As October meanders to a close, breast cancer awareness is at the top of my mind but this year I want to also include the topic of overall health and wellness. Here are four things we should know and remember:
October is National Clergy Appreciation Month and I’m delighted that somebody thought this was important! No, I am not a clergyperson but I have a front-row seat to the one who lives in my home. For more than 35 years in ministry we have loved sharing births, deaths, marriages, divorces, family reunions, and everything in between with some of the most amazing people on the planet.
Awareness is a powerful thing. It presumes that there are things we don’t know and so long as we don’t know, we don’t have to do anything about whatever it is we don’t know. The presumption is once we know more, our new knowledge will prompt us to act and react in a different kind of way. That is my prayer this October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Pretend songwriters Edward Pola and George Wyle were talking about autumn instead of Christmas when they wrote “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” No, we’re not ready to go sledding or sing carols, but if there’s another season more impressive than autumn, take a moment please and tell me what it is.
The scenery is stunning and perfect for driving country roads and stopping at pumpkin patches. I love how in spring all the leaves are green but in autumn, the fall colors are absolutely breathtaking. The temperatures are cooler, great new television shows begin—it’s like hog heaven!
I can hardly wait until Saturday to celebrate National Good Neighbor Day. In my community we’re having a celebration so I am getting an opportunity to meet my neighbors and make new friends.
I moved last year and was traveling during the 2018 event but this year I made plans to be around because I have seen some of my neighbors but I don’t know anybody’s name. This unknown-neighbor thing is foreign because everywhere else I’ve lived—the research says most of us will move 13 times and I have surpassed that—I made it my business to meet my neighbors so I’d at least know them when I ran into them in the grocery store.
This happens every time I attend two funerals in a week-Friday it was a beautiful celebration for Blanche, a high school classmate- my third one this year-and then Saturday, Pamela, a friend from church. I’m feeling a whole range of emotions today—sad, happy, inspired, and reflective, but I rejoice because their suffering has ended.
They were beautiful women, active, committed to serve every soul on earth, and young—65, and 61 years and one week, respectively. Their lives were worthy of emulation and the hordes who showed up agreed. Nevertheless, the funny thing about living is that we often forget that dying is a necessary part of this equation, therefore, it is critical that we live more thoughtfully and purposefully while we’re here (no, nobody’s getting up a busload to heaven today) so here are a few things to ponder: