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In Memory of

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In Memory of –

This is a strange holiday for me. It’s not strange in the sense that I don’t understand it or think it necessary but strange because I did not serve in the armed services nor lost a loved one while in military service. I don’t know what it’s like to charge up a hill with my unit, share foxholes with people who I depend on for my life, find the courage to carry out orders that put my life and others in danger and know not everyone is coming back from the mission. I don’t know what it is to get a knock on my door, a phone call, by servicemen or women to inform me a loved is not returning home. I can’t imagine the pain, heartache, loss, or pride that comes with Memorial Day.

I once served on a staff with a war veteran and we liked to talk politics, history, and war. He had seen action in the military while I sat in the safety of a university classroom. We’d have conversations about the justifications of war. I’d voice my opinion that Christians should follow Jesus’ example and be pacifists, opposed to all violence and then he’d tell me when and why I was wrong. I didn’t agree with everything he said about the military, nation-building, and protection but I was also humbled and silent as he spoke. I understood that he had served, put his life on the line for us to disagree and still be friends, still call ourselves by the same name; Americans.

“The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
#AbrahamLincoln #GettysburgAdress

Blessings & Thank you,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Tags: #AbrahamLincoln #GettysburgAdress, #add, #advanced, #agree, #alive, #Americans, #armedforces, #beforeus, #brave, #chargeup, #consecrated, #conversations, #courage, #danger, #day, #dedicated, #depend, #detract, #devotion, #diedinvain, #disagree, #example, #fought, #foxholes, #freedom, #fullmeasure, #government, #greattask, #heartache, #highlyresolve, #honoreddead, #humbled, #Icantimagine, #increased, #inform, #InMemoryof, #justifications, #knock, #last, #lifeontheline, #living, #loss, #lostalovedone, #lovedone, #Memorial, #MemorialDay, #militaryaction, #mission, #nation, #nation-building, #necessary, #neverforget, #newbirth, #nobly, #noteveryoneiscomingback, #opposed, #ourselves, #pacifists, #pain, #poor, #power, #pride, #protection, #remaining, #returning, #safety, #served, #servicemen, #shallnotperish, #silent, #spoke, #staff, #stillbefriends, #struggled, #underGod, #understand, #understood, #unfinishedwork, #unit, #University, #violence, #voice, #War, #warveteran, #wrong, History, Holiday, Jesus, Opinion, Politics, World

Junk Path

Mar 20

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

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Junk Path –

This morning I had an early meeting. I loaded up my truck and began pulling out of my driveway. As I neared the end of it I noticed a truck carrying a refuse container coming in my direction. I didn’t have time to jump in front of it and as it passed I sighed. I didn’t want to be stuck behind this behemoth. I thought about the way I needed to take and realized the Refuse and Recycle Center was the way I was going. In other words, I was going to be behind the truck, carrying the container, almost the whole trip into town. Sure enough, every turn, stop, flashing light I encountered the truck was directly in front of me. I followed it to the junkyard.

As I drove powerlessly behind the truck I thought of myself and others who have, at times, been on a junk path. Poor choices, bad decisions, oversized egos, revenge, remorse, not listening, not paying attention, ended in a bad place and a life that wasn’t balanced or centered. There were good people who tried to warn us, wave us off, show us another, better way but we stubbornly stayed on the path to demise.

Wisdom, it doesn’t do us any good if we fail to follow its lead and travel its path.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: #bad, #badplace, #balanced, #behemoth, #behind, #betterway, #blessings, #carrying, #center, #centered, #choices, #container, #decisions, #demise, #directly, #drove, #egos, #encountered, #end, #ended, #fail, #follow, #followed, #front, #going, #goodpeople, #jump, #junkpath, #junkyard, #loaded, #Myself, #neared, #needed, #noticed, #notlistening, #notpayingattention, #oversized, #passed, #path, #poor, #powerlessly, #realized, #Recycle, #refuse, #remorse, #revenge, #showusanother, #sighed, #stayed, #stubbornly, #stuck, #thewannabesaint.com, #time, #turn, #warnus, #waveusoff, #way, #wisdom, @BrianLoging, junk, Lead, Thought, Travel

Catch Me

Feb 16

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

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Catch Me –

Pastors, social workers, nurses, doctors, organizations, and ministries are, by design, places where people get help. The help comes in many forms but the places which offer assistance are staffed, mostly, by people who want to reach out to the unfortunate among us. These unfortunate ones are not always poor, addicted, homeless, challenged mentally, grew up with poor role models, but many do bear one or more of these burdens.

The urge is to rescue them. To be the hero in the story of their lives. To sweep in with our resources and connections and leave them in awe at how their lives are now healed and whole. However, it doesn’t take long to discover we may want to help but we do not have the power to change their lives. Only they can do what needs to be done. They must be the hero, their own rescuer. We can provide them with the tools and skills to begin the transformation but they do the work of lasting change.

