Portland, Oregon!

Today we will arrive in Portland, Oregon. Our good friends from Seattle, Terry and Dennis, will meet us at the airport. They will travel with us for the next four nights and days in Oregon.

Our Vacation So Far

Since I am at a desktop Apple computer, I can easily blog. So I will quickly write about our vacation so far:

Las Vegas:

• Chuck and I flew to Las Vegas from San Antonio on Wednesday. We left Corpus Christi at 7 am to get to the airport in time, though we were early enough to buy sandwiches at Whole Foods to eat on the plane.
• Two nights in Las Vegas. We are "foodies" and so loved the restaurants we went to there. The first night we paid more for taxis than for our meal at a faraway spot I found on TripAdvisor called Off the Strip. Fantastic and reasonably priced meals had us wishing we could eat there frequently. 
• The main reason we came to Las Vegas was to see the Cirque de Soleil show of the Beatles Love.  We enjoyed it so much that we would even go to Las Vegas again to see it, and we didn't like the smoke-filled casinos. The show was beyond our expectations--we are Baby Boomers, after all!
• Since Chuck and I don't smoke, gamble or drink (much), Las Vegas is not really "our" town. To get to the elevators to our room, we always had to walk through all the slot machines and smoke. 
• One good thing is I got up early both mornings and walked for an hour along the Strip. It was fun to see all the buildings with few people around.
• I was disappointed by the lack of recycling depositories on the streets, because bottles of water were sold on every street overpass. People were drinking all the time in the heat, and all those plastic bottles were thrown in the trash or on the sidewalks. (On my early morning walks, I observed people cleaning all the streets and sidewalks.)

Salt Lake City:

• We flew here on Friday, with MJ picking us up at the airport. There was the quickest delivery of luggage at the terminal, which impressed us with Salt Lake City.
• MJ was kind about ferrying us around today to the Farmers' Market, the Salt Lake City Library, and to the card stores I love to frequent. 
• We bought fresh nectarines and raspberries that are so flavorful that we are sad to think of the more tasteless fruit we've become accustomed to in the stores in south TX. The raspberries remind me of the ones we picked in my parents' backyard in Bellingham, WA.
• Next to the Salt Lake City Library is The Leonardo Museum, so went and saw their current exhibit from Australia about the 101 most important inventions of the world.  One of the major inventions was the creations of Legos! I noticed that the refrigerator was invented in 1922, which was the year my dad was born; when he was a teenager in Arkansas, he delivered cubes of ice for ice boxes.
• We had a light meal tonight so that we could have dessert! Chuck had molten chocolate cake; MJ and I had salted caramel gelato between toffee chunk cookies with chocolate dunking sauce. That was a dessert worth the calories!!

Prayer is a Life-Decision

"Prayer is a life-decision made and persevered in, not an occasional petitioning of God. In order to be a prayer, as to be a writer, I must be willing to 'put in time,' and that involves decisions that are sometimes hard., but which are good decisions for my prayer life. An example of one such decision involves time itself; simply the decision to set aside time for prayer every day. Such a decision is in the end the most important decision one can make regarding an ongoing conscious relationship with God.

"But like all decisions that become a way of life, the decision to set aside time for God each day must be renewed again and again. Otherwise, after a while prayer time becomes simply a time for 'getting' in one's prayers--another compartment in our life that we try to squeeze God into. Most of the time, in order to really secure a prayer time, you need to go apart to pray. There must be both an outer and an inner movement that is like entering another dimension of time and space. Ultimately, it involves a restructuring of your life in some way in order to enter a contemplative, prayerful space."

Bodo, Murray. Poetry as Prayer: Denise Levertov. Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 2001. 93.

Friday Five: Keep Calm and. . . . .

Revkjarla brings yesterday's Friday Five to RevGalBlogPals:

1.  First, how are you doing? What's going on with you?

This is the fourth day on our vacation. We are in Salt Lake City visiting our youngest daughter MJ and are staying at the wonderful University Guest House, which has easy and speedy internet connections, plus a MAC to write on in the lobby. That is such a nice contrast to the hotel we stayed at in Las Vegas for two days, which said they had wifi, but it never worked for us anywhere in the hotel.

2.  Is there anything you need to Keep Calm and Cowgirl Up for?

I want to keep calm about some recent family disruptions, but can easily get riled up again.

3.  If you were going to make a "Keep Calm and __________" logo for a t-shirt, what would it be?

"Keep Calm and Pray" or "Keep Calm and Breathe"

4.  What are you looking forward to in the next week or so?

Chuck and I will be in Salt Lake City until Monday morning. This is such a clean city that it is a joy to be here after all the smoking, drinking and gambling we saw in most places in Las Vegas. Plus, it's nice to be with MJ and eat out at the great restaurants she is taking us to.

Next week we are spending four days in Oregon with dear friends Terry and Dennis. They are God parents to daughter AE and have been friends for decades. It will be fun to travel with them and see parts of Oregon we once frequented when Chuck went to grad school at Oregon State University way back in the 1970's.

5.  Use the following words in a sentence:     cape, river, dancing, paws, glory

As their capes flapped in the breeze, the dogs waved their paws while dancing in the glory of the sun rising over the river.

