Dear Reader:

When I was still presenting at various social studies workshops in the district…I, usually, took some form of “parting” gifts to leave with the participants… as a reminder of the activities we did together.

For example…if the theme was ‘creativity and imagination through social studies’…each participant would leave with a key (and a ribbon tied around it) as a reminder that imagination is the “key” to developing a love of learning in students.

…Or maybe the theme was geography and I would give a compass to the teachers  so they would recall the important role they play, as a compass, in guiding their students in the right direction to become lifetime learners.

…Or lastly, to give each participant a little looking glass as a reminder that just because a student “wanders” off the given educational path…doesn’t mean they are lost. There are some students who just need a more intense glimpse into their personal histories by the teacher…a little more love. Teachers must realize the truth in the following quote:

Saint Exupery: “Perhaps love is the process of my leading you gently back to yourself.”

With the imminent birth of our newest Dingle looming larger each day…I can’t help but think that this wondrous child is beginning its greatest adventure … into the frontier, the unknown, called Life…and it must be done alone.

Every newborn must find his/her own path into the world without a physical tool to help them. Each compass has been charted since the beginning of time and remains a built-in, biological and spiritual magnet that draws them to the light of the world.

It is this spiritual compass that grows stronger each day of life as the child hears stories about kindness and helping others. The “compass” tool through life has now become storytelling.

Newborns don’t have a “key” to unlock the many doors in life facing him/her…but the child soon discovers that there are special mentors God has assigned to help open the doors for them throughout their lives.

Once again the “key” to living a fulfilling life appears through the stories we hear…even as our own story begins to take shape. Stories that show us the true, constant “Compass” …the spiritual compass…Who, in the end, will lead us back home to peace.

“The Path”

The story is told of a missionary who was traveling to a remote village to train leaders of the local church. A guide was selected to take him to the village but the only way to reach the remote place was to travel through the jungle. The journey started out without much of a problem because the path was good but soon into the trip the path literally disappeared.
The missionary grew concerned and asked, “Where is the path?” The guide smiled and drew a machete from his belt. He began to slice and chop his way into the brush and thickets. The guide looked back and told the missionary, “I am the path.”

As the child grows…the spiritual metaphors of life become clearer and more understandable by using the “looking glass” given to us in the Word…in scripture.

Proverbs 16:9   A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.

“The Bible does not provide a map for life – only a compass”

The child learns that we all have access to the “True Compass” but we still must charter our own course to mold and develop each individual and unique gift for the world…with our Creator as our guide.

Emily Dickinson wrote:

“I never spoke with God,

Nor visited in heaven

Yet certain am I of the spot

As if the chart were given.”

Eleanor Roosevelt once said that the greatest gift a fairy godmother can give a newborn is curiosity. I whole-heartedly agree…except I would add the word faith. Without faith…it is very easy to get “lost” in life when the hard times come…and they will come.

Like Emily Dickson’s certainty of heaven sight unseen, it is faith that provides the strength and endurance to separate one’s quality of life from simply that of existing to living.

Faith is the greatest gift we can give each newborn-the anchor to a life lived to the fullest!

So by the time one reaches my age (as I watch my grandchildren grow)…it is my faith that now understands St. Exupery’s thought…”To live is to be slowly born.”

So until tomorrow…Father, help us discover all the tools you have given us to find our way back home to you…to find peace.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Since we have been talking about directions… and this week we remember Dr. Seuss on his birthday…perhaps we should leave with this little ditty:

“You have brains in your head, You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.

* John just sent me these photos of Eva Cate and Jakie at five months….Eva Cate is working her “cuteness” and Jake remains “Mr. Cool.”

 *** A big big “shout out” to W.T.! John’s wonderful dad and Joan’s loving husband. Happy Birthday! Since I just got your card off today….here’s a little something to tide you over!

I just read it in the Scientific Don’t Believe It Journal of Unforgettable Facts