Do you know any calm people ?

You will know them because you feel calm when you are around them.

Calmness, or inner peace, is a quality that radiates to others, and comforts them.

I was sitting by the harbour yesterday, enjoying the reflections in the exceptionally calm water.

I was thinking about the calm people in my life, and the qualities that they have in common. Here are some of their characteristics:

• they live in the moment. This is the calmest place to be.

• they are excellent listeners, and do not interrupt

• they rarely seem to be in a hurry

• they move, and speak, relatively slowly

• their voices are soothing, and not loud

• they are optimistic and encouraging

• they do not complain, and do not discuss negative topics

• they don’t gossip about others

• they have a great sense of humour, and laugh easily

• they are flexible, and can ‘go with the flow.’

The friends and family members I know who are genuinely calm, and possess inner peace, are those who stay focused on Christ.

Christianity is a religion based on relationship. We serve and worship a loving God, who desires a personal friendship with each one of us, through Jesus.

Jesus, the Prince of Peace, offers us a deep inner peace, and a confidence, and calm, that the world cannot give.

He asks that we trust him, and that we obey him.

As we see how he is with us through every circumstance in life, and how he provides for us so miraculously, our faith grows stronger, and our sense of calm grows. The Lord is indeed with us always (Matthew 28:20)

Let us ask for the grace to share the peace of Christ with others.

It looks like a puff of smoke on the ocean !

But then you look again, and you realize that the ‘smoke’ is really a spouting whale, and you know that the giant yearly visitors have arrived !

It is time for whale watching now, and we can see them clearly from our upstairs windows.

No one knows exactly why whales ‘breach’, or jump high out of the water. Scientists believe that either the giant mammals are playing, or, they are communicating to other whales that there is food nearby. Once a whale breaches, often other whales will appear too.

When they land on the water, they make a loud splashing sound.

This year, because of the lack of tourists, I don’t need to do my job of ‘Watching the Whale Watchers.’

I have witnessed, in years past, tour boats getting too close to the whales, and harassing them. There are fines, in Canadian waters, for approaching the whales too closely. I watch the sea through my binoculars, and report offending boats to fisheries officers.

Last year, I was part of a successful lobby, through which the Canadian government passed a law forbidding whales and dolphins to be kept in captivity.

Here, by the sea, one develops a great love for these giant mammals, and it is important to allow them their freedom.

The sea belongs to the Lord, and everything in it.

Let us pray that humanity will increase its desire to clean up the pollution in our oceans, and may we be always be thankful for the beauty that God has created for us to enjoy.

Photo courtesy of Silas Baisch on Unsplash.

Since you are a writer, I believe that you, like me, like learning new things.

The other day I was researching how many times the word ‘brain’ appears in the Bible.

I was surprised that it does not appear at all !

This is because, during Biblical times, people believed that thoughts, feelings and emotions originated in the heart, which is mentioned 826 times.

However, the word ‘mind’ is mentioned 96 times, and we are told in Matthew 22:37, to love God with our ‘heart, soul, and mind’.

So then, I thought I would do a casual study on where the mind is located.

This was no simple study ! Instead, this question has interested numerous philosophers and scientists, including Plato, Descartes, and Freud, for thousands of years.

The mind, according to some research, is located partly, but not entirely, in the brain.

I thought I should spend some more time researching this, but I changed my mind. The amount of information was ‘mind-boggling’.

Local strawberries are in season now, so I thought I would make a strawberry shortcake instead.

Pictured is Rosa Rugosa, also called ‘Beach Rose’, in the garden.

These plants are amazingly resilient, and have a beautiful fragrance.

Do you sometimes ignore things that don’t interest you ?

I must have passed the pictured cannons hundreds of times before I finally paid close attention to them, a couple of weeks ago.

They are exactly two hundred steps from my house, and yes, I counted the steps !

Since they were used for fighting and war, I tried my best to ignore them.

But, with all the violence and demonstrations going on in various parts of the world lately, I asked the local historian why the neighbourhood cannons are there.

There was a fierce battle that took place in our neighbourhood in 1704 !

Apparently, French forces attacked, wanting to destroy our town.

The historian was unsure of the reason for such aggression, nevertheless, a big battle took place here.

An Englishman, Michael Gill, rallied the townspeople, who defeated the French invaders. Our area remained under British Rule.

And thus, the cannons remain, as a symbol of English victory.

I thought perhaps the community might want to move them; perhaps we should hide symbols of war and aggression.

No, it is best to keep the cannons.

History cannot be re-written. It is filled with countless wars and battles. Human Nature is fallen, and frail. The cannons are a reminder of that. God knows exactly how weak and flawed we are, but he loves us.

However, as we come to know the Lord, our fallen nature changes.

When we are empowered by the Holy Spirit, we grow to become increasingly Christ-like in our thoughts and behaviours.

The building in the photo is Canada’s oldest standing wooden building. It was built in 1714 (approx) as a fish storage building. Today the upstairs loft is used in the summers as a yoga studio.

Our village walk-in medical clinic was closed for three months.

Thus, patients could not walk in, but rather had to speak to the physician via telephone. This method of delivering medical care was equally frustrating for patients, and for the doctor.

Without betraying any patient confidentiality, I can tell you that a disturbing trend has been witnessed here, as more people have been seeking prescriptions for narcotics (opioids).

