good for the soul

“continue praying”

Oh boy. In the entertaining angels department, I just had a delightful little exchange with an elderly blind woman sitting quietly waiting on…I dunno. I don’t know where she came from or who she’s with…she’s just sitting outside my door. Waiting.

I went to pitch a few things into the shredder so I greeted her as I passed. I admit, the greeting was not very enthusiastic or even personal…just something that I tossed out from habit rather than conviction.

Shame on me.

So out the greeting goes, “How are you.” Not a question, just a statement released into the air.

“I’m blessed.”

It jolted me, as I was already 5 steps away from her when I heard it, and 10 when I processed it.

I turned around and went back to the woman, and I spoke again. She put out her hand to hold mine as we spoke, and I apologized for not hearing her. She told me that she hadn’t spoken.

O.o

I told her that I was sure she had spoken to me, and she asked what she said, to which I replied, “I’m blessed.”

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is when it got interesting. She nodded, as if agreeing with the statement, and then shook her head no, “It must have been the Holy Spirit.” Satisfied with herself, she waved me away, saying, “Continue praying.”

Dude. I don’t even know.

 

 

we can often solve our own problems

I love this video! How many times do we allow ourselves to be stuck on an escalator when all we had to do was keep walking?

Ideally, we should just keep going forward, but there’s nothing wrong with hitting the reset button every once in a while and going back to the beginning to take another route (like the stairs).

Hooboy! It’s kinda like going to confession, isn’t it?

a little mid-Lent pondering

Story-telling on the big silver screen — especially science fiction with cool special effects, captivates me. I recently re-watched Avatar, James Cameron’s blockbuster commentary on deforestation and celebration of generic Earth Mother spirituality, for the sheer beauty of the cinematography.

I could do without the enviro-politics and pantheism, but the relationships were compelling. In fact, I was struck by a beautiful bit of dialog.

The main characters express their love for each other by saying, “I see you.”

I love that. It speaks to a vulnerability that, I admit, can be very frightening. To be seen — really seen — by another person is both excruciatingly painful and terribly liberating.

What an act of love to open ourselves in a such a way. To be seen like this is to say here I am — this is all of me — and I hope it is enough.

It takes every weakness, every fault, and exposes it side by side with what we hope are our best qualities.

There’s no guarantee in that kind of exposure — what if when all is said…and done..and seen, it really isn’t enough?

I’ve been thinking about this for some weeks as I work through a consecration to Jesus through Mary. Like Mary, I’ve been pondering a lot of things. Things I’ve never really thought about too deeply.

In fact, I don’t think I’ve done much pondering in my life. It’s an old-fashioned way of saying thinking, but it’s more — it’s meditation and deep thought.

I admit I’ve been deep in thought, pondering the meaning of this consecration. I’ve sat for hours before the Blessed Sacrament, exposed on the altar (Jesus exposed? Me? Both?), and I’ve pondered many things.

On a very practical level, I understand that Jesus and Mary can see me, can look into my heart and soul and see what’s really there. It’s quite another thing to be an active participant in this relationship and consciously, intentionally, open myself — not to scrutiny, which is what we might fear in human relationships, but something much more — an intimacy beyond my understanding.

It is saying  here I am — this is all of me — but instead of wondering if its’s enough, it’s the consolation that all of it, all of me will be transformed, reformed, conformed into something, someone, better.

these are my favorite things…

Raindrops on roses
and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles
and warm woolen mittens

Oops, that’s Maria von Trapp’s list…

Well. It could be my list, too. Except the copper kettles. I’d probably have to clean them. But I do love rain drops, yes I do, and it’s raining softly now, and I’m thoroughly enjoying the sound of rain on the awnings, and the soft breeze from a fan, and a glass of wine…. It just might lull me to sleep, and I’m okay with that.

It’s been a long week. A good week, with lots of work to be done, a lot to be accomplished, and a to do list that functioned exactly like it’s supposed to — with almost all the items crossed off.

I have a few items that are left and that I will tackle tonight — namely a chapter I need to work on in a new work of fiction. I’ve been riding a friend a little hard on her own projects, and my hubby pointed out I needed to get my own house in order. Nothing like love to pour on some loving 🙂

So, that’s another favorite thing…this sorting out of voices in my head and snippets of scenes that somehow get spliced together into a form that approaches a story.

