Monday Morning Movie: The Food and Climate Connection

I was inspired this morning by Christy Hardin Smith at her blog Home Celebration.  She got me thinking about ways to connect some dots about food, health, and justice.

The Food and Climate Connection from WhyHunger on Vimeo.

The video is a beautiful introduction to justice relating to food production.  I am challenged to be more intentional about my part of the food cycle:  choosing what to eat and where to buy.

I recommend Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life.  It's about a family's year-long commitment to eating only locally-produced seasonal food.

My next book to read is Frances Moore Lappe's book Getting A Grip 2: Clarity, Creativity and Courage for the World We Really Want.  I plan to participate in the discussion when Christy hosts a FireDogLake Book Salon with Frances Moore Lappe on August 28 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

These are steps I hope will lead me to live in a healthier way personally and to participate in a more just world.  I'm sure I will have more to say about healthy living after my great big yearly checkup appointment on Wednesday.

P.S.  Found Back to Basics, a site that describes itself interested in some of my favorite food-related things:  "gluten free, vegetarian, and agricultural policy issues, reviews and news."

A New Lullaby, For Children of Any Age

I have been looking for a new lullaby or two.  Thanks to Witch Mom for introducing me to this beautiful song! I can't imagine ever outgrowing being nurtured and loved by hearing this song sung to me:

This is Roy Bailey singing "Everything Possible"
Words and music by Fred Small, who pastors a Unitarian Universalist church


 Everything Possible

We've cleared off the table, leftovers saved
Washed the dishes and put them away
I've told you a story and tucked you in tight
At the end of your knockabout day

As the moon sets her sails to carry you to sleep
Over the midnight sea
I will sing you a song no one sang to me
May it keep you good company 

Chorus:
Well, you can be anybody you want to be
You can love whomever you will
You can travel any country where your heart leads
And know that I will love you still 
You can live by yourself
You can gather friends around
You can choose one special one
And the only measure of your words and your deeds 
Will be the love you leave behind when you're done

There are girls who grow up strong and bold
There are boys quiet and kind
Some race on ahead, some follow behind
Some go in their own way and time

Some women love women
Some men love men
Some raise children, some never do
You can dream all the days never reaching the end of everything  possible for you.

Don't be rattled by names, by taunts, by games
But seek out spirits true
If you give your friends the best part of yourself
They'll give the same back to you 
(chorus, repeating last two lines for the finish)

Friday Five: Grandmother Memories

RevGalBlogPals are taking a trip down memory lane today.  As a new grandmother, I would like to honor my own grandmothers with memories of treasured moments of grandmothers -- past, present, and future.

Flowers from my mother's garden

A treasured memory from childhood:
We called my dad's mother "Lollie."  She made my sister and me matching Easter dresses every year.  I remember feeling unfairly tortured with pins sticking me all over during the dreaded fitting.  I also remember my dad taking movies of every Easter egg hunt around, and in, Lollie's beautiful gardens.

A teenage memory:
My mom's mom was "Deedie" to everyone since childhood, as she was the oldest of 10 children who had difficulty pronouncing "Lydia."  When I was 13, I endured the tragedy (to me, then) of a family move from El Paso to Baton Rouge.  It was like moving to a strange country, and we moved in March, at the end of the school year.  I was beyond bereft.  My parents wisely suggested that I might want to make a summer trip (my first pilgrimage?) back to visit Deedie, and they said I could stay as long as I wanted to stay.  I spent six blessed weeks with her, learning how to sew, visiting homebound people from her church, canning plum jam from the fruit of her trees, getting hooked on my first soap opera, and staying up past 8:00 every night to watch the Tonight Show with her.  My parents finally had to call and insist I come home!

A young adult memory:
When I was 24, my mother became a grandma for the first time when my son was born.  I loved sharing my newborn children and my new mommy feelings with her.  She wanted to be called "Gran Gran" as her maternal grandmother had been to her.  My mother is a wonderful grandmother.  All of her grandchildren have made regular pilgrimages to the fantasy world fondly known as "Camp Gran Gran."

