What we need is here--Advent 19 Rethinkchurch.org

Rethink church reminds us that most of the time everything we need is right here.  As I filled this jar with M&M's I was struck with this reminder--M&M's yes--This jar is reminiscent of the anticipation of little minds wondering when the treat would come out. In this jar are the memories of little hands sinking in and sneaking off with the red and green treats.  Of course I always new they were eating them, I would not have put them out otherwise.  This jar is the laughter and voices saying "We are too old for this now"...but not really.  There are no children in this home now, but the jar holds everything I need--the wonderful memories of what was, the anticipation of an unexpected visitor who will delight in the old tradition and the new traditions to be made with our grandchildren.

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. - Wild Geese, Wendell Berry

Instigate good ---Rethinkchurch.org

This 18th day of advent we are asked to think about instigating good.  I saw this story and there is nothing I can say that can compete with the "good" seen here--the man hoping to heal a broken relationship between the community and the police, while sharing his own good fortune, the police open to delivering the good news and the people humble and thankful--everyone aware of the unspoken --walls being chipped away at one person at a time.
Check the story out below:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sheriffs-deputies-kindness-brings-drivers-to-tears/

Advent 15--Rejoice! Rethinkchurch.org

    So during our Thanksgiving gathering of over 26 people, a visiting dog ate the turkey.  Yes that is right, as the turkey was tucked in a snowdrift to keep cool, with the refrigerator full of a ham and side dishes to feed this crew--the dog found a treasure and did what any dog would do--dug in.
   Well after the dust, snow, debris settled one question remained for our 3 year old grandson "Did the dog eat the cranberry sauce?"  When he was told there was plenty of cranberry sauce he rejoiced!
    So often we get caught up in what is "suppose" to make us happy when typically anyone of us would be plenty happy with a little less than the main course.
    This advent experiment with the idea of rejoicing with less.  Ask yourself "What great joy is in the thing I am most likely to take for granted?"
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; (in our case the dog will relish the turkey) and a little child will lead them.

Isaiah 11:6

Advent 15 Breathe Rethinkchurch.org

     This is a photo from a visit to my brother and his family in Florida.  If you breathe in deep enough you might just be able to smell the salt water.  Rethink church reminds us of the importance of breathing and refers to the connection between yoga and breath.
    Yoga reminds us to concentrate on our breaths, making sure they are deep and full.  I think many of us could stand at the shore of this beach and on any given day, breathe the shallow, stressful patterns we are familiar with and never smell this ocean.
    The three part breath of yoga begins with settling in, lowering shoulders, filling your belly so it expands then filling your chest, actually rising up with the breath and then slowly exhaling.  This kind of breathing actually burns calories.  This kind of breathing brings great awareness to our physical and emotional being.
     Try to be aware of where your shoulders are and how deep your breaths are this advent.  Take time to inhale life, exhale the waste then inhale more life.

Spaces have the power to stress us out and to heal us. What are those healing spaces for you? Rethinkchurch.org

    Books and libraries have always been a healing place for me.  I can remember the library from our childhood in Holliston Mass--an amazing library (at least in my memory)--as a place that was hard to leave. The original Wizard of Oz series and anything by Roald Dahl were my books of choice then.  When I moved to Wiscasset as a young mom, I spent hours reading, nursing in a comfy chair in the corner of one of the rooms and the sun came in the window at the perfect angle--John Steinbeck was the author of choice at one time.  I moved to Richmond and friendships around authors grew--Elizabeth Berg, Alice Hoffman, John Irving and so many more.  Now I listen to murder mysteries in the car much to my friend's dismay, but even these books heal me--sometimes the life stories I hear make escape necessary.  I will always have books, and a bookcase, it is a mini retreat even if during school and busy times I simply touch the books, I am comforted, I am not alone and I am quite often healed.

I too used the system

Please look at the link below.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/11/06/362019133/florida-activists-arrested-for-serving-food-to-homeless

What does the prophet look like?  Who does the prophet speak too?

This article about Arnold Abbot's willingness to  feed the homeless not only speaks to the voice he is willing to share but also the judgment placed on those who have less than.

In 1997 I was a happily married working mom of three. I loved my life and I LOVED my job, I was teaching Head Start. I became very ill that year and was diagnosed with M.S.  I could no longer work.

I went on disability in 1998. I used the system.  I used the system to try new treatments, experimental and otherwise, I used the system to go back to school, I used the system always with the intention and dream of not using the system one day.  During the most difficult times we relied on the kindness of our neighbors and church.

I always worked when I could and I always claimed my wages.  I just mailed my last repayment check back to Social Security—paying back?  Yes paying back-for those who don’t know it is almost as hard to get off Disability as it is to go on.  Often there is a reassessment of wages and it takes time for the understaffed department to catch up with the release from support. 

Most people are one illness, one job loss, one death away from homelessness.  The person that stands in the bread line could have been me. No one lives securely on disability alone.  Most people loved the jobs they had to leave and it can take along time to recover from a crisis. 

