Meditations Archives : Luann Tennant Coyne

The Reef in the Water

“We just want to rest,” we kept saying. “Our lives at home are so busy. We just want to get away, rest, sit on the beach, enjoy the sunshine.” And I meant it. I was looking forward to time away, time off, unstructured time, time to sit and look at the water. Time to write. Time to put my feet up and read a beach novel.
Yet, I am a human being. Fractious. Contrary. Very like my 22-month-old grandson Lucas, who, the moment he gets the toy he wants, puts it aside and wants another.

Peek-a-Boost

Everyone has their favorite games to play with babies and toddlers. I love to do interactive games and teach babies the hand motions that go with. Like Mother Goose’s “Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man,” and the nursery rhyme “The itsy-bitsy spider”. However, my favorite game to play with babies and toddlers is peekaboo.

The Magic that Humans Have

I have given my will and my life to the God of my understanding, and this is what He tells me to do: Yes, take the actions that are in my power to do to change this world, to help others, to stand up for what I believe. And then, Love. Love myself. Love those I live with, love those around me. Love the world by sharing with it my gifts and the best that I have. “Sending acts of love out into this world at this time can be seen as a daring and audacious stand against the darkness in our world,” I was told recently. So be it.

Finding Peace

Flying bird with wings from snowflakes.

My prayer for the New Year is that I be able to let go and be filled with these Spirit gifts. My prayer for you is the same. May you be able to take in the spiritual gifts of simplicity, joy and love, now and in the busy year ahead.

My Language, by Lucas at 17 Months

I’m 17 months old and I don’t need to learn to talk. I have a language of my own that works perfectly well.

A Lesson from my Trees in Early November

My recent cataract surgeries have improved my sight so much that everything looks more detailed, more colorful and brighter than I have seen in decades.
I am thrilled with the carnival of color on the trees in our back yard: orange, red, gold, bronze and fading green, all bouncing vigorously in the breeze. I marvel at the bright glory of serrated-edged golden river birch leaves against an intense blue sky.

Replete with Very Thee

Looking back, I see how Aunt Barbara accepted the constant physical suffering she went through in her later years… and, instead of choosing self-pity and dwelling on her losses, found room inside herself for God to fill with kindness, caring for others, and love.

Respite

Whenever I come to the mountains, I feel at home in a way I can’t explain. Like I’ve come back home after being away. I breathe deeply and I say, “Yes. I’m home again.” And my age and my minor ailments fall away. Peace and happiness are here, for the taking.

Robotic Arms and a Band Aid

One of the benefits of being a chauffeur for your children is that somehow the minute the car starts, you become invisible. Conversations go on in the back seat that you would never have been privy to under other circumstances. I

A Little Bit of Magic

A little bit of magic goes a long way to relieve the long hours and hard work of being a working parent.
Once in a while, when my girls were young, I would stop the car at a park on the way to the sitter’s house in the morning, and we would spend twenty minutes on the slides and swings. We would have the park to ourselves, first thing on a weekday morning. And I got a little extra play time with my girls… The best present in the world for me.