There was a touching story in the Loveland newspaper this past week about the world’s fastest man and the animal kingdom’s fastest sprinter. The picture that went with the story showed Olympic champion Usain Bolt, of Jamaica, holding a three-month old male cheetah cub in his arms in Nairobi, Kenya.

Bolt has adopted the cheetah to raise awareness about the endangered African animal. The cub, named Lightning Bolt, was shown clinging to the champion runner’s chest, in the firm but loving grip of two large human hands.

A happy smile lit the runner’s face. The cub seemed to me to be happy where he was, but understandably, slightly apprehensive as the photographers clicked away with their cameras.

I don’t remember the exact quote, but in the movie “Chariots of Fire,” one of the British athletes, who later went on to be a missionary in China, said something to the effect, “God made me to run.” Usain Bolt is obviously born to run. And so is Lightning Bolt — I don’t know of any more beautiful sight than cheetahs racing across the African bush.

We are all born with a calling. But ultimately, it seems to me, we all have the same calling. We are here to let the truth of love, the truth of our own being find expression through us in our lives.

That is our real purpose. That is our true destiny.

Adversity, in these days particularly, is never far away from any of us. But as I was sitting at breakfast this morning, thinking of some problems, stillness came to my rescue and reminded me that there is so much more going on in the world and in each one of us than mere external events.

It happened more quickly than any cheetah could run. It happened more quickly than Usain Bolt himself could run. As I stopped eating, and let my thoughts come to rest, I became vividly aware of the presence of that timeless being that is at the core of us all.

There is wisdom here. There is courage here. There is strength here. Unaffected it is, and undisturbed by any of the outer events in our lives.

“Love never fails,” it was said. Have truer words ever been spoken?

I send love and blessings to all who may read this blog. May the courage of your own true spirit give you the strength and wisdom you need to give your own unique gift to the world.

Giving our gift like a champion is a post from: The Happy Seeker - Living with grace at any age

“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” Proverbs 20 5:1

I don’t know of any more beautiful words than these words spoken long-ago and preserved for us faithfully over the years. Because they are so beautiful, these words are also profoundly true.

The other evening JoAnn was feeling very tired, and she retired to her room just across the hallway to rest before going to sleep. I was reading a book when I felt a little nudge within myself which said, “JoAnn needs a bit of comforting. Go in and comfort her.”

I perched on the edge of her bed and found a way to lie down with one hand around her head and another arm around her back. I didn’t say anything, because there wasn’t any need to say anything. I just lay there beside her, thinking to myself how grateful I am for the unique spirit of caring and love that she brings into this world and into my life.

I’m not sure how long we spent like this. Maybe 20 minutes. Possibly it was half-an-hour. In any case, after awhile it felt as if I had done what I needed to do. I gave her a goodnight kiss, told her to have a good sleep, and went back to my own room.

Next morning, while I was eating breakfast, JoAnn stopped for a moment as she was walking by and put a hand on my shoulder. “I especially loved when you came in to see me those few moments last night,” she said.

That was it. She didn’t go into a long speech or anything. She doesn’t do long speeches. But I felt a new sense of love and appreciation for her as she expressed her gratitude for my simple gesture the previous evening. It was in that moment I was reminded of the verse from Proverbs that I quoted at the beginning of this post.

We are barraged these days with words that are anything but “fitly spoken”. The world is filled with words that are hateful, angry, bitter, and very, very divisive. Do you really want to be happy? Do you really want to stay sane and effective and productive and live a worthwhile life in the midst of a world in turmoil?

Take to heart the words of an unknown elder many years ago. When you speak, speak words that are positive and creative and kind.

There is a time for firmness, of course. But we reap what we sow. It always has been so, it always will be so. Putting this another way, we experience what we express, as my wife likes to say. If we speak ugly words with an ugly spirit, ugly is what we know – ugly is what we become, ugly is what we have to live with.

When we express what is beautiful and true, to the highest of our vision, we are blessed. We are being true to our own timeless self. It’s what we came here to do, after all.

I’m taking the liberty of including a poem that I wrote two or three years ago which I hope will fit in with this post. It was entitled “Character.” Here it is:

An ancient song stirs in my memory

like wildflowers shouting

on a hill, and it says:

“Not a leaf astir upon the tree,

Not a ripple on the surface

of the shining pool.

Silence is the cornerstone

of true character.”

I guess the mountain thinks so

as it breathes out its majesty with every breath,

and the prairie also,

stretching forever beyond gray city walls.

Yet there are times

when silence is not true character,

and life makes a strong wind blow

on the prairie or in the human heart.

It demands that a human mouth speak,

maybe yours, maybe mine,

and say the thing that must be said

if truth and love and kindness are to have their way.

What is it,

this thing called character?

Only my heart knows,

as it turns to a light so close

and yet so ineffable

I’m not sure it really has a name.

Christopher Foster

2006

The beautiful potential of words is a post from: The Happy Seeker - Living with grace at any age

It has been a wild and woolly adventure getting this blog up and ready to go over the last few months. As happens any time we start something new, it has taken quite a bit of stretching — for the last thing I am is some kind of computer whiz. At the same time, it has been utterly magical. I still can hardly believe that it is possible to write a few words at my computer, and with a click of a button, release those words, and the spirit that is in them, to the entire world.

We live in a brave, utterly terrifying, and yet utterly beautiful and glorious time.I’m filled, in this moment, with a deep sense of gratitude for one of life’s most mysterious paradoxes. We can only navigate this life on our own. We are totally responsible, as an individual, for our choices in life — no one else can really tell us what to do. And yet on the other side of that, none of us could do anything if it were not for the abundance of kindness and encouragement and support that comes to us in so many different ways from other people.

I’m thinking, for example, in this moment, of a new friend named Easton Ellsworth, a computer geek (if he will forgive my use of that term) who recently started his own blog consulting business named www.visionaryblogging.com Easton lives in a small Colorado town quite close to Loveland, where I live. The simple truth is that I could not have penetrated the mysteries of blogging — to the extent I have penetrated them, which is not very much — without his wonderful encouragement and inspiration and support. Easton helped in every step of the process, particularly in the design of the blog, and of course continues to help me. He’s roughly the same age as my son Durwin, who lives in North Vancouver, B.C., and they both have three young children.

One of the books that really helped me in a difficult period of my life, after I had suddenly lost my first wife, was You Can Have It All, by Arnold Patent. He was speaking of the vital importance of mutual respect and cooperation if our lives are to be truly effective and fulfilling. The power, friendship and sheer pleasure that can be generated when we do find a creative partnership of some kind with another person or persons never ceases to amaze me. JoAnn and I were watching an NBC special the other day on life inside the Obama White House, and were so impressed with what seemed to us to be this same dynamic at work in those who are part of Obama’s team.

Another thing I want to mention, and gives thanks for, is the sudden appearance – like wildflowers in spring — of a few comments on this site. I’m so touched that people took time out of their busy day not only to visit the blog, but to drop off a few thoughts.

There is a vast pool of friendship, love and goodwill that covers the world and goes very deep. It does not get a lot of publicity compared to all the violence and mayhem that is going on. But it is there, and it is a beautiful thing when in the midst of our busy affairs — perhaps in as simple a way as stopping to chat with a neighbor — we are made more keenly aware of its existence.

We are here to nourish this “pool” of love, aren’t we? We are here to express our own particular unique spirit into this world to the fullest extent of our power, and what an adventure it is.

Anyone got their own story of “mutual respect and cooperation” at work in their life they’d like to share?

Thoughts on starting a blog — and on the giant pool of love in this world is a post from: The Happy Seeker - Living with grace at any age