It is this way for all of us. Too often we want the easy way to self-discovery, enlightenment, and fulfillment but there is no easy way. It is a journey both inside of us and out. We will have company on the road of life but the steps to the destination must be our own.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: #addicted, #among, #assistance, #awe, #bear, #begin, #blessings, #burdens, #catch, #catchMe, #challenged, #change, #company, #connections, #destination, #discover, #doctor's, #easyway, #enlightenment, #forms, #fulfillment, #grewup, #healed, #help, #hero, #homeless, #inside, #journey, #leave, #lives, #mentally, #ministries, #needs, #nurses, #offer, #organizations, #Pastors, #poor, #power, #powerless, #provide, #reachout, #rescue, #rescuer, #resources, #roadoflife, #rolemodels, #self-discovery, #skills, #socialworkers, #staffed, #steps, #story, #sweep, #tools, #Toooften, #transformation, #unfortunate, #unfortunateones, #urge, #way, #whole, #work, Design, Nature

Emptiness

Feb 2

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Emptiness –

Most of us have plenty. In truth, most of us have more than we need. I was speaking with a co-worker this week and he was saying how amazed he was at how people in our organization and fellow organizations step up when there is a need in our community. I told him I agreed.

We work with a lot of folks who are having a rough time. In certain situations it’s their own poor decisions, in others, the community, the state, and the federal resources have failed them. They feel and at times are the forgotten ones. There are residences you go into and cannot believe what you see. The basics of food, clothes, electricity, heat, medicine do not seem accessible and many are at the end of their ropes.

It’s hard when you know the suffering of others to come home. There may be cracks in the walls, leaks in the ceiling, toilet paper runs out and food spoils, but your house is a palace in comparison to these you see and spend time helping. These are the ones who empty and need to be filled. Much of what you have becomes superfluous, extra, easily given away because you know you won’t miss it.

It’s hard to imagine but can you, for a moment, think of living in a world where it wasn’t; “This is mine and you can’t have any!” to a place of sharing and; “What’s mine is yours.” Only when we begin to give away what we possess do we discover we have everything we need.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: #accessible, #agreed, #amazed, #away, #basics, #becomes, #begin, #believe, #blessings, #ceiling, #certain, #clothes, #co-worker, #comparison, #decisions, #discover, #easily, #electricity, #emptiness, #empty, #end, #extra, #failed, #federal, #feel, #filled, #folks, #forgotten, #give, #given, #hard, #heat, #helping, #home. #cracks, #house, #Imagine, #leaks, #living, #medicine, #mine, #miss, #need, #organization, #palace, #place, #plenty, #poor, #possess, #residences, #resources, #ropes, #rough, #sharing, #situations, #speaking, #spend, #spoils, #state, #step, #suffering, #superfluous, #think, #time, #times, #toiletpaper, #truth, #walls, #work, Community, Food, moment, World

Sing Along

Sep 3

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

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Sing Along –

Earlier this week I had a song stuck in my head. It played over and over in my mind. It was from an artist I don’t like or dislike and was a song that was fine but not spectacular. These facts didn’t matter because the song was like an earworm which burrowed its way into my brain and wouldn’t stop. I found myself humming the tune, singing along, tapping my foot and fingers, when I was in meetings, classes, and other places.

It is hard to get a song out of your head sometimes. I usually try listening to it several times in a row which can dislodge it. Other times singing it out loud, all the way through, will do the trick. However, some songs refuse to let go and I just live with it until finally, another song, or silence if I’m lucky, takes it place.

I was speaking with someone this week about the causes of poverty, abuse, addiction, incarceration and the incredibly hard task it is to break free from these often generational, familial, cycles. Too often, people think the battles we face are won by acts of wills and choice. While these are important they are not the sum of all problems. When you have been surrounded with these ills of society and family you become used to a normal. You witness those you love and look up to make decisions that keep them trapped in the cycle. Growing up in these environments impact the way you think, your view of the world, and the hopelessness of being free. Who we are, what we are, are not only the choices we have made but from a myriad of choices which happen when we cannot decide for ourselves or even before we are born.

Understanding the truths about some of the people we meet each day will, hopefully, rewrite the judgmental and biased scripts we easily recite in our minds when we encounter the poor, drug addicted, alcoholic, homeless, ex-felons, and wonder; “Why can’t they do something about their lot in life?” Maybe, they need us to sing a new song to them.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Mindfulness

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Tags: #abuse, #actsofwills, #addiction, #alcoholic, #battles, #biases, #breakfree, #choice, #cycles, #decisions, #drugaddicted, #encounter, #environments, #ex-felons, #familial, #generational, #Growingup, #homeless, #hopelessness, #illsofsociety, #important, #incarceration, #incredibly, #judgments, #myriad, #normal, #poor, #poverty, #recite, #rewrite, #speaking, #surrounded, #trapped, #truths, #viewoftheworld, #witness

Essentialist and Wannabesaint

Essentialist, contemplative, author, advocate, old soul

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In Memory of

Junk Path

Catch Me

Sing Along

Essentialist and Wannabesaint

Essentialist, contemplative, author, advocate, old soul

Blog Archives

In Memory of

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Junk Path

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Catch Me

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Emptiness

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Sing Along

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