Palm Sunday

  Have a blessed Palm Sunday! 

Dying or Living?

Many years ago, maybe fifteen, one of my best friends wrote me a letter and outlined many, many health issues she had been dealing with.  I think the bottom line, at least in my memory, was that she could "die at any time". I guess as long as I remember she has had many serious health issues.  Well, those health issues have continued, some enough to make your teeth curl.

I really don't know what I would do if I were in her shoes.  A couple weeks ago though, we talked and she said, "you know, I think instead of giving up the ghost and acting like I'm dying, I think I'll work on my 'bucket list' and live as fully as I can, even if it means pushing the envelope a little bit!".

As of a phone call yesterday she has her plane ticket for a return trip after driving back from Ohio with me after Easter, we have plans for the days she is here and no "what if's" are going to derail us. We both know we have options no matter what. 

I don't know if this attitude is bullheadedness, complete folly or a deep sense of the divine guiding her along the way.  Both of us would like to think it is a deep faith that no matter what may happen that God will lift her up, support her and continue guiding her. No, she realizes  bad things may continue to strike but that she will continue to have others plus inner strength to deal with whatever may come her way...sort of like Simon helping Jesus carry his cross along the way. How are each of us living...like we're ready to die or as fully as we can?



Molly LaFond is a spiritual director with offices in Two Rivers and Crivitz, WI. For more information, please refer to: mollylafond.com

Zen Wisdom

"Sitting still,

Spring flowers

doing nothing,
Spring comes
and the grass grows by itself."
     (Zen Wisdom)

"Though we seem to be inactive, grace is taking its course..." 


Quotes from  pg. 47, Too Deep For Words by Thelma Hall, r.c.


Molly LaFond is a spiritual director operating out of Wisconsin. For more information, visit: mollylafond.com

Human Err

Molly LaFond is a spiritual director, operating out of Wisconsin.  For more information, see her website at: mollylafond.com

Yeast

Rustic Bread

Baking is not my forte but lately I have taken an interest in batter bread recipes.  I have discovered, to my surprise, there is more than one way to make a bread rise, other than yeast. The one recipe I have been baking, however, uses only ¼ tsp.of yeast.  It seemed hardly enough to make a difference but after the rising time, up to 18hrs. I saw with my own eyes how powerful it was. This yeast, along with 1 ½ tsp. salt, flour and water yields a wonderful loaf.  It takes about 24hrs. but that’s OK. Another recipe I was looking at uses 2 packets of yeast but that is for whole wheat flour.

The action of yeast in this process begs a question for me in my life, and perhaps for you. “What in my life might be ‘like yeast’ to be of help in another person’s life?” Maybe a phone call, visiting them in the hospital, delivering a meal, maybe just a willingness to stop in the hall as I pass giving a few minutes to listen as a person shares a heart ache. These are all simple things that do not require any “kneading” but only a little bit of our time.

Yes, there are other situations, like whole wheat flour, that require “2 packets of yeast”: giving several days as I watch a friend's two dogs, driving out of town to share a ride going to visit someone in an intensive care unit…it could be anything…pick your ”loaf of bread” you would like to bake!! I bet, though, that whatever you choose, the results will be wonderfully surprising to you, too, just like it was for me!!


I am a spiritual director, practicing out of Wisconsin. For more information, please visit my website: mollylafond.com

Little Voice

Have you ever been stymied trying to work on a project? It could have been anything: trying to paint a height without a proper ladder, sewing and not having a good ripper to take threads out to redo. For me, technology is my challenge and not knowing where to turn for resources. My printer wasn’t working lately and I didn’t know where to turn. 

Then I had a bright idea while at a meeting when I saw a friend’s college aged son there. Something inside me prompted me to "speak up"and it worked. I asked my friend’s son if I could “borrow” him to help me with my printer. He came over and bingo, in no time at all he got it working.  Everything was good as new.

Has that ever happened to you that something inside of you speaks to you guiding you in the right direction? You honor that and it works out. Sometimes it is not logical but you know inside what needs to be done. This is that small still voice inside each of us that guides us when we are willing to listen to it. That is the voice of the divine. Each one of us has it…the trick is to tune in and listen to it, then honor it. No need being stymied any longer!