Translate

Friday, May 31, 2013

the rough side of the mountain


When my daughter was very young, we experienced a major tragedy. She dealt with it by burying herself in books. My friends and I dealt with it by playing music, lots of music. At that time, we played a lot of gospel music. My daughter’s favorite song, back then, was "I’m Going up the Rough Side of the Mountain".

One day I asked her why she liked the song so much. She said that the people who go up the rough side of the mountain are really lucky. They have rocks and things to hold on to   and to put their feet on and those rocks and things allow the climbers to get to the top. But, those going up the smooth side will never get to the top because the smooth side has nothing to hold on to and nowhere to put your feet. All those people will do is slide back down to the bottom. She said those who go up the rough side of the mountain are supposed to go over to the smooth side of the mountain to help up those who can’t get up there on their own.

What is that expression …“Out of the mouths of babes”?

So on this Friday may this be your moment of meditation …

Today let us befriend at least one of those going up the smooth side of the mountain.
Today let us reach down to help a fellow climber up the smooth side of the mountain to the mountaintop.
Today, if we are the one going up the smooth side, let us be “friended” by a fellow climber at the top.
Let us …then … enjoy the kindness of a friend who will help us to the mountaintop.
Let us all be grateful for the journey and the blessings along the way
Let us be grateful for the rough side of the mountain and the opportunity to make it to the top.


Let us all be grateful for friends

Thursday, May 30, 2013

the last vestige of love


Friendship is the last vestige of love
Where souls meet and greet in comfort
Where acceptance reigns supreme
Where barriers crumble down 
And acceptance flows

Like fall’s high tide
On a cool
Windy
Day

I read a book last year on love. The author included a list of questions to ask yourself on love and your relationship to love. The last question was: do you think love is growing or disappearing in the world. I asked a lot of people this question because I believed most saw the world as I did - full of loving people, daily growing in love. Imagine my surprise when most said there is less love in this world and that what there is of it is slipping steadily away.

I wonder how that can be possible when we as a people are made from love, when the world is filled daily with examples of love, when that which gives us life and lets us live and move and be is the highest love and we are all from that source of love. Nevertheless, that ... it seems ... is where many people reside; they anticipate there is no love and then wait to be proven right.

But those of us with friendships can change that.  Friendship is the last vestige of love. When we enter into a friendship, we create a source of love. When we do things together, spend time together; that source of love expands. And as our friendships grow, the source of love grows. 

Those of us with true, lasting, Anam Cara friendships give the world an energy boost of high love. That energy boost serves as a way to fill the world with love faster and wider. Why? It takes love to find love. Friendship is a willingness to open one's heart and soul to another. By opening our hearts and souls to our friends we prepare ourselves to open our hearts and souls to the world.

Imagine a world filled with people who have open hearts and souls. That is a world filled with love. It can happen. Love can increase in this world by increasing in us. So, let's all be grateful for our friends, for friendships. They are a source of this world's love, and an avenue to a world filled with loving people.

And like the water's of the ocean, may our friendships always ebb and flow in union with the highest source of love; bringing love to the shores of the hearts of all. Let's all go make friends.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

she gather me

  

“She is a friend of mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order. It’s good, you know, when you got a woman who is a friend of your mind. “ - Toni Morrison -

A little while back i got into a bit of a situation because I was, as usual, preoccupied. The situation became a problem for me but I was reluctant to share my story, even with my sISTA gIRL. It took me a while but eventually I told her of my situation. My sISTA gIRL did what she does best. she did not condemn mE and, did not blame me. She also did not get mad at me for taking so long to tell her. Instead, she jumped into action, doing what she could to help me out of the jam I had gotten myself into.

She knew I already felt bad about the situation and while I did tell her I will do my best to make sure I don't get in such a jam again, she just listened and acted. Now this is not to say she won't let me know when I have messed up because she will. but she knows when it is okay to judge, criticize and teach and when it is time to just be there. This was one of those times I needed her to just be there and she was. Rest assured I have done, and would and will do the same for her

 We are more than just kindred spirits; we belong to the Race of Joseph. We are Anam Cara friends and I am grateful for her presence in my life. She is indeed a sISTA gIRL!

Share with us your sISTA gIRL stories.

kindred spirits




Kindred Spirits

When I speak of the rare true friendship or the Anam Cara, I do not mean a “likeminded” friendship or a friendship of “kindred spirits”. The dictionary defines kindred spirit as “an individual with the same beliefs, attitudes, or feelings as oneself”. While the word “likeminded” is a combination of two Greek words, “isos” which means “equal” and “psuche” which means “soul”. The complete meaning of “likeminded” therefore is “equal soul”.

