Friday Five: Next Five Months

Today's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals is all about summer whizzing by and there only being five more months in this year.

Since I live in hot and humid southern and coastal Texas, I look forward to the coming months. Unfortunately, it does not get any cooler until sometime in October or even in November. I really miss the fall days I grew up with in the north. I used to be an elementary school teacher, and so I associate the beginning of school with autumn--BUT not here!


August:
I am looking forward to August very much with the advent of a family vacation to Washington State. Although my parents died years ago, my husband's parents are still alive in Bellingham. It is exciting to have all our children join us there, along with our first grandchild, whom Great Grandma and Great Grandpa have never met. We are renting a house at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island for one week. Our children have varying times of being with us. The youngest MJ leaves early to start graduate school at the University of Utah.

September:
Classes and life will start up again. I lead a weekly lectio divina group at First United Methodist Church and also facilitate a weekly reading group called the Wisdom Class at All Saints Episcopal Church. I must start organizing the church library at All Saints (again) with renewed vigor.

October:
This is the month that we'll probably get our first cold front this far south to cool things off for a few days. This is also my birthday month; I love birthdays!

November:
More birthdays this month: Our youngest daughter MJ will be 23 and our only grandchild Avery will be 2 years old! Other events to anticipate are our daughters AE and KA visiting from Seattle and later Thanksgving!

December:
Christmas! I love to send Christmas cards and get ready for Christmas by baking lots of cookies, all of which I look forward to. This is also the month when our wedding anniversary is right before Christmas--41 years together this year!

Salt Lake City Library

Salt Lake City Library to the right; City County Building in the center.

This past Sunday MJ and I visited the Salt Lake Library, a six-story building surrounded by gardens with some statues.  I particularly liked the children reading on the lawn. Go here to read more about this amazing library. Part of its description: "Salt Lake City's Main Library, designed by internationally-acclaimed architect Moshe Safdie, embodies the idea that a library is more than a repository of books and computers; it reflects and engages the city's imagination and aspirations. The building, which opened in February 2003, is double the previous space with 240,000 square feet for more than 500,000 books and other materials, and room for the collection to grow. The six-story curving, walkable wall embraces the public plaza, with shops and services at ground level, reading galleries above, and a 300-seat auditorium. A multi-level reading area along the glass lens at the southern facade of the building looks out onto the plaza with stunning views of the city and Wasatch Mountains beyond. A roof-top garden, accessible by walking the crescent wall or the elevators, offers a 360 degree view of the Salt Lake Valley. Spiraling fireplaces on four floors resemble a column of flame from the vantage of 200 East and 400 South. The Urban Room between the library and the crescent wall is a space for all seasons, generously endowed with daylight and open to magnificent views."

Interior of Salt Lake City Library

The books are on the left. To the right on the bottom floor are shops and above right on each floor are meeting or reading rooms.

 

MJ and I walked up all the flights of stairs to the rooftop where we could walk around seeing beautiful views of Salt Lake City. You can see the elevators on the left for those who do not want to walk.

Old card catalog holding greeting cards in the Library Shop

And you who know me, know that I bought cards in this shop. There were wonderful ones related to reading! I will visit here whenever I get to travel to Salt Lake City again.

Introverts/Extroverts

Books, books, books!

I've been reading a lot lately, especially on the trip to and from Salt Lake City. So I thought I'd tell you what I'm reading and have liked.

Dissolution by C. J. Sansom is set in England in the time of Henry VIII. Oddly, I found this mystery series in a link at Wikipedia about Thomas Cromwell after looking him up while reading Wolf Hall on my Kindle. I then left Wolf Hall for later reading and started reading the series by C. J. Sansom by reserving the books at my local library. These mysteries feature the hunchbacked lawyer Matthew Shardlake, who struggles with his disability and how the changing marriages of Henry VIII that affect politicians, politics, and religion. He sometimes works for Thomas Cromwell. I am seeing the chaos that affected all walks of life at the dissolution of monasteries and am learning a lot of history.

