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Mush

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Mush –

My brain has officially turned to mush! After two full days of training in Nashville, my head organ can take no more! It is full of pieces of information, stories, facts, figures, graphs, bars, charts and more. I know in a few days when everything I received processes everything it will be worth the mental fatigue but right now it’s like my brain is in a blender set on high. My eyes are heavy from lack of sleep, my back hurts from sitting for two straight days in a non-reclining chair, my stomach hungry for homemade food and nothing pre-packaged. It’s amazing, or horrifying, that your body, mind, and spirit can be so out of sync after a couple of days.

This morning, on my way into Nashville, I listened to a prayer app and it has a time, after the invitation to pray, to pause and be silent. As silence filled the car I thought about how disjointed I felt, vowed to never work in Nashville and drive into the city every day, reflected on the difference between a room full of forty people plus four teachers and the quietude of the moment and then the app started playing scripture. I wasn’t ready for the noise. I said out loud; “Not long enough!”, then sighed and continued.

Silence is underrated.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

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Sunshine

Mar 31

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Sunshine –

Yesterday evening Beth and I went out to eat. I was coming from home and she was coming from work. I arrived first and registered our name with the hostess. The inside lobby was packed and so I went and sat in the lobby located next to the front doors. I sat down, whipped out my phone and found a news article to read. Across from me was a precocious young girl saying; “Hi” to everyone who came in. She wobbled over to the bench I was on and said; “Hi” to me. I looked away from my phone and returned her salutation. She was playfully climbing on the bench and I went back to reading. After a few moments, she was sitting next to me and I reflected on my behavior. This wonderful little child, a social butterfly in the making, was sitting next to me and I was focused on my phone, not on her. I turned the phone off and put it in my pocket. “How are you today?” I asked. “Fine, she replied, how are you today?” “Good. Is that the sun on your shirt?” “Yes.” “Did you have a good day?” I inquired. “Yes. Did you have a good day?” she responded. We went back and forth until they called the name she was registered under and we said our “goodbyes.”

I am thankful for the awareness in that moment to put away all distractions and bask in an actual ray of sun shining in my life.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Life

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Tags: # moments, #actual, #awareness, #away, #backandforth, #bask, #behavior, #blessings, #butterfly, #child, #climbing, #distractions, #focused, #found, #girl, #Goodbyes, #Hi, #inquired, #life, #little, #looked, #next, #phone, #phoneoff, #playfully, #precocious, #putaway, #ray, #reading, #reflected, #responded, #returned, #salutation, #shining, #Sitting, #situation, #social, #sun, #Sunshine, #thankful, #thewannabesaint.com, #turned, #whipped, #wobbled, #wonderful, #young, @BrianLoging, moment

Blue

Mar 9

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Blue –

Everyone has a bad day once in a while. Mine was today. It started this morning and lasted all day. It was a bad day for decisions, conversations, yard working and everything else I tried. Finally, this evening, sitting in the yard of a friend, reflecting on this terrible, bad, no good day, a Bluebird landed on a branch not far from where I was sitting. I watched it. I would love to write it turned my whole day around but it didn’t. It did, however, impress me with its shade of blue. Beautiful. It was especially gorgeous against the brown yard and my dark mood. It was a reminder of spring, newness, and rebirth. I stared at it and the simple, obvious thought; “tomorrow is a new day,” echoed in my mind and spirit. I couldn’t argue with the Bluebird and as it flew off I was thankful this day was also quickly fleeting and the next one will be arriving shortly.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Life

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Tags: #allday, #arriving, #bad, #badday, #beautiful, #blessings, #blue, #bluebird, #brownyard, #conversations, #dark, #darkmood, #day, #decisions, #echoed, #especially, #evening, #far, #Finally, #fleeting, #flew, #friend, #gorgeous, #Impress, #landed, #lasted, #mine, #mood, #morning, #newday, #newness, #next, #nogood, #obvious, #Off, #quickly, #rebirth, #reflecting, #reminder, #shade, #shortly, #simple, #Sitting, #spirit, #spring, #stared, #started, #terrible, #thankful, #thewannabesaint.com, #today, #tomorrow, #tried, #turned, #watched, #while, #wholeday, #yardworking, @BrianLoging, love, Mind, Thought, Write

Hearing is Believing

Feb 12

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for mule car ditch

Hearing is Believing –

A driver slid off the road during a snowstorm. His cellphone was useless and so he walked until he found a house with an old mule munching on some hay near a barn in the backyard. He knocked on the door of the house and a farmer answered. The man explained his predicament and the farmer said he’d help. The farmer put on a coat, exited the house and walked over to the old mule, put a bridle on it and the three walked back to the car. As they were traveling the driver of the car wondered if the old mule could be of much help. They arrived back at the car and the farmer turned the mule around, attached the rope it carried to the car and to the mule and began yelling; “Go, Joe, go, Fred, go, Jim, go Barney!” The old mule pulled as hard as it could and the car slowly came out of the ditch and back on the road. The driver was amazed and thanked the farmer profusely! Before he drove off he had one question he had to ask the farmer. “Why,’ he inquired, ‘when the mule was pulling the car, did you yell; Go, Joe, go, Fred, go, Jim, go Barney?” “Well,’ replied the old farmer scratching his chin and then petting the mule. ‘Ol’ Barney here doesn’t see too good and I knew if he thought he was pulling by himself he’d never believe he could do it. So, I made him think he was on a team so he’d have the confidence he needed to get the job done.”

