My Grand-dog Sampson

From our visit to Austin last weekend with son DC and his wife AA, here are pictures of their sweet dog Sampson:

Sampson with MJ

When we were leaving, Sampson tried to climb into our car.

Sampson will visit us for Easter as will our energetic grand-dog Troy from Houston with their dads and Sampson's mom. Sadly, our cocker grand-dog Morgan will stay in Seattle with her two moms. Pictures of the three grand-dogs are here.

Start a blog!

Cartoon by David Horsey (thanks to my daughter's info)

Thanks to Ellie at Child of Illusion for this cartoon.

Dancing the Boogie

And for another happy song with dancing in a train station, go here, sponsored by Choralgirl!

Happy April 1st!

Salvation

By what are you saved? And how?
Saved like a bit of string,
tucked away in a drawer?
Saved like a child rushed from
a burning building, already
singed and coughing smoke?
Or are you salvaged
like a car part -- the one good door
when the rest is wrecked?

Do you believe me when I say
you are neither salvaged nor saved,
but salved, anointed by gentle hands
where you are most tender?
Haven't you seen
the way snow curls down
like a fresh sheet, how it
covers everything,
makes everything
beautiful, without exception?

by Lynn Ungar

Spread the Word to End the Word

Dave at The Quaker Agitator brought this movement, especially for today, to my attention. I remember that being a nasty label when I was young and have not been so aware of it as I aged. But I definitely believe RETARD is word that is hurtful and harmful.

Stand up and tell anyone who says it that you don't like such talk!

Go to Special Olympics to learn more.

Saturday in Austin

When we got to son DC and daughter-in-law AA's house in Austin, we soon went off to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. We've gone to several weddings there, but never toured the park in the daytime. This was a wonderful day to be outside, looking at all the plants!
Of course, cactus is native to Texas! Besides the cacti, we saw the first bluebonnets of the season. Due to the lack of rain, there were none all the way from Corpus Christi north to Austin. Finally, in Austin we saw some, as you can see below:

Son DC and wife AA

MJ

And there was an exhibit of Paper Sculpture Art by Shou Ping. Beautiful!

And here are CB and me, still at the Wildflower Center.

After this we drove to northwest Austin to see the construction project DC is working at. It was nice to see bluebonnets blooming along the roads up there. He is an assistant construction supervisor at a large apartment complex being built there. To give you an idea what they look like, here is a picture of one he previously worked at:

After all this driving around, we went to the Oasis Restaurant on Lake Travis, which is built on a cliff overlooking Lake Travis. A fire destroyed much of this landmark restaurant in 2005 when lightning struck one of the decks and started the blaze. It was rebuilt so that it has more than 40 decks and can accommodate 2,ooo people at the same time. The view was gorgeous and is especially sought after for sunsets. (The food was only okay.)

DC and AA planned a full day for us, and we enjoyed being with them and seeing so much of Austin.

Trinity University on Saturday

Here are MJ and her dad CB after the awards ceremony at Trinity University. The group of top 15 freshmen and sophomores came up and were given all together their awards, while those getting scholarships and such honors were called up individually. It was interesting to hear about all the other students, and, of course, we were proud of MJ when she was up there with the other students.

After that, we drove to Austin, stopping beforehand at the Outlet Malls at San Marcos. MJ's big brother DC was working until noon, so we were "stalling" for time. MJ found a cute swimsuit that was 80% off the original price--what a good deal!

This weekend

We are getting up early in the morning so that we can get to San Antonio in time for an awards service at Trinity University. Our youngest daughter MJ is receiving one for being one of the top fifteen freshmen for fall semester, her very first term of college!

Then she is going with her dad and me to Austin to visit her oldest brother DC and his wife AA.

Prayer according to Nouwen

"Prayer leads you to see new paths and to hear new melodies in the air. Prayer is the breath of your life which gives you freedom to go and stay where you wish and to find the many signs which point out the way to a new land. Praying is not simply some necessary compartment in the daily schedule of a Christian or a source of support in time of need, nor is it restricted to Sunday morning, or as a frame to surround mealtimes. Praying is living."

Henri Nouwen, With Open Hands, p. 157

Thanks to Roberta for this beautiful quote.

