Coming Home

I was only trying to find an image evocative of MJ returning home after six weeks of camp. We are very excited that she's coming home this evening!

*Painting: 'Coming Home' Beverley Grant, 2007.

The one above is so beautiful that I had to post it, but it is relating to much more tragic and traumatic leave takings in Australia--the removal of Aboriginal children from their families.

1897 The Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act (Qld) allows the Chief Protector to remove local Aboriginal people onto and between reserves and to hold children in dormitories. Until 1965 the Director of Native Welfare is the legal guardian of all ‘aboriginal’ children whether the parents are living or not.

Photograph: School, Mornington Island, 1950. Courtesy of the State Library of Queensland and the community of Mornington Island.

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

*Artist: Beverley Grant
Title: ‘Coming Home’, 2007
Symbolism: Brown, reds and black represent the people and the land. White represents the spiritual connection between the people and
the land.
Story: The family sitting around our circle, participating in a smoking ceremony down by the Lachlan River, NSW. Footprints signify return to family, people and homeland.

~~
And this reminded me of seeing the movie "Rabbit-Proof Fence" which is worth renting, if you have never seen it. It's based on the true story of Molly Craig, an Aboriginal girl who was taken away from her family and found her way back by walking 1500 miles along the rabbit proof fence.

Self-Awareness

Iced Butterscotch Brownies

Although I am pretty sure I posted a picture of this old children's cookbook before, I cannot remember when. This is the cookbook that has our tried and true recipe for Butterscotch Brownies, which we always have to make 4 X the recipe, because the original makes such a small batch.

For my Friday Renovare Group, I promised to make a little dessert for a member's birthday and so I tried a new Butterscotch Brownie recipe, which is basically the same one that's in the Betty Crocker's Cook Book for Boys and Girls, except that nuts and coconut are added, plus a thick layer of icing! (I should have taken a picture, but we ate them all up hours before I thought of this.) So here is the yummy recipe:

Butterscotch Brownies

From The Best from Helen Corbitt’s Kitchens, p. 366

4 Tbsp. melted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
¾ cup flour
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. vanilla
¼ cup coconut
½ cup broken nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar together until they are light. Mix in the slightly beaten egg. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together and add them to the butter-sugar mixture. Stir in the vanilla, coconut and nuts. Spread in a buttered 8” x 8” pan (though I used approx. 7” X 11” pan) and bake fro 25 minutes.

Cool and spread with Caramel Icing:

½ cup butter
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup milk
1 ¾ to 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter until brown, add brown sugar and cook, stirring constantly until sugar is completely melted. Gradually pour in milk and stir. Cool. Add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla; beat until thick enough to spread.

~~~~~

Did I even think about the doctor's warnings about pressure on the knees?

Friday Five: Summer Camp

Well, I never went to summer camp, but since my youngest daughter is still at one being a camp counselor, I thought I'd do this Friday Five.

Mother Laura at RevGalsBlogPals brought forth these thoughts about summer camp:

1. Did you go to sleep away camp, or day camp, as a child? Wish you could? Or sometimes wish you hadn't?
Growing up on military bases, I don't remember hearing about camp or about anyone I knew going to one. Somehow, camp was not in my consciousness.

2. How about camping out? Dream vacation, nightmare, or somewhere in between?
Probably because my dad was in the Marine Corps, we were not a family who ever camped out.

Then living in Texas with our children, it always seemed too hot to go camping anywhere. Plus, I had not experience, and we had no camping equipment. CB never even suggested it.

3. Have you ever worked as a camp counselor, or been to a camp for your denomination for either work or pleasure?
Only MJ has worked as a camp counselor this summer at Laity Lodge Youth Camp in Leakey, TX.

First United Methodist Church here in Corpus Christi has an annual summer camp called CAC--Christian Adventure Camp, which is up near LLYC. In 1995 I attended the Junior High CAC as one of the cooks, with DC and AE there. It was my one year to go to camp, and I discovered that I like to sleep too much to be there. I get very grumpy without enough sleep, which is not possible to get while at camp.

Our introduction to CAC and to FUMC was oldest son going to CAC unexpectedly in 1992. He was visiting friends in Corpus Christi when my mother suddenly died. In fact, he was on the flight there the morning we discovered that she had died. We decided that 13 year old DC should stay in Corpus Christi with his friends. One family got him to go with their son to CAC, and DC really liked it.

I'm not a camper, but my kids have all gone to CAC (though AE did it only that one time that I did). MJ is going again next week as a graduated senior to be a JACIT (junior adult counselor in training).

4. Most dramatic memory of camp, or camping out?
My only experience camping out was when CB and I lived in Oregon; he was going to grad school at OSU and I was teaching at Eddyville School (250 kids in grades K-12). With two other couples connected to the Chemistry Department graduate school, we went on a backpacking trip in the mountains. All I remember about it was the plethora of mosquitoes. They were everywhere, and we did not have a good bug repellent. I remember going out to pee in the "wilds" at night and being swarmed and bitten by mosquitoes. That was over 30 years ago, and that's all I can remember. Too bad.

5. What is your favorite camp song or songs? Bonus points if you link to a recording or video.
No points--I don't know what songs are camp songs.

Pressure on the knees

Well, today I learned that all my years of being overweight have caused some damage on the cartilage in my right knee--probably the other one, too. It's been painful off and on for the past year or so and has gotten so it hurts to walk down stairs--so I go one step at a time, instead of alternating my feet. To rule out the possibility of a tear, I am having an MRI on Monday. Somehow having the DOCTOR tell me that the immense pressure on knees can only be diminished by loss of weight hit me more than me knowing that in the back of my mind. He even gave me the formula to figure out the amount of pressure on each knee:

1.7 X body weight = knee pressure

I need to lose 30-40 pounds, so that would be 51-68 pounds less from each knee. I'd hate to carry that much individually, so this has really hit home.

Interestingly, it also goes along with one of the books I am currently reading: Thoughts Matter: The Practice of the Spiritual Life by Mary Margaret Funk, which was recommended at the Anamchara website. Chapter 2 is "About Food," something I dwell on and eat much too often during the day!

"John Cassian's teaching on fasting is that we should simply put food and our thoughts about food into proper balance, eating only at meals and not in between." (26) Wow--what a revelation--only at meal times! I am trying that. . . .

"When food becomes my dominant thought, it becomes the center of my interior life." (27) Sometimes that must be true, I hate to admit, and I yearn for God to be at the center of my life.

"'Excesses meet,' say the ancients. Eating too little or eating too much are equally harmful. Extremes are indicators of thoughts being out of control." (28) Doesn't this sound like the "golden mean" that I remember from schools, all the way from elementary to college?

If I lose weight, would it mean I could sit cross-legged again without it hurting? Until recently, I often read and wrote letters sitting cross-legged. No more though.

Lists of books to read!

Summer is the time for reading! ANY time is the time for reading!

NPR.org has lists of books for summer reading. Some sound really, really interesting.

Carry-On Books to Take You Up, Up, and Away by Nancy Pearl

Booksellers' Selections for Summer Afternoons by Susan Stamberg

Summer Books to Feed Your Literary Addiction by Alan Cheuse

And for the complete list of NPR's summer book recommendations, go here.

The Soul

The soul,
having gone out at the word of her Beloved,
looks for him
but does not find him.

She calls on him,
though he cannot be reached
by any word,
and she is told by the watchmen
that she is in love with the unattainable,
and that the object of her love
cannot be apprehended.

But the veil of her grief is lifted
when she learns that the object of her desire
consists of constantly going on with her quest
and never ceasing in her ascent. . . . .

~~Gregory of Nyssa
(335-395)

Anglican Women Bishops! YAY!

From God's Politics blog by Jim Wallis and friends:

A Woman's Place is in the House ... of Bishops (by Joy Carroll Wallis)

