Day 291: The Value of Going Higher

“It takes someone strong to leave with their head held high. It takes someone stronger to stay with their head held higher.”

~Isabella Poretsis

It has been a weekend of mixed emotions for me, and while my goal in the “One A Day Values” I write is to bring the better good out in every situation. It is not always easy to rise to the occasion, and I am struggling with my words today. As I was working on rising above one thing after another this weekend, it wasn’t until I got a call from one of my daughters that I began to feel like Job in the Bible. Let’s see if this one will make or break Connie’s faith for the better good. What does a mother do when her child begins to cry so hard she can hardly say the word’s she so desperately needs to get out. It doesn’t matter how old they are. They are always our children. When the words finally became clear, I learned she’d been at Park City Mall when the shooting went down very close to where it took place. She had one child with her; the other was off with her friend. People started to panic and run, and my daughter didn’t know where her daughter was. They finally all got out safely without any injuries, but it was one of the most frightening things they had ever experienced. It breaks my heart that this is the kind of world my grandchildren are growing up in and that it has hit so close to home for all of us now. That negative voice inside me wants to join in with the hateful, angry, and disparaging things people have to say about these actions, but I don’t want to feed the flames of hate.

All day, in the background of my mind, I’ve heard the words to the song, “I want to take you higher,” repeatedly playing in my head. When I finally let it draw me in, I shake my head in awe at how clever God can be at breaking through all my troubles. God wants to take me higher, and of all the ways God finds to get my attention, it’s through one of the Sly & the Family Stone songs. Ok, God, you got a little smile out of that one.

Reflection: So I turn to gratitude and thanksgiving for the safety of my daughter and grandkids. I’m also thankful for the work that God is doing through me. I am grateful for my husband Tom, who leans over and whispers in my ear how proud he is of me. And I am most thankful for the ever-presence of God in my life, who always finds a way to lift me higher.

Day 260: The Value of Going Deeper

Sometimes we have to go deeper to reach the higher places in life.

I remember going to the community pool when I was a kid. I’m not sure how old I was, maybe nine, when I decided to be brave enough to jump off the high dive—climbing up the ladder a few times, I chickened out before I actually took the plunge. Jumping in feet first, I pinched my nose tightly so the water wouldn’t go gushing through my nostrils. I went deeper and deeper before letting go of my nose and working my way up, higher and higher, toward the line where the water meets the air. I breathed in deeply, looked around, and smiled as my fear was gone, and an incredible thrill took its place. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before.

It’s an great metaphor for the kind of spiritual adventures I’ve had in life as I’ve gone deeper within myself to the very core of my soul it’s taken me to the higher places where I could see things with a clarity beyond the understanding of this world. Each occurrence has created a new thrill so incredible; I wish I could stay there forever. But then I’d miss all the extraordinary experiences going deeper has to take me yet in m life.

Reflection: Rumi once said, “The soul has been given its own ears to hear things the mind can’t understand.” I would add that the soul also has eyes for us to see through that the mind can not comprehend either. Going deeper into our soul allows us to see, hear touch, taste, and experience with our senses at their highest peak. The thrill feels to me like a touch of heaven on earth.