Since I read the second book in the series first as it was available at the library when I began reading the series, I just finished the first one Dissolution in Salt Lake City. Now I am ready to start the third one

While in Salt Lake City, MJ and I visited a lovely independent bookstore called "The King's English." It was there that I found Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas as we wandered through the various small rooms of the old building. Like many independent bookstores, they have visiting authors. Sandra Dallas must have visited sometime because I have an autographed copy! I am thinking that this would be an enjoyable book club choice. It takes place in a small town in Colorado during WWII when a Japanese internment camp was located nearby. The story centers around a sugar beet farming family, through the eyes of a 13-year-old girl. It captures a time when fear of the Japanese was rampant, especially as these dust bowl people had never seen Asians before. Her father is a lone voice for reason and equality, and I am not sure what will soon be developing.

I am especially interested in this book because I remember asking my mother about the treatment of Japanese people in the USA after we lived in Japan for three years. I could not understand how that could have happened; she told me how fearful they were on the west coast after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, fearing that the Japanese would invade and/or bomb their coast. I never could understand that attitude, so this book is helping me to get more of the measure of those times.

Last year when I visited MJ in Spain, I read A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness on my Kindle, because I saw it for sale at an exorbitant price in the DFW Airport (so I downloaded it there). I liked it so much that I gave it to my son BJ for his birthday last year, but I don't think he ever read it. How the book ended left the reader knowing there would be another book following it, which I've just received as I had pre-ordered it. The very thick Shadow of Night is sitting on my bedside table, but I have not started it yet.

My friend Nancy recently told me that she had pre-ordered it also but that she couldn't remember the first story. I only recall parts of the story and so may have to go back and skim A Discovery of Witches before I begin reading its sequel.

The Wisdom Class reading group at our church is almost finished discussing Healing the Heart of Democracy by Parker J. Palmer. We continue to have interesting discussions not only about the polarizing politics present in the USA now, but also how to hold different viewpoints in tension instead of jumping to one end or the other. Palmer is excellent about re-educating readers about the meaning of "democracy" and its history in the United States. I needed to learn again about its meaning.

The next book we will read is Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh. We are taking a break until after Labor Day. I was introduced to this classic by Bonnie at Bonnie's Books.

The Way

The Way is Love, whichever way we go.

NOW

Mormon Tabernacle

Was that TODAY?

Believe in hunches

not opinion polls
You are not your name
or your telephone number
At boarding time
don't miss the boat
that has your name on it
It sails only once
Head for the deep
Hold to your course
even if your vision
shipwrecks you

~~James Broughton

"Little Sermons of the Big Joy"

July 14

Notice

This evening, the sturdy Levi's
I wore every day for over a year
& which seemed to the end
in perfect condition,
suddenly tore.
How or why I don't know,
but there it was: a big rip at the crotch.
A month ago my friend Nick
walked off a racquetball court,
showered,
got into his street clothes,
& halfway home collapsed & died.
Take heed, you who read this,
& drop to your knees now & again
like the poet Christopher Smart,
& kiss the earth & be joyful,
& make much of your time,
& be kindly to everyone,
even to those who do not deserve it.
For although you may not believe
it will happen,
you too will one day be gone,
I, whose Levi's ripped at the crotch
for no reason,
assure you that such is the case.
Pass it on.

~ Steve Kowit ~

The Dumbbell Nebula

At Green Acres in Bellingham, WA

 

 

20 years ago today my mother died from pancreatic cancer. She was only 72. I still wish she was around to see how well her grandchildren have grown and to meet her great-granddaughter Avery. 

July 14 is a special day for me. Since her death, I've tried to collect people who have birthdays on this date. So far, I have three friends who do. I like remembering them as  I recall my mother. It has become a sweet day.

Still Blogging????

Salt Lake City

University of Utah in Salt Lake City

Tomorrow (Thursday) MJ and I are flying to Salt Lake City to find her a place to live for graduate school. In the fall she will be at the University of Utah, starting to work towards a PhD. in organic chemistry, just like her father earned long ago at Oregon State University.

