Jesus fell off his Cross!

My daughter texted me yesterday from her car with this picture and message:

“Jesus fell off his cross! I need a new one!”

And what would the proper response be to such a statement?

“So sorry to hear the news” or “Well done Jesus!”

but instead I said,

“So where did he land?”

“In the console” she replied.

“Is he ok?” I asked.

“Not really. He broke his arm in the fall.”

This was accompanied by another photo:

 

“So can you re-attach his arm?”

I said.

“I’ve tried that before Mom. He just doesn’t seem to want to stay put. 

Once when I was driving along, I looked down and saw him looking up at me on my leg.

So I glued him back on. But now that his arm is broken, I don’t think that’s going to work.”

As my head filled with the theological implications of Jesus not remaining on the cross,

or of replacing a broken Jesus who was broken for us on said cross,

or of Jesus not desiring to ‘stay put’, even with glue applied,

I considered the worthiness of turning this into yet another one

of my spiritual analogies about God’s desire to draw closer to my daughter.

I thought back over all the years of my telling Jesus stories to my kids and their less than enthusiastic response,

and decided not to read too much into it.

“So what do you think Mom?” she asked.

“I think Jesus wants you to SLOW DOWN. You can’t be sure that he didn’t just try to JUMP to safety.”

Moving On...

I have internet!  Finally!  I love my ipad and iphone but I'm most comfortable with my desktop computer. I enjoy the feel of the keys (instead of a screen) under my fingers. 

 

 









The past month has been all about moving out of our home.  As you can see from the photos all traces of our life have been removed. Such a long process deciding what to keep, what to toss, what to sell and what to give away.   But as I took that final walkthrough, I could almost feel the house aching from the change.  After all, it was built to contain our belongings, to protect our family, and to be a shelter for our stories.  As we move on our house is waiting for its second inhabitants....and it will be comforted by living into its purpose - to be a home.....As for us?  We too look forward to stepping over the next threshold....May we remain open to the possibilities before us....

"We look with uncertainty

Beyond the old choices for

Clear-cut answers

To a softer, more permeable aliveness

Which is every moment

At the brink of death;

For something new is being born in us

If we but let it.

 

We stand at a new doorway,

Awaiting that which comes...

Daring to be human creatures,

Vulnerable to the beauty of existence.

Learning to love."

 

- Anne Hillman

If you can just keep your head...or not

One of the best parts of owning a Statuary

is that I can bring the orphans home.

I'm not sure why I like these three so much

but they make for pleasant company.

And they give a whole new meaning to Rudyard Kipling's poem, "If"....

"If you can keep your head when all about you

are losing theirs and blaming it on you;"

Intentions & Transformations

"There is a huge force field that opens

when intention focuses and directs itself

toward transformation."

- John O'Donohue

I recently took my granddaughter down to Kah Tai Lagoon in Port Townsend. Lydia, who is 9, was intrigued from the moment she entered the park. It was all I could do to keep her on the path as she darted to and fro, talking at 100 miles a minute, while touching wildflowers and pointing out all the strange bugs. I could hear myself saying, "be careful" and "don't get too far ahead" and other sorts of adult admonitions. It wasn't until she ran straight towards a tree (off the path of course), wrapped her arms around it and exclaimed, "Oh Grandma! this is my favorite tree in the whole wide world" that I realized that she was having a completely different experience than I was. She was seeing through a child's eyes. Lydia was intent on blessing everything in her path and her intention was having a direct effect on me - it was actually transforming me.

John O'Donohue penned a beautiful book of blessings* several years ago that never ceases to move me. Listen to these words: "We have no idea the effect we actually have on one another. This is where blessing can achieve so much. Blessing as powerful and positive intention can transform situations and people. The force of blessing must be even more powerful when we consider how the intention of blessing corresponds with the deepest desire of reality for creativity, healing, and wholesomeness. Blessing has pure agency because it animates on the deepest threshold between being and becoming; it mines the territories of memory to awaken and draw forth possibilities we cannot even begin to imagine!" **

As I watched Lydia hug her tree I wondered if the tree was aware of her blessing, her love. And as we reached the water's edge and Lydia dipped her hand into the cold current, I began to sense that the water was enjoying the pureness of her attention. I was crossing the threshold between my perception of the park and Lydia's...and with that came a deep sense of kindness towards my surroundings. It's amazing to think of the power of one's intentions, isn't it? May we remain open to all the blessings that are coming our way today.

* To Bless the Space Between Us, A Book of Blessings by John O'Donohue, Copyright 2008
** quote from page 217

merry-go-round

"If I had my life to live over,

I would start barefoot earlier in the spring

and stay that way later in the fall.

I would go to more dances.

I would ride more merry-go-rounds

and I would pick more daisies."

---part of a response from 85 year old Nadine Stair,

when asked what she would do if she had her life to live over.

+++

Fredrick's first merry-go-round.

Lydia is showing him how it's done!

***

What is it about watching children on a carousel

that makes one feel so hopeful?

Lydia's Joy

Today Lydia Joy was baptized!

Sustain her O Lord, in your Holy Spirit.

Give her an inquiring and discerning heart,

the courage to will and to presevere,

a spirit to know and to love you,

and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works.

Amen.

The Baptismal Covenant

I will faithfully continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship,

in the breaking of bread and in the prayers.

Where there is evil, I will resist it.

Whenever I fall into sin, I will repent and return to the Lord.

