Living in Unconditional Love (198)

Dec 22, 2024

Living in Unconditional Love (198)

 

“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.

12/22/2024                                                    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, as this is the last of my journals this year. Next weekend we plan to be at Mohonk Mountain House for our annual Christmas jaunt and I will not write an entry.

We will definitely have a white Christmas, as about eight inches fell last night (Friday) and the high was in the 20s today. Tim braved the cold and came out to bring in the tree from the garage and shoveled the front areas. This is the tree Eileen, and I bought many years ago and it still looked great. We will decorate it Tuesday, Christmas Eve, as usual.

Karen and Maureen are coming on Monday and will be here for Christmas Day for the first time in many years. Barbara will be here on Sunday (tomorrow), and we will celebrate Christmas dinner at Tim’s house. We are all looking forward to that feast. They will return to their homes on January first so we will celebrate New Year’s Eve here.

Janet and Brendan are coming on the 26th as we prepare for the trip to Mohonk on the 27th. The house will be full and that is always a joyful time filled with memories and laughter.

I have solved the bird feeder problem by resorting to the usual pattern of asking Tim to fill and hang the feeder. Nothing I tried worked so I went to the tried and true of having Tim do it. I am sure I can hang it by myself, but it would (will) be blind reaching, as I can not look up to see the hooks on the deck that I use to hang the feeder, and it is heavy with bird seed. Part of the blessings of aging. It is a joy to see the many birds that are constantly flying in and out of the feeder especially when there is snow. It is almost impervious to the squirrels, and they no longer even try, but I suspect the neighborhood cat is responsible for much of that. I have not seen the cat when it is bitter out like today, but I see it occasionally, when there is no snow, not far from the deck at the edge of the garden where the squirrels run.

This has been a more challenging year than I had expected. We are on the edge of a sad four-year return to cruelty and vengeance and selfishness. I am not looking forward to this time ahead.

Meditation

Gentle One, I thank You for this past year and the many opportunities offered to do Your will in my life. I offer what I can to continue to seek out Your will and hopefully spread Your Love evermore.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

DAVID PETERS

My God has led me on an 80 year jaunt to ever more wondrous beauty. I am led to share this journey and gifts of God that have been showered upon me, not just for me but for whoever God brings into my path.

Learn More