Even Hummingbirds Meditate

     Hummingbirds have very high metabolisms and are incredible flyers.  To stoke their super metabolisms, they eat often.  Their diet consists of  insects and nectar.  These behaviors are easily seen by the casual observer, but the hummingbirds ability to slow its metabolism at rest, torpor, is their best kept secret.
     According to World of Hummingbirds.com,http://www.worldofhummingbirds.com/sleep.php, the hummingbird finds a comfortable roost and commences a type of hibernation.  The bird can lower its metabolism to 1/15 of normal.  An active hummingbird's heart can beat as much as 1200 times per minute.  By contrast, in torpor the little bird lowers its heart rate to around 50 beats per minute.   Breathing slows dramatically as well.  In this way, hummingbirds are able to achieve the deep restoration that they need for survival.  Hummingbirds enter torpor because of their survival instinct,  but humans can choose to enter a meditative state at any time.
      The benefits of  a regular meditation practice are cumulative, but meditation can also be used as an on the spot tool.  This morning I had routine outpatient surgery; I used 20 minutes of meditation to still my mind and calm my pulse rate. It works.
     The web site, I Need Motivation, lists 100 physiological and psychological benefits of meditation.  Some physiological benefits include:  1) lower oxygen consumption 2) decreased respiratory rate 3) increased blood flow and slowed heart rate 4) reduction in anxiety due to lower levels of blood lactate and 5) improved immunity.  If you would like a more formal, informative article on various methods of meditation and how to begin, check this Mayo clinic link: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/meditation/HQ01070/NSECTIONGROUP=2  Finally, The American Mind and Body Institute in Boston has done scholarly and trailblazing research into meditation for 40 years.  Recent work has used the MRI to view the physiological changes that occur during meditation.  You can review a plethora of information at http://www.massgeneral.org/search.aspx?q=mri+meditation&st=0&x=24&y=16.
    Meditation has psychological, physiological and even spiritual benefits.  An unknown author once said,  "Prayer is talking to God, while meditation is listening."   Everyone can benefit from a little more listening.  Be blessed.
   
    .  

God Spoke To Me In Walmart

Faith the size of one mustard seed is enough

     I am worried about money.  I try not to think about it, but when I do, well, I can become quite distraught.  Today I went to Walmart in this anxious frame of mind.
     I got a few things.  Yogurt, fruit and the like. Oh and a few birthday cards.  It's close to payday and I just wanted to use the cash I had in my purse.  The cashier rang up my items.  The total? $66.59.  I looked in my purse and counted out my bills and change.  I had $66.59 exactly.  That's when I  "heard" a message just for me:   My worry is not productive.  "Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" (Matthew 6:27)  Over the last year, I have tried tell God how my life should be and what I need.  Here's a shocker:  He already knows.
      What does God need from me?  God needs me to be a good steward of the talent and treasure he has given me.  He would like to see me walk on faith.  It does not even have to be a steady or lovely walk.  When it comes to faith walking,  I am hoping there are merit points for starting at all.  God knows that I have gotten off the path, sat down on the path, asked for a new path and had unsightly fits on the path.  Yet, if what we read about the Almighty is true, "He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins...." (1 John:9)
       So I am counting on Psalm 40:  "I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand."  So I am going to stand on the rock and clutch my mustard seed of faith.  I believe that's just enough.  Join me?

Father's Day: What the Heart Can Carry

    It was an unusually cool summer morning in Georgia. The air was not humid and there was even a breeze.  I going to travel from Columbus to Atlanta to spend the weekend with my family, but the phone rang and my world changed.  My Dad had a massive heart attack while playing tennis.  His friends tried to revive him, but he was already gone.  Nine years have passed, but when I think of that morning, I still cry.  Arguments may be temporary, but death is permanent and unyielding.  Whatever your relationship is at the moment of death, that's how it stays.  There is no chance to be compassionate, no chance to be the bigger person and no chance to say, "I love you."   When I reflect on Father's Day, I see three different stages in my relationship to my Dad:  idealistic, critical and compassionate.
     The idealistic phase is probably my favorite.  In the photo below, I am in the beginning of this phase.  My Dad was bigger and stronger than me.  He was funny and made me laugh a lot.  This perception lasted well into grade school.

My hair still looks like this in the morning.

      As I got older, I saw my Dad's flaws.  He drank too much.  He could be selfish and lazy.  As I approached middle school and high school, I lost sight of his  kindness and humor.  I focused only on his inadequacies.  This stage lasted well into adulthood.  I was disappointed.  He was not the father I wanted him to be. 
     In my early forties, I got a tip from one of my sisters.  She said that praying for Dad helped her.  I felt the rightness of this in my heart.  I began praying for him and actively being patient.  Guess what?  These simple steps made a difference. I began to see him with more compassion and less judgement.   The very week before he died, my son and I went out to dinner with Dad.  We had a lovely time and I remember seeing Dad as vulnerable person needing love rather than a disappointing Dad.
    People are imperfect, but their love for us is often perfect and pure.  Our loved ones may not express their love in ways that make sense to us.  They love us as they are.  God loves us even though He knows all about us.  We can at least try to love others despite our own imperfections, and theirs.  It was a long road from idealism to compassion, but the journey was so worthy.  When I was little, my Dad held me safe against his heart.  Today, I carry his goodness and humor in MY heart. 
          

Just Like a Geranium

    It's spring in the mountains of Utah.  Yesterday I spent the afternoon planting flowers.  It was 79 F,  sunny,  and heavenly.   Spring and summer are God's gifts for weathering the winter months.   No more shoveling, no more scraping and no more warming up the car.  It was time for a change and I am grateful.
     I have some window boxes along the side of the house.  I decided to fill them with geraniums.  Geraniums are fairly hardy and can weather the cool evenings.  I chose white, coral and light pink.  Before I transferred the flowers, I pulled the dead blooms and leaves off.  When you pull the dead bits off, the water and nutrition is channeled to the core of the plant; the plant is healthier and more vibrant.  I planted them and gave them some transplant food.  It was peaceful sitting in the grass working with the flowers.  When the trees rustled in the breeze, it reminded me of the talking trees in C.S. Lewis' Narnia.  I always feel closer to God when I'm outside in nature.  I began thinking about the ways He has trimmed my dead leaves and helped me grow this year.

I am no different than my geraniums

Freshly trimmed and planted geraniums

     In John 15, Jesus says, "I am the true vine and my Father is the Gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."  This year has been one of  rigorous pruning.  Instead of having extra, we have learned to cut back and live on my husband's pension.  Though difficult to admit, I was in serious need of a pruning in the area of material goods and money.  Many things I thought I "needed" were merely things I wanted.
      The Lord meets us where we are.  He gives us the right challenges at the perfect time.  In areas where I was already strong, I became even more so.  I seemed to have more patience for my teenager than I ever thought possible.  The "fruit" I bore in this area increased tenfold in my son's growing independence and kindness.  My heart overflows with gratitude for God's grace.   Psalms 119: 105 reminds me " Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path."  I am pruned and back on my path.   Be blessed.