Embracing Lent

Affirmation: Lent is a time dedicated to strengthening my faith. 

Today, February 14th, is not only Valentines Day it’s Ash Wednesday.  For Catholics it marks the beginning of one of the holiest seasons of the church year.  Practicing Catholics go to Mass or at least to a Lenten service and have a thumbprint of ashes smeared on their forehead.  The words accompanying the ritual are "Remember that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return." (Genesis 3:19) The ashes normally come from the palms that were blessed for the previous Easter season.  At my church, St. Michael the Archangel, here in Cary, NC, the practice includes sprinkling holy water into the dishes holding the ashes.  That makes them pastier and then the priest or the minister can really smear them on.  I don't remember them being so black and pronounced when I was a child.  We are then encouraged not to rub or wash them off until we would normally cleanse our faces.  I found myself eating lunch today at a local cafe and was charmed by the number of Catholics who proudly proclaimed their faith that day.  Let's face it, it's hard to miss a big black smudge on someone's forehead and it's the perfect opportunity to share your faith without saying a word. 

I live in the Bible Belt which I understand to mean we have a lot of practicing Christians in this area, many of whom are evangelical.  They have a mission to convert the world, the whole world to Christianity.  This is not the place to live if you are wishy-washy about your faith, unless you're living in Chapel Hill.  (That's a little hint for anyone reading this who is thinking of moving to our beautiful state.) I've lived in the Bible Belt now since 1976.  First, I was in Cincinnati, Ohio for ten years and now, I'm here.  How is that different from other parts of the United States?  If you look at one of USA Today's graphs, you will see that the south-east and mid-west areas are shaded darker when the shading represents the number of people calling themselves Christians.  As the map expands to the west, California, Oregon etc., the shading becomes lighter and lighter.  My experience with this part of the world has been wonderful.  I have noticed that the people here who are working to be faith filled are kind, caring and compassionate.  I don't think one need be religious or perhaps even spiritual to have those qualities but when your faith is an integral part of your life, I believe you are enjoined to raise yourself up to a higher level of responsibility to lead a more exemplary life. 

I know all about the hypocrites, those who show up at services all holy and righteous only to lead small, mean lives.  My experience has not led me to be surrounded by that type of practitioner.  My experience, especially that of living here in NC, has been one of support and kindness and compassion from the people who are actively participating in their faith.  Perhaps, I've just been lucky because even some of my friends who don't belong to an established religion are loving and compassionate. Could it be, however, that the God energy of this area has permeated more souls than elsewhere?  It's a nice thought.  It brings me comfort and hope.  Maybe mindfulness in itself encourages people to live lives of caring and service.  Supposedly there was a study done many years ago that showed when a Transcendental Meditation seminar was being held, that section of the country had less crime.   

Lent is my favorite time of the year. My part of the world is gray and wet and soft right now but I know that in just a few weeks everything will be in full bloom, the Dogwoods, Azaleas, and Daffodils to name a few will come forth and brighten and color our entire area.  It goes from dreary to delightful.  It's slow and deliberate and if you pay close attention, you can see the metamorphosis taking place.  That's what I like to imagine is happening to my inner life too.  Lent offers me the opportunity to grow and blossom, to go from dreary to colorful.  It's up to me how I use the time.  For me, it's a more deliberate time, an opportunity to be even more mindful, than any other time of the year.  I always hope the changes I'm making stay with me, as I move into the rest of the year, and hopefully some of my Lenten practices do just that and that's exactly the reason we are called upon to set aside this time to develop more self-discipline and to be of greater service.  We are called to pray more, give alms and to practice acts of denial.  We are called to be more mindful, more intentional about our lives.  It's a practice we could use every day not just during Lent but with Lent comes the deliberate intention to grow our inner lives, to make us and our world kinder, gentler and more compassionate. 