Living with the consequences ...

see more Funny Graphs


** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
And, in case you were wondering about DADT consequences:

Lifting "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will not threaten religious freedom

Teach us to pray

This was the pastoral prayer that I offered after the July 25 sermon on Luke's report of Jesus' teaching the "The Lord's Prayer" to the disciples:

O God, OUR God -- we worship you.  You are holy.  There is no other who can claim first place in our hearts, in our lives, on our agenda.  When we recognize you as our God, we also recognize ourselves as children belonging to you.

We pray for the world that you have created to keep on becoming the world that you intended at creation.  We pray for the unity of all people and all nations and all beings.  We pray for the healing of the environment.  We pray for the integrity of each community -- each common place -- to be a place of joy, bound together in covenant with one another and with you.  We pray for the wholeness of each person, fully participating in your creation, fully confident in your love.  We dedicate ourselves to being people of shalom -- peacemakers, embodying loving kindness, creating common ground.

We come to you as the provider of the bread we need for this day.  You are the giver of life and the provider of all that life is made of.  This day, give us -- each and every person -- what we truly need to live.  Show us how we can share the bread you have provided.  Make us aware of needs we can meet.  And make us aware of our basic human need for you and for each other.

Advice from Me to Myself

Dear Self:

Great Salt Lake (July 2009)

Have you read your own most recent pastor article?  Why, look, it arrived at the post office just yesterday.  How timely!  Take another look at what you wrote.  Remind yourself, again, how very tempting it is to think that *everyone else* could use a holy attitude adjustment and how "helpful" you are with always-just-right advice for other people.

So, now you have stumbled -- yea, fallen flat! -- again.   And somehow it always seems so unexpected!  Do you really need yet another reminder that ordination did not inoculate the Rev from looking for love in all the wrong places, or from forgetting to look for love at all?  Your well can dry up, too, you know.  It's better to notice when the level reaches "low" before it's all the way to "empty."

"Hindsight is 20/20," of course, and so are all the other cliches that involve "a new leaf" and "heal thyself" and, most definitely, "eating humble pie."  Here, have some.  Yours is gluten-free, of course!

These things you know; these things you preach; these things you write.  So, here it is, your most recent newsletter article, appropriately entitled "Good News is for Sharing."  You wrote it.  Now live it.  Today.

Love you still,
Me

GOOD NEWS IS FOR SHARING

August 2010

Monday Mourning (haiku edition)

missing it, him, them

gone from sight, no gratitude

no record, erased

gazing shifts up now


summer's gentle loving call


"come and play again"

Friday Five: Love the One You're With

Today's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five invitation:  Please name five things you like about where you are living now... and as your bonus - 1 thing you don't like.

The view from my deck

1.  The view from my deck.  It looks out over a river valley and up a modest mountain in the distance.  Along the side of the mountain, I can see the tiny cars on the turnpike and the tunnel they are approaching or exiting.  The Applachian trail runs lower along the mountain following the path of the river.  Sitting on my deck, I can enjoy sunsets, moon phases and fireworks. 

The diner and train

2.  The almost-world-famous 24-hour diner.  Just a three-block walk from my house, I have enjoyed some very fine conversations with some very special people over some pretty decent meals there.  I wish they didn't have a sign that says, "We may refuse service to anyone for any reason" and I wish their coffee was better.  They make great chocolate milk shakes, though!

3.  I can hear the train from my house.  I like a distant train whistle in my world on a semi-regular basis.

4.  I have wonderful next-door neighbors.  The last three places I've lived, I've been blessed with better-than-good neighbors.  That's something that you can't make happen.

5.  "Some" people look down on where I live.  It's a small town that is considered, by some in these parts, to be not the coolest town around.  It was once a very blue collar mining town.  It's the kind of place people fancy moving up from.  Strangely enough, that makes living here all the more appealing to me.

BONUS:  One thing I don't like:   The freakin' firehouse sirens!  C'mon guys, it's 2010.  Put technology to work and ditch the sound pollution.

Simple Wonder: The Ice Tray

The ice tray of my childhood

My last house was a parsonage, so it came with appliances we didn't choose.  The refrigerator/freezer was a massive side-by-side model in stainless steel with a door dispenser that could be instantly tapped for cold water and ice in your choice of crushed or cubes.  Getting a glass of ice water took mere seconds from first thought to first swallow.