Friday Five: Blogroll Spotlight

Mary Beth writes for RevGalBlogPals:

On my blog sidebar is a list titled, "Blogs I Read Every Day." After my mother became a blogger, she asked me how I could possibly read that many blogs daily!? I had to confess it then: Okay, I don't read them all every day! I have over 100 on there! But I have favorites, and you do too.
Some of you probably use feed readers to let you know when your favorite bloggers have posted...not me, not yet. I just have folks who are part of my day-to-day.

So for today's Friday Five, give us five blogs you visit regularly, and tell us briefly WHY you like them. These can be RevGal and Pal bloggers and others ... or news sites, knitting sites, etc. Who are you showing the love to on a pretty constant basis?

Hopefully we will all get to know some new bloggy friends this way!

First off, I have a shortcut by having some of my favorite bloggers on my "reading list," which shows up with brief recaps on their newest posts when I go to my dashboard. (I follow them.) So that means I don't look every day, because some don't post each day.

There are too many I like to visit, but these are my most regular stops:

1. Fran at FranIAm: Fran is one of the most prolific bloggers I know who incorporates humor, faith, current events, politics, and outrage into her various posts. It's usually a surprise to see what she has most recently posted.

2. Ellie at any of her three blogs: Child of Illusion, Does Not Wisdom Call?, and Meditation Matters: Each blog highlights thoughts to ponder, though the first tends to be more political. I always find a quote, poem, or image (and great political cartoons!) that stop me and get me to think.

3. Diane Walker at Contemplative Photographer: Diane is just what her blog title says--one who meditates upon her photography, combined with what is going in her life, in the world, and thoughts about God. She also writes poetry.

4. Katherine at Meaning and Authenticity: Katherine is the friend who got me started blogging almost two years ago. Before blogging, I knew her to be seeking her blog title, and she continues to share her thoughts in profound ways--about faith, politics, and life. I always look forward to her next post.

5. Dave at The Quaker Agitator: Dave is one who often posts more than once a day, and I am always eager to see his next one. I admire his desire to live out his Quaker faith in teaching and all areas of his life. He has regular features such as "peace bloggers," "focus on Darfur," and articles on politics that I would not see down here in south TX if it were not for him.

Lending Libraries

With thanks to Center for American Progress for this cartoon by Bob and Tom Thaves.

And thanks to all who helped me decide on the next book for the Wisdom Class: The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millennium by Walter Wink. That's the one that kept coming into my mind over the past year. The others are good books, so maybe sometime in the future. . . .

And about libraries, I am thinking that I will donate some new, barely read to our local library, which needs all the help it can get.

Which book, which one??

It would be most helpful if I could choose the next book for the weekly book study I facilitate, The Wisdom Class, tomorrow. We won't start it until after Easter, but news of it could go into the April church newsletter IF I decide by tomorrow! I always work better with deadlines, so now I definitely have one.

The current book we've been reading, which was chosen under some duress, is The Shack. The book before this was The Awakened Heart by Gerald May.

I am considering these three books, and I would appreciate any encouragement or discouragement about any of these:

1. The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millennium by Walter Wink

2. Welcome to the Wisdom of the World and its meaning for you:Universal Spiritual Insights Distilled from Five Religious Traditions by Joan Chittister

3. The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind--A New Perspective on Christ and His Message by Cynthia Bourgeault
To refresh my memory, I plan to read the first chapter of each book tonight to help me make the decision.

What do you think?

Do you know your states?

This is a geography quiz, which I did not do too well on. My husband scored 89% correct. Do you know where the states go in a USA map?

Know your States

Favorite childhood books?

When I was an older elementary school student, I loved reading and re-reading Homer Price by Robert McCloskey, who also wrote and illustrated such classics as Make Way for Ducklings, Blueberries for Sal, and One Morning in Maine. My children and I loved reading those last three picture books, but they never liked Homer Price. I guess it's outdated, but I still vividly recall the malfunctioning doughnut machine:
What were your favorite books when you were young?

My favorite book of all that I read and re-read innumerable times was Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I was determined to read it in third grade, because a fourth grader in our 3-4 grades combination class told me I wasn't "old enough" to read it! I fell in love with the characters, especially Beth, whom my oldest daughter detested. In fact, AE could never understand why I had liked the book so much. It is dated, too, especially about roles of women, though Louisa May Alcott was ahead of her time in portraying Jo.

