Spiritual Things Matter

If you can’t make it better, you can laugh at it. ~ Erma Louise Bombeck

My daughter recently said, “Mama, you seem so serious sometimes.” I chuckled at her since I have been thinking for a while now that I would like to relax this serious and stressful side that I have carried with me since childhood. I know how good laughter is for a person and how incredibly healing it is. It is wonderful how simple and truthfully children will express themselves. I cherish the innocent keenness of a child.

I also recently read where someone expressed that they feel their personality changed due to chronic stress. This person felt sensitized to suffering, but at the same time felt the need to shut it out. They even wondered about war veterans and if they had similar feelings. Moved by such a comparison, I desire for this person to be strengthened and to feel the warm comfort of God’s abiding love, wisdom and peace.

Stress comes in different forms and in different ways for people. What might be stressful for one person does not even faze another. What seems to be painful for one might only feel like a small discomfort for others. Each of us is different. Depending upon our make-up and background, we learn to deal with our difficult times accordingly.

Chronic stress, however, is something different. I would have to agree with the idea that it does change our personality, and perhaps for some, it can change their moral compass. Chronic stress is something that needs to be evaluated and healed on some level in order to function as a whole person again. It takes a willingness to look at life differently and to find a deeper meaning to the suffering we experience. Suffering certainly is very real to many, and I would never want to diminish that for anyone. To do so would be cruel and very wounding in itself. However, the deeper meaning to suffering is just as real, and finding it can set a human being free to find joy and happiness in life again. Even in our deepest pains are gifts to be found that one could never have thought possible. Then, hearing oneself able to laugh again becomes the evidence that a transformation has taken place.

There have been times in my own life where I felt that I could not handle even one more stressful circumstance. I have had to make adjustments to my own belief system and my own way of evaluating what really matters in life. At times, I needed to withdraw into my own space in order to clearly hear Wisdom speak to me.

As tears come from brokenness, so it seems that laughter builds our hearts back up. It seems to heal us as the echo of our laughter is heard and felt throughout ones entire body. Laughter’s joyous sound seems to elevate the spirit and distances the noisiness of this world. Laughter can bring perspective to our difficult situations and diffuse the dreadful momentum that stress can create.

Scientist have determined that our very cell structure changes when a person is happy and feels a sense of well-being. Finding ways to laugh each day is one of the best prescriptions for wellness anyone can offer. Pretty soon, one does not have to find laughter any longer, but with diligence, our vision changes and we see beauty, joy, and happiness everywhere we go. Our faces soften into smiles and laughter bursts forth as our hearts are set free from so many heavy burdens.

I am learning more each day to not take myself so incredibly serious. I am learning more each day to allow myself the freedom to feel joy completely, to notice the happy moments completely, and to embrace life with a thankful heart. It is with gratitude and grace that many happy moments are recognized. It is also with a lighter heart that I am able to see humor in even the most serious of situations, and simply realize that all of us are doing the very best we can. We all stumble along, fall over our own feet, and certainly make many messes. It is in those messes that humor can be found, and the seriousness suddenly diminishes into compassionate acceptance . . . and, with a chuckle on our face.

Let the innocence of youth stay pure as they grow and mature.
Let their laughter echo around them that others may find hope for joy.
Let their purity be guarded as they wander into the world.
Let their sensitivity grow into greater awareness of You.
Let their hunger to understand lead to knowledge to assist mankind.
Let their mystical hearts gain wisdom and a discerning eye.

And as they grow older with each passing year,
protect them in Your loving care.
And as we teach them to be kind -
let that truth go deep into their beings,
as they will realize the pain and sufferings of others.

As they shed their own tears,
Breath upon them Your Holy Spirit and comfort them.
Show them that in their pain Wisdom can be found.
Guard their hearts from the foolishness of this world
and bring awareness and curiosity of that which matters most.
Let a passion arise within them to seek You -
experiencing the wonders of Your Love.

