Oh! The Places You'll Go!

A friend shared this with me today and I loved it....If you are from the USA, you've probably already heard it, but my Dr. Seuss education is somewhat lacking :)  


Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
by the incomparable Dr. Seuss
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.
And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.
Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.
You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.
I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.
You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.
You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.
And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.
You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.
You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.
No! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!
Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t.
I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.
And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.
But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.
You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)
Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

A heartfelt prayer

I remember the first time I was given a reading assignment for a book by theologian Walter Brueggemann.  I thought I would die before the first chapter ended.  Then, suddenly, something clicked for me in his writing.  In the middle of a paragraph, I was captivated.  Now, I love his work!  I came across a prayer, given to my teammates and I on a retreat last year, and I kept the prayer in my journal.  Today, I wanted to share it with you.  (Sorry, I don't know where he originally published this!)

"God before and God behind,
God for us and God for your own self,
Maker of Heaven and earth,
Creator of sea and sky,
Governor of day and night.

We give thanks for your ordered gift of lift to us,
for the rhythms that reassure,
for the equilibriums that sustain,
for the reliabilities that curb our anxieties,
we treasure from you,
days to work and nights to rest
We cherish from you,
days to control and nights to yield,
We savor from you,
days to plan and nights to dream.

Be our day and our night,
our heaven and our earth,
our sea and our sky,
and in the end our true home.  Amen" (Walter Brueggemann)

I love the sense of peace that comes from living this prayer, believing this prayer.  What confidence we can have with God before us and behind us!  We are surrounded with His love.  "Be our day and our night....and in the end our true home."  The last year has been full of transitions for me, leaving one home to make another for myself.  Through it all, I'm being reminded that I will only feel at home when God is my day and my night, my true home.

Blessings to you all :)

 

Bath Abbey

Last week, our family went to the city of Bath.  We drove through the green hills of England, obscured as usual by a light misty rain.  Bath is a very old city, blending the ancient with the modern, a place where Roman Baths are situated across a courtyard from a Subway or Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream shop.  I loved the Roman Baths, dated to about 60 A.D., but my favorite site was the Abbey.

The Roman Baths were a religious sight for pagan worship from the first century, but even to the early fourth century, there is evidence that Christians lived in Bath as well!  The Abbey itself was founded in 676, long after Roman rule ended in Britain.  A Norman cathedral was built in Bath but fell into disrepair.  In 1499, the present Abbey church replaced the Norman ruins.

The Great Window, which you can only see part of from my picture above, contains 56 scenes from the life of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps my favorite part of the visit to Bath Abbey was thanks to the Chaplains and Stewards.  The Chaplain of the day asked all visitors to take a seat in the pews and remember that this was a place dedicated to God and to prayer. Daily, they request that everyone to pause in prayer. He read several scriptures and blessings and then prayed a beautiful prayer over us.  It was wonderful to know that the staff do not view this as just a historical site, but also part of the living and active community of believers.  In their brochure, they state that "The good news of Jesus is the reason this Abbey exists.  More importantly, it is the reason why all over the world there are Christians who know what it means to meet the living Jesus, and who believe that he alone has the key to human life."

the holidays :)

The holidays have been a very good time!  My family came to London to spend Christmas and New Years with me :)  We kept a steady pace, exploring a lot of England in a two week period.  J&J, with their usual curiosity and energy, wanted to see all that they could while on holiday here.  We went to parts of London that I had not yet been!  It meant I wasn't a very efficient tour guide, but they extended much grace!  We explored at least a dozen museums and galleries, ate entirely too many servings of fish and chips with Toblerone for dessert, flew the Eye, wandered through Portobello and Camden Town markets, saw a Christmas performance at the Globe, glimpsed the White Cliffs of Dover, and so much more...

It has been great to get to show my family a bit of my life here in London.  They realize now that I'm not just complaining when I say its been cold!  They experienced London transport, when it works well and when it....doesn't.  My mom was able to join in on some of my English classes before term ended and meet the women who are my friends and students.  All in all, its been a good start to 2010 :)

Joy and I at Leeds Castle :)

Joy and I and Tower Bridge :)

J&J and I on the Tube

The Roman Baths

Stonehenge :)