Give Mom a Peaceful Day

I found this beautiful site yesterday, just looking for a nice new home page for my browser window. What a great way to start the day! Share it with your mom today if you want to give her a peaceful start to her morning: Peaceful Day.

Happy Mother's Day to our Father-Mother God and to all who shower others with God's qualities of unfailing love, nurturing, tender faithfulness, unflagging support, honesty, and kindness.

What Beautiful Webs We Weave

This morning early I took the dogs out, schlogging through the marshy backyard (it's been raining for two days) and stepping into a sunny spot. The sky was already a deep blue even though the sun was barely up...the trees and grass glowed a brilliant green. Something glinting in the sun at my feet caught my eye--it was a beautiful, perfect, spider web, stretched over the grass, catching the sunlight on its dewey threads. It was breathtaking! The whole web was only 6 inches in diameter, with rings within rings within rights. I stepped carefully and guided the dogs so we wouldn't disturb the spider's miraculous handiwork. Three feet away, I discovered another beautiful sunlit web, the same size, set carefully on the grass to catch the sun.

As I piloted the dogs back toward the house, I suddenly had an image of God taking care not to step on our webs, either--the webs we create that are our worlds for learning. This web has a conflicted relationship; that one, a difficult task; another a health challenge; another one, pure joy. Whatever webs we create in our day, we can know that God gave us the talent to create them and they have an inherent beauty all their own, simply because they are ours, because they have life, and because of the loving and careful One who is noticing and protecting them.

Recap of the Festival of Faith & Writing

I'm back from the Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College and wanted to share links for some of the great people I found there. I was really blessed and moved in several of the sessions. Not only did I come away with good and practical new writing ideas, but I was inspired by the heart, spirit, and mind of many creative and gifted writers. I recommend the following people to you, for their presence as much as for their writing and illustration talents:

• Kathleen Norris
  
  
• Michael Chabon
  
  
• Jon Muth
  
  
• Scott Cairns
  
  
• Daniel Taylor

I also met several great editors at a variety of publishing companies--they were approachable, friendly, helpful, smart. Thanks to Lil at Paraclete, Sheryl at Jossey-Bass, Kathleen at Fresh Air (a new imprint launching from Upper Room), and Vinita at Loyola--for their ideas, wisdom, and friendly openness.

If you didn't go this year, start planning your 2010 trip now. :)

Festival of Faith & Writing

This week I'll be attending the Festival of Faith & Writing, held every other year at Calvin College in Michigan. I'm really looking forward to it! I submitted the book proposal for the Conversations book, so we'll see what happens.

If you're going, keep an eye out for me. I'll be the tall brunette with the kitten on my shoulder. :)

This is too beautiful not to post

From the Writer's Almanac, this morning:

Susanna
by Anne Porter

Nobody in the hospital
Could tell the age
Of the old woman who
Was called Susanna

I knew she spoke some English
And that she was an immigrant
Out of a little country
Trampled by armies

Because she had no visitors
I would stop by to see her
But she was always sleeping

All I could do
Was to get out her comb
And carefully untangle
The tangles in her hair

One day I was beside her
When she woke up
Opening small dark eyes
Of a surprising clearness

She looked at me and said
You want to know the truth?
I answered Yes

She said it's something that
My mother told me

There's not a single inch
Of our whole body
That the Lord does not love

She then went back to sleep.

Poem: "Susanna" by Anne Porter, an excerpt from Living Things, published by Zoland Books, an imprint of Steerforth Press of Hanover, New Hampshire. © 2006 Anne Porter. Reprinted with permission.

Sacred Life

The following is a reflection from Martin Buber, in I and Thou. I just love it, so I posted it here. :) Enjoy.

I contemplate a tree.

I can accept it as a picture: a rigid pillar in a flood of light, or splashes of green traversed by the gentleness of blue silver ground.

I can feel it as movement: the flowing veins around the sturdy, striving core, the sucking of the roots, the breathing of the leaves, the infinite commere with earth and air--and the growing itself in its darkness.

I can assign it to a species and observe it as an instance, with an eye to its construction and its way of life.

I can overcome its uniqueness and form so rigorously that I recognize it only as an expression of the law--those laws according to which a constant opposition of forces is continually adjusted, or those laws according to which the elements mix and separate.

I can dissolve it into a number, into a pure relation between numbers, and eternalize it.

Throughout all of this the tree remains my object and has its place and its time span, its kind and condition.

But it can also happen, if will and grace are joined, that a sI contemplate the tree I am drawn into a relation, and the tree ceases to be an It. The power of exclusiveness has seized me.

This does not require me to forego any of the modes of contemplation. There is nothing that I must not see in order to see, and there is no knowledge that I must forget. Rather is everything, picture and movement, species and instance, law and number included and inseparably fused.

