As far as I can tell, acceptance and appreciation for our lives is not a once and for all thing that we do and then cruise control for the next 20 years. It is a daily practice.

As we get older we see more of what was going on in those experiences, or things we just missed.

The preponderance of us will likely leave our earth time with the books and THE book of our life unfinished. So, with grace and effort, let us savor the faces we get to see, the pages we get to read, and each day we get to wake up.

Like the Warrimoo we might be in several places at once. There are times when things can be smooth sailing in parts of my life, yet anxious-stressful in others. Surely, you can fill in with your own examples here.

The love of the God we experience in Jesus also starts in our hearts to overcome those fears we generate there. It takes us reminding and encouraging one another when we forget or are tempted to give in to cynicism and compassion fatigue. It means with non-self-righteous courage calling people’s hands when they bolster bigotry and ride racism to promote themselves. Simple to say - Tough to do.

The God of Jesus made it/us all. In goings on, large or small, when we act as part not center, we have less chance of bringing damage, better chance of bringing blessing.

We are in a time of big debate over who can be included in the mystery of love and marriage. Seems to me the mystery of such love is not under our control. It is gift from the Gracefull-Generous Giver of Our Lives - the God we know in Jesus.

No one can do our living, believing, healing, or getting better for us. But none of us can do anything that matters alone. Faith is not a solo feeling. Faith is a God empowered shared strength for caring for one another. There is a near unending lifelong line of people of faith and love that make me ‘well’ on any given day

The truth is having and facing our fears goes with the territory of being human beings. Best I can tell we all have our fears, at least at times: whether we can make it, take it, go on, speak up, stand up, survive, or perchance thrive when the hard stuff happens to us, those we love, even our world.

It seems to me, the older we get, the more we have of those who loved God and us, now with God...the more the reality of their ongoing presence in our lives is not so much proved by an argument but authenticated in our experience. No denial of the stark reality of death (which continues to suck) but a greater reality of their lives and love - imperfect though they and we are - that continues to be a bittersweet blessing.

For him, this means to lean into all the tunes, experiences, joys, loves, tastes, touches of life. But at the heart of it all, we remember the ‘cantus firmus’ of God’s love holding us together when we would otherwise fall apart.

As Christians we sing about the privilege all of us have to take our struggles to Jesus in prayer. Amen. Yet, there is another side of the way privilege has operated in our world. Not sure who said it: “Guilt is not a Christian response…repentance is.” The literal meaning of New Testament ‘metanoia’, repentance, is going beyond the mind you have. In other words, a new understanding that changes not only our minds, how we see the world, but also our hearts and behavior.

Toward the end, Dr. Jahren writes: “I have accepted that I don’t know all the things that I ought to know, but I do know the things I need to know. I don’t know how to say ‘I love you’, but I do know how to show it…. When I am pressed, I resort to these two sentences: ‘You shouldn’t take this job too seriously. Except for when you should.’” (p.277)

So many books – so little time!

"I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them:

1. To vote without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy.

2. To speak no evil of the person they voted against.

3. To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those who voted on the other side."

Here's a strange proposal. As hard as it will surely be for me, perhaps for you... What about a day we proactively focus first on how we encourage the people we encounter...instead of how they boost us?

Surely not ignoring the differences among those who sat in his chair, Jayber affirms his inclusive care for them all. "I loved to listen to them. For they spoke my native tongue."

What does it mean to be a steward (care-taker) of our grief? To recognize and appreciate grief in ourselves and others?

So, in these presidential campaign days, we can expect all sorts of efforts to discredit the candidates, both of whom, like us all, are fragmentary and imperfect. The question is: which candidate, with his or her foibles galore, touches and inspires the best, not the worst, in us?

In the walk of life, grief and gratitude dapple our way. Grief both for what once was and what will never be. It is a long trip at best.