Platitudes

Platitudes can seem trite and meaningless. . . or so obvious that an idiot would get it, thus being  "beneath me." I remember going to Al-Anon in the 1990's and feeling that their sayings were "platitudes," until I tried to live them and saw that they helped me. But it was not a speedy process and took my desperate need to change my thinking and behavior to get me to try new ways of reasoning and find out they did help me to grow in a different direction.I had to learn that the only person I can change is myself and not other people, places, and things.

I think people reject religion because they hear platitudes. "God is Love" is what I believe, but it sounds so ordinary that it could appear only as words, with no deeper meaning. I am blessed to sometimes experience that and know the reality, which is why I liked this quote by Aldous Huxley:

I keep learning the truth of that statement, especially though the practice of Lectio Divina each week. Sitting in silence, pondering only a few verses (1-4) of scripture, brings forth greater understanding--often in unexpected ways.

Reflection through thinking, writing, other forms of meditation and art facilitate deepening in knowledge. Finding and taking the time can be difficult, but is well worth the effort to see beyond the superficial meaning of almost anything.

Salt Lake City!

Today we'll fly to Salt Lake City where we will be able to visit youngest daughter MJ, who is going to grad school at the University of Utah. We'll stay Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights there.We are really looking forward to being with MJ!

The US Extrovert Ideal According to "Quiet"

From Quiet by Susan Cain:

"(Dale) Carnegie's (1888-1955) metamorphosis from farmboy to salesman to public-speaking icon is also the store of the rise of the Extrovert Ideal. Carnegie's journey reflected a cultural evolution that reached a tipping point around whom we admire, how we act at job interviews and what we look for in an employee, how we court our mates and raise our children. America had shifted from what the influential cultural historian Warren Susman called a Culture of Character to a Culture of Personality--and opened up a Pandora's Box of personal anxieties from which we would never quite recover.

"In the Culture of Character, the ideal was serious, disciplined, and honorable. What counted was not so much the impression one made in public as how one behaved in private. The word personality didn't exist in English until the eighteenth century, and the idea of 'having a good personality' was not widespread until the twentieth.

"But when they embraced the Culture of Personality, Americans started to focus on how others perceived them. They became captivated by people who were bold and entertaining. 'The social role demanded of all in the new Culture of Personality was that of a performer,' Susman famously wrote. 'Every American was to become a performing self.'" (21)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"One of the most powerful lenses through which to view the transformation from Character to Personality is the self-help tradition in which Dale Carnegie played such a prominent role. Self-help books have always loomed large in the American psyche. . . ." (22)

"But by 1920, popular self-help guides had changed their focus from inner virtue to outer charm--'to know what to say and how to say it,' as one manual put it. 'To create a personality is power,' advised another. 'Try in every way to have a ready command of the manners which make people think "he's a mighty likeable fellow,"' said a third. 'That is the beginning of a reputation for personality.' Success magazine and The Saturday Evening Post introduced departments instructing readers on the are of conversation. The same author, Orison Swett Marden, who wrote Character: The Grandest Thing in the World in 1899, produced another popular title in 1921. It was called Masterful Personality." (22-23)

Cain, Susan.Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. NY: Crown Publishers, 2012.

Las Vegas~!

Cirque de Soleil at The Mirage

Today is the first day of our vacation. We will drive to San Antonio to catch a plane to go to Las Vegas. Las Vegas is not a prime locale for us as we don't gamble and don't drink very often, but we are Beatles fans and want to see the Cirque de Soleil show at The Mirage. We'll go to that tomorrow night.

Only 1 1/2 days in Las Vegas, but two nights there. It will be interesting to be there, especially after reading the last chapter in The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg where he chronicles the gambling addiction of one woman until she lost everything.

This chapter talks about "near misses": "To pathological gamblers, near misses looked like wins. Their brains reacted almost the same way. But to a nonpathological gambler, a near miss was a loss. People without a gambling problem were better at recognizing that a near miss means you still lose, " as written by cognitive neuroscientist Reza Habib. (264)

My dad played slot machines at the officers' club when we lived in Japan in the 1960's, but the slots have obviously changed since then:

"In the late 1990's, one of the largest slot machine manufacturers hired a former video game executive to help them design new slots. That executive's insight was to program machines to deliver more near wins. Now, almost every slot contains numerous twists--such as free spons and sounds that erupt when icons almost align--as well as small payouts that make players feel like they are winning when, in truth, they are putting in more money than they are getting back. 'No other form of gambling manipulates the human mind as beautifully as these machines,' an addictive-disorder researcher at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine told a New York Times reporter in 2004." (265)

With two days wandering around Las Vegas, I'll observe all the bells and whistles with the slot machines and anything else that seems out of the ordinary. (Everything?)

Going on a Vacation!

We are getting ready to go on a trip. Today we talked to the college students who are going to stay in our house and take care of our three dogs and one cat.

I have a long list of "to do" before we leave early on Wednesday morning. One of the major ones is the post blogs, scheduling them for each day of my absence. Maybe that's what I need to do on a regular basis, since I have not been consistent about blogging lately.

I plan to post about our destinations on our trip; quotes and thoughts from Quiet by Susan Cain: inspirational quotes and prayers. I need three weeks worth of pre-posted material--I already have four done!