The main question at Lent is, "What are you giving up for Lent?"  I know I could give up wine or chocolate or some such food item and have the added benefit of reducing my waistline. In 2014, however, I chose a more difficult practice. I decided to give up doubt and now, in 2018,  I confess I still have "work" to do.  I must say, I feel I am now stronger in my faith than in the past but for me, it seems to be the work of a lifetime. When Oprah interviewed the famed televangelist, Joel Osteen, she asked him if he had ever doubted his belief in Jesus Christ.  He emphatically answered, "No."  I am still not a Joel Osteen.  I am more of a Thomas.  After all these many years of practicing my faith I still have my doubts.  Let's face it, it's quite a story! That however, is not how I want to live my faith, the promises are too great.  I want to believe with all my heart that Jesus Christ is God incarnate and that I can have a personal relationship with Him that will enhance my life and lead me to a place where I reach out to others with pure love.  I want to believe that with Him, not only will I and my loved ones have eternal rest and peace, but that this life will be a more rewarding experience.  I haven't yet had any direct messages from the spirit world that would allay my doubts but I don't care.  This is how I want to live my life and for me it seems to require practice and Lent, my favorite time of the year, offers me that perfect opportunity.  "Loving Father, help me to better know and love Your Son.  Amen."

Treasuring the Earth

Affirmations:  I treasure our planet Earth and recognize my responsibility to care for it.

Carolyn Tobin was the presenter at A Place for Women to Gather for the program titled, Sacred Time but the topic on which she spoke was broader and deeper than that of time.  I didn't think that was possible but I was wrong and I was immediately enamored with her subject.  She was there to speak about saving the human race, saving the universe and saving ourselves.  I'm ready!  Tell me there's a way to help in this most important work and I shall do my part, although I was very doubtful about what I, one little lady living in the comfort of North Carolina could possibly do that would help save man-kind or woman-kind.  Once again, I was being challenged to rise up and exert whatever power I did have to make a difference in this frightening world of ours.  Is this my Lenten mission?  This same topic of making a difference in the world had appeared numerous times over the last few weeks, actually over the last couple of years.  I am being led to "do more" or at least to "do something."  What was Carolyn offering me that would enable me, no, empower me to heal the world?

This woman was a student of Thomas Berry and she had recently published a book about their conversations, Recovering a Sense of the Sacred.   What philosophy was being promoted?  Is it an approach in which I can be active?  Is it an approach in which I can believe and adopt? Actually, it was even more than that; it was a life lesson for making a shift in my life with the added effect of changing the world.  She and Thomas are calling us to reconnect with the earth, to reconnect with nature.  I was being asked to embrace my roots.  I was being directed to fully embrace our universe by taking the time to appreciate its gifts and to protect them and to reach out and share this approach with anyone and everyone within my life's circle.  So, here I am sharing this philosophy, maybe even better described as a theology, with all the people who read these missives.

Once again my lesson is coming to me in many different forms.  The first was Carolyn's lecture, then I read her delightful, insightful book and within the same week, I had the opportunity to visit the Conservatory in Washington, DC and marvel at the variety of plants our earth provides.  The Conservatory takes you from the early 1800s when plants were first being collected until today and also from the mountain foliage to that of the jungle and tropical.  The first plant we saw when we walked into the greenhouse was a cacao tree.  It took my breath away.  There were these huge yellow pods just hanging off the side of the tree.  They were ready to be harvested and turned into cacao butter and chocolate.  Each turn took us to another miracle: banana trees, fruit trees, ferns and cacti, lovely succulents and gorgeous orchids, every kind of tree and plant imaginable.  I was more aware of the gifts in front of us because of the lecture I had recently attended.

I'm not much of a gardener.  I'm not even too good at houseplants.  I have had gardens over the years, mostly vegetables but I'm a city girl raised on a very busy highway with about eight square feet of lawn in front of our house and a small strip of dirt in the back for the dog to relieve himself.  We never grew anything.  We tried planting watermelon seeds one spring but other than a massive vine, we didn't get any fruit.  As an adult, as the care of the inside of our homes became more demanding, I spent less and less time outside in the dirt.  Now, I was being called to reconnect with the earth.  After Carolyn led us in a guided mediation, she asked us what we believed we could do to make a difference.  I had had a very clear message, "Jean Anne, go outside." I have begun to work out a way to start and to nurture that process.  Why?  What is the message Carolyn is relaying from Thomas?

The only way to save the earth and humankind is to embrace nature.  We are being called not to simply see our world as a place to meet our needs but as a place for which we are responsible and which needs our care and nurturing.  It is time for me to recognize that unless we embrace our universe and all its majesty and miracles, it will not continue to thrive and if it is depleted and not appreciated, our existence will be compromised, if we are not made extinct.  Thomas Berry declared, "As we practice a presence to the natural world through our intuition we come to know ourselves, not simply as physical beings, but as spiritual beings.  We humans are modes of the Divine presence who have forgotten our identity with creation. We are one earth community that lives or dies together.  We depend on the earth to sustain us in body and soul.  We come into relationship to it instead of establishing an identity over and against it."

