Author Archives: watchwordsblog

With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts. Eleanor Roosevelt Meditation: When I was 18, I spent a summer in England. In a small charismatic church community I dedicated my life to God. The idea that I would be a “totally new person” after that experience was a very real expectation of mine.Continue reading ““Being new” is not what I thought…”

The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness. Niels Bohr Meditation: More than 500 people have been arrested in Russia during peaceful demonstrations against the regime’s corruption. One of the ones arrested is an opposition leader. In the recent weeks several individualsContinue reading “The Weapon of Truth…”

Keep close to Nature’s heart…and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. John Muir Meditation: I just booked an overnight stay on our favorite Georgia Island. The four of us will get away. We can’t go for long, but qualityContinue reading “Wash your Spirit clean…”

Today is life- the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto. Dale Carnegie Meditation: Every day is a “little life”. How do I embrace the challenges, and yet makeContinue reading “Today is life…”

Wherever you are, be there totally. If you find your here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy, you have three options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally. If you want to take responsibility for your life, you must choose one of those three options, and you must chooseContinue reading “Freedom to choose…”

What a liberation to realize that the ‘voice in my head’ is not who I am. ‘Who am I, then?’ The one who sees that. Eckhart Tolle Meditation: When I work with clients in therapy, I support them in seeing themselves with new eyes. Often they have first been overwhelmed with and then become identifiedContinue reading “We are more…”

Great leaders are willing to sacrifice the numbers to save the people. Poor leaders sacrifice the people to save the numbers. Simon Sinek Meditation: Last night CNN interviewed two older white men from a rural area in Kentucky. Both voted for Trump. Both are extremely sick and “Obama care” gave them health insurance for the firstContinue reading “Sacrifice instead of love and justice…”

It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness. Eleanor Roosevelt Meditation: Last night our city was shaken by a big storm. It knocked out power lines and many homes remained without electricity overnight. As our family arrived in two cars after a long day, we were unable to open the garage that usually allowsContinue reading “The blessings of a storm…”

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you. Lewis B. Smedes Meditation: The expression“being saved by Jesus” is often used among more conservative Christians to talk about the hope of “not going to hell”. But what if “hell” already starts here on earth? I believe that we create ourContinue reading ““Being saved” in new terms…”

Forgiveness says you are given another chance to make a new beginning. Desmond Tutu Meditation: If somebody asks me “Why are you a Christian?  Why not another religion? There are so many to choose from?” I think one of the main reasons that I am still a Christian would be the clarity with which Jesus embodiedContinue reading “Freedom…”