No matter.  I don't drink ice water.  But I do drink iced tea.  Especially in the summer.  Lots and lots of iced tea.  Brewed, please.  No powder.  And never, ever will I submit again to Zimmerman's (so called) iced tea, no matter how many people try to convince me of its superiority.  It's made from (ugh!) powdered tea.  Read the label.

In my current house, the much-more-modest refrigerator/freezer was my own purchase.  It has no fancy door dispenser.  It doesn't even have an ice maker.  Yet, even in these most hot and humid days, I somehow manage to stay well-hydrated with real, honest-to-goodness brewed iced tea, cooled by ice I extract myself from my three very plain white plastic ice trays.  

What I like about ice trays:

Wordless Wednesday: Precious babies

My baby (Amy) and her baby (Daniel)

Word Wonders: Univocal vs. Equivocal

My niece Laura took this pic

I may have been the only person in the RevGalBlogPals "Friday Five" game this week who chose "univocal" instead of "equivocal" given that choice.  I've had some fun thinking about my process in making what was, for me, a very surprising choice.  The way it went:

Did You Know? The Bechdel Test

Thanks to Ode: The online community for intelligent optimists:

I just found out about the Bechdel Test for women in movies.

From the web site:  The Bechdel Test, sometimes called the Mo Movie Measure or Bechdel Rule is a simple test which names the following three criteria: (1) it has to have at least two women in it, who (2) who talk to each other, about (3) something besides a man. The test was popularized by Alison Bechdel's comic Dykes to Watch Out For, in a 1985 strip called The Rule.

Regarding some movies I've liked:  Despicable Me and Stranger than Fiction pass the test; Ratatouille and The Pursuit of Happyness do not!

Check out the Bechdel Test Movie List and see if your favorite movie passes the test!

Friday Five: Decisions, Decisions

The RevGalBlogPal "Friday Five" topic du jour is "DISCERNMENT" and the assignment blessedly avoids angst or deep digging.  "Tell us which word in the pair appeals to you most, and after you've done all five, give us the reason why for one of them."

1) Cake or Pie:  CAKE
2) Train or Airplane:  TRAIN
3) Mac or PC:  MAC
4) Univocal or Equivocal:  UNIVOCAL
5) Peter or Paul:  PAUL


Reason for Mac over PC:  I don't like to struggle.  My MacBook doesn't freeze up. It's easy to figure out.  It does what I want to do instead of the other way around.  And -- with a really cute hot pink skin -- goes everywhere stylin'!


Most difficult choice:  Peter or Paul, and it was the most fun to think about!


Catch 22 choice:  Cake or Pie, because I'm gluten free.  However, either can be made GF, and I've always liked cake the best, and not just for the icing, either.


My go-to discernment method:  For the big decisions, I don't always know what saying "yes" to God looks like.  However, when I consider saying "no" to something, and it feels like saying "no" to God, then "yes" is the way to go.  

What's For Dinner

I enjoyed something easy, easy, easy and delicious for last night's dinner.

Searching the grocery aisles for dinner inspiration yesterday, I found something called "Recipe Inspirations" .  That's what McCormick calls its packet of premeasured spices enclosed with a recipe card.  The presentation is appealing and it I decided to plunk down $1.99 for the "Rosemary Roasted Chicken with Potatoes."  I normally would consider that too expensive for small amounts of spices that I could combine myself, except that I didn't have the rosemary.  When I added up the cost of the packet, the chicken and the potatoes, I spent slightly less that I was going to spend on a ready-made roasted chicken with no potatoes.  And I made it myself!

Wordless Wednesday: Christmas in July

Best Friends

Marilyce and Chelsea

I don't call any one person my "bestest" because I am blessed with more than one amazing special friend.  When I refer to one of them, I call him/her my "best friend" not because I can't choose, but because it's a true description for several people in my life. They are the "through thick and thin" people in my life; they are the ones who have navigated the *stuff* in my life when it's been piled high and deep.

We took a vacation together.  
We went on retreat to plan and dream.  
We talked for hours, long distance, from coffee shops and bookstore.
We hiked for miles and miles.  
We drank wine and dreamed of Maine cottages.  
We held each other for dear life.  
We made worship together and we slayed dragons together.  
We kept our cool.

Today I had a long and wonderful conversation with one of you.  And it was delicious!

(Great pic, girls!)

Grandmother -- Me!

Daniel holding onto his momma

On May 31, I became a grandmother when Daniel was brought into the world.

