Friday Five: Advent to Christmas

over at RGBP, janintx writes:

As we prepare in our churches and homes for Christmas to arrive, we are moving through Advent. It is a time of waiting, expectation and preparation. However, being human, it is also a season of stress and worry.

For this Friday Five, share how you are in this transition of Advent to Christmas. As the Savage Chickens cartoon shows us, we alternate between “cinnamon and panic”! Write about 5 aspects of cinnamon or panic you are experiencing or whatever is in between; maybe mention how you are reminded to stay in the present holy moment.

Cinnamon: Christmas is very close (here!) when I get to visit with a dear friend from seminary days on our once-a-year update overnight. Yes, adults still do sleepovers! It’s the only way to catch up as fully as a whole year deserves.

Panic: Will the 4^th Sunday of Advent, Christmas Eve, and Christmastide bulletins all get done so our admin assistant doesn’t have to work every day of the holiday? Will I finish something for January 12, since I’m taking vacation from New Year until then? Will I really get to relax on vacation??

Cinnamon: There’s a small pile of wrapped gifts for friends sitting in our living room. I love wrapping gifts, so it’s a delight to see them waiting to be given.

Panic: Will I really be able to continue/finish the daily Advent blogging that I began? I don’t want to disappoint any church members, but we’re in the crunch time, here, so…

Cinnamon: Just before Christmas, I get to do what I love most about my ministry—visit visit visit! Yes, sometimes the visits are sad or hard or feel too time-crunched between other visits, but this is what I was called to do, be present. Thanks be to God!

Friday Five: Let’s Pray Together

Today’s post over at RevGalBlogPals reads:

I am always grateful for the prayers of others, but I am especially touched when someone asks, “How may I pray for you?”

During this season of fullness, how may we pray for each other?

How may we:

•   Pray for you…

discernment, wisdom, givingness*, and guidance (& the willingness to follow)

•   Pray for someone you carry on your heart…

release, joy, enough-ness

•   Offer thanksgiving with you…

for remembering!

•   Ask God’s blessing in your life…

upon groundedness and strength

•   Lift up anything else in your heart…

love for my congregation and the UCC as a whole—that it may continue to serve God’s kin-dom to the best of its ability; love for my family and all that they have given me (from faith to money to love to …  all of it)

Thank you for your prayers! Now I’m heading to other F5 players to pray with you, too.

[As an aside, this F5 fits beautifully with my Advent meditation today over at In Praise of Sophia, so I invite you to stop by there, too!]

*yes, “generosity” would be the real word here, but “givingness” is the soul word that speaks to me

Friday Five: Quiet and Simple Edition

Rev. Pat Raube at RevGalBlogPals offers:

  Our Friday Five is very simple today. Share five ways you've learned to care for yourself when life becomes overwhelming. What does the pastor do after a rough day in the office, or at meetings, or at a bedside, or even, in the pulpit? Share your best five self-care strategies, and, with any luck, we all will learn at least one or two new ones.
  A blessed, peaceful, restorative Friday to you all. 

1. As I am now: coffee in hand, morning sounds, pen and paper ready to go...
2. A walk--fast or slow or in between. Quiet and listening for God's word...
3. Tears. Tears are refreshing for me. Can't do that in the pulpit often, but...
4. Not a parent, spending time with a wee friend of mine is self-care. She just turned one, so how long will it remain self-caring?   :)
5. If it were possible, staring out at that image in the picture...but not a picture! THAT would be be beautiful self-care. 

A Healing Space Friday Five

Over at RGBP, Deb posted: Today is a good day to focus on where, as RevGalBlogPals, we find healing, peace and strengthening. As a chaplain, there are days where I never seem to catch my breath, and invariably, those are the days that I need it the most! [RevDragon input: And this has definitely been one of those weeks where I need to catch my breath, so perfect timing, Deb!] So with all this in mind, share with us these healing things:

1. A piece of music: Jonathan Goldman has an album called Chakra Chants--this is my go-to background music when I most need healing. I find it quieting and peaceful and simply present with me.

2. A place: My chair space. Even though my chair isn't there any more (long story), when I get to sit in this place beside the window, it is healing. 

3. A favorite food (they call it "comfort food" for a reason): Soups are my comfort food. This week a) a neighbor home-made some veggie chili, b) my spouse made cauliflower cheesy soup, and c) last night was a different chili. I have needed some "healing space" this week, and I believe the soup itself has helped keep me going!

4. A recreational pastime (that you watch or participate in): Reading is healing. It's quiet. And solo (introvert!). I can enter a different world. 

5. A poem, Scripture passage or other literature that speaks to comfort you: There are many. Sometimes it's Julian of Norwich's "All shall be well..." Other times it's Emily Dickinson's "Hope is a thing with feathers... Yet never in extremity / it asked a crumb of me." And always it is "Be still and know that I am God." 

