Last Snips of Summer

Today my friend Rose snipped some of the final blooms of the summer and turned them into a sweet flower arrangement, intentionally bringing life and beauty into her day. So pretty!

The Serenity Prayer

The first part of this prayer is familiar to many, but few are probably aware that there is there's more:

"God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can,

and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

enjoying one moment at a time;

accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

taking, as He did, this sinful world

as it is, not as I would have it;

trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His will;

that I may be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with Him

forever in the next.

- Reinhold Niebuhr

Quotes Worth Contemplating

"What you eat is not as important as what's eating you."
- Mike Barry, CTCA Philly chaplain

The Undertow of Cancer

"Cancer is like being caught in an undertow.  Upon realizing that they are in danger, people usually panic and think, 'I'm going to die!'  Furiously they try to swim to shore.  However, according to the experts, they are the ones least likely to live.  Consider this advice:

When caught in a rip current [undertow], one should not fight it, but rather swim parallel to the shoreline in order to leave it.  If you see a person caught in one, yell at them to do so.  Floating until the current disperses into deeper waters is another method of surviving such a dangerous incident, but it may leave the swimmer farther out from shore.

Floating until the current disperses into deeper water?  Sounds crazy, doesn't it?  Allowing the wave to take you further away from the shore?  And yet, that is what survival requires of us.  How is that any different than faithfully trusting in God?  During the undertow times in our lives, our human nature is to panic and struggle, when actually just the opposite will help us overcome our problems.

The expert advice is, 'If you see a person caught in one, yell at them to do so.'  OK, so I'm now 'yelling' at you.  Calm down.  Lie on your back, so to speak.  Allow God to care for you.  Trust Him.  Don't panic, even though it makes sense to do so.  The ocean's pull might seem to take you away from safety, but it creates your best chance for survival.  Trust God."

- Michael S. Barry, The Art of Caregiving