I am looking forward to being with MJ and to seeing what Salt Lake City is like. I've never been to Salt Lake City before. MJ visited there some months ago when she was deciding which graduate school to attend.

There is a direct flight to Salt Lake City from San Antonio, so that is how we will be flying to and from SLC. Since MJ is already in San Antonio, I am the one who will drive there tomorrow for our flight departure.

We return on Monday evening. I hope the plane will arrive in time, because I will drive back to Corpus Christi that evening and would like to get home earlier rather than later. It takes more than two hours to drive between the two cities.

Salt Lake City, here we come!

Why Wonder?

Why wonder about the loaves and the fishes?
If you say the right words, the wine expands.
If you say them with love
and the felt ferocity of that love
and the felt necessity of that love,
the fish explode into the many.
Imagine him, speaking,
and don't worry about what is reality,
or what is plain, or what is mysterious.
If you were there, it was all those things.
If you can imagine it, it was all those things.
Eat, drink, be happy.
Accept the miracle.
Accept, too, each spoken word
spoken with love.

~ Mary Oliver ~

(Why I Wake Early)

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More leaves on the mesquite trees!

Friday Five: Grateful Edition

Today's Friday Five is brought  by KathrynZJ for RevGalBlogPals and she asks us to relate five things for which we are grateful:

1 Blogging: .Back in 2009, I did a 26-day series of ABC's of Gratitude which I just perused and remembered with thanks.

It reminds me of my formerly enthusiastic days of blogging, when I would spend hours looking at and commenting on other blogs.  It was fun to have so much interaction with blogging friends, mostly RevGals. That's why I like the weekly Friday Fives, because connection is renewed each week, more like "the old days."

2. Family: I am grateful for my family, especially remembering our first child DC, who was born 33 years ago today.

3. Books: I love books and have too many of them! It has been fun to have a subcategory on Pinterest "About Books."  To go along with JFK's quote about gratitude, here's one from Jacqueline Kennedy that I had stored on Pinterest:

I go off on different trails reading books. I am currently re-reading Patricia Cornwell mysteries beginning with the first one published in 1990, while starting ones that take place in England at the time of Henry VIII by C. J. Sansom. At the same time I am still reading books about Jung and Healing the Heart of Democracy by Parker J. Palmer. I also recently started Wolf Hall on my Kindle, but am now going to save it to read on vacation. Wolf Hall is the reason I started reading C. J. Sansom's mysteries.

4. Vacations: Not quite a vacation, but still a trip, I am going to Salt Lake City next weekend to help MJ find a place to live while she goes to graduate school at the University of Utah. She will start in mid-August.

Our family vacation this year will be to Washington State (as usual) to visit family and friends. All our children and their partners will be with us for part of the week we spend on San Juan Island.

5. Friends: Friends are very important to me. I am lucky to have spiritual friends; book-reading friends; blogging friends; friends from my youth; eating friends; walking friends; WWF friends and the list goes on and on.

IF you have time

"If you have time to chatter,
Read books.

If you have time to read,
Walk into mountain, desert and ocean.

If you have time to walk,
Sing songs and dance.

If you have time to dance,
Sit quietly, you happy, lucky idiot." 

by Nanao Sakaki

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Cartoon for Today

Friday Five: What I Like about Summer in Texas

Floating on Guadalupe River in New Braunfels, TX

Mary Beth brings today Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals:

What are five things that you REALLY REALLY REALLY like about the current season where you live?  

 Summer where I live is my least favorite time in Texas, but it's the longest "season" here, encompassing more than half the year.

The picture to the right of floating on the Guadalupe River is a dreamed-about activity of most south Texans. Unfortunately, our family did not ever do this with our children, because it was foreign to us coming from Washington State. We also were in the mind frame of only vacationing in Washington, where it is much cooler. I'm sorry that we didn't take our children for this activity, except several times to the Schlitterbahn waterpark in New Braunfels.

