As anyone reading this blog knows, I love reflections – all kinds of reflections – the visual, the mental, and the spiritual.  And, there are those rare times when they all come together in a kind of holy trinity – like yesterday.

Not wanting to be on the road with thousands of others for the Thanksgiving holiday, we decided to “shelter in place.”  (Love that image from the hurricane warnings!)  The time was lovely, the weather beautiful, and it offered many opportunities for reflections.

We had time for walks and talks, music and reading, cooking and eating, talking with our family back home, and photographing, of course!

So, yesterday, at Little Falls, I was stunned by the beauty of a simple reflection.  How wonderful for nature to offer not just one image, but the reflected and intensified image in the reflection!  It was almost as if the picture were clearer in the reflection!  And I thought about how we only really know ourselves through reflections.  They can be thoughtful and prayerful reflections, or they can be reflections offered by a good friend who knows us well and can reflect back to us what we are saying or doing, thereby allowing us to see the truth in our own nature.  It is true that we only really know what we look like from the reflection in the mirror.  Is it any wonder that we only really know ourselves if we can receive the thoughtful reflections of friends and family?

And, if we are best known in reflection, how then can we know God?  In the reflected beauty of the landscape, perhaps?  Or, in the face of a loved one, the smile of a stranger, or the unrestrained laughter after a shared story?  God is reflected in all things.  We have only to acknowledge the grace to see the Creator in creation.

Reflections are grace.  Look for them to see more clearly what is real.

At this time of year we tend toward thanksgiving.  And there are so many, many things to be grateful for . . .

Simply thinking about the need to be thankful gives us opportunities to list the graces we have encountered, known, loved, shared, seen, touched, tasted, smelled, or experienced.

Naming such grace is itself a grace, and the reality of our loving God becomes present through our experience.  Remembering allows us to savor and cherish the graces we have named.

Tomorrow is a day to spend with grace, naming grace.  May we always be grateful, thankful, and filled with awe.

Just for today, a bit of folk wisdom that I ran across recently:

“Everything will be okay in the end.  If it’s not okay, then it’s not the end.”

Very funny.  But there is some truth to it as well.  It’s not unlike the old “We’ll never get out of this world alive” but there is more applicability to our everyday experiences in “Everything will be okay in the end.” 

When the plumbing doesn’t work; when the job rating isn’t clear; when the children are rebelling; when the plane is canceled; when our ankle twists on the last step; when the burner in the oven goes out right before the meat goes in; when the rains won’t stop; when the car behind us meets up with our bumper; when we can’t sleep because of anxiety; when the phone call won’t come; when the communication isn’t clear; when we don’t understand; when the tire is flat; when there is nowhere to turn for help; when the future is uncertain; and we are afraid of what will be next . . . it will all be okay in the end.  After all, it really can’t get any worse, can it?

Well, it probably can. But in the meantime, what we probably need to remember most is that grace is surrounding us through it all – all the way to the end. We are not alone and “nothing can keep us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.“  Nothing!  So, it will be okay in the end.

That’s grace.

That’s faith.

And, that’s okay.

There is one grace that every parent dreams about.  That is that our children will find a place in life with their own skills and abilities using their unique gifts and talents and enjoy what they are doing.  Just this has / is happening with one of our sons.

He is a musician and is creating / making music from his North Seattle base that is moving, inspiring, and slowly being recognized.  What a joy to know that the talents of our progeny have begun to be recognized and appreciated.

He and his girlfriend are OwlPussycat and this is their website:

http://owlpussycatisforlovers.com/

Check it out to listen to some of their beautiful music and see when they are playing next in and around the Seattle area.  It makes a parent proud.

It is a lesson to us all to let our own creative juices flow and pursue what makes us happy.  And grace will follow.

A short hop, skip, and jump from Hardy, VA and the birthplace of Booker T. Washington and we found our way to the home of Patrick Henry of Revolutionary War fame.  It is another beautiful spot nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. His house has been reconstructed to what it was like when he lived there and his law office and grave site are close by.  Notable on the grounds is a huge orange tree that was growing there when he lived on the property.

Henry is best remembered for his outspoken oratory during the war for independence.  His words “Give me liberty or give me death” remain with us to this day.

For what would we like to be remembered?  What bit of wisdom or oratory or kindness would we like to live on in the memory of others long after we have left this earth?  It’s something to think about.  I’m sure Patrick Henry didn’t say what he said to be remembered, and yet we remember him for saying it.  How will we be remembered?