Wisdom teaches us that we are never alone. Whatever the situation, it is never so dire that whether we can see it or not, the help we need is there to do what needs to be done.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Life

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Tags: #alone, #amazed, #answered, #arrived, #attached, #backontheroad, #believe, #believing, #blessings, #carried, #confidence, #dire, #explained, #hard, #hearing, #help, #helpweneed, #himself, #inquired, #never, #predicament, #profusely, #pulled, #pulling, #question, #see, #situation, #slid, #slowly, #teaches, #thanked, #think, #traveling, #turned, #walked, #wisdom, #wondered, #yelling

Right or Wrong?

Feb 3

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Right or Wrong –

This morning I watched a political debate that quickly turned into a shouting, insulting, “I’m right and you’re wrong” diatribe from both parties. It’s disheartening to look at our present cultural landscape and realize not many people know how to talk to each other about things upon which they disagree.

One of the lessons I teach residents in my jail class is how to respect each other even if we disagree. We talk about eye contact (which may be while social media is the worst place to have a meaningful conversation), asking questions politely, consider your body language, what to do with your hands, monitor facial expressions, remember that listening is not agreeing and two people can be right or wrong about one subject. It amazes me that my jail students are often nicer, more respectful when discussing a difficult topic than many people on Facebook.

Hopefully, it won’t be this way forever. Debate and deep conversation are some of the values and pillars of a democratic society. I fear, however, perhaps we’ve gone too far and may never recover our civility.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Leadership, Life

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Tags: #agreeing, #amazes, #asking, #average, #blessings, #body, #civility, #class, #consider, #conversation, #cultural, #debate, #deep, #democratic, #diatribe, #disagree, #discussing, #disheartening, #expressions, #eyecontact, #Facebook, #facial, #far, #fear, #forever, #hands, #hopefully, #insulting, #jail, #landscape, #language, #lessons, #listening, #meaningful, #monitor, #never, #nicer, #parties, #person, #pillars, #politely, #political, #posture, #present, #questions, #quickly, #realize, #recover, #remember, #residents, #respect, #respectful, #right, #rightorwrong, #shouting, #socialmedia, #society, #students, #subject, #teach, #topic, #turned, #values, #watched, #worst, #wrong, however

Wrinkles

Jan 18

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for iron clothes

Wrinkles –

This morning, per our routine, I ironed Beth’s clothes as she was getting ready for work. I turned the iron on and then took the dog outside. When I returned to the clothes that needed pressing I began to run the iron over them. My mind was elsewhere, on things I needed to do today, and so I didn’t notice the wrinkles weren’t being removed. When I finished I held the dress up to look at it and it was still full of wrinkles! “Argh!” I grunted exasperatedly. I checked the iron and it was cool to the touch. I looked at the lights on the iron which indicate the amount of heat that is being emitted and then noticed the automatic off had been activated while I was outside with the dog. I had been gone too long.

Today is my birthday. The older I get the more I understand there’s always going to be wrinkles in my life, imperfections. I’m never going to be perfect and that’s okay. There will be days I get it right, on time, with no mistakes and other days when I wait too long, mess it up, wonder why I keep trying. Such is life and I am doing my best to live it.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Life

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Tags: #activated, #amount, #automatic, #began, #best, #birthday, #blessings, #checked, #clothes, #elsewhere, #emitted, #exasperatedly, #finished, #full, #grunted, #heat, #imperfections, #indicate, #ironed, #life, #mess, #mistakes, #morning, #needed, #never, #notice, #noticed, #Off, #okay, #older, #perfect, #removed, #returned, #right, #routine, #thewannabesaint.com, #time, #today, #toolong, #touch, #trying, #turned, #understand, #wait, #wonder, #Wrinkles, @BrianLoging, Mind

Apocalypse

Aug 11

Posted by thewannabesaint.com

Image result for nuclear apocalypse

Apocalypse –

The last several days have been tense! Words of threats, warnings, retaliations, and war are being thrown back and forth between leaders of nations who are acting like petulant children. It worries me but angers me more. Both men seem to think it’s a game and forget the millions of lives which would be impacted, endangered, and ended if this fiasco goes further.

I wonder how leaders can become so distant from the people they represent? It isn’t just dictators and presidents but people in businesses, families, churches, and organizations in all shapes and sizes. The penetration of power into our spirits seem to corrupt whoever tries to yield it. It is why all wisdom leaders flee from power over people. They understand the grip and the destruction which can be wrought by good men turned and twisted by power and its propensity for evil.

I hope one of the two “leaders” will take a step back and take a deep breath. I pray they think of the people and not their egos. I want to see humility, not hubris. I’d like to be surprised by one of these men showing wisdom.

blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com

Posted in Life

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Tags: #businesses, #corrupt, #destruction, #dictators, #distant, #egos, #evil, #families, #goodmen, #grip, #hope, #hubris, #humility, #penetration, #power, #pray, #presidents, #propensity, #represent, #shapes, #sizes, #spirits, #stepback, #surprised, #takeadeepbreath, #turned, #twisted, #wisdom, #wonder, #yield, Leaders

TheWannabeSaint.com

Essentialist, contemplative, author, advocate

Blog Archives

Mush

Blue

Hearing is Believing

Right or Wrong?

Wrinkles

Apocalypse

Brian Loging, OSBO

@BrianLoging

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TheWannabeSaint.com

Essentialist, contemplative, author, advocate

Blog Archives

Mush

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Sunshine

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Blue

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Hearing is Believing

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Right or Wrong?

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Wrinkles

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Apocalypse

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Brian Loging, OSBO

@BrianLoging

Recent Articles

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