Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

The plant ( anthurium) is composed of two Greek words ” anthos” -flower and ” oura” flowering tail. Today there are over 1000 different types of anthuriums.

You might have seen pictures in the past of my orange anthurium… it almost bit the dust until I removed it from the garden ( a few months ago) and placed it on the front porch where it should have been all the time as it needs indirect light-not direct. It also requires high humidity conditions as it is tropical, along with warm temperatures. ( Perfect Lowcountry summer conditions) And like the pineapple-symbolizes hospitality! The perfect plant for a front porch!

The setting for the story originates in the jungles of Colombia in Central America where these beautiful plants were discovered in the 1850’s by Austrian explorer Karl von Scherzer -so today the species is called ” Anthurium Scherzerianum.”

( This plant is not a flower, in the sense, that it is the leaf that turns different colors and in the middle the ” flowering tail.”)

Mythology reveals that it was the ” flowering tail” that gave rise to Cupid’s arrows-shooting flowers ( not just hearts) as symbols of love.”

The beautiful plant keeps producing more colorful leaves for three month periods … several times a year-so it is hard to find a time when it isn’t ” blooming.”

” Feng Shui” -promotes this plant because of its longevity of colors that cultivates happiness and is said to bring the owner good luck and fortune. ( After I took one picture of the front porch and my blue Gullah Good luck ceiling… ( keeps the haints away) … I feel like I have covered all my abundance of ” fortune and happiness ” bases.

So until tomorrow… Isn’t it fun discovering , once again, how nature helps man with his lifelong quest …finding peace and harmony?

Today is my favorite day -Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Aren’t we all guilty sometimes of pushing ourselves to the point of complete exhaustion… without even being consciously aware of doing so… since each separate situation leading up the final ” flop” were all doable and even fun or rewarding?

Yesterday was my ” Friday Flop” day. I woke up and made myself go water the side garden but stopped short from watering the back garden. Enough. I would pray for an overdue afternoon thundershower. A friend called and I leapt at the chance to eat breakfast out… great way to start the day.

I had not gotten the mail the day before and when I did… I got the biggest laugh of the day! A friend I used to teach with sent me a postcard with her family gathering at a beach house they rented for a week each year. It was an adorable picture… with adults, kids of all ages down to babies waving for the camera. There were a mixture of smiles and , of course, your one or two pouty kids glaring back at the camera. Typical family vacation picture.

I texted my friend to let her know … I had gotten the precious postcard. A few minutes later my phone rang-it was my friend. Her voice was muffled -like she was in a closet or something-I commented how cute the photo was of her waving… she replied ( still whispering) …

” Do you remember that saying… ” Fake it until you make it?…Well, darling, I wasn’t waving… but drowning.”

I cracked up laughing as she told me she was counting the hours and minutes until departure day… too much ” fun” for her and hubby who kept mysteriously disappearing to pick up more groceries but usually came home with little or nothing -the great escape.

She concluded there should be a time limit on family gatherings-three days tops… for the first few days nearly everyone is sporting their best behavior but then the smiles and laughter recede in direct correlation with an increase of tears and whining… accompanied by screaming matches.

I hung up saying that all I could think of was this one line of encouragement -” Godspeed.” 😉

Yesterday was my ” sacred idleness” day. George Macdonald once wrote: “Work is not always required… there is such a thing as sacred idleness, the cultivation of which is now fearfully neglected.”

It was quite simply an abundant day of bliss. I had given myself a restorative gift. Like grace, this blessing came out of the blue. Conversing with friends, reading, and enjoying Mexican spaghetti that Susan delivered… Scrumptious… sparing me a grocery store run. Perfect ending to yesterday! Thank you Susan!

So until tomorrow… some days we need to stop… and just live and love.💗

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Thunder is rolling and hopefully we will get some showers from it since I didn’t water. 🤞

… and now for those ” 40 Winks.”