"Quiet" by Susan Cain

Last year my daughters in Seattle AE and KA gave me the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a Word That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain. It has taken me awhile to read it, but now I am glad I spent the last week reading it. It is well-researched and well-written about a subject that describes me, an introvert.

Since I have not been blogging much lately, I am dedicating future posts to quotes and thoughts about this book.

Susan Cain also gave an excellent TED talk:

Prayer

Saint Teresa has the words for how I feel about prayer:

Prayer is an act of love, words are not needed. Even if sickness distracts thoughts, all that is needed is the will to love.

St. Teresa of Avila
The Way of Perfection

To receive such quotations every day, subscribe to Word for the Day at Gratefulness.org. 

 

Friday Five: Keeping Cool in the Texas Heat

Deb brings today's Friday Five to RevGalBlogPals:

Ahhhhh... Just a few short months ago, we were shoveling snow. Today, we're sweating buckets!

Highs in the 90s. Humidity in the "uncomfortable" range. And air quality in the "red" zone. It's summer here in the Washington, DC Metro area, and I'm not really a fan.

Recognizing that RevGalBlogPals are from around the world, your weather may be different. But play along and tell us how YOU beat the heat when it's in season with this week's Friday Five.

Tell us your favorite:
The HOT season has arrived in Corpus Christi, TX. Tomorrow and for the next week, high temperatures will be around 100 degrees F, with the heat index predicted to reach 110 degrees tomorrow.

1. Cool treat
Since I have been trying to be healthier lately, a cool treat is a cold and juicy plum!

When my kids were growing up, I would make juice popsickles and frozen pineapple rings. Frozen pineapple rings are two  (canned) pineapple rings on top of each other, with a popsickle stick stuck in the middle; lay them on a cookie sheet in the freezer and let freeze.

2. Cool drink
Ice water. I now carry around a big plastic cup with ice and water. With enough ice in the cup, I can leave it in the car and come back to cool water.

Plus, my addiction is still drinking an ice-cold can of TAB.

3. Cooling-off place
Air conditioned home! Plus, I can always go into our local supermarket (HEB) and need to bring along a sweater to wear because it is so cold in there!

4. Cool clothes
Sandals, crop pants (called "pedal pushers" in my youth), and a short-sleeved top. That's how I am dressed almost everyday here in TX.

5. Best alternative to air-conditioning
There isn't one in TX.


In other places, close off the house and keep it dark. Go to a library, a movie, or a store to get cool, but in those places, there would be air conditioning.

BONUS:
Share a photo of your favorite hot weather "chill out" spot.

Chapel of Adoration, Corpus Christi, TX

One Good Thing About Texas Heat

I'm Jan and I'm an Introvert

Friday Five: Silly Sentences

Revkjarla brings today's Friday Five to RevGalBlogPals:

Because I am feeling silly, or perhaps, just out there, our FF is dedicated to creating silly sentences.  We all need a little meaningless creativity and humor, right?

Use these five words (in any tense) in a sentence:

1. pulpit, puppy, wrench, word, mouse.
2. weep, love, prayer, bassoon, chair
3. heart, shutter, wish, turtle, walk
4. howl, worry, window, story, trust
5. garden, hat, shepherd, laugh, sigh.


1. Constructing a pulpit, the minister became frustrated when he tripped over a wrench while yelling certain words at his Lab puppy chasing a little gray mouse.


2. The flute club always began with a prayer, but the bassoon player was under her chair weeping for her departed lover.


3. As Dad walked around the house, he was wishing the shutters were painted as his son told him that he wanted a baby turtle with all of his heart.

4.  I awoke at 5 this morning, worrying about the dogs howling outside my window, making up a story about my husband putting them outside because he didn't trust our old cocker spaniel to remain continent. (TRUE!!)

5. I sigh in admiration while a friend describes with laughter and joy how she like to garden with a hat on in the heat of south TX and how she plans to put a statue of a shepherd in her backyard.

Hurry Up!! Readathon Challenge!

I just learned that a Mini-Readathon Challenge is going on at this very moment! It started at 12:01 AM TODAY!! Thanks to Bonnie at Bonnie's Books for this info.

And this is the announcement about this Once Upon a Read-A-Thon which is from Stephanie:


 
Hello Read-a-Thon-ers! Today I am delighted to be hosting a Mini Challege for the 2013 Once Upon a Read-a-Thon. The Hosts are awesome go say hello to them, Candace, Lori, Angela & Loretta, and join the Thon!

It runs from 12:01 am on July 8th to 11:59 on July 10th.

What is a Readathon?

A Readathon is where you set a goal for yourself to read more books that is beyond your average number of books you read. There is no minimum, it’s all up to you, and you can read any book that suits your fancy! Push yourself to get some of those books read that have been sitting on your shelves for awhile!

Mini Challenge

For my mini challenge I would like to know...

1. Which book you are most excited to read in the coming year? It can be already released or coming soon.

2. Which book would you re-read if you had the time and weren't so busy reading ALL of the other good thing?

3. and lastly, If you could meet any fictional character who would it be and why?

To Enter: On you Blog, Facebook or Twitter answer the questions and link me up on the link-up below. 