When I was reading these books around 1960, there was not the plethora of young people's books being published. (We baby boomers hadn't had all of our children yet!) We did not own too many books and used the public library much more frequently than nowadays.

Did you like any series of books?

I liked the Hardy Boys better than Nancy Drew books, which many of my friends liked. (Daughter MJ enjoyed Nancy Drew much more than I ever did. AE liked the Anne of Green Gables books.) I also liked Cherry Ames nursing stories. I remember being confused when these types of books were not allowed on library shelves!

My cousin Margaret from Canada sent me books as presents and usually they were by Enid Blyton. I especially liked the Famous Five series. My (American) friends never knew about these books, except from me, because they were British books.

So, if you have the time, why don't you blog (or comment here) about the books you liked in your youth?

Think outside the box

Non-Duality Cartoons

"The Daily Me"

Paper newspapers are disappearing, but what has hit me deeper than I would have expected is the demise of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. I had thought that Seattle no longer has a daily newspaper, but if you read the comments on this post, you will see that there is still one printing. At least the P-I is going to "publish" online. The P-I is the largest daily newspaper in the United States to make the leap entirely online.

I like reading our daily newspaper, even though it is getting thinner and thinner. There's not much there, except for two pages of comics!

In that same newspaper I found an editorial from March 19 (though published here two days later) by Nicholas Kristof, which addresses this phenomenon of printed newspapers disappearing and more dependence upon internet news growing. He writes:

"When we go online, each of us is our own editor, our own gatekeeper. We select the kind of news and opinions that we care most about.

"Nicholas Negroponte of M.I.T. has called this emerging news product The Daily Me. And if that’s the trend, God save us from ourselves.

"That’s because there’s pretty good evidence that we generally don’t truly want good information — but rather information that confirms our prejudices. We may believe intellectually in the clash of opinions, but in practice we like to embed ourselves in the reassuring womb of an echo chamber."

He admits to reading certain blogs and not others for good info. I know I read certain blogs and not others because they appeal to me, so am I also into "The Daily Me"?

Go here to read the rest of his editorial.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And here is the comment my daughter AE wrote. She lives in Seattle and obviously knows more about the newspapers there than I do:

"Seattle had two daily papers. The Seattle Times is still printing, so now we have one. Which is great, considering the Times was the conservative paper that endorsed Dino "I'm-so-slick-you'll-never-see-my-corrupt-tactics-because-I'll-blame-someone-else" Rossi and a number of other conservative papers. Michelle "I'm-an-insane-bitch" Malkin used to write for the Times, which is testament enough to its lack of quality.

"Need any other convincing? When those "foreign, terrorist-looking guys" were riding ferries in the Puget Sound couple years ago and the FBI decided to live up to the Bush administration's stance of "guilty until proven innocent," asking the Times and the Post-Intelligencer to publish their photos in their newspapers and on their websites and ask if anyone had seen them, the Times obediently did so, and the Post-Intelligencer refused.

"The only good paper left in this town is The Stranger, and it's free."

Friday Five: Signs of Hope

Songbird writes for RevGalBlogPals:

In the late, late winter, as the snow begins to recede here in Maine, we begin to look almost desperately for signs of spring, signs of hope that the weather has turned and a new day is on the horizon. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, Easter and Spring twine inextricably, the crocuses and daffodils peeking through the Earth as we await the risen Christ.

Share with us five signs of hope that you can see today or have experienced in the past.

1. New bright green leaves on mesquite trees (here in south TX)
2. Beautiful spring weather here in Corpus Christi, TX where it feels like a Bellingham, WA summer day--78 degrees F. (Unfortunately, spring here is almost over.)
3. My husband CB asked me to go for a walk last night. As indicated above, the weather is lovely. We need to start exercising more, so this could mark a new beginning.

4. I am sitting in meditation/prayer twice a day. I find this very hopeful, especially as I look forward to these times, which is a new feeling for me.

5. Our new priest, Sandy Casey-Martus, is wonderful! She is challenging us to live in the awareness of God with Jesus as our model. She is the teacher and priest I need.

Green Patch of Facebook

My youngest daughter MJ laughs when she sees how many "older" people like her mother are on Facebook now. She could not believe that our former priest signed up. I have heard that older people have Facebook pages to stay in touch with grandchildren and see pictures of them. I am finding that I am in touch with many bloggers there, some of whom write on Facebook much more frequently than their blogs.

