Four Somethings – Spring Edition

I love to create and share my Four Somethings – things I have read, seen, experienced that made me stop and savor life. Spiritual practices enrich our lives and help us keep aligned with God. One practice I frequently promote is reflection – pausing and pondering where you are, where you have come from and where is God inviting you into next. I share bits of wisdom in four categories.
Something Wise
Something Wonderful
Something Whispered
Something Whimsical

Gathering Four Somethings makes me aware of all the blessings often hidden under busyness, worries, and distractions. These “somethings” become markers in our spiritual journey. With so much pivoting and uncertainty in our lives right now, being grounded in a simple practice like this guides my way.

Something Wise

A wise story:

“Once an unhappy young apprentice came to an old master and told the master that he was deeply sad and asked for a solution. The old master instructed the unhappy young apprentice to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and then to drink it. Then he asked “How does it taste?” “Terrible!” spat the young apprentice.

The master nodded and asked the young apprentice to take another handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to a nearby lake and the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the lake. The older master said, “now drink the lake.” The apprentice cupped his hands and drank. Again, the old master asked, “How does it taste?” “Good!” said the apprentice. The master then asked, “Do you taste the salt?” and the apprentice smiled and said, “No.”

The master sat beside the trouble young apprentice and took his hands. “The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life remains the same. But the amount we taste depends on the container we put it into. So when you are in pain, the wisest thing to do is to enlarge your sense of things. Stop being a glass. Become a lake.”

Something Wonderful

Have you heard about the “Curious 100?”

“The Curious 100 is a celebration of one hundred courageous leaders and creative minds across the United States who are harnessing the transformative power of curiosity to solve today’s most pressing problems—whether it’s combating climate change, advancing racial justice, addressing the housing crisis, or tackling food insecurity. This list includes a wide range of advocates, from those championing regenerative agriculture and material use to those supporting some of the most vulnerable communities in our society.”

It is fun to read through the list, many I never heard of, and read their stories and inspirational quotes. Some names are: Jocelyn Wyatt, Krista Tippett, Hannah Williams. There are artists, storytellers, designers, creatives, educators, advocates, nonprofit leaders and the list goes on

Fun to explore and you will be inspire by these people!

Something Whispered

During my last retreat our spiritual director shared this quote from Sue Monk Kidd which lingered with me the whole retreat time and helped to form many of my prayers.

“Part of the purpose of solitude is to collapse the illusion we have about our identity and help us come home to who we really are.”

The phrase “collapse the illusion” invited me deeper and deeper from shallowness of the outside world into the nearness of God where I found my true self, finally at home.

Something Whimsical

I have always delighted in the birds around the feeders in my backyard and in spring they have been very active. This year three brown squirrels and one very hungry black squirrel also have discovered our yard as a source for food. I can almost set my watch by the arrival of that black one each morning.

We finally bought one of those squirrel guards to mount on one of the feeders so he couldn’t climb up the pole to eat all the seed. Yet each morning he still tries to climb the pole till he reaches the guard, then slides back down.

He scurries over to one of the rocks by the pond and sits on his hind legs studying if he could make a jump above the guard. He looks like a Zen monk contemplating his day he sits so still out there. I think he dreams he has wings to fly like the birds do to reach the rich treasure of more seed in the feeder but alas he doesn’t have wings, and the distance is too far so he gives up once again and finds seeds on the ground.

But he persists. Day and after day. Each morning the same routine.

I wrote this today:

The black squirrel
Continues his endless daily desire to climb the bird feeder
And fails every time.
May I be as persistent.

Amazing lessons from a silly squirrel.

What have you been learning so far in 2025?