The Goodies: Why should you link-up? Because there are goodies to be had! One winner will receive a book of their choice from The Book Depository (up to $15)

Listening Is Loving

When someone deeply listens to you
it is like holding out a dented cup
you've had since childhood
and watching it fill up with
cold, fresh water.
When it balances on top of the brim,
you are understood.
When it overflows and touches your skin,
you are loved.

When someone deeply listens to you
the room where you stay
starts a new life
and the place where you wrote
your first poem
begins to glow in your mind's eye.
It is as if gold has been discovered!

When someone deeply listens to you
your bare feet are on the earth
and a beloved land that seemed distant
is now at home within you.

~~John Fox

Friday Five: Independence Day Edition

In honor of the 237th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, I invite you to participate in today's Independence Day edition of the Friday Five! We'll be looking at all kinds of "independence," so please join in!

1. How does one typically celebrate your native /adopted land's Big National Holiday?
Parades and fireworks in the evening. Many people put out American flags in front of their houses. Barbecues are popular.

2. How do you personally celebrate the holiday described in #1? Any unusual twists on the typical celebration? Is it something you enjoy or endure?
Even though I grew up on U. S. Navy and Marine bases, my family did not observed July the 4th in big ways. There were usually parades, but we didn't always attend. Bases (until this year with sequester financial cuts) usually have good fireworks displays.

The hottest and most typical of south Texas 4th of July's was 34 years ago. That was my first complete summer in TX (after moving here from the Pacific Northwest; I was extremely pregnant; and neighbors had a sparsely attended barbecue in the neighborhood park. I remember driving by in the heat, glad I wasn't there as our first child was a week "late." (He was born two days later.)


The best July 4 was spent at the beach at Port Hueneme Naval Base with my friend Nancy and her family to watch the fireworks there. Being a teenager with my best friend and her family was lots of fun.

3. What does the word "independence" mean to you, whether in a political or personal mood? How has that understanding changed throughout your life?
Independence denotes freedom. Perhaps at first was freedom from parents; much later having children leave home, there is a sort of freedom (or loss). 

I think we always find that we are dependent upon others for services, help, and affection. True independence would seem to be an isolated life, so independence must be looked upon as freedom from certain things.

4. When did you first feel that you, personally, had gained independence? Was there a 'rite of passage' you would like to share?
I am still pondering this.

5. Tell us about your favorite "indie" film, music label, book store...
I love independent bookstores and usually find special ones wherever I travel. In Austin, TX I like Book People; in Salt Lake City The King's English; in Seattle Elliott Bay Book Company. This summer on vacation in August, I'll get to go to the latter two, plus amazingly large Powell's in Portland, OR!

The only independent book store in Corpus Christi, TX is Rainbow Books, a lovely children's book store run by an elderly couple. It is quite near my house and has existed ever since I had small children. Now I buy books there for Avery!

Happy 4th of July!

Illustration by Bess Bruce Cleaveland (1925)

 

 

With thanks to Good Books for Young Souls. Go there to read about the young girls who helped to make the flag that flew over Fort McHenry in Baltimore, MD, which is the flag that Francis Scott Keyes saw and was inspired by to write "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Master's Degree in Theology??

When I went to the 2013 Summer Institute at Oblate School of Theology a few weeks ago, I felt very nostalgic walking the halls of the Theology Building. When I walked around the second floor, where many of my classes had been held, I found this wreath on an office door.

The wreath was to honor Father Heemrood, who had been a professor of Old Testament for decades. He was a knowledgeable and very kind man. Fr. Heemrood died several months ago.

I was greatly touched that this small seminary would honor one of their professors in this way. It fits with the Hispanic culture of San Antonio, TX.

Taking this picture with my new Iphone prompted me to show it to the Dean of Continuing Education at the dinner that night. She had been a fellow student with me when I first began attending Oblate in 2001.

I always hate to intrude upon people, especially those in charge of major events, at such busy times. But discussing Father Heemrood brought our discussion around to past professors and our families, plus all the additions to the OST campus.

Suddenly Rose asked me if I had ever graduated and whether I had had enough classes to do so. I replied that I had enough classes, but that too much time had passed, so I did not think I was eligible to finish my degree plan--for a Master's in Theology. However, she reassured me that it might be possible and tht she would broach the subject with the Dean.

All that happened this past week, so that I was scheduled to call the Academic Dean on Monday morning. When I did so, he was kind and attentive, asking some questions and commenting on my academic record. Then he offered an extension for me to finish the final papers (a thesis or three scholarly papers) by May 2014!

All this was totally unexpected and almost unbelievable (from my perspective)! Until this happened, I thought I had given up the idea of finishing this degree, being content to appreciate all I had learned in the process of attending those many classes where I drove to San Antonio from Corpus Christi once or twice a week. Out of the blue, this seemed to come about. I find it amazing.

So by the end of the month, I need to have topics to present to the Academic Dean. I've already been assured by RevGal friends that they are praying for me. I am also praying for assistance, even though I already have seen evidence of assistance towards this goal.

Galship With RevGalsBlogPals

Over at RevGalsBlogPals, the blogging community for women in ministry and those who support women in ministry, we're hosting a July Blog Carnival to celebrate some changes and expansion in the blog site!

