Grace in your Face!

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.

~ Henry Ward Beecher

As Thanksgiving is approaching, I have began to reflect on my own personal graciousness (or lack thereof!) I am married to probably the most gracious person I have ever met in my whole entire life. Like, totally! Seriously! I know I make fun, but it is only to make light of how inept I really feel when compared to this esteeming quality he so easily possesses. I stand in awe of his gentle, sincere gratitude; the sweet graciousness that guides and directs his life, his soul. In my search to become more gracious, Mark and I had the following conversation...

J: I wish I were more gracious, but I always feel on the spot or unprepared. Grace, not the I-can-dance-like-a-ballerina kind but the other kind, just doesn't come naturally for me.

M: I think you are a very gracious person. (He went off on a tangent naming other admirable qualities I possess, but are too embarrassing in a modest sort of way to mention.)

J: But I am not!

M: Yes, you are.

J: No, really I don't think I am.

M: Okay, now is when you say 'Thank you!'"

J: See! Case in point. (did I mention, I often HAVE! to have the last word, too.)

Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina

Today is the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I remain humbled by the resilience of those who fought to get their lives back after the extreme devastation of the storm and angry over the current condition of the area.

"A few years ago there was a shining moment in that struggle. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor -- both black and white -- through the poverty program. There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. Then came the buildup in Vietnam, and I watched this program broken and eviscerated, as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. So, I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such." ~~ Martin Luther King, Jr. 1967

Lovin' Life

"I love living. I have some problems with my life, but living is the best thing they've come up with so far."~ Neil Simon

Chin up

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." ~ Thomas Jefferson

I just love, love, love this quote and what a time for it to resurface. Here's hoping everyone out there is able to hold their chins high, keep loving life, and make it to the end.

Starry Night

So, as I mentioned a few days ago. We are cleaning out the DVR -- aka watching a lot of TV. Mark and I have a few favorite news programs, mostly because I am a news/current events junkie and he enjoys a good nap. No, no, I guess I should say in fairness we sit beside one another on the love seat, feet propped on the ottoman, his arm around me, my head on his shoulder -- see the picture. Occasionally we will have a deep, thought-provoking discussion, but normally he does sleep ;). One of the programs we were catching up on had a simple tribute to Tony Snow, the White House Press Secretary known for his candor and verbal bliss, who recently passed away during a battle with colon cancer. Mark and I were intrigued by his punditry and blunt perspective, and the quote junkie in me wanted more. So, this is what I found...

Once you’ve gotten past the mirror phase, then things begin to get really interesting. You begin to confront the truly overwhelming question: Why am I here? And that begins to open up the whole universe, because it impels you to think like the child staring out at the starry night: “Who put the lights in the sky? Who put me here? Why?” And pretty soon you are thinking about God. Don’t shrink from pondering God’s role in the universe or Christ’s. You see, it’s trendy to reject religious reflection as a grave offense against decency. That’s not only cowardly. That’s false. Faith and reason are knitted together in the human soul. So don’t leave home without either one.

said by Tony Snow at the 118th Annual Commencement Address: "Reason, Faith, Vocation" Tony Snow, White House Press Secretary Basilica of the National Shrine of Immaculate Conception May 12, 2007