Mind and Spirit Blogger

My husband and I stood side-by-side on our deck, enjoying the peacefulness of a summer morning. After a  few quiet minutes, I remarked to my husband, "it is peaceful listening to the birds."  Our yard is surrounded by many trees, and because of that, we have a large amount of wildlife that visits our yard regularly. We have seen wild turkeys, deer, woodchucks, hawks, foxes, and coyotes. And an assortment of songbirds birds. Oh, and don't forget the many squirrels that come to eat the birdseed that I leave out for the birds. (grrr) This morning, the songbirds were singing their choruses in many joyous voices. My husband responded, "it is nice to have some peace amid all the chaos that's going on in the world right now." He was right! His comment caused me to stop and think. There is an extraordinary amount of chaos in the world today. There are political arguments that have been erupting in the different news media.  The COVID pandemic has stirred heated di

This morning I watched the squirrel named Boris as he planned his assault on the bubble-wrapped post on which the bird feeder hung. Boris scrambled onto the deck, hopped on the chair that was closest to the railing,  From that vantage point he made the leap to the deck rail. I watched in awe of Boris as he surveyed his surroundings.  Sitting 3 or 4 inches from the bubble wrap on the deck rail he just sat and stared at the newest weapon that had been deployed the previous day. To my surprise, Boris took two steps toward the bubble wrap, stopped, and then ran off.  I could not believe my eyes was the bubble wrap the secret weapon that I had been seeking? For the balance of this day, there was not a squirrel in sight. The birds were feasting at their leisure with the absence of Boris and his gang.  Unfortunately, things were about to change. Boris returned later in the day along with his first lieutenant. they both scrambled up the deck post and onto the chair. The lieutenant courageously

It is Day four, and the battle continues. the hounds have entirely abandoned the struggle.  Things at the front are looking grim.  A turn in the weather and the increasing summer heat has caused the hounds to retreat and hunker down in the air-conditioned bunker.  I fear the battle may be lost. The bubble wrap has failed, and I am further discouraged after viewing a Youtube video that I discovered of an unknown ally's attempt to battle a different gang of gray squirrels I am disillusioned after seeing the video and I am running out of birdseed.  I vow to make one final attempt to defeat Boris and his band.  Amazon has delivered, and the new provisions arrived by way of USPS. I hurry to the deck with packages in hand. I smile with confidence as I  begin to set the trap. I tear open the boxes. They contain more birdseed, a squirrel proof bird feeder, and two 9 inch chains. Satisfied with my purchases, I look up and spot fast-approaching storm clouds. I must hurry, birdseed repleni

Day Three, a new weapon unleashed. It is a beautiful Carolina morning, and I strategically place my coffee cup on the deck table to gain some ground in the battle. My troops retreated.  The hounds needed to recover from the heat, and They opted to stay inside the airconditioned barracks. I am left to continue alone. As I am sipping my coffee, I can hear the call of crows in the distance—their squawking sounds like mocking laughter.  Weary and discouraged from yesterday's scrimmage, I ponder the day and the attack on the feeder to come. Late yesterday I made a devastating decision.   I abandoned my post to travel into town. I was leaving the feeder unguarded, a poor tactical maneuver.  Today I survey the damages. Taking full advantage of our absence Boris and the gang emptied the food supply in the feeder, leaving only a few empty hulls.  No wonder the crows are laughing. That is when the thought hit me!  Of course, bubble wrap! As I watched the enemy scatter after my hero husban

Round two of the grey squirrel battle begins.  It is the early morning. I spot a squirrel slowly coming out of the oak tree, and   I watch from my window as this ring leader hits the ground. He heads straight for the deck.  His tail is twitching erratically. I am convinced that the ring leader, the one who I named Boris, is sending out an all-clear signal to the infantry.  Suddenly I see them. The brave first squirrel, who was running point position, is followed by two others. I watch from my window as the tree rats survey the situation. Satisfied that the dogs are sleeping unaware of the pending assault, the tree rats begin their ascent to the feeder. Watching from the window now with a cup of coffee firmly in my hand, I call for the reinforcements.   " Come quickly, "I yell to my husband. My hero appears at my side with our son's 35-year-old Red Rider BB rifle in hand.  Pump, pump my husband loads, opens the door aims, and fires. Uninjured but shaken the squirrels, retr

