Food for Thought: Whiskey River

Most mornings I have a fairly set routine.  I get up, read the paper, eat a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, and go to my exercise class.  When I get home from exercise, I get a cup of coffee and sit down to gather my thoughts for the day.  I always check for new posts on my son Cort's blog, FixMemphis, 'cause it's the best way I have to keep up with him!  By the way, "FixMemphis" refers to the type of bike that Cort rides - a fixed gear bike - rather than to any attempt to improve the City of Memphis.  Then I read the posts for the day at Smart City Memphis to get my adrenaline flowing.  This one does have to do
with ways to improve the City of Memphis!

I know, I'm pretty boring.

Lastly, I read Whiskey River (the intoxication of being swept along with the current.)  I use it as my meditation for the day.  I encourage you to bookmark it and check it occasionally.  What hits me may not necessarily hit you and vice versa.  In the meantime, here are the posts from the past couple of days:

For Equilibrium, a Blessing

Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore,
May the relief of laughter rinse through your soul.

As the wind loves to call things to dance,
May your gravity be lightened by grace.

Like the freedom of the monastery bell,
May clarity of mind make your eyes smile.

As water takes whatever shape it is in,
So free may you be about who you become.

As silence smiles on the other side of what's said,
May your sense of irony bring perspective.

As time remains free of all that it frames,
May your mind stay clear of all it names.

May your prayer of listening deepen enough
to hear in the depths the laughter of God.
- John O'Donohue
To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Invocations and Blessings

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"The wonder of a moment in which there is nothing but an upwelling of simple happiness is utterly awesome. Gratitude is so close to the bone of life, pure and true, that it instantly stops the rational mind, and all its planning and plotting. That kind of let go is fiercely threatening. I mean, where might such gratitude end?"
- Regina Sara Ryan
Praying Dangerously
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Don't you love the line about the water?

My driveway, November 2010