Whatever belongs to the tree is included: its form and its mechanics, its colors and its chemistry, its conversation with the elements and its conversation with the stars--all this in its entirety.

The tree is no impression, no play of my imagination, no aspect of a mood; it confronts me bodily and has to deal with me as I must deal with it--only differently.

One should not try to dilute the meaning of the relation: relation is reciprocity.

Does the tree then have consciousness, similar to our own? I have no experience of that. But thinking that you have brought this off in your own case, must you again divide the indivisible? What I encounter is neither the soul of a tree nor a dryad, but the tree itself."

Martin Buber, I and Thou (NY: Touchstone Books) p. 57-59.

Say Thanks, Eve

It occurred to me during my prayer time this morning that Eve would never have been tempted to take that apple if she hadn't felt she was missing out on something. And I know from my own life that when I feel I'm missing out, I'm not feeling grateful for what I already have. That's such a subtle thing--we can slip in and out of ingratitude thousands of times a day. When I am aware of all the huge, continuous, and wonderful (and little, sporadic, and quiet) blessings I receive each day, I don't yearn for fruit that's not mine. I'm happy; I'm content. I love my life, and I can't wait until the next time God strolls through the garden with me so I can share my joy and thanks.

May each of us, as we celebrate Thanksgiving in the U.S. or experience our days around the world, be fully aware and grateful for the truly uncountable gifts we are given on a daily basis. Happy Thanksgiving! I'm grateful for you, reader, that you read these thoughts that I post on this page.

:) Kathy

Conversations and Spirit

Hi again. I've just posted the second set of interview questions for the book I'm researching on conversation. This set of questions relates to community, spirituality, and care of the earth. It should take less than 10 minutes to complete, and I deeply appreciate any comments or stories you'd like to share!

Here's the link: Conversations survey, part 2

Thanks very much for your help! :) k

Want to be interviewed?

Hi! I'm beginning to research a new project on the dynamics and effects of conversation. I've created a simple survey--would you be willing to participate? It shouldn't take more than 5 minutes. All responses are confidential (I don't ask anything scary, anyway) and if I choose to quote you, I'll send you an e-mail message asking your permission first.

Here's the link, and thanks for helping!

Click here to take the Conversation survey

Seed and Surround

It occurred to me this morning, as I was thinking about the big, orange-yellow cosmos that have replanted themselves in a new area of the flower bed, that for all the magic and wonder that a seed contains, it can't grow itself without an environment.

The seed contains all that miraculous oak-in-a-molecule amazement, but it will just sit there, on your desk, quiet and self-contained, and not growing, until you (or somebody, or nature) put it in the moist dirt and cover it safe and snug. The potential for life and growth, and maybe life itself, in some kind of coded, genetic possibility, exists in the seed, but it doesn't take on a sense of real life, growing and changing and pushing up through the soil, until it has an environment that supports it.

This thought is a new one for me, and really powerful. Maybe until we have a supportive environment, an environment that's condusive to our growth--physically, emotionally, spiritually--we are just coded for possibility but not able to manifest it. I see how this has been true for me--so many ideas, so many desires, so many hopes, but few realized the way I envisioned them, maybe because I didn't understand the missing ingredient: an environment supportive to their growth. I can see why the last few years of my life have been about creating a nurturing, honoring, peaceful space. I see how vital that is in a completely new way today. Thanks, God!

Ruth = God with Us

I typed Emmanuel in something I was writing this morning and thought of that word's meaning, "God-with-us." A few minutes later, the story of Ruth and Naomi came to mind, and I thought "Ruth was God's way of being with Naomi." Isn't that a wonderful thought? It wasn't only Jesus who was Emmanuel, or God-with-us. It is each one of us, for someone else. Who is revealing God to you today? Who is lifting your spirits, encouraging you, comforting you, making you laugh, cooking you a meal? Sure, it's your friend, your spouse, your companion, your teacher. But it's also Someone Else: God is with you today, really with you, touching you through the loving acts of others in your life.

On the Road

This morning as I returned from taking Cameron to school I noticed something about myself-as-driver. When I drive, I will choose the road that has beautiful, overhanging trees over the four-lane fast-moving street with fewer traffic lights. I will let people in when I'm waiting in a line, because I hope it will start their day with a little grace. I listen to quiet classical music on the radio (sometimes to Cameron's dismay) because I like to ease into the day, preserving something of the sense of sacred peace that seems to bring in the dawn.

I don't drive slowly, but I don't drive aggressively, either. It's more of a mindfulness.

But not everybody starts the day like I do. Some people are late, some people are rushing, cutting in and out of traffic, honking, leaning forward, edging their front bumper as close to the guy in front as they possibly can. Other people drive 30 miles an hour in a 40 zone, forget to turn on their turn signals, and don't look for opportunities for turn-on-red.

