Balloon of Hope

She thinks of the prayers as balloons and sees them squiggling up through the atmosphere just the clouds, trailing string.  Balloons of hope.  A prayer is nothing if not a balloon of hope.

Anita Shreve, The Last Time We Met

Prayers can be of many forms, but I had not thought of them as balloons before.  I like the brightly colored image however, and the buoyant ascension into the sky.  Rarely do I think of a prayer on a super jet speeding up through the clouds.

One country music star claims "My best gifts have been unanswered prayers."  This reasoning makes me cautious and mindful of my intentions for my self as well as others, as I truly do not know what is the best for any one. 

I guess this is why my intentions sent into the higher realm for all situations to be considered take form of love, light, and energy.   I send love, light, and energy for the person to use in whatever way they deem appropriate.  The beholder can decide to get stronger to live or to transition.  I clearly do not want to manipulate or control any outcome that is not mine to make.

Maybe balloons can be messengers and symbols for hope.  Balloons will take on a little higher meaning for me now.  I will feel immediately uplifted when I spy one in the sky! 



No Longer Separated, but Joined

Life was never meant to be a struggle.

~Stuart Wilde

We become very powerful emotionally when we open our hearts to all things present.  Using acceptance and compassion to embrace any given moment creates a depth that grounds our spirit.  As we move forward in manifesting our lives, we serve others along the way.

How we honor our selves and the manner in which we respect others determines how we navigate through relationships.  Do we travel with fear, unworthiness, and guilt or with joy, beauty, and acceptance?

Alan Cohen, author of A DEEP BREATH OF LIFE, states:

Our relationships are our primary means of emotional support;  we join and bond to empower each other to be strong, powerful, and great.  Our primary relationship is the place where we need to give and receive the most nourishment and respect.  Make your primary relationship a refuge where you can come to be healed and nourished.

We can strive to treat others as we would have them treat us.  The honor and respect we extend to others will then be returned to us.  We can speak not with the intention to be 'right', but with the intention to heal. 

Let us all aim for peace amongst ourselves, no longer feeling separated, but joined.

Planting The Gift of Iris ...

You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. 

~Author Unknown



Today was a beautiful fall day!  I decided I would plant my Iris bulbs along the drive way at my daughter's home.  As I made each hole, I wondered how many times I had planted these very bulbs.  Irises have always been one of my most favorite flowers, but these Irises in particular were very dear to my heart.  They had been a gift given out of love.

In the fall of 1989, I drove to Chicago with my children to meet my sister at her in-laws home.  While we visited, her father-in-law cleaned out his flower bed.  He asked if we would like to take any of the discarded Iris bulbs home.  My son Matthew, then entering 8th grade, readily agreed and packed them into the van.

The following Mother's Day in May of 1990, my son Matthew told me that he had not bought me a present, but if I would follow him outside, he had a surprise for me.  Together we walked out behind our old country home towards the garage by the big white fence.  There by the hand water pump, much to my surprise, were numerous Irises growing out of the rich dark soil.  They were an unforgettable gift to me, a reminder of my son's love. 

Matthew explained to me that it had been dark when we had returned from Chicago, but the very next morning, he had planted every bulb carefully into the ground.  At the age of eleven, he had decided to keep this a secret in case the bulbs had failed to grow. 

Every year, I am once again given the gift of his love when the Irises proudly poke through the ground and then display their various rich colors.  They have been a gift to treasure, and they have become a definite part of our family history.

When I left the country house and moved to a neighboring town, Matthew went back out to our country home and dug up the bulbs.  He planted them for me in the back yard by the deck.  They remained there for ten years.

With the children grown and out on their own, I moved to a condo in the city.  Once again, Matthew transplanted the Iris bulbs into my small courtyard.  Four years later, he would repeat this same routine, sinking these flowers lovingly into the soil where I then lived.

My son is now 33 years old planting his own lovely gardens in Illinois.  When he bought his home a few years back, he took some of the original Iris bulbs to plant in his own yard.  So today was a bittersweet day for me as I doubt that I will ever move these flowers again.  They will more than likely remain in Tennessee becoming a part of my daughter's history.

One thing for sure ... an Iris will always remind me of the gift of love that holds us all together.