It’s also the end of Random Acts of Kindness Week, the only thing I ever find palatable about the hype surrounding Valentine’s Day. It’s actually something that I very much believe in…not to be celebrated as a week, although the attention to it is nice, but that we must consciously be kind.

It doesn’t cost us anything, and the benefits are so rich.

Here’s my favorite quote about kindness, by Blessed Mother Teresa:

“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”

It’s the hardest thing to do. And the easiest.

oh boy, Lent is soooo much work

It’s just plain easier to be a sinner. It ends rather poorly, so I’m motivated to make some life-changing…um, changes. It’s not easy, but I need to start somewhere, and the Corporal Works of Mercy seem a good fit for me this year.

There’s a lot to be said for getting ideas for Lent from the internet pit stops I make throughout my day. It’s like a giant spiritual smorgasbord, and I get to fill my plate with the tastiest looking, yummiest selections.

I’m happy to read these posts and make plans for implementing new practices on Ash Wednesday. Yet, I have to honestly ask myself why I need to wait until Ash Wednesday, or more precisely, why I think I should set a particular date to begin working on my redemption.

It’s like New Year’s resolutions. If I wait until January to start a diet, am I going to eat cheesecake every day for the next ten months?

Sounds sinfully appealing.

In today’s busy world, where we are pulled by our responsibilities to family, work, friends, and all the extra things we find piled on our plates, it’s probably not a bad idea to prayerfully discern a particular course for Lent. Why not get ideas from people who’ve managed to make it work, or managed to articulate it in a manner we can comprehend and apply.

So I give you my own idea. I hope you go read about it here.

Pat Gohn invited me to guest post at her column, A Word in Season, at the Catholic Portal at Patheos.com. Check out Pat’s work and all the other great writers at the Catholic Portal.

girls girls girls

Hanging out with the girls is one of those things I don’t do often enough, and then when I do, I ask myself why I waited so long.

Had a delightful time with my friends, and look at the super special treat to have both my daughters, too. What a singular joy to go out with them as young women, and not the dynamic we’re so used to as Mom and the kiddos.

They are fun. And beautiful.

happiness is…

This morning I got up before anybody else, ran a pot of coffee, and sat down at the kitchen table to read a little and enjoy the silence.  It’s one of those little pleasures that I’m grateful for in this time of my life. No more racing out the door trying to get little ones to school or church or activities…just me. And the dog.

That damn dog has wriggled her way into my heart in a rather unexpected way. It’s hard not to smile when she presses herself against my leg, wanting to be petted. It’s a little moment of happiness we share.

I’ve been making an effort to find these moments more often, and recognize them for what they are … little expressions of joy that fill my day, and fill up my spiritual and emotional tank.

“Life is made up of small pleasures. Happiness is made up of those tiny successes. The big ones come too infrequently. And if you don’t collect all these tiny successes, the big ones don’t really mean anything.” ~ Norman Lear

A stolen kiss in the kitchen. A favorite song that pops up on the radio. That delicious feeling of sliding between freshly laundered sheets. Getting through the green light at a busy intersection. I’m not particularly discerning about these things (well, maybe about those kisses in the kitchen — there shouldn’t be a limit on those).

I am, however, becoming more and more intentional about noting these moments and being grateful for them. Somehow, they’ve seemed to multiply because of it. Maybe…they were there all along.

What little things make you happy?

 

an unexpected pilgrimage

I spent the day in Augusta with Christy. We went on an errand that required we hang around for a few hours, patiently waiting to pick up an item we took for repair, so naturally, we went exploring. We didn’t get very far before we found the Sacred Heart Cultural Center, a de-sanctified Catholic church in a pretty sketchy part of town. We had to investigate. These pictures don’t do it any justice — the beauty of the artwork…the masonry…everything…was breath-taking. How tragic that this church was actually abandoned and set to be torn down, and how lucky that it was saved by a benefactor.

The pilgrimage continued down the street at the Church of the Most Holy Trinity, which you’ll see here, too. We were just going to sit in a Starbucks. Instead, we given a lovely gift.

Note you’ll see stained glass that covers the Joyful Mysteries (and a rosary set in stepping stones in a garden).

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