Dear Reader:

There is no doubt in my mind that all Sherry’s loved ones, family and friends, certainly understand Pooh’s comment: ” If you weren’t you, then we’d all be a bit less we.”

As Rev. Dr. Frank McCracken, pastor of First Presbyterian, told example after example of Sherry’s contributions to everyone she met (along her journey) through teaching, sports, family gatherings, church and civic fundraisers of all kinds, it became evident why the scripture from John 15: 4-10 was selected to remember her life.

Many of us equate this passage with the branch and the vine metaphor to placing our whole faith in God in order to live a fruitful life. It was only when Pastor McCracken studied the verses again that he experienced a ” God Wink.” One word kept popping out at him over and over- the word abiding. It was repeated almost 10 times within the verses.

… And then he knew… Sherry was a prime example of a person who , not only abided in the Lord, but after receiving the light, passed it on to others. Even as her dementia stole more and more of her memory… Sherry held fast to her beliefs, bore it patiently, endured without yielding, kept her saving grace… in other words, not only did she continue to abide in God… she continued to abide in her love for family and close friends. Sherry chose life everyday until the end.

Sherry loved to sing and it was mentioned if someone said ” Jesus ” she automatically began singing ” Jesus loves me.” So Wednesday, during the service, all stopped so we could all sing together… ” Jesus Loves Me” in her remembrance.

So until tomorrow… For a person to be spiritually fruitful to others in their lives -they first must be connected to the Source of Life… our Creator and His Son-the True Vine.

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Before I start the post today… I have to admit what I just did by mistake… instead of writing ” Dear Reader” I wrote ” Dear Santa.” Aren’t there some childhood memories so ingrained in our psyches that, no matter the age, they mysteriously pop back up.

This time, however, I have to admit it was the end result of watching too many ‘ Christmas in July’ Hallmark episodes. . One line, from one show, caught my attention and I quickly jotted it down. A young mother was reading a bedtime Christmas story to her little girl.

The child, in the story, was asking Santa how he possibly could find every kid’s home around the world to deliver gifts?

” Little girl… didn’t you know… there’s a path to every destination in this world. Never forget that…”Santa winked and gave her a big hug!

Some lines just hit me… like an epiphany… and this was one. That one line immediately connected me to one of my favorite lines I had just sent cousin Charles in my sympathy card to him… in regard to his wife Sherry’s passing.

…in the end, she became more than what she expected. she became the journey, and like all journeys, she did not end, she just simply changed directions and kept going. r. m. drake

Wasn’t that the reason we were all gathered at the First Presbyterian Church yesterday afternoon in Laurens? Sherry had completed her journey here on earth and now she had simply changed direction and was following her path to her final destination. And what a destination it is!

I had time to ride around Laurens and take a few pictures-before the service… and the service was so meaningful. Tomorrow I will share a God Wink the pastor experienced with one word that kept reappearing as he prepared his memories of Sherry!

So until tomorrow… May our past paths continuously intertwine with our present ones so we can move forward taking who we were into who we are!

Today is my favorite day… Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Today I am driving to Laurens… my family’s ancestral home town and a place that holds a myriad of emotions… mostly good but also a reminder of the loss of loved ones who went before… who actually gave me life… the gift, to date, that keeps on giving.

I will be returning to my family church, the First Presbyterian church of Laurens , South Carolina for Sherry’s funeral service. It is a beautiful church-built in Gothic Revival architecture-with it’s first service held in the present-day church in 1893.

I was active in the youth groups while living in Laurens through my high school years and was married in this church in 1973. Lots of memories…will, no doubt, be flooding my mind. I hope to get there early to walk around and observe all the changes that have taken place since I lived in Laurens.

There will be lots of reflections to share upon my return tonight….

I want to ride down Main Street and see all the beautiful homes and even ride by my home on Barksdale Circle… I know it will be different from my youth recollections.

The pastor, will no doubt, have his work cut out for him when it comes to remembering Sherry’s life. She and Charles met at the University of Georgia and Sherry was a stand-out in women’s collegiate basketball-in fact I think Charles told me that she was recently recognized by the university for her contributions to sports and so much more.

