Jun 30, 2024

Living in Unconditional Love (173)

 

“Love flows from God to humans without effort:

As a bird glides through the air without moving its wings-

Thus, they go wherever they wish united in body and soul,

Yet separate in form.”

–Mechtild of Magdeburg

 

My wife Eileen died from esophageal cancer in February 2020 one year after being diagnosed, 60 years after we met on Long Island. Then my brother Tom became ill (not COVID), and I spent a total of six weeks being with him in Ohio, but he died in October 2020. My sister-in-law Sue Mahoney died from Covid-19 in January 2021. On top of it all stood the pandemic, locking everyone down almost two years. Covid has proved to be a persistent problem, and many of the long-term effects are quite serious, and it has proven much more serious than flu.

06/30/2024                                                    Today, Sunday, is my son Drew’s birthday. I wish him the very best on this day.

I write this on Saturday, and it has rained all day. Mostly light rain, but the occasional heavy spell. We need the rain, as we have had spells of light rain or brief showers and have not had a day of rain in some time, so things were drying out.

It has been a slow week, as my cough is gone but I still feel weak, so I sleep a lot. the weather looks fair for most of next week, so I hope to start outdoor activity to get my body use to doing more. That may help to get me past this tiredness I feel, even though the doctor warned me that the heart meds I take will cause me to feel tired.

The back patio is finally being worked on, as the wet spells almost daily have prevented starting. They prepped the area, and they hope to have the first concrete pour on Monday. We shall see.

The garden is sort of in an in-between state right now, as the peonies and iris are all finished, and the daylilies are just starting to bloom but show lots of buds getting ready. A couple of the early lilies have bloomed but the main show has not started as they bloom mid to late July. I believe this rain will help make the flowers fuller and more beautiful. I am looking forward to that as hundreds of buds are showing on the daylilies. I have pruned a couple of the bonsai, but they all need some work.

I find myself a bit discouraged when I look at the world that seems to be heading back into the dark ages along many fronts. Dictators or want-to-be-dictators seem to be rising in many fronts, and even though I will not be around for that many years the future looks to be challenging for so many. All I can do is place the future into the hands of God and watch.

Meditation

 

Gentle One, I am grateful for each day I have. The exuberance of Spring is changing into the gentleness of summer, and hopefully the heat and all will not be too intense. I relish this start of summer and watch eagerly as I am not sure of how many more I have, so I try to absorb it as if it were the last one. The beauty is astounding, and I always feel like smiling. Thank You for all, and especially for my son Andrew.