, waiting.  And being pleasant, no matter the response.

And today, there was fruit for my efforts.  What a grace it is to receive a simple smile and “Good Morning” from a complete stranger.

When I got to the entry door of our apartment complex yesterday I was met with a bit of a shock.  My key didn’t work.  First I checked to see if it was the right key – and it was.  As I stood dripping with sweat in the 100 degree heat and humidity, struggling to get into the air-conditioning, I became more and more distressed.  I pushed, and tried to turn the key.  I struggled with it.  I put more muscle into the effort.  All to no avail.  The key simply wouldn’t turn in the lock.  I was stuck.  After several minutes of working to no avail, I was thinking about walking back up to the maintenance office when I thought I would try one more time.

I put my key – the right key – back in the lock.  I paused a moment, for some crazy reason, thinking that might help.  I gently jiggled the key a slight amount, without any force — just trying everything.  Then I gently tried to turn it.  And the door opened!

Reflecting on this little jam and my final entry into the building has caused me to think of other jams that I have been in that were less successful.  Force and obstinacy are not always the best policy. Perhaps when we are up against a brick wall with someone, some job, some experience, forcing the issue is not always the best plan.  Perhaps, we might just pause for a moment and then gently proceed – without force – to try to convey our opinions, or tackle the obstacle, or continue forward in the moment.

Feeling my keys in my pocket now reminds me of this little grace.  Force is not always necessary.  Sometimes a pause, a jiggle, and a gentle turn is all that is needed.

Today I have a renewed appreciation for trees.  Not because they are beautiful, which they are.  Not because they are majestic living things, which they are.  Not because they have unique characteristics like blossoming flowers and wonderful scents, which they do.  Today I have a renewed appreciation for trees because they provide shade.

In the heat this morning I realized all over again the grace that a single tree brings to my walk.  And then I realized the added graces that many trees along my walk offer me.  Shade is pure grace on a day like today – even early in the morning.  As I passed by a grove of trees and walked in their shade, I could feel the temperature drop by several degrees.  This reduced temperature was not a result of breezes, as is sometimes the case.  It was simply because of the shade provided by the trees.

So often I take the trees for granted.  But today, I give thanks for the wonderful grace of trees.

Today, I can’t stop thinking about the words of Rabbi Abraham Herschel.  What grace there is in these words if we but take the time to absorb them:

Just to be is a blessing.  Just to live is holy.

There is enough wisdom here for a lifetime.  Certainly it’s enough for today.  Just be.  It is a blessing.

The night before last I had a very strange dream.  I woke up confused and disoriented until I realized where I was.  I hope it’s not a result of watching the old TV show “LOST” in mega doses! But, after reflecting on this dream, I think it may carry a significant message for me, perhaps for many of us.

In the dream, I woke up to find dirty footprints all over our apartment carpet.  After noticing the footprints, I realized that all our furniture was gone.  All our belongings, gone.  All the closets, empty.  All the cupboards – empty.  The only thing remaining was the baby crib and the toddler waking up in it.  He was hungry and wanted Cheerios.  But we had no dishes, no table, no food in the apartment.

I frantically got out my cell phone – which miraculously was still there – to call my husband, but the cell phone wouldn’t work properly.  It changed in size and shape and kept wanting me to play a game.  No matter how many times I turned it off and on, tried resetting it, or tried using it to make a call, it always wanted me to play a game.  Frustrated, I picked up the baby and decided I would have to go find some food for him somewhere.  As we were leaving the apartment, the thought went through my mind that it would be very easy to pick up and move now – since there was nothing to move but the baby’s crib.

And then I woke up.  I woke up to a furnished apartment and all my belongings with all the closets and cupboards full and my cell phone working properly.  The only thing missing was the baby and the crib.

Revisiting this dream and praying with it for the past day, I remembered that I had read a book years ago by John Sanford called Dreams, God’s Forgotten Language.  If dreams are one of the ways God communicates with us, what was God possibly trying to communicate to me?