Sherry was a much beloved mother, wife, and teacher in the Laurens public school system. In fact one student, Marilyn told me offered her services to Charles to help care for Sherry throughout her illness… staying on to the end.

So until tomorrow… Charles Dickens reminds us ” No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of others” Amen!

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

As I drove out of my neighborhood… leaving for Laurens… I saw this new neighbor’s jeep in the driveway-a God Wink for the trip!

Walsh stayed at surf camp yesterday to watch all the boys practice their newly acquired skills!

Dear Reader:

Knowledge is an accumulation of facts and learned experiences we absorb throughout our life. Wisdom is knowing when to apply our knowledge to a situation and when to save it for a later and more appropriate challenge that might come our way.

Some of you might remember that about a week ago a beloved cousin, Charles, texted me to catch up and get my brother Ben’s number. He finished the text teasing me about munching on potato chips (in my honor-” The Potato Chip Kid.”) I was the cousin who wouldn’t eat a sandwich without chips.

Last week I was enjoying an exceptionally quiet week but mentioned it felt like I was in waiting mode and attributed it to Lee and Vikki’s precious little one who should arrive any day! Our latest addition to the family-a great niece!

Saturday morning the phone rang-it was Marilyn, Charles’ sister, who sadly told me Charles’ wonderful wife, Sherry had passed. I was so stunned… Sherry had battled cerebral vascular dementia for the past several years at home… Charles had wonderful help and they stayed in a great routine and life had settled back in but a stroke took Sherry’s life quickly.

Ben had not had a great week .. problems with his phone and confusion over the baby’s arrival and the thunderstorms had limited his ability to hit balls outside. … so I knew I had to be careful about how I let him know about Sherry since Ben’s diagnosis is the same as Sherry’s. I didn’t want him connecting the shared diagnosis thinking it might cause more confusion or upset him.

Sunday, Bekah, Ben’s daughter and granddaughter Ady visited him and managed to figure out the problem with the phone and get it going again. 🎉 Then yesterday I took his Pepsis and cheese crackers to him. We had a long talk and I simply told Ben that Sherry had been sick for quite awhile and suffered a stroke … no mention of the long-term cause or name behind it.

He was saddened to hear it but accepted the news calmly… death is a natural part of life-he said and we are all in that stage of life when it could easily be anyone of us… whenever God decides. When Ben isn’t confused he is amazingly insightful.

He told me that every week or so he is sharing one more chapter of his book about his experiences in Vietnam with many interested residents who come to his Book Talk. He is reminded each time how lucky he is to simply be alive. Ben is at peace with death and there I was trying to protect him when Ben, in his wisdom was teaching me.

Then our conversation lightened up because he was telling me that the lawn maintenance worker was always bringing Ben golf balls he found around the property but lately some had ended up in the palmetto trees. He was quite good-natured about it and bagged the balls and brought them to him.

Suddenly a resident sitting in another seat on the porch started pointing… I followed her gaze… there sat a golf ball in the closest palmetto tree to us! God has such a great sense of humor and His Winks are timed perfectly!

It is such a beautiful drive on Daniel Island to get to Wellmore and Ben comments on its beauty frequently -something that the ” old” Ben would never have noticed.

So until tomorrow… When we hear God’s voice coming through loud and clear in any conversation or ordinary day ritual… let’s remember to stop and pause… God’s wisdom is the voice of deeper insights… a spiritual ” tag on” to our human knowledge.

Today is my favorite day -Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

The more I thought about this saying… the more I liked it. If we leave this earth still wondering what people will think of us after we are gone and even worrying about it… I think sadly we somehow ” missed the boat” … the key lesson in life.

The only ” person’s” opinion of our life that matters is God’s… after all we are created in His image so shouldn’t we be living our lives in His image too?

