Daily Card Reading for Sunday, March 15th

THINKER

THINKER

Essential meanings: Strategy; being analytical and logical.

Protection message: You might be suffering from analysis paralysis. Thinking has its place, but trying to figure everything out in a logical manner is not going to work right now. Your conclusions will likely be faulty, and you may act upon false concepts that will get you in a jam. Give your mind a rest. Do something creative, exercise, or meditate. Soon you’ll come to your senses and an “Aha” moment will bring new clarity.

Daily Readings for Sunday, March 15th

Meditation for the Day

I must remember that in spiritual matters I am only an instrument. It is not mine to decide how or when I am to act. God plans all spiritual matters. It is up to me to make myself fit to do God’s work. All that hinders my spiritual activity must be eliminated. I can depend on God for all the strength I need to overcome those faults that are blocks. I must keep myself fit, so that God can use me as a channel for His spirit.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that my selfishness may not hinder my progress in spiritual matters. I pray that I may be a good instrument for God to work with.

From Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Removing the Victim

Don’t others see how much I’m hurting? Can’t they see I need help? Don’t they care?

The issue is not whether others see or care. The issue is whether we see and care about ourselves. Often, when we are pointing a finger at others, waiting for them to have compassion for us, its because we have not fully accepted our pain. We have not yet reached that point of caring about ourselves. We are hoping for awareness in another that we have not yet had.

It is our job to have compassion for ourselves. When we do, we have taken the first step toward removing ourselves as victims. We are on the way to self-responsibility, self-care, and change.

Today, I will not wait for others to see and care; I will take responsibility for being aware of my pain and problems, and caring about myself.

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie 

That Sure Escalated Quickly

The current state of affairs with the Coronavirus has changed greatly over the past couple of days. It’s obvious that the threat of the virus spreading over large areas is causing extra steps of precaution to be taken.

On Friday of last week, it was announced that the local school systems were cancelling all plans for after-school and extracurricular activities. A workday on Friday the 13th and Monday the 16th were already a part of the schedule. A meeting for school faculties had been planned during the workday on Monday to discuss how classes would carry forward when the students returned on Tuesday.

Today, Saturday the 14th, the governor has announced that all schools in North Carolina will be closed until the end of the month. School system leaders will be in a video conference with the governor tomorrow afternoon and further information will be shared at that time.

Local businesses are also taking measure to ensure customer safety. At the local Barnes and Noble, many of the chairs and tables are being removed to ensure that cafe patrons are a safe distance apart from one another. All food and drink items are being dispensed in disposable containers.

I jokingly asked the Dollar General manager where I could find the toilet paper and she quickly replied that they didn’t have any. I assured her that I was just joking when I asked the question.

On a personal level, I will now have two weeks off from work (at least). I don’t know what, if any, modifications will be required of us for online, at-home instruction, if indeed that is even a viable option. I know for myself, I will need to make some sort of plan of action to make sure I use the time to its fullest extent. I did make a visit to the Dollar General tonight to pick up some food and other supplies.

So once again, things have escalated quickly. And who knows how much more extensive or how much longer these precautions will have to be in place. Definitely one for the books, to be shared for many generations to come.

David Lee

Stoic Daily Quote for Saturday, March 14th

“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own…” — Epictetus, Discourses, 2.5.4–5