“Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”
Good Friday Night to the World
Tag: Encouragement
Monday Moaning or Monday Marveling?
Marveling at two poetic views of peace …
THE ROCK CRIES OUT TO US TODAY
Each of you a bordered country,
Delicate and strangely made proud,
Yet thrusting perpetually under siege.
Your armed struggles for profit
Have left collars of waste upon
My shore, currents of debris upon my breast.
Yet, today I call you to my riverside,
If you will study war no more.
Come, clad in peace and I will sing the songs
The Creator gave to me when I
And the tree and stone were one. — Maya Angelou
Prayer for Peace
Prayer for Peace
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.”
Neal’s Post from the Past: “A Label-Free World”
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).
Neal’s Post from the Past: “The Smile — and Happiness Shared”
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.
Neal’s Post from the Past: “Never Enough and Prisca Theologia”
Five Friday Happy Bringers: 1/14/22
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!
Neal’s Post from the Past: “Top Ten Happiness Questions”
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.
Five Friday Happy Bringers 1/7/22
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!