If there is something that has stuck with me through my life cycle… it is … we must first love ourselves before we can spread love to others. It is only when we remember we each have a soul… a portal connecting us to God … that we fully realize why we must channel the light in us first and then turn it outward towards others. This is what life is about… loving others.

Where we go astray… is associating happiness with ” me” goals-a bigger home, car, promotion, trips, power, wealth. Suddenly our chief goal becomes impressing others, public opinion and even fear from others promotes more power and self-adulation.

Some think that people should never be satisfied and see it as a weakness…. an obstacle to success. The problem with this thinking is that happiness aligns itself with the deep satisfaction of a life well-lived.. for others as well as self.

I think nothing is sadder than a person who succeeds in accumulating things… and discovers too late that happiness and joy and true love has eluded him/her at the end of their earthly journey.

So until tomorrow… I will strive everyday to make it a better day and me a better person… some days will be more successful than others but I have the satisfaction of knowing I am trying.

Today is my favorite day -Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

John Kieran once wrote reflectively ” I am part of all I have read.”

I recognize this statement almost every day of my life. If we were lucky enough to be read to… growing up… don’t we remember metaphors and examples from those early stories…in confronting new adult situations ? The experience or change might be new to us … but it reminds us of a similar dilemma from a fairy tale, an adventure book or imagination stories?

For example…Each time I make a comment about a new experience I am in the midst of … and starting to feel more comfortable with… I imagine myself as Goldilocks trying out new items before choosing the one that fits and feels ” just right.” These fable connections never cease to bring me familiarity and with that… comfort! .

Friday night I got up around 2am to hit the restroom and then realized I was thirsty-after grabbing a water bottle I wandered in the den and was taking a big gulp when the room lit up… I felt like I was in a Sci-Fi movie… quickly it became apparent that I was witnessing heat lightning… only seen in the summer.

It is so eerie because the human ear doesn’t pick up the distant thunder… so it feels like the inky skies have a bad bulb that is about to go out… and it is blinking rapidly in quick successions. Eerie but so beautiful!

I decided to move my pillow and blanket to the sofa and watch my own personal fireworks… apparently I fell asleep and was awakened by the thunder that had caught up with the lightning by 4 am… a lot of noise but surprisingly no rain… as I discovered yesterday morning.

It was Oscar Wilde who once wrote: ” Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” He goes on to explain that what is found in life and nature, is not what is really there… but it is that which artists have taught people to look for and find there.

For example fog has existed in London for centuries … but today London and fog are synonymous because poets and painters have taught the loveliness of this effect-not recognized until art invented it.

For example … as in this Claude Monet artwork…

So until tomorrow… this past week has been an ” open book” for me-in the sense that I had a whole week by myself to read… it has been a long time since I have had that much time alone ( all the grandkids were at camps) but it, also, felt like a ” closed book” in the sense that it felt like a waiting week-but I wasn’t sure what lay ahead- I ” closed myself” inside as thundershowers appeared frequently and settled in happily in my ” woman cave.”

As of yesterday… I have discovered there was something forming… but tomorrow is another day for more revelations to come.

Like open and closed books… some of my garden flowers are thriving in this semi-tropical hot, wet climate while others have ” closed” up shop for the season.

Today is my favorite day -Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

Yesterday was a dot to dot day… where similar thoughts from different programs blended into the same message. We are all connected… We are all connected… We are all connected.

It started with a HGTV show about a couple who renovate mountain cabins and houses for customers- believe the mountain home was in Colorado but not absolutely sure. The setting is immaterial-as usual it is the story behind the story that matters.

This wonderful family-a father with three grown children-had decided to re-do the family “sanctuary” that once meant so much to everyone growing up-filled with warm memories until the loss of their grandmother, who first bought it, followed sadly by her daughter ( the wife and mother) of the family deciding to make some monumental changes with the home.

It had taken them four years to gather the courage to return and trust strangers to make the improvements needed to sustain it while retaining the sacred memories of the past.

After the family left … the renovator couple understood only too well what a challenge had been left with them … since the construction / renovator’s wife had recently lost her mother also. But then she said something very insightful: ” What brings us so much sorrow stems from what once brought us so much joy!”

