heart armor

“The armor we erect around our soft hearts causes a lot of misery. But don’t be deceived, it’s very transparent.

The more vivid it gets, the more clearly you see it, the more you realize that this shield—this cocoon—

is just made up of thoughts that we churn out and regard as solid. The shield is not made out of iron.

The armor is not made out of metal. In fact, it’s made out of passing memory.” --Pema Chodron

photo of “chain maille heart keepsake” is from this unique artist on Etsy

change happens by love

"When you love something you wish it goodness;

when you hate something, you wish to annihilate it.

Change happens not by hatred but by love.

Change happens when you understand what you want to change so deeply

 that there is no reason to do anything but act in your own best interest.

When you begin to inhabit your body from the inside...

any other option except taking care of it is unthinkable."

Geneen Roth - Women, Food, and God, p. 121

do the hustle

"When we spend a lifetime trying to distance ourselves

from the parts of our lives that don't fit

 with who we think we're supposed to be,

we stand outside of our story and

hustle for our worthiness by constantly

performing, perfecting, pleasing and proving.

Our sense of worthiness - that critically important piece

that gives us access to love and belonging -

lives inside of our story."

-Brene Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection, p. 23

Connie Sun comic from here

So long 2011

Good-bye 2011 - Good-bye Stonecreek Statuary -

Hard to believe we went from this.....

To this morning's view....

Husband David is walking towards the last 2 items to be delivered....

Life is always about change....And though it's sad to see it close,

We look forward to what 2012 may bring.

May we come to accept all that has come our way this past year,

as we remain open to all the new paths that God sets before us in 2012.

Love you all! 

you are where?

 

"Knowing prevents seeing.

We cannot simultaneously

hold on to something from the past

and be here, fresh and open,

in this moment." 

 

-Cheri Huber, Suffering is Optional

 

be careful

 

"Be careful who you hate,

it might just be someone you love."

- Joni Christian

infrequency

What if the question is not

why I am so infrequently the person I really want to be, but

why do I so infrequently want to be the person I really am?

Oriah Mountain Dreamer

childlikeness

"Small children somehow know that they have nothing of themselves on which to base any claim to gift or favour, yet they still believe that love will reach out and enfold them.  Devoid of adult pretentiousness, and full of their belief in being unconditionally loved, they have not yet begun the endless, competitive quest for self-justification, for proving their worthiness, for being in 'the state of grace', for relentlessly producing something better than anybody else.  Here lies the freedom and joy of the  daughters and sons of God."
 - Daniel J. O'Leary, Travelling Light - Your Journey to Wholeness,  p. 125.

photo - Fredrick's first time on a swing.

the dynamic of repentance

"God's forgiveness is not the reward

for having changed one's life,

but the source & condition of that change."

Martin L. Smith

Giving away our best

"We are cups

constantly & quietly being filled.

The trick is,

knowing how to tip ourselves over

& let the beautiful stuff out." 

Ray Bradbury

And  that can be a challenge at times, what with our propensity to become distracted by thinking that others might not see us as the beautiful creations that we are, thus losing our grip on our saucers, scalding ourselves and those around us:)

persistence & perseverance

"The Ba'al Shem Tov spoke to his disciples about such persistence this way: 'A man of piety complained to the besht,* saying,  'I have labored hard and long in the service of the Lord, yet I have received no improvement.
I am still an ordinary and ignorant person.'
And the besht answered,  'Ah yes, but you have gained the realization that you are ordinary and ignorant, and this in itself is a worthy accomplishment, is it not?'

Persistence and perseverance in hard times may not guarantee that we will receive what we set out to do. But what we ourselves can become inside ourselves, in spirit and soul, in the process will be more than worth the effort."

from Becoming Fully Human by Joan Chittister
*besht - acronym for Ba'al Shem Tov

Belong!

To Belong - Oh, how we want to belong!

To fit into a group, a family, a church, a job, or a relationship.

Too many of us just don't belong.

Today on this last Sunday of the liturgical calendar we focus on Christ as King;

Christ, whose kingship was not based on wielding power, but on serving.

Christ, who never truly belonged anywhere.

Christ, to whom we ALL belong.

May you find your sense of belonging in Christ,

the King who delights in you.

doesn't that photo make you say, "ahhhh?"

Got Gravy?

We're not very good at listening are we? And yet it's one of the greatest gifts we can give one another. I remember childhood Sunday dinners at my grandmother's house, where potatoes were always on the menu.

