DEAR NEIGHBORCARE FRIENDS: I have been away from home more, experiencing different places. All over, of course, not just on our peninsula, people thrive and suffer, gardens flourish and wither, hope soars and dips. Moving from community to community—no matter where—I witness common threads of concern and compassion. Whether or not we rise up locally to sustain the community of our roots, or serve communities far from home—crossing borders and oceans to reach out—the effect is the same. Help is help. Light is light. Caring hearts add to good no matter where they beat.
Picturing ourselves in difficult situations that others endure, we wonder whether or not we could be that constant, and we feel humbled. We sense that all outward success would mean little to us if we could not rise to be our best on any occasion. At the same time we hope that if others can do what they do and bear what they bear, we too could be helpful and courageous, even if all we cared about were torn from us. That losing our loved ones, losing our homes, we would find loved ones and homes wherever we were and rise—masters of our thoughts and words and actions—from the ashes of our lives. Perhaps this is the lesson—the good—that all the madness drives us to learn.
—maggie davis/Caring in Remembered Ways

NEIGHBORCARE NEWS Think of any group you belong to as a source of help. Many people want to give themselves, even if they don’t want to sign something. Maybe you’d be willing to be a contact for your group. Maybe others you know would be willing to do that. For example, rather than asking members of a church congregation to sign up individually, we’re trying to find contact people within that congregation who’d be willing to call fellow church members if we needed a little extra support. Maybe someone in your town will be contact person for the fire department, or the local grange or a quilting group or bowling league. Let your imagination fly!
It is apparent that loneliness, separation and isolation do not convey any sense of unity. This is not so with solitude. Though one may be alone as one cultivates solitude, a sense of connection to the whole is maintained. In fact, the very purpose of solitude is to foster connection first with the soul and through that wise, loving agency with all that is.
— Sarah McKechnie/The Beacon

FOR PONDERING We are divine beings living in an age when many truths coexist. The following excerpt from an ancient wisdom teaching (featuring instruction and encouragement) does not nullify the need for tenderness toward the tiniest life but increases that need. A fly struggling on a window screen or a beetle on its back kicking to right itself is as much worthy of our attention and aid as mighty forests and birds vested with rainbow colored markings and the cries of children or animals or old ones. We see everything as interconnected, as one, or we don’t. We are grateful and respectful or we are not. There is our lesson—there it is—in every life that needs us. Our choices in these regards make our world.
“Seek to love more than you have ever believed was possible, so that others_frozen and chilled by life circumstance and the present horror of human existence_may turn to you for warmth and comforting. . . To those who are standing in the blaze of pain (and their numbers are legion), of agony, anxiety and stress_seeing it on every hand and attempting to stand steady in the midst of it all . . .that which appears is not always that which truly is; that which rends and disrupts the personality life is frequently the agent of release, if rightly apprehended; that which will emerge when the Forces of Light have penetrated the world darkness, will demonstrate the nature of the undying human spirit.”
—Alice Bailey/Serving Humanity
When the heart is attuned to the sorrow and the needs of the world, the mind becomes illumined, and wisdom enters in. Those who possess the wisdom that is born of compassion may truly be called inspired. - Katherine Tingley

FROM THE KITCHEN A tapioca pudding recipe for those of any age who can’t tolerate sugar. Buy a box of Kraft Minute Tapioca. Change the recipe in the following ways. 6T of tapioca, not 3T. Two eggs, not one. Reduce the milk by _ cup and substitute almond milk. For the sugar, substitute four packets Stevia. Add vanilla as directed—follow preparation instructions—and when pudding is almost set, add generous amount of organic frozen blueberries and/or raspberries. My granddaughter loves this pudding and so do I. Serve warm or chilled. (Tapioca comes from the root of the African cassava plant, introduced in Africa by the Portuguese more than 300 years ago.) The pudding originated in Boston in 1894.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED www.abebooks.com for new and old, hard and soft cover books at extraordinarily reasonable prices (make sure <book> is plural; there’s a site without the (s) If you do an advanced search, you can choose how books are displayed.

CARING IN REMEMBERED WAYS Take care when you approach the bed of someone who is ill. Request permission to “come aboard” before you sit. Some people would be sensitive to a feather being placed on their blanket. Your close presence, even if very much desired, could set in motion waves of pain.

LIVING QUESTIONS Often the greatest hurt is not physical pain but that no ones cares, or even notices, that we’re suffering. What if we took ten minutes a day to meditate on being someone else less fortunate, then paint a picture in our minds of what that person’s day would look like? A person suffering loss or extreme pain of any kind. Or a being from another kingdom, suffering. For example, imagine a little warbler flying thousands of miles to its home in the rain forest, to its tree perhaps, even to its nest, and finding these gone due to clear-cutting. Feel the shock in your own body. Feel the confusion. Feel the loss.
What could these kinds of meditations do for us? How could they en-light-en us? How might they ease burdens and bring down walls? How might our hearts leap up from these “careobics”? How might these heart-leaps color our lives and others’ lives as well?
To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything. He has given us—and He has given us everything. Every breath that we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace, for it brings with it immense graces from Him. Gratitude, therefore, takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and to praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful man knows God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference.
—Thomas Merton/Thoughts in Solitude

FROM THE NOT-A-DOCTOR I was glad to receive (and promised to include in the newsletter) the following alert, regarding strokes, submitted by two NEIGHBORCARE friends: “Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions: *Ask the individual to SMILE *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS. *Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE. If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
After discovering that a group of nonmedical volunteers could identify facial weakness, arm weakness and speech problems, researchers urged the general public to learn the three questions They presented their conclusions at the American Stroke Association's annual meeting last February. Widespread use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis and treatment of the stroke and prevent brain damage. A cardiologist says if everyone who receives this information sent it to 10 people, you can bet that at least one life will be saved.
Be a friend and share this alert with as many friends as possible . . .”

NOTE: I was not able to print out Newsletter #32 before sending it to the printer via attachment; thus (as with Newsletter #31) I felt I was flying blind! In advance, I apologize for any blatant (or not blatant) errors. Also, though I may be away from Blue Hill off and on during the next few months, I happily continue doing NEIGHBORCARE from the road. Please do not hesitate to call for service (anytime at all), or just to say hello! 207.266.7673

Blessings all around you—this summer and in every season,
maggie davis, for NEIGHBORCARE

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maggie davis
207.266.7673
PO Box 370, Blue Hill, ME 04614-0370
e-mail: maggiesdavis@gmail.com



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