I wonder if there is anything else I can say that will can anything more to that sentence or that picture.

Today, I think not.

Starting Again ... (again)

I'm not all that jazzed about this particular topic to get my blog up and running again. But it's better than any I've come up with, so here goes, courtesy of RevGalBlogPals:

1. Did you grow up with pets?

Yes. We had cats, a dog or two, chickens, some fish, a baby alligator (or was it a crocodile?) and a burro, but not all at the same time.

2. Do you have any pets now?

Yes. I have a 13 year old cat named Ruby.

3. What is the funniest or worst thing any of your pets have ever done?

I can't think of anything outstanding in either category.

4. Who is/was your favorite pet?

I have a special place in my heart for Charley, the black cat I had during my teenaged years. Ruby is also very special to me.

5. How did you train your different pets?

You don't train cats; they train you!

BONUS: Pictures of a pet or one you wish you could have.
This is a picture of Maya who rules the household of my extended family in Baton Rouge.  She looks a lot like Jack, our former cat who has relocated to Portland, and it also resembles Eddie, Jack's little brother.

A Year of Silence

Three days shy of a year of silence on this blog ...

Funny how it's easy to say "Yea, God!" when things seemed to be going peacefully and sensibly. The last year has been neither peaceful nor sensible in many ways.

Still, I wish I had been more vocal, even here, about the many "Yea, God!" moments:

The UCC National Youth Event -- bus ride and all the great, great kids!

I became a mother-in-law when Amy & Jaymz got married

Enjoying son & daughters, mom & sisters, nieces and nephew -- missing my brother and his family

Making plans for next year's cruise with the WHOLE family!

God still speaking and still leading ...

I am in transition --giving thanks for the Dille Parish UCC and saying heart-felt, sometimes heart-wrenching, good-byes -- and giving thanks for a new (to me) congregation and moving toward a new ministry setting at Jerusalem UCC.

I am at peace.
And I am back ... smiling ...

YEA GOD!

My High School Clique, they say

We were the BHS Buccaneers!

What Highschool Clique Do You Belong To? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Geek/Nerd Haha! ok. go computer geeks! Geek/Nerd 80% Loner 67% Hot 53% Emo Kid 33% Jock 27% Prep 27% Goth 13% Punk 13% "Ghetto" 7% Stoner 0%

Not ashamed of the gospel

Does this look like an anti-war protester? Or a DFH? It's actually a picture of a faithful and courageous Christian leader who is not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yesterday, Rev. John Thomas and Rev. Linda Jaramillo, both national leaders in the United Church of Christ, were arrested for attempting to deliver to the White House a petition for peace in Iraq. The petition carried some 60,000 signatures, including mine, I'm happy to say.

Mainline church leaders have never been asked to the White House, nor has the president of the United States found time in his schedule to grant even one meeting that mainline church leaders have requested.

In 2003, as war in Iraq is promoted, President's schedule "too busy" to meet with mailine church leaders

Methodist leaders encourage Bush to repent

Yet, he has been very accessible to, and influenced by, the likes of James Dobson and the (far) religious right.

Bush meets with Religious Right to get support for Iran policy

As a disciple of Jesus Christ who seeks to be a peacemaker, I am inspired today, and energized, by the witness for peace that led to the arrest yesterday of John Thomas and Linda Jaramillo at the White House gates.

Friday Five: Thankfulness

RevGalBlogPals Friday Five:

List at least five things (people, places, graces, miracles...) for which you are thankful. You may elaborate as you wish, or keep it simple.

What a great topic! I'll play ...

* My children who are all grown, scattered (NYC, Oregon, and L.A.) and, still today, a bottomless source of inspiration and joy:
* The church I am privileged to serve, for which no picture would be adequate.
* Nature -- all kinds, all places -- human and otherwise -- reminders of God's beautiful and redemptive presence in unlikely places. So, add travel to this one, too.
* My family of origin -- incredible people, all. They show up in my life at all the right times! I'm also thankful for the Edwin Friedman family systems theories that have turned out to be so helpful in ministry and so true.
* Friends -- including cyber-friends. You all know who you are. Still, you will never fully know how much I cherish you and all the reasons why.
* Vocation, because meaningful work is more gift and grace than $$$ and luck.
* Rest and Recreation, even though my response to this gift, far too often, is "no thank you." God help me!
* Mexican food, and other international food. Love to cook it; love to eat it at home or out. Wish I could find more of it here, and some adventuresome people who enjoy eating something different.
* BOOKS -- all kinds, all the time!
And this is not all ... oh, no, this is not all!

