Another Parable that I think about often:

The Town Up Ahead

Once, a man pulled up into a gas station in the country, and asked the gas station attendant, "What are the people like in the next town up ahead?" The attendant said, "What were the people like in the town you just came from?" "Awful people," the man responded. "Rude, cold, hostile, abrupt, unfriendly. They wouldn't give me the time of day." "Well," said the attendant, "I'm sorry to say it, but you're going to find exactly the same sort of people in the next town up ahead." A bit later, another driver pulled in, heading in the same direction as the
first. "What are the people like in the next town up ahead?" the second man asked. The attendant said, "What were the people like in the town you just came from?" "Wonderful people," the second man responded. "Friendly, warm, helpful, patient, kind. They went out of their way to help a stranger." "Well," said the attendant, "I'm happy to tell you that you're going to find exactly the same kind of people in the next town up ahead." 

 

found on: http://www.parablesite.com/

The Last Shall Be First

In 2006, we sold a beautiful Victorian house, which Travis remodeled, on Park Street, in Butte.  There were 4 bedrooms, an office, 3 bathrooms, nice big porch and lots of space in our brick home.  I loved the huge claw foot bathtub upstairs.  It was 6 feet of luxury.  The bathtub was luxury, the bathroom itself wasn’t.  It had so much potential but, having two other working bathrooms, in the house, left that one to low priority.  I took a bath once and was hit in the head by the piece of sheet rock that covered the window for privacy.  I could see through the framed in walls, could see the red and blue tubing for hot and cold.  I lost several bars of soap in the unfinished frame around the tub.   

We sold the house with the promise that we would finish the bathroom, and some other details, before we moved out in one month.  The day before we moved out, the bathroom was complete.  The tile around the bath was beautiful.  The tile everywhere, was beautiful!!  Travis used his skills and completed the room brilliantly.  I hung the shower curtain that I’d bought 2 years earlier, in anticipation of completion.  The sunlight poured in and lit-up the entire room and I wished I had time to take a bath in the amazing, finished room!  I took lots of photos.  Those photos constantly remind me to finish a job in time to enjoy it, before moving on. 

A friend was bothered by something, the other day.  She didn’t like the concept of someone finding God at the last minute and being saved, going to Heaven.  She didn’t accept that, that person could’ve lived a terrible, cruel life and, at the last minute, repent and promised a kingdom.   This friend is working on living an honest, Christian-focused life of service and someone else is going to get in with a final, “forgive me Lord!”  The whole idea has never bothered me but I didn’t think about why until she posed the question of the unfairness.  I was thinking about the Park Street bathroom, this morning.  I was thinking how it was finished and extraordinary, at the very last minute.  I thought how I only got to enjoy a fragment of what the room had to offer.  If we had completed the transition earlier, it could have brightened our lives there, been a place of beauty and refuge.  We could have lived within its beauty all along.  Instead, we got to experience it for one day before moving on.  

 I love where we are now, even more than Park Street, but we didn’t give Park Street a chance to bring all that it could to our lives.  My point being that, we can live with this beauty and refuge now or we can accept it last minute …it seems unwise to wait.  Why wait until something is almost gone, before admitting what would’ve made it so much better the entire time?  I don’t mind that the last will be first and the first last, because I have a place of beauty, strength and refuge here, now.

Thunderstorm

I feel like sleeping in, during a thunderstorm, this morning.  I'll take the lightly falling snow, Friday morning, getting Gavin ready for school instead!

I Love This!!

--I read this several years ago and I think of it everyday!!

Maybe

There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. "Such bad luck," they said sympathetically. "May be," the farmer replied. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. "How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed. "May be," replied the old man. The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. "May be," answered the farmer. The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. "May be," said the farmer.

Home and Palms

Sunny, summer morning ...high of 84. It's still cooler right now so I'm enjoying my hot cup of coffee and a quiet house. Everyone's still sleeping ...after 9am!

I've been thinking a lot about home; about all of the homes I enjoy. My current house, family, life/body, land, etc. I often walk or drive by our house, looking at it and thinking, "lots of love in that little place!" I look at it through distance, like we've moved and I'm seeing it as a place we once lived. When I do this, I think the same thing, "So many good times there --I loved living there!" If I had any different thoughts, I'd probably be working hard to change any disruptive feelings. We're doing finish-work on the house now so it's just feeling more and more like home.

I've never felt so at home in any other town. There is something about Butte that eases me; makes me know I'm in the right place. I used to consider myself a traveler. I always thought I'd travel and see the world ...especially having moved away from Minnesota right out of high school. I thought the wandering gene was in my blood. It's really NOT! I feel a little funny writing that, seeing as I admire the travelers so much. I admire how they're able to take their "home" with them ...being able to adapt so quickly to new places and people. I love new places and people but I feel like I can find such people and places in my backyard!!

I've been studying palm reading and it's fascinating! So far, the markings on my own hand are very me ...even though there are many that I don't know how to interrupt yet. It just makes me feel more like this current body is a small home, housing energy ...much like the house I drive by and think, "Happy times fill that home." I feel like the lights are on, the temperature is right, good things are cooking and there are places to both rest and entertain ...and definitely places that could use some home improvement!

