Bunny Tracks In the Snow

I walk outside in new fallen snow. It restores my soul. The sounds of the mechanical world are softened by this new blanket of snow. A gift to me is the small animal tracks I find as I walk in meditation: tiny bird feet, some other little unknown imprints, and bunny tracks that lead to nowhere. These are all signs of precious life that share this white world with me.

Kindness of a Stranger

I witnessed what could have been a traffic mishap that was averted by the kindness of a stranger. At a busy intersection, an elderly driver turned into the wrong lane, meeting traffic head-on. A man stopped his vehicle in front of the elderly person's car, got out, and proceeded to direct the confused driver to a safe path back to the right direction. It could have gone so wrong, with honking, yelling, and bent fenders. Instead, this kind stranger understood.

Dusty Memories

It was time to remove some of the refrigerator art that had accumulated over the months. I took off a few papers, mostly art from my grandchildren. Stuck in a forgotten corner at the top of the refrigerator was a dusty hand-made valentine from last year. It was a sweet memory - a valentine made by a sweet boy. I dusted it off, smiled, and added it to the pile of memories that will be pasted in my scrap book.

Cup of Tea

It is very cold here in Minnesota today. After spending the afternoon doing errands and getting in and out of the car, what a treat it is to have a nice warm cup of tea. I am blessed to live where getting warm is no harder than stepping in my cozy house and turning on the heat to start the tea kettle boiling.

AdSense and Grace

Well! After a few days of puzzling over how to get my AdSense ads back, I finally got it to work! I am a non-techie, and I had simply cut and pasted code into blogger. I looked at all of the suggestions that people provided on the message boards, and and after some hair-pulling sessions I finally got it to work! Grace? I'm not sure if this qualifies, but I'm happy with it, and I'm back!

Fuzzy Socks

As I tidied up my bedroom this morning, I spotted some new slipper socks that I had not worn yet. You know the kind: soft, warm, with thick fuzzy tops. They were a Christmas present to me. The socks represented to the giver something I didn't need, but something that I would love. And I do. I put them on, and they warmed my soul while they warmed my feet.

The Gift of Health

This post might well be called the Gift of Illness. I learned to appreciate health after dealing with a long recovery from illness. The greatest gift of my pain was learning unconditional compassion for those who endure physical limitations. Before my illness, I only thought I was compassionate. When I lived with physical limitations, I learned true compassion. I learned not to judge based on physical appearances. Just because someone doesn't look sick doesn't mean he or she is not limited in some way.

Grace of Aging

I went to an assisted living complex to attend a seminar on health, but I learned more from the audience than I did from the speaker. About half of the meeting attendees were residents of the building, with many using assisted walking devices. These vital, enthusiastic oldsters were eager to learn about how to keep their minds and bodies functioning in top condition. Their energy spilled over into the room. They were a picture of graceful aging.

Sunny Rainbows

I have a prism hanging in my kitchen window that catches the sunlight and throws hundreds of tiny rainbows bouncing around the walls and ceiling. It never fails to cheer me when I see these tiny miracles. These little sparkles of color are created from the sun shining through clear glass. The colors come from what seems like nothing, yet it is everything. They are miracles of grace.

Tickle of Joy

I know that I am walking in grace when I have a tickle of joy playing in my heart. I am grateful that I have that wonderful feeling today. I know I'm tuned in to what the universe has to offer me.

Grace and Gratitude for the United States of America

I take for granted the grace that allows me to live in this country. At a cub scout gathering, we were asked to stand before the flag and say the pledge of allegiance. I was moved with pride for my country. I am so grateful that our young people are being taught patriotism.

New Snow

A blanket of new snow fell during the night. It wasn't enough to cause anyone undue hardship, but just enough to brighten our winter world. Nature provides cleanliness in such a graceful way.

Swaying Trees

Each morning, before I get out of bed, and even on moonlit nights I can see the tops of sturdy oak trees through the slats in my window blinds. I marvel at the sturdiness of their limbs. The trees have held mounds of snow, been pelted with rain, and been forced to bend in the wind. Even as they take a battering from storms, they stand tall. Their gracefulness is Grace Unlimited. I can take a lesson from them and learn to sway in a storm while standing firm.

The Gift of Hearing

The chatter of children playing in the back yard, the crack of a baseball bat, the lonesome sound of a train whistle in the distance. For those of us who have the gift of grace that allows us to hear, these are some of the sounds that live in our memories. Sounds are held like bookmarks in our minds, and they return us to special times and places in our hearts. I close my eyes, listen for the sounds, and I am thankful.

Smile from a Stranger

How uplifting it is to receive a smile from a stranger for no reason at all. It can happen any time, anywhere. It makes my day. It can happen when I'm standing in a check-out line or walking on the street. When I take the time to really look at the people around me, someone that I've never seen before almost always smiles at me.

Music Music Music

Music can move me in a way that nothing else can. Have you ever conducted an orchestra? Well, I have, er well, I have pretended to. Today while listening to the Rossini's William Tell Overture, I had the urge to conduct this energetic piece of music. I stood in my kitchen waving a butter knife as my baton and conducted the whole thing. I was staring at the radio, because that's where the music came from, but in my mind I could see those violin bows going back and forth, up and down. Music is something that comes from within us. In its grace, it has no function except to soothe and heal.

Sparkling Water

It occurred to me while I was running water from the tap, that water, so freely given to us in this country is truly a gift of grace. We can turn on the faucet to get clean water in a second, but we also receive this give in so many other ways. It falls from the sky in the form of snow, sleet, and rain. It is beautiful to look at in its many forms, whether in snowflakes or waterfalls or glistening lakes. It cleans and heals our bodies, and it nourishes our souls.

Laughing Grace

What can be better than laughing with friends? I have had the fortune of grace to become acquainted with a wonderful group of women between the ages sixty and seventy-eight who clog dance. We no longer have a dance teacher, so we try to learn the steps on our own and teach each other. Laughing at our mistakes and accidental choreography is better therapy for me than any psychiatrist could ever provide.

The Grace of Streaming Sunshine

Each morning I take a few minutes of quiet time in my office. My routine is always the same. I close the door, close the window shade, and sit on the floor in a special spot to lose myself in meditation. This morning as a approached the office door there was a blinding stream of sunshine coming from the window. I thought to myself, "I can't close the window shade and waste this beautiful sunshine." I positioned myself on the floor in the path of the sunshine, closed my eyes and absorbed its healing warmth. Grace is sunshine on a cold winter day.

Frost on the Window Pane

I awoke this morning to a sunny blue sky on a crispy cold morning. Some might say that frost on a window pane means time to replace the window. I say that a frosty pattern on a window pane is nothing but grace. I didn't ask for it. It just appeared there overnight in all of its feathery, frosty splendor. The ice crystals that cover the cold glass curl and twist and turn in thousands of tiny patterns. They sparkle as the light tries to shine through. I am overwhelmed with the beauty of that tiny landscape that has formed itself for my enjoyment.

Grace With Geese

On a beautiful day in late December, I could see that the sunset would be beautiful. I grabbed my camera and headed west in my car toward open country. As I was keeping my eye on the lowering sun and looking for a place to pull off the road, I noticed a small gaggle of geese on the far horizon, flying in and out of a vee formation. I thought to myself how sweet it would have been to get the geese in my sunset photograph, but they had disappeared, and they had been too far away anyway. About five minutes later, they appeared again, flying toward my car, soared over me and then flew out of sight. I was sure they put on a flying show just for me.