Sweet Savannah

It's probably not the best idea to take a road trip during the hottest days of summer to Savannah, where it's suffocatingly hot. For someone like me, anyway, who doesn't fair well with hot weather at all. Temperatures soared into the upper 90s with 99% humidity, as is true for the south in the summer. But I did for a very good purpose. To visit my dear friend Jenny. And it was a lovely quick trip and even better, held quality time for us to spend one night in downtown Savannah. 

On my journey up and back, I made a coffee stop in Jacksonville each way, at the same location - Mechanism Coffee Roasters in E-Town, highly recommended. Good coffee pit stop for my long drive.

I enjoy and appreciate the charm and history of Savannah. The beauty of the squares and huge shady trees adds to the charm. In downtown Savanah, we stayed within a couple blocks of all our activities, which was perfect on these very hot days.

When we arrived before noon, our room was ready, which was a great surprise. We were able to stash our stuff upstairs and then walk down to the Cathedral Basilica of Saint John the Baptist for daily mass. We were early and sat in the quiet, calm, cool space enjoying the beauty of the windows and art all around. This basilica is a beautiful architectural masterpiece of French gothic style built in 1873. The peace and calm of the prayerful atmosphere sank deeply into us. To be able to share in the experience of a daily mass with Jenny was so meaningful and beautiful. 

We walked across the street afterwards and enjoyed a drink at my favourite coffee shop in town, Mirabelle. I had a lavender latte, my top pick. Sitting at the little marble table we sat and talked for over an hour before venturing down the street for a brief browse at E. Shaver's Booksellers. After a quick look into each section, we headed back to the hotel room for a couple hour rest, letting the heat of the day pass by. I worked and read this very interesting biography of C.S. Lewis by A.N. Wilson I had somehow never read (I just love the cover, with Lewis in his dressing gown). 

Pizza was calling us for dinner, and a Mellow Mushroom was only a block away. Over a relaxed time enjoying delicious pizza we got to share in life and thoughts. The weather grew cloudy and breezy afterwards, there must have been some storms nearby, but never came over us. Walking around Madison Square we end up sitting on a bench for awhile, talking about some theological ideas.

Proverbs 27:17 - As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. 

This verse so well sums up my long friendship with Jenny; for 25 years we have been close friends. Over that time, as high schoolers moving on as college students (and life as roommates) we experienced the highs and lows of growing up and learning from our experiences. We can still share in those memories, good and bad, reflecting on how those certain moments or decisions challenged and changed us. 

Though we eventually came to live in separate states (she got married and moved to Georgia a year or so after college) it has been amazing to see how our journeys of deepening faith and focusing on what matters in life have paralleled, even though we live very different kinds of lives. I am deeply thankful for our long and close friendship. It's a gift from God. Something God has used for both of us to grow. 

I love how C.S. Lewis describes friendship in The Four Loves:

“In friendship...we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another...the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting - any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends, "Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others.”

Jenny has surgery next week, so please pray for her. If you'd like to follow her journey, please visit her blog HERE.

Summer Skies and Gratitude

 

It's America's 250th birthday today - Happy Birthday America! Do we give thanks for our country and all the freedoms we have here? I hope so. For, we often take for granted all that we have and for the lives of people who have come before us who stood up to protect it over our short history.

The idea of thankfulness and gratitude seems to get washed away in our culture. However if we are Christians, gratitude should be the centre of our prayers and daily life. The more we think about the graces and mercy God has shown us, the more we see His presence in our daily lives. In that sense, the more awake we become.

The person who is filled with gratitude toward God, whose life is permeated by this primary attitude of gratitude, is also the only person who is truly awake.

- Dietrich von Hildebrand

 Our spirits become enriched when we live in a place where gratitude to God and to others becomes the norm we wake up to and reflect on. When we devote thought and time to such a stance, we are able to see the good in front of us and are more open to being a bearer of the good that we can bestow onto others.

When we are fully aware how God's love surrounds us, gratitude is the response that comes out of our hearts with this knowledge of the good gifts He has given us. When we are filled with gratitude, we become great and expansive, as Hildebrand wrote. When we are thankful, we recognize we possess no right before God and all is gift from God, out of His goodness. He wants us to be filled with goodness and share that with others. 

Hildebrand wrote that only the person who is filled with gratitude toward God is truly awake. The opposite would be someone who is always living in the periphery and takes everything for granted.

Summer is a time I find it difficult to give thanks every morning and evening. Summer heat and sun take a toll on me, it's like the opposite of those who struggle in the winter with grey sky and no sun. I struggle in the summer with intense heat and sun. I rejoice when the clouds come and rain falls for hours in a gentle soaking. 

Yet I know that when I take a moment to watch the sunrise or sunset a smile emerges on my face because I instantly turn to thank God for such a beautiful reminder of His gift of the morning/evening and the gifts of nature we take for granted everyday. I love how the summer sun tucks away behind the taller buildings, creating a silhouette of downtown. Recognizing this removes any apathy I feel toward the Summer weather and makes me blissfully aware how the infinite love and mercy of God is present in every moment of every day and night. Then this thankfulness becomes an expression of my heart, which shows up in all other areas of life.

Have a blessed 4th of July weekend, and remember to take moments for gratitude.