I do enjoy having friends who are likeminded. Indeed, a kindred spirit is nice; but how do you learn and grow if you share the same feelings, beliefs and attitudes. In order to grow as a person, we must be challenged. That is what a soul mate does. My favorite explanation of soul mates comes from “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert. She writes, “People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.”

She goes on to say, “ A soul mate's purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life…”

I have a friend like that. She makes me crazy because she tells me the truth about myself whether I like it or not. I listen because I know she loves me and has my best interest at heart. That is a true friend. One who loves you in spite of who you are and is willing to tell you when you need to get it together. Better than that, after she tells, she not only reminds you that she loves you, she shows you. And best, she allows you the privilege of doing the same with her. This is how you grow. Friendship is best when it allows you to grow into the best you that you can be; when it allows you to grow into a loving being open to loving for and from others. That is the kind of friendship I have with her. That is the kind of friendship I wish for you.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

friendship meditations


In light of the prior blog, here is a prayer from John O'Donohue. It is for friends and friendship. 

May you be blessed with good friends.
May you learn to be a good friend to yourself.
May you be able to journey to that place in your soul where there is great love, warmth, feeling, and forgiveness.
May this change you.
May it transfigure that which is negative, distant, or cold in you.
May you be brought in to the real passion, kinship, and affinity of belonging.
May you treasure your friends.
May you be good to them and may you be there for them;
May they bring you all the blessings, challenges, truth, and light that you need for your journey.
May you never be isolated.
May you always be in the gentle nest of belonging with your anam cara.


and here is our  prayer for friends and friendship


May we be blessed with friends
May the golden rays of the sun warm our hearts into openness
May we be blessed with friendships
And may the loyalty of the moon fills our hearts with trust
May we be blessed with laughter
Together may it double our joy
May we be blessed with hard times
To share, to learn from and to grow with together
May our friendships be of the soul
That we might never forget their value and importance
May we be surrounded by the light of friendship
Preventing us from stumbling in the dark
May we know the beauty of friendship
That we might see the beauty in the world around us
May we be blessed with happiness
That we might heal each others pain
May we treat each other with loving kindness
Seeking first the goodness in each other
May we blessed with friends
And be grateful for them in our lives

anam cara



Anam Cara


According to Celtic spiritual tradition, the soul shines all around the body like a luminous cloud. I understand this. It is one of the ways we attract friends. As our souls shine, we send out a light that is recognized by others with a similar light. That light attracts other souls like us. We converse and recognize each other and a friendship is sparked. Those kinds of friends, soul friends, cut across convention; those kinds of friends cut across age, race or religion. Those kinds of friends are often true, lasting friends … or “Anam Cara”, the Celtic term for “soul friends” An Anam Cara friend is a friend with whom you have a deeply felt bond.
According to John O’Donohue, the author of Anam Cara: A Book Of Celtic Wisdom,

“The Anam Cara was a person to whom you could reveal the hidden intimacies of your life. This friendship was an act of recognition and belonging. When you had an Anam Cara, your friendship cut across all convention and category. You were joined in an ancient and eternal way with the friend of your soul,”

What is so special about the Anam Cara relationship is that in this relationship, you can be who you truly are and you each accept each other as you truly are, cradling each other in beauty, knowing each other as light. With your Anam Cara, you can share your innermost self; you can share your mind and your heart. And, as your relationship grows, your friendship assists you in awakening your awareness of your truest and highest self and helps you experience a greater joy in being with others.

This friendship is akin to the friendship of soul mates. In such a friendship, you willingly open yourself and your life to another. With trust and courage you allow this person permission to walk, with love and care, into the deepest temples of your spirit, your special, serenity spaces within. You allow them to share the sacred ground of you. In essence, you allow your presence and life to become their ground and they allow their presence and ground to become yours.
 John O’Donohue tells us that in everyone’s life, there is a great need for an Anam Cara. For in this love you are understood, without mask or pretension. And this understanding is precious. It allows you to have a sense of belonging you’ve never known before, a deep sense of special companionship and all your needs for barriers, walls and shields tumble down and your protective distances disappear. Once a bond of this nature is created between friends, it is indestructible.