I will proclaim, by both word and example, the Good News of God in Christ.
I will seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving my neighbor as myself.

I will strive for justice and peace, among all people,

and respect the dignity of every human being.

Blessing of the Animals

"Dear St. Francis,

The animals here today are doing good and have good homes.

The birds are fine too but our oceans are filled with oil.

Help the animals that are hurting and please make them better.

Amen."

Lydia, Age 8

photo: this is the cover of the most amazing 2011 calendar.

they sold like hotcakes at our animal blessing today!

Peek-a-Boo

"If one feels the need of something grand,

something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God,

one need not go far to find it.

I think that I see something deeper, more infinite,

more eternal than the ocean

in the expression in the eyes of a little baby

when it wakes in the morning, and coos or laughs

because it sees the sun shining on its cradle."

- Vincent Van Gogh

baby fredrick @ 11 weeks

proud ruler of Chris & Faith

Welcome Fred

Congrats Faith and Chris!

After a very long day we are delighted to welcome

Fredrick Christopher to the world....the only child

I've ever known to be born on his due date.

Something tells me Fred is never going to be late for school!

goodbyes and hellos

Hey, where's everybody going?

Check out the migration patterns in America!

Manhattan: Young people move in, old marrieds move out.

 Detroit: Everyone out of the pool!

Seattle: So that's where everyone moved to!

Los Angeles: Last person out of Cali please turn off the lights!

(check out the other cities here)

"Why can't we get all the people together in the world that we really like

and then just stay together? I guess that wouldn't work.

Someone would leave. Someone always leaves.

Then we would have to say good-bye. I hate good-byes.

I know what I need. I need more hellos."

Charles M. Schulz

For Those We Love

Almighty God,

we entrust all who are dear to us

to your never-failing care and love,

for this life and the life to come,

knowing that you are doing for them

better things than we can desire or pray for;

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer #54, from The Book of Common Prayer

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?

Labyrinth @ Grace

"Never trust a thought

that didn't come by walking."

- Nietzche

I love this photo of my husband walking the outdoor labyrinth at Grace Cathedral during our recent trip to San Francisco.   I wonder what he is experiencing as he traverses the twists and turns of the labyrinth?

Road Trip

My perception of a road trip:

"A good traveler has no fixed plans,

and is not intent on arriving." ~Lao Tzu

My husband's perception of a road trip:

"If we pack a lunch, leave at 4 in the morning,

& drive straight through,

I think we'll make really good time." - David Hiday

The 5 of us are off to San Francisco in the morning!

I'll let you know how it goes.

photo is from the British sitcom, "Keeping up Appearances"

(the other 3 passengers are the wise men!)

57 Candles

This is what 57 looks like on fire:

"How long the road is. But, for all the time

the journey has already taken, how you have needed

every second of it in order to learn what

the road passes by."

-Dag Hammarskjold, Markings

ain't it the truth!

if you are lucky enough to have a birthday this year,

light all the freakin' candles!

then give thanks for each and every one.

and as you pull them from the cake,

recall something from each year.

and whether it's a good memory or not, give thanks.

for all of it has brought you to who you are at this moment,

a beautiful, loved, human being created in God's image.
and what could be better than that?

Torchbearers

                                             

This is Lydia and David -

Easter Vigil Torchbearers for the first time.

They did a marvelous job!

I'm so blessed to be their grandmother!

Lucy Leprechaun

Even Lucy is getting into the "green" movement.

(In case you're concerned, rest assured that
I would never dip my dog in dye
but I would dress her in that snappy hat.)

Thanks Phil for the link:)

Twelfth Night

It's Twelfth Night - a day in ages past when there would be great carousing with rich feasts of food and the drinking of fine wassail as people celebrated the end of the Christmas season. This is a custom that has almost died out as we usually stop celebrating Christmas after New Year's Day.

And for the past 20 years my parents would drive a very long distance to a British bakery to purchase an authentic British Christmas Cake and send it to me on Christmas Eve. My father died earlier this year and I really didn't expect the infamous cake to appear. But my sweet sister Becky drove my mother to Santa Monica to get the cake and mail it to me - just in time for Christmas.

If you've never tasted Christmas cake it's quite similar to fruit cake with a "wee" bit of alcohol thrown in. The white icing on top is hard and it covers a thin layer of marzipan. It's really rich and one piece is usually more than enough. And so I am celebrating this 12th Night by cutting into the cake (which gets better with age) and raising a toast to my dad - knowing he is with us in spirit.

The Big Gulp Theory!

A digital picture frame sits on my daughter's kitchen counter which presents a continuous slide show. She has not changed the photos in it for quite some time so the rotation includes pics of her 3-year-old daughter Rita from not only her first two years of life, but also from a Hawaian vacation taken right before Rita's birth.
Last week, some family members came by to visit and as they watched the changing pictures they commented on how much Rita has changed since those pictures were taken. Rita, who loves to be the center of attention, began a running commentary on each picture...she pointed to herself and said 'that's me" and then to her parents and said "that's mommy" and "that's daddy"....and when the Hawaii pictures came onto the screen she said proudly, "and that's me in Mommy's tummy"....
But then, she just stopped talking, as a look of deep distress crossed her little face. She turned to her mother and whispered in the most serious of tones, "Mommy, did you swallow me?"

the look of ?

This is the look

Lucy gives me
whenever I pull out

a suitcase.
What do you think

she is trying to say?