What has become a sort of addiction for me is this Li'l Green Patch accessed through Facebook. Friends send each other plants. When ten friends are sent plants, the giver logs up 1 square foot of Rain Forest land. When visiting friends' garden patches, one can help tend their gardens by such activities as weeding, watering, getting rid of rabbits, or feeding the squirrels. Somehow I have come to enjoy this mindless activity every day, which I rationalize is better than playing solitaire on the computer because at least small portions of the Rain Forest are saved. In fact, as of today, I am tallied with 265 square feet of Rain Forest saved.

"The founders of Li'l Green Patch write:
The (Lil) Green Patch community, working together, was able to save 96,124,167 Sq ft of Rainforest so far! We are very excited about our progress and are confident we can make an even larger impact in the future!

"See the donation here."

I never know what to say on Facebook. I do enjoy seeing the little pictures of blogger friends. I changed my picture to a cute old lady, since my hair is starting to turn white (or is it gray?).

That could be my icon for my blog, except the crossroads is a steady reminder that I can't just sit around and read, but must be making choices and moving in a direction!

By the way, my first Facebook picture icon was this one of me taken in Banff last October:

Everything Is Waiting for You

Your great mistake is to act the drama
as if you were alone. As if life
were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden
transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny
the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,
even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding
out your solo voice You must note
the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things
to come, the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.

Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into
the conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.

-- David Whyte
from Everything is Waiting for You
©2003 Many Rivers Press

Sleep?

Can't go to sleep; don't want to read; don't want to pray. So I am here at the computer. (There's nothing to drink either.)

Self-Discipline

Since I have always been someone who procrastinates, I think that I am a 9 on the Enneagram. With outside deadlines, I always get things done. (However, without them, I'm not so "efficient.") Even in graduate school in the past decade, I could write A papers a few days beforehand. It's a bad way to be, because I don't work to my full potential.

I recently rediscovered this book in my book-laden home: Making a Change for Good: A Guide to Compassionate Self-Discipline by Cheri Huber, who is a Zen teacher and author.
As a sidelight, I thought it was printed in the Papyrus font, which evidently is being used in all sorts of ways, according to my daughter in Seattle. This same daughter informed me that this book does not have the papyrus font; but now I don't know what type of font it is. Obviously, I am confused about the papyrus font, too.

I have a poor attitude about "self-discipline," because I broadly say, "I don't have any." Rationally, I realize I have to have some to survive, but I judge myself as inadequate in finishing some things, like my papers for graduate school, cleaning out years of junk in closets, dieting, etc., etc. So I am now working on a new attitude, which corresponds to my crossroads logo. This book is helping me, especially because it has a 30 day guided "retreat" with journaling at the back of the book.

I need to remember:

"Nothing in life is a matter of 'fault'; no amount of self-discipline will ever give anyone control over life (control is an illusion); happiness does not depend on circumstances; and life is always exactly as it is!" (2)

"...compassionate self-discipline is nothing other than being present rather than engaged in distracted, unfocused, addictive behaviors based in an I-need-to-fix-myself mentality." (4)

"WE DON'T LACK SELF-DISCIPLINE, WE LACK PRESENCE." (4)

The author's advice is to meditate, which goes along with my Lenten practice of sitting with God each day.

Praying today

Give me the strength that waits upon You in silence and peace. Give me humility in which alone is rest, and deliver me from pride which is the heaviest of burdens. And possess my whole heart and soul with the simplicity of love. Occupy my whole life with the one thought and the one desire of love, that I may love not for the sake of merit, not for the sake of perfection, not for the sake of virtue, not for the sake of sanctity, but for You alone. Amen.

~Thomas Merton

New Seeds of Contemplation

From Inward/Outward. Subscribe here.

Well, maybe. . . .

Lint as Lent

From Roberta at Spiritually Directed. . . is this darling story:

WHAT IS LENT?
On the way to All Saints

"Lent Event 2009"a mother

listened to the conversation

between her two children.

One child wondered aloud:

"What is Lent, anyway?"

The sibling responded:

"It's the stuff on your clothes."

taken from here.

What is sticking to you like lint sticks to clothes?