The rest of this week's lesson came when we entered the Native American Museum in DC.  We began our tour on the fourth floor where several of the larger tribes had been invited to display their heritage.  There were stories about their costumes, their dances and songs and especially about their reverence for Mother Earth: for the plants, the animals, the stars and the wind.  They honored all four of our elements: water, fire, wind and earth.  They not only experienced nature, they treasured it.  They don't just consume it.  Even more important is that their major concern is teaching these lessons to the next generation and letting them know that they were responsible for all their future generations. "How will this decisions affect my seventh generation?" was and is one of their key lessons.

My awareness of God's miracles seen in nature and my responsibility to honor and treasure those gifts, have already begun to blossom.  I am determined to "go outside" more often and to meditate on the stars as well as the weeds.  I will tenderly hold a flower or attentively listen to the bird's song.  I may not be able to care for the whole planet but I am more than capable of caring for my small piece of it here in North Carolina and perhaps by heightening my awareness my tiny steps will make a difference in our universe. I believe that my efforts will have the added gift of not just appreciating our earth, but will lead me to a greater appreciation, perhaps a greater connection to the Divine and to my God.  By learning to treasure the earth, I'll be able to have hope that my seventh generation will not only still be here on this planet and not off living on Mars or a satellite but thriving right here on this amazing planet Earth.

Buddy, Answered Prayer

Affirmation:  I believe in answered prayer.  

Buddy was a Brittany, not a Brittany Spaniel which is a common mistake because the breed looks like a Spaniel, somewhere between a Cocker and a King Charles. They are, however, their own special breed and special was Buddy.  He was orange and white and as far as we were concerned he was the most beautiful dog ever, inside and out.  

I was searching for a new dog.  We'd had dogs most of our lives and at the time we only had Misty, our cat that had adopted us a few years earlier.  She was only allowed in the garage because the children were allergic to cats.  That lasted about month and now she ruled the entire house whether people were sneezing or not.  

This time I was determined to get a dog that was appropriate for our family. We hadn't always been successful with our adoptions.  Ralph was a prime example.  He was a hyper Dalmatian who consumed a picnic table, did several thousand dollar's worth of damage to one of our cars when he wanted to get in and play with the children and sprayed all the furniture to insure that his territory was marked.  After a year or so we were able to find a farmer that wanted to care for him.  It had been a very trying experience.  He wasn't the only dog we had issues with and I was very hesitant to take on another pet with which I would fail.  I am not the best "dog person." I might as well admit it.  I am not a Caesar Milano, the dog whisperer.  I'm not sure I have a single gene that enables me to respond appropriately to a dog's deepest desires.  I'm a good caregiver, please understand.  I feed, shelter, offer warm cozy beds and long walks and good medial care.  I even undergo lots of training sessions but I can't seem to hear their inner most concerns.  It didn't matter with Buddy.  Perhaps one of the reasons we did better with him was because he came to us at eleven months of age and was already somewhat trained or maybe it was because I had asked God whether or not to adopt him and God had sent a very clear message.  

When I "found" Buddy I had gone and sat quietly to pray about adopting him.  I don't know what I expected but I'd read a lot about praying for specific answers and I was desperate.  I didn't want to disappoint another animal with my inability to create a livable space for it and for the family.  I was afraid.  So, I went and sat.  I prayed, "God what should I do?  Should I allow this animal to come into our home?" and then I waited.  I was prepared to wait for as long as it took.  It wasn't more than a couple of breaths when I "heard," "It won't be easy, but it will be worth it."  I was stunned but there it was, my answer.  I stood up, called the breeder and a week later Buddy was being delivered to us by the New Jersey breeders who “happened” to be driving to their new home here in North Carolina.  It was destiny. I'm here to tell you, God was right.  I had my struggles but it was really really worth it.  Buddy lived with us for fourteen years and he was the best dog ever.  He's been gone now for six years but we still have his ashes and his photo in our bedroom!  I'm crying as I write this.  I know many of you completely understand.

My friend, Mary Ann Scope, recently put down her English Bulldog and long time friend.  That's what prompted this story.  She said she cried for days, she's probably still crying, like me.  My other friend, Tracie Barton-Barrett is in the process of writing a book about grieving for our pets.  It's a reality, isn't it?  There are so many life lessons we experience through them.  The most important lesson being that of unconditional love.  I have one photo of Buddy where he had gathered all of my sneakers.  He had a "soft mouth" because he was a bird dog.  He dropped them all around his bed and then snuggled in for a nap.  