From the site: This week's blog carnival topic is: What does Galship mean to you? The phrase was originally coined to refer to RevGal Fellowship--all the ways we build community, share our lives, support each other, and have fun. So blog about Galship--have you had an experience of galship in person or online? Has galshipping changed your life or ministry? what's your favorite part of our galship? Or whatever way you understand the question--there are no wrong answers! What does Galship mean to you?

"Galship" began for me when I started blogging in 2007, following the example of minister friend Katherine, whom I had met at the Two Year Spiritual Formation Academy. She had been in my covenant group all two years, and we had become good friends. Blogging with her at Meaning and Authenticity kept us in closer contact. Through her, I first learned about RevGalsBlogPals. I was pleased that I didn't have to be an ordained minister to become a member--just a blogger for three months! When that time went by, I applied and met wonderful people connected to this amazing group.

Meeting: 

I met Diane and her husband when I went to an Episcopal Relief and Development (2008) in cold Minneapolis, where her husband took a picture of us together.  I didn't get to meet Scout, but got Scout's hair all over my black winter coat!

I also met Serena near Seattle in 2007 and here is that picture. We got to visit relatives in Seattle and Bellingham, WA every summer, but I haven't gotten to see Serena since that one time. Good intentions conflict with the amount of time available, which is even less this summer.

It is wonderful; to meet blogging friends for the first time and feel like we already know each other. Being an introvert, that is helpful for me!

Camaraderie: 

Through visiting blogs and participating in such events as Friday Fives, I have gotten to know many RevGals and have found amazing connections. And I love finding recommendations for books to read, especially theological and mystery categories.

Ministry and Spirituality:

I've gained ideas for growth AND for blogging. Mompriest at Seeking Authentic Voice brought forth the wonderful idea of the ABC's of Gratitude, which enriched my life with posts for each letter of the alphabet. It was fun to find a different graphic for each letter.

I also appreciate the opportunities to have a special day to provide prayers and once a month to bring forth a Friday Five for RevGals.  

Support:

Problems shared and prayers requested always get responses. And I am ready to ask for more support and prayers, which I will more fully blog about tomorrow:

After some years of inactivity for completing my Master's Degree in Theology from the Oblate School of Theology, I have been granted an extension to write the final papers BY May 2014. What stumped me before was choosing topics (as everything seems to interest me). I ask you to pray for inspiration for the topics of three scholarly papers that I may declare them in the next month!

I last wrote about it and thought of it in 2010 and then decided not to ever pursue it, partly because my health declined around then until I was diagnosed with RA and eventually got on the two medicines that are controlling the pain and symptoms.

Friday Five: Five Favorites

Deb offers today's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals:

1. Five flowers you'd like in a bouquet or in your garden:


Lilies, pansies, daffodils, tulips, bluebonnets. (Outside in TX, only pansies and bluebonnets grow at cooler and moister times.)

2. Five books you want to read (or re-read):

These are all books I already have, some of which I've started but not finished. I am eagerly awaiting the next Louise Penny mystery and any Maisie Dobbs mysteries that may come in the future. . .and. . . and. . .


Facing the Dragon: Confronting Personal and Spiritual Grandiosity by Robert L. Moore
(This was a book recommended by Father Ron Rolheiser at the 2013 Summer Institute which I mentioned in last Friday's FF. It is by a Jungian analyst and professor.)


The Round House by Louise Erdrich

All the Harry Potter books by J. K Rowling (for the third or fourth time)

 My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer by Christian Wiman

Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness by Joshua Wolf Shenk

3. Five places you want to visit:

So many more than five!

US:
Boston, Chicago, Santa Fe, San Diego, Marfa (TX)

Elsewhere:
Greece, Spain again, Galapagos, Australia/New Zealand, Italy


4. Five people you'd invite for tea/coffee/beer and pizza:

My mother, her/my cousin Margaret from Calgary, Canada, my mother's mother (my Nana) and her two sisters (the Aunties) to have tea and yummy cookies. This family is known for its baking, so it would be fun to use my English bone china and have tea and goodies with them and learn so much about family history I don't know. I'd love to see them together, too.


5. Five chores or tasks you'd gladly give to someone else:

Cleaning out closets, sweeping, washing windows, cleaning the refrigerator, cleaning bathtub

BONUS: A five ingredient recipe! (This is harder than it sounds!)

COTTAGE CHEESE PANCAKES

1/2 cup flour or rolled oats
1 cup cottage cheese or tofu
4 eggs
1/3 cup milk, approximately
1/4 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients except milk in blender and process at a medium speed until smooth. Add milk until batter is like medium-thick pancake batter. Bake as for ordinary pancakes.

Serve hot with fresh fruit, jam, hot applesauce or butter and cinnamon-sugar. (My family prefers the melted butter and cinnamon sugar.

(This recipe is from my old, well-used copy of Whole Foods for the Whole Family published by La Leche League International in 1981.)

DOMA Is Unconstitutional

Life Is God's Chess Game

What is the difference
Between your experience of Existence
And that of a saint?

The saint knows
That the spiritual path
Is a sublime chess game with God

And that the Beloved
Has just made such a Fantastic Move

That the saint is now continually
Tripping over Joy
And bursting out in Laughter
And saying, "I Surrender!"