(and you know how I love clotheslines. . . .)

new cell phone

Well, last night we got a big box containing four new cell phones, since we renewed our family plan. The logistics and money involved in a "family plan" are what finally got husband CB to agree to have one about three years ago. He had stubbornly resisted for years, but conceded when AE presented him with a print-out of the "savings" with such a plan.

With last week's mini-crisis over minutes used, CB took the plunge and renewed the plan. Oddly enough, my two daughters and I chose the same phone, without telling each other:
Today I have been learning about it, with MJ's help. I'm grateful that I got the phone while she was still home on spring break.

Since I foolishly never saved the phone numbers on the original SIM card, today I had to type in each and every name and phone number on my list. That is finished now. I just wish I could have gotten the pictures off my old phone and put them on this new one.

What fits?

Nothing to say/write

Turkish Delight

I first learned of Turkish Delight candy when I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. The evil White Witch enticed Edmund with Turkish Delight. It sounded so delicious that I always wanted some, which seemed impossible in the USA. After we moved to Bellingham, WA when I was in high school, I found that Turkish Delight was available in the Hudson-Bay Department Store in Vancouver, BC in the (now) old-fashioned candy counter, where a lady spooned some into a bag from the glass partition holding whichever delicacy was chosen. I loved having the powdered sugar coated cubes of jell.

MJ re-read that fantasy book in the past few years and got it into her head that we would find Turkish Delight when we traveled to Victoria, BC last summer. No. No candy counters in the stores, except for some chocolate shops. Her desire to taste Turkish Delight was squashed.

Then tonight she and I went out to dinner (when the crockpot meal did not finish cooking) and afterwards went to World Market. MJ found some small foil wrapped "bars" that were identified as "Turkish Delight" made by Fry's (or Cadbury's). We bought two, one for each of us.
If this is your favorite candy, I'm sorry to report that neither MJ nor I liked it. Her first taste of Turkish Delight was nothing like I remember. The chocolate overpowered the jelly filling. We were both disappointed.

I do not believe MJ has tasted what true Turkish Delight is. Someday I'll find it for her--perhaps through the internet!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And now looking "Turkish Delight" up on Google, I find that there is even a distributor in Bellingham, WA. What a coincidence. I wonder how to find a delicious kind of this candy?

Lectio Divina

Firmament 7
by Sergio Catsoldi

Our hearts soared as we read and prayed over this selection from Psalm 19:1-4 in today's lectio divina group. Try reading it aloud several times and see what happens!

19:1 The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.

19:2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.

19:3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard;

19:4 yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

Marvellous Error!

Last night, as I was sleeping,
I dreamt--marvellous error!--
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.

~~Antonio Machado,
from Time Alone

Find the entire poem here.

Our call

"So many terrible things happen every day that we start wondering whether the few things we do ourselves make any sense. When people are starving only a few thousand miles away, when wars are raging close to our borders, when countless people in our own cities have no homes to live in, our own activities look futile. Such considerations, however, can paralyse us and depress us.

"Here the word call becomes important. We are not called to save the world, solve all problems, and help all people. But we each have our own unique call, in our families, in our work, in our world. We have to keep asking God to help us see clearly what our call is and to give us the strength to live out that call with trust. Then we will discover that our faithfulness to a small task is the most healing response to the illnesses of our time."

~~Henri Nouwen

From the free daily message found at the Henri Nouwen webpage. Subscribe.

This is what I needed to read this morning as I muddle through my life.

Mad cat!

Mad Cat
by Oliver Polanski

Our cat Gracie is mad at me. She pooped right in front of where I sit and read. She has never done this before. When I am reading is usually when she comes over, purring loudly, to be petted.

What must have precipitated this "punishment" is that yesterday I hit her--spontaneously after she BIT me. I had never hit her before, and she has not bit me for a very long time. It was a shock.

In reality, I am more of a dog person than a cat person. Gracie is supposedly youngest daughter MJ's cat, but Gracie has come to prefer me over anyone else. Maybe because I am the one who feeds her.

Last night when I filled her dish, she did not purr, as she ordinarily does. Today she pooped on the rug.

Now we'll see how long her anger with me lasts. Maybe it's good that MJ is coming home today.

Over the limit

Hope you can read the caption, but if not, he is saying, "I'm just opening the mail--you should see the size of my mobile phone bill!"