My husband, Sandy, loves to tell the story about when I was gone for six weeks doing my yoga training at Kripalu.  Buddy waited outside the back door, in the garage, every day until I finally returned,  He had slept with Sandy every night in our bed until the night I came home when he wouldn't come up even when called.  He was just fine going back to his own bed next to ours.  I was home and he was good again.  Amazing!

Sandy shared his tiny family home with a dog named Missy.  She was a Doberman they found in their back yard.  She was very protective of that family!  When he went to see his father's office, he was struck by the fact that the only picture Joe had on his desk was of the dog.  He asked where the other family photos were and his father told him, "Missy is the only one that runs to the door to greet me when I come home."  There it is again, unconditional love, total devotion; all the qualities we wished we and our loved one's emulated.  

There have been hundreds of doggie movies about their journeys around the globe in an effort to return to their owners.  One we recently watched is Red Dog, an Australian film about a dog and his deceased owner.  It's a great example of how much they love us and affirm us regardless of who we are or how dumb we are.

My adult daughter, Melissa and my grand-daughter, Isabelle, volunteer at the Wake County SPCA.  They are "dog people."  They always have at least two dogs in their home.  Recently, they brought home Gibson, a six weeks old mixed breed.  What joy!  Gibson discovered a pin cushion on the top of the dining room table.  He didn't eat it, but he did eat the thirteen pins and one needle.  Their rescue dog needed several thousand dollars of surgery.  They were saving for a new roof but their priorities were with this new guy who has brought smiles and giggles and once again, the unconditional love of a pet.  

We are presently "pet free," but I am beginning to open my heart and mind to maybe adopting another dog, maybe!  I haven't found one yet who is asking to come here.  Once again, however, if one does come a knocking, I plan to sit with God and find out what the message is for us.  It won't surprise me at all if once again I am told, "it won't be easy but it'll be worth it."

Expanding Your Gaze

Affirmation:  I choose peace and love.

Have you heard of Yogaville?  It is a yoga ashram located on 750 acres in Virginia.  It was founded by Swami Satchidananda.  The shrine, called the LOTUS was opened in 1986.  It's an acronym that stands for Light Of Truth Universal Shrine.  I was looking for something to do with my granddaughter, Isabelle (age 17), for my birthday because my husband, Sandy, had told me he would be traveling at that time.  Isabelle and I had been practicing yoga together for a while before this and I thought it would be a great adventure for us to share.  It turned out to be only a three-hour drive from our home.  I signed us up for a course called "Healthy Relationships in Yoga & The Path of Heart." 

God bless my granddaughter.  What a light she is and what a good sport!  The diet was strictly vegan and we were quite challenged to find something on which to focus other than kale and tofu.  Also, she was the youngest by about ten years.  Her youthful spirit and presence alone brought joy and smiles to everyone we encountered.  We laughed, we ate weird food, we met new interesting people and most importantly we created some wonderful memories.

One of the first things we were told when we arrived was not to miss seeing the shrine.  We were in the middle of nowhere and I envisioned a small concrete or wooden structure with maybe a Hindu deity in the middle.  The next morning we headed out to walk about a mile through the woods to take photos and see what there was to see.  We reached a road and followed it up a hill and then from out of the valley below rose a giant pink and blue lotus shaped building.  It was, I guessed, as large as the White House in DC but it wasn't white.  We were stunned.  It's one of a huge complex consisting of three buildings that started at the top of the mountain and ended down in the valley.  What would we find inside?

On Tuesday, February 2nd, 2015 Kate Cook was the yoga teacher at Fire Fly Hot Yoga here in Cary, NC. She leads an hour and a half Intensive Slow Flow class.  She's one of the best Yoginis with whom I have ever studied.  She is so precise in her language and she always brings a lesson with her to deepen our practice.   This last week she instructed us to gaze on the ball of energy we created when we cupped our hands and placed them in front of us.  As we breathed in our hands moved together, as we breathed out, they expanded. Then as we were doing our balance poses, she encouraged us to "change our gaze."

