Charlotte’s Web – Chapter 6 – theencouragingword

Blog 1967 – 02.12.2021

Charlotte’s Web – Chapter 6

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Charlotte’s Web – Chapter 6

With an unusual for this far south even in February cool wave bearing down on my Houston, Texas home even I who have come to favor the frozen north country where winter is the longest of the four seasons am having fond thoughts of summer. Winter is to me a most wonderful time of year but then so are spring, summer, and autumn. I do not believe in fate, war, or luck. What I do believe in I have taken to repeating every day to myself as a chant, a prayer, a meditation. It grows longer as the days are beginning to:

“My heart and my mind are open

My arms and my hands are open

My mouth, my ears, and my eyes are open

For all the Universe has for me.

Thank you for this day, Spirit.

I am Holy, I am Whole.

I am so glad and grateful

That everything I could ever want or need

Is already mine and coming to me

At just the right time

And in just the right way

From my loving and infinite source.

May the words of my mouth

And the meditations of my heart

Be acceptable in my sight

O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

I mirror you.”

Just a few words about the last phrase, recently added. I was impressed when reading about the late great Fred Rogers from the long running PBS children’s program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood that the numbers 143 had a special meaning to him. 143 was the weight that he maintained as an adult watching his diet and getting lots of exercise but of more significance to Fred the number reminded him of what he wished to communicate most to everyone especially children, “I love you.”

After learning mid December last that if I had any hope of accomplishing my goal of living long enough to write 10,000 blogs (by my calculation at one a day I will need to live to 95 to finish the job) I would need to change not just the number on the scales but what I eat and how much exercise I get permanently. Since December 21st I have dropped 28 pounds and counting and am back in my skinny jeans. But of even more importance to me, I am eating healthier than I ever have in my life and feel better for it. I even had 🥬 kale yesterday for the first time in my life. Who knew that ole finicky Dave would ever eat egg plant or kale and enjoy the taste of both.

My target weight is not 143 pounds. I was that weight briefly as an adult after returning home from Vietnam in late 1970 to find my little wife who had not written me the last four months of my tour had indeed found some one else to cuddle with while I was gone. My barely twenty year old self lost over twenty pounds in a couple of weeks. It seems I had lost my appetite along with my first wife. I recovered and gained it back soon enough. My target weight is 163 pounds, in the middle of the suggested ideal weight range for a male my height and age.

As I thought of what words that I might attach to the numbers 163, to help me when I reach that goal to maintain it, I thought of “I Mirror You.” At first I thought it was something I might want to say to everyone like Fred was saying, “I love you.” But then it hit me that a more correct interpretation of those three words is what all I taste, hear, and see is saying to me, reflecting back at me myself in technicolor, surround sound, and epicurean delight, reminding me with every look, sound, and bite just Who and Whose I truly am, Who and Whose we all are.

I fully intend to enjoy more lovely summer days and even write blogs about them. I have lost the weight and several times before. Thirty-one years ago I lost over thirty-five pounds, before the birth of my son Jonathan because I was almost forty years old then and said I wanted to be around to see him grow to manhood. Jay and his fiancé Lauren are getting married May 22nd. I intend, the Universe willing, to be around to see their children’s children playing on a warm summer day. Take your time kids, there is no rush, we’ve got plenty of time.