Okay, I'll try to think of five things I like about summer here:

1. Hanging clothes on the clothesline that dry very quickly.

2. School vacations, though that will not pertain to me as much with our youngest child MJ graduating from college last month. We won't be waiting around for the kid(s) to be free from school.

3. Less formal commitments for teaching and attending church classes.

4. All the fruit and berries available, especially the cherries!

5. My oldest son DC's birthday and husband CB's birthday in July, at the beginning and end of the month.

**The most anticipated part of our summer is to take a trip to Washington State to visit CB's family and our daughters AE and KA. We are going in August!!**

and, for a bonus:

Something you are looking forward to about another season?

I really look forward to the time when cold fronts will push this far south (to the Gulf of Mexico), because they bring cooler temperatures and less humidity. That usually starts happening in October, which is why September is my most hated month in Texas (I grew up where it was coolish when school started in September and that seems "right.") Then we often have "Washington summer" weather occurring in the winter months here, which is why there are so many "Winter Texans."  

Hot, Hotter, Hottest!

It's still only June, but Corpus Christi, TX has broken its record high temperatures for the past three days. Both on Monday and Tuesday, high temperatures were 105 degrees F.! On Monday, that temperature was 6 degrees hotter than the former record high temperature set. Today was another record, though slightly cooler--101 degrees F.. . . . . Even our dogs do not want to be outside in this heat.

(The heat must be throughout the mid-center of the USA, because my husband just told me that it is forecast to be 101 degrees in Chicago tomorrow!)

About a month ago our mesquite trees were radically trimmed. They shaded our driveway, and so the heat seems more intense without their bountiful greenery. You may recall that a bird made its nest in one of them in the spring; look here and you can see how abundantly green mesquite trees usually are. When I was shocked to see the stunted trees, husband CB blithely told me that they would grow back.

And now we are starting to see some leaves sprouting on those bare branches. Shade will eventually return, though probably not for this summer season.

This reminds me of the scripture I used when I was Lay Director for an Emmaus Walk in July 2001:

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.
They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream.
It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green;
In the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit.

Jeremiah 17: 7-8

I chose those verses because of the extreme Texas heat in the summer, when the Walk was scheduled. Those words remind me that we trust in God, despite what we see or experience. Like those bare mesquite branches pictured above, the future holds growth and renewal--all of which was occurring while I could not see it.

As I have written before, the absence of God is actually the presence of God. Reframing my interpretation of reality changes my outlook. Faith in growth/love/God brings me through the arid landscape to glimpses of greenery, which will continue to increase.

Literally, our mesquite trees are helped by our watering them and their familiar habitat of south Texas--and of course, the bright Texas sunshine! I am grateful for this and even more, for our air conditioning in our home!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And at RevGalPrayer Pals: A Place for Prayer today:

"Above all, trust in the slow work of God.  We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.  We would like to skip the intermediate stages.  We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.  And yet, it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability - and that it may take a very long time.  Above all, trust in the slow work of God, our loving vine-dresser."

- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Prayer

O Lord my God,
Teach my heart this day where and how to see you,
Where and how to find you.

You have made me and remade me,
And you have bestowed on me
All the good things I possess,
And still I do not know you.

I have not yet done that
For which I was made.

Teach me to seek you,
For I cannot seek you
Unless you teach me,
Or find you
Unless you show yourself to me.

Let me seek you in my desire,
Let me desire you in my seeking.
Let me find you by loving you,
Let me love you when I find you. 

St. Anselm

With thanks to Blue Eyed Ennis.

Spiritual Progress?

Trying God's Patience on Facebook posts wonderfully inspiring and often funny items. Today she shared a quote by Saint Teresa of Avila that tells about our spiritual journeys:

Look!

Remember that MJ got a new camera for her graduation gift from college? She takes superb pictures with it. We all take many pictures of 19 month old Avery, but we think this is one of the cutest ones that MJ took:

Back Home!

I went to Austin to visit granddaughter Avery and her parents DC and AA this past Wednesday. I had a lot of fun with dad DC and Avery while AA worked at her job in downtown Austin. Then on Friday husband CB came and on Saturday youngest daughter MJ arrived. It was a lovely visit.