Normally, when one is balancing the instruction is to focus on one point.  In Yoga it's called a "drishti."  Kate reminded us that our mat practice is a metaphor for our life practice.  What we learn on our mats, we have the opportunity to take with us out into the world.  As far as I'm concerned developing balance is one of the most important qualities we can cultivate for ourselves.  I do like to remind myself, however, that as one yoga teacher said, "There is no balance, there is only balancing."  We are either coming into balance or falling out.  I know this is true for me.  As I stood there on one leg with my fingers wrapped around my big toe and my lifted leg straight out to one side, my drishti was on some unmovable object in front of me. Trying to stay upright and trying to remember to breathe, Kate then suggested we "change our gaze" and look in one direction and then the other.  I fell over and I tried again and I fell over and again.  I lost my balance.  Without a focus I couldn't stay steady with a focus I couldn't see the rest of the space.  Which is better?  I decided neither.  Sometimes one is needed and other times, a grater perspective is essential. 

It's good to be focused.  It helps me accomplish the tasks I set before myself but when it's limits my perspective on life, it shrinks my world into a smaller box and I need to get smaller to fit into it.  I don't want to be small.  At five feet tall, I'm small enough.  I want to take a big giant breath and expand my world to include all sorts of people, places and ideas.   Then I have to decide what to allow to stay with me and of what I want to let go.  What is "of God" and what is not.  What will enhance my life and what will diminish it?  It's a mediation, don't you think?  We are faced with this choice day in and day out.  Sometimes it's about food.  Sometimes it's about activities.  It can be about people and most certainly it's about our ideas, our beliefs, our concepts. 

The shrine in Yogaville is dedicated to all religions in the world, those that are well known and those that are yet to come.  There are twelve altars in the lower level with reminders of Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, the Moslem faith and eight others. It was respectful and well presented.  It was a home for all, even the atheist.  My initial reaction was small minded but I prefer to be an inclusive person and Kate's recently taken yoga class helped me respond in a more open, accepting, non-judgmental mode. 

I'm reading Pope Francis' encyclical, "The Joy of the Gospel."  He too talks about accepting all faiths, not judging, even accepting the non-believers.  Peace.  I believe this is Peace.  I know we are instructed to "spread the good news."  We are actually commanded to do so.  The best way I know to do that is to try to always be a kind and compassionate person but when someone tells you they are right and you are "so very wrong," what is your reaction?  It's not normally a peaceful one, is it?  The course Isabelle and I took was led by two of the founders of Yogaville, Jeevakan & Priya Abbate.  They were kind, gentle, compassionate people.  I could see why so many are attracted to this place.  It radiated peace and acceptance.  One of the lessons was around the concept that, "We can be right or we can have peace."  I’ve also heard it phrased, "We can be right or we can love."  This is the difference between having a focus and seeing the broader picture.  

I'm a Christian.  I'm a Catholic.  Here I sit with a focus on Christ but for me, God is everywhere.  God is everything.  I am not here to limit God's unfathomable power.  Yogaville was a good place for me to share an adventure with Isabelle.  It was a great birthday weekend.  I was outside of my comfort zone.  I had to broaden my horizons and see God in all things, even within a giant pink and blue concrete flower rising out of the Virginia valley.

Transforming Suffering

Affirmation:  I choose to find the blessings that arise from my suffering.

 The newspaper article explained that the Doomsday Clock has been moved forward to two minutes before midnight.  It is closer now to the bewitching hour than it has ever been since the end of World War II and the creation of the atomic bomb.   The Doomsday Clock is an internationally recognized design that conveys how close we are to destroying our civilization with dangerous technologies of our own making. First and foremost among these are nuclear weapons, but the dangers include climate-changing technologies, emerging biotechnologies, and cyber technology that could inflict irrevocable harm, whether by intention, miscalculation, or by accident, to our way of life and to the planet. (http://thebulletin.org/overview#sthash.KlhM9quB.dpuf.)

I wasn't surprised.  The world as we know it will end.  I've seen all of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator movies and the ones about the meteors and the aliens.  How about a worldwide virus or the bird flu?  Hollywood and fiction writers have been predicting our demise since its inception.  How about the Walking Dead or the movies about the Rapture?  Yes, the destruction of our lives as we know them can happen in many different ways and any day now.  If the world doesn't blow up, it’s also true that our own personal world may implode or explode. 

