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.

I’ve just come from a magnificent walk outside in the falling leaves.  I don’t remember ever experiencing anything like this before.  It is a virtual storm of falling leaves  – and they float down gently on the uncharacteristically warm fall breeze on this overcast day.  Everywhere – yes, everywhere – the leaves are falling!  And as I walked the words of one of my son’s songs kept repeating itself in my head:

“Outside the leaves are falling/ all the Mysteries are calling/ me to live my dreams/ and find them out.”

The Mysteries are definitely calling today!  And They call to each of us.  Are we up to the task?  Let the leaves be a symbol of letting go and dare to live your dreams to find them out!  Grace is the result of our efforts.  Don’t be shy!

Today, some more fortune cookie wisdom.  With the political debates continuing, I thought I would share this fortune that I’ve been carrying around.  It actually did come out of a fortune cookie and it speaks to me profoundly today.

To think is easy; to act is difficult.  To act as one thinks is the most difficult of all.

Discipleship requires that we not only think, but also act as we think.  And, yes, that is the most difficult of all.  Unless we can do that – act consistent with what we think – what we think alone makes little difference.

Reflect on that for a moment!  Then absorb the grace that is bestowed from thinking and acting with one mind, one heart, one will, and one determination.

Author, poet, and retreat leader, Jan Phillips, has written in her book God is at Eye Level that all we see can be a window into the heart of God.  Her words:

My eyes find God everywhere, in every living thing, creature, person, in every act of kindness, act of nature, act of grace.  Everywhere I look, there God is, looking back, looking straight back.

I find it to be true – especially on a beautiful autumn day with egrets in flight and reflections shining to meet the fine line of reality.  Everywhere we look, God is looking back and grace abounds.

Take a look.  Take a closer look!

Where do you go for inspiration?  Last week I spent the entire day at the National Art Museum.  Even at that, it was difficult to see the entire museum!  Still, the experience was one of total inspiration.

There is something about art that makes me remember that nothing is instant.  It took years of practice and learning and doing and doing again to perfect the beauty that hung on the walls of the art museum.  Few of the paintings there were the first product of their masters.  Claude Monet painted over 100 versions of his lily pads in his garden!  Can you imagine working on the same masterpiece over 100 times?   There is inspiration in that for me.  I can keep at it.  I can try again.  I can do something – be it painting or writing or poetry or pottery or sculpture – or whatever – over and over again and maybe,  just maybe, with time and patience, our skills will improve and our masterpieces will be recognized as well.

Sometimes inspiration is hard to come by.  Just go to an art museum and see what grace you find there!

Watching the presidential debates sometimes it is hard for me to believe that a person has such self assurance that they could enter into such a debate!  But we do have amazing qualities, don’t we?  And we enter into experiences that we may not be able to accomplish or even succeed at.  Such is the spirit of the individual.

I couldn’t help but think of this when my kids casually took the podium at the Smithsonian.  “You Be the President” was the name of the display.  What does it take to have the skills and self-assurance to speak our mind to the public?  What does it take for us to speak our mind and still be honest with ourselves?  What we desire, in ourselves as well as others, is the ability to be consistent in both arenas, public and private. It is not an insignificant thing!

Belief in ourselves needs to translate into action and that action needs to be consistent with our beliefs and our abilities.  Simply saying what we think someone else wants to hear will not affect the action that we may need to be taking.  Only honesty with ourselves and personal commitment will do that.

What are your special gifts and talents?  What can you share with others?  With the grace of God, most of us are capable of whatever we believe we can do!

It was so much fun to play tour guide and take our kids through the sights and sounds of the city while they were here.

The grace I remember the most was their thrill and excitement at seeing the monuments for the first time and recovering the history associated with each of them.  It was like seeing with new eyes to share in their amazement and amusement.  And, the fact that we spent so much time among the monuments allowed the day to pass and the sun to set and a whole new world revealed itself and became possible in the fading light.  While we had been to the monuments at night once before, we had never before been there at sunset.

There was something holy and sacred at that time of day.  The people were dispersing and the shadows were lengthening.  It allowed for a whole new perspective.  A beautiful and softened perspective.  A graced and silent perspective.  A reflective moment.

When have you taken advantage of the sunset hour to see the world from a new perspective?  When have you allowed grace and holiness to fill your eyes?