first

She was the first to hit the piñata at the wedding.

It didn't break.

love thursday 04.29.10 ~ thursday

Holly Golightly: Thursday! It can't be! It's too gruesome!

Paul Varjak: What's so gruesome about Thursday?

Holly Golightly: Nothing, except I can never remember when it's coming up.

~ from Breakfast at Tiffany's ~

Not enough has been made of Thursday. Forgotten day. However, I kinda like it. Hump Day is past and now we're on the downhill slide to the weekend. Tomorrow's Friday and I love Friday. So what's not to love about Thursday? It's full of anticipation for the next three days to come.

Ah, yes.

savor

If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.

~ E.B. White ~

I'm into savoring these days...

...being outside

...topless rides in the evening

...looking for new bamboo shoots

...finding new bamboo shoots

...taking care of the garden

...going for walks

...checking things off the to do list

...enjoying good food and drink

...talking to neighbors

...playing with the orange boys

...combing Misi (the old girl kitty)

...sleeping in

...

husbandry

While the heavens continue to tell the glory of God, the firmament today also proclaims sonic nefarious human handiwork -- smog, acid rain, an immense hole in the ozone layer.

~ William Sloane Coffin ~

from his sermon "A Passion for the Possible: A Message to U.S. Churches"

Dominion...not domination.

repentance

Repentance is the doorway to the spiritual life, the only way to begin. It is also the path itself, the only way to continue. Anything else is foolishness and self-delusion. Only repentance is both brute-honest enough, and joyous enough, to bring us all the way home.

~ Frederica Mathewes-Green ~

from her essay, "Both Door and Path"

Just the word, no doubt, riles the imaginations in some people. Repentence, however, is more than "mea culpa" and flagellation.

It requires "brute-honest" self-awareness so that we can see when we miss the mark and when we are on the path. It is about staying current. It requires staying present in now. It takes a willingness to self-correct and make amends when necessary.

The path to "joyous" living.

you rock

I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to live the width of it as well.

~ Diane Ackerman ~

for those of you going through orange boy withdrawal

earth day

We need to consider how our actions, in affecting the environment, are likely to affect others. This is often difficult to judge; but it is clear that we are the only species with the power to destroy the earth. Birds and insects have no such power, nor does any other mammal. Yet if we have the capacity to destroy the earth, we also have the capacity to protect it. I believe we have an urgent responsibility to do so.

~ HH Dalai Lama ~

I'm a day late...but here's the thing. When it comes to the saving the planet, every day is Earth Day. We can't expect to fix what ails the relationship we have with Mother Earth on one day of the year.

So this is just a reminder (to me, too)...every day must be Earth Day.

love thursday 04.22.10 ~ provoke

Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds.

~ Hebrews 10:24 ~

Sisters and brothers, if you are going to go around provoking me, at least provoke me in the right direction. And I'll try to do the same for you.

Happy Love Thursday!

serendipity

If you really want to be powerful, if you really want to be influential, then just serve.

~ Rev. Willie Barrow ~

civil rights activist
who earned the nickname
"Little Warrior"

SO and I drove across the river today for an appointment in Vancouver. While I was waiting, I went to Tully's, sat at a table facing the door and near a plug-in to work on my upcoming interview with Se'lah over at Necessary Room. (Stay tuned....)

Happily typing away, I looked up as a woman walked in. We smiled at each other as our eyes met. Then we both did a double take. Deb from Catbird Scout just walked through the door of the same coffee shop I was sitting in.

I see her face every day I go to her blog to read so I am not surprised I recognized her. She has met me exactly once. We talked like we do it every day.

Thanks, Deb. I needed that.

annoyed

(dusk at my house)

Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you.

~ Mother Teresa ~

Yeah, Mother T. That would be me.

In keeping with the theme of not being self-forgetting, let me tell you what I know right now: I. Am. Annoyed.