I felt like that when I fortuitously checked the minutes on our family cell phone plan today. We were over our limit with 117 extra minutes! That is pretty expensive. CB is not happy.

He, AE, MJ, and I share phones on the family plan. Until Saturday we can only talk to each other, because those calls are free--or wait until 9 pm!

My eldest daughter

This is my second child, AE, who likes to tell me I am sentimental. Yes, I am--especially today because today is her birthday. She is 27.

I am remembering her birth, which abruptly occurred with only my husband in the birthing room. I'll always remember him yelling, "The baby's coming!" I think the nurse and doctor got there in time to help her feet and legs out.

AE is an intelligent, passionate woman who keeps trying new things. She is much braver than I am, being much more like my mother and grandmother who ventured to places where women rarely went. My mother was one of the first women Marines in WWII and my grandmother was a Suffragette.

Happy Birthday, AE!

French Mystics

Today I drove to San Antonio (and back) with a friend to go to the talk given by Dr. Wendy M. Wright on "The French Mystics." This is Year 2 of Christian Mysticism: History, Wisdom and Insights. It is sponsored by both Oblate School of Theology (where I may someday earn my master's degree in Theology) and Contemplative Outreach of San Antonio.


I last heard Wendy Wright speak at one of the sessions of the (two year) Academy for Spiritual Formation sponsored by the Upper Room in 2002. Then, she spoke about Roman Catholicism for five days. What I remember most is an image of a toddler Jesus inside a heart, sweeping it out. I think this was on her talk of "The Sacred Heart." (She even wrote a book entitled Sacred Heart: Gateway to God.) Being a Protestant, this emphasis upon the heart was new to me. I was surprised at how much I treasured the idea of baby Jesus sweeping out my heart! That still echoes within me, I don't know why. I have tried to find a copy of that picture from the middle ages, but have been unable to do so.

Today Dr. Wright whetted my curiosity about the French mystics I know little about. (Though she ended the discussion with Brother Lawrence and Jean Pierre de Caussade, whom I love and admire.)

I'll copy some of my notes for you below and list the main themes in each type of spirituality.

Characteristics of French Schools of Spirituality
1. Christocentric--want to "live" Jesus
--very Marian
2. Personal and ecclesial reform
3. Missionary
4. Male-female partnerships

Salesian Spirituality
Francis de Sales (1567-1622) and Jane de Chantal (1572-1641)
1. Christian humanism
--hearts are made to beat with God's heart's rhythm
2. Matthew 11:29-30
--Live Jesus! (which Francis and Jane wrote at the top of letters)
3. Little virtues such as gentleness, humility and patience
--The disciplines you don't choose are the most profoundly transformative.
4. Two arms of love--for God and neighbors
5. Friendship
--A virtue that changes us and helps us to grow, to make our hearts more generous.
6. Laity

Vincentian Spirituality
Vincent de Paul (1580-1660) and Louise de Marillac (1591-1660)
1. Luke 4: liberating vision of Jesus
2. God is present in our actions
--"God is love; we must come to him by love."
3. The poor
--"The poor are the privileged mediators of salvation"
4. Firm and flexible
--Be firm in your goals, but gentle and flexible in working towards them.
5. Rich and poor--connect through relationships

French (Berullian) School of Spirituality
Pierre de Berulle (1575-1629)
Jean Jacques Olier (1608-1657)
Jean/John Eudes (1601-1680)
1. Abstract mysticism
--influenced by neo-platonic thinking
2. States of Jesus
--enter by prayer into different times of Jesus' life
3. Servitude and Adoration (Nothingness and Grandeur)
--human as nothing; God adoringly Other
4. Clerical reform

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Rosary
Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) and Claude de la Columbiere (1641-1682)
--visions of Jesus asking for devotions to his heart
Louis de Montfort (1673-1716)
--codified and promulgated the Rosary

Later
Jean-Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751
Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (1614-1691)

