And to Another October - Good Night

Happy Halloween on this wonderfully mild last day of October.  It's turning out to be yet another quiet night in the jungle on Safari Drive.  Last year we maxed out at 10 little goblins, fairies and superheroes.  This year we are on par for more of the same.  Really not surprising given the evolution of our society where everything is within reach.  No need to go out and earn the pillow case (remember dragging those around?) full of candy, treats and the often feared apples that may contain who knows what danger.   If parents were disciplined, the candy would last until well into the new year.  I remember visiting our aunt and uncle every Tuesday night throughout our growing up years where, about halfway through each evening, we were almost jumping out of our skin for that one, single piece of candy from the Halloween stash.  No kidding, I'd swear those candies lasted right through until September the following year.  Funny, the thoughts and memories that surface during these annual rituals.

In more recent years, the month of October has been one of pause and reflection, especially for those who have left our lives to enjoy the greater beauty that awaits us all, if we dare to believe.  A friend from church, diagnosed two years after me, left us on October 18th after spending only a couple of weeks in the Palliative Care Unit at St. Mary's.  Thankfully, I made the time to visit and sit with her twice in that time to pray, perhaps for a miracle, but more importantly, for acceptance of God's will for her life.  A part of me watched with curiosity to see how the end of her life unfolded.  Is that what it might be like for me when the time comes, I wondered?  She was lucid, peaceful and accepting of what was to come.  Everything had been arranged for the funeral mass, burial, even to the full sit down turkey dinner for 200!  Our sweet friend was nothing if not organized.

And so, as we continue to walk through our daily lives, sometimes with clear purpose and other times with no sense of direction at all, we benefit from simply being open to the way we are being guided.  I've found the more open I am to such direction, the more it happens.  During a recent reflection period, an insight came to me saying 'We need to embrace the new life we are in rather than shun it.'   It's a big thought and one that needs time to settle and certainly for me, something to get used to.  I know I never asked for the changes that happened in my life and have been making efforts to adjust all along the way.  Another thought is 'healing is in, and comes through the pain.'  Do you suppose that could mean that our inside (spiritual) healing is a product of the physical pain we go through at certain times of our lives?  Two more thoughts from this same time of reflection that I will share in order that you might consider how they resonate with you.  'Being/walking in the desert is one of the only ways to quiet the mind, still the body and open the heart.'  This one I think actually came from the film we were watching in the Wild Goose is Loose Series.  The final one is 'The grains of sand represent the millions of particles of minutiae that fill our daily lives.  Keep focussed on the oasis which is where the true water of life can be found.'    Perhaps random thoughts.  Maybe food for thought.  I don't really know much more than they might be seeds scattered like the wind, never knowing where they might land and take root.

It's now well past 8 pm so time to roll up the sidewalk and put the skeletons to bed as we close the door on another Halloween.

Keep well, take care and enjoy each day.

Hugs
Liz

dobbsjones@gmail.com

"Prayers wrapped in faith and sent with love are the greatest gifts we can receive."