EYES ON THE PRIZE...A PEACED MIND

I said to the Lord, I’m going to hold steady on to you, and I know you will see me through. —Harriet Tubman, "Scenes in the Life of Harriet Tubman" 

That is akin to what I said to the Lord just yesterday...thank You.

I can't help but wonder just how dementia became epidemical in the last few months. Dementia! Dementia which, in general, was rarely mentioned until recently. 

There are mind-healers advertised up the gump stump, and they never before had a piece of the pie...again, until recently.   

Or is this just me...my now concern with my own mind that has sharpened my awareness...opened my mind to the rapidly expanding word about dementia...or, more to the point, the rapidly expanding word about cures and meds for dementia. The ads are legion...I have not studied them carefully, but a quick scan tells me none promise full cure, only a tish above a 50 percent cure. 

It is clear to me that my mind has taken a downturn. I plan to stay as calm as I am capable without self-driving, ever reminding me that God can and will if sought. I will take the four-hour test next week, take whatever the doctor prescribes, keep my eye on the prize, God, and pray for a peaced mind.

I wish I could have a dog.

Thank you.

GOD CALLING! LOVE IT AND LAUGH

Being raised from the deadened weight of fear to love. Perhaps that’s what is meant by resurrection. -- Author Diana Butler Bass, "Fr Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation," April 28, 2026

For some time now, I have practiced embracing the deadened weight of fear...anxiety being my first (and lasting) fear. Anxiety attacks were my personal stalkers. Since they seemed to be ever with me, I was given the gift of acceptance...I learned to love and laugh thus not resist fear.

I am not church people, but from my own personal experience, I became a believer. I came to believe that still more spiritual growth is the answer to the dailies of life. 

The main path? Whatever comes, love it and laugh; and there it is: God's secret handshake.

It seems there will always be something that comes that is truly unacceptable to our human eye. I have found that to be God's greatest gift to us...we have no choice but to go to God for God.

That dreaded feeling of being unloved, unneeded, unwanted, and unappreciated? God calling! Love it and laugh.

Thank you.

THE GRACE OF GRATITUDE

The storm rages on. But if you want to know how to walk through a storm? Keep your eyes on the prize. -- the Rt. Rev. Michael Curry

Lord, hear my prayer: Thank You.

My fear of dementia is for me to walk through (or with) today. With fear, without fear, we walk through that which we perceive as before us.

Blinding flash of the obvious: My perception is the storm...the grace of gratitude, the prize.

Thank you.

OUR WORST FEAR IS GOD'S GIFT

Fr. Richard Rohr writes, ...spiritual knowledge is more like retrieving than discovering.

Every time I read that statement, I get an ah-ha feeling...like I just got new information that is going to open a hidden spiritual reserve.

I am reminded that what we are retrieving is the gold, that we retrieve what we already have. Being unaware contains the spiritual invitation to be awakened repeatedly...each time at a deeper level. Whether we consciously know it or not.

I ponder that Fr Richard's spiritual knowledge is more like retrieving than discovering, and I feel hope anew...hope that what I already have is what I already have, i.e., our worst fear is our best gift.

We are opened to the inner truth: Our worst fear is God's gift...embrace it and be peaced.

Thank you.

NOTHING TURNS ME TO GOD FASTER THAN FEAR

Fear can keep us from hearing what is really being said. Mary’s spirituality is focused on trusting....She just says, 'I trust you, God. Do with me what you will. Let it be.' -- Fr Richard Rohr, "Daily Meditation," April 26, 2026

I want to remember that...spirituality focused on trusting. I want to gratefully remember that until I live it without thought. 

Being human, likely I can remember it with a tish of fear, but then, that's my gig. It is with God's blessing that I know nothing turns me to God faster than fear, so I don't resist fear, I let it be and find my comfort there.

That was my blinding flash of the obvious many years ago. I was oh so comforted when I got it then, and it still washes over me in the peace that passes understanding.

God is so good to me...God is so good.

Thank you.

SIMPLE PRESENCE...THY WILL, THY WAY

This spirituality....almost entirely depends on our capacity for simple presence. -- Fr Richard Rohr, "Daily Meditation," April 23, 2026

I felt betrayed recently and big time. Before our noon meeting, I asked a friend, who had previously announced his dementia, if I could talk with him about my fear of possible dementia to which he agreed.

After the meeting while most everyone was still there mingling, my friend announced, for all to hear,  "Stacey's got to deal with her Alzheimer's."  I just smiled, like "what a joker" and nothing further was said. 

For me to remember: That is not the important personal part. That part is for me to follow Friend 2's openness about her dementia...but on my timetable. The announcement felt like a betrayal just an hour after I first mentioned my "fear of possible dementia" to him. 

That is what I need to detach from...detach my resentful thinking by welcoming a higher interpretation to dwell on, i.e., God's will, God's way.  Remembering all the while that my "betrayer" is not bad, not even a "betrayer," he's just not the right confidant for me. 

There...I've got my inside work cut out for me. God loves me us so much.

Thy will, not mine, be done.

Thank you. 

FEAR...LOVE IT TO LET IT BE

Today, fear of dementia is sneaking into my thinking. 

I remind me to love it and laugh...if love and laugh are, as I believe, life's best answer whatever the problem, then dementia, too, can be met there.

Love and laughter will not cancel it, heal it, stop it...it simply will not determine my daily me. I can and do have another incurable disease which I meet daily with God and grace, love and laughter. Dementia, too, can be met there.

Also, my friend Bob may have a mean streak which I experienced recently in the form of a cheap shot he delivered to me before several of our friends.

Ah, it is fear, of course. I need to seek to change me, my gossipy reaction, not Bob...my want to rat him out to others.

Love that and let it perc. Personally, my feet are not there yet...my head has it but that is a far cry from walking it. 

Please and thank You, 

Thank you.