(Due to the awesomeness of today’s subject, Sunday Shot of Bliss will return next week.)
My time of year…
I don’t have a whole lot of great childhood memories. Summer was always the best, however. Camping by the lake, watermelon, falling asleep by the bonfire. Swimming, oh yeah! I remember having to wait an hour after eating before we could go back out. It seemed like the longest hour of our lives.
Music was also a nice escape. Songs by War, Frankie Valli, The BeeGees. This music always took me to better places.
Today marks the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. This day has been celebrated for many centuries by different civilizations around the world. Once again, proof of our universal connection.
From the Greeks, who observed Kronia, in honor of the agriculture god Cronus, to the Chinese who revered the Earth, femininity (Yin). The Vikings would take this day to resolve legal conflicts and then party around a huge bonfire! The Sioux had a ceremonial Sun-dance and modern day Druids celebrate at Stonehenge.
Today is also known as The International Day of Yoga. Thousands of people will welcome in the season with Sun Salutations in Times Square, New York! For those not fortunate to be able to go to NY, our community is offering The Breathe Yoga Festival. I am sure wherever you are and whatever culture you identify with, you can find a celebration in or around your community.
I never thought much of the changing of the seasons and what they represent until a few years back when I developed Gastroparesis. Being chronically ill can change your perspective on a lot of things. I learned how to eat for the seasons (when I could eat). I even learned different Yoga sequences, meditations and external blessings for each season.
Indeed Ecclesiastes 3 says:
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”.
Universally connected.
Summer Prayer
Father, Creator of all, thank You for summer! Thank you for the warmth of the sun; and the increased daylight. Thank You for the beauty I see all around me; and for the opportunity to be outside and enjoy Your creation. Thank You for the increased time I have to be with my friends and family, and for the more casual pace of the summer season.
Draw me closer to You this summer. Teach me how I can pray no matter where I am or what I am doing. Warm my soul with the awareness of Your presence and light my path with Your Word and Counsel. As I enjoy Your creation, create in me a pure heart and a hunger and a thirst for You.
Amen.
– Source: http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/13693/summer-prayer
Miss You Dad..
This year, the Summer Solstice falls on Father’s Day. Another year without my dad. We had a good relationship. Sometimes I did not see him for years and there was one particular year that I really needed him in my life. It’s all good, I am the person I am today because of it. However, it didn’t matter how long it had been since we had last seen each other. Once we were together again, it was like we had never been apart.
My father was a quiet and wise person. He did not make a proclamation unless he fully intended to follow through with it. Even at his funeral, no one stood up to speak about my dad. This is exactly how he would have wanted it. There was a lot of crying, however. He would be missed. A friend of his and I were smoking outside of the church and she said ” I halfway expect him to sit up in that coffin and say ‘Will you all stop fussing over me?!!’. This brought me from tears to laughter. Yes, if he could have, he would have!
Yep. Another tattoo.
This is my very favorite childhood memory. Summer 1973. My mom, my dad and me walking along the beach while the sun set. I remember we were wearing bell bottom jeans and walking barefoot at the edge of the water. They turned in towards each other and just gazed into each other’s eyes. I know this because I was looking up at mom and dad. All of sudden, the tide came in and I had to wrap my arms around their legs to keep from being pulled out. I always felt that their love saved me from drowning that day.
This also represents my Father in Heaven’s love. Sustaining. When I am about to drown in my problems and despair, I look to His love and grace and I am saved from being pulled under.
This year we honor the sun and our fathers in one day! What a glorious time to be alive! Today, let us also turn to our Heavenly Father, acknowledge the Son and hopefully feel the cool breeze of the Spirit. Stay Blissful My Friends – E
Living Elysian 
