Next phase!

I got my edits finished late last night (which was the deadline date). Its hard to look at my own work objectively. I feel exposed and a bit raw. There are several stages to go before we get to the most frightening... marketing. I don't really write books to sell them. I write them to get a message across. I am very concerned about the grief we all carry. There is too much happening too fast and on a global scale. Our minds, our hearts can NOT keep up. I wrote a story about the loss of a loved one but the message I want to communicate is more about giving permission to feel grief and to take the time to walk it through. Life depends on feeling out sorrows. I remember the line in a song that asked, "Can there be joy where there has been no sorrow?"

They have done studies on pain and happiness. Did you know that the most miserable nations in the world and the ones that are the most painless? The people in modern nations that can use medications for pain and insurance to counter losses say most often that they are not happy where as people in nations with much suffering and deep poverty often say that they are. I believe there is a connection between suffering and true joy.

If we demand a painless existence, if we race through life without pausing to feel and grieve we will miss the comfort God offers to those who mourn.

Choosing life

I believe that life is more than existing. It is breathing in something beside just air. It's looking, really looking and choosing to see. Look at the sky! It is huge and ever changing, always beautiful and sometimes frightening. Look at the sea, it is never the same color twice is it? Look, listen, taste, touch. Live

The next phase

We are doing the conceptional editing of the book, "Wings of Angels". That means that the title might change any day. Hmmm, does that mean that I change the name of the blog too? Maybe not.

I have had many discussions about grief since I started this publishing process. It's becoming a passion of mine, not the pain of grief but I am trying to raise a flag of warning. We as a society are not allowing for grief in our lives. We are pushing through pain without giving it place. This will cost us in the end, more than we have to give.

I think that God is always a God of opposites. If you want to be first, then be last. If you want to be a leader, then serve. If you want to be happy, give away everything you cling to for happiness. If you want comfort... mourn. Happy people cry. That's the truth! Miserable people seldom do.

Jolly Angels

I am waiting for my editor to discuss the "Wings of Angels" book. I am trying to explain that the angels are supposed to look strong and Jolly. It's funny but I have never seen an angel depicted as jolly before. I wonder why not.

In the story I'm writing they are full of fun and joy and a little bit of mischief. Could anyone point me to an artist's rendition of a "jolly" angel?

Rest, passion and curiosity

As I contemplate the rapid onslaught of change I am spending more time thinking of God's mandate to rest. Rest.... who has time for it? I struggle with health issues. I need more rest than most. I have found though that life gets mundane quickly when I am tired. If I'm tired I don't have the energy to think! I used to question everything. Exhaustion kills curiosity and passion. What else is there anyway. What is life without passion and curiosity? Perhaps there is a different kind of dying going on.

Hmmm perhaps rest is more vital than we know?

change

Our world is changing faster and faster. Change, even good change causes grief. But when it changes so rapidly there isn't time to mourn that grief. I see unprocessed grief as a huge cause of anger and confusion in people today.

Did you know that over 82,000 people are homeless in Los Angeles County California alone? Did you know that 32 percent of those people have college degrees? Did you know that only 25 percent are mentally ill... which means the majority are "normal" people who haven't been able to "fit" with the program. 82,000 people, they would make a not-so-small city. 82,000 people that somehow aren't coping with the demands of change.

Sometimes I want to scream.... "Listen up!!!" We are missing what's happening. Too many people are expected to cope with too much. Burn out, nervous breakdowns, homelessness, depression and rage. They are all symptoms of unresolved grief... rapid change without resolve.

Taking time

Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, " To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:" Makes you wonder. Sometimes I don't feel like I have time. Maybe it feels like time has me? There is this thing that keeps moving in front of me... like the rabbit that racing dogs chase. They can never catch it and all they are doing is running around in circles. grrr!

I guess the clincher is there is time... a time for every purpose under heaven. I find when I take the time early in the day to ask God what He has in mind for me that day, things change. My agenda gets tweeked. Appointments get canceled, lots of very unplanned things happen. Even so, my days are way less chaotic or full.