The prophet sees this; the prophet shares the hopes and dreams of all who come through their line.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/11/06/362019133/florida-activists-arrested-for-serving-food-to-homeless

Advent 11--Living the Questions

My home in Holliston Mass. (this is a recent drive by-- we left in 1972) 

    This is a photo of my bedroom window when I was a little girl.  I lived in this house until I was ten and I spent a lot of time pondering questions while looking out this window.  I wondered why we still had to go to bed when it was light out.  I wondered about going to the carnival in the summer, and I would stay up late listening to the carousel music well into the night.  I wondered about school and friends, my family and the family across the street.  This family had two teenage children and I was very interested in their lives and I thought about them a lot, knowing they never thought about me.  I wondered about our other neighbors who were older, and I worried about them.  I had a lot of questions as a child, I talked to God often as I wrestled with the unknown.  My questions today are usually occupying my mind as I do something else.  I rarely give myself quiet time to sit and live with my questions.  This advent it might be a good practice to sit and really think about what it means to live the questions--not in spite of them but in and with them.  The big questions, the ones worth most of time won't have answers that come easily or in the same way for all people-and so we learn to live them.

Advent 10-Not So Random Acts of Kindness--Rehink Church

All lit up.

    Following the leading of Rethink church (www.rethinkchurch.org) I began to think about the not so random acts of kindness that I have witnessed and participated in.  The thought is that while random acts of kindness are awesome and it can change the mood of the whole day when you pay for or receive a coffee out of the blue, it is the not so random acts that take time. They give good thought to who receives them and they cost more time, possibly money, and or aggravation.
     Right now my husband is not so randomly shopping in the pouring/sleeting cold evening after a long day of work so I won't have to go out.  In return I will turn on all his Christmas lights for his arrival. Relationships are made of this type of exchange.
   Advent really is the perfect time to think about what acts of kindness we might be able to deliver to our neighbors, family, friends and strangers. This is the time to deliver the unexpected to a community that waits--waits for warmth, food, shelter, recognition, acknowledgement and ultimately love.
  1 John reminds us that God is love and that where love is God is there.--There is nothing random about that.

What will you do to prepare for God's arrival? Rethink Church

This poem was sung at a Christmas concert last night and I was so moved by the words.  

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote this poem during Civil War, and I think it is appropriate to us today as we wonder about the possibility of peace.  Prepare the way by keeping hope for peace, by listening for the bells, no matter how distant they may be.  

Christmas Bells

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familiar carols play,

 And wild and sweet

 The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

 Had rolled along

 The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

 A voice, a chime,

 A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth

The cannon thundered in the South,

 And with the sound

 The carols drowned

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent

The hearth-stones of a continent,

 And made forlorn

 The households born

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;

"There is no peace on earth," I said:

 "For hate is strong,

 And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!

 The Wrong shall fail,

 The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men!"

"Comfort, o comfort my people" says God--Advent 8

 

  Comfort has come to me so often in the form of a pet.  This photo is of our dog Roger (He can't stand having his picture taken!) When Roger arrived in our home almost 10 years ago he was one of 5 pets, he is now our lone survivor.  

   Over the years my pets have supported me through grief, transition, disappointment and joy.

   My cat Mittens was wept on profusely when I was ten and grieving the very unexpected death of our grandfather. This cat was a family favorite, he really was the boss. One night when I was babysitting and a strange car pulled in the driveway he jumped on the banister and growled like a dog.

   Tiger was not the most beautiful cat, she, like me as a teen, was particular about who she loved, when she would love and how much.  She was the perfectly imperfect cat for a wayward girl like me.

   Jezebel was my first "baby” I moved away from home and got married and this beautiful cat was all I needed to feel safe in a new state, meeting new people and working new jobs.  Nine years after we got her our youngest son was born and was allergic to her, our neighbors loved her and took her in.  I can still tear up remembering looking at her from our driveway as she sat vigil in a window looking back.  She didn't cry, she just looked there really wasn't anything more to do than this and she knew it. This family loved her well into her old age.

    That was my life with cats--always a cat girl really until Jake!  Jake was a mutt found in a parking lot.  This good boy took care of us and loved us giving our family comfort his whole life.  Jake would crawl up into my lap (not too big a fellow but not a lap dog either) when I would cry, cry in frustration that comes with being the mother of three by the age of 29 with only 8 years of marriage under my belt, cry in grief, cry with hormones, cry as I learned to live with M.S., oh the crying this guy saw.  When Jake was 14 our son said "We need to get another dog now so Jake can train him up." And so we did.  

   And this is Roger--he is quite a bit more anxious than his predecessor and needs a bit more from me than Jake did, but our children are grown and so it is my pleasure to care for Roger.

   The fact is these pets and others have given me insight to the kind of love that looks beyond accidents and bad breath, the kind of love that forgives bad days, the kind of love that senses "Something is not right." 

