• About

A Musing Amma

~ Gathering the pieces of our lives together under the eyes of the Holy

A Musing Amma

Category Archives: family

Tonic

17 Monday Sep 2018

Posted by Elizabeth Nordquist in blessing, family, friendship, grace, taste, Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

community, connection, gifts of God

JEMIslasMujeres

TONIC: a substance taken to give a feeling of vigor or well-being!

In these days in the turning of the season, when so much is raging and swirling–from the weather to the headlines to the principalities and powers, I often wonder where my energy will be replenished, refilled, kept alive. Much come comes from many of my spiritual practices, all being reformed, in my life. However, I am am increasingly aware of how much tonic –energy, renewal, healing–comes from my encounters–face to face, phone to phone, e-mail to e-mail–with people whom I have been given.

Having lived through a cascade of sorrows among my family, friends and the world in this past season, I am buoyed up by these tastes of tonic through the duration:

  • a piano concert by a friend celebrating her jubilee year
  • a recommendation of a book I haven’t read or a series on Netflix
  • a memory shared about my high school or college days
  • a phone call out of the blue
  • laughing out loud with someone whose sense of humor is as off-center as mine
  • an insight into ways to carry the Light in the midst of a darkness
  • an honest reflection about how things are from another point of view
  • an adventure trying something that seemed a little scary
  • prompts from recollections of things past that gave nourishment and hope–old hymns, former spiritual practices

These sips of tonic bring grace and beauty to the living of days that are so easily cluttered with deeds of greed, dishonesty and stories of pain. They bring hope–“Tis Grace that brought me safe this far, and Grace will lead me home.” They are concrete reminders that the Holy One that I follow and trust never slumbers and never sleeps. and that there are no final defeats.

And so I  take a turn into a new year of life for me in a week, my intention will be to seek tonic wherever it appears, and to savor it, swirl it around in my mouth before I swallow it, and continue to discover the many ways the God is good..to me, to those I love, and to the worlds God created!

Advertisement

Taking Joy!

08 Tuesday Aug 2017

Posted by Elizabeth Nordquist in choosing, family, joy, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

choosing, gratitude, joy

IsLaMujeresJoyWords and sight prompting me to joy are everywhere around me! In the ear of my heart I hear the poetry of Anne Sexton:

           There is joy/ in all…

and she catalogues all the elements of her morning kitchen and spirit ritual which delight and inspire her. On my recent family trip when I had solitary moments, I too was able to take joy in where I was–the ocean view, the little Mexican icon in the garden, the cool water, the air conditioner, the fresh coffee, the fountain of live turtles who basked or swam back and forth, the ample time to listen to what i was reading, to reflect, ponder and wrestle with a writer from another location, re-framing questions I seem to be always asking. There is joy in all!

And joy came bursting in the door with each grandchild or grownup as they told their stories of adventure–underwater, around the coral reef, at the ruins, with iguanas, on the back of gold carts, or shopping for chess sets. Each person had a particular way of spinning a narrative, choosing syntax framed with gestures and facial expressions that were illuminating and delightful. And there was laughter and drama and amplification that made my heart spill over with wonder and gratitude. There is joy in all!

It has been more challenging to see the joy is all on my re-entry! There is a calendar of appointments, a list of fix-its, a catalogue of do’s and  don’ts, always hanging around each day. And then, when my “plan” is firmly in place, something intrudes, what Rumi calls a “visitor” to be welcomed–a phone call, a knock on the door, a letter of surprise. And the Plan gets jettisoned. So I have been “listening” to Fra Giovanni, 15th C. Italian artist and thinker:

The gloom of the world but a shadow; behind it, yet within our reach is joy. Take Joy!  

When a neighbor needs a ride or a groceries, I can take joy in knowing she is well fed and safe. When someone needs a consultation on a knotty problem, I can take joy in knowing that all those years of education and life experience are still being put to use. When calamity or catastrophe befalls a loved one, I can take joy is knowing that there are ways for me to help and that there is Wisdom to direct me to what those ways are. There is joy in all!

Henri Nouwen tells me, “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” That’s what I am choosing to do. That choice does not mean that I fail to notice the terrible grief in the world, the terror of those displaced and abused, the pain of those with unrelenting illness, the violence of arrogant and tone deaf leaders. But, a choice to Take Joy reminds me that those things are not the only realities in the world. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot put it out. (John 1).

So in this second half of the year I am committed to taking joy every day and in every way, wherever I can, so that as I work and pray for the wholeness of the world, for the healing of those who suffer, for the power to overcome injustice, malice and cruelty, I can see behind the shadows, the joy that comes with the Light that will shine and not be put out. I commit myself to looking for and celebrating the Joy that is in all…and sharing it!

I have been committed to a practice of bring grateful for a long time time now. Karl Barth tells me, “Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.” I am Taking Joy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Archives

Follow A Musing Amma on WordPress.com

Recent Posts

  • Pentecost: Take a Breath May 31, 2023
  • Eastertide April 14, 2023
  • Holy Week: Red April 4, 2023
  • Lent 5: Purple March 27, 2023
  • Lent 4: Yellow March 22, 2023

Categories

  • action
  • advent
  • aging
  • b
  • balance
  • beauty
  • blessing
  • body
  • book reflection
  • breaking bread
  • Breath
  • candlemas
  • celebrations
  • centering
  • change
  • changing my mind
  • children
  • choosing
  • Christmas
  • clouds
  • community
  • compassion
  • creation
  • daily examen
  • darkness
  • delight
  • Discernment
  • discovery
  • doing good
  • dryness
  • earth
  • Easter
  • Epiphany
  • examen
  • faces
  • faith
  • faithfulness
  • family
  • fear
  • food
  • freedom
  • friendship
  • gifts
  • giving up
  • grace
  • gratitude
  • grief
  • Holy Week
  • Hope
  • hospitality
  • icons
  • illumination
  • Jesus Christ
  • joy
  • lament
  • legacy
  • Lent
  • letting go
  • Light
  • listening
  • loss
  • Love
  • marriage
  • Mercy
  • Mindfulness
  • ministry
  • mothering
  • music
  • mystery
  • Mystery
  • New year
  • open heart
  • opening my mind
  • paying attention
  • peace
  • pilgrimage
  • praise
  • prayer
  • presence
  • rainbow
  • reflection
  • refreshment
  • remembering
  • renewal
  • rest
  • retreat
  • rose
  • sabbath
  • sacred reading
  • saints
  • sanctuary
  • scripture
  • seasons
  • seeing
  • shadow
  • sharing
  • shelter
  • silence
  • singing
  • slowness
  • soul friends
  • sources of Spirit
  • Spirit
  • spiritual direction
  • surprise
  • taste
  • teaching
  • time
  • touching
  • traveling mercies
  • Uncategorized
  • waiting
  • weeping
  • wisdom
  • women
  • Word

Blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • A Musing Amma
    • Join 124 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • A Musing Amma
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...