People who step forward in a time of crisis and need. People who always have a kind word for others. People with a sense of humor to meet the challenges of their days. I’m thinking of some of those people and their names now… blessedly, too numerous to list.

With this question, I just paused – and breathed – and simply took in the wonder-filled reality of being alive, of greeting a new day.

Kindness is a seed which always has the potential to germinate and grow.

Listening to the silence, it says “Feel the morning sun on your face. Have hope; spring is coming….”

In this very moment? I’m grateful for heat in our northwoods home. Yes, winter is long and I’m looking out at snow still piled everywhere. I am weary of it, but grateful that I have shelter, and live with a man I love in a place where my heart is at home.

Today.

My green tea this morning….I savor the taste and the warmth of the mug in my hands. I set up the essential oil diffuser with orange and eucalyptus for brightness and breathing assistance, so the smell is invigorating for beginning my day. Taking our old dog out in the dark, I hear the crunch of snow under my feet (yes, we still have snow). I see the trails where the deer have been. For all these things, I am grateful.

When I was young in a religiously conservative household, “faith” and “doubt” were seen as opposites – and to have doubt meant you didn’t have enough faith and was reason for self-recrimination. Um…. now I just don’t have time to even worry about stuff like that. Doubt and faith co-exist, they test each other, they help me discern. All is well with my soul.

Today I’ll remember that my “reaction” is more likely to be a “response” if I ponder first.

We’re having an ice storm so schools are closed and it’s dangerous to be out on the roads. I will call two older friends and check in on them… and be open to whatever else presents itself.

I am trying to do more “doing” and not just thinking. The small ways in which I act each day contribute to the vision God has for us as God’s people, God’s creation. And when I DO something, that also changes the way I think….

I have been listening more to my body through yoga and meditation.

Life. Peace.

I had trouble even reading the quote for today: “There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.” I’d just read a dispatch from Mariupol, Ukraine. Maybe sometimes, while being grateful for many things, it’s also important to live with anger at evil and deep, heart-breaking compassion for the victims of that evil.

Listen to what my heart is telling me and honor that. She knows. She knows.

Thank you, Hermann-Josef, for your thoughtful and personal reflection. I hope we all manage to stay in that love and peace. 🙏🏻

And thank you for these thoughts. I continue to ponder and wrestle with this and maybe that in itself is reason enough to be grateful: having an open heart that doesn’t resist holding all of this life…

Thinking of you this morning, ADP. It’s Sunday now and I read the question for Sunday: “How can I honor my heart’s whisper before it becomes a shout?” It seems your heart is whispering something you need. You’re in my prayers as you discern how to care for yourself and your needs as well as be aware of your husband’s needs. Be kind to yourself.