Faith Hope and Charity

 

Many years ago my mother asked me to make an Amish doll for my aunt, her sister.

Roberta, an elderly single woman, said she felt hopeless. I made three Amish dolls, Faith, Hope and Charity.

 I sent Hope to my aunt so she wouldn’t be hopeless.

A few weeks later my mom, depressed over her health said she was lacking in faith.

I took Faith to her, a symbol of love.

I never finished Charity. She sits naked in my closet. She reminds me that we should never be finished with Charity.

Moroni 7:46,47

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth.  Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail--

47 But charity is the pure love of Christ and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

What have you done lately to increase you hope, your faith, and your charity? I just got a new book called “All God’s Critters Got a Place in the Choir” by  Emma L. Thane  and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. Reading about the lives of these two Mormon friends has made me think about what I am doing with my life. I want to be more, do more, experience more. I have been a drone for a few months now as I get used to a new community, and sort through the memories of the last forty years.

Another example of charity was posted on the Yahoo news page today

  

‘Lance Cpl. Myles Kerr may have lost the Jeff Drenth Memorial 5K footrace in Charlevoix, Michigan, last weekend, but he won the hearts of hundreds of thousands of admirers.

On Saturday, the 19-year-old Marine noticed 9-year-old Boden Fuchs struggling to complete the race. The boy had become separated from his group. According to the Facebook page, Seal of Honor, which posted a photograph of the pair running together, Boden asked Kerr, "Sir, will you please run with me?" Kerr, wearing boots and fatigues, and carrying a full backpack, stuck with the boy, encouraged him to complete the race, and helped him reunite with his party at the end of the course—even though Kerr was dead last in his age group, clocking in at 35:43 minutes (five seconds behind Boden). He came in so much later than his Marine buddies, in fact, that they were concerned he had been injured.

 The Seal of Honor page—which was established in the memory of Lt. Michael Murphy, who served as a Navy SEAL in Afghanistan—went on to praise the young man: "By his unwavering commitment to help those in need through his ability to inspire others by his unequivocal level of motivation, Lcpl Kerr reflected great credit upon himself and was keeping in the highest traditions of the United States Marine Corps."

Look for small acts of charity this month.

Add opportunities to increase your faith

Live your life with a hopeful outlook.

TOMORROW

I saw the stars in your eyes

this morning

Remembering yesterday.

I saw the way that you felt

As your dreams

Became your reality.

That’s all I ever wanted

For you.

Life

So uncertain,

So curious

So unforgiving

Held your joy

For one long moment.

Tomorrow

And tomorrow

And tomorrow

Time undulating

Rolling

Swelling

Heaving

Into the vast wonder

Of what we might

Become 

Should we try

July 2013

 

I didn’t expect to be in the middle of the war.

We sat out on the deck in our rocking chairs enjoying the warm summer evening with fudgesicles in hand. In the background we could hear the dogs calling to their masters, the children playing with friends. Behind the trees an eerie soft glow lit up the sky, momentarily.

To the south we heard the guns sounding, dull thuds as fire lit the sky. Streams of red and gold streaked into the atmosphere, stars twinkling as they fell towards the ground. The dogs sang their mournful, painful cry.

On the left branches of light bounced off the clouds to the dull thunderous roar. The war had begun.

Warm drops ran down our faces and splattered to the deck. We had been hit.

Fascinated, we couldn’t pull ourselves away from the sight. Green shards of light shot through the edges of red, gold, and blue. Sickles spun through the night, pop, pop, pop! With each explosion an answering roar came from the left, light dancing closer and closer to the crowd.

Finely silence! It was over.

The 4^th of July celebrated.

Nature won.

Cleansing rain drenched

The earth.

VIRTUE

 

 

How do you teach?

How do you learn?

Who do you reach?

 What’s your concern

I was listening to a talk show recently. The discussion was about parenting styles.

Are you an authoritarian parent? A permissive parent? An attached parent? An absentee parent? Do you want things done perfectly so you’d rather do them yourself? Do you instill your religious values on your children or let them grow up and form their own values? Parenthood is filled with pitfalls. Most of us get on the job training for parenthood and don’t know what the results will be till the children grow up.

My  mother heard of a book by William J. Bennett  called THE BOOK OF VIRTUES. I remember her saying that they should be taught in the home, schools and used by politicians. If we all followed them, the world would be a better place.