Whereas, my dear,
I am afraid you still think

You have a thousand serious moves.
~Hafiz

Ladinsky, Daniel. I Heard God Laughing: Renderings of Hafiz. Point Richmond, CA: Paris Printing, 1996. 127

Can Christianity Be Saved?

Huffington Post recently featured an article by Diana Butler Bass asking "Can Christianity Be Saved?"

Bass points to the decline of mainline churches, including Roman Catholic, in the USA, but she positively points out:

"Unexpectedly, liberal Christianity is--in some congregations at least--undergoing renewal. A grass-roots affair to be sure, sputtering along in local churches, prompted by good pastors doing hard work and theologians mostly unknown to the larger culture. Some local congregations are growing, having seriously re-engaged practices of theological reflection, hospitality, prayer, worship, doing justice, and Christian formation. A recent study from Hartford Institute for Religion Research discovered that liberal congregations actually display higher levels of spiritual vitality than do conservative ones, noting that these findings were "counter-intuitive" to the usual narrative of American church life. 

"There is more than a little historical irony in this. A quiet renewal is occurring, but the denominational structures have yet to adjust their institutions to the recovery of practical wisdom that is remaking local congregations. And the media continues to fixate on big pastors and big churches with conservative followings as the center-point of American religion, ignoring the passion and goodness of the old liberal tradition that is once again finding its heart. Yet, the accepted story of conservative growth and liberal decline is a twentieth century tale, at odds with what the surveys, data, and best research says what is happening now. Indeed, I think that the better story of contemporary Christianity is that of an awakening of a more open, more inclusive, more spiritually vital faith is roiling and I argue for that in my recent book, Christianity After Religion."

Death and the Mundane

I remember special days for departed loved ones. Today would have been my father's 91st birthday. However, he died 11 years ago a few months shy of his 80th. That brought home the truth that we should celebrate each day and not just "landmark" events, such as decades. I had always thought we would have a family celebration for his 80th birthday, but he had a stroke four months earlier and died two weeks after that.

Here is a poem that points to that:

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 ~

And on to my very ordinary life:

•  I am trying to walk at our local shopping mall each morning, as it is too hot outside here in south Texas. (We are having a long stretch of breaking high temperature records of the high 90s F.) 
• The last time I regularly walked there was when MJ was a baby 22 years go, and I walked around the mall with her in a sling. She and I enjoyed her being in the sling, from the time she was a new baby into toddlerhood.
• Thanks to the conference last week, I am meditating every day, even though it is not always for 20 minutes. I am grateful to our former rector Sandy who taught that even a few minutes is enough in prayer as God will grow the prayer. It is God's prayer, after all.
• For a little over a week I have had a fuzziness in my left eye. Fortunately, my right eye overrules and I can see pretty clearly. However, this makes it more of a chore to read, which is something I usually enjoy doing at any time. This has spurred me on to make an appointment for an eye exam in two weeks, which is ten years overdue.
• I made corn cheese muffins tonight to take to a meeting, since it's always held during dinner time. Chuck complimented me by saying that we need grandchildren around, as he's missed the aroma of freshly baked breads. I used to bake muffins and bread frequently when I had young children at home, and one or another of them would help me. I hope I'll get the opportunity to do that with Avery someday.
• We are reading The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg in the Wisdom Class at my church, which meets every Tuesday morning (though we'll take the month of August off). It is a very interesting book with excellent research about such events as Rosa Parks becoming the civil rights icon as compared to others who resisted black oppression on buses. Why do we remember her?
• Chuck likes to play Spider Solitaire on my computer, so sometimes he is here and I am not.

Poetry Is Worship With Words

Even in temples

Where residents vow never to talk,

And silence is worshiped,

There is sound.

There are songs.

There is poetry.

Memories incarnated,

Lifetimes pulled through a thousand minds,

Cadences bearing time,

Rhymes connecting life,

Stanzas stacked like the generations.

Those who follow Tao write poetry.

Read poetry.

Live poetry.

And enter Tao through its lines.

~From:  "Everyday Tao:  Living With Balance and Harmony" by Deng Ming-Dao

With thanks to Marion who posted this at Dragonfly's Poetry and Prolixity.

Friday Five: Prayer

At the beginning of this past week, I attended a conference on contemplative prayer entitled "Turning to the Mystics" at the 2013 Summer Institute at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX. The speakers were James Finley, author and former novice of Thomas Merton; Mirabai Starr, author, translator, and speaker; and Father Ronald Rolheiser, author and president of OST. We were encouraged to regularly sit in quiet to come to realize our union with the Divine, who continually loves us into being.

So for this Friday Five, let us share about our prayer practices, whether silent or not:

1. How do you pray?
Little (flash) prayers throughout the day; prayers for loved ones and others at bedtime; silent prayer sometimes; breath prayers (repetitive short prayers).

2. How has your idea of prayer changed over time?
Like most people, my first idea of prayer was talking to God. There is nothing wrong with that, but in a relationship there needs to be listening, too. Learning about centering prayer through Thomas Keating brought me to try silent prayer which was furthered by reading, learning about Christ Centered Prayer and other forms of meditation.
I am coming to believe that feeling love for a person is a form of prayer, as is anything done in love.

3. Do you ever sit in silent prayer? How does it go?
I have an app on my Ipod and Iphone that is called "Equanimity" which is a timer for meditation which you can set yourself. It also keeps track of times of meditation. One time I had 93 straight days of continuous meditation, but I am rarely that consistent.