MJ took many nice pictures, and the one she took of CB and me is the best one we'd had taken together in years!

Avery loves to read!

Avery at the Store

Poem: Green Figs

Green Figs 
 
I want to live like that little fig tree
that sprouted up at the beach last spring
and spread its leaves over the sandy rock.

All summer its stubborn green fruit
(tiny flowers covered with a soft skin)
ripened and grew in the bright salt spray.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good
and Evil was a fig tree, or so it is said,
but this wild figure was a wanton stray.

I need to live like that crooked tree—
solitary, bittersweet, and utterly free—
that knelt down in the hardest winds

but could not be blasted away.
It kept its eye on the far horizon
and brought honey out of the rock.

~~Edward Hirsch (The Living Fire)

Wishy-Washy Decision Making

For the past week I have been indecisive about going to Austin to visit grandbaby Avery and her parents. Husband CB and I had planned to see them this coming weekend, but I kept wondering if I should go up a few days earlier.

Then when I decided to do that, I dithered about taking a Greyhound bus up there. It would take 5 hours, while it usually takes 3 1/2 hours by car.

I was ready to go on an adventure of taking the bus, because it has been 30 years since I've ridden a bus in America. When I was in college and we lived in Oregon, I would often take buses, just as my mother would to visit us in Corvallis, OR when CB was going to graduate school at Oregon State University.

Realizing that I'd have to transfer buses in San Antonio, CB convinced me to drive our car so I would not attempt to carry my suitcase to the other bus. Now we'll both be driving vehicles to Austin and back, which seems a little ridiculous.

I will arrive in Austin at about the same time the bus will, but I'll have the added bonus of having lunch with daughter MJ in San Antonio. I haven't seen her since she returned from Peru last Friday!

So this will be fun.

Seen the moon lately?

Has the moon been up there
All these nights
And I never noticed?

A whole week with my nose
To the ground, to the grind.

And the beloved faithfully
Returning each evening
As the moon.

Where have I been?
Who has abandoned whom?

~ Gregory Orr ~

(How Beautiful the Beloved)

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Friday Five: Dreams

I have just started studying Jung and dreams with a group of friends. I am hearing about lucid dreaming and imagining, which have opened me up to wondering about dreams in general. So how about wondering with me?

If you want some more info about dreams, go and see Bonnie's Friday Five!

1. Everyone dreams: Do you remember your dreams? How often?
I hardly ever remember my dreams, not even thinking when I wake up that I had any! I've heard that intentionality about remembering will help you to recall those dreams. I haven't done that yet.

2. Did you or do you have a recurring dream? Share it, if you'd like.
As a child, I had recurring a dream about huge cylinders rolling in a factory-like-place and then they all letting lose and rolled and rolled towards me. In later life, I attributed that to the fear of war, as my dad was an active Marine, but I don't know if that fits.

As an adult, I periodically have dreamed about being late.

"Let yourself become living poetry."

3.Have you ever had recurring themes or images in dreams? Examples?
I guess I did that above. I am reading about dreams in connection iwth Jung and am wishing I had those symbols in dreams!


I feel like my dreams usually have family members and friends in them, or that's what I vaguely recall.


4. Do you day dream? About what?
Mostly about my family. Sometimes I visualize past events, feeling like I am actually there.

5. What are your dreams/hopes/goals for the future? 
I wish I could live out Rumi's thought:

"Let yourself become living poetry."

Remembering

Until he died in 2002, my dad called me every year on Flag Day to remind me that it was his mother's birthday. I always knew that. When he used to call, I would find it irritating.

Now, in retrospect, I miss him calling to remind me. His irritating habits seem much sweeter to me now as I remember him.

In ten days, it will be my father's birthday. He would have been 89 years old on June 24. Sadly, I don't know how old my grandmother would be today, except that it would be a greater age than one would expect for living.

It is odd how birth dates stay in our memory banks. I always remember my parents' and this one grandparent's birthdays.

After me, who will remember them?