Isn’t that true? The people in our lives who bring us the most joy are the very ones who are missed the most.

As you can imagine ( It IS HGTV) the end result was ” crazy good”… the perfect blend of old and new-past and present. The only time the family broke down, touring it, was when the family was asked to look closely at the new rock fireplace. Several rocks were in the shapes of hearts.

*** The daughter had mentioned that her mother loved rock hunting and squealed with delight if she found one in the shape of a heart. Some stones had become paper weights on desks and side tables… now forever a part of a fireplace that brought back light and warmth and memories.

Three hours passed… I ran some errands, did some menial chores and turned the television back on while I ate lunch-it was Faith Friday and this week’s speaker was Devon Franklin ( creator of ‘It Takes A Woman.’ )

Suddenly I sat up as I heard him say ” We are all connected-we all go through unexpected things in our lives. Just remember… tragedy sets you up for triumph and out of pain comes purpose… you can decide that your painful experience will be purposeful. But only you can decide it.. we can’t determine the cards life deals us but we can play our hand fairly and be a role model for the young eyes watching us.”

So until tomorrow… Let’s start surprising ourselves by discovering when to fold and when to hold in life… this can only be done if we are willing to open ourselves to new experiences.

Today is my favorite day -Winnie the Pooh

Eva Cate is home from camp-she had a much better experience this year and wasn’t as homesick… but the showers only had cold water and she was ready for a hot shower.

The Lowcountry is having to do the dog paddle lately …trying not to sink…from the amount of rain and thundershowers we have had lately. Lots of flooding! But the cone flowers are hanging in there!

Dear Reader:

Over the years… haven’t we all agreed that lightening and clearing out excessive junk, we have accumulated over time, produces such a freeing feeling … we are out of the jail we built around us with too much of too much excess- books, furniture, toys, tools, clothing, shoes, etc.

We have talked about the power of simplicity and simplifying our lives, yet if we are honest, haven’t we all fallen back on old habits of accumulating more of everything without letting go of anything or at least not enough something’s… and find ourselves right back in the same predicament repeatedly?

I have come to the conclusion that perhaps we first have to lighten our own ” lives”-feelings and emotions before lightening our material lives.

Scientists tell us that in the physical world… light exists as a reflection. What we see is the electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths. This illumination or giving off of light is what allows us to see one another and the world around us. In order to be seen or see, we move out of darkness into light.

In the non-physical or spiritual realm -light is a state of being, of awareness. Physically we reflect light. Spiritually we are light. The bridge between the two realms is our consciousness-how we think and what we believe. It is where we make choices and take action.

One story I came across (while reading various articles) told of a dream wherein the author ( Judith Johnson) and her mother found themselves in a huge domed room … filled with windows of all sizes and shapes-each with its own customized window shade. The mother asked what they should do and the daughter automatically responded by replying ” Open as many shades as we can to get as much light shining in here as possible.”

We all have a different tolerance and desire for light-both physically and spiritually. We should all stop at intervals along our life’s journey to re-examine how much light we are willing to shed on our personal journey.. and how this will affect the final outcome.

If we feel too heavily laden … we need to shine some light on the choices we make and those we avoid. What negative repetitive thoughts and feelings need a different more positive perspective to yield better results… to lighten our lives.

So until tomorrow… Our beloved Mama Mia, Jackson’s mother who we all adored… told Jackson one time that every morning before she raised her window shade to see what kind of day existed outside the window… she had already made up her mind as to what she would like to see… and no matter what the shade revealed Mama Mia already knew what the day would bring her… her light would shine regardless.

Today is my favorite day-Winnie the Pooh

Well… the darkness is physically taking over the skies outside this late afternoon-thunder is rumbling in the distance… but I am loving it… the perfect atmosphere for my murder mystery novel I am reading… I have a flashlight ready if the current goes off.. fun! Fun! Fun!