Digging, for God's Sake

Baton Rouge, April 2010: Final resting place of Maya the kitty

Yesterday, I finally got to the bottom of the pile of stuff that had built up before, during and after my sabbatical leave. I would like to say that a clean desk, for me, means that my ministry life is running smoothly and is cleaned up, in every sense. Well ... maybe ... but ... The act of cleaning up my desk is just as likely to indicate that I'm either avoiding some thing(s) outside the office or trying to get control when I feel out of control.

Ditto, ditto for cleaning the house or digging in the garden. Cleaning up can be just what needs to be done, and gardening can be simply a wonderfully satisfying act of caring for my space. Or, depending on the ferocity applied, either of those might just be an incredibly cathartic physical exercise in the nick of time.

Sometimes -- well, lots of times -- when I go digging, I dig up something great. The "garden surprise" was a tiny red salamander thingy and was one such blessing that it still makes me smile. Yesterday, in my office cleaning frenzy, I dug up a part of myself that I had lost, and I certainly wasn't expecting that! Grace, you surprised me once again!

Hayride!

It's a perfect day for a hayride! The Bright Beginnings kids (preschoolers) are going to pile onto the Youngs' haywagon today and enjoy the great ride that Chris always gives us. Over the hills and through the changing autumn leaves we will travel on dirt roads and maybe even through some fields. I get to tag along with the both the morning and afternoon classes, and I love it! Add "hayride" to my list of pastoral perks. Life is good!

UPDATE: Martha was our tractor driver for the morning ride; Chris drove the afternoon run.

Lucky Me!

Every pastor should be welcomed back from her sabbatical leave by THIS in the parsonage yard. What is it? On the right, a "birthday card" and on the left a sign that essentially says to put your money in and "flush your sins" here! And both signs in Spanish to celebrate my attempts to regain my Spanish fluency while I was gone. How clever they are!

And that same energy is just as creative and unpredictable and fun in our ministry together. How blessed I am!

She loves her some football!

My favorite NCAA teams:
LSU Tigers, Auburn Tigers
My favorite NFL teams:
New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers

Hmmm ... cats and saints.
Sorry, this southern transplant to PA still can't root for the Eagles or the Steelers or the ... what? ... Nittany Lions? I am still a fan of the teams of the South.
LSU plays Virginia Tech tonight. Go, Tigers!

Lead us from death to life ...

Sabbatical leave is over with and I am on my way back from wonderful Louisiana to my pastor life in beautiful Northeast Pennsylvania. Leaving Baton Rouge on Sunday, I spent that day and night in Biloxi, Mississippi with my sis and my mom before going on my way. Dayton Scoggins, chainsaw artist, has made art out of some dead trees along the Gulf Coast down there. In the background are distressed trees bravely leafed out, surrounded by vacant lots that were once (B.K. -- Before Katrina) thriving businesses in prime coastal real estate.

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is very real. I saw lots full of empty FEMA trailers and "camps" of people in FEMA trailers and camping vehicles. I heard Louisiana residents disgusted at the amounts of Federal money "squandered by Louisiana graft and corruption" even though most of the waste has been by the Federal government. I also heard about many people still displaced, suffering or otherwise affected by Katrina, two years later.

I do hope, with the chainsaw artist, that something beautiful eventually will be crafted from what Katrina has wrought.

Another one of those blog quizzes ...

You scored as Cultural Creative, Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational. Cultural Creative 94% Postmodernist 63% Idealist 63% Existentialist 50% Fundamentalist 25% Romanticist 25% Modernist 19% Materialist 6% What is Your World View? created with QuizFarm.com

I'm Dumbledore! Who are you?

