Lenten reflection -How envy hurts us

/
Lenten reflection -How envy hurts us

Each Lent gives us a great opportunity to stop our busy lives to grow spiritually in some way.  Besides giving something up and doing good works, it is a great time to reflect on the Word and where we can recognize things in ourselves that separate us from God’s plan.  Most of us probably don’t think we are guilty of the seven deadly sins (Pride, envy, wrath, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and lust) but, when we look deeper, there is often a hint of all of them in each of us, more than we like to admit.  The seven deadly sins are deadly, not in themselves but in what they can lead us to.  Envy is an example of one we may have experienced at times in our lives that can greatly impact us and those around us.  There is nothing wrong with desiring good things in life or even what other people enjoy, but envy is a “sadness or discontent at the excellence, good fortune, talent, blessings, or success of another person. It implies that one considers oneself somehow deprived by what one envies in another.”  It isn’t an ordered desire for the good but being fixated on drawing comparisons between ourselves and others, or the destructive sense of rivalry that drives the sin of envy – someone is better off than us and it makes us angry. 

Read More

Jon Imber's Inspiring Example

/
Jon Imber's Inspiring Example

Thirty years ago, my wife and her family introduced me to the small fishing village of Stonington, Me.  It is rugged, strikingly beautiful, and home to many hardworking people making their living and raising their families.  The island is also home to many artists, not only because of it’s beauty, and quality of light, but also because of the character of the community. Early on, we met one painter, Jill Hoy, whom we have admired for her brilliant use of color and unique style to her oil paintings.  Each year, as we walk up and down the steep hills of the town after church and/or breakfast at the Harbor View Cafe, we would always seem to end up at Jill’s gallery to admire her impressive work that has captured so much of this island.

Read More

Christmas - what's it all about?

/
Christmas - what's it all about?

My wife and I bought our starter house, a small Cape, when we got married.  We are still in our “starter” house because it became home as we fixed it up, started our journey of life as a couple, raised our daughters, and now sit here in the sun room we added years ago, watching the snow blanket the neighborhood just one week before Christmas.  Our family has grown up celebrating and enjoying each of the holidays the calendar brings, but I think it would be a unanimous vote that the Christmas season is the favorite.  We were reminiscing about an overnight trip we took with the girls to Portsmouth, New Hampshire during a snow storm to visit the living history village of Strawberry Banke during the Christmas season.  As our small car slipped and slid its way up Route 95, we were all questioning our sanity, but once we finally reached our destination and watched the saucer-like snowflakes (we have only seen in Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer and the movie Elf) gently fall outside the restaurant we were now cozied up in, it was more than worth the journey.  It felt like Christmas and we were together to enjoy it.

Read More

The protective armor that keeps us from living

/
The protective armor that keeps us from living

How many people do you know that are really comfortable in their own skin?  Can you risk the vulnerability of letting the world, or even yourself, really see you and not just the protected public self we allow to be seen?  What do we fear most – rejection by others or even self-rejection?  We spend quite a bit of our time creating that acceptable outer self to avoid what we fear most - that we may not be worthy of being loved and accepted for who we are at our authentic core.  So why is that the case for so many of us?

Read More

The Humble Servant

/
The Humble Servant

One of our biggest challenges in life is knowing who we are and who are not.  Without that hold on reality, we will constantly lead ourselves astray and remain unsatisfied at our core.  Pride is probably our biggest hurdle to knowing who we are and living that truth out in our lives.  Pride is something that leads to distorted will and self-trust, and a sense that we don’t need anyone else (including God) to show us the way and determine what is true.   With pride, we can become consumed with feeding our ego, believe we have nothing new to learn, and actually put ourselves in the place of God.  Pride is the sin that caused Lucifer to fall from heaven, and we can see why it is called the foundation of all the other deadly sins since it leads to so many of our sins that separate us from God.

Read More

Fun and laughter for your relationships

/
Fun and laughter for your relationships

Even science tells us that laughter and playfulness creates social bonds, increases well-being, reduces pain and anxiety, and can be a positive to those around us.  Laughter can make people feel safer, more relaxed and more connected to those we interact with. Laughter and humor increases our capacity to learn, to be creative, to cope and deal with the difficulties of life and to create stronger social bonds. There are research studies that show that when children laugh, it enhances their attention, perception, motivation, memory,  and learning.   A sense of humor, laugher and play can help to also reduce depression and stress and increase our actual pain tolerance by as much as 50%. Taking time to play and laugh is a way of expressing inner joy. 

Read More

Joy and Happiness

/
Joy and Happiness

Growing up, my family never went on a vacation. My father kept my brothers and I busy during the summers building walls or patios, painting houses and doing landscaping, butI can still remember loving the rhythm of the summer, the longer days, warm evenings and being outside.  When I got married, I was introduced to going somewhere (Maine) for a summer vacation.  My wife and my daughters loved spending two weeks in the small, unassuming fishing village of Stonington with and incredible beauty of the rugged coastline.  I still can remember our two girls racing down the pier at the harbor and the word that comes to mind is joy.  Joy for them seemed natural.  Being in the moment, in a beautiful place, with the people I loved most, and taking the time to appreciate all the blessings I had gave me a deep sense of peace and of joy as well.

Read More