Birthday celebration

A gift of the morning

Faith is not an easy virtue; but, in the broad world of a person’s total voyage through time to eternity, faith is not only a gracious companion, but an essential guide.

~ Theodore M. Hesburgh

Breaking apart

What keeps our faith cheerful is the extreme persistence of gentleness and humor.  Gentleness is everywhere in daily life, a sign that faith rules through ordinary things: through cooking and small talk, through storytelling, making love, fishing, tending animals and sweet corn and flowers, through sports, music, and books, raising kids — all the places where the gravy soaks in and grace shines through.  Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people.  Lacking any other purpose in life, it would be good enough to live for their sake.

~ Garrison Keillor

Revealing

I love the phrase Mr. Keillor uses, “where the gravy soaks in and grace shines through.”  It’s such a wonderful way to describe the ordinary-magic moments in life.  I had a few of those moments this morning, in quiet celebration with my husband.

I am 55 years young today.  I see that number and think, “Whoa!  How’d it get to be that late already?”  I am reminded of those times when I am so absorbed in something I love to do that I lose all track of time.  That’s a good sign, don’t you think?  A sign of a life well lived?

Rain and sun

By the time this post makes its way out, I should be at the beach or on my way home from the beach, probably freezing my tail off.  The weather forgot that today is my birthday and brought clouds, wind, and chilly temperatures.  That’s okay.  I have my winter gear from all those years in the Bogs, and I know how to keep warm on the chilliest of days.  Cold weather and I are old friends.  Now that I think about it, maybe the weather didn’t forget at all.  Maybe the weather remembered how I like it when it snows at the beach.  I doubt I’ll see any snowflakes, but you never know.

Making snowflakes from butterflies.  You can make one, too, at http://www.tuxpi.com

Thank you for stopping by today, and joining me in a small and quiet celebration of life.  I hope your weekend is going well, and that you are finding a few of those ordinary-magic moments sprinkled throughout your day.

A virtual snowflake — You can make your own by visiting http://snowflakes.barkleyus.com

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