LIVING IN THE DAILY GRIND

Winter, Ezekiel 4:9 and Grace

This winter has been harsh, may be more so than others since we live up on a hill on Keuka Farms.  I have always enjoyed winter, but never really meditated on its beauty and raw invitation to the depths of my soul.  I guess I would not have responded to winter's call so deeply, had I not began reading daily Blessings of the Daily by Brother Victor-Antoine of Our Lady of the Resurrection Monastery in New York.  He has opened my eyes to a world designed, molded and nurtured by silence and solitude without any pretensions.  Winter has such joy and abundance for seekers who delve into its mystery and grace.

On days when the howling of the wind mixed with snow reaches the restlessness in my heart, I have given up my desire to control everything and let God gently move within my being to shape, nourish and sustain me in the reality of Christ.  On days when the rays of winter sun fills the earth with the hope of spring, I have allowed myself holy leisure in the Spirit warming my being with the promise of Life brimming all around me.

Today is Ash Wednesday.  As I am preparing for this night's worship service, I am also praying for God to seal this blessed winter in my heart. 

For today's meal I made bread using Ezekiel 4:9 Cereal -- "Take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself."  I did not have a recipe so I tried some variations.  I also added apples and banana.  I was not sure how it would turn out but the bread came out delicious. 

I cut a nice slice for myself and Duncan, made a cup of Chai with a touch of Greek Brandy Metaxa, put on my coat and sat on the deck savoring the gentle wind, snow and the honking of geese flying in rhythm. Duncan and I enjoyed a time of pure holiness embraced by God's love and grace.  Then James joined us as he drove back from the Lenten service he participated at the local Episcopal church.  There we were in bare winter sharing love and grace together in the presence of God and earth filled with the promise of Teresa of Avila, "Let nothing trouble you. Let nothing frighten you.  All things are changing, but God will never change. Patient endurance will obtain everything.  One who has God lacks nothing. God alone fills our needs. Whoever has God wants for nothing at all."

Thank you Brother Victor for the gift of your words and life.

Change, Faith in the Waiting, Rule of Life 2009

I just became a member at NaBloPoMo where participants commit to post everyday in their blogs for a month. I joined the Challenge 2009 group where posting happens every day for a year.  Now that is a true challenge for me.  Thanks to the encouragement of my friend Tara Eastman whose words are always full of hope and dreams waiting to be lived!  Will I be able to keep the challenge?... With Grace and Mercy, all things are possible.

January's theme is change. I recently read that the change which is taking place in our world is sooo fast that the slow-moving biological change in the universe is not able to sustain it.  It is said that our genuis in creating change might be the very destruction of humanity.  I have faith that the future is still open and waiting for us to dream the dreams of authentic communities filled with passion and joy working together to co-create the Dream of God.

I am working on my Rule of Life for 2009. (More about Rule of Life to come!) Blogging everyday is now one of my rules.  I pray that my words will help, encourage, challenge, nurture and bring life to all who read them.

I have been going through some of my old study journals recently.  I am amazed how much writing and note-taking have taken place in their pages.  I have notes from Bible studies, conferences, seminars, online articles, theological journals, etc.  In this age of digital revolution with its Ipaqs, Ipods, Blackberries, ... I find myself still yearning for my pens, writing down the words to be memorized and remembered.  Writing connects my brain waves to the reality and truth of the words expressed in my heart and mind on paper.  I am given a new perspective, a new insight, a new way of being as my notes teach me about God, self and community.

As I write, words take their form and shape my inward journey to and with God.  For each one of us the written connection with words has its own meaning.  For me the written words connect me to the Incarnate Word.  As I visit the pages of journals written and kept long ago, I realize how God continues to transform me into the likeness of Jesus day in and day out... It is good to know that I have not arrived ... that this journey is my pilgrimage of life.

Here are some quotes, passages, tidbits from my journals.  I will continue to post these in parts:

Faith is the capacity to understand that for some things there are no answers.

Joan Chittister

Father God, Son Jesus and Holy Spirit, how can a mere mortal like me possibly understand the Creator of all things that exists? You are the potter and I am the clay.  God, you are a mystery that humans will never be able to comprehend.  Your ways are higher than mine, your thoughts are higher than mine.  That is why to truly be Christ-like takes our whole lives to achieve.

Ida Moore, my-mother-in-law

It takes courage to be authentic in a culture content with only conformity.  However, embracing your authenticity is the only way you learn to become content with your life.

[I have no idea where I got this quote.]

Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.

St. Jerome

Our aim is to have the mind of Christ, the nous Christou, to see things, to evaluate all things, to respond to reality in the way Christ does, to see things as God sees them, to share in the divine consciousness.

Basil Pennington

To clasp hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.

Karl Barth

We are told to pray.  Indeed, if Jesus needed to pray, we should.  But I sometimes wonder when my prayers land on heaven's shores just how the Father through the Son decides what they will do.  Does prayer change the way the Lord handles a situation? Does it simply change how I view the situation?  Or does prayer truly change the situation?

Ida Moore, my-mother-in-law

If you want a life of prayer, the way to get it is by praying... You start where you are and deepen what you already have.

Thomas Merton

Peacemaking is about finding room for everything just as it is.

Rosemary Dougherty- Shalem Institute