Trinity Sunday

"Each member of the human family

is equal in dignity and has equal rights

because

we are all children of the one God.

We are sisters and brothers to each other.

We understand God to be a trinity of persons

and so we see the image of God reflected

not only in individuals,

but also in communities.

Together in community

we bear the image of our God

whose very nature is communal."

- Sandie Cornish

remind me again?

Our job is to

follow and serve in

Love.

*

Everything else,

is God's job.

*

Everything.

                                                      

This is a card that sits on my desk.

I read it several times a day.

Sometimes several times an hour.

being here

"Being in the present moment is the point

where we make our contribution

to that phrase of the Lord's prayer:

"on earth as it is in heaven."

Brother David Steindl-Rast

i looked at many conceptualized views of 'being in the present moment'

but this one "Contemplation" from here grabbed my attention.

what's my name?

I was regretting the past

and fearing the future.

Suddenly God was speaking.

"My name is 'I am.'" I waited.

God continued,

"When you live in the past

with its mistakes and regrets

it is hard. I am not there.

My name is not 'I was.'

When you live in the future,

with its problems and fears, it is hard.

I am not there.

My name is not 'I will be.'

When you live in this moment,
it is not hard. I am here.

My name is 'I am.'

from Helen Mellicost (on the kitchen wall

of the Ranch Guesthouse of St. Benedict's

Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado.)
p. 51 "100 Graces - Mealtime Blessings"

image is from this artblog

which is curated by Meighan O'Toole.

grief/brokenness

Texas Rose Mosaic by Sarah Zirkel

"To grieve is to allow our losses to tear apart feelings
of security and safety

and lead us to the painful truth of our brokenness."

Henri Nouwen

breathtaking art from here

cirque de hiday?

One of my favorite books is 100 Graces - Mealtime Blessings.

It sits on our dining room table and we read a different blessing

from it before meals. (That is, when we remember.)

Tonight, with my daughter and her husband here,

I randomly picked this blessing to pray before dinner:

Our Father, we are

grateful for this family,

who hand in hand form

one unbroken circle.

Help us to do Thy will,

as caring individuals and

as a loving family.

Amen.

It's a lovely blessing. But talk about your Freudian slips...Here's what I prayed:

Our Father, we are

grateful for this family,

who hand in hand form

one unbroken circus.

Then I started laughing -

not sure anyone else thought it was that funny.

I thought it was hilarious because it's so true.

We are a circus - with the exception of the clowns.

(Let's not go there.)

Just two letters changed the intent, or did it?

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Many depictions of the life-giving event that occurred

at Pentecost craft the Holy Spirit as a tiny flame

resting on the top of the disciple's heads,

but this artwork by Estella Canziani draws us into

a wild, all-encompassing, uncontainable Spirit who

filled every ligament, every vein of those present.

No wonder some thought they were drunk!

Gotta have me some of that!

A Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Breathe in me O Holy Spirit

that my thoughts may all be holy;

Act in me O Holy Spirit

that my works, too, may be holy;

Draw my heart O Holy Spirit

that I love but what is holy;

Strengthen me O Holy Spirit

to defend all that is holy;

Guard me then O Holy Spirit

that I always may be holy.

St. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430)

enough already

"We can never have enough

of that which we really do not want."

– Eric Hoffer

clearcutting cursors

where cursors come from

did you just move your cursor over those cursors?

i did!

Gridlock

"All spiritual teachers tell us “DO NOT JUDGE.”

For those of us raised in a religious setting, this is very difficult.

In a strange way, religion gave us all a Ph.D. in judgmentalism.

It trained us very early in life to categorize, label, and critique.

It told us all about worthiness and unworthiness.

This judgmental mind told us what is right and wrong,

who is gay or straight, and who is good or bad.

This sort of mind never creates great people,

because everybody has to fit into our way of thinking.

At an early age our grid was complete.

We had decided who fit in and who did not fit in.

We fashioned our own little world.

Christianity that divides the world in this manner

and eliminates all troublesome people

and all ideas different from our way of thinking

cannot be mature religion.

It cannot see the multiple gifts of each moment,

nor the dark side that coexists with it.

This mind does not lead us to awareness,

and above all, this mind will find it impossible to contemplate.

To practice awareness means you live in a spirit of communion;

your world becomes alive and very spacious,

and not divided by mere mental labels."

Richard Rohr

(thanks to Bishop Alan for posting this)

query: how did those 2 cars on the right side of the picture make it out of the gridlock?

christian unity

“Christian unity is not an ideal which we must realize [actualize];

it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate.”

dietrich bonhoeffer

art: Unity by Monica Stewart

quote from here

Ascencion Art?

Someone asked about yesterday's Ascension art - so here goes: Disclaimer:  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  These comments are only my reactions.  The artwork on the right (which fills the "too renaissancey" slot) shows a "ripped" Jesus with a perfectly sculpted six-pack - which I'm assuming he worked on when he wasn't teaching, praying, and healing?  As for the completely clothed apostles, 6 are actually watching him ascend while the other 6 are looking everywhere but up.  I guess they were used to such sights.