This morning the SUV behind me honked when I didn't turn right fast enough at a red light. With irritation, I wondered why she would want to start anybody else's day like that. What kind of morning had she already had? On the way home, I noticed that although sometimes it can be annoying to be stuck behind someone who is not in a hurry (especially when I'm almost late for a meeting or a class), I would much rather be behind someone slow than be pushed by someone in back of me. As I thought about that, I realized how much I really don't like to be pushed--in traffic, in life, or in faith.

That might be fertile ground for reflection--which is more jangling for you, a slow driver in front or a pushy driver behind?

It could be something to do while you're waiting in traffic later today. And in the meantime, hold on to the idea God's harmony. Maybe we'll all have a smooth-driving afternoon. :)

An early-morning secret

Shhhhhhh.... The crickets are still singing their night songs. The morning glories haven't opened yet. The birds haven't appeared at the feeder for their breakfast.

But God is already busy. Just a few moments ago, as I was taking Cameron to school in the pre-dawn darkness, this thought occurred to me: "Everything that happens today is for my blessing." Every single thing. Nothing left out. Everything.

The person who pulls in front of you in traffic. The red light you tried to miss. The lukewarm coffee. The smiles of your coworker. The frowns of your coworkers. Everything.

Remember, as your morning glories open and the day picks up its pace in your own life, that every single thing that occurs today is for your blessing. And what blesses one, blesses all. How different would our day be if we could remember that? Let's talk this evening and compare notes about this wonderful day that God has made.

"This is the day the Lord has made...I will rejoice and be glad in it." :)

Froglegs

I received this story from Kabbalah.com this morning and just loved it. I can identify! See what you think:

Once upon a time, a tiny frog fell into a giant bowl of cream. Unable to get out, the little fella kept kicking, kicking, kicking until finally the cream turned to butter, and he was able to jump to safety.

This is us. We are the frog. We can either give up hope when faced with impossible challenges, or we can kick, kick, kick until the curses turn to blessings. Rest assured, our Creator wants us to survive our battles, conquer our demons, and no matter how dark life may be, there is always Light at the end of the tunnel. Our challenge is to maintain our certainty and to continue fighting the good fight.

Keep kicking today. Know that there is a solution to whatever it is that threatens to overwhelm you.

Little Moments of Redemption

Forgiveness often does come unexpectedly and hidden inside tiny things--a breath of fresh air, a sense of lightness in a tense relationship, a smile after a long period of frowning, someone letting you in in traffic, a person telling you to go ahead in the checkout line, a lucky break, the benefit of the doubt. Along those lines, I want to pass along this poem that arrived in my Inbox in today's Writer's Almanac:

"Forgiveness" by Terence Winch, from Boy Drinkers. © Hanging Loose Press, 2007.

Forgiveness

Father Cahir kept us holy.
He smoked cigars in the confessional.
He had a distracted air about him,
as though he wasn't sure what
he was supposed to do next.

I don't remember what he taught.
History, probably. It was his
liberal attitude as a confessor
that made him a legend.

No matter what you confessed to,
he always barked out the same penance:
"Three Hail Marys and a Good Act
of Contrition. Next!" So we tested
this leniency, confessing
to rape, murder, burglary.

Cahir paid no attention.
He knew we were a bunch
of high school punks.
Puffing his cigar,
he'd issue his standard
penance and absolve all sins,
real or imagined,
with godlike aloofness,
his vast indifference to
or total acceptance of the darkness
within the human soul
exactly how I hope the deity
regards us. Take forgiveness
any way you can get it.

A Nourishing Resource

For some time now, I've been a subscriber to the Ocean of Dharma quote of the week. (You can sign up by clicking here.) The one I received yesterday was especially powerful. Here it is, in its entirety (thanks to Carolyn Gimiam for the permission to post this quote):

GOSSIP AND EMOTION

Discursive thought might be compared to the blood circulation which constantly feeds the muscles of our system, the emotions. Thoughts link and sustain the emotions so that, as we go about our daily lives, we experience an ongoing flow of mental gossip punctuated by more colorful and intense bursts of emotion. The thoughts and emotions express our basic attitudes toward and ways of relating to the world and form an environment, fantasy realms in which we live....In order to work with these realms, we must begin to view situations in a more panoramic way, which is vipashyana or insight meditation. We must become aware not only of the precise details of an activity, but also of the situation as a whole....We begin to see the pattern of our fantasies rather than being immersed in them. We discover that we need not struggle with our projections, that the wall that separates us from them is our own creation.

From "The Bodhisattva Path," in CUTTING THROUGH SPIRITUAL MATERIALISM, pages 168 to 169.