Question sISTA gIRLS ....Who is YOUR Anam Cara?  Share

Monday, May 27, 2013

memorial day 2013


sISTA gIRLS -
On this Memorial Day 2013, we just wanted to take this time to say thank you to all the men and women who have given their lives that we might live better lives here. They were each family and friend to someone. we want to say thank you to those who suffered the loss of those same people. As women who have had both family members and friends in the armed forces fall at the hands of others, we also want to extend our love and support to you.

We understand the pain of this type of loss; these people are heroes and while there is deep pride in how they lost their lives and while there is true honour in them giving up their lives for a higher cause, it is still hard to go on each day, still hard to live without them in your life, still hard to let days like today go by without thinking of them and all that you shared together and all they have missed since their death.

Thank you and we support you.These two phrases are spoken a lot yet they are filled with the utmost sincerity. To all my friends ... old ones, new ones and ones we have yet to meet, We extend these heartfelt words to you. May this day find you standing tall, holding on and moving forward.

sISTA gIRLS ...indeed ... WE SALUTE YOU!!!

Sunday, May 26, 2013

the race that knows joseph


When I was young I read the Anne of Green Gables series and loved it. The series emphasized the importance of friendship with people of all ages.  In one of the books, I learned about “the race that knows Joseph”. It was an “aha” moment for me and I have never forgotten that phrase.

“You’re young and I’m old, but our souls are about the same age, I reckon. We both belong to the race that knows Joseph, as Cornelia Bryant would say,” said Captain Jim.
The race that knows Joseph?” puzzled Anne.
“Yes. Cornelia divides all the folks in the world into two kinds– the race that knows Joseph and the race that don’t. If a person sorter sees eye to eye with you, and has pretty much the same ideas about things, and the same taste in jokes–why, then he belongs to the race that knows Joseph.”
“Oh, I understand,” exclaimed Anne, light breaking in upon her. “It’s what I used to call–and still call in quotation marks `kindred spirits.’”
“Jest so–jest so,” agreed Captain Jim. “We’re it, whatever it is. When you come in tonight, Mistress Blythe, I says to myself, says I, `Yes, she’s of the race that knows Joseph.’ And mighty glad I was, for if it wasn't so we couldn't have had any real satisfaction in each other’s company. The race that knows Joseph is the salt of the earth, I reckon.”
That is how friendship starts … two people discovering that they belong to the race that knows Joseph …that they are two kindred spirits. Over the course of my life I have had moments when an acquaintance or I, in conversation, have said … “you too!” and I know, in that moment, that I have met another who belongs to the race that knows Joseph... I know that I have met a friend.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

--FRIENDSHIP --


--FRIENDSHIP --


We were made from love, for love, to love. That does not mean that loving is easy. We must constantly give ourselves license to love. We must remind ourselves daily to leave ourselves open to love. Giving and receiving is not enough. That is an action. To reach for the ultimate love we must be love; loving everything and everyone - art least at some level. This is hard. How can we start? We can start with friendship.

Friendship is rare, true friendship even rarer and friendships that stand the test of time rarer still. When we befriend someone, it is because of who they are. When we stay friends it is not just because of who they are but also in spite of who they are. We know the best and worst of them and choose to stay friends. That is love; knowing the good and bad of another and loving them anyway. Friendship that stands the test of time is closest to highest love because it is the closest to unconditional love. There are no obligations to stay together; instead, we remain friends solely through our love of each other. So when you think of your truest friends today … remember … love is rare, true friendship rarer still, so yours is a blessing. Think fondly on your friendship and be grateful, someone today is wishing they had a friend.



Welcome!  This is a community of friends sharing friendships; true and blue.  Friendships that continue to stand the test of time.  Our goal is to share stories of love for those friends who are near and dear; those who know all there is to know about us and love us anyway.  Our goal is to acknowledge true friends and the fact that we are thankful for and to them.  We all have one or two people in life who seem to always be there ... present and steadfast during the good, the bad, the ugly and the REAL cute. This blog acknowledges them

Have you taken a moment to tell them how much you appreciate them?  Do you remember the secret you shared some time ago - the secret that's still under lock and key?  Do you remember the moments that make you smile.  Do you remember the challenges these persons helped you overcome.  This is where friends who would jump on a plane, just for you, can be acknowledged.

Whether its a "bestie", mother, sister or childhood friend, let's talk about what true friendship means.  If you have a poem share it.  If you have a song share it.  We are put here to love and care for one another.  Here is another opportunity.  Share and Declare.