Many thoughts have filled my mind, but the one that keeps coming back to me is this:  We will have trouble finding food to nourish the child within us if we continue to let our possessions be the most important thing in our lives.  When we can let go of the need for things and more things, then we will be able to address our true selves and enjoy life to its fullest in child-like play that frees the soul.

What a grace the message of this dream is for me.  God speaking and telling me to let go of the many things I think are important and just the take time to play.  It is not an easy message for me to receive because I was taught to be so responsible.  But it is a message I am trying to take to heart so it will make a difference in my life for the future.

What is God speaking to you?

In my prayer this morning I read that Catherine of Siena, who lived from 1347 to 1380, is known to have said: “Preach the truth as if we had a million voices for it is silence that kills the world.”

What powerful wisdom that is!  Speaking and preaching the truth is a necessary quality of each disciple.  But, then I remembered one of my favorite nuggets of wisdom from St. Francis of Assisi, who lived from 1182 to 1226.  He is known to have said:  “Preach the gospel wherever you go.  If necessary use words.”

There we have it!  In these two statements from the saints, I think we have a simple guide for our lives.  Whether we are silent or whether we preach with a million voices, it is clear what we should be doing each day.  We must be about the work of making Christ visible in our day in every way possible.

J.P. Richter once said “The test of an enjoyment is the remembrance which it leaves behind.” Are our memories a testament to the enjoyments we have experienced?

Often I think we tend to remember the bad experiences we encounter and fail to relish and remember the good experiences.  According to Richter, that would mean that we aren’t really enjoying life.  Our search for all the wealth or esteem or possessions in this world will never bring us happiness; will never give us memories of enjoyment.

What are our most prominent memories?  Are they ones that recall for us the grace of enjoyment?

What is the cost of adventure?

I was talking with one of my sons last night and we were discussing adventures and what it takes to make the decision to make a grand adventure happen.   After our year-long adventures here in D.C., it’s easy to say that taking such an adventure costs something.  But, what is the real cost?

My son and I explored some options and then we shared all the old maxims about setting out on an unknown path such as:  “Every journey begins with a single step.” And, “If you wait until you are ready, you will never do anything.”  And, “Doing something is infinitely more than doing nothing.”

In order to embark on adventure, sometimes we just have to do it.  . . . even when we don’t know where it will lead; even when we don’t know when or if we will return; even if we aren’t quite entirely ready.

After making the decision to move here last year, I met a man at the airport on my arrival. He had been here on business and was leaving for his return to Seattle.  I recognized him – he recognized me.  He had been one of my students several years ago.  I explained that my husband and I had just made the decision to make this great adventure to D.C.  He shared his joy for us and told me some advice that he had received as a young man.  When he was first in business he asked an experienced partner if he had any advice for someone just beginning on the job.  The advice he received he has never forgotten.  He was kind enough to tell me the story and share the advice with me:  “Never regret what you do.  Only regret what you don’t do.”

Last night, I passed this wisdom on to my son.  The real cost of adventure is never doing anything.  Can we afford that?

May we recognize the grace in adventure and have the courage to pay the price.

I read in the paper that the AIDS Quilt was in town and I made a special trip – in the heat – to the National Mall to see it.  It was more overwhelming than I would have imagined.  Yards and yards of beautifully crafted memories to people who have died of AIDS.  It is laid out lovingly on the lawn and invites a slow walk and reverent reflection.  The love embedded in every stitch and in each creative pattern is more than evident.  What a memorial to those who have died.  What a way to continue to tell their story.  It was very moving.

It made me think about how each of us is a special grace in this world and each of us has a life and a story that is worthy of being remembered.

How would we like to have our life and our story remembered?

I guess we can now officially say we have lived in DC.  Yesterday, on the 4th of July, with friends who knew of the best observation spots, we ventured out to the Mall to see the fireworks.  It was still 95 degrees at 10:00 p.m., but along with thousands of others we trekked outdoors and raised our eyes to the skies and “ooohed” and “ahhhed” at the colorful display amid the pops and bangs.

We were on the veranda of the Kennedy Center and looking West toward the Lincoln Monument.  What a sight.  And, what an experience to be here, in our Nation’s Capital on the 4th of July.  I felt graced to be here – in this place at this time.