BEAUTIFUL

The world looks so different when the fog lifts.  It is a gentle sun not blazing hot like Melbourne.  That is too much sun.  The next  day here it is raining but easier to walk than on the icy path.

I wake up with the song "Everything is beautiful in it's own way in my head.  I am glad that the Christmas music which I love is finally gone.  It has been wonderful reading my Tattoos on the Heart book about the minister who works with the gangs in Los Angelous.  Dsyfunctional families force the kids into gangs involved in murderous gang activity.  He provides job training and helps them to respect their own lives as well as each other.  Hard work that brings tragedy daily as he fails to reach some of the kids and shottings still happen and lives lost,

 

Gregory Boyle quotes Thomas Merton who writes:  "No despair of ours can alter the reality of things, or stain the joy of the cosmic dance which is always there. . . . .We are invited to forget ourselves on purpose, cast our awful soleminity to the winds and join in the general dance (singing)" 

 

 Moments of beauty and wonder that become sacred when we realize that the Creator delights in His creation and also just like us delights in His kids.  Dad and I had a delightful visit with Jaz and her 14 month old son.  She told us about how her life  and that of her son had changed by the food they were eating.  She is now on a gluten-free diet. She has an amazing gift of being able to share her faith as a Christian and is equally comfortable with listening to what others believe; but always being confident of the beauty she has found in her faith.  For her it is a story of hope that lives on even when we die!

Sandra dropped in unexpectedly which always adds to our day.  The floor has been fineshed and soon the bedrooms will be back in order and looking beautiful.

What a surprise to meet Jane at the Safeway and have a good visit over coffee.  We will get back into our weekly chats as soon as things become quieter in both our lives.  Yes, we have been through some good times and some difficult times together and her friendship adds beauty to my life.

Hopefully Ken enjoyed his birthday and we all send loving thoughts his way.

Dad had a miserable and painful stiff neck all day.  Could it be from putting the battery in.
 

 I smile as I look over at my new family calender and see happy faces smiling back at me. 

        
              What a beautiful family I have been blessed with!