    What can we learn from our pets?  Comfort, o comfort--look to the stranger who is different than us and judge less, welcome others into our homes and churches with enthusiasm, forgive in a way that frees you to love again. 

"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself."
—Josh Billings 

Rethink Church Project for the Day

This is straight from Rethink church---if you don't find time to sit with a candle tonight think about trying this one night during Advent--we could all use an excuse to be still---Peace!

"Today's reflection will take a little prep. Find a candle to light tonight. Perhaps you light it just as the daylight is fading. Or maybe it's something you light as you're winding down before bed.

If you don't have a candle, maybe you have a night light or a glow in the dark sticker in your child's room.

Spend some time in the dark with the light. 

Sometimes we fear the dark. We are afraid of what we can't see; of what's unknown. But if you stare at the light long enough, you notice how bright the light of a small candle really can be.

As you extinguish the light, think about the places in your life or your community that could use a little light."  http://rethinkchurch.org/articles/spirituality/day-7-sit-in-the-dark

Turn your face to the sun.

 HOW WILL YOU PRACTICE THE APOCALYPSE TODAY, AND LOOK FOR THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST WHEREVER YOU ARE?

     "ADVENT CALLS US TO PRACTICE THE APOCALYPSE: TO LOOK FOR THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST WHO ENTERS INTO OUR EVERY LOSS, WHO COMES TO US IN THE MIDST OF DEVASTATION, WHO GATHERS US UP WHEN OUR WORLD HAS SHATTERED, AND WHO OFFERS THE HEALING THAT IS A FORETASTE OF THE WHOLENESS HE IS WORKING TO BRING ABOUT NOT ONLY AT THE END OF TIME BUT ALSO IN THIS TIME, IN THIS PLACE." --JAN RICHARDSON

                As I pondered on this thought of noticing beginnings in the midst of endings I thought about going off to Richmond to see the dedication of the new bridge.  The new bridge spectacular in size next to the “Old Bridge” the rickety metal bridge that scares most people as they drive across, praying no other car will approach.  Of course there are some who love the thrill of the old bridge, the originality, the history and they will miss this bridge. Side by side the bridges stand, new and old, past and future. 

                While unloading my car, thinking about whether or not to go drive over the new bridge, I caught sight of this swing in the midst of the debris from a recent storm, and then as I took the picture there was my shadow.  Well there it was—the end of a tree limb, an empty swing and a dark shadow, and yet there is the sense new beginning.  Summer will come and a grandchild may swing in the warm air, the tree still stands and will heal in time, the sun will shift and shadows will change.  But in this moment, while I see possibility, the emptiness remains and it is okay. 

Jan Richardson continues:

This blessing
will not fix you
will not mend you
will not give you
false comfort;
it will not talk to you
about one door opening
when another one closes.

It will simply
sit itself beside you
among the shards
and gently turn your face
toward the direction
from which the light
will come,
gathering itself
about you
as the world begins
again.

               

        

Our ask is that you take notice. What's happening around you? http://rethinkchurch.org/advent

     The other day a my sister in-law pointed this nest out to me asking "Did you know that was there?"  My reply "No."  Knowing this nest was there would mean looking around at my surroundings as I walked out our door each day.  Yes that is right--I have been walking out the door, under this nest for months.  Now in my defense I am not the most aware person when it comes to the physical stuff--I can tell if someone is upset, having a bad or great day pretty quickly and yet I can also drive by construction everyday going to work and be surprised by a new building--"Where did that come from?"  One Christmas it took me almost half a day
to realize there was a pair of unwrapped cross country skis next to the tree for me!
     I am a person who has learned that I need to take time to NOTICE my surroundings, what is going on around me.  This nest over my door--this nest held life and I missed it.  It was right there and I missed it.  Advent is a great time to take notice of all that is right in front of us--the things that bring life and the things that may prevent it.

Where are you seeing transformation happening around you? rethinkchurch.org/advent

     Twice a week I head to the local high school to teach Adult Education and twice a week I am impressed by the commitment people make to transform their lives through education.  Since we live in Maine most of the school session we travel in the dark and a lot of times the cold and by travel I mean by car and by foot for some.  Many of the people who come to class have families and work full time jobs.  Most days we gather together dragging our feet---really who wants to go to school at 5pm and get out at 9?  However, once I am in the door the students make sticking around easy.  Education is transformation in the greatest sense---what ever we are learning transforms the way we are in the world ---
 therefore the world!

Today, what can you do to bring hope? http://rethinkchurch.org/Advent

How can we be hope to the world---as I looked at this poor birch bending over the snow covered garden I realized sometimes the best way to be hope to the world is to simply be present.  There is not a thing I can do this moment to make this tree stand tall and in fact my physical intervention—my desire to “fix” the situation may actually cause more damage. I must wait for the weather and the tree to come to some resolution before it eases back to standing tall or not.  I will wait and watch and I will show up, I will show up for the celebration of restoration or I will show up to clean up and to put to bed this piece of God’s creation.  Quite often it is simply the fact that we show up that gives the most hope to others.