For fellow Harry Potter fans, find out who your Potter character alter-ego is. Mine's Dumbledore. Maybe it's because I'm showing more gray these days? I hope it's because my wisdom is showing! Have some fun and find out who you are and share your Potter character in the comments. Here's mine:

You scored as Albus Dumbledore, Strong and powerful you admirably defend your world and your charges against those who would seek to harm them. However sometimes you can fail to do what you must because you care too much to cause suffering. Albus Dumbledore 90% Hermione Granger 80% Remus Lupin 65% Harry Potter 65% Severus Snape 55% Ginny Weasley 50% Ron Weasley 50% Draco Malfoy 45% Sirius Black 40% Lord Voldemort 25% Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...? created with QuizFarm.com

Summer Sabbatical

I have been blogging mostly at our Dille Parish blog this summer. Go to Dille Parish United Church of Christ blog to see what has been posted over there.

Check Engine Light

The car did a little shudder right before the light came on: "Check Engine Light"

How can that be? I did everything right. Before taking the Pastor-mobile on the Big Adventure 1400+ mile trip to Baton Rouge, I had plunked down some serious change for some serious auto maintenance. As I wait to hear from the local Honda Service Department, I wonder: What can this "Check Engine Light" mean?

Peace Bubble in LeRaysville

It's been more than a month but Jerry Leggett and his Peace Bubble were a huge hit in LeRaysville. Patsy Ferrell, traveling with Jerry, did a fantastic job with pictures and videos. Some of our Dille Parish group got to see them at General Synod, too!

The Dancer

Click on this link to see a wonderful picture of Suzanne at a dance competition:
MIT Ballroom Dance Team :: Saturday Afternoon :: 033107_1154
(link no longer active)

Isn't she lovely? And she loves to dance!
Call me thrilled!

The Peace Bubble Guy

J.D. Leggett is the "Peace Bubble Guy" and is coming to our wonderful little church on May 27. This is his visit to a Catholic Worker mission around Tucson. Isn't this great?!

UNO!

Today is the last day of the two-week doctor-imposed "vow of silence" to give my voice a rest. She gave me a special dispensation for Sundays, so that I could preach and lead worship. Yesterday, I also did some talking at the two Bible studies I lead. Mostly, though, I have kept to it very diligently, and I really hope that it's helped. Because it's been harder than I thought.

The hard part is not remembering to not talk. I don't slip and talk without realizing it. It's just that life participation and self-reflection rely on verbal communication, and I've discovered that an introvert like me needs "people time" in ways I hadn't noticed before.

The interesting part is what people do when I communicate to them in writing on my personal-sized white marker board. When there are several people I'm "talking" to, they each take the board, read it silently, and then pass it on. I long for the first one to read it out loud, to be my voice for me. It seems it would be more efficient and make more sense and be more compassionate. I think I would instinctively do that, but no one else has.

The funny thing has been my non-verbal way of yelling. I have had, for a long time, a little squirt gun, no bigger than the palm of your hand. It really squirts, too! So, I keep it with my white marker board and use when I need to get the attention of youth and kids in our church or a certain youth leader who has mistakenly thought he could needle me without comeback during this time! The joke was on me when it leaked in my pocket last night during adult Bible study and so when I stood up, there was an embarrassing spot in an embarrassing place. I bring the jokes on myself most of the time.

The thing I miss most remains not singing -- in church, in life -- and that is still off limits until I see the doc.

Playing the last card of this game today! Yea!

The adorable *&^%* CATS!

Jack is our "baby" kitty and he's going to be 6 years old this year. His name lends itself to nicknames -- like "Jack in the Box" which is what he is in this picture. Jack likes to do weird things, like play with elastic, find lingerie and drag it around the house, and eat packing tape off of open boxes. We have two other cats, Ruby and Mickey, who defer to Jack as the alpha male of the household, even though Jack hasn't been technically male since he was a baby.

My cats are somewhat freaked out that I'm not talking. They are even clingier than usual, which is ironically irritating. I like cats because, unlike dogs, they do their thing over there, while I do mine over here. Except my cats, perversely, like to invade my personal space with theirs. As I type this, Jack is sitting close enough to me that I can, with my fingers on the keyboard, stretch out the little finger on my right hand and pet him. His furry body spills over onto the computer keyboard and he keeps watch like my feline muse. I don't know who is taking care of whom around here. I never do.

Bits and Pieces

I made a pretty decent quiche last night out of some ham, mushrooms, onions and green pepper I had hanging around in my fridge. I modified Chef Larry's Ham and Mushroom Quiche recipe to fit my ingredients. For fun and health, I put it in a whole wheat pie crust that made "healthy" pretty delicious.

