Awakening a Keen Observer

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Stumble Upon




Two Wolves
by unknown

An elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his Grandchildren about life. He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me… it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.
“One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
“The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
“This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.”
They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”


I sumbled upon this and thought it really good. I will probably use it in addressing All Saints Day.

Good luck
feeding the right
wolf

God abides
Bobbie Giltz McGarey
@2009

Saturday, October 17, 2009

upon my feet



revgalblogpals posted the above photo. it came as part of the friday conversation. this week it was about shoes. here are the questions posted and my answeres

1. What is your favorite footwear at this time in your life? birkenstocks

2. What was the craziest shoe, boot, or sandal you ever wore? heels that were silver glitter (ok it was halloween)

3. What kind of shoes did you wear in your childhood? spalding saddle shoes black and white, and bass weejens loafers in college

4. How do you feel most comfortable? Barefoot, flip-flops, boots, or what?
flip flops made by teva unless it is in the sand

5. What kind of socks do you like, if any? eh not so much

The fun part of this whole question and conversation was that we had just been looking at women's pumps online at a very expensive store. There were many in the 500$ range and others in the $700 range and one pair was $2000

It took my breath to see the cost of these shoes...and so very many styles to choose from and the NAME brands that I think made the shoes start at 200.

what does it say about us that there are so many things that have become accepted at an amazing price? it's ok for shoes or a bag to cost several hundred dollars. we can rationalize that we deserve these things. that we have worked for these things. that we can have one indulgence.



can we?

perhaps we can --but we may not. we may not if we are people who have eyes to see and hearts that melt and hopes that do not just include our little tribe. we may not if we are people who can say that others will take care of 'them' or that 'they' just don't try to work hard enough. we may not if we think that because of our own effort alone we are where we are.

may denotes permission. if we're christian i'm pretty sure we don't have that permission.. Jesus Christ...have mercy on me...a sinner.

on my first trip to India we were walking back to our hotel and there was a man walking ahead of us dragging one of his feet. we thought he was crippled. as we passed him and looked down his very basic flip flop thong on his right foot had pulled out and was broken...he was not dragging his foot he was keeping his foot protected by dragging the flipflop

God abides
bobbie giltz mcgarey
@2009

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Monday, October 12, 2009

Heavy burdens


Visiting our dear family Matthew and Annie in Kotigiri India a few years ago we watched these men building a road up the mountain.
These tribesmen had some amazing ability to carry very heave loads. Look at this man carrying this rock on his back. It has already been shaped to fit into the roadway. He carried this with a smile.
For him, what for me would be impossible, was possible and even carried with a smile.

what could we carry for a friend whose burden right now seems too heavy? what could we lift from the shoulders of a stranger? what could we do for the world around us that carries so heavy burdens that war and killing seem the only relief?

let's pray that today each of us can take the burden from someone we encounter and then lift it up to God. For with God all things are possible.

God abide
Bobbie Giltz McGarey
photo by bobbiemcgarey all rights reserved
@2009