This morning was so pretty. The azure sky canvas was cloudless and clear. The birds were singing and the train whistles were blowing. A cool breeze was playing pleasant melodies on the wind chimes. Didn’t sit and ponder in the swing yesterday. One side of my mouth is stitched up where I had two teeth extracted to prepare for two implants to hold a bridge in place so I didn’t feel well enough to weather the heat. Still not up to snuff today so I’m spending the afternoon in my bedroom in my reading chair searching through quotes. Penelope is snoring in her dog bed. I can hear her snoring above the radio. That little dog is something!

I’m watching two squirrels run up and down the bamboo stalks out my window. They are scampering around, stopping and looking, their tails a perfect question mark. No one is screaming the alarm, “Frank, Frank,” so I guess there’s no cat around. Nazim Hikmet says, “Living is no laughing matter: you must live with great seriousness like a squirrel.” Only thing the squirrels in my yard are serious about is eating. If they’re not stuffing their fat cheeks with sunflower seeds they’re playing tag around the old water oak’s trunk or racing around the bamboo.

Scripture tells us we’re to live a life of love and service guided by the Holy Spirit. God wants us to walk with him, keeping his commandments, living a righteous life that reflects his love and power. Micah 6:8 gives good advice on how God wants us to live. “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

Been pondering on how to walk “humbly with your God.” I think we walk humbly with God when we choose to put God first in our lives. We recognize we are dependent on his grace and mercy to show us how to live according to his scripture. It’s not easy to choose a life of walking humbly with God. We are humbled with a willingness to serve others and that requires a lifelong willingness to submit to God’s will. When we serve others we are blessed with joy, walking closely with God. James 4:10 states, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

Ephesians 4:2 instructs believers to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.” This verse reminds us to be patient and kind in our dealings with others, letting love be the driving force of our interactions with each other.

I love this quote by Edith Wharton. “If we’d only we’d stop trying to be happy, we could have a pretty good time.” We constantly pursue happiness when we could achieve a comfortable existence if we just accept life without the pressure of always seeking joy. Cicero said, “I do not understand what the man who is happy wants in order to be happier.” I don’t know either.

God bless us all!

“Never look down on anybody unless you’re helping them up.” — Jesse Jackson