It was almost 16 years ago that I sat in the debating chamber of Church House in Westminster and voted as a member of the House of Clergy to ordain women to the priesthood in the Church of England. At the time I was one of the youngest members of the House of Clergy, and I was in the first group of women ordained to the priesthood.

On Monday, July 7, the general synod meeting in York, England finished the job. At long last they have approved that women may also be consecrated as bishops--jettisoning the custom of a male-only episcopacy.

When women were first admitted to the priesthood in 1994, the synod passed various "safeguards" and "provisions" that included "flying [male] bishops" to serve those opposed to ordaining women. That year, I made an impassioned speech against those "provisions." This time, the women clergy made it clear to the House of Bishops that they wanted women to be bishops, but not at any cost. In a statement issued in May 2008, the women clergy said:

The price of legal "safeguards" for those opposed is simply too high, diminishing not just the women concerned, but the catholicity, integrity and mission of the episcopate and of the Church as a whole. We cannot countenance any proposal that would, once again, enshrine and formalize discrimination against women in legislation. With great regret, we would be prepared to wait longer, rather than see further damage done to the Church of England by passing discriminatory laws. ... If it is to be episcopacy for women qualified by legal arrangements to "protect" others from our oversight, then our answer, respectfully, is thank you, but no.

This incredible and historic decision that the synod has made is all the more wonderful to me because the legislation contains no "safeguards." It has simply a compassionate "code of practice" to be worked out over the next few years. No women will be consecrated as a bishop until the year 2014 and in the meantime, "arrangements" will be embodied in the code of practice for those who feel bereaved and betrayed by the raising of women to the episcopacy.

It is finally done! And this time I trust that the legislation will pass the test of theological integrity. I doubt that the fallout will be as bad as some have predicted. Many who threatened to leave the Church of England if this legislation passed have already decided to reconsider. Over the past 14 years of women in priesthood, many gracious and wise women priests have gained a lot of experience in building trusting relationships with those unable to accept their priestly ministry. I have no doubt that those eventually appointed will take this experience into the episcopate. They will do their jobs as shepherds, teachers, and unifiers with prayerful compassion and generosity.

On a more personal note: Whoo hoo!

Joy Carroll Wallis was among the first women to be ordained to the priesthood in England in 1994. She's the author of The Woman Behind the Collar: The Pioneering Journey of an Episcopal Priest. Carroll Wallis lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband (Sojourners editor-in-chief Jim Wallis) and their two sons, Luke and Jack.

An Award

On July 2, Fran awarded the Arte y Pico to five bloggers, including me (to my shock and amazement). This award is given to blogs who "deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language." Oh, my! Thank you, Fran.

1)Pick five (5) blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y Pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award which is here: "Arte y Pico".

Already so many of my favorite blogs have received this award, but I'll try to be somewhat original:

1. Ruth's Visions and Revisions
Ruth has a gift for writing in prose and in poetry that captures my imagination and my heart. Sometimes she writes of spiritual things and other times just ordinary life, which coincide nicely. I treasure her faithfulness in visiting her blogging friends, too.

2. Wounded Bird with Grandmere Mimi
From the hilarious to the holy and from politics to the Episcopal/Anglican Church, you will find interest here. Grandmere Mimi was one of the first people to welcome me to the blogging world when I started last May. She is true and faithful in a feisty way!

3. The Quaker Agitator with Quaker Dave
Dave's passion for justice comes through as he broadens the areas of concern for all his readers. He shares as a middle school teacher at times and often brings me to awarenesses I know I need.
His humor and outrage are equally strong--pointing me to admiration for the Quaker witness and action.

4. Does Not Wisdom Call? with Ellie
I visit Ellie's three different blogs almost daily. This is the one where she shares her spirituality with beautiful art and quotations from various traditions. I always find sustenance here.

5. The Mercy Blog with Mike
Mike shares what he is reading with quotations and also his own reflections. By writing about his spiritual journey, especially in contemplative prayer, he guides me on my faith journey.

Many more deserve such an award; I hope you receive one soon!

Almighty God, we pray. . . .

Today in the Wisdom Class, a member brought the prayer that our supply priest closed the service with this past Sunday. (Our interim priest is on vacation.) The priest is David Wendel, and this is what he wrote about the following prayer:

"I found this prayer in the back of my father-in-law's Prayer Book, which I used when I assisted at his burial service at Christ Church, Glendale, Ohio, of which he was the Rector for many years. His death left a great void in my life and the prayer has helped answer it."

Almighty God, we pray that because we have met together here: Life may become more meaningful for some who see no purpose in it; more secure for some who are frightened by it; more serene for some who are disturbed by it; more forgiving for some whose hearts have grown cold and hard because of it; more joyful for some who have been saddened by it; kinder for some who have been hurt by it; brighter for some who are engulfed in the gloom of it; made whole and redeemed for all of us who have been broken and fallen because of the sin of it; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. . . .

Troy kept trying to chase our cat, Gracie. Things are much calmer at our house with Troy gone and back at home in the house that BJ and two friends share in Houston.

Gene Robinson Speaks on God's Love

True Listening

