Thursday, February 8, 2018

Brotherly Love & Sisterly Affection (God Moments)

On Monday evening, I attended the poetry reading of Yolanda Wisher, Philadelphia's current Poet Laureate at the Free Library of Philadelphia.  There she spoke about Philly being the city of both brotherly love and sisterly affection.  She told the attendees that people forget the sisterly affection part and that we should not forget.  That was the start of recognizing one of my latest God* moments.

But before I get there, I must also admit that while my life is truly amazing (I think yours is too), I don't always realize it.  It's because I might be looking at what I don't have instead of what I do have.  I even had the thought that I haven't had too many God* moments lately, but then I righted myself, recognizing that I should be lightning-bolted to the ground for thinking this.  Here's the back story:

Last summer I really, really wanted to sublet an apartment in the city of Philadelphia for just two or three months. I dreamt of making it my temporary writing studio, a place where I'd write my second book.  I dared God* to 'show me the money,' but the extra 5k didn't come.  (By the way, it turned out that my summer was way too busy to have been able to traipse back and forth between two dwelling places - thankfully, I hadn't wasted the money).

Then in the fall I turned over my car to one of my kids because I didn't need it as much as they did (I work out of my house).  The first month was easy, but then I felt the loss of freedom that comes from having had a car at my fingertips my entire adult life and then not having one.

Fast forward to last month when my walking buddy moved into this city of brotherly love that I'm so crazy about.  Because of her sisterly affection, she has lent me her car and I feel the freedom all the way to the tips of my braking toes and steering fingers.  With this car, but also by train and others, I have been in Philly 8 times since my friend moved there.  I have a place to park, somewhere to crash, and even dinner in her apartment with an amazing view.  What a God moment to recognize that I do have this place of brotherly love and sisterly affection.  Thank you God, I praise your name!       
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Now for the reflective questions which you can journal about or if you'd like to share your story, the community and I would love to hear from you!  Your comment could have a major impact on someone else.  Most likely it will be just the right thing at the right time for one of the readers. For me, God* wanted me to know that helping even just one person is wonderfully impactful.
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Reflective questions:
1.  What do you think about your life (list at least 10 words to describe it)?

2.  What does God* want you to know about this (ask directly, "God, what do you want me to know?")

* I use the term God as a universal term.  You may decide that Great Spirit, Allah, Higher Power, Sensibility, etc. better suits you today.  It is not for me to decide.

Photo by MH

Note:  These posts are part of a broader call to do spiritual journaling which is simply journaling what's on your heart and mind and then asking God* what else you should know (read more at CardinalTouch.net).

1 comment:

  1. My life;
    1. Blessed
    2. Not what I would have done without God
    3. Full of challenges
    4. Sprit driven
    5. It is hard at times
    6. Full of loved ones
    7. My future is so unclear
    8. Love, love when I can be a part on connecting someone with their enter Sprint.
    9. I know my life is a gift to me
    10. BLESSED
    God wants me to know that he is walking beside me everyday.

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