Ann --the little girl, I used to babysit, is now 21 and in Africa (Kenya --Mombasa.) She is helping at a hospital and really experiencing a different culture. I've been reading her blog and am so impressed how she is jumping right into such a different place. She went on a safari --14+hours in a van to reach the area of lions, zebras, elephants and the Masai Tribe. She wrote down details about how the Masai tribe lives. They live in houses that the women make from cow dung. They drink cow's blood and let their cows sleep in half of the house (so the lions don't eat their food source at night.) They arrange marriages and trade girls (sisters/wives) for cows, etc. The boys are sent into the wilderness at age 15, for 5 years ...etc. Ann observed how very connected the tribe is, as a community and how content ...even happy, they are, as strange as the situation may seem to us! (Ann's blog is: http://abergstr.blogspot.com/)

I read this wondering what very strange things we Americans do. I was wondering what the Masai Tribe would think was odd about us. I think that they would approve of our homes (well, maybe not all of them!), our refrigerators full of food, grocery stores with variety ...etc. Although, they'd likely wonder why we rely so heavily on others to supply our food sources. What would they think about our 8+ work days at desks, our cities jammed with cars that go nowhere when everyone is trying to get somewhere. I wonder if they'd think it strange that we can borrow more money than we can pay back in a year. Ann's entry made we want to examine the very strange cultural standards we practice ...made me want to change the absurd, as a mirror reflects our culture.

My palm reading book says that the "Lifepath Line" is becoming weaker on the palms of people in Western societies. Author Johnny Fincham writes, "This is because there are so many pressures and distractions that weaken our sense of identity. It's becoming harder and harder to know who we are. For those with no Lifepath Line ...any practice which increases self-knowlege should be encouraged."

One more thing about our palms and the way we experience the world. I'll quote Fincham directly again:
"Crudely speaking, vertical lines (if well formed and clear) are about a sense of holding on, going deeper, getting better, improving the quality of life, inner development, extending skills and self knowledge and staying fixed on course. Horizontal lines are about power over the exterior world, shaping, owning, ordering, conceiving and connecting to people, places and possessions.
It's interesting that on engravings of ancient hands there are an abundance of vertical lines, where on modern palms the opposite is true. This indicates a withdrawal from the inner realms over time to the outer world of the present, in a more material, less spiritual culture." (p.98 Palmistry)

You know the cliche', "bloom where you're planted?" I've been thinking, that's great if you must. Isn't it nice to know more about what plant zone you thrive in and transplant to the place that best accommodates your particular attributes?? There is something about recognizing who you are ...even if you already had a feeling about it. Fincham writes that palm readings can change a person's life because he points out what systems are directing one's life ...examples: Holding onto past family issues, sensitive nature in an insensitive environment, nonlinear thinker -vs- linear thinker, flirtatious, unable to fully relax, teacher, live in the moment -vs- think way ahead ...etc. --Even if you know it, having someone else say, "This is who you are right now ...look at what your life is telling me" ...it is liberating ...like you can now jump into the proper soil, with the proper light ...and bloom ...and feel like you're home.

Themes

Underlying Themes that make me tick:
I am Loved
move forward
Keep a good attitude
Share what helps me *share what inspires me (colors, words, faith)
believe in the power of those in my life
If everything was taken or given to me ...I would still be me
Be grateful ...thankful
Feel the blessings all around
There is so much more ...beyond my senses
smiles can comfort

*What are your themes?!! Please share!

Recognition

One degree, in Butte, this morning! We're supposed to get to 35! I couldn't get out of bed when Jessie G woke ...SO, she began making a "nestie" in my bedroom doorway. Every blanket and pillow, in the house, is now on the bedroom floor!! I also woke to a sink full of dishes and a laundry basket overflowing. The good thing about these things is that, while my coffee brews, I can throw laundry in the washer and scrub pots and pans and wahlaa, right about the time my coffee is ready, the house is looking like a good day a-brewin' as well!!

I've been thinking about something that pops into my thoughts frequently, year after year. I stopped by Butte High School to watch Gavin's "Pee Wee" wrestling practice last night. Gavin wasn't expecting to see me there because Travis was with him. I stood in the doorway and noticed the minute when Gavin glanced over to see me. He looked, processed my face, waved and continued on with practice. I think it's so amazing, how we each have these libraries of faces in our brains. Every face I take-in goes through this mental search to see if there is a match.

I was watching Nate Holland snowboard in the winter Olympics, last winter. My sister and I hung out with Nate when we lived in Sandpoint, and worked at Schweitzer. I was watching him fly through a course and I thought, I'm in his brain!! If he got to the bottom of the course and scanned the crowd, and saw me somewhere within his supporters, his brain would say, "person is a match" and he may say, "Minnesota Twin!!"

I think that's incredible!! Simple but NOT so simple!! Think of all the people we've been in contact with ...from high school, college, work -etc. I picture pull slots at a casino ...bringing up eyes, nose, mouth features until ...ding ding ding ...and a smile, a hello or a possible subtle about-face ensue!!

I think it's even better when that mental search comes up with a "MY" label as it finds it's match. That's "My" friend ...she's "my granddaughter," "my sister!!" Those are the really fun ones to come across. I used to love to drive 24 hours, to my parent's house, just to walk in the house and have their eyes search and then light-up with the "my daughter" look!!

I think back to meeting friends. How both they and I went from being a person in the park, in a restaurant or a classroom to a confidant and how our eyes went from searching for clues ...to lighting up with recognition, now. It's a fun thing to have "my" labels pop-up.

Now, I'd better get "My" butt in gear and get Gavin to preschool!! I'm thankful for everyone who causes my brain to search, match and smile because they are the jackpot that sets the bells-a-ringing and the treasures abounding!!