“In every experience of true listening, especially to God but also to another person, there is a mysterious moment in which the one who listens steps out from a fortress of self-concern and dwells silently in the truth of the one who speaks. This is a moment of great risk and great courage, for it ushers us into a different way of being in the world. Over time, we may even cease to be people who listen and become people who are listening, people whose very being is shaped by the posture of listening. This is the posture of the servant, whose attentiveness is not a sign of cringing compliance but a mark of human life lived ever more fully in the Spirit of love (see I Sam. 3:10).”

~John S. Mogabgab

Editor, Weavings magazine

I Samuel 3:10

Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Keep on Smiling!

My daughter AE sent this to me, and I want it to be true for me--especially as I remember my first child being born 29 years ago today. That memory has me smiling.



Happy Birthday, DC!

In the Doghouse!

Not the accurate dog picture, but this will give you the idea of how Troy, BJ's Brittany Spaniel, is in the doghouse!

He ripped apart husband CB's new grill cover. I forgot to close the garage door, so he got into the garage and chewed up CB's knee pads (for tiling floors), paint brushes, and a huge sponge. He got into a toy basket when he was left alone for 15 minutes and chewed up some stuffed animals.

Troy is a wonderful dog, who needs more exercise, attention, and training--at least, at our house. When he is with his master (BJ), he follows commands to "sit" and "lie." Not for us though. Plus, he was constantly teased by our cat Gracie.

But BJ and Troy have driven off to Houston and the home that is much more dog-proof than ours is these days.

I enjoyed BJ being home and sometimes liked Troy, too!

Do something to make the world more beautiful!

Miss Rumphius is one of my most favorite children's books. I often give it as a baby gift or a young child's birthday present, because I think it has a message for each person in the world! This is the story of how an adventurous young woman came to understand her little way of making the world more beautiful after her many travels and then illness. In her old age, she urged that each of us must do something to make the world more beautiful.

Barbara Cooney loved Miss Rumphius, too, and said this about her when she received the National Book Award in 1983:

“Miss Rumphius has been, perhaps, the closest to my heart. There are, of course, many dissimilarities between me and Alice Rumphius, but, as I worked, she gradually seemed to become my alter ego. Perhaps she had been that right from the start.”

Although author and illustrator Barbara Cooney did not name God in the book, I know her message is what God wishes each of us to do. I recently found this same message from Mother Teresa in an essay written in 1997:

"Two foreigners who witnessed Mother Teresa's life and works of mercy have written a book on her. After the book was written, they wondered what the title should be. They asked Mother Teresa's advice. She said they could give the title they liked to a book they had written. The authors insisted that Mother should suggest a title. After a minute of prayerful reflection Mother Teresa said, "Something Beautiful for God".

"The authors then wanted to know why she chose this title. Mother Teresa's answer was something that threw light on the inspiration underlying her works of compassion: "Everyday on awaking, my desire and my enthusiasm is this: today I must do something beautiful for God. What is there that I can do better for God than to console the distressed! Wipe away the tears of those who weep, be a refuge to the abandoned, pour love into the hearts of the unloved." Mother Teresa had understood that these are the things that are beautiful in the sight of God (cf Mt 25:31-40)."

He's back!

Troy, son BJ's Brittany spaniel, is back. So is BJ, but he's off with friends. Troy continues to be as hyper as ever; he's acting age appropriately, which is too active for our older dogs (and us).

Troy badgers our dog Cisco by biting and jumping on him. Cisco will only take so much. At least, Troy knows that 12 year old Baillie, the cocker, won't put up with him and so leaves Baillie alone.

We know that Baillie and Cisco get nervous with fireworks going off. Tonight we'll see if Troy is affected.

This morning at 3:20 am, ALL the dogs barked and barked and woke us up--a stranger was in the yard! That was BJ coming home from being with friends. So you can guess that we'll see Troy much more than we'll see our 23 year old son this weekend. This is pretty typical. Still, it's nice to have BJ around.

Poor Troy needs MJ (who is still at Laity Lodge Youth Camp as a counselor), because she'll go out running with him, which Troy really needs. I walk pretty slowly for Troy.

Clustrmaps

Last year, when I first started blogging, my daughter AE told me about a website that keeps track of your blog's visitors. So I signed up for ClustrMaps and got a little symbol with red dots marking visitors' locations for the sidebar. I always enjoyed enlarging it to see where people were living, being surprised at some of the farflung places in Africa, Australia, and in various islands around the world. Of course, I was pleased to see large dots in parts of the USA where I could visualize certain people living, like in Seattle and Minneapolis!



Until today, the ClustrMap above was what I always saw. It's amazing to think that there were over 25,000 visits to my blog in the past year! But now the current map on the sidebar is stark, and I can easily discern who has visited.

Go to ClustrMaps if you want to track your visitors on your blog.

4th of July

by Ann Telnaes

HALT!

H = hungry
A = angry
L = lonely
T= tired

While talking to a friend today, HALT came up when she told me about an incident where she lost herself in hurt, anger and frustration. I asked her if she had ever gone to any 12-step groups, and she answered that she had not. So I proceeded to tell her about the acronym HALT.

When someone is hunger, angry, lonely and/or tired, one is more likely to be vulnerable to overreacting. It is an awareness word or symbol to ask oneself in difficult situations. If someone is aware of being hungry, angry, lonely and/or tired, it would be best to STOP and take care of the deficiency. Then coping is easier.

This is true for any age, but children and teenagers probably show the effects of these conditions much more forcefully. HALT is a good thing to remember and to teach others about.