These powerful drugs can be helpful for pain relief, if they are used as prescribed, but they also have strong potential for misuse, and addiction. In Canada, such prescriptions are written on special prescription pads with security features built in.

The pandemic has made the opioid crisis even worse. People sometimes try to wrongly use these drugs to numb emotional pain. This results in disaster. Even peaceful fishing villages have an opioid crisis.

I can also describe the frustration of clinic staff in dealing with patients who can become verbally aggressive in seeking this type of medication. Addiction and aggression are sometimes linked.

People are seeking peace. This can only be achieved as we lead lives in accordance to God’s will.

God desires that we honour and worship Him as our first priority. Secondly, He expects that we love our neighbours as ourselves.

All other attempts of seeking ‘inner peace’, apart from following God’s will for our lives will ultimately fail.

The Lord, the Prince of Peace, offers the peace that ‘ passes all understanding ‘ to those who wish to accept it.

Let us continue to point others to The One who is the source of our comfort and joy, and our ever-present helper in times of trouble.

Have you noticed how some attitudes and behaviours ending in ‘ism’ are being strongly challenged these days ?

Racism, sexism, classism, and ageism are obvious evils in any society.

Even people with no faith in God are in agreement that such ‘isms’ cause much human suffering.

God has additional ‘isms’ that he finds offensive, including materialism, hedonism, atheism, and secularism.

A word ending in ‘ism’ describes a pattern of thinking.

We are all aware too, that discrimination exists on the basis of religion, and such bias, globally, is growing.

While there is currently no word ending in ‘ism’ to describe prejudice on the basis of religious faith, the closest word we have to describe this condition is ‘religiophobia’.

Have you ever experienced religious discrimination ?

I have. As a Catholic Christian, I have definitely encountered prejudice and bias.

I have also witnessed the discrimination faced by a physician friend, a colleague of my husband, whose faith involves wearing a turban.

Religious freedom is our right in North America, and one that we should not take for granted.

May God give us the grace to identify religiophobia for the societal ill that it is, and may we speak up whenever we encounter it.

May He allow us to work together, to maintain the dignity of all people. God asks us to love our neighbour as ourself.

Do you agree that the term ‘anti-aging’ should no longer be used?

This term implies that aging is something shameful, and should be hidden, denied, and feared !

Some organizations are definitely in agreement, including the Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH) , which suggested banning the term ‘anti-aging’, in 2018, in the United Kingdom.

‘Allure Magazine’, an American publication, banned the use of this phrase in 2017.

We need to stop using this term, so that young people will stop being afraid of growing older.

In God’s plan, physical strength belongs to the young, but spiritual strength belongs to the old, if they have spent their younger years following God.

Of course, this is not always the case, since some young people, who love and obey God already show amazing spiritual maturity.

I enjoy reading the wise thoughts of readers of all ages on WordPress.

Let us thank God for the gift of each day.

Life, in obedience to God, is a blessing, at any age.

Who can resist the look of a hungry pet ?

Scott, our ‘pet’ Seagull, has come to visit us every Spring and Summer morning since 2017. He is always up before me, waiting on the back rocks with great patience, as he anticipates a morning treat. This morning, June 29, looking at the rocks, I am reminded that today is the day of special remembrance, or, the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.

Numerous images of rocks appear throughout the Bible.

David, in the Psalms, reminds us often, that the Lord is our rock, our fortress, and our deliverer.

Through tumultuous times, and in every season of testing, our faith stands, solid as a rock.

We will not fear, neither will we be disturbed by turmoil in the world. As we stay focused on Christ, the rock of our salvation, he continues to grant us the peace that passes all understanding.

Today I’ve been meditating on Matthew 16, where the disciple ‘Simon’ recognizes Christ as the Messiah.

At this point, Jesus changes his name to ‘Petros’ (Peter), meaning rock, and announces that he will build his Church on this rock.

Jesus says that nothing will prevail against his church, for she, with all her imperfections, is his Bride.

These are turbulent times, but we have full confidence that, as the Lord promised to Peter, the church, the Body of Christ will endure.

We, members of the church, the Body of Christ, continue to strengthen and encourage each other, having learned, through experience, that the Lord is always faithful to his promises.

Scott’s faithful patience this morning was rewarded with bits of cod fish, leftovers from last night’s dinner, prepared by my husband, R.J, who is an excellent chef.

Do you notice how we feel less stressed when we are out in nature?

God placed our first parents in a garden.

Pink flowers, commonly called ‘Sea Thrift’, are now blooming in my garden. They are also called: ‘Mary’s Cushion’, or ‘Our Lady’s Cushion’.

According to Christian Legend, these flowers bloomed during the treacherous journey that Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus undertook when they were fleeing the rage of wicked King Herod, on their flight to Egypt.

The legend tells that these plants grew to provide a soft resting place, or cushion, for Mary and her divine Son.

This is plausible, since these hardy flowers also grow in the Middle East. They thrive in poor soil conditions, and are salt resistant.

However, there were no witnesses to authenticate whether this actually happened. We can imagine though, how God supernaturally blessed and protected the Holy Family when they were migrants on their way to Egypt. We walk by faith, and not by sight.

I enjoy spending time in this area of the garden. I pray for families, and also for migrants. Currently 65 million migrants are fleeing their countries due to war , poverty, and persecution.

God has a special care for all those who need to flee their homelands.

The statue, called : ‘Love’s Bond’, is by Timothy Schmalz.