love one another

This Sunday's gospel reading is from John 13

in which Jesus gives us a new commandment

to love one another, as he has loved us.

And what does that really look like in our daily life?

“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone;

it has to be made, like bread,

remade all the time, made new”

Ursula Le Guin

did you hear that?

"Be a good listener.

Your ears will never get you in trouble."

Frank Tyger

of course then you have to make a decision

about how to use what you've heard -

and that's the tricky part.

how to give life

"To give life to people is to reveal to them

that they are loved just as they are by God,

with the mixture of good and evil,

light and darkness that is in them:

that the stone in front of their tomb

in which all the dirt of their lives has been hidden,

can be rolled away.

They are forgiven;

they can live in freedom."

Jean Vanier

He who calls each of us by name

O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people:

Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name,

and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit,

lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Collect for 4th Sunday of Easter

Earth Day

Only when the last tree has died

and the last river been poisoned

and the last fish been caught

will we realise we cannot eat money.

~Cree Indian Proverb

WiseMen @ SDI

For those who have wondered what the Wise Men

were up to during the Spiritual Direction Conference,

they were quite studious during the day,

politely listening to speakers & taking it all in...

And while the first evening started out well enough,

with their guarding the Guinness,

just the way they did in Dublin...

by the time Saturday night rolled around,

things started to unravel...

BIG TIME!

Blame it on the Alcohol....

Labyrinth Playtime!

"Children have neither past nor future;

they enjoy the present,

which very few of us do."

-Jean de la Bruyere

As we walked the labyrinth at Grace Cathedral these children delighted the adults with their playfulness - and yet their mother kept apologizing for their lack of solemnity.  But I think they were modeling how to truly walk the path.

Labyrinth @ Grace

"Never trust a thought

that didn't come by walking."

- Nietzche

I love this photo of my husband walking the outdoor labyrinth at Grace Cathedral during our recent trip to San Francisco.   I wonder what he is experiencing as he traverses the twists and turns of the labyrinth?

Reconciliation?

"Reconciliation is to understand both sides;

to go to one side and describe the suffering being endured by the other side,

and then go to the other side
and describe the suffering being endured by the first side."

-Thich Nhat Hanh

(but even then it remains doubtful this bicycle will ever get anywhere)

The Rest of the Prayer...

Forgive Us Our Debts
by

Neil Douglas-Klotz

"Loose the cords of mistakes binding us,

As we release the strands we hold

Of others' guilt.

Forgive our hidden past, the secret shames

As we consistently forgive

What others hide.

Lighten our load of secret debts as

We relieve others of their

Need to repay.

Erase the inner marks our failures make,

Just as we scrub our hearts

Of others' faults.

Absorb our frustrated hopes and dreams,

As we embrace those of others

With emptiness.

Untangle the knots within

So that we can mend our hearts'

Simple ties to others.

Compost our inner, stolen fruit

As we forgive others the spoils of

Their trespassing.

Loose the cords of mistakes binding us,

As we release the strands we hold

Of others' guilt."

photo from here

loose the cords!

"Loose the cords of mistakes binding us,

As we release the strands we hold

of other's guilt."

Sound familiar? This is the first line of a prayer "Forgive us our Debts" written by Neil Douglas-Klotz. It's his translation from the original Aramaic of just one line of The Lord's Prayer: "And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors" from a book of prayers I purchased at the Spiritual Director's Conference in San Francisco....I have so much to process from the trip but it's always good to begin with forgiveness, is it not? Especially when it's ourselves that we need to forgive.

the art work was found here.

Road Trip

My perception of a road trip:

"A good traveler has no fixed plans,

and is not intent on arriving." ~Lao Tzu

My husband's perception of a road trip:

"If we pack a lunch, leave at 4 in the morning,

& drive straight through,

I think we'll make really good time." - David Hiday

The 5 of us are off to San Francisco in the morning!

I'll let you know how it goes.

photo is from the British sitcom, "Keeping up Appearances"

(the other 3 passengers are the wise men!)

57 Candles

This is what 57 looks like on fire:

"How long the road is. But, for all the time

the journey has already taken, how you have needed

every second of it in order to learn what

the road passes by."

-Dag Hammarskjold, Markings

ain't it the truth!

if you are lucky enough to have a birthday this year,

light all the freakin' candles!

then give thanks for each and every one.

and as you pull them from the cake,

recall something from each year.

and whether it's a good memory or not, give thanks.

for all of it has brought you to who you are at this moment,

a beautiful, loved, human being created in God's image.
and what could be better than that?

Torchbearers

                                             

This is Lydia and David -

Easter Vigil Torchbearers for the first time.

They did a marvelous job!

I'm so blessed to be their grandmother!

Easter Vigil

The Easter Vigil begins in darkness

and then the light is struck - breaking the darkness.

"May the light of Christ, rising in glory,

dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds."

Good Friday

"The cross was two pieces of dead wood;

and a helpless, unresisting Man was nailed to it;

yet it was mightier than the world,

and triumphed,

and will ever triumph over it."

- Augustus William Hare

                 

Stinky Feet

Welcome to Maundy Thursday. This is the night that we wash one another's feet at our church in the same manner that Jesus washed the feet of his disciples. So, being the clever gal that I think I am, I realized that a pedicure was definitely in order. After all, I had not had one since the day before I left for Ireland in October & I didn't want anyone to know that. What would they think of my nasty feet? Or more importantly, what would they think of me?


I called for an appointment but was told that they're closed until next week. Panic! I could have called another nail salon but something deeper began to arise from within....the thought that I am attempting to hide the real state of not just my feet but my whole self. God already knows the state of my feet and every other inch of my being and Loves all of me. Who am I trying to kid? People need to see the state of my feet with my bunions and crooked nails and with the lingering vestiges of red polish still visible in spots.

All week the thought that no part of following Christ can be sung as a solo has been knocking around in my head. Tonight is yet another opportunity to realize that I need the body of Christ. I need to hold & wash someone else's feet with all their corns and bunions and hairy toes. And I need someone to do the same for me. Just like Peter, who told Jesus, "no way" - I need to surrender those parts of myself that I think are the ugliest to the care of the communion of saints. Care to join me?