A couple headlines that caught my attention today:
Triple Shooting Gets 09 off to a Deadly Start (this is rather near my home, which is concerning.)
Why 2008 Was a Long Year (just because there is a certain amount of humor in the fact that the year which seemed so long quite literally was longer!)
Friday, January 02, 2009
Joy and Sorrow: Our Spiritual Parents
another thought from Henri Nouwen:
Our Spiritual Parents
Joy and sorrow are never separated. When our hearts rejoice at a spectacular view, we may miss our friends who cannot see it, and when we are overwhelmed with grief, we may discover what true friendship is all about. Joy is hidden in sorrow and sorrow in joy. If we try to avoid sorrow at all costs, we may never taste joy, and if we are suspicious of ecstasy, agony can never reach us either. Joy and sorrow are the parents of our spiritual growth.
Our Spiritual Parents
Joy and sorrow are never separated. When our hearts rejoice at a spectacular view, we may miss our friends who cannot see it, and when we are overwhelmed with grief, we may discover what true friendship is all about. Joy is hidden in sorrow and sorrow in joy. If we try to avoid sorrow at all costs, we may never taste joy, and if we are suspicious of ecstasy, agony can never reach us either. Joy and sorrow are the parents of our spiritual growth.
The Neighbor's Yard
Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while will know that I have two younger brothers.
We had a big back yard growing up, and we (well, mostly they) spent a great deal of time playing every game involving a flying ball or frisbee ever invented in said back yard. Our neighbors on one side (in the early years anyway) were a kindly old couple who didn't mind if we went into their yard to retrieve one of the balls or other flying objects that seemed to inevitably go "over the fence". We never fought about who had to retrieve things from their yard.
The neighbors on the other side however, were fearsome. A woman and her husband whose children had long since grown. An avid (almost obsessive) gardener, who got angry and yelled every time something inadvertantly went over her fence. (She also once yelled at us for "playing too loudly" while they were entertaining company on the patio in their garden.) She would threaten to keep anything that went over her fence, and stealth was required in it's retrieval. If she caught you in her yard, you were in for yet another tongue lashing. We fought regularly over whose fault it was when something went into her yard, and who was therefore obligated to try and retrieve it.
I remembered all this this morning when I read the following article, which made me smile:
Woman, 89, Who Kept Boy's Football Sues Parents
We had a big back yard growing up, and we (well, mostly they) spent a great deal of time playing every game involving a flying ball or frisbee ever invented in said back yard. Our neighbors on one side (in the early years anyway) were a kindly old couple who didn't mind if we went into their yard to retrieve one of the balls or other flying objects that seemed to inevitably go "over the fence". We never fought about who had to retrieve things from their yard.
The neighbors on the other side however, were fearsome. A woman and her husband whose children had long since grown. An avid (almost obsessive) gardener, who got angry and yelled every time something inadvertantly went over her fence. (She also once yelled at us for "playing too loudly" while they were entertaining company on the patio in their garden.) She would threaten to keep anything that went over her fence, and stealth was required in it's retrieval. If she caught you in her yard, you were in for yet another tongue lashing. We fought regularly over whose fault it was when something went into her yard, and who was therefore obligated to try and retrieve it.
I remembered all this this morning when I read the following article, which made me smile:
Woman, 89, Who Kept Boy's Football Sues Parents
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