Of Peacocks and Lions

I was so excited to start this blog. It took some time to come up with an idea that was not too narrow or too wide. I took pride in my first few bloggy endeavors. Than as the old Proverb goes, “Pride always goes before a fall.”

The last few weeks, I have had nothing! Just shooting blanks. Writers block or too busy or something.  My sense of proud accomplishment has shriveled to a dry husk. It is frustrating.

If you see anything in yourself which may make you proud, look a little further, and you will find enough to make you humble.   WELLINS CALCOTT, Thoughts Moral and Divine

  I began pondering PRIDE and my sense of humility! I grew up with the notion that “pride” was a negative emotion or trait. As a grown-up (ish) person, I wonder and struggle with the notion of PRIDE.

This year, there is a lot of Pride going around. Over the past several weeks there have been a number of “Pride” Parades in and around Chicago– from the nationalistic Fourth of July parades and fireworks to the GLBTG Pride parade and this week’s Disability Pride Parade. All of that seems positive and promoting strength, value and a sense of community.

When I was in high school we had “Pride” week celebrating being a Sequoit (there really is no such thing) and showing school spirit. And then again recently, it shows when watching my dad become a Lion’s club governor with a focus on Lion’s pride. And feeling a sense of pride for my step-dad regaining strength and health after a scare.

Why is pride so bad?

It is a defined usually as a vice or as hubris. Saint Augustine defined “Pride” as “the love of one’s own excellence.” A very personal sin set opposed to humility and grace and seen as a disagreement with or inflation of the truth of who one is. An over-inflated sense of self-worth or accomplishment. Pride tends to blind us to our own faults. Being proud as the proverbial peacock is seen as bad. I understand this when we would compare ourselves to God, rank ourselves above others or put others down based on our personal accomplishment, or perceived success.

“A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”  ― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Originally, the word” pride” comes from an old Latin term for “useful.” In French and Old English it meant “brave” or “valiant.” On the plus side, pride is a sense of satisfaction of one’s choices and actions along with a feeling of belonging. It allows for a sense of healthy respect for one’s attachments and associations, but in comparison with a group or community. A public expression of a common belief that our individuality and strong social association are a natural part of human community, a celebration of our heritage and culture, and a validation of our experience.

“Pride helps us; and pride is not a bad thing when it only urges us to hide our own hurts—not to hurt others.”  ― George Eliot, Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life

Pride in a group or association seems to take on a different and positive connotation. I think of my parents who take exceptional pride in their grandchildren. I think of a group of lions who haughtily stroll the jungle as “King of the beasts.” Yet, they live together. As a group (pride), not as individuals.  Perhaps that is the differentiator!?

Yet the Bible takes on national pride, and speaks of God’s wrath against those who exalt themselves – as individuals or nations.

I am proud of friends who take a stand and come out so they can be themselves.  I am sometimes proud to be an American with our ideals of democracy and building a republic. (Except when it goes overboard and becomes hubris, as of recent history.) There is pride watching those who struggle with life overcome their adversities. But can I not be proud that I have worked hard at an endeavor and found some value in my growth? Can I not value doing a good job serving others?

Of Peacocks or Lions?  Not sure I understand or comprehend.

Watch for Part 2 on "Of Peacocks and Lions" soon.

Blooming where you are Planted

bloom•ing (ˈblu mɪŋ)

adj. 1. flowering; blossoming.  2. glowing, as with vigor.  3. prospering.  4. Chiefly Brit. (used as an intensifier.)

Last week it still looked and felt like winter. Suddenly this week, it is obvious spring has arrived. Most everything has blossomed and bloomed. Dull browns have turned to bright greens. Shoots have pushed their way out of the ground. Tree’s leaves have budded out. Bugs have started to appear. Robins and rabbits hop around the yard. Some flowers have opened. And all our neighbors exist again!

  
While things seemed dead and dormant for a while, life finds its way and circles back to growing and blooming.

 

One tree however was still dormant looking despite life finding its way all over the place.

This tree is a later bloomer.  Mom always said I was a LATE BLOOMER. It always irritated me as a child, but especially as a teenager. I was smart, socially aware and I knew I was destined for good things.  I just didn’t always do or appreciate the same things or in the same ways that my peers did – screaming after the latest Hollywood hottie (I liked various real boys), giggling and gossiping, planning my princess wedding (didn’t envision it happening), being a fashion plate (we didn’t have the money for the latest fashion) or running all over town with friends to do all of the above (I wanted to go to college and loved to hole up with a book.)

[S]He who leans on, trusts in, and is confident in riches shall fall, but the righteous shall flourish like a green bough. Proverbs 11: 28 Amplified Bible

Sometimes life isn’t what we are told, or what we expect. Definitely, not what television depicts. Are we learning? Developing? Taking in what we need for the next stage? We are blooming. Is our shaping and growing happening in ways we do not see or others may not see? Do not be afraid. Or do not let other voices shape you into something you are not.

Just because my blossoms weren’t coming in someone else’s time frame does not mean I was not blooming. I had buds and was blooming where I was. Sometimes I was lonely, but it was deeply satisfying to see ideas come to fruition, plans get organized into reality, and projects develop in my time.  And I did recently get married to a most amazing man that I would never have met if I was all those other things.  Better “late” than never. But if never happened, I like who I have grown to be.