Recently I had a deck added to my home.  Now  I  spend time outside enjoying our beautiful North Carolina weather.  I have hung several bird feeders along the perimeter of the deck.  Also, I placed the feeders so that I can watch the birds from my bedroom window. This also enables me to observe the birds if I am at my computer writing. I have spotted redheaded woodpeckers, purple finches, chickadees, brown Carolina wrens, and bright red cardinals, and many more species.  I love discovering all of the various birds that inhabit my area. I  listen to their songs. I sit and watch the antics of my feathered friends.  Either from the deck or through my window. Unfortunately, my bird watching bliss has been interrupted recently by the appearance of a gang of squirrels. I had found a seed mix that was the perfect offering, and that would attract the widest variety of birds. But, to my dismay, the seed mix for the bird turns out to be a favorite meal of an annoying gang of squirrels. In the p

"Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children."    I think about many dear children  I think about my children, your children.   I  often hear stories about how people unintentionally adversely affect them by the things they say and do.  In my travels, I've learned a very Important psychodynamic counseling principle, " children learn what is modeled to" them." In other words, how we behave is how they will behave.      As a pastoral counselor, what  I read in this verse is that God is teaching us the same Principle." imitate God" !  as our loving parent, God wants to teach us Everything he knows.  Everything we need to know about life.       The reading goes on to speak about living a life of love .  Because of love, Jesus submits to his father's bidding. Jesus allowed himself to be sacrificed for us! Is that as imitators of God what we are called to do?  I know many parents who would throw them

I write a lot, and after I suffered a stroke in 2009, I was determined to continue writing. Twelve years later, as I look back at some of my work, I am appalled at the typographical and grammatical errors I made in my essays.  Adding further to my dismay, I realized that I posted them on the internet for all to see! Vision impairments resulting from the stroke had caused me to skip spaces and make multiple spelling errors. Although I was not known as a perfectionist in my writing skills, I could get by with very few mistakes in most of my writings before the stroke.  Now I find that  I must relearn the rules of basic grammar.  Comma usage, writing in an active voice, and avoiding run-on sentences are common mistakes that I  make.  After years of writing blog posts, I can go back and correct the errors I made and move forward. I can do this because I found a program on the internet that corrects common mistakes in writing. At first, I settled for using the free version.  Then I decided

Last spring, I listened to pastor Bob preach a Sunday morning message.  Later that day, I sat on my deck under my new but cheap $39.00 blue umbrella and reflected on the morning's sermon. It was a mild spring day. The scattered clouds overhead floated slowly past the sun. At times the sun is hidden by the clouds. Hiding behind the clouds and then reappearing, brightening up the day.  I find as I sit here, I discover there are benefits from the sun, as it does both hides and shows up.  When the sun shows up and is shining brightly, I experience its warmth, and the world around me reflects the sun's brilliance. When the sun is shining brightly and has not hidden behind a cloud, I also can begin to feel the heat that will eventually send me inside to the comfort of my airconditioned living room. On the other hand, as the sun hides behind a large gray cloud, I am provided with cooling breezes, which can be a relief from the sun's blazing heat.   Bob Disher could be right; it i

The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most of the world. We mark appointments, plan our weeks, and count our days on this calendar. On the gregorian calendar, we also keep track of holidays and birthdays of family and friends. We use this calendar to measure the seasons of Spring, summer, fall, and winter as the earth circles the sun. In addition to the Gregorian calendar, there is another essential calendar, and just like our Gregorian calendar, this second has seasons also. I am talking about the Liturgical calendar of the Christian church.  The Christian calendar  to has seasons. Each season marks important events in the Christian year.   In addition, the seasons of the liturgical year are represented by a specific color. which are listed in a  Color guide  that can be found on the Webb. So it is how I found myself thinking about the significance of what it means to be ordinary on a Good Friday which is not an ordinary day on the Christian year.. I  decided that I had adeq

Psalm 20: 12 Teach us to number our days,  so that we may gain a heart of wisdom. NIV   Amid life’s uncertainty, the limited time that I have been given to fulfill God’s purpose for my life has felt inconsistent, Confusing, and unpredictable. “Time” regularly proves itself to be deceitful. I hear people say, “Time is flying by too quickly.” People, on occasion, express the opposite and declare their frustration with time by saying, “Time is standing still.” I hear people express feelings about time in music. A Google search will reveal numerous songs In almost every genre with the word “time” in the lyrics or titles. One example is Jim Croce’s “Time in a bottle,” In this song, Croce is expressing feelings about “time.” When we read or listen to the lyrics, we see that Croce sings about his desire to have more time to spend with someone he loves. This sentiment can be seen in the following words,  “If I could save time in a bottle The first thing that I’d like to do