All God's Creation

Ahhh how I wish I could curl up in the middle of the floor and sleep like Clyde.  With activity all around ... a camera flashing, little girls playing, adults chatting, the dinner about to start, Clyde lies in the middle of the floor curled up enjoying the last rays of the sun this fall evening.  Enjoying the Sabbath!

Sleeping below the noise 

Withdrawing from the stimulation

Soaking in the warmth

Renewal in the middle of the day

The middle of the floor

God has called each of us to the quiet

To the time of renewal.

Today find some time

Even 10 minute

Go to the light

Renew

Morning Rain

Fall is approaching and the rain feels fresh and cool.  Much different than a summer rain which seems to hang on and sometimes feel a bit suffocating.  The overnight rain signaled time to change from shorts to jeans for the walk ... the need for a jacket ... and a baseball cap. Sandals will do for a while but soon these too will have to give way to different shoes.  I thought for a second about lighting the fireplace ... and even the the idea of heated bathroom floors appeared momentarily.  The compromise was lighting of  candles to transition the light from night to dawn to day.  But the seasons are changing just from summer to fall ... the transition to winter will include other shifts.

Morning has broken ... 

The gift of a new day ... 

Thanks be to God for the light of dawn ...

The freshness of rain ... 

The remnants of drops on leaves and evergreens ... 

Reminders of our baptism ... 

That we are marked as a child of God ... 

Go forth ... 

Live fully ... 

Give thanks ... 

The Lights of the Night

And we wonder why are electricity bills are so high!
But it sure is pretty on a clear night such as tonight.

Protect Me

"In Chinese mythology, the sea turtle represents wisdom. In Hawaii, legend tells about a green sea turtle, Kauila, who could change herself into a girl to watch over the children playing at Punalu'u Beach on the Big Island. When Kauila's mother dug her nest, a fresh water spring surged upward, quenching the children's thirst. Kauila is the "mythical mother" of all turtles, and perhaps of our children as well. It's also said that turtles were the guides for the first voyagers to Hawaii."

Legend tells the story well ... that of protecting the children playing

Today we are called to protecting play for children.

It is critical that we work together to protect play for our children.

This Honu was resting, perhaps reminding us to protect our children.

The Seeker

Aren't we always in search of something? From as simple as "where did I put those keys?" to why am I here? In search of just that right dress to search for peace and contentment. For me some days the search is as simple as finding the paper on my desk or as illusive as the right photo. Yesterday as I headed to the beach at Waikiki in search of that perfect "sunset picture" ... there was this man standing on the breakwall ... he too in search of just that right capture. Thanks to him I found my picture ... reminding me that sometimes it is right there in front of me ...

What are you seeking?

Morning light

I seem to be on a break these days from musing and thinking and writing .... This morning I watched the glow from the sun rising on Sandy Beach, HI. I've been back here three times on this trip ... there is something about the colors in the morning. The rays bounce along the sand much leaving the darkness of shadows in their wake.

Greeting the world

Making its mark

Shhhh be quiet ...

Let it seep in.

Emptiness

There is something to be said for the emptiness of a train station.  Quiet ... alone ... reflective.  I write this with my eyes closed ... the tv off ... All I hear is the whrr of the ceiling fan and the clicking of the keyboard.  Perhaps Teddy will take a breath.  I have been craving this quiet ... there has been too much noise of late.  In the desolate station I can sit and be ... and in time restore my senses.   The Psalmist has it right: 

     God makes me lie down in green pastures, 

        he leads me beside quiet waters,

     God restores my soul. 

It is in the quietness ... the withdrawal that our souls are restored.

The Bounty

There are lots of food blogs ... so I promise not to turn this into one!  I've been busy "putting up" fruits and vegetables this past week.  My kitchen has been a mess ... but I have lots of little jars sitting around filled with many things that I hope will be yummy this fall and winter!  These peaches are being softened to add to what started out as a bushel of tomatoes ... which became tomato sauce, then relish, then sweet and sour (peaches for this), and finally chutney.  It was quite a project.  I am still thinking of trying applesauce.  

Want to join me?

The American Dream Part II

Am still mulling on this ... and have received a wide wide range of responses.  When my parents reference the American Dream it comes with the context of their generation.   I wonder if the "American Dream" is now so varied for folks ... and if it rooted in ones economic station?  Now I did do a bit of exploring ... and found out (much to my surprise) that the phrase was not coined until the 1930s ... 

The following is from Wikipedia (don't say anything)

Historian and writer James Adams coined the phrase American Dream in his 1931 book Epic of America:

The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.  It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it.  It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position. 

"The American Dream, that has lured tens of millions of all nations to our shores in the past century has not been a dream of material plenty, though that has doubtlessly counted heavily.  It has been a dream of being able to grow to fullest development as a man and woman, unhampered by the  barriers which had slowly been erected in the older civilizations, unrepressed by social orders which had developed for the benefit of classes rather than for the simple human being of any and every class."

Are you living the American Dream?

Have we become the "upper European class"?

The American Dream

I've been mulling over the concept of "the American dream" lately.  

When you think of the "American dream" what concepts come to mind?

Don't think too hard on this ... but what do you think of?

Post it here ... I'm also going to ask via email with folks ... then muse a bit here!

Compassion

In these days listening to the rhetoric regarding health care one cannot help but wonder whatever happened to compassion?