Today is DAY 10 of my 14-day doctor-imposed medical vow of silence. Seems to me that not talking makes it harder for me to get things done as quickly. I apparently talk my way through my whole life, singing and cheering myself on constantly. So, I'm not quite on time with the church newsletter or this Sunday's worship bulletin. Other slow-me-down things: Babies, children, teenagers, empty house, summer gardening, fall foliage gawking, keeping warm in winter, spring fever, a cup of coffee with a friend, and -- stop the world -- being out of coffee.

The even harder thing, pastorally speaking, is that our church is in crisis and grief because one of our dear ones is suffering from a sudden,incredibly debilitating mysterious illness. "If one member suffers, all suffer together ..." (1 Corinthians 12:26a) To comfort without words? Is it possible to do? Sure. Just not the usual. Maybe better. Who knows?

I got a visit from a Pocket Faerie yesterday! She brought me a magic treasure chest, and it was filled with hugs and love!

Cyber-Radio Comfort

I got in the habit of listening to Air America Radio online during the last election cycle. I especially enjoy Al Franken's show (from noon - 3 p.m.) and Randi Rhodes (from 3-6 p.m.) when I have a chance to listen.

Lately, I've needed a rest for my ears to go with my voice rest. So I've been listening to some of the gazillions of stations at live365.com. Some of the New Age channels are my favorites, but there are all kinds of stations. There are some ads, unless you subscribe, but I don't find them too annoying or very frequent. Right now, I'm listening to a channel called "Heavenly Music" and it is what it says. Another New Age channel that I like is "Whisperings" which plays soothing piano music.

Enjoy!

What Color is Your Aura?

What do you think? Me? And what about your aura?

Your Aura is Violet

Idealistic and thoughtful, you have the mind and ideas to change the world. And you have the charisma of a great leader, even if you don't always use it! The purpose of your life: saying truths that other people dare not say. Famous purples include: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Susan B. Anthony Careers for you to try: Political Activist, Inventor, Life Coach

What Color Is Your Aura?

Refresh, Renew, Restart & Rejoice!

My friend Karen Anne has a new blog and it is wonderful! Check out Scones and Crones and soak up some "comfort and joy" -- Karen Anne style. KA has inspired me to reconstitute this blog and play around here with some thoughts and dreams and a-ha moments and some silliness, too. I need an outlet. Thanks, Karen Anne!

So ... I need to talk. Literally. Because I can't talk. Literally. Today is DAY 5 of my medical vow of silence. Completely no talking. For 2 whole weeks. And I've been forbidden to whisper, sing or yell since the doctor informed me 2 weeks and 2 days ago that I have a slight injury on my vocal cords that needs rest. The singing is the hardest. A surprising thing I've learned about myself is that I sing through my life. And, of course, I love to sing in church.

My COMFORT is my new constant companion -- a personal-sized white marker board where I write what I simply have to say. I'm on my second erasable marker. In 4 days, I burned out the first one.

My JOY is that I do get a special medical dispensation to talk in church. Still no singing -- or whispering or yelling -- but I do get to do the parts of the worship service that are mine, like the sermon. The lay worship leaders have been a delight and a great help! A lasting gift of this time is that I am going to be more disciplined in asking them more regularly to lead worship with me.

There are lessons in this, and the most obvious is the one everyone jokes about -- that is, I do talk too much. That's just a gift of a truth. I need to make space for other voices -- in the worship service, for example. I also see the value of other ways of communicating -- email, instant message, and body language. I have seen how my not being so verbal lets other people shine. And I've enjoyed listening! I've heard people in new ways, and I've been listening to my life.

I like what I hear!

My Sesame Street Personality

You Are Elmo

Sweet and innocent, you expect everyone to adore you. And they usually do! You are usually feeling: Talkative. You've got tons of stories to tell. And when you aren't talking, you're laughing. You are famous for: Being popular, though no one knows why. Middle aged women especially like you. How you life your life: With an open heart. "Elmo loves you!"

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Which saint are you?

You are Julian of Norwich! It's all about God, to
you. You're convinced that the world has a
happy ending. Everyone else is convinced that
you're a closet hippie, but you love them
anyway.

Which Saint Are You?
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