"Compensation"

The compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding, also, after long intervals of time. A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a loss of wealth, a loss of friends, seems at the moment unpaid loss, and unpayable. But the sure years reveal the deep remedial force that underlies all facts. The death of a dear friend, wife, brother, lover, which seemed nothing but privation, somewhat later assumes the aspect of a guide of genius; for it commonly operates revolutions in our way of life, terminates an epoch of infancy or of youth which was waiting to be closed; breaks up a wonted occupation, or a household, or style of living, and allows the formation of new ones more friendly to the growth of character. It permits or constrains the formation of new acquaintances and the reception of new influences that prove of the first importance to the next years; and the man or woman who would have remained a sunny garden flower, with no room for its roots and too much sunshine for its head, by the falling of the walls and the neglect of the gardener, is made the banian of the forest; yielding shade and fruit to wide neighborhoods of men.

From an Essay by: Ralph Waldo Emerson

Although endings always involve us in pain, whatever comes into our lives and transforms us is to be celebrated. We need to think of relationships as having lifetimes which come to an end in their own due season. We are being delivered to the next place in our lives, changed from who we were, hopefully a better person, and ready for the next miraculous stage of our personal development.

And GOD Said

I said, "God, I hurt."
And God said, "I know."

I said, "God, I cry a lot."
And God said,
"That is why I gave you tears."

I said, "God, I am so depressed."
And God said, "That is why I gave you Sunshine."

I said, "God, life is so hard."
And God said,
"That is why I gave you loved ones."

I said, "God, my loved one died."
And God said, "So did mine."

 I said, "God, it is such a loss."
And God said,
"I saw mine nailed to a cross."

I said, "God, but your loved one lives.
"And God said, "So does yours."

I said, "God, where are they now?"
And God said,
"Mine is on My right
and yours is in the Light."

I said, "God, it hurts."
And God said, I know." 

"The Butterfly"

"A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared and he sat and watched the butterfly as it struggled for several hours to force its body through the little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared that it had gotten as far as it could.

The man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily, but it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would expand and be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent its whole life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It was never able to fly. What the man, in kindness and haste, did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved freedom."
Author Unknown

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through life without obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as we could be if we are forced to overcome obstacles.

And ......... we would never fly.

(My Comments)

When a heart breaks, it opens, and when it opens, any number of things can happen, including a chance at happiness.

It is essential, both on a spiritual as well as a psychological level, to enter into our own pain. Until we do so, we are never fully healed. We ought not to deny it, bypass it, bury it, or ignore it. In order to grow, we must meet our own struggles and receive them with an attitude of openness and a desire to be healed.
This deliberate meeting of our pain is where spiritual transformation finds it's yeast."
- Joyce Rupp

(Submitted by Lori W. - Thanks!)

(Photo from Bellengrath Gardens, Alabama)

Nifty Quotes

"When you look back over the past year and feel neither tears of joy or tears of sadness, then you haven't really lived."

Peter McNichols (John Cage), "Ali McBeal"

"As long as you don't forgive who and what it is will occupy rent-free space in your mind.

Isabell Holland, "The Long Search"

"A great marriage is not so much finding the right person, as being the right person."

                                                                                                  Maribell Morgan, The Total Woman

Back to The Garden Gate

A Stroll through
The Garden of Peace and Serenity

Prayers for Serenity and Peace