As You have given us our children
So we give them back to You.
Give us wisdom to love them-
teach them, and guide them with tender care.
With deep gratitude - we thank You
for the gift of Yourself - as we behold our children.

The growth of understanding follows an ascending spiral rather than a straight line.
~Joanna Field

There is a wonderful post today at www.sigcarlfred.blogspot.com entitled, “Of Burning Bushes, Places And Time.” Go read it in its entirety since it is very meaningful.

Each and every person living on this earth will be faced with tremendous amount of pain and challenges in their lives. Some, it would seem, will experience pain more profoundly than others, but every person must drink from this cup.

I think it is pain that allows us to become more understanding and tolerant of other human beings and their suffering. Somehow it creates in us a compassionate heart and a desire to reach out to someone who is hurting. It gives us the gift of saying a kind word or to give a tender touch on the shoulders to a hurting heart. It brings us in tune with each other despite the many backgrounds, socioeconomic and educational levels.

Pain is a language that we all understand. Love is a language that heals even the deepest pain. Each of us have this gift to give to someone through our eyes, an embrace, through shared tears, a kind deed and prayer. We also have the capacity within us to receive this gift of love to its fullest should we look for it ourselves.

Many people feel that they have no one with whom to share their deepest pain. Perhaps the suffering is so deep that it cannot be expressed in words and thus only tears are the language to express its agony.

Cultivating a prayer life is a wonderful way to aid in healing, for ourselves and for those around us. Prayer will bring a spiritual energy into any situation which can inevitably bring about a miracle.

A resolve and true commitment to prayer is one of the most powerful deeds a person can do in their life. It can and will bring change to otherwise seemingly impossible situations.

I do, indeed, believe that!

Peace begins with a smile.
~Mother Teresa

As I stepped outside today, I took a long breath in appreciation of the freshness of the air which the rain had left behind. All the colors looked richer and expressed their beauty yet more refined. The birds sounded cheerful and seemed to sing a song of gratitude for yet another loving reminder that a wonderfully unseen Hand holds all together.

As I sat to take in a moment of gratitude, I thought of a little girl at the Zoo the other day. My family was in an exhibit and I was sitting on a bench, savoring some ice cream. It was a beautiful spring like day. I could feel the sun penetrate through my clothes and I felt comforted by its warmth. I closed my eyes as I listened to the background noise of people talking and children laughing. The animals seemed especially happy for it was an unusually beautiful day.

I opened my eyes and just then, a little girl about eight years old, passed by me. She held on to her father’s hand and I could tell in her eyes that her life was endowed with love. She was beautiful as I saw the richness of her interior through her eyes. Her eyes danced with innocence and beauty. I smiled at her and she quickly and tenderly smiled back at me. I watched her as she and her father passed by me. Then she turned once more to smile at me, as if to say, “Thank you for noticing me today. You’ve seen a treasure in me that I did not know I had. You’ve awakened in me an awareness of that which is around me and its beauty has enriched my life.” I smiled back with as much tenderness as she had just given me. Only a short moment passed when she, once again, turned to give me one more smile. I smiled back, nodded my head and waved my hand to her.

It was a beautiful and very meaningful moment. I held her close to my heart and prayed that God will keep her safe in His tender care. That she may know true happiness and come to understand, that the tears she will shed will bring deeper understanding of the mysteries that this life holds.

I could not help but think of all the children in the world whose eyes are dimmed with sorrow and the dance of joy cannot be seen. I thought of the many children who live in abuse and pain so unbearable, that the only thing they can do is to create an inward world where they can hide themselves in order to feel safe. They cannot express their loneliness and desperation, thus, only the streams of their tears that are shed in darkness, will keep life flowing for them.

Oh, how I long for these children to feel the safety, happiness and contentment of that little girl at the Zoo. Might they find peace and rest in their hearts as they carve out their own way in this life. Might they find understanding hearts and loving smiles to aid in their healing, as they dare to emerge from their very closed in world. May we all smile many tender smiles at others, since we know not on whose heart they may fall.

Viola Jaynes