Good for the Soul

April 7, 2012

An evening at the beach was just what I needed today.  I needed the chance to breath the fresh air, walk on the sand with Wayne, and enjoy some down time.  My two favorite times at the beach are sunrise and sunset (depending on which coast I happen to be on at the time), and tonight was pretty much perfect.  It was warm but not stifling hot and there was enough cloud cover to add beauty to the sunset.  The seagulls were particularly entertaining tonight -  very vocal and social (at one point I wondered aloud if perhaps it's mating season as there seemed to be a ritual going on).
Any time I'm at the beach, seeing the spectacular sunset, and hearing the power of the waves I stand in awe of what God has created.  Thank you, Lord, for another beautiful day in your creation.

Good Friday

April 6, 2012

Good Friday...the day we commemorate the gift of sacrifice.  Good Friday is the day Jesus was crucified to save ME (and you) from my sins. I have been attending Good Friday services in the Episcopal Church for 30 or so years now.  For the past few years I have merely endured this service as something I was "supposed" to do, rather impatiently I must admit.  This year was different.  I went to the services today because I wanted to go; because it was meaningful to me.  The service was beautiful in its simplicity, and spoke to me.  For the first time ever, the veneration of the cross was something I felt comfortable enough in which to take part.
Over the years there have been many, many Good Friday services that have been meaningful, beautiful, odd, funny, or uncomfortable.  Following are some of the highlights (lowlights?).
Although I don't remember it, Good Friday of 1964 is quite memorable to my parents.  We lived on Kodiak Island, Alaska (where Daddy was stationed at the Navy Base).  On that day, Alaska was hit by a 9.2 earthquake that was followed by a Tsunami.  We evacuated to higher ground and were fine, as was our house. Others were not so lucky.  There were more than 10,000 aftershocks associated with that earthquake.
In 1984 we were at Nashotah House for Good Friday.  Holy Week activities were quite extensive and I found much of it to be intimidating as I was a relatively new Episcopalian - intimidating but beautiful and meaningful and quite a learning experience.
During the years we lived in Bainbridge, Georgia there were several standout Good Fridays.  One year our choir was to sing "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord" at an ecumenical service.  The plan was for us to sing it in unison.  However, one of the choir members (Cathy?) suggested to the rest of us that we practice the harmony and, unbeknownst to Steve, sing it on one of the verses as a surprise to him.  We did and he was surprised!  Another year, and this is still one of my favorites, the weather was beautiful so we had the doors and windows open during the service.  A dog from the neighborhood decided to visit us - he ran in, up the aisle to the top of the steps, and lay down with his head on his paws looking out at the congregation.  This was pretty comical, but then we started to read Psalm 22, in which dogs are mentioned twice.  At that point, the entire congregation lost control to the point that most of us could no longer speak.  It took quite a while for us to regain our composure!  In 1992 or 1993, Catherine (who was normally very well-behaved in church) was off her rocker - she refused to sit with me and several times ran away from me and up to the altar to talk to Steve who sent her back to sit with me.  I finally had to take her out of the church for a Mother-Daughter Stand Off - it wasn't pretty!
When Catherine was 4 or 5 she took the message of Good Friday to heart.  During bedtime prayers after the service she had a complete meltdown because Jesus had died and she didn't want this to be the case!  It took almost an hour and a lot of fancy footwork from her Dad to get her calmed down.
Good Friday...the day Jesus died for our sins.  Three days later...

Poet...Not

April 5, 2012

In honor of National Poetry Month I am dedicating today's blog post to poetry.  In December when we were going through boxes in the garage I found this book.  In it are poems I wrote as a teenager.   Most of them are truly awful!  A few of them are decent.  None of them are good.  But, they are mine and they came from my heart.
I'm not really a fan of poetry as I find most of difficult to comprehend.  If, when I am reading something, my brain keeps saying, "WHAT?", then I find it a waste of my time and energy.  Having said that, there is some poetry I enjoy...many of the Psalms, songs, Dr. Seuss.
Ten years or so ago I spent two years teaching 8th Grade US History.  When I was first assigned to teach it I was not at all pleased, nor was I sure it was a good subject for me to teach.  Although my first choice is always to teach 7th grade Math/PreAlgebra I found myself enjoying teaching stories from our country's past and connecting them to who we are as a people today, and created several research projects for my students to complete.  One of those projects was to research songs (poetry) that were written as a result of any wars/conflicts in which the USA had taken part, and then to write a poem/song about the current War on Terrorism. As any good teaching project should, this one taught me as much as it taught the students.  I was amazed and humbled by what my students produced; the poems ranged from light and funny to deep and full of pain.   Some made me laugh, some made me think, some brought tears to my eyes.  The discussions that came from sharing the poems were some of the best discussions we had the entire year - full of raw emotion and honesty.

Home, Part 2

April 4, 2012

This morning on the The Joy FM I heard an interview with Dara Maclean, an up-and-coming new singer.  One of the songs on her newly released CD is titled "Home" and talks about how when everything else is gone, we still have our Home in God.  He's there when it feels like all is lost.  He's there when everything is the best it's ever been.  And, He's there for everything in between.   Thank you, God, for this season of Lent; for the searching and preparing and learning in order to celebrate the Glory of Easter - the ultimate Homecoming.

There's No Place Like Home

April 3, 2012

This is my house.  It's the only house I've ever owned by myself and I love it!  But, it's just a house.  Where is my HOME?  My home is wherever my people are - my family, my friends, my friends-who-are-family.  Home is a place where I can be myself; a place to laugh and cry, to decide and to question, to sing off-key, to be silly, to be serious, and to share my insecurities.  I have lived in many houses/apartments/dorms in my life (somewhere around 30 different dwelling places in 10 different states) and each of them has been a home because of the other people who were there.
One of the quirks I've had for as long as I can remember is that I am entirely comfortable with "my people" (and this includes both family and friends) traveling around and being places other than at home, as long as I know where they are.  If I don't know the whereabouts of someone close to me, I tend to get very "antsy" about it.  A strange quirk, I know, but one that my family has lived with for as long as I can remember and they try hard to make sure I know where they are if they aren't going to be at home.

Fed at St. George's

April 1, 2012

This is no joke...these birds were all over the yard at St. George's this morning.  There was apparently an abundance of food for them.  Many of us gather at St. George's every Sunday to be fed in many ways.  We are fed the Word of God in the scriptures and the sermon.  The Body and Blood of Jesus are given to us at Communion.  There's time to feed our need for other people before and after the service.  There are many opportunities for us to feed our desire to serve the Lord and each other through music, reading, prayer, service at the altar, fellowship, hugs, smiles, conversation, Sunday School, and more.

Celebrate

April 1, 2012

This morning at St. George's we celebrated a special occasion...John Sircy became our newest nonagenarian!  John is a sweet man who always has a smile for me.  What's funny is that I had a terrible time getting him to smile for a picture - I took this one while we were singing Happy Birthday to him so I don't think he was aware that I was taking it.  John volunteers at our food pantry and spends part of his Sundays at St. George's and part at St. Mary's.