BONUS: People, animals, friends, family - share a picture of one or many of these who warm your heart.

the Prayer Shawl (and "my chair") attracts all kinds of love

waiting for second breakfast

Friday Five--Personal Maps (There Be Dragons!)

Over at RevGalBlogPals revkjarla posts:

Happy Friday friends!!
  Today, our Friday Five is about YOU....and if your life were a map, well....


1. What is beyond your boundaries?

There be dragons! Good dragons. I am getting ready to seek beyond those boundaries to discover what's out there. I pray for good dragons... there are good dragons, right?


2. Where are the cities or neighborhoods that need "redevelopment" or attention?

Self-care. Isn't that always a neighborhood in need? I'm working on knocking down some crumbling facades and drawing up plans for new foundations. I think it will be beautiful, but first: break some sweat.


3.  What are the verdant valleys?

That's a hard one right now. There hasn't been much rain, yet Isaiah's text teases me with it's assurance that I'm wrong about my current drought. 

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it (Isaiah 55).

4. Where are the deserts?

Sometimes it seems they are throughout the region (see #3).

5.  Where is the hidden treasure?

Ahh, now, that is also throughout the region! It may seem hidden from me right now, but it's very present. I can feel it close... (thanks be to God).

 BONUS!  Where is the coolest place you have been on the globe?

A couple years ago I had the honor of serving on a mission trip to Venezuela. The people and experience were amazing. I'm not very good with mission trips (you might say they're "outside my boundaries"), but it was my first time outside the U.S. and was heartwarming as well as eye-opening.

Friday Five--5 Good Things

Over at RevGalBlogPals, Deb posted this week's Friday Five:

Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.
Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.


===oOo===


In these last few weeks there's been all kinds of bad news. Tornadoes and a blizzard. Gun violence and a legislative body squabbling like toddlers over budgets, health care and who knows what else. For those of us in the US, it's tax season. Yuck.


We're only in the second week of Lent. Easter's a long way off. And here in the Mid-Atlantic region, the weather can't seem to make up its mind. Is it winter? Is it spring? Will it snow? Will it rain? Are my daffodils doomed if they actually BLOOM next week like they are threatening to?


So this week's Friday Five is courtesy of my good friends Frodo and Sam. Tell me 5 things that are good in our world. Or your world. Photos are a bonus.


===oOo===


1. Soft snow. Despite how much I long for spring, Colorado has needed precipitation to offset the dry conditions we've had all year... and it snowed all day yesterday! Not only did it snow (almost) non-stop, is was soft, dry, delicate snowfall, so it was quite pretty, and easy to get off my car as needed.
2. Animal companions. When I come home from a difficult day, or when I'm sitting with my coffee in the morning, there is nothing more comforting than a furry creature on my lap. They trust us to care for them and love us for who we are. I think they make the world a better place.
3. Passion. While I can get frustrated when I interpret some people's passion as single-mindedness, I'm grateful for how they try to change the world for the better, for God's realm on earth.
4. Creativity. Art makes us think. It makes us pause. It makes us use a different part of our brains. Visual art, written art, sung art--all of it is "good" in this world.
5. Wee ones. I'm not a parent, but I have the joy of having kiddos around me often. They most assuredly are "good" in the world. When there is bad news, they bring us a different perspective. When I'm in pain, having to focus on one of them takes me out of myself. 

Second Friday F5

It's the Second Friday of the Month Friday Five...

...and you know what that means--yet another edition of a Random Friday Five!

So, without further ado, let's get our random on!

Sadly, I’ve been away from the F5 for so long that I didn’t know what that meant… but I do now! Thanks, RevGals, for the random.

1.  If a spaceship landed in your back yard, and three very cute little aliens knocked on your door and asked you to show them around Earth, where would you take them?  (Remember, you have superpowers from last month's Second Friday Five, so if you need to use them for transportation, feel free to do so.)

Ocean. Stand on the beach and watch the waves through a whole day and night.

                Desert. Beware the prickly pointy plants that have adapted to survive!

Mountains. Breathe (if they do!) the thinner air and feel the cool of tree-shade and bare sun.

                City. Know the thrust of human imagination.

2.  What is making you grumpy these days?

My body and its achiness; my mind and its slowness to respond to my body’s desire for better health. Wah.

3.  O.K., so now that you got the grumps out, what is one thing today that will be sheerly joyful for you?

It’s my day off! And I’m preparing for a week of continuing education, so I will find a new-to-me book to take with me and just walk around town (I love just walking around town).   

4.  I am pitifully, once again, trying to grow a garden.   Last year I only harvested one cucumber.   This year, I have zucchini, cucumbers and tiny tomato plants.   Everything is abloom, but the jury is out whether there will be any yield.   So, do YOU have a garden?  What are you growing?   If you don't, what is your favorite fresh summertime vegetable/fruit/flower?