After attending that conference this week, I am nudged to meditate again each day. The ideal is twice a day, but my aim is at least once a day. I see that the encouragement of teachers, spiritual directors, prayer groups, and spiritual friends are essential for accountability and encouragement. 

4. Do you have any difficulties and/or pleasures in prayer?
Faithfulness is a problem for me. Monkey mind (many thoughts) plagues me.

Several things that James Finley told us at the conference help with those problems: 
We "abandon ourselves" when we stop the meditation, and we are "punitive" to ourselves when we say it wasn't good enough. And "Why do we treat ourselves like someone we don't want to be with?" Remember that "God loves us into being."

Pleasure: Facilitating and participating in a weekly lectio divina group for the past 15 years continues to reveal God's presence to me.


5. What is the best advice that helped you with prayer?
Sit for one minute faithfully, and God will grow the prayer.

Bonus: Share something about prayer or example of a prayer you like.

At the conference, Mary Earle who is an Episcopal Priest told us to to breath in thinking BREATHE and exhale IN ME.

Prayer

Ground of all being,
Mother of life,
Father of the universe,
Your name is sacred, beyond speaking.
May we know your presence,
May your longings be our longings
In heart and in action….—Casa del Sol prayer of Jesus

From Shalem Institute.

Appreciate Someone!

My daughter AE in Seattle sent me a link to an article by a mom about six important words to say to a child:

"I love to watch you ________________."

The author describes the feeling of love for another that is underneath our regard of others and how we should share that:

"When simply watching someone makes your heart feel as if it could explode right out of your chest, you really should let that person know."

This essay is about all people, not only children and their parents. I think this is important to read, so please go and read:

Six Words You Should Say Today!

I am glad I read this. It is from the blog Hands Free Mama.

Choosing One's Teachers. . . .

I am taking an online course on Dorothee Soelle with Jane Redmont this summer, which is just beginning. One of the books assigned is Soelle's autobiography Against the Wind: Memoir of a Radical Christian. I already had a copy and found that I had only read half the book long ago--which was in 1999, since Amazon could "tell" me when I purchased the book. So this past weekend I started reading this book from the first page, not remembering much at all.

Being a former elementary school teacher and someone who always wants to share what I learn, I was interested in Soelle's description of teachers in her chapter "Choosing One's Teachers. . . ."

". . . .I came to know what it means to have a teacher, an experience that appears to have become more and more rare. For what is a teacher? It is a human being who I myself have chosen. Initially, you do not become a teacher as a result of your knowledge and wisdom, but because someone has chosen you to be his or her teacher. The teacher who has been assigned to me must have something to teach, not just specific knowledge but also knowledge that transcends her or him personally. However, a teacher also needs more than a discerning mind, understanding, and knowledge: she must stand for something to testify something. From her/him it should be discernible what one ought to love and what one out to despise." (23)

Soelle, Dorothee. Against the Wind: Memoir of a Radical Christian. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999.

Life: "Mediocrity Edition"

This is too easy to do in retirement and sometimes during vacations:

The End of Our Tomatoes

Chuck planted tomatores, and we have been enjoying the harvest for several weeks. Each day we eat a cheese and tomato sandwich for lunch, which we both love. There have been enough tomatoes to give some to friends, but lately half-eaten ones have been found lying around.

This afternoon I got a picture of the brazen squirrel eating a tomato on the ledge to the bench in the backyard.

Maisie, our big yellow lab/hound, chased him off, but the tomato remains. The remaining green tomatoes have been gnawed upon, so the end of our luscious home-grown tomatoes is here.

Friday Five Fun

Here are a few fivers to get you ready for whatever is next in your day (or keep you procrastinating for awhile before you do what you need to do.)

1.  If you were a character in a children's storybook, which storybook would it be, or what character, and why?

One of my favorite picture books is Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. When Miss Rumphius had many adventures when she was a young woman, but when she was older she became the crazy "Lupine Lady" by sowing lupine seeds wherever she walked. The flowers flourished and bloomed all over in the springtime each year. She did this because her grandfather always told her that she "must do something to make the world more beautiful." She eventually discovered this little way to bring beauty to the world. I would like to do that, too, but probably not with flowers.

I like to give this book to children 3-7 years old, especially when a new baby has arrived in his/her home.

2.  What is something you are looking forward to this weekend?
Most of all, I am looking forward to lunch today with my first friend in Corpus Christi, whom I met at a La Leche League meeting before our first children were born in 1979. Eventually, we both became La Leche League Leaders and have remained friends all these years. Sadly in recent years, we only see each other once a month or so, because Lisa returned to teaching when MJ was a little girl. In fact, my daughter MJ was in Lisa's 4 year old class and later in her first grade class!

Walking with a friend this Saturday morning, which has been a tradition since 1996. We didn't see each other last Saturday because I was in San Antonio and Austin.

3.  If you had an invisibility cloak for a day, how would you use it?
I am still thinking about this one!

4.  I "lose" my keys all the time.  In fact, sometimes I lose them several times a day.  It is so bad that a member of my congregation gave me "instantly remember where you left your keys intense memory-stimulating mint gum."  Is there something you misplace or lose often? 
Keys like you and my reading glasses! I have multiple pairs of reading glasses around the house, but always lose them. In contrast, my husband Chuck has three pairs which are kept in designated places, so he always finds a pair! (And I don't follow his example. . . . .)