I am annoyed with...
...incompetence
...obliviousness
...lack of professionalism
...lack of compassion
...lack of empathy
...lack of money
...hunger
...hatred
...poverty
...rigidity
...bigotry
...ignorance
...pain
...crankiness
...stuckness

My own and others'.

latest lesson

It seems that when some people talk of compassion, they have the notion that it entails a total disregard or even a sacrificing of one’s own interests. This is not the case. In fact, genuine love should first be directed at oneself – if we do not love ourselves, how can we love others?

~ HH Dalai Lama ~

This seems to be my latest lesson. Service without self-forgetting. That's a challenge for an enneagram 8.

I must say...I like it.

a day for me

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everyone else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight - but never stop fighting!

~ e.e. cummings ~

Today, I am doing only what I want to do. All. Day. Long.

You?

what if it were someone you loved?

(one step at a t ime)

I can't remember much about the years of physical and emotional abuse my brother, Eamon, suffered. The thing I do remember though, quite literally, is blood on his school shirt when he came home in the afternoon. The beatings and taunting were very frequent for him and a constant part of his school years.

Intolerance is not genetically encoded—it is taught. It is learned at home. It is learned in the classrooms and it is learned anywhere else we gather as a group. Bullying is torture, it is another betrayal of basic human decency and its scars reach into the future of its survivors.

~ Colin Farrell ~

President Obama ordered hospitals to allow same sex partners access to their beloved who are in in-patient treatment. How many good reasons can you think of for that happening?

Let's see...

...common humanity

...basic decency

...why not?

...and good medicine

That's right. What medical personnel don't know that people heal better and faster when surrounded by those they love? (That doesn't even bring into play the issue of stress impeding healing due to separation and no access.) And if those personnel don't know it--they have no business being in the profession (in my not so humble opinion).

A basic human right is now on the books. Thanks, Barry.

taxes

Taxes create the kind of community that I want to live in.

~ Rev. Jennifer Hope Kottler ~

from her commentary, "You Get What You Pay For,"
in the April issue of Sojourners

Taxes. Most of us complain about them at one time or another. I know I have. However, my tune has changed in recent years.

Ask anyone who lives (or has lived) in a country where there is no infrastructure how they feel about paying their taxes. If they now live here, chances are they will tell you that they love what they get for paying them.

Roads. Police. Fire departments. Libraries. Schools. Clean water and sewers..to name a few of the basics.

I was lucky enough to be born here. Now I choose to live here. Is it the best place on earth? Probably not, but there are a lot of places I would rather NOT live, and some of those reasons are the differences we get when we pay taxes.

I can't guarantee that I will never again complain about paying taxes. If you ask me about it, though, my complaint will likely have a lot more to do with my lack of planning than with my feeling that paying taxes is unfair.

I agree with Rev. Kottler...and Oliver Wendell Holmes:

Taxes are the price we pay for civilization.

~ Oliver Wendell Holmes ~

love thursday 04.15.10 ~ homeopathy

Romantic love is blind to everything except what is lovable and lovely, but Christ's love sees us with terrible clarity and sees us whole. Christ's love so wishes our joy that it is ruthless against everything in us that diminishes our joy. The worst sentence Love can pass is that we behold the suffering that Love has endured for our sake, and that is also our acquittal. The justice and mercy of the judge are ultimately one.

~ Frederick Buechner ~

American theologian and writer

Are any of you fans of homeopathy?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, homeopathy is a form of "informational medicine" (some would say "energy medicine"). I like to think of it as "the hair of the dog that bit you". Most often it is referred to as "the law of similars".

What that means is that a substance that is taken in its undiluted form can cause certain symptoms, yet when that same substance is prepared homeopathically by a series of dilutions and succussions, it can remedy the same symptoms that the whole substance effects.

