Maisie Pictures

These pictures are from yesterday, before it got so cold (for south TX). I did not know which sitting picture to post, but now I think I'll put them both here, even though the only difference was that one was taken inside and one out.

Today

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

How Community Lives

from 2007 Special Olympics in SC

"A few years ago, at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the hundred-yard dash.

"At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run the race to the finish and win. All that is, except one little boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times, and began to cry.

"The other eight heard the boy cry. They slowed down and looked over their shoulders. Then they all turned around and went back.

"Every one of them.

"One girl with Down's Syndrome bent down and kissed the fallen boy and said, 'This will make it better.' Then all nine linked arms and walked together to the finish line.

"Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went on for several minutes."

Gafni, Marc. Soul Prints: Your Path to Fulfillment. NY: Simon and Schuster, 2001. 129-130.

Friday Five: Social Media

KathrynZG offered today's Friday Five at RevGalBlogPals:


1) What have been the benefits for you of social networking (blog, twitter, facebook, etc...)
Meeting and connecting with friends I might never have known. This started with blogging in 2007 and continues somewhat on Facebook. I only blog or Facebook.

2) Which medium do you use the most? Or if you use them all, for what do you use each of them?
I used to blog more, but find that my blogging friends (like me) are not posting as much. So to get info, especially about puppy Maisie, I do that on Facebook. I still prefer blogging and visiting blogs.

3) If you could invent a networking site (with no limits on your imagination), what would it provide? What would it not provide?
I don't have much imagination about this. . . .

4) Who have you met that you would not have met if it were not for the 'miracle' of social networking?
Physically, I have met Diane, Ellie, and Serena.

Too many people to enumerate, many of whom are on the sidebar. I love finding someone new who enjoys blogging frequently, like Altar Ego and always MomPriest.

5) Who do you secretly pray does not one day try to 'friend/follow' you?
Not sure. . . .

BONUS: What was the most random/weird/unsettling/wonderful connection you made that would not have happened if it were not for the ease of which we can find each other in the computer realm?

Geese Above

Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye
clear. What we need is here.

by

Wendell Berry

Maisie report!

Maisie today by CB's feet

Maisie had her second check-up today, and we approximate her age at 3 months or 11-12 weeks. When she was so little on my profile picture, she was only 7 pounds. Today she weighed 17.9 pounds! She is almost the same size (not weight) as our cocker spaniel Baillie, who is fluffier and pudgier.

CB holding Maisie today

I'm such a proud mama! AND CB is a loving papa.

NoH8 campaign

I'm about a week late with this picture of Cindy McCain, but a friend only reminded me to look for it today.
The NoH8 Campaign has this to say about the above picture:

"In the year since we've started the NOH8 Campaign, we've often been surprised at some of the different individuals who have approached us showing their support. Few, though, have surprised us more than Cindy McCain - the wife of Senator John McCain and mother to vocal marriage equality advocate Meghan McCain. The McCains are one of the most well-known Republican families in recent history, and for Mrs. McCain to have reached out to us to offer her support truly means a lot. Although we had worked with Meghan McCain before and were aware of her own position, we'd never really thought the cause might be something her mother would get behind. We have a huge amount of respect for both of these women for being brave enough to make it known they support equal marriage rights for all Americans.

"Aligning yourself with the platform of gay marriage as a Republican still tends to be very stigmatic, but Cindy McCain wanted to participate in the campaign to show people that party doesn't matter - marriage equality isn't a Republican issue any more than it is a Democratic issue. It's about human rights, and everybody being treated equally in the eyes of the law that runs and protects this country.

"Meghan McCain was asked to be the keynote speaker at next month's National Equality Week at George Washington University for her advocacy. In an odd bit of timing, a student Republican organization has become upset that she'll be giving that speech -- and have publicly voiced their disapproval over the ordeal

(you can read more about it here:

http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/meghan_mccain_is_redefining_republican)."

Today is Tuesday!

Cisco and Maisie

We think Maisie grew during the four days in NM! She is so busy that it is hard to get a picture, but here she is with Cisco, whom she harangues. I am surprised at how long her ears are becoming.

When I was at the dentist today, he told me how his three granddaughters received a yellow lab puppy on Christmas morning as a surprise from Santa and they named her Maisie, just like our puppy!