Perhaps they will be thought of at times, but not on these dates. Photos will help jog memories and stories will, too. Maybe I can grow into a better story-teller for my children and future grandchildren.

MJ at Machu Piccu!

MJ at Machu Piccu--June 12, 2012

Dawn at Maccu Pichu, Peru

Dawn at Maccu Pichu, Peru

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daughter MJ has spent the past three days hiking to Maccu Pichu. The fourth morning is Tuesday morning when they will awaken at 4 am to hike into Maccu Pichu and possibly see the sunrise. Weather conditions are not always ideal in the winter there, so it is unclear whether MJ will see such a view as the one pictured above. However, the scene appears, I am sure it will be beautiful and mystical.

MJ returns to TX on Friday, less than a month since she graduated from college. I can hardly wait to hear about her Peruvian adventures and see her pictures, taken with her new camera that was a family graduation gift to her.

Baby book and "reader"

My granddaughter loves babies, so we sent her a book about kissing the baby. Here she is looking at it. We hope to visit her and her parents soon.

Death, Despair, and Love

My cousin Karen died last month, evidently from ALS. She had been in a nursing home in WA State for the past year, with this diagnosis only coming lately. Closer to me is a dear friend, who has steadily grown weaker due to ALS in the past decade. She shares God, laughter, and friendship with me. 

ALS kills, sometimes quickly and other times, more slowly. Someone spoke these words before dying from ALS:

The coin that pays for ecstasy is always stamped despair. One cannot love empathically until one wanders there.

Jane Krainin
Dictated right before she died of ALS

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Read!

Friday Five: More Randomness!

 Revkjarla brings today's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals:


Our FF today is in honor of spontaneous thinking!
So... See what blows in!

1.  What religion/faith besides yours captures your curiousity and why?
It is hard to isolate, because mysticism in all religions interests me. A fun book that nudged me back into active reading and seeking is the mystery entitled The Breath of God: A Novel of Suspense
by Jeffrey Small. It's a good one to read this summer!

2.  What is the first or most memorable pop song you ever learned as a kid? 
The first song I vividly remember is "The Purple People Eater," because the young Marine who drove the bus liked to sing it while he was driving us elementary kids to a base school at Quantico, VA Marine Base in 1958! I was in second grade and loved that. Here, you can read all the lyrics and read about the song's popularity back then: In 1958 "Purple People Eater" was the #1 song in the USA for six weeks!

3.  If God were a color.....(finish this sentence creatively)
If God were a color, he/she would be all colors but seen as a brilliant and shimmering white encompassing all.

4.  If you were going to make a sandwich right now for lunch, and you magically had all the items you need for it, what would that sandwich be?
Homemade bread with fresh tomatoes and lettuce, avocado spread, and sharp cheddar cheese.

5.  How are you doing?  Really, how are you?
I am on a seesaw, trying to remember "all is well," while buffeted by competing voices about the church library--evidently, being in the conundrum that all libraries (and even book stores) are in right now, complicated by the esthetics of the room and what it should/could be. God keeps reminding me to stay in present moment, always as a beginner.

Bonus:  What are you enjoying/loving right now? 
I am enjoying feeling better, even with a dear friend telling me that I am moving like I used to in conversations--so my shoulder is comfortable again. Having rotator cuff surgery at the beginning of January took more of a toll than I realized until now. Also, meds are keeping RA symptoms at bay.

Blessing like Rain

 

by Kristin Noelle

Church Library Drama

That's a good example of what I've been experiencing at church over discussions of use of the church library and painting it WHAT color!

Our church is on a sprucing up campaign for the arrival of our new priest on July 1st. The library seemed so dark that we thought getting it painted would help, which was spurred on by my dear husband CB saying he would do the painting!! I have belatedly learned of various people feeling ownership of the library, which was illustrated by a friend telling me how a pastor she previously worked for explained that changing  (just) a closet around  in a church was difficult because so many people felt it was their business. So the library is bigger and is used for multi-purposes, thus creating more interested parties than with a closet.

