Our little piece of Paradise

For the better part of almost 2 weeks, I have been on vacation.  It hasn't really been a "staycation," although we have spent most of our time at home.  One day we visited The Apron Museum in Iuka, MS and I learned so many things about aprons I didn't know.  It was a step back in time, and I am likely to go back to the museum.  Another day, we visited the Tupelo flea market--it wasn't exactly what we expected, but a fun day out.  And then on another outing, we visited the North Mississippi Fish Hatchery.  A wonderful experience; a great museum and lots of good information as we ponder fish in our backyard.  We even enjoyed lunch on that day at The B.T.C. Old Fashioned Grocery.

But aside from our littel day trips, we've mostly been home.  Home . . . it's a place we often take for granted.  Many of us are so busy making a living and buying stuff that we're hardly ever home; we don't have time to enjoy the fruits of our labor.  Being home these days has made me hunger for more.  We have worked in our vegetable and flower gardens, played with and cared for our mini-alpine goats,cat and dog,  cooked more from scratch (including a chocolate pie for the mister!), kept the house neater,  had REAL conversations, read more and relaxed more than any recent vacation I remember.  There has been time for deep prayer and soulful meditation.  Time to enjoy God's bountiful creation. Time to listen to the music of my generation and remember Woodstock nation's call to getting back to the garden.  Time to reflect on where I've been, and where I'm going.  I will return to my position well rested, but with a hunger for home and our little piece of Paradise.

Robert Frost once wrote, "Home is the place where, whey you have to go there, they have to take you in."  Maybe that's true.  But I think Dorothy ( of the Wizard of Oz fame) got it right when she said "There's no place like home."

Dreams can come true

Since I was a little girl, I have dreamed of owning goats.  My father always wanted a goat, so that may be the reason I found an interest in them.  And now, they are gracing my back yard--two mini-alpines--a brother and sister!  The little buckling soon to become a wether, and the little doeling we will breed later so that we can realize our dream of milking.  It's an adventure--and a learning curve.  So far so good!

I like the rhythm of the day -- feeding and watering (and one day milking) twice a day--it is like the rhythm of prayer in the Episcopal Church--Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer.  I am grateful for the opportunity and the call to prayer.

Next,  we will choose a name for our little place--such serious thought.  Then on to planning for a few chickens and hopefully a worm composting adventure!  Life is good!

Thanks be to God!

Headcovering part two

The book was on the shelf; I'd received it as an ordination gift.  Never read it--just sat there, until a colleague used it for an opening meditation at a recent meeting.  Later, after a long week, I took the book from the shelf and thumbed my way through--finally resting on and savoring on a meditation/poem.  The book is called Prisms of the Soul: Writings from a Sisterhood of Faith, edited by Marcy Darin.  I believe it is out of print now (1996); but worth the trouble to find a used copy.

It was the poem by Patricia Flower Vermillion that caught my eye; in her poem "Learning to Make Easter Bread" I caught a glimpse of the woman I aspire to be.  A line in her poem struck me deeply,

I don't understand
this old woman who listens
to Puccini, wears black stockings
and aprons, covers her head
with cotton scarves
tied at the nape of her neck.

The woman signs herself before risen dough and braids three strands into one.  And the poet says she dances!  She dances (does she also have a tambourine--remember Miriam!)

How many years will it take
how many do I have,
to learn to sing Puccini
and to dance, to dance?

Thank you, Patricia Flower Vermillion!  I hope to wear  black stockings and aprons and cover my head with cotton scarves (as I explore headcovering), and yes . . . I hope to dance--and learn more about Puccini as I journey with Jesus!

2014 is on the horizon!  Watch for coming changes in this blog!
My companion saint for this year is Hilda of Whitby.
My chosen word is simplicity.

May God grant me the wisdom to do it!

Domestic LIfe

The latest issue of "The Christian Century" magazine published a cartoon that is a part of the New Yorker Collection (which can also be seen at www.cartoonbank.com) that caused me to reflect on my life.  The cartoon is a depiction of the sacrifice of Isaac.  Abraham is holding the knife and with outstretched arms looking up to the heavens he says, "Must I sacrifice family for career?"  It's a good question to ask for all of us, but especially for those of us in ordained ministry.  And maybe more for women than men, but I know some male colleagues who also wrestle with this issue.

