Stand...

Stand up and walk...this is what I heard this morning as I sat sipping the usual hot cup of heaven...as light begins to streak, to fill the sky in the East I step back and survey the things that have been bringing me trouble, thoughts that have given me pause, actions of those around me that have brought up old familiar pangs and pains....

Stand up dear hearts and walk it out...let the words, the actions of others to fall to the ground where they belong...let the power, the strength of God lift you...

'But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.' Isaiah 40:31

We may stutter...we may fall...but we get back up again and again....and again until we reach that goal, until we reach peace within and without...

Yesterday I had the day to myself once more, amongst the golden leaves littering the ground, flying and scattering as I drove the back country roads near Fraser Lake...the winding roads narrow and widen, leading on and on into a wonderland I have rarely witnessed.

I took new roads to new sites...alone....and oh the peace, oh the beauty that filled my soul to bursting....good music, window down, breeze blowing fresh, clean, rejuvenating air in my face and through my hair...

...face turned to the sun I took a moment to gaze upon a lake of such blue it humbled the soul; full of whitecaps, trees swaying in the wind, leaves blowing hither and yon....I breathed deep and released deeper....letting the cares, the sorrows, the grief to rise momentarily...the tears to come as I closed my eyes and just took in the healing solitude....and they fly, they must before such grandeur....

The future is far and away and I need not worry....the future is happening with or without us, a mighty train set in motion long ago....our choice is to stay within that fabric, to weave our way forward...making our way no matter what comes....

We choose each day to breathe through the pain....

We choose every day to embrace joy despite grief that may come....

We choose life my friends...and life is messy....it comes with good, with bad, with the so-soer's, with the dastardly doers, the evil slayers...with angels in human disguise, with the beautiful and bountiful givers, the peaceful makers....

We decide each day which we will be...minute by minute choices to do good or to do evil....

I see it...so often I see it...I see the kind walking among us like beacons, shining a light into the darkness....

I see it....so often I observe it...the hidden, the disguised and not so disguised, displaying cruelty and meanness....

Today is a day for returning to the Fraser Lake area and all its memories....I no longer tense as I drive through and in and around the area....I live in the present moment and enjoy every golden and orange leaf blowing along the roads, the baby bear standing up to get a better look at me, the deer and her fawn bounding off into the brush, the sun shining so brightly on the surface of the water...fish jumping, bird song trilling, one lone eagle winging his way... second star to the right, and straight on till morning....

Walk tall dear hearts and look for the good, search for the beauty around you and let it fill you...let it drain away the stresses and anxiety within you....

Stand proud warriors...you are filled with a mighty strength yet untapped...

Speak your truth in dulcet tones, with a smile relate your truth...speak with kindness, with compassion.

Walk from those who refuse to listen, to care, to see you as you truly are and accept you where you stand, carefully holding all the pieces of your brokenness while they knit and heal....let the scars form, let them shine...they are your badges of accomplishment, of battles fought and won....

May God richly bless you each day with grace...with strength...with love....