As I recall, she would create a well in the top of the mashed potatoes. It was a protected space used to hold the butter or the gravy.

Well, that's exactly what good listening does. It creates a protected space and shelter for the words, thoughts, and feelings of the person you're listening to. May we all remember to create such sacred spaces for one another!

Harvest Time

"There is nothing--

no thing,

no person,

no experience,

no thought,

no joy or pain--

that cannot be harvested

and used for nourishment

on our journey to God."

--Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB

as my spiritual director is fond of saying,

'nothing is wasted in God's economy'

Port Townsend Farmer's Market, 2010

photographer - Chris Cooper

Trippy Shoes

"It's easier to put on a pair of shoes

than to wrap the earth in leather."

Chögyam Trungpa

Ok, the quote doesn't say anything

about walking in the shoes,

just putting them on!

But still,

change does begin within.

the trippy photo is from here



tingers!

"Have you seen a symphony orchestra?...

There is a chap at the back carrying a triangle.

Now and again the conductor will point at him and he will play "ting."

That might seem so insignificant, but in the conception of the composer,

something irreplaceable would be lost to the total beauty of the symphony

if that "ting" did not happen."

- Desmond Tutu

extract from a sermon, 8/81

blessings be upon all the "tingers" of the world.

we are irreplaceable in our composer's eyes.

and without our contribution the symphony of life

just wouldn't sound right.



whereabouts

"When they discover

the center of the universe,

a lot of people will be disappointed

to discover

they are not it."

-Bernard Bailey

yep, sometimes the truth hurts.

Growing Old Prayer

LORD, I AM GROWING OLD. . .

I do not want to be old before my time. I do not want to be an early retiree

or to fail to give all my energy to your service in my remaining years,

but I cannot deny the decades gone and the limited years ahead.

I feel more fragile, more vulnerable.

In my youth, there were so many days, months, yes years that seemed to lie ahead

that I fooled myself with illusions of immortality. Now I know the years are numbered,

and I sense in a new way that each day is a gift not to be presumed but to be cherished.

My relationship with you has always sustained me, directed me, and given me hope,

but too often I have neglected it, presumed it was there, and failed to nourish it.

Even my commitment to ministry seemed too often a product of compulsion

rather than zeal, of a desire to be esteemed rather than a desire to serve.

But this is less a time for regrets and self-criticisms

and more a time for gratitude and renewed commitments.

This is a time to deepen my relationship with you

and to be more attentive to your presence in my everyday life.

This is a time to be with you Lord,

and to invite you to be with me.

This is a time to surrender my life into your hands

and to discover that my name is written on the palm of your hand.

This is a time to tend to my deepest desires so that I can discover your desires for me.

This is a time to think about home and where my heart is and to unearth my treasure.

This is a time for abiding in you and noticing how you abide in me.

This is a time for harvesting and a time for planting new seeds

in the sure hope that you will give them growth.

Jesus, you said to Peter: ‘When you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt

and go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands,

and someone will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go’

John 21:18).

Lord, be with me as I grow old. Lead me, guide me

and draw me ever closer to your heart for only there will I find peace

and the assurance of life eternal. Amen.

Gerald M. Fagin, SJ is Associate Professor of Theology and Spirituality at the

Loyola Institute for Ministry, Loyola University, New Orleans. He has been involved

in the ministry of spiritual direction for thirty years and, for the past twenty years,

he has co-directed an internship in spiritual direction at the New Orleans Archdiocesan

Spirituality Center. This prayer was taken from his article “The Spiritual Exercises

and the Later Years” The Way, 43/1 (January 2004), p.78-79.



love me? love my friends!

Found this quote on this blog today..

It seems that accepting Jesus is actually a "package deal"...

“Some tell us that following Jesus is a simple matter of inviting him into our hearts.

But when we do that, Jesus always asks, “May I bring my friends?”

And when we look at them, we see that they are not the kind of company we like to keep.

The friends of Jesus are the outcasts, the marginalized, the poor, the homeless, the rejected

— the lepers of life.

We hesitate and ask, “Jesus, must we really have them too?”

Jesus replies, “Love me, love my friends!”

- Peter Storey



spilling sweat, not blood

"It's when we start working together

that the real healing takes place.

It's when we start spilling our sweat

and not our blood."

David Hume

I took this photo inside the AIDS Chapel

at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.