Growing in grace they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of spiritual vitality and grow lush in trust, love, and contentment. Psalm 92: 14

 

 

As long as you live, keep learning how to live.  Latin Proverb

Recently, I realized it is worse to be a Non-bloomer. A non-bloomer chooses not to grow or change. A non-bloomer chooses not to live. Most people get stuck from time to time, but when a person gets rooted in place and shows no signs of life, this is sad for all involved. People choose non-blooming through fear or confusion.  What life throws our way can make us want to hunker down, pull in the roots and the tender shoots that get wounded so easily.

But plant those roots. For me it is in my faith through prayer, the company of God’s people and trust in God that I can reach upward in rain or shine to blossom and bloom wherever I am at the time. Every moment is a lesson and fertilizer for growth. Put your face to the sun and grow to your best.

...there shall be no end to our central joy when once we ascend to the stratosphere

 of our richer abilities.  Helen Keller

 

We all must bloom where and when we are planted. Live with vigor and grace even in less than idea situations. Bloom where you are planted.

 

WORD OF NOTE: Next week will involve a submitted word and my reflections on a challenge you give me. Feel free to submit a word for next time or in the future.

Keeping our Knees Bent

 

 

Today’s word…… FLExiBiliTy.  It is about adapting or changing as circumstances require. I have discovered that some people are better at this than other people.  Sometimes I am better at this than others.  Recently, my re-engagement in the practice of yoga reminded me how it hurts to be inflexible.  When I am rigid and unbendable, I seem to get hurt and broken the most - in body, mind or spirit. It is better to go with the flow and be flexible.

“If you don’t know what you want, you’ll seldom get it. But, no matter how well you plan, you will fare better if you expect the unexpected. The unexpected, by nature, comes unseen, unthought, unenvisioned. All you can do is plan to go unplanned, prepare to be unprepared, make going with the flow part of your agenda, for the most successful among us envision, plan, and prepare, but cast all aside as needed, while those who are unable to go with the flow often suffer, if they survive.”

― David W. Jones, Moses and Mickey Mouse: How to Find Holy Ground in the Magic Kingdom and Other Unusual Places

Many cannot “go with the flow.” It seems too unpredictable. Some prefer a bad known, then the possibility of a better unknown. Many of us hate change. Like the old Hershey Bar commercial….”Change is bad…..Hershey bar the same for a zillion years….”  Change is not bad, it is essential to humankind and the whole earth. The nature of life is to evolve. Seasons come and go. Children grow up and out. Jobs come and then we retire. Technology zips in and out at warp speed. Favorite shows, baseball games, springtime romances and people end. If we are not flexible we get run over and mowed down, or at the least, left behind. Flexibility helps us, as the old song goes, “to roll with the changes.”

When I was a little league baseball outfielder, one of the most helpful things I learned for the sport and life was to keep my knees bent. This allowed me to move in whatever direction the action taking place in.

"Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be broken." Geri Laeder and many others (Thanks Jeff)

In general, when I look in the rear view mirror of life, I realize that most of the good things in my life are the results of change and a willing and flexible spirit.  Life is not stagnant. It keeps moving on with or without us. I do know – through faith – that I am not alone in the changes. I trust there is a way the changes will fit together for good (whether I see it now or not.)

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you,   plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

I have moved many times, have had a couple career changes, and had a number of hairstyles. Not all of it has been easy, but I have grown and learned a lot. The biggest change in my life occurred a few years ago when I got married. This change brought love, peace, joy, and comfort into my life. As a result, a new me was born—a wife and happy woman.

Today I sit on the verge of big and small change, and am contemplating my abilities to bend and move with it all.  I am both excited and terrified, and trying to lean into it.  From past experience of change, I know that flexibility and movement are good and important. Breathing in the spirit of life, holds back fear.

I am trying to keep my knees bent in all manners of speaking…..

-          to be able to move quickly in whatever direction God wants me to move

-          to get down on them to pray in whatever circumstances I find myself

-          to not cut off my air flow and faint (ask any groom who locked his knees!)

-          to keep the options open

Things that help my flexibility –

Praying                                                  Breathing deeply                                                Observing creation

Laughing,                                              Hugging or loving someone                             Dancing

Petting a soft cuddly animal            Drawing or rather, coloring                             Gardening

“Men are born soft and supple; dead they are stiff and hard... Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible

 is a disciple of death. Whoever is soft and yielding is a disciple of life.”  Tao Te Ching

 

Be a disciple of life. Keep those knees bent!

In The Beginning

IN THE BEGINNING...was the WORD.  The creation of this space is to share words around the WORD. Faithfully, I will reflect on a word or few, and share where I see God's Spirit at work in the world. The word may be what's in the prevailing wind, on my mind or in your questions. I hope you will consider sharing words.

A Wordly Welcome!  Today's word....DAWN.  It is my name, but it reflects the beginning or start of something. Hence this blog. It finally dawned on me how to share and not too soon go stale.  I love words and the crafting of them. I do not think I stink at it.

Dawn loves to have fun. And bring new things to light all the time - to myself and others. It leaves room for quotes and others thoughts. I love the way that words can comfort and challenge. A new kind of Words with Friends and their friends. And a place to share the great words of others.

"What has dawned through the WORD is life and the life is the light of all people." paraphrase of John 1:4

Words are powerful....for good or evil. My intent is good and reflection of light and truth on what I see in the world. I am a person of faith and hope and trust the Word is at work among us.

Thanks for starting out with me. I hope you will stay and enjoy the dawn of a new blog creation.