I recall several years ago listening to a female rabbi sharing her story, although I can no longer recall her name.  She talked about being at the Synagogue celebrating a holy day when she longed to be with her family--who was celebrating at home.  It is a dilemma.

The Domestic Life is still very important to me.  I find myself longing for simplicity; finding joy at home through many traditional things make a house a home.  How to combine the priestly lifestyle with the longing for simplicity?  Perhaps you are asking these same questions.

So, I'm creating a wish list--to help revive the Domestic Arts in my own life--a way to slow down and be with my family a little more often.  My wish list includes:
Dairy Goats
Chickens
Gardening
Sewing
Building a back yard labyrinth
and time to sit in the porch swing with my beloved.
And time to also think about the Domestic Church (that's the subject for another time).

Create your own wish list.  And remember, as Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz said, there's no place like home.

Welcoming

I've been reflecting on what it is to be a welcoming community.  Many churches today speak of being welcoming, of hospitality.  What does it mean to be such a community?

A couple of weeks ago as I was making a pastoral call at our local hospital, I happened to have the radio on to NPR, and heard a piece that captured my attention.  It was on "Cowboy Church."  You may want to listen, too: http://www.npr.org/2013/09/01/217268202/cowboy-church-with-rodeo-arena-they-do-church-different

That same week, I received notice of an article posted by the Episcopal News Service (ENS) regarding biker/motorcycle blessings.  It may be found here:
http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2013/08/28/born-to-be-bikers-motorcycle-ministries-reach-out-to-under-served/
I was interviewed via telephone for this article because in one of my previous parishes, I celebrated a biker mass and blessings.

At another one of my parishes, I wanted to extend hospitality  by hosting a monthly Tea and calling the program HospitalTEA.  Each month the menu would vary according to the season.  Monies raised would be donated to welcoming ministries.  It remains just a dream, still, but perhaps something for my future

I've often heard it said that God loves you just they way you are, but refuses to leave you that way.  As I ponder welcoming and hospitality, I also reflect on a God that bids us come . . .

"Just as I am,  without one plea...
O lamb of God, I come, I come."

Welcoming gives way to surrender; surrender to transformation.

How does your community welcome--and whom do they welcome?  What are your hospitality ministries?

Mama don't let your boys grow up to be professional football players

I live in a town where football reigns!  The fall start up of our local university brings with it many fans for the "home team."  Parking, already a premium in our area, becomes nearly impossible during home football games, and I have a reserved parking place!  I find it particularly annoying that on Sunday mornings I often have to have a car towed from my reserved space in a parking lot that is designated as Church Parking.

Football is something I've grown up with; each of my brothers play on our High School Team (at different times due to their ages), and my family enjoyed watching games together on TV and the occasional treat of being in the local stadium.  But more and more, I have noticed that professional sports seem to have taken on a new dimension!  Of course, I view this with the lens of an Episcopal priest--so there is a bias in my comments.  I've joked a few times about "the other god"--the one who is worshiped from the stands.  How I'd love to see folks flock to church like that on Sunday morning.

Then, today comes a story on NPR that I found particularly disturbing: http://www.npr.org/2013/07/10/200402513/football-needs-a-guardian-not-a-ceo
"Football needs a Guardian, not a CEO."  According to this piece, since the Superbowl earlier this year, 29 professional football players have been arrested.  This saddens the heart.

I think I'm giving up football for the future.  It's time we stop glorifying these so called "superstars!"  I'm not seeing them as very good roll models for our young people.  Sports can teach young people many good skills, but we really need some better examples.  There are some really great players out there I know--and we need to hear more stories about them.  It's too bad that 29 of them give them a bad rap.  

Sundays will find me in church, worshiping God.  The only pigskin I might remotely get close to is a bag of fried pork skins on my low carb diet!  :)  If you have a son or a daughter considering professional sports, help them think through this.  Can we salvage sports, or are we just in for more of the same?

Then of course, there are always goats ...