First, I read a quote this week that spoke to me and perhaps it will speak to you: “It is better to live your own life imperfectly than to live a perfect imitation of somebody else’s life.”

Secondly, we celebrated the life of Garrett Fairleigh Flores at Chapel Hill last week. I shared something that I hope is helpful to you or someone you know who has experienced a significant loss.

“It is normal for we humans to play the ‘woulda, coulda, shoulda’ game at times like this. And we like to play it over and over and over again. There is only one problem. This game has no winners. So, today, I am inviting us to surrender our ‘wouldas, couldas, shouldas’ so we can remember Garrett and his unique and unrepeatable life.  We surrender in order to remember well because if we don’t surrender our ‘wouldas, couldas, and shouldas,’ we forget the impact and legacy of Garrett’s life.”

Finally, there is a prayer I offer each day:
Lord, help me this day to shut up, listen up, open up and lighten up. You have a lot more to show and tell me than I have to show and tell You. Please be patient with me – allow me a glimpse, give me a hint of what is really going on around me as I walk and watch and wonder and work throughout this unfolding day. I know I need to worry a lot less – I need to stop over-reacting- to be calmer and not to insist on being special or right. The world does not revolve around me nor am I its or anyone else’s savior. I must learn to look up and out, not just in. I must try harder to be wiser, nicer, less grouchy, a more sensitive human being. Please help me pray my life and live my prayers.

Rev. Alan Houghton – A Book of Uncommon Prayer