Dear Reader:
Kate-Wolfe Jenson, in her latest blog, provided this famous quote that I love:
GOD’S FIRST LANGUAGE IS SILENCE. EVERYTHING ELSE IS A TRANSLATION. – Thomas Keating
As I went to re-decorate the Franklin Stove yesterday….after removing the Christmas Advent Train…I felt strongly drawn to a plaque I had hanging from a chest in the bedroom (“Be Still and know that I am God.”) I moved it over to the fireplace area and then added Palmetto roses and crosses with my two favorite Christmas cups I have received from Marcia.
At this time of the year, after all the busyness and excitement of the holidays…I find myself craving silence and solitude. It’s time to make time for (as Jenson would say) “sacred pauses.”
I found this lovely garden spoon while cleaning up, put it by the Dingle tea china cup and added bright yellow flowers to offset the overcast skies of late.
Sacred Pause
(Kate-Wolfe Jenson)
there is a moment
between your exhale
and the
next
breath
in
a sacred pause
while life
gathers
to declare itself
mark such moments
in the coming days
allow for time between
grant yourself silences
and savorings
be
yes, there is a world
clamoring
outside your door
yes, it needs you
but first, a moment
connect with the holy
within and without
so you can emerge
fearless
…………………….
I have never been very good with directions…so I feel that I need some hands-on time with God to show me the way I should proceed this new year. Being a visual learner I have to see some type of image pointing me in the right direction. When the garden spoon marker and plaque popped up…I understood that I needed to place these two items where I can see them daily…as a reminder to stop and listen…and if I get lost…then God will provide the visual clues.
My daily mantra is going to be: “Take time to tend to my soul.”
……………………
I got my black magic marker and wrote this on the top of my new 2016 calendar.
Make sacred space in your 2016 calendar.
………………….
So until tomorrow…Let’s find the courage that e.e.cummings encourages by tending to our soul and holding God’s Hand so we can become the person we are destined to be. (Thanks Anne for sharing this drawing!)
“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh
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About Becky Dingle
I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents
were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my
grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old
Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended
Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters
Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am
presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also
taught at the College of Charleston.
For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy
matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of
stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message
through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret
of success in teaching social studies is always in the story.
I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest
teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re
ripe you rot.”
ichaseferalcats
John Turner
Legally Ohm
Becky Dingle
Love this post, Becky. I’m feeling the same way….in need of sacred quiet time.
It was so funny….Susan Cadwell just emailed me and said she thinks she gave me that garden marker….and she’s right…she sure did….found it sticking out of the mud beside the roses over the holidays…brought it in….and it made the blog….I needed to hear its message.
Be still and know that I am God is one of the most comforting verses that I know…I said it continuously while my Mother was passing into.Glory..
How beautiful…silence is true perfection unspoiled by honks, screeches, taunts, or loud noises….a quiet moment in a quiet part of nature is the best medicine in the world.