The example I like to use is Ipecac. Most people are familiar with the use of Ipecac to induce vomiting. While it sounds unpleasant, it can be very useful in its undiluted form when someone has ingested a noxious substance that needs to be expelled. Homeopathic Ipecac, on the other hand, can be administered when someone is vomiting (with the flu or other illness) so that they can hold food and water down and take in the nourishment they need to get well.

(This is only one of thousands of examples. If you find it interesting, I encourage you to do some reading and research.)

I share this information with you for three reasons...

One: You might not know about it and homeopathy could be just the thing you've been looking for.

Two: I saw my doc yesterday and he gave me some remedies that have helped me tremendously. Look--I've even found some words. I have more energy and the overwhelm is dissipating.

Three: This is one more example to me of how, in the Divine creation, we are given what we need--both individually and globally. Being able to use what we have to cure what ails us.

Love. In action. From the Source.

all is well

When despair for the world grows in me ... I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

~ Wendell Berry ~

from his poem "The Peace of Wild Things"

In the midst of my overwhelm, I have been seeking and finding grace (my word for the year).

I "consider the lilies of the field".

I "walk by faith, not by sight" and in that faith find "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen".

And all is well.

overwhelm

The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing ... not healing, not curing ... that is a friend who cares.

~ Henri J.M. Nouwen ~

from his book Out of Solitude

I'm sorry I've been out of touch. Keeping up with blogs and email--people--has been a bit beyond me lately. I do make it around to read you all--just not every day, like I prefer to do. Sometimes I just don't have anything to say so I haven't been leaving comments. To those of you who have been stopping by here and leaving words--thanks.

Keeping up with my own blog has been a challenge, too. I've chosen to post daily as an exercise in faithfulness and discipline. Some days (you have probably noticed) I haven't had much to say here either. Again, thanks to you who continue to come and leave words.

Overwhelm tends to be an occasional visitor for me. I don't live my life there. I do try to keep up and manage to do so much of the time.

I'll be back. I'll be back at your places and I'll be back here again soon. In the meantime, thanks for hanging out with me. I really appreciate your company.

happy birthday, beverly cleary!

(does anyone remember mr picky-picky?)

I grew up before there were strict leash laws.

~ Beverly Cleary ~

For some reason that quote struck me as funny. It's true. I grew up before there were strict leash laws, too. Now, unfortunately, the leash laws are important for the animals' safety from us and our traffic more than anything.

I loved reading Beverly Cleary's books growing up. All of them--even (or maybe especially) the pre-Ramona books. I may have missed some of her later ones. Perhaps I'll go to the library and catch up.

Ramona grew up on Klickitat Street here in Portland. I loved reading about someone who lived in my part of the world. Beverly Cleary grew up in Yamhill. I could / can relate to these places.

Happy birthday, Beverly Cleary! Thank you for all the joy you have brought to so many of us--children and post-children alike.

imagination

Your imagination is the preview to life's coming attractions.

~ Albert Einstein ~

You all know what I imagine this to mean.

I continue to see the repeating numbers. On license plates...clocks...odometers. They bring me comfort and remind me of my faith--what I believe in.

Imagination and faith have something in common. Neither is empirical. Both are of the unseen world--not yet brought into the reality of the 3D world.

I can have faith in my imagination. I can imagine the future because of my faith.

Today both are necessary and they sustain each other...and me.

What are you imagining today? Do you have faith in that?

farewell, ron

The death of a beloved is an event that rings and rings through a life: bearing it is not a problem to be solved, but a long, slow piece of music to listen to. And mourning, like music, is best listened to with others.

~ Sarah Miles ~

My sister came to Oregon last week. That's the good news. The bad news is that she came because her brother-in-law...the trickster...died on April 1st. (That's right--April Fools Day!)

Today, everyone is gathering to remember Ron and say their farewells.

Rest well, Ron. You will be missed.

stop

Stop for one whole day every week, and you will remember what it means to be created in the image of God, who rested on the seventh day not from weariness but from complete freedom. The clear promise is that those who rest like God find themselves free like God, no longer slaves to the thousand compulsions that send others rushing toward their graves.

