Aligning with Grace

I am marveling at things I recorded in a journal a year ago. Though I have journals going back to when I was 15 years old, I rarely revisit them. Why? Many reasons, but that's beyond what I want to share today... This year, I decided to go back and review what I wrote and plan to dive further back into the shelves housing my collection. I am deeply touched by the level of insight and prescience I experienced in the last year and look forward to revisiting other journal entries. "For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice." T.S. Eliot Maybe you already keep a journal. Maybe you think you can't do it. But here's the thing: It can be whatever you want, when you want.  Over a period of nearly 55 years, my journals have taken shape as poetry volumes, and evolved into various formats. They have been collections of favorite quotes or lists of books read, or pictures, or an assembly of practices I found help...

A new year has commenced with a super moon, bearing better tidings, I hope. I chose to dispense with my preferred rituals for ushering in a new year and instead record my theme for the coming year in my journal, which came to me from an unexpected gift. Several friends set out to do the Camino in Spain this year. One, brought me a beautiful pendant from the region from where my family originated. It had a beautiful Celtic inscription on one side, with the the following words inscribed in Spanish on the other side: "Renacimiento Entusiasmo Salud" The moment I received it, sometime last fall, I knew that these words would comprise my theme for the coming year. Renacimiento, can be translated literally as "rebirth," or as "renewal." Both of these seem appropriate for this juncture in my life. This word is followed by "enthusiasm," and finally by "health." I noticed that many people chose a word this year as their own th...