Blog Archives
Quiet Corners
Quiet Corners –
I spent the day in a stuffy shed cleaning out items which have accumulated over many years. It was hot today! The forecast said temperatures were going to be in the in 90’s. As a result, there was an old metal fan switched to the high setting blowing in my ear. Add to that sounds of metal scraping, ladders being moved, dust blowers humming, brooms sweeping, a cacophony of loud obnoxious sounds. After a while, I got used to the noise and didn’t notice until I came inside. I sat down and the only sound was a ceiling fan. It seemed loud because everything else in the house was quiet. Following a day when the noise was overabundant, the need for quiet was desperate. I turned down the ceiling fan and soaked in the silence, thankful for the stark reminder that our world is noisy!
Noise can be overwhelming, we must find the quiet corners or never find peace.
blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com
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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As the fire leaped into the air I thought about it being old news which was out of date and historical.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
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Stolen
Stolen –
Earlier this week someone took something that didn’t belong to them. I knew who it was but had to figure out how to ask for the item back without humiliating or embarrassing the person in front of his peers. At first, I asked the group if anyone had forgotten to return all items they had used. Nothing. So then, standing next to the man who had the item, I said; “Okay, who has (insert item name)?” The man started to laugh and gave it to me while the other people in the group laughed with him. “I almost got away with it,” he said with a chuckle in his voice. I breathed a sigh of relief because I knew I couldn’t let him walk away and a confrontation could have a detrimental impact on the progress we’ve made. Obviously, he’s still a work in progress but aren’t we all?
Good choices. It’s the cornerstone of all the services our organization does with males. Without good choices, life is harder than it needs to be and can exact a tremendous and painful toll. Old habits, ways of thinking, choosing the best isn’t easy but not impossible. Grace, kindness and an opportunity for forgiveness are things we all need.
blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com
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Listening is Not Agreeing
Listening is Not Agreeing –
Late last week someone said something about me and that I didn’t agree. At first, the emotion was to respond, defend myself, dig in my heels, push back against the criticism. It wasn’t something overwhelmingly harsh but it did rub me the wrong way.
Instead of responding right away I sat with it for a bit and reflected on it. Oftentimes critiques are met with resistance. We want to defend ourselves. However, if we are too quick to jump our own defense we might miss something constructive. There’s an old wisdom saying; “Both criticism and compliments should be taken with the same weight.” Receiving compliments and praise can be easier but they have a way of pumping up our ego and sense of self. Criticisms, if held on to, can create bitterness, rivalry, and ruptured relationships.
One of the greatest disciplines of contemplative listening is found in the truth; “Listening is not agreeing.” When someone speaks to us a compliment or criticism we do not have to own it, take it inside of us, let it mingle with our minds, emotions, and spirits. We can examine it, turn it over in our minds and, if we have self-awareness, can decide if it is meant for us, to grow, to learn, to let it become a part of us. Perhaps its simply another’s opinion and through insight and stillness, we discover that we can let it go. It’s not for us.
“The mark of a wise mind is the ability to hold a thought in our heads
and not necessarily believe it to be true.” #Aristotle
blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com
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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
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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
