Welcome to all of you who are immersed in everyday life, the common activities of caring for family and friends, working for an income, contributing to our communities. Conveniently, that opens quite wide the potential readership of this blog. That this blog is for those who are not only immersed in everyday life but also have a strong desire to keep their mind and soul strong and healthy may somewhat limit the potential readership, but not by much. After all, most of us want to move through life with joy and success and it is not hard to appreciate the role of thought and faith in this venture.
In my everyday life, I receive so much encouragement from quick e-mails I receive from friends at various times during the day. E-mails that include a quote, or a reminder of something to think about, or a challenge to think about or do something differently. E-mails that keep pulling me back from the frustrations of work or the overwhelmedness of another load of laundry and keep pushing me toward the deeper realities of life within the context of faith and within a community of friendship.
One of the deeper realities of life is that there is more to it than what we see on our to-do lists or the evening news. A significant part of moving through everyday life with joy and success is reminding ourselves of the abundant and amazing aspects of life, reminding ourselves of sources of strength, reminding ourselves of thoughts of a higher order. That's what I'd like to do in this blog. Remind you--and remind myself at the same time--of things we would do well to be reminded of. My messages to you will be in the form of quick personal thoughts, quotes, excerpts from my reading, and possibly some interviews with authors, as well as with everyday people like you and me.
Here are a couple relevant quotes:
"Certainly we cannot help thinking any more than we can help breathing, but, just as we can choose to breathe pure air in a pine wood on a high hill, we can place our mind where the images it will work upon will be of a higher nature." Ernest Dimnet from The Art of Thinking
"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things." From the book of Philippians
Grace and peace,
Nancy