Author Archives: bethpow06
FMM 11 3 17 Perfect Harmony
“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.” ~Thomas Merton. My father loved music. He also loved to sing. And he sang in a beautiful tenor voice, although he could provide a little bass if necessary. Many people share at least two out of those three qualities! He grew […]
FMM 10 27 17 Points of Light
“People find meaning and redemption in the most unusual human connections.”~ Khaled Hosseini. Language is a tricky thing. Even when you think you speak the same language, words may have very different interpretations. People from the English-speaking world have to learn to avoid saying ‘football’ when in America. If you live in the US, although […]
FMM 10 20 17 Exceeding Expectations
“Put your heart, mind and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.” ~ Swami Sivananda. I always wanted to be a nurse. I had two dress-up outfits as a child. One was a cowgirl outfit. It came with the sheriff’s badge, a waistcoat, skirt and holster with gun. Oh yes, […]
FMM 10 13 17 The Allure of Alliteration
“I would define, in brief, the poetry of words as the rhythmical creation of Beauty.”~ Edgar Allan Poe. As children we were taught the art of remembering by a number of tricks. Even without big theories of pedagogy, the old time teachers knew that if you presented information in rhyme or in song, it laid […]
FMM 10 6 17 Comfortably numb.
“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.” ~ John Donne. Some people are born story tellers. They may be telling you their shopping list but somehow they weave tension, drama and humor into the reciting of the mundane. There are those who you love to hear […]
FMM 9 29 17 Zip-lining Away!
“The reason why the world lacks unity, and lies broken and in heaps, is, because man is disunited with himself.”~ Ralph Waldo Emerson. There are many beautiful places in Jamaica. The name itself is descriptive: Land of wood and water (Xaymaca was the Arawak name for the island). It is said that when Christopher Columbus […]
FMM 9 22 17 Dry Wit
“Everything is funny, as long as it’s happening to somebody else.”~ Will Rogers. My father had a strange sense of humor. His jokes would often be met with a split second of silence, before the audience, whether in church, the classroom, or the huge assembly hall where as chaplain he would lead morning devotions each […]
FMM 9 15 17 Stripped Bare
“Good timber does not grow with ease. The stronger the wind the stronger the trees.” ~ Thomas S. Monson. I traveled to Jamaica with my family in 1963, sailing on the SS Ascania. Our journey was extended by several days, as we had to observe protocol, and allow a killer to exit the Caribbean before […]
FMM 9 8 17 Silencing Critics
“We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.”~ Carl Jung. To those of us who grew up trying to please others, the opinion of others matters far too much. Children whose parents have a particular standing in the community (here I am thinking of parsons and teachers) grow up […]
FMM 9 1 17 The Less I Know
“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”~ e. e. cummings. Do you remember the first time you had to question a long-held belief? When I was young, I was totally flummoxed when my brother tried to tell me that Sunday was the […]
myfmm.blog 