5.  Use the following words in a sentence:   ladybug, rowing, diner, sloth, and knitting. 
The gray sloth was rowing by the diner on the dock when he saw that the ladybug was knitting a  life preserver.

Every Moment A Prayer

“It’s really quite simple. When we look at a tree, God is there. When we look at a flower, God is there. When we look at the sky, God is there. When we look at the earth, God is there. We can see God in the faces of people on the street, in the faces of our children, our friends, our partners, our colleagues, and our bosses. When we see God shining through the faces of all those around us—those like us and those unlike us—every moment becomes a prayer and the world becomes a different place to live in.”

n     Anne Wilson Schaef

The Church Doesn't Like People to Grow Up

John Shelby Spong, retired Episcopal bishop from Newark, N.J., interviewed by Keith Morrison on Dateline, NBC, 8-13-2006

My New Hair Cut

This was the first picture I took of myself with my new Iphone--after today's haircut. If you look down at the picture with Avery a few days ago, you can see how much shorter my hair is today.

Google and the Wild Rumpus!

Google celebrates Maurice Sendak's birthday today! Let the wild rumpus begin! I loved his books as a teacher, parent and hope to as a grandmother!

End of Austin Visit

Chuck, Avery and Jan (with eyes closed as usual)

Jesus Heals

Tuesday Trivia

I haven't done a silly post about what's going on in my very ordinary life for a long time, so I'll do it tonight:

• The Wisdom Class finally finished discussing The Immortal Diamond by Richard Rohr today. One long-time member said she would like to go on retreat and read the entire book over again, without interruptions. That is a great compliment.

• A few months ago a former member of the Wisdom Class sent me an email about a short conversation she had had with Fr. Richard Rohr. After attending a church in Albuquerque where he preached, she told him her church group in Corpus Christi, TX was reading his newest book. His humble response was, "I am honored." I am still touched by his answer.

• Our next Wisdom Class book is one that will be a change of pace: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg. Duhigg is a New York Times investigative reporter, which shows in his well-researched stories in this book.

• One new habit that I am trying to institute is walking at the mall five mornings a week. I didn't manage to have a regular schedule of walking outside while the weather was more pleasant here in south Texas. So now with daily temperatures in the 90s F. I find the air-conditioned areas of the mall more pleasant, even though the scenery is not. Plus, I get less sun exposure! Tomorrow will be the second time I walk and then go to the YWCA  for my deep water exercise class, having to change there before the class.

• Since my piano recital, I have suddenly reached a point of enjoying my time at the piano. And at today's piano lesson, my teacher told me I was having a "growth spurt" with my playing,which pleased me. I am trying to learn to play "Brahm's Lullaby," which I love.

•  Over the past six months, I have been slowly reducing one of the RA meds from 8 pills to 4 once a week, while still giving myself a bi-weekly shot. This was to determine the minimum amount of medication my body needs. Now I seem to have reached the stopping point, with a blip of RA returning in my hands and in fatigue. So I have gone back to 5 pills, which I am returning to this week. I hope that's that.

• This weekend youngest daughter MJ is flying to San Antonio from Salt Lake City where she is going to grad school. She is going to attend a friend's wedding near there. In between all the friends she wants to see, Chuck and I will take MJ to Austin on Saturday to see Avery and her parents. Just a quick trip for all of us.

My Dog, My Teacher

This is Baillie, our 17 year old blind and deaf cocker spaniel, although this picture was taken a year ago after she was groomed.

A couple weeks ago in our weekly Lectio Divina group, I had an insight about Baillie that is teaching me more about God and how to live.

The scripture we meditated upon was John16: 12-13:

16:12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

After sitting with this, the images that came to me were our two cocker spaniels. Both went blind and deaf as they aged. The first one was Bagel, whom we got a few months before our first child was born in 1979. About ten years later, she reached a point where she could not bear her life as a blind and deaf dog. She would sit in the kitchen, not moving, and crying. She was too afraid to move. Soon after that, she was put to sleep.

In contrast, Baillie is 17 and bumbles around. She sometimes circles and almost always bumps into things. She forgets to go outside, and we have to guide her out there. Sometimes Baillie startles when we touch her, but she never snaps or growls. She doesn't cry and does not act unhappy. She still goes outside and goes around the house, bumping into walls and furniture. Baillie has been been able to bear disabilities that Bagel could not, which does not diminish how wonderful a dog Bagel was. Somehow Baillie senses that she is safe and will be guided, even though she cannot see or hear.

I am seeing that Baillie is showing me that she feels safe and that she will be guided in her dark and silent life. She trusts that things will be okay. She shows me that I am safe in this life, with God always with me. Even if I cannot see what is ahead, if I take the steps toward the seeming "next" thing, I am safe. Trusting God's presence will always be with me in whatever I do or however I am is my lifework. Baillie is my example, as I must remember that Bagel also teaches me that there is no condemnation about what I cannot bear or what I cannot do.

As Julian of Norwich said, "All shall be well, all shall be well, all manner of things shall be well."

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