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!)

First Freeze Haiku

an aching branch lays
down its burden; snow and sap

crack, its last exhale

Thanks to the internet and whoever took the pics for sharing these!

No Words

So, I've been back from Venezuela a little over a week now, and I have not yet posted anything about my experiences (later today I'll add a sermon with some response on In Praise of Sophia, and I'm working on another short piece to be added soon). Mostly, I think I haven't posted because I cannot put the depth of spiritual encounter into words.

For now, I can only offer this last stanza from the song "The Afterlife" on Paul Simon's latest album, So Beautiful or So What. 

Seriously, "all that remains when you try to explain is a fragment of song..."

After you climb up the ladder of time
The Lord God is near
Face-to-face in the vastness of space
Your words disappear
And you feel like you’re swimming in an ocean of love
And the current is strong
But all that remains when you try to explain
Is a fragment of song
Lord, is it Be Bop a Lula? Or ooh Papa Doo?
Lord, Be Bop a Lula? Or ooh Papa Doo?
Be Bop a Lula