On Saturday we stopped amid the light rain and gentle mist, like a veil of grace over the Maryland countryside, to visit the historic site of Thomas Stone’s plantation.  Stone is a lesser known signer of the Declaration of Independence.  He isn’t well known because, I learned while there, he was a more silent member of the founding fathers.  History reports that he didn’t talk much or join in many of the debates, but that he had great influence with the quiet strength of his pen.

I immediately liked the man.  How often I have wondered if someone would survive history if they were a quite thinker and not a boisterous orator or quick to act.  Thomas Stone was a quiet thinker and his story as a Maryland statesman has survived the centuries.  His homestead remains and the house has been reconstructed to its original footprint.  And, within the modest home, which housed two families, is his original writing desk, where he spent many hours.

There have been so many times in different situations when I have silently thought something, kept quiet, and then went home to write my thoughts in a journal or a letter . . . or, more recently, a blog.  And, I always felt I lacked some strength of character for hesitating to speak out.

But, now I know that history has honored the thoughtful, quiet strength of Thomas Stone’s pen.  There is great strength of character and graced influence in the ability to communicate clearly through the written word!

Are you comfortable speaking out when thoughts arise?  Or, do you ponder and reflect and sometimes only write your thoughts in notebooks that no one will ever see?  Each quality is a grace . . . each one gifted by God and uniquely intended for each individual.  One is no better than the other.  This life isn’t a competition.  Our world needs both kinds of thinkers, those who speak out and those who silently reflect and write.  Honor the grace that is yours!

Who doesn’t love a break and a change of scenery?  I certainly do.  So it was with great enjoyment that we packed the car to head out of town for an extended weekend.  We were bound for Kitty Hawk and the Outer Banks of North Carolina, but along the way we planned many stops.

Amid clouded skies and a mild rain we made our way into southern Maryland to visit the homestead and plantation site of Thomas Stone, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.  Then we went on into the Northern Neck of Virginia to visit the birthplace of George Washington.  Both were beautiful sites filled with history and an amazing feeling of being connected to the past.

We stayed overnight in Virginia Beach and spent Sunday with friends who invited us to their child’s baptism.  It was a unique experience as the baptism took place aboard the father’s Naval ship.  We felt very privileged to be a part of the celebration.

Traveling on, we made our way to Nag’s Head where we would stay two nights while exploring the beauty, diversity and history of the Outer Banks.

What a grace it was just to have this change of scenery.  As I unpack these experiences and reflect on the four days, I’ll be sharing more of our adventures.

Where have you seen grace today?

On this date in 1969, humanity put the first man on the moon.  That was 43 years ago!  I remember getting my three-month-old little brother out of his crib to sit with him in front of the television so that he could say he watched the first man walk on the moon.  It was an historic occasion.  A moment in time.  And, think of the progress we have made since then.  In that time, there has been an amazing amount of new technology from personal computers to cell phones; digital imaging to the internet.  The list is almost endless.  Our lives have changed because of the progress we have made since that point in time when the first man walked on the moon.

But the question needs to be asked:  How much progress have we made in our spiritual lives in that time?  The answer to that becomes more difficult, because we tend to spend so much less time perfecting our spiritual lives.

This all comes to me because I am reading a spiritual classic from 1944 by Caryll Houselander entitled The Reed of God.  While there are numerous insightful thoughts and comments to ponder throughout the book, after my experience yesterday, the one I read this morning goes to the top of the list.

In the book, she relates the story of an old man who was loved by many people.  He had revealed that the secret of his good nature and companion-ability was a simple spiritual practice.  Whenever he met someone, he would greet the Christ within them in secret, before greeting the person out loud.

What a simple spiritual practice!  And what amazing wisdom for our day – wisdom that somehow has been overshadowed through the years by the progress of our technological world.  Can we take the challenge and rely on the spiritual wisdom of over 60 years ago to give us a renewed progress in our spiritual lives today?

It would be a grace to try.

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?