I do not garden. Plant life looks at me and laughs until it dies. However, I love other people’s gardens (which, happily, are all around my home!). I’m also fond of their fresh herbs that they share with me.  

5.  If the aforementioned aliens suddenly demanded all the contents of your closet, OR ELSE (as in clothing, shoes,  etc.) but kindly said you could keep three items, what would they be?

This is not a fair question—aliens would never be so cruel! Therefore, I cannot answer. (oh how sad for me)

Random Friday Five

Over at RGBP, revkjarla  writes...

Hi there~~
Happy Friday to all of you.  Today's Friday Five has no theme, other than randomness. 
That's o.k., right? 
So, just to get to know each other a little bit (even more) here is the meme:

1.  What is the first thing that comes to your mind (right now) that you want to share about yourself. 
     I handwrite everything first :)... even my F5... with brightly colored sharpies (this morning it was a pale purple) in a spiral notebook.

2.  What is your favorite piece of jewelry or accessory? Why?
     I think my only 2 accessories ever are earrings and scarves...I love earrings! And scarves! Flowy and free. Although it might be fun to try what the darling here ---> has done :).

3.  If you could have a starring role in a T.V. show/movie/series, which one would it be, and what would your character be like? 
     I've always wanted to be a hospital chaplain on E.R. Every time I watched it I'd yell at the t.v., "No doctor would do that! Where's the chaplain?!!"

4.  What is one thing you will eat this weekend? 
    Church meeting=Potluck. So it's all up for grabs (but I can bet on some type of salad).

5.  How do you waste time? (If you do, that is...)

     Reading wonderful fiction (and some fun non-fiction). Some favorites I most recently finished are: Pigs in Heaven; Bless Me, Ultima; Let's Pretend This Never Happened; Caleb's Crossing; The Next Queen of Heaven; Where Rivers Change Direction; Still; more more more!

Friday Five; Sacraments... all is holy?

Sieger Köder

Over at RGBP, Sally posted: This Friday Five stems from some questions that have been running around my head and heart recently and are squeezing their way out through my blog here and again here--So I'd like to ask you some simple questions about the sacraments:

1. What does the Lord's supper/ Eucharist mean to you?

Holy Communion—communion with Spirit, with community, with self. It is a re-membering of Christ’s broken body—no longer broken when we gather and work for God’s Shalom…

2. How important is preparation for this, and what form does it take?

Our congregation allows “any and all” to come to the Table—“no matter who you are or where you are life’s journey.” The significant part for me is the sharing with others and honoring what Jesus was striving to create (even as a kid I loved “playing” communion with my juice and bread).

3. What does baptism mean to you?

For me it is a welcoming into a wider family of faith, one where we all make covenant with the one being baptized, and s/he is making covenant (or parents are making covenant) with the community of faith—promising to seek, teach, live the Gospel as best we’re able—failing and returning, failing and returning…

4. How important is preparation for baptism and what form does it take?

It’s important for me to hear how the one being baptized (or parents) understands this sacrament, and for them to hear that our congregation does not consider it a cleansing of original sin to keep the person from going to hell. Rather, it is a covenant with God and community and self that is real, not just a one-time, “yeah, I did that.” I’m preparing a couple confirmands for their baptism, and they are taking the questions more seriously than most parents—I love this!

5. A quote/ poem/ song that brings you before God in a sacramental way, and helps you to engage at a deeper level...

Tears of connection and mystery came when I found this poem by The Reverend Dr. Alla Renee Bozarth several years ago:

Maria Sacerdota—

Mary, Protopriest of the New Covenant

Before Jesus

was his mother.

Before supper

in the upper room,

breakfast in the barn.

Before the Passover Feast,

a feeding trough.

And here, the altar

of earth, fair linens

of hay and seed.

Before his cry,

her cry.

Before his sweat

of blood, her bleeding

and tears.

Before his offering, hers.

Before the breaking

of bread and death,

the breaking of her

body in birth.

Before the offering

of the cup,

the offering of her

breast.

Before his blood,

her blood.

And by her body and blood

alone, his body and blood

and whole human being.

The wise ones knelt

to hear the woman's word

in wonder.

Holding up her sacred child,

her God in the form of a babe,

she said: "Receive and let

your hearts be healed

and your lives be filled

with Love, for

this is my body,

this is my blood."

Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday

Does he lie there, in tomb’s stillness, 

              and think?

Does he roll over in his grave

               replaying the conversations that killed him?

Does his sweaty stench, trapped in death’s wrappings, 

            raise his gorge?

Does an angel sit beside him, even now,

            whispering the abracadabra

                      of resurrection? 

cross posted on In Praise of Sophia

Friday Five Recommendation Edition

Oh hooray for the RevGals who posted today's F5! (thanks revkjarla)
So, it's the time of year I get inundated with requests for recommendations for students that are looking to be camp counselors.  So in honor of camp counselors everywhere, today's Friday Five is the Recommendation edition  (which has nothing to do with camp or summer or anything--work with me, it's late....)

