Sacred Life Sunday January 13 (a few hours late)

I don't really know where to begin after a very full weekend with so much still processing.
The above pics are from Evergreen Cemetery in Santa Cruz. It is one of our oldest cemeteries in CA and I go there from time to time to honor those who've crossed, find peace, and visit the beautiful guardian trees that seem to twist and shelter and reach the sky.
It's another sacred place where I find answers, sometimes to questions that I many not realize or sometimes don't necessarily want to hear the answers for. You have to love the universe for her wit and pokes... which in all honesty, I am truly grateful.

I spent some time with a good friend who is suffering a great deal of pain with fibromyalgia. She's taken the past several weeks off to rest and also because for a short while, she had no choice. Walking a very short distance can be a challenge let alone the common everyday things I take for granted. That said, what's probably hardest is she is very independent and just the thought of having to depend on others or asking for help is like a mountain to her. A mountain I can relate to.
I made a large pot of rustic meat and veg stew and we spent a good amount of time in awe of the past year and what we'd like to see manifest. She had mentioned that we were alike in that we push too much at times and ignore subtle messages to slow or rest... or to say no. She said, "It's not those subtle pokes that get me... it's those semi trucks!" which we both laughed at - probably not so much out of the humor but the recognition of it. She's doing much better and on the road to recovery though it is a slow one - we are enjoying good days and making the best of the not so good days. I hate - hate - hate seeing people in pain, especially loved ones yet we both spoke of how there are lessons to be learned and that they aren't always apparent right off - especially when you're standing shoulder deep in it. I love her. I love her spirit. I love her heart. We ended our time with slices of berry pie and vanilla ice cream.
I am so grateful for my health, mobility and ability to move. I don't really spend much time thinking about that... but wow - it's an everyday miracle that I need to be more aware of and acknowledge.
I suffer from migraines and though they can knock me out of the game for a few days, I don't think I will be so quick to complain going forward.
It's amazing how our bodies, minds, spirit... and Divine remind us in so many ways with so many messages - if we only listen.

I have another friend whose family are going through such a difficult transition. His Mother has been battling cancer for a short while and in that time, the transitions have been swift. The last update was quite grim and the family have been told that she has hours left. I can't imagine. I'm happy that her pain will be over as she's suffering. I know she will be at peace but my heart aches for her family, my friend. I pray that her transition is as peaceful as possible.

Instead of lyrics to a song, I wanted to share some more quotes that move me.

There are incalculable resources in the human spirit, once it has been set free. - Hubert H. Humphrey

Everyone has in them something precious that is in no one else. - Martin Buber

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant? - Henry David Thoreau

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. - Mother Teresa

What do we live for if not to make life less difficult for each other? - George Eliot

You cannot do a kindness too soon for you never know how soon it will be too late. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. - Mother Teresa

Whatever your past has been, you have a spotless future. - Melanie Gustafson

Encourage one another. Many times a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept a person on their feet. - Charles Swindoll

Nobody should move faster than their guardian angel can fly. - Anonymous

There is in each of us so much goodness that if we could see its glow, it would light the world. - Sam Friend

There are many wonderful things that will never be done ifyou do not do them. - Charles D Gill

Determine that the thing shall be done, and then you shall find a way. Abraham Lincoln.