Which brings us to the "too clip artsy" artwork - a flowing Jesus who seems to have lost an eye in the ascension process....oops...at least he's clothed....:)

And for the "too creepy" category...how does this one strike you?  This darkness doesn't exactly exude a sense of warmth...know what I mean?  But again, as stated in the disclaimer: beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Now for the "too cutesy" category- (as in cutesy feet sticking out from the grey clouds) - which I snitched from here.  This scene appears to be attached to a cross of some sort and again, most of the apostles aren't watching the ascension. What could be distracting them? 

And there you have it!  Human beings interpreting Jesus in so many ways.  We are a wild and crazy crew - made in the image of a God who gave us each such uniqueness.  Gotta love that!   

Ascending Feet

Yesterday was the Feast of Jesus' Ascencion into Heaven. I searched and searched for a picture but was unable to find one that I liked - as many of the artistic interpretations were either too cutesy, too renaissancey, too clip-artsy or just downright creepy, so I'm re-posting the artwork I used last year.

Imagine yourself on the ground, as one of the disciples, craning your neck as you watch Christ ascend above your head. And as he silently floats away into the distant sky, the only part of his body you can still catch sight of are his feet, the same ones that walked this earth beside you. Would your mind turn to the night when he washed your own feet?

According to the scriptures you would not have been fearful or sad at this event but would have returned to Jerusalem with great joy...because you knew that Jesus would always be with you..

"O Thou dweller in my heart,

Open it out,

Purify it,

Make it bright and beautiful,

Awaken it,

Prepare it,

Make it fearless,

Make it a blessing to others,

Rid it of laziness,

Free it from doubt,

Unite it with all,

Destroy its bondage,

Let thy peaceful music pervade all its works,

Make my heart fixed on thy holy lotus feet

And make it full of joy, full of joy, full of joy.

- M. Ghandi

called to bear fruit

"The ultimate expression of Jesus' mission is to share God's name

in order to fill people with God's love.

God's name is not money or militarism or macho.

It is The One Who Is,

the one upon whom the foundation of the world rests,

the one whose love permeates all that lives and calls it to bear fruit,

fruit that will last into eternal life."

-Wes Howard-Brook

snitched this one from here.

comprendo?

“A comprehended God is no God at all.”

G. Tersteegen
or
Saint John Chrysostum

happily-ever-after

But remember kids....

“It is only possible to live happily-ever-after

on a day-to-day basis.”

-Margaret Bonnano

(I'm such a sucker for cute & cuddly animal pictures. I looked up "cuddly" and I love that it means "to nestle" and "to snuggle" and "to hug tenderly". I suggest that we all reach out to cuddle today)

Letting God be God

"Praise is the simple act of enacting our true purpose,

 namely letting God be God in our life. 

As that happens, we take on our true human character. 

In the act of praise, we become the creatures

whom we are meant to be;

against subjectivity that produces anxiety,

against technique that leaves us empty,

we are now filled with life as creatures gifted by the Creator."

Walter Brueggermann - Finally Comes the Poet

Feast of Julian of Norwich

"As truly as God is our Father,
so truly is God our mother.

And he revealed that in everything

and especially in these sweet words
where he says,

“I am the power and goodness of fatherhood,

I am the wisdom and lovingness of motherhood.

I am the light and grace
which is all blessed love.”

Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)

author of first book written in english by a woman

do you know what she is holding in her hand?

Q & A

There are

no

RIGHT answers

to

WRONG questions.

Ursula Le Guin

I'm not who I was

A friend shared this poem with me today...

'Layers' by Stanley Kunitz

I have walked through many lives,

some of them my own,

and I am not who I was,

though some principle of being

abides, from which I struggle

not to stray.

When I look behind,

as I am compelled to look

before I can gather strength

to proceed on my journey,

I see the milestones dwindling

toward the horizon

and the slow fires trailing

from the abandoned camp-sites,

over which scavenger angels

wheel on heavy wings.

Oh, I have made myself a tribe

out of my true affections,

and my tribe is scattered!

How shall the heart be reconciled

to its feast of losses?

In a rising wind

the manic dust of my friends,

those who fell along the way,

bitterly stings my face.

Yet I turn, I turn,

exulting somewhat,

with my will intact to go

wherever I need to go,

and every stone on the road

precious to me.

In my darkest night,

when the moon was covered

and I roamed through wreckage,

a nimbus-clouded voice

directed me:

"Live in the layers,

not on the litter."

Though I lack the art

to decipher it,

no doubt the next chapter

in my book of transformations

is already written.

I am not done with my changes.

photo from here; while there, check out

the other 'bits of verse' on FreeVerse: Poetry in the Wild

a truly delicious quote!

"The point of travelling is not to arrive

but to return home

laden with pollen you shall work up

Into honey the mind feeds on."

- R.S. Thomas - Welsh poet & priest

don't answer that!

"To learn which questions are unanswerable,

and not to answer them:

this skill is most needful in times of stress and darkness."

Ursula Le Guin

How I miss her!

"While we have the gift of life,

it seems to me the only tragedy

is to allow part of us to die --

whether it is our spirit,

our creativity or

our glorious uniqueness."

- Gilda Radner