O God of many names
Lover of all nations
We pray for peace
in our hearts
in our homes
in our nations
in our world
The peace of your will
The peace of our need.
— George Appleton, The Oxford Book of Prayer (Oxford University Press, 1985)
“Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.”
Hello out there. I did this blog post quite a while ago, but thought in today’s adversarial political and cultural environment, it might be relevant. We (okay, I!) judge others much too quickly.
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Let’s try, in this new year with relatively few mistakes in it so far, to give each other the benefit of the doubt, to refuse to label somebody or some thing based on initial interactions or our preconceived notions.
What an incredible truth! (And, oh gosh, how it indicts me.)
I LOVE this short video about labeling:
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Let’s try to make it a label-free year (at least for you and me).
Here’s a post from back in 2014 about the power of a simple smile.
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The students in my English 123 (Freshman Composition) classes at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) are doing what I call Visual Essays in this, their next-to-the-last week of Fall Quarter 2014. We read two books this term, Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist and Tal Ben-Shahar’s Happier, both relating to our course theme of “Happiness and the Exploration of Joy.” The Visual Essay project invites the students to MAKE, rather than write, their papers. Traditional essay requirements are still required: a focus and thesis, structure, detail and support, etc. But this essay morphs into a drawing or painting, a sculpture, a collage, a video, a food, etc. Basically this project is a visual representation of one topic narrowed into a clear thesis/perspective/idea. The challenge: how to “show” their thesis.
Debora Jacob (from Brazil) went to Forsyth Park here in Savannah last Saturday. Here’s her Visual Essay titled “Happiness Shared” on the topic of the smile and its significance.
Thanks for the encouragement, Debora.
Let’s all SMILE more often.
1. A birthday greeting/art work from a buddy In Arizona.
2. Pretending that I have a clue about what to do with my new hand-me-down Apple Watch. I remember when a watch just told you the time.
3. The joy of simply waking up in the morning.
4. Chocolate on my fork.
5. Cornbread.
Especially when it’s made in my grandmother’s cast-iron skillet.
Weekend Joy to you all!
Here’s an old post from my blog back in 2014, when I was semi-retired, teaching as an adjunct at Savannah College of Art and Design. I recently looked at it as 2022 made its way into our lives. May these questions be an encouragement to you.
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This past fall term at SCAD (the Savannah College of Art and Design), where I teach composition to international students, my course topic was Happiness Studies.
Each week, I introduced a new question, which I told the students had the potential to make them happier–IF they took the time to ask and then answer the question.
Here are the ten questions. I challenge you to ask them to yourself whenever you need a dose of joy.
Dr. Saye’s Top Ten Happiness Questions
1. Just how important is it?
2. Do I realize that I can choose to think a thought that feels better?
3. Why do I sometimes try to control other people? That’s really not my job.
4. What do I see RIGHT NOW that is beautiful?
5. Who has helped me recently?
6. What is a good holiday memory?
7. What do I really, really love?
8. Do I realize that I can take three deep breaths right now and center myself? My breath is my life.
9. Who can I be a blessing to in the next hour or so? How can I do that?
10. Am I paying attention to NOW (and not wasting time regretting the past or worrying about the future)?
I encourage you to print these questions, put them up some place where you can easily see them, and start asking.
1. Hanging onto Christmas, far too long.
2. The often overlooked joy of simply being able to walk.
3. Making ambrosia, the food of the gods, for Robert.
4. Speaking of Robert, savoring his Fabulous Friday Frittata this morning for breakfast.
5. My healthy colon! (Yesterday I posted all about my recent colonoscopy.)
Happy, Healthy Weekend to You!
Seriously? 2021 is on its last breath?! Quickly then, here are Five Final Friday 2021 Happies.
1. Robert taking FOREVER to “set the stage” before taking pics of my second (what was I thinking?) fruitcake of the season.
2. Daughter Amy winning South Magazine’s Greatest Nurse Award 2021.
3. The sky.
4. The lunch I “created” yesterday (from use-‘em-before-they-spoil leftovers) for Robert and me.
My vision had us sitting across from each other, looking lovingly into each other’s eyes, then casting our gaze downward to the edible art inhabiting the space between us.
Smiling, we would have no need for dishes, for cutlery. And why would we?! We had our hands, our fingers, our hearts, our culinary freedom. As if we were dining in an authentic Indian restaurant, we would both be silently agreeing with award winning chef Srijith Gopinathan of San Francisco’s Campton Place: “There’s a reason people use their hands to eat. It’s because food is very, very personal.” I could see and hear Robert whispering (no longer in an Indian restaurant), “Bon appétit, mon amour,” as he fed me a finger of (two-day old, slightly brown but still delicious) genuine Mexican guacamole … from Whole Foods.
Doesn’t this look, not just pretty, but personal to you? And yes, I know the ham salad from Monday looks a little runny, but still.
Well, here’s basically the pre-lunch convo between Robert and me when he saw the table.
Him: “Wow.”
Me: (Not responding, except in silent joy, awaiting his next compliment.)
Him: “Uh, aren’t you going to put that ham salad in plates?”
Me: Sounding upbeat, perky, as if I were offering him an invitation to the Waldorf Astoria for their Waldorf Salad: “Ha, ha. No, silly! It’s a communal lunch, but just you and me, reaching and using our fingers.”
Him: “Oh, okay,” staring at a couple of mayonnaise-y green peas sliding off the “sorta charcuterie board.”
But believe it or not, after that slippery start, we had a great and fun, if not 100% fresh, lunch. And I relented with two (small) salad plates.
5. Getting through (sometimes sailing along beautifully, sometimes barely moving) yet another perfectly imperfect year.
Have a meaningful final day of 2021.
See you next year!
1. Remembering my INCREDIBLE Mexican Hot Chocolate last weekend at Cafe Intermezzo in Atlanta.
2. Finding Joy in unexpected places.
3. My Chex Mix!
4. Doctor appointments that go well.
5. Celebrating Miss Virginia, the oldest (and still very active) member of our church, Asbury Memorial here in Savannah.
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A Weekend of Good to You All!
NealEnJoy 