When we look to the words of Jesus we are told to "Love one another.  As I have love you, so you must love one another." (John 13:34)When we look to the Declaration of Independence of the United States, our forefathers were compassionate:  "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all ... are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Doesn't my neighbor have as much right and access to health care as I do?  I know the daily cost of my medication (and I have insurance to pay it).  I can guess the cost of a woman in her 80s who a year following bypass surgery must pay for her own medication now.  We both have worked our adult lives and have had he benefit of health care.  If I am stuck I can call family and draw from three generations of growing resources over time.   I live secure in a "structure of wealth".  I have never had to worry about getting health care.  As the sunsets I can jump in my car and drive up to the beach and enjoy the colors.  

Yet less than five miles away others live in the maze of poverty.  Its not as simple as "get a job".  There are those who work long hard hours, yet barely make ends meet, that live simply because that is all they can live.  They do not have the depth of resources to have a new heater installed or assure their children can go to college.  The thought of getting in a car to drive to the beach at sunset is not even an option ... the cost of gas at $2.75/gallon is too much.  Choices between food, heat, medication, books. are made daily ... and not simply.

We are called to love, to serve, to have compassion.  This puts us in connection with one another.  Those with whom we live, we work, we pray, and we laugh.  We are connected to those we don't know.  The faces we have yet to see.  The hands we have yet to touch.  The beggar at the corner, the mother on the bus, the man who walks the streets at night collecting cans.  

We are not alone ... and we can let our neighbors be alone in their struggle.  Their struggle becomes our struggle ... and we cannot let them suffer alone.  Love one another.  All are created equal.  Together let's change the systems we live in ... 

Compassion does not feel sorry in the face of suffering; 

it knows that all suffering is its own. 

When we recognize this connection between us and everyone else, 

we know that we belong to each other; 

we do not suffer alone.  

Hannah's Gift p 195

Second Day

The second day is usually better than the first ... that is unless it is worse than the first and you didn't like the first at all so you thought all night about how bad the first day was so you imagined a bad second day and it became the bad second day.

Oh my ... I'm not usually so dreary ... 

time to get back to more hopeful. 

First Day

There's change in the air today.  

Morning dew on the grass

A father walking a few steps behind his son

More cars on the expressway

The yellow gliding along the road.

New clothes

New backpacks

(whatever happened to getting a new lunch pail ... so much more fun)

New pencils

New shoes

First day of school

A churn in my stomach

Mom's excited

I'm scared

A brown dress with peter pan collar and lace

Saddle shoe

White socks

Where will I sit

Will I have any friends

Will I get lost

What if they don't like me

What will I do

I feel it all in my stomach

Am sure it shows on my face

First day jitters

Its okay to be scared

It isn't always that exciting

I'm just not sure what it will be like

Second day will be better

Because it isn't the first day.

Water

Central to our lives ... water  

Laughter joy renewal peace calm
Water is central to our lives ... We need it for survival .... 

61.8% of our body weight is water

There is an abundance of water in the east

There is a lack of water in the west

Parts of the world are experiencing water "stress"

Water is referenced in the 2nd verse of the Bible

Referenced 485 times in the Bible (NIV)

We are baptized with water

Jesus walked on water

We thirst ... 

We yearn ... 

Water is life

Water is renewing

Fathers and Daughters

Making memories. As the sun sets they run together along the shore. Check the rhythm. Right foot down ... This is what eat well, live well, love well is all about. Time together ... laughing, eating, running, loving. Making memories. Time to head outside and live well.

The Lights of Night

The night sky calls to me ... A full moon, the north star, the big dipper and the little dipper. Constellations abound ... And to think they are they for our enjoyment. Finding a place away from city lights ... laying down. God made them all.

Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
Isaiah 40:26

Endings

Ball of fire

Bouncing low 

Bouncing high

Stretching to the sand

A gathering crowd 

Looking west

Holding on to summer

Yearning to warmth

Night draws near 

Sleep awaits

End of day

End of week

End of season

wherever you are ....

The ache that comes 

changes ... transitions ... loss.

The ache that comes 

break up, death, anger.

No matter the reason .. 

Ache comes with love.

The ache of intensity ... 

the ache of loss.

No matter where ... 

No matter who ... 

And if you come back 

I want you to know

I love you no matter 

Where you have been 

No matter 

What has happened.

So just in case you come back

I want you know the intensity of my love.   

Contemplation

Henri Nouwen defined contemplation as "a vision of the nature of things," the ability to see things for what they are."  He goes on to suggest that it helps the mind to "descend into the heart" to discern the nature of reality.  

Perhaps it is the melding of the heart and mind to focus on what is ... what is to the core.  When one seeks understanding of contemplation one cannot avoid the connection to spirituality.   Contemplative prayer, contemplative reading, a centering on the simple.  

"our contemplation should first of all be simple, very simple.  Contemplative prayer enables us to allow the Word of God to descent from our mind into our heart, where it can become fruitful.  ... it is so important to focus quietly on a word or sentence.  Then we must ruminate on it, murmur it, chew it, hear it, so that in our innermost self we can really sense its power."

As you walk the labyrinth ... as you watch the sunset ... as you sit in the quiet light of the dawn ... allow the melding of the heart and mind ... God is present.  

"Jesus remember me, when you come into Your kingdom.

Jesus remember me, when you come into Your kingdom."

To the mountain

To the mountain.  I wonder if Jesus went to the mountain when he felt stressed.  Out on a boat ... up on a mountain ... near the water.  I don't live near a mountain ... I do live near water.  Sometimes the effort to get there ... gets in the way of the aloneness ... So the mountain to be something else.  I guess it really isn't about a mountain ... or the sea ... It is about the disconnect ... to the alone ... to the prayer.  In an office, listening to the music.  No words ... music ... aloneness ... prayer ... Thank you Jesus for the example.

He (Jesus) went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.
Matthew 14:23

Where do you go?