Midwest Mary

We live in flux. Part of the stress we experience today is that everything around us is constantly changing. As soon as we figure out how to do something, the rules, technology, and methods change. And so we must change.

Most of the challenge is when we are transitioning from one way of doing or thinking to another. Those bridges can feel like we are in the middle of nowhere, that we are not grounded.

But those bridges are important as they prepare us for our next path. They allow the time and space for us to learn, grow, and move on.

Following is a poem titled Embrace the Bridges that I wrote for my book, Tranquility. Transformation. Transcendence. The photo above is also from that book.

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Embrace the Bridges

Life is a series of transitions—
birth, blossom, decline, and death.
We evolve and grow
throughout and within
a world in constant motion.

Learning to embrace the bridges—
the approaches, crossings, and crossing overs—
helps us to understand and appreciate situations
that provide lessons and opportunities.

***

Poem by Mary K. Doyle
Photo by Mary K. Doyle. The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL
Tranquility. Transformation. Transcendence. The Enchanting Promises of Public Gardens

Do you think peace is possible?

Today, May 13th begins the anniversary of the Fatima apparitions. In May 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared to three children in Fatima, Portugal over a six-month period. Mary gave the children a series of messages on how to obtain peace. World War I was in progress, and Mary warned that if we didn’t change our ways, we would find ourselves in greater conflict. 

Basically, Mary’s message was for our need to grow closer to God and follow the loving and inclusive ways of her son, Jesus. This can be achieved by treating everyone and everything around us with love and respect.

Just as important, Mary said that our actions would become more loving, caring, and just toward one another if we prayed/communicated with God. Our prayers and acts of kindness would result in peace.

Following are excerpts from a little book I wrote on Mary’s messages in Fatima. The messages were given 157 years ago, but they are as relevant today as they were then.

*

“Throughout history, some level of unrest has existed. Since the creation of humanity and the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, we’ve argued our differences, often to extreme outcomes. No one can deny that any pockets of peace our planet is currently experiencing are isolated and fragile. . .

The Virgin Mary says it doesn’t have to be this way. World peace is possible and Mary explained how it could be achieved a century ago. She clearly spelled out a plan in 1917 in Fatima, Portugal through a series of apparitions to three young shepherd children: ten-year-old Lucia dos Santos, nine-year-old Francisco Marto, and seven-year-old Jacinta Marto . . .

The Fatima message centers on prayer. We are instructed to pray–for and about everything–all the time. We pray to worship, ask for blessings, give thanks, and ask forgiveness. We go to God with our every thought.

This is how we communicate with the Lord. We talk and listen from our heart. Like our communications with our closest earthly friends, the more we are together and talk, the more we have to say and the closer we become. We can carry on this type of conversation with the Lord in our own words–remembering to stop and listen as well as speak. . .

When uncertain how to pray, say the Our Father. Everything is covered in the prayer that Jesus taught us (See Matthew 6:7-13). It’s a prayer that gives glory to God, recognizes God as supreme over heaven and earth, and asks for everything we need to be provided, forgiveness for our failings, and protection from evil. That prayer alone covers the entire gamut of possible prayer topics with the exception of giving thanks for all we have.

Peace comes with the realization that we live in the midst of God. If we pray without ceasing, God will be visible to us in everyone and everything. We will be one with God and one another.” – Excerpts from Fatima at 100. Fatima Today

*Photo and excerpts by Mary K. Doyle

**You also may be interested in Grieving with Mary, Young in the Spirit, and The Rosary Prayer by Prayer.

©2024, Mary K. Doyle