Dear Reader:

While we are reassured by scripture that “We are made in the image of God” today this message is visibly evidenced by Holographic images of our universe…. God’s Creation.

Everything in life points back to one simple observation: “We are all connected in the universe.”  I was a late bloomer/learner when this concept hit home to me…but ever since it did…it is the one thing I feel most confident about in my personal universe and life’s list of truths…that there is nothing that exists alone…no matter how distant or minute…eventually we will be connected to it. “We are one in the Spirit”…”We are one in the Universe.”

I wish I had recognized this important idea when I was younger and went through some lonely times…because it would have been reassuring to know that I was not alone…but connected to everything I saw in my life…animal, plant, even microscopic life. I was a piece of the big picture of life and as a living organism I had my role to play in God’s production.

A few days ago I came across an old newspaper article, written in 1991 when Beverly Barutio, had just finished her gift to St. Jude, God, and God’s travelers- St. Jude’s Chapel of Hope.

In the article she stated that if just one needy person came over the mountain and found refuge in the little chapel…then her mission, her odyssey was complete and a success! She had beat cancer and lived long enough to complete her promise to God and St. Jude.

To date….thousands of visitors have come to her chapel, some planned visits, some not…but something or Someone brought them to a sanctuary in the mountains, unlike any other. A small chapel that is filled with the spirit of Beverly and welcomes the curious and the lost. It certainly welcomed me and changed my life forever!

I didn’t build a chapel…but instead I built a blog (after experiencing the chapel for the first time in 2010)…a way to communicate my  life’s thoughts and observations as I journey along… a sometimes smooth, sometimes bumpy path. But now I am not alone. I have you as a fellow traveler…encouraging and supporting me through thick and thin. You can not imagine how your presence has changed my life.

When I started the blog…I thought if it fizzled after a few days and I never heard back from anyone then at least I tried it. My goal was to hear back from at least one person…someone who encouraged me to continue.

I remember exactly who that first person was…Cherry Farthing! She was so excited and encouraged me to continue writing…then she spread the news and within a couple of days single digits changed to double and finally triple.

And it all started with one reader who came across the blog accidentally and became a long-time loyal reader and cheer leader.

Thank you Cherry for being there for me on the evening of August 7, 2010…there was a very nervous writer holding her breath but you gave me confidence to continue. Thank you!

What I love to hear from readers now is when we have serendipitous moments together…with remarks like “I was just thinking the  exact same thing” or “I always felt that way too.” A moment of connections between thoughts and ideas…mind-boggling some days.

That is what happened a couple of days ago. I have written so much about the importance of making connections in our every day life…that when Michele Robertson found an article she knew I would love she sent it on to me. I did love it…and would like to share it with you right now.

“We Are All Connected”

Madisyn Taylor ( Daily OM)

There are times when we may feel disconnected from the world. Our actions can seem like they are of no major consequence, and we may feel like we exist in our own vacuum. Yet, the truth is that our simplest thought or action – the decisions we make each day, and how we see and relate to the world – can be incredibly significant and have a profound impact on the lives of those around us, as well as the world at large.

The earth and everything on it is bound by an invisible connection between people, animals, plants, the air, the water, and the soil. Insignificant actions on your part, whether positive or negative, can have an impact on people and the environment that seem entirely separate from your personal realm of existence. Staying conscious of the interconnection between all things can help you think of your choices and your life in terms of the broader effect you may be creating.

Think of buying a wooden stool. The wood was once part of a tree which is part of a forest. A person was paid to fell the tree, another to cut the wood, and yet another to build the stool. Their income may have had a positive effect on their families, just as the loss of the tree may have had a negative impact on the forest or the animals that made that tree their home.

An encouraging word to a young child about their special talent can influence this person to develop their gift so that one day their inventions can change the lives of millions. A poem written “merely” to express oneself can make a stranger reading it online from thousands of miles away feel less alone because there is someone else out there who feels exactly the way they do.

Staying conscious of your connection to all things can help you think of your choices in terms of their impact. We are powerful enough that what we do and say can reverberate through the lives of people we may never meet. Understanding that you are intimately connected with all things and understanding your power to affect our world can be the first step on the road to living more consciously.

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So until tomorrow…The next time you withdraw from a situation that forces you to ‘put yourself out there’ sharing your passion, or talent, with known and unknown faces…stop and think: “I am not alone in this endeavor…succeed or fail…God is holding my hand and will lead me where I belong.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Susan Cadwell mentioned that her sadness over Sunday evenings and Monday mornings started back in college when she would go home for the weekend and have to get ready to pack back up and catch a ride and/or drive back to college…a long, sad trip with flashes of anxiety over the week ahead with tests, labs, and projects.

(I remember feeling that too in college…as much as I loved Erskine and later teaching…it is just something about getting back in the “rat race” that leaves us feeling hollow inside…doesn’t it? I suppose it is those words “change” and “transition” that still bother us as we fight to keep a constant in our lives.)