OLD FASHIONED

This old coffee grinder has a beauty about it but I would never think of using it to grind my coffee.  Now the grandchildren thought it was great fun.  I look back with fondness to my childhood when life was simpler.  The minister talked yesterday as seeing life as a sacred  gift and how we can experience that "born again" experience when we take a delight in the simple things, appreciating what we have, and being open to the new.  I am so happy to have my energy returning but I know that I will not be climbing mountains; I leave that to others with even greater energy,  but I will still be taking rests when I need to.  Energy is so precious a gift that I need to use wisely.

Happiness is acceptance I was reminded of again yesterday.  This can mean rethinking some of the things I want to do and valuing what I can do.  So we have bought a new sparkling chrome coffee grinder because we remember the smell of fresh ground coffee.  Even as a child I liked that smell.  I think some of the smells bring back a sense of the past.  This happens when I look at photo's or dishes from home.  There are certain smells of flowers like lilac and peonies that do the same.

The past is always with us hidden in the depths of who we are.   I have found that some of the joys I have known have always been with me and through times of disappointment there is a healing presence that has always been there.  Words cannot express or capture this feeling. 

Theology and philosophy try to put things into words but I think it often comes down to an attitude of simplicity, of peacefulness, of trust, of humility and the ordinary becoming sacred and meaningful.  Jesus is with me in the joy and the sorrow of life and that helps me to accept changes, with a little bit of complaining along the way.  Yes, we are all works in progress!