~ Barbara Brown Taylor ~

from her book Leaving Church

Today I will be resting. Up at o'dawn hundred to make an airport run and then a foot doctor appointment and procedure. I won't be moving around much today.

Interesting to think of rest as a characteristic of the Divine. I am going to have to meditate on this:

rest = freedom

Tell me your thoughts.

love thursday 04.08.10 ~ love and power

When love rules, power disappears. When power rules, love disappears.

(from Paulo Coehlo's Facebook page)

Happy Love Thursday!

ordinary wednesday

Over and above all movements for social justice is God's movement, [which is] the creative origin of any movement toward human liberation and solidarity.

~ Charles Marsh ~

I'm sitting here looking out the window at the lightening sky, thinking about this statement. Today--I wonder--will I be able to do my part toward "human liberation and solidarity"?

Or will I continue the cranky theme that has been running through my head?

I am conscious today of the need for oneness. May I live up to the challenge.

humor

Humor is the foundation of reconciliation.

~ St. Francis de Sales ~

I'm headed to Tillamook again today. My sister is in town and we are going to meet at my mom's place. I'm going to go have some laughs. We do that well.

beatitudes

Even when they call us mad, when they call us subversives and communists and all the epithets they put on us, we know we only preach the subversive witness of the Beatitudes, which have turned everything upside down.

~ Archbishop Oscar Romero ~

an advocate for the poor and marginalized,
who was assassinated thirty years ago
while giving Mass in El Salvador

"...the subversive witness of the Beatitudes, which have turned everything upside down."

Love it.

On Easter, SO and I were talking about the significance of the crucifixion and resurrection. There is so much more to the message than just the obvious. Everything turned upside down.

God said, "Enough. Enough blood sacrifice. Love trumps everything. Look...I'll show you." Jesus's life up to that point gave us all the instruction we need.

Blessed are...
...the poor in spirit
...they who mourn
...the meek
...they who hunger and thirst for righteousness
...the merciful
...the pure of heart
...the peacemakers
...they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.

I guess it is time for me to get over myself and be...blessed.

Easter

Jesus models a new kind of authority, a servant-leadership that ministers to the members rather than waits to be served by them. He does what, in that culture, slaves did: He, the Lord, washes the feet of the community.

~ Joan Chittister ~

from her book The Liturgical Year

Just something to think about.

Happy Easter!

One Love.

the answer is love

Okay...so they can't spell "Helen"--maybe that isn't the most important thing here.

56

(me at the wedding. so likes the shape of my head with this cut.)

I was going to write a long post today. I didn't.

Yesterday I spent the day with my mom and got home late in the evening. This morning I have been answering the phone and answering messages (thanks for all the good wishes!) so I haven't had time to write.

Today is massage day. YES! The longer post will just have to wait.

(Did I mention it's my birthday?)

Happy Friday!...Good Friday.

love thursday 04.01.10 ~ relation

Relational care, rather than ... the miraculous suspension of the laws of cause and effect, is the sign and medium of God's power within the world ... God's love and ours in its image, is unlimited and omnipotent in that it is experienced as all-conquering love by those who love and are loved absolutely, even if its effect is not one of victorious deliverance. God's power is invested in the power of interpersonal and social relation to mediate its blessing.

~ Melissa Raphael ~

on finding God in the midst of suffering,
from her book The Female Face of God in Auschwitz

We are God's love to each other.

I forgot that today while I was being cranky. Everything piled up and got to me. My ability to deal with stress and what I perceived as "the incompetence" of others hit a low.

It takes a lot of energy to be cranky. It also takes a lot to try not to be when I am.

Somehow...by grace...before the day was over, I was able to find smooth waters again. Maybe I didn't show the face of love, but at least I stopped honking and cranking at others. For a moment, I could stand in someone else's shoes. For a moment, being in relation mattered.

And there is God.

Happy Love Thursday.