For a few weeks we've been offering colors to choose from, going from yellows to greens and now seemingly ending up with a warmish cream vanilla. It won't be as dramatic as some people wished, but will be more amenable to the present furniture available.

When CB painted the ceiling white last Saturday, he also replaced lightbulbs and cleaned light coverings so that on Sunday we were all surprised at how bright the library suddenly seemed! Once we move these two tall bookcases from in front of some windows, more sunlight will come into the room, too.

Just getting rid of the accumulated video tapes and audio cassette tapes gave us more room. Many parishioners took those off of our hands. It is nice to know that they will be appreciated and not thrown away.

With so much reference work done on the internet these days, we are trying to decide which reference books to retain. Most have not been looked at in years. Time for discernment. . . .

Love

"The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them."

 
--Thomas Merton

Who Am I Kidding?

I've been reading two different books by Regina Sara Ryan: Igniting the Inner Life and Praying Dangerously, both of which are also available in Kindle editions.

I've been struck by the questions asked and points to ponder that cause me to pay more attention right now, and here is something I am thinking about today: WHO AM I KIDDING?

Ryan writes:
"'Who am I kidding?' is the form of self-inquiry that my guru teaches. He instructs me to use it regularly, whether I am stuck in feelings of being unappreciated, or when I'm feeling ecstatic, like I just got nominated for a Pulitzer. Wherever the inquiry leads, I am cautioned to keep asking the question about whatever occurs next, as I watch what happens--within the mind, the body, the emotions. Then, I ask the question again." (169)

"Who am I kidding? is meant to cut through the bullshit of self-justification, blame, self-pity, and demand a look at what's really going on. Such is the process of deepening self-knowledge. This practice builds a genuine inner life. Without a foundation of this degree of self-honesty, there is no chance of having genuine compassion for others."  (171)

Ryan, Regina Sara. Igniting the Inner Life. Prescott, AZ: Hohm Press, 2010.


I need to ask myself "Who am I kidding" more often than just today!

Which 4 Words Are Yours?

This graphic has been making the rounds on Facebook. I was really surprised at the accuracy of its four descriptive words about me; perhaps one chooses the words that one likes internally. But the ones I found are:

• naive
• shy
• peaceful
• patient

This was fun, so why don't you quickly look and see which four words you find. List them in the comments!

Cartoon with U. S. Nuns

My friend Judy shared this with me yesterday. This cartoon speaks on different levels. Think about it!

Friday Five: Summer Edition

Kathrynzg brings today's Friday Five to RevGalBlogPals:

I'm late, I'm late, I'm late for a very important date. . . .but here I am at last!
Here are my five hopes/plans for the summer:

1. Family Vacation: Our family is going to WA State in August. We are so pleased that our children and one grandchild will be with us, especially to see their grandparents (CB's parents) in Bellingham. We will spend one week in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, although not everyone is able to stay the entire week.

2. House Hunting Trip: In mid-July, youngest daughter MJ and I will fly to Salt Lake City to find her a place to rent while going to grad school at the University of Utah. She has to be ready to start in mid-August.

3. Church Library: There is a church-wide cleaning effort in preparation for our new priest's arrival on July 1st. Other volunteers and I have cleaned out the videotapes and audio cassettes, as well as some other items. More is to be done. AND my dear husband CB is going to paint the library for us!

4. Home: Starting to clean out the church library makes me realize that I need to do the same at my house. The starting point will be getting rid of all my audio cassette tapes. I have a big drawer full of cassettes I ordered after retreats and seminars, among many others. Does anyone want some audio cassette tapes?? I'll even mail them to you!

I even saved Raffi tapes from my (now-grown) children's use--for my grandchildren. BUT no one uses old tape players, especially with ipods, etc. around.


5. Texas Heat: I'll stay inside much of the time, even going to an indoor swimming pool at the YWCA to continue my deep water aerobics classes during the weekdays.

Bonus: Right now youngest daughter MJ is in Peru. She will be going to Machu Piccu next week. I wish I could go there, but I'm not physically able to hike in as she and her friends are doing.