(I was pleased with my dental appointment, because I did not have to get a crown. My wonderfully conservative dentist said I could choose between a crown and a filling, which would last for an unknown amount of time. Since we no longer have dental insurance, I chose the latter.)

near Albuquerque

This picture was taken on Sunday when it was only 34 degrees F. with a windchill of 24 degrees F. and we walked a short distance in the Petroglyph National Park.

I'll write about the Richard Rohr/James Finley conference soon. It was especially nice to be there with my husband, plus three other members from our church. James Finley talked about the progressive "narrow gate crossings" on our spiritual journey. The overreaching message was that God loves us overwhelmingly into being and into each moment.

Expensive meal!

This is cute, though not necessarily pertinent. When CB and I were having a wonderful dinner last night in Corrales, NM I found something hard in my mouth as I was eating some bread before the meal. CB thought it was a seed, but somehow I knew it was part of a broken tooth!

One side of a top molar broke off, and I am seeing my dentist about it early tomorrow morning. Is this another crown?

As CB said, last night's meal could be the most expensive one we ever had! (It was delicious.)

Coming home again

Today we'll fly back to Corpus Christi from Albuqerque. I bet we'll be surprised at how much Maisie has grown!

Last night in Albuquerque

The conference was wonderful, especially with my husband with me. Three others came from our church to it, too! It was good for all of us to hear that the overwhelming message of the mystics is that God loves us into being and continues to love us so overwhelmingly for all time--this means each person, not just each Christian.

The weather looks good for our travels tomorrow, so we should arrive back in warmer Corpus Christi, TX in the late afternoon. I wonder if Maisie will remember us?

Death of a self

The Shell of a Man by Martin Askem

"Death is what takes place within us when we look upon others not as gift, blessing, or stimulus but as threat, danger, competition. It is the death that comes to all who try to live by bread alone. This is the death that the Bible fears and gives us good reason to fear. It is not the final departure we usually think of when we speak of death; it is that purposeless, empty existence devoid of genuine human relationships and filled with anxiety, silence, and loneliness." (4)

Soelle, Dorothee. Death by Bread Alone. Fortress Press, 1978.

God's Love

Here are some quotes about God's love that are from a book I read soon after my first Walk to Emmaus in 1994.

"God is always moving out from himself towards creation and, with a graciousness which makes us gasp with wonder, strives to love you and me into a relationship with himself." (24)

"Because God is, we are: because God will be, we will be. God moves us into the future towards himself. God creates us moment by moment." (24)

"Our spiritual life flourishes not when we realize that we love God but when we start to take in some of the enormity of the love that God has for us." (72)

Budd, Rosemary. Journey of Prayer. Upper Room Books, 1990.

Friday Five: Travel

Songbird at RevGals proposes thoughts about transportation and travel for this Friday Five:

And I am participating in it because our flight to DFW was cancelled this morning. Possibly we will be able to catch a plane in three hours, thus arriving in Albuquerque right when the conference begins, though we'll be far away at the airport. So this is a very opportune FF for me!

1) What was the mode of transit for your last trip?
For Thanksgiving, it was our car--going to Austin to spend the holiday with our married son and his wife, plus DC's two siblings.

2) Have you ever traveled by train?
When I was a child, that was one of the main ways of travel between my dad's base postings when we visited relatives. The last time I was on a train was when I rode it from Seattle to Bellingham decades ago.

3) Do you live in a place with public transit, and if so, do you use it?
There is a limited bus service, but I do not use it.

OOPS--the last time I was on a train was when I went to Minneapolis in 2008 for an ERD conference and rode the train between the airport and downtown, which is where I met Diane and her husband!

4) What's the most unusual vehicle in which you've ever traveled?
Probably a DUCK this past summer in Seattle on the Duck Tour. That's a WWII amphibious vehicle.


5) What's the next trip you're planning to take?
To Albuquerque for the Richard Rohr conference TODAY!! (I hope)

Surrender our problems to God

"God loves our weaknesses and he desires that his love will bring them into wholeness (that is, heal them). However, he wants and needs our trust to do it, and that is the greatest gift we give him when we sacrifice our weaknesses to him. For we would only reveal our weaknesses to someone we trusted. . . .

"Therefore, when we sacrifice our weaknesses to God telling him all about ourselves, we are paying him the greatest compliment. We are trusting him not to turn his back, laugh at us, or hurt us further as we make ourselves vulnerable to him. We are trusting his love.

"When we sacrifice our weaknesses to God we are also giving him something more--our attachment to our weaknesses." (69)

Dobson, Theodore E. Say But the Word: How the Lord's Supper Can Transform Your Life. Paulist Press, 1984.

