Forbearance and the Desire for Peace

Forbearance - I haven't used that word in a long, long time - if ever. But as often, Tom Ehrich in On a Journey, has touched me talking about "mutual forbearance". He states, "Mutual forbearance is the heart of a good friendship or long-lasting marriage. It's the glue that allows any human community to function. If we don't grin and bear it when people behave the way they do, we will spend our lives bristling, retaliating and hiding."

And then I turn to Phillip Newell, Christ of the Celts, who talks about the desire for peace, saying, "I believe that [the desire for peace comes] from a place deep in the human soul. It may be a place that we have become distant from. And it may be a place that has become hardened over by the pain and bitterness of life's experiences and divisions. But it is deep in the heart of our being. It does not belong exclusively to the Christian soul or the Muslim soul or the Jewish soul. It belongs to the human soul. And it is cause for great hope."

I think that each of us journeys in life toward death, and during that journey if we can soften up that hardened place in our souls - because all of us have hardened more or less - then we can bring forbearance to light and find a measure of peace.

Richard's visit to Washington and Virginia

Portrait Shot of Isa
USC Band and Song Girls at Friday Night Rally

USC Band and Song Girls Entering Hall

Flower with Fly in Isa's Back Yard (macro shot)

Another Macro Shot of a Bud About Twice the Size of a Head of a Pin

Falls at the Aquarium in Baltimore

Light and Dark Coral

Green Coral

Silouette of the Thomas Jefferson Statue in the Jefferson Memorial

Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument

Washington Monument from the Lake

The Perfect Storm!
This is Porky after Isa gave him a bath. He had just come from the groomers, and wallowed in the neighbors' dirt.

Ah the unpredictable and predictable life!

Just when you think you have it all together, then comes the whammy. The mice ate through the dryer and almost caused the house to burn down! The roof needs re-coating. The pool needs a new cover and a grab bar....
Enough of whining! There are plenty of things to be joyful about (and "joyful" is not an exageration - at first I wrote happy and then I said to myself, "That's an understatment!"). Most of all, the wonderful people in my life. Thank you for just being you - each of you!

Richard's coming home!

It'll be so nice to have Richard home again. Coco keeps waiting for him, so if she could write she would be saying the same thing!