Recently the magazine Cincinnati had an article about being prepared for the challenges of life, especially as we age or as our loved ones age.  It was about being aware and taking steps to bolster our resources.  As you probably know if you read this blog I am the ultimate Girl Scout.  "Be prepared" is their motto.  I am the queen of preparation and while it's true I see the changes taking place in my life and the lives of my family and friends, I don't want to walk around always waiting for the "other shoe to drop."  It is so very easy to await the next mishap or disaster.  It's so easy to allow my mind and imagination to go to the difficulties that might arise, to enter into "the cave of phantoms."  So, I'm working on finding a balance between being overly prepared and letting go of the probability of pain and suffering. 

The word "transform" keeps showing up as I search for an answer to this question.  The first time it appeared was in Richard Rohr's, The Art of Letting Go.  He talked about developing the ability to transform our suffering because everyone does suffer and the longer one lives the more suffering one will experience.  Oh my!  Therefore, you need to find a way to transform it or it will transform you into a sad, mean, worn out human.  The second time the word appeared was in Father Ryan's sermon at St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church.  He used it to describe what happens to someone who finds themselves connected to the Divine, either through prayer or when they receive the Sacraments.   

The secular approach to pain and suffering is to simply be the obverse of whatever is, not to judge it, not to get caught up in the dualistic mind of good or bad, right or wrong, black or white.  It's one of life's simple concepts that is without a doubt one of life's most difficult to practice, impossible to master. The Christian faith, however, takes the simply observing concept to a whole other level.  That which we judge as pain and suffering, if laid at the foot of the Cross or placed in the arms of The Christ is transformed into blessings beyond our wildest imaginings.  The naked, tortured body of God, nailed to wooden beams over two thousand years ago was the ultimate gift.  His message was not clear as he was going thorough His persecution. Once He had given up His spirit, however, this poor, itinerant, misunderstood preacher turned our civilization inside out and upside down. 

Many can't and don't fully appreciate how he changed the value of human life and dignity.  If we lived in some of the third world, repressed regimes today we might better appreciate the impact of Christ's teachings.  He came to teach us that no matter what happens to us it is all redeemable and we get to choose how we perceive our lives.  We can see ourselves as victims or as victors.  His message was that we are all children of the Divine and we are loved.  Our afflictions are not punishments. 

I once heard someone say, "Suffering is one of our common denominators."  We all suffer.  Some suffer more than others, of that I have no doubt.  It doesn't take too much awareness to know of the horrors that have taken place or are taking place in our world today.  Once we head out into the world figuratively or in reality and listen to the ailments with which so many of our fellow humans are dealing, we are faced with story after story of sadness and challenge.  If one has not developed the ability to simply be an observer of one's suffering, how is it to be transformed? 

I don't know.  I want to place an answer here for everyone who is suffering and I know there are the wise, learned people out there who might be able to do that but I've decided I am not one of them.  In bringing this topic to several of my friends and guides the only "answer" that has presented itself is for me to look at how I personally can and do transform my pain and suffering.  What has worked for me in the past?  How will that work for me in the future? 

My personality lends itself to looking at the bright side of most situations.  It can be quite obnoxious for others but it sure has helped me get through some really tough experiences.  I've studied what is recommended to help one deal with life altering challenges and have taken note of those skills, which I believe will strengthen me when I am again faced with those issues.  Simply writing that last sentence out gives me a sense of strength and hope.  Hope.  I carry hope in my heart.  I believe, truly believe that every event I label "daunting or miserable" I will eventually see as a blessing.  I believe each challenge no matter how sad it makes me is an opportunity for something amazing.  I know on my own, I may not be able to transform all the difficult happenings in my life into something wonderful.  There will be many times I need the support of my family and friends.  Let them come!  I accept.  And I know I will also need my faith. 

What has worked for me has been to trust God, not that nothing difficult or unpleasant will happen to me but that I will be able to transform what happens to me into something that will give glory to God, or at least peace to myself.  Even if I'm faced with the end of the world, I am hopeful that with my trust in Christ, His Blessed Mother and all my Angels and guides that whatever comes my way, I will be that person who sees the good, who rises to the high ground and if I can't, I am trusting that someone will come along who will help me overcome my grief or my despair. 

How have you dealt with your pain and suffering?  Have you developed a philosophy that will support you in the future?  What can you do today to "be prepared" for the adversities that life will surely present to you?  Be a light for others.  Share your coping mechanisms.  Perhaps one of your pearls of wisdom will be exactly what someone needs to help them turn their suffering into a blessing.