Take a moment to consider the grace bestowed upon you and reflect on what of that grace you would like to leave as a legacy.  Too often we think that we do not matter and no one will remember us.  That couldn’t be farther from the truth.  We each have things we have said and done – and perhaps even without our intention – that are remembered by others as grace.

Perhaps we should take some time today to be intentional about what we would like others to remember.  Thinking about it, and acting on it, does not ensure that someone will remember us in this way, but it makes us more aware of the grace we can and should share with others now.

Well, after hurricane Sandy and Obama’s election and a week when we both had an awful cold and flu – we have finally returned to somewhat normal.  So, for Veteran’s Day holiday we packed the car and took another of our excursions into the countryside of Virginia.

The weekend was absolutely beautiful.  It was like Seattle-summer!  That is, it was 72 degrees and sunny with the addition of the autumn leaves turning and falling all around us.  We headed for Southwest Virgina, a part of the state we had not yet traveled, and made our destination Appomattox.

The first day was taken up with driving, but that didn’t inhibit our appreciation for the beauty of the countryside.  Virginia is rolling hills and small farms with what remains of old plantation land interspersed between them.  The wooded hills with the turning leaves and small streams between pastures were beauty to behold.  Farms are immaculately groomed and lanes leading to large old houses are picturesque – not unlike you may have seen in the movies.

We simply enjoyed the views and breathed in the grace of a lovely day of driving on a holiday weekend in the autumn sunshine.

It was exciting to be in the nation’s capital during the elections.  I was so looking forward to it and being part of the energy that elects the president.  Only, I had such a rotten cold that I didn’t even make it to the polls!  News reports said it was the coldest national election day in history and that people were standing in long lines to vote.  And, I knew I would never make it.

Instead, I watched with interest as the results came in and followed the neighborhood celebrations in the city from under my blanket holding my hot tea.

And so, with the votes counted, we begin again.  As a nation this is like New Year’s Day – and we begin again to try to make policies and laws that will benefit the common good of everyone in this country.

We will have to learn all over again how not to be a nation divided by political lines, but a nation united by compassion, understanding, and a quest for the common good of all.  This is a great day to start.  There is always grace in beginning again.

Time passes and it’s November again!  And yesterday we gained an hour when standard time was restored.  What did you do with your extra hour?

For many years I was simply grateful for an extra hour of sleep when the time changed.  But, this year, during this retreat time, I thought of so many things I could have done with my whole extra hour.  What did you do?

It was only sixty minutes – but it was sixty minutes . . . . to have a conversation; to tell someone how much they mean to us; to read a book and escape into another reality; to go to a movie and enjoy the creative arts and an expanded imagination; to take a walk and appreciate the sunshine, trees, water, and neighbors; to write some thoughts down on paper; to write a note to someone special; to remember how much we are loved; to love in return.

That sixty minutes was grace given to us in the measurement of time.  What did you do with your grace?

On the other side of anxious possibilities, Sandy has come and gone and left in its wake the amazing capacity of the human spirit.  While the storm lashed and pounded, reshaped coastlines and battered trees and houses, people are out all over the city today cleaning up and carrying on.  It is an amazing testament to the indomitable human spirit.  We go on.  No matter what the damage, what the cost, what it will take to accomplish “normal” again, we go on.  There is enormous grace to be found here!

I saw folks out sawing down and picking up broken tree branches; cleaning up the muck off their cars; and raking leaves away from street drains. I saw Comcast and Verizon; Potomac Power and Tree Services parked throughout the neighborhood.  Things are slowly coming back to normal.  On the other side of all the possible damage the storm could do, we pick up and we carry on.  We humans are incredible creatures.

I do have to admit it was scary!  The winds howled and the windows rattled as the rains poured and the lights flickered.  We did not, however, lose power.  We were some of the lucky ones.  We “sheltered in place” and, at first, watched movies.  Then, in solidarity with those without power, we went to “old school” – reading.  I got lost somewhere between New York and D.C.; Berlin and Moscow in a spy thriller where the courier is an expert in languages and disguises. The assassin is yet to be discovered.  Now I must return . . . the pages await. Certainly, they won’t be able to carry on without me.

Hurricane Sandy is approaching and everyone here is preparing for the worst.  Keep the people of the East Coast in your prayers as we ride this one out.

I just heard from my son in Seattle who heard that one of the tall ships from Boston has been abandoned at sea with two crew members missing.

There will be many more stories to tell of these rain soaked and windswept days and I’ll be back again when the weather returns to normal or the power is restored, whichever comes first.  Please say a prayer for the safety of all affected.