August 23, 2026, a thought for today, When it rains soup the poor man has no spoons. Swedish Proverb

Photo in my life yesterday

My first challenge was “favorite color”. I have several “favorite colors”. This image shows some of them. 

The next assignment was “circles”. This is a part of a graffiti on a wall near a Wendy’s that I frequent. 

The last upload “hard work”. I decided to use this image of a heavy duty truck that must be needed for some kind of heavy labor, I’m not sure what is the purpose is but it looks like something very sturdy.

Life today. What a beautiful Sunday morning. The powerful sermon was given in a tone of softness yet holding a message of unseen strength. There was a feeling in the words of our human weaknesses on a journey to complete holiness. The reasons He placed us here and the path to follow was gently touched upon. I’m even more proud to be one of His creations with the gifts He embedded in me to share. 

Today offered another more personal gift to me....a part of my family back in the church I chose (with my Scottish father and Irish mother many many years ago)  and the place some of them have experienced in the past. 

Some of us had lunch at York, another of my temptations, meals out with good food and no prep and clean up on my part. 

The weather is cooperative too. The sun is bright but the temps are comfortable and no rain in sight for the present. 

The rest of the day, being Sunday, it rest and recharge for the coming week. 

It looks like I will be putting off printing this month’s newsletter for at least another week. I will finish it tomorrow. I will send it by email to Hoge members but hard copy will have to wait until the copier has been checked out. 

The word to ponder today is could. I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him. Galileo Galilei. What a blessing it would be if we could open and shut our ears as easily as we open and shut our eyes! Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. For aught that I could ever read, could ever hear by tale or history, the course of true love never did run smooth. William Shakespeare. I think I should have no other mortal wants, if I could always have plenty of music. It seems to infuse strength into my limbs and ideas into my brain. Life seems to go on without effort, when I am filled with music. George Eliot. The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum. Frances Willard. We should conduct ourselves not as if we ought to live for the body, but as if we could not live without it. Seneca. I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn. Henry David Thoreau. The worst thing you can possibly do is worrying and thinking about what you could have done. Georg Christoph Lichtenberg. As if you could kill time without injuring eternity. Henry David Thoreau. If we weren't all so interested in ourselves, life would be so uninteresting we couldn't endure it. Arthur Schopenhauer. Thinking to get at once all the gold the goose could give, he killed it and opened it only to find - nothing. Aesop. You could not step twice into the same river; for other waters are ever flowing on to you. Heraclitus.

Article summary. When I was in nurses training the word empathy came up a lot along with humility. Two words and feelings to consider through our daily lives journey. The title is Empathy can take a toll – but 2 philosophers explain why we should see it as a strength. Emad H. Atiq, Professor of Law and Philosophy, Cornell University. Colin Marshall, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Washington. At theconversation.com. It started by mentioning an answer to question of what motivates certain group of people to support immigration. This question was asked of some very prominent people. The answer, “the culprit was empathy” further saying it is “the fundamental weakness of Western civilization.” The article went on to say that empathy can “make people weaker” like in a burnout of counselors, nurses and surgeons. It says these people “devote” their lives to helping others in their feelings to show empathy to the point it “wears them down, making it harder to do their jobs”. Then it takes a bit of a turn. They say “at the core” empathy is a form of “mental strength” which helps them to understand the result of their actions. It says that the word empathy became a form of speech in the 1890s and was related to words like “pity,” “sympathy” and “compassion.”. The word pity gave off negative feelings. It lead to keeping people from “living the good life.” It seems the word empathy has much the same feel to pity.  It explained that it a loved one is pain you “feel” it too, it is different that empathizing with it. That seems to by why explaining empathy is “difficult to bear precisely because being in pain is difficult to bear”. So understanding empathy with a knowledge base can give credit to “appreciating empathy”. One philosopher and person of study says that “experience delivers a special kind of knowledge of things that can’t be reduced to knowledge of facts. To further explain that statement some of our come senses like seeing and heard leads something called “knowledge by acquaintance.”Boiling thing down the article made a statement that “through experiential simulation of another’s feelings, empathy affords us a rich grasp of the distress that others feel.”  It allows us to understand another’s “experiences and emotions”. In coming to a close it is mentioned that it take courage to see other problems. On the other hand not empathizing may come from “a fear of knowledge. As it ends it more or less goes back to the begining of the article mentioning immigration and understanding what is at stake“we need to ask ourselves “what policies we would favor if we were empathically acquainted with, and so fully informed of, the plight of others.”

Since there was a family dinner at York there will be “snacks” for supper. 

Photos in my life today

The first challenge today is “square”. Sue has a square that we have not decided what would be best mounted in the frames. So I am using it as my prop along with one of the roses in the current bouquet store bought bouquet. 

The second upload is a “colorful pattern”. Ths is one of the four weather related crochets lap blankets I made a few years ago. 

The last assignment “soft or peaceful”. This is Bobbi, my most precious furry
friend right now one of her favorite poses. She is both soft and at the moment peaceful. I think I have gotten more positive comments on this photo than I have any other. 

Joy 

the bonus is one of my floral uploads the a Fine Art America contest

ant to shop? Visit: fineartamerica.com search for joy rector click on “view shop”  and redbubble.com search for jarector (and take a look at flickr.com search for rectorjoyce)