Off to Albuquerque!

Tomorrow CB and I fly to Albuquerque to attend the conference there: "Following the Mystics Through the Narrow Gates." It is exciting to attend that, especially with my husband coming along with me!

• We leave in the morning, when it will probably be foggy. We hope to get to the conference by the time it starts at 2 pm.

• A friend is staying at our house to take care of the dogs, especially puppy Maisie. That is a great relief to have someone here who will nurture them for the four days we are gone.
  

• I am pre-posting some inspirational quotes for the days that I am gone, so I hope friends will stop by to read these short thoughts each day. In that way, I'll still be connected to you all.

• I am looking forward to buying a cd set another friend recommended, which is about the theology of Duns Scotus, who was first recommended by my old spiritual director.

• Even with the Kindle, I am taking a "real" book along--The Eye of Spirit by Ken Wilber. Between the two, I should have enough to read on the plane rides.
  

Intercessory Prayer

by Donna Rathert

"Catherine of Siena stands as the classic example of the renewing power of intercessory prayer. She discovered that when her interior prayer was dry, if she held others in the light of God, her own heart was warmed and her spirit took fire." (67)

Freer, Harold Wiley and Hall, Francis B. Two or Three Together: A Manual for Prayer Groups. NY: Harper and Brothers, 1945.

Clicker training

AE and KA sent us two dog clickers, a puppy training book, and treats from Seattle for Maisie. I was not sure whether to try using a clicker before our four-day trip to Albuquerque this weekend or not. However, for two days I have clicked for Maisie sitting, and she seems to be getting that command. So we will see how much she remembers after the trip.

I was also pleased today that she is getting the idea of going towards the crate when I say "crate," which happens when I leave the house. No clicking with that, but treats are put into the crate when she gets in it.

I get a little confused about clicking when all three dogs are around, because a click for Maisie is also a click for Baillie and Cisco, no matter what they're doing. My timeliness is not very good for giving them all treats for the same click.

Just like for humans, food is an ideal reward! Both CB and I enjoy our cups of hot chocolate every night, which seems like a bonus for eating (mostly) nutritiously throughout the day.

Eternal Spirit

Ken Wilber writes:

"And who knows, we might, you and I just might, in the upper reaches of the spectrum of consciousness itself, directly intuit the mind of some eternal Spirit--a Spirit that shines forth in every I and every we and every it, a Spirit that sings as the rain and dances as the wind, a Spirit of which every conversation is the sincerest worship, a Spirit that speaks with your tongue and looks out from your eyes, that touches with these hands and cries out with this voice--and a Spirit that has always whispered lovingly in our ears: Never forget the Good, and never forget the True, and never forget the Beautiful."

Wilber, Ken. The Eye of Spirit. Boston: Shambhala, 2001. 32.

Be the change!

Our weekly book group at church, The Wisdom Class, is almost finished with our reading and discussion of The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See by Richard Rohr. We've been meeting since September on this book and have had lively sharing each week.

The last chapter of the book is entitled "In the end, it all comes down to this" (159-162). As Rohr writes at the beginning of this section, "Be the change you want to see in the world" by Mohandas Gandhi. So here are some of the changes that Rohr suggests:

• If you want others to be more loving, choose to love first.

• If you want a reconciled outer world, reconcile your own inner world.

• If you are working for peace out there, create it inside as well.

• If you notice other people's irritability, let go of your own.

• If you wish to find some outer stillness, find it within yourself.

• If you are working for justice, treat yourself justly, too.

• If you find yourself resenting the faults of others, stop resenting your own.

• If the world seems desperate, let go of your own despair.

• If you want a just world, start being just in small ways yourself.

• If your situation feels hopeless, honor the one spot of hope inside you.

• If you want to find God, then honor God within you, and you will always see God beyond you. For it is only God in you who knows where and how to look for God.

Rohr, Richard. The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See. NY: Crossroad Publishing, 2009. 161.

Now these points can sound like platitudes. At times, wisdom looks like that. I remember viewing Al-Anon sayings during one period of my life, such as "Live one day at a time" or "Let go and let God," as old sayings that didn't really mean anything nowadays. But they do! Anything looked at superficially or dismissively seems insignificant; looking slowly in concentration reveals much more.

So I challenge you to choose one point of Rohr's and sit with it for a few minutes or hold it in your mind for awhile longer.