These virtues are:

Virtues of self control

• Temperance - self-control regarding pleasure
• Good temper - self-control regarding anger
• Ambition - self-control regarding one's goals
• Curiosity - self-control regarding knowledge
• Frugality (also Thrift) - self-control regarding the material lifestyle
• Industry - self-control regarding play, recreation and entertainment
• Contentment - self-control regarding one's possessions and the possessions of others; acknowledgement and satisfaction of reaching capacity.
• Continence - self-control regarding bodily functions

Virtues of self-efficacy

• Courage - willingness to do the right thing in the face of danger, pain, significant harm or risk
• Patience - ability to delay or wait for what is desired
• Perseverance - courageous patience, integrity
• Persistence - ability to achieve objective regardless of obstacles

Virtues of regard

• Fair-mindedness - concern that all get their due (including oneself) in cooperative arrangements of mutual benefit
• Tolerance - willingness to allow others to lead a life based on a certain set of beliefs differing from ones own
• Truthfulness/Honesty - telling someone what you believe to be true in the context of a direct inquiry

Virtues of respect

• Respect - regard for the worth of others
• Self respect - regard for the worth of oneself.
• Temperance - self-control regarding pleasure
• Good temper - self-control regarding anger
• Ambition - self-control regarding one's goals
• Curiosity - self-control regarding knowledge
• Frugality (also Thrift) - self-control regarding the material lifestyle
• Industry - self-control regarding play, recreation and entertainment
• Contentment - self-control regarding one's possessions and the possessions of others; acknowledgement and satisfaction of reaching capacity.
• Continence - self-control regarding bodily functions

Virtues of respect

• Respect - regard for the worth of others
• Self respect - regard for the worth of oneself.
• Social virtues: Politeness, Charisma, Unpretentiousness, Friendliness, Sportsmanship, Cleanliness

Virtues of kindness

• Kindness - Regard for those who are within an individuals ability to help.
• Generosity - Giving to those in need.
• Forgiveness - Willingness to overlook transgressions made against you.
• Compassion - Empathy and understanding for the suffering of other

I think, that in the world we live in today, we are missing many of these virtues. I don’t think people, as a whole would be willing to give up their own wants. They haven’t been taught to be polite, have respect, be kind, and forgive.

So how do we teach our families, students, friends, companion, and strangers?

I can only hope, by example.

Choose a virtue this month and entrench it into your life. Live it. Be an example. Be a teacher

HEAT

 







Heat--

Hot, hot ! hot.

Fire, burning on the mountains

Flames racing round the ridges

Drought drying up the desert

In the Southwest.

Waiting--

Waiting for the cool

Waiting for the rain.

Monsoon

Hurry, hurry, hurry

Make Things Happen

 

I’ve always had trouble remembering some things, like combinations and license plate numbers, pin numbers and phone numbers. When the state I lived in changed there numbering system for license plates to three letters and then three numbers I complained that I had just memorized the last one after several years trying. "Well, I said give me one I can remember." The clerk handed me a plate and said, “ this one is easy Kiss Mom and Dad at 430”  I hated to give up that number when we moved again! But with that plate we started a license plate game as we traveled. The winner was the one who came up with the best phrase- we assigned words to the letters. The last one we had was Just Zebra Stripes.  I never could remember the numbers. They didn’t make sense in a sentence. Yesterday we got our new license plate since we moved to a different state. MTH.

I decided to make this my new mantra-“Make Things Happen!

I am in a new city, and nobody knows who I am! I can be anyone I want, any personality I choose. Wow! I can reinvent myself. Instead of a quiet, shy introvert; I can be an outgoing, friendly introvert. Well you can’t change everything about your basic personality.

One of my new goals is to find out about my husband’s family history. He was a late child to older parents so most of his extended family is gone. But with websites giving us opportunities to see vital statistic records we can look for his family. Previously we walked down the streets where his mother grew up and then the street his father lived on as a teenager. But going back a generation is harder. Who were his grandparents? How many uncles and aunts were there and what did they like to do? I really wish there was an email service between this world and the next. Wouldn’t it be fun to write to someone who has passed on and ask them questions, get to know their opinions?

I guess I should learn a lesson from this and write a journal for my grandchildren so they will get to know me. Another thing to make happen.

What are you going to make happen this month?

Loss

                      It is Isn’t It?

I
Lack
A lilac
Is it really spring?
Cherry blossoms are blowing away
Forsythia bends its blossoms in the breeze
April showers hover
The earth quakes in anticipation.
Birds sing their cheery song
It should be spring!
But
I
Lack
A lilac

Wendy

        FOUND


                              I think my word was
                              Scrumptious
                              But I lost it in my
                              Mind
                              As I wandered through
                              Our early spring
                              It was left behind.

                              Yet, You'll be happy that
                              I found
                              The lilac you've been
                              Missing
                              There it was just
                              Waking up
                              Near sweet Willow
                              Who was weeping.

                              My eyes and I we sat
                              Right down
                              We had a scrumptious
                              Feast
                              And I found what I was
                              Searching for.........
                              To say the
                              Least.

Jill

Loss

Poor little lilac

Planted just this spring.

What hopes,

What dreams I had for us.

My heart did want to sing.

I’d take your blooms

Into my arms.

And smell your heady scent.

I’d think of friends

With lilacs too

Whose memory was meant

To be recalled in springtime.

But I am gone

And you are lost

And memories will fade

Again I lack a lilac

I’m hanging up my spade.

wendy