And she did not have time to discuss the controversies of Jansenism and Quietism.
~~~~~~~~~
Well, if anyone ever reads all these links, it will take a LONG time. I myself need to come back someday to read them.

Friday Five: Hasty Pudding Edition

Songbird helped out by proposing this Friday Five today about pudding.


1) First of all, thumbs up? or thumbs down? Do you like pudding?
2) Instant or cooked? (Does anyone make pudding from scratch?)
Cooked is better, even though I don't like it much either way--except for Creme Brulee, if I can count that!

3) If you had to choose, would you prefer corn pudding or figgy pudding?
Never having had either, I like the "sound" of figgy pudding.

4) Have you ever finger painted with pudding?
Having been both a mother and a primary school teacher, I have painted with pudding.

5) Finally, what is the matter with Mary Jane?
Mary Jane missed her nap today and is in a bad mood!

"Simple Gifts"

This morning at the end of our Renovare Meeting, two friends sang "Simple Gifts." One said she first heard it at the singing time after a Quaker Meeting in Maine. I had forgotten about this beautiful song and its simple, but profound, lyrics.

"Simple Gifts" was written by Elder Joseph Brackett while he was at the Shaker community in Alfred, Maine in 1848. These are the lyrics to his one-verse song:

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,

'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd,

To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come out right.

And here is the Gay Mens Chorus of Los Angeles singing "Simple Gifts":

When We Pray

"When we have prayed prayers long enough, all the words drop away and we begin to live in the presence of God. Then prayer is finally real. When we find ourselves sinking into the world around us with a sense of purpose, an inner light and deep and total trust that whatever happens is right for us, then we have become prayer.

"When we kneel down, we admit the magnitude of God in the universe and our own smallness in the face of it. When we stand with hands raised,we recognize the presence of God in life and our own inner glory because of it. All life is in the hands of God. Even the desire to pray is the grace to pray. The movement to pray is the movement of God in our souls.

"Our ability to pray depends on the power and place of God in our life. We pray because God attracts us and we pray only because God is attracting us. We are not, in other words, even the author of our own prayer life. It is the goodness of God, not any virtue that we have developed on our own, that brings us to the heart of God. And it is with God's help that we seek to go there."

Source: The Monastic Way, collected in In My Own Words by Joan Chittister

From Inward/Outward. Subscribe here.

E-mail problems

Zone Alarm seems to have loaded all sorts of precautionary measures so that it takes many minutes (like five!) to scan my loading email before I can get to the inbox. This just happened with only two messages. I feel like this chicken, yelling "AAUUUGH!!!"

I want immediate gratification, at least with the computer.

Second Class Citizens

By Ann Telnaes

Here is a very interesting article, complete with charts if you so choose to look at them:

A Look at the Benefits Denied Same-Sex Couples by Ben Furnas and Josh Rosenthal

weather

I know in a few weeks when it's HOT here in south TX, I'll be wishing I was in the north, just as I will all summer. However, I must admit that I'm glad I don't have to shovel snow.

Hi. I'm an introvert.

Introvert Bench!

After an unusually busy weekend for me, I am wanting time alone, even skipping a meeting at church today. I acknowledge that I need to "recharge my energy," which I just read about here. The author cited is Marti Olsen, who wrote The Introvert Advantage, which I have not read.

"Introverts have social skills, they like people, and they enjoy some types of socializing… Introverts enjoy one-on-one conversations, but group activities can be overstimulating and drain energy."

Marti Olsen Laney, Psy.D

That pretty much describes me!

Friday night there was a church choir potluck dinner, as husband CB is in the choir, at a member's house. Saturday night there was a company retirees dinner, which is made up of six couples. We were there for four hours before being the first to depart. We're almost always the first to leave (CB is also an introvert) any event, which held true for both dinners. We have a good time--and get tired sooner than everyone else!

I was one of the hostesses of a bridal shower on Saturday afternoon. 35 women came, most of whom I know from my former church (First United Methodist Church). The shower was for the sister of oldest son DC's best friend as they grew up. I was happy to participate and help and enjoyed the time there, but had to leave after three hours so I could get home and make a salad for the dinner that night!

This morning I helped another person teach a class on the Enneagram. This is a Sunday School class that will meet each Sunday in March. Just as with any type of self-reflection, working the Enneagram or spiritual path, I am realizing (again) that we need to accept and not judge as either "good" or "bad" our attributes. The way is awareness, acceptance, action, a teaching from Al-Anon that continues to reverberate in my being.

I do find that I accept myself being an introvert, which actually was the reason I gave the co-chairperson of the committee (that is meeting right now) that I could not attend--that I was "overwhelmed" and needed some time alone. Whew! That is so true.

Here's a funny but true article about introverts by Jonathan Rauch.