I was just writing this recommendation in my head yesterday!

note to readers--it will be impossible for me to stick to ONE in each category... and then I'm going to everyone else's blog to see what they recommend!

1.   Recommend a favorite worship resource or devotional book. 

Before the Amen: Creative Resources for Worship by Maren & Maria Tirabassi; the Feasting on the Word commentary series (I read and recommend it for devotion as much for sermon prep); Fragments of Your Ancient Name: 365 Glimpses of the Divine for Daily Meditation by Joyce Rupp (beautiful, brief, poetic daily images--not for everyone).

2.   Recommend a blog that you like to read that you think others might find enjoyable.

Abbey of the Arts; Velveteen Rabbi; The Painted Prayerbook; Prayers4Today; and Aqui, Ahora are just a few of my regulars.
3.   Recommend a fiction book that you think people might like.

One of my all time favorites is Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. A way-out-there favorite (again, not for everyone) is The Fifth Sacred Thing by Starhawk.
4.   Recommend a favorite recipe website.   O.k., if you aren't into cooking or food, then just recommend a random website that you find useful, hilarious, mind numbing or thought provoking. 

I do not cook. But, for the realm of mind-numbing or when I need a no-questions laugh, I go to lolcats on icanhascheezburger.com. As a cat lover, I can't help but laugh at the kitty-pics.
5.  And for the last recommendation--it's bloggers' choice!  Make a recommendation for anything!

I recommend reading other people's recommendations on RevGalsBlogPals! 

That's where I'm going now... 

:)

Epiphany Friday 5... A-ha Moments!

Today is Epiphany, the day of the shining star and magus gifts and illumination and such. And so the grand folks over at RevGalBlogPals have offered this Friday 5 for our cogitation...

In the midst of the holiday season I had one of those moments where a path suddenly was made clear - A-ha! This experience has prompted me to wonder what some of your A-ha moments may be.
They can be mundane - a realization that you like/don't like a certain food or that you really look good in that color you never had the guts to try. They can be sacred - a way to better pace your day clicks into place or finally a devotion or meditation practice that really works for you. They can be profound - the moment you realized he/she was the one (or wasn't)or the moment you realized where your deepest passion could meet the world's greatest need. 
Please tell us - what are five (more or less) of your 'A-ha' moments. Where have you had a moment of clarity?

So from the mundane to the sublime, here are some of mine:

1. Realizing that Colorado is finally "home." That happened last summer (2010) when I'd pop back here for interludes between sabbatical workshops. Stepping out the airport to see the expanse of plain to the east and Rockies to the west; breathing open air from a clear, bright sky; talking with genuinely friendly people in their toll booths--all of this and more make Colorado "home" (even without an ocean). What a nice surprise! 
2. I considered leaving the MDiv program near the end of my first year in seminary--but a professor of Pastoral Care talked me into a period of discernment through a CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) summer unit: she thought it could help me explore my call. My first day in St. Joseph Hospital of Orange, CA overwhelmed me with "rightness." I became a hospital chaplain and loved it. It led me to ordination and, eventually, to realize I can also enjoy parish ministry (who knew?)! Fourteen years later I can still feel that sense of "rightness" from those first few days at the hospital.
3. Sophomore year in college, second semester, I had an epiphany late one night: "I'm attracted to a woman!" The revelation was so powerful and "true" that I told all the important people in my life (close friends, the person to whom I was attracted, parents, pastor, mentors) within 48 hours.
4. Comfortable shoes. Yes! Never did I think about shoes until several years ago--I was (and still am) a Birkenstock sandal kinda gal. But now I've expanded to comfy shoes that are cute! Oh yes--I believe in MaryJanes.
5. What a revelation it was to realize I'm a morning person. No wonder night classes were so abhorrent to me! And to get up early to write or exercise (oh, for that dedication again) seems holy. Mornings are a gift, and I'm thankful to have had that clarity come to me :). 

Nearly New Year Friday Five...

RGBPs posted this morning....

A simple Friday Five for a busy part of the year; indulge me by sharing two fives:

As you look back over 2011 share 5 blessings, they can be as grand or as simple as you like,if you year has been like mine they are probably a mixture!

As you look towards 2012 share 5 hopes- again, anything goes!

2011 Blessings:

survived (too many deaths)

mission trip to Venezuela (life-changing and recharging)

wonderful ministry (7 years?!)

Jamie, Puck & Teiresias (11 years with all of them!!)

a beautiful, amazing, wonderfully perfect home

2012 Hopes:

more recharging

improved motivation for health

improved motivation for writing

happy marriage for my big brother

to become "Aunt" Sharon (yay for friends!)