Blog Archives
Old News
Old News –
The last couple of weeks of February have been a rough time for me the last several years. There are painful, heart hurting memories which seem to resurface and dealing with these challenging emotions is difficult.
Today I cleaned up our yard after a round of storms and rain this last week. I threw them on a burn pile and set it afire. I also had some old fence pieces and newspapers to burn. The newspapers are from my wife. She is doing her best to understand and begin to use extreme couponing in an effort to save money. I made sure to take old piles of newspaper and watched as the flames began consuming them. I tried reading some of the headlines and articles before the fire reached them and then they were gone.
As the fire leaped into the air I thought about it being old news which was out of date and historical. I also reflected on the memories I’ve struggled with the last few weeks and tried to remind myself that healing and time can also consume the heartache of the past and that our history enlightens our present.
blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com
Dig
Dig –
A few weeks ago I broke the wooden handle on my shovel. This week my wife bought me a new one. It’s a Kobalt and guaranteed “unbreakable“. I did bend it a little today uprooting a stubborn bush. So unbreakable? Perhaps. Un-bendable? Nope.
It was, still is, a gorgeous day outside. Tomorrow the heat and humidity are supposed to come sweeping in but we enjoyed the moment of this day by working way too hard. We’re both exhausted but it’s a good tired.
As I dug holes for bushes and trees, filled the back of the truck with dirt and planted some grass with my new shovel I thought about the digging we do in our lives. Stillness, mindfulness, reflection are basically the same discipline with its goal to remove anything that stifles the life within us.
Digging around isn’t easy on the outside or on the inside but it’s necessary if we are to make old things new, ugly stuff beautiful, and go deep enough that growth, life, is possible.
blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com
Casting Away the Old
Being an owner of a Siberian Husky is to accept the shedding that goes along with it. However, the sweeping up and disposing of hair goes into overdrive when these pooches “cast” their coats.
At least once every twelve months huskies will shed their entire under coating which is what protects them from extremely cold temperatures. This hair is incredibly soft, thick and everywhere! It’s outside, inside, on your clothes, on the furniture and the poor dog looks like it has the mange. For six to eight weeks it can be almost impossible to keep up with the old fur that’s being pushed out to make way for the new. When the casting’s done the husky looks twenty pounds lighter.
The last few weeks our Siberian Husky, Trooper, has been casting. He’s over ten years old so we’re used to it. We’ve brushed, plucked, pulled and he’s gnawed, scratched, rubbed against everything he can find to get the loose under fur gone.
As I was picking up fists full of hair over the weekend I thought about how nice it would be to shed certain unwanted things from our lives occasionally. It would be great to “cast away”; hurt feelings, bitterness and failures. Let loose of times we were selfish, short sighted, shallow and sinful. To no longer be incumbered by regrets about what we did or didn’t do, ashamed at how we behaved, mourning the moments we should’ve spoke up or wish we’d been silent.
Wisdom teaches us that we can’t keep carrying around the painful parts of our past. However, in order to be rid of the nagging weight it has on our souls we must accept what’s been done and allow it to help us know how to live and who to be in the present. Only with humility can we lose the old and welcome the new.
blessings,
@BrianLoging
http://www.thewannabesaint.com