A Culture of Love

I honor that place in you of light and truth and love.
I honor that place in you where we can be as one in peace and joy.
And when the best in you becomes the best in me as well,
perhaps the good we wish to see will happen
when we tell our lives in love.
I bless you forever.

I attended part of an RCIA retreat before Frindle rehearsals started two weeks ago. The blessing above was one of the reflections. As I listened and thought about the days' topics, I decided to make a change at Owenland Park. Now, I don't want any anyone to think that we live in the house built by Chuckie but it is very stressful here. This unrelenting stress has led to hurt and resentment. The only way to change that is to begin changing not the people around you, but yourself. How do we do that? Sometimes you begin by making the choice to love. And quite frankly, love breeds love.

So I decided we would start making our changes at the dinner table. This is the one place where we all gather together every day - as a family. Instead of mindlessly reciting Grace as a group before dinner, we now pair off (different pairs each night) and say the blessing I quoted above to each other before we have dinner. And I mean say it to each other - look into each other's eyes and say the blessing. It has only been two weeks but the kids already know the whole thing by heart. And, I think it is helping a little bit. Please keep us in your thoughts.

(I do not the source of the blessing. I cannot decipher the citation as it is in very small print and a weird font. I have looked on line a bit, but cannot find it there either. If anyone knows it, I would love to give credit, where credit is due.)

Blessings from Owenland Park.