All material by Chogyam Trungpa is copyright Diana J. Mukpo and used by permission.

I've been working with ideas about the power of thought and the fuel of emotion for a while now, and this quote makes some connections for me that feel profound. I hope it's helpful to you, too. :)

Great Bumper Sticker

This afternoon when I picked Cameron up from school, I saw an SUV with this bumper sticker.
Awesome. Here's the link, in case you want to get one. :)

Behind the News

It's funny how one idea builds on another. Perhaps partly because of the change of my language and perspective from "poor" to "blessed" (see yesterday's post) and also in light of the "look behind the fear" idea (click here to read that post), today I am listening to the news differently. By listening in this way, I know what to pray for, what to affirm. Let me give you an example.

People (myself included) will go on and on about the negativity in our news. Turn on a news show in the evenings and you fill your family room with stories of defaulted loans, property taxes, abandoned children, war, joblessness, violence. Turn on the radio and you hear about struggles--battles, injustices, exploitation, dishonesty--all over the world. In recent months, I have intentionally filtered the input I allow from the constantly droning (and ratings-seeking) news channels.

But today it occurred to me to look behind the news. What makes news, news? Why are we talking about all these various (and often awful) things? Something interesting occurred to me. It comes clear when you look at what the story points to.

The story about an abandoned baby is really about the loving way we want to care for our children. It's news because our natural sense of caring tenderly for the smallest among us was violated.

Push through the story about the war and you find our desire for peace. It's news because real lives are being impacted and lost, and we care about those lives.

Look beyond the story about the corrupt CEO and you see that we have a built-in expectation of integrity. It's news because we expect people in power to be trustworthy and truly care for those they lead.

Move into the story of the trapped miners and find your belief that none of us is ever lost, separated, or beyond the reach of God.

Stories about global warming aren't about our abuses of the planet--they are about how much we love the earth and each other, present and future.

Behind each story, if you look, you will see the perfect value it is lifting up. Which values are being violated? Love, connection, harmony, peace, integrity, responsibility? Which stories do you turn away from the quickest? Chances are they point to something you can't reconcile within yourself, because you are a living example otherwise.

It's at that point, I think, that we need to pray. When you feel sick about a news story, don't look away--look behind it to the value that seems to be under attack. Affirm that the value is really there--otherwise, you wouldn't feel the hurt, outrage, anger, frustration. The value is there within you, and you can use it to bring light to the world. When there appears to be hate, look through it and affirm love. When there seems to be exploitation, see that integrity is there or you wouldn't feel the way you do. When you are frustrated by dishonesty or game playing, remember that you are feeling your own natural draw toward truth.

And who knows? Maybe with this kind of news watching, ratings would actually go up, and eventually there would be less news to report!

[Added note] One clarification, though--I'm not saying that the people, places, and circumstances that are the subject of the news stories don't need our prayers, because they do. We want healing, wholeness, peace, comfort for all who need it. But by putting our conscious attention on the value behind the story, we can help make it more visible. And thus "poor" becomes "blessed."

The Shaping Power of Language

I have always had a tender heart for animals. As a child, I cried when I left wooly worms behind on the path, I cried when I watched Lassie (my mother would try to keep me from watching it and then hear me sobbing from under the desk in the living room as Lassie waved her paw at the end of the show), I agonized over leaving my stuffed animals when I went to a friend's house for a sleepover.

Okay, you guessed it. I was an odd child.

But the other day, 40-some years later, I had a little epiphany about it. I looked outside and thought, "Poor flowers--look how hot it is and how much they need a drink." Later, I thought, "Poor birds--they need fresh water in the bird bath."

And then I became curious about the language I was using in my head. Where did that "poor" come from? Why do I feel bad for everything, concerned for its welfare, sure that it is suffering in some way from the natural elements? Maybe the flowers are simply a bit too warm--just like we get--in the late afternoon sun? Perhaps the birds are on their way to a little lake somewhere else, not dependent on the bird bath in my backyard as their only source of fresh water.

What would happen to my language, my feelings, and my expectations of the world (and God's provision for it) if I stopped putting that word "Poor..." in front of everything? What if I substituted the word "Blessed" instead?

"Look at that blessed little bird...free to fly with other birds, alive on this gorgeous day, able to sing and bring joy to others!"

"Wow, what blessed flowers. How did they get so tall? And what radiant faces they have, especially in the morning and evening, in the cooler part of the day. (And aren't they lucky to have me to care for them? And aren't I lucky to have them to bring such beauty to my day?)"

I am going to become more aware of my use of the word "poor." What in God's creation can be poor? How can we be cut off from God's abundance? Whether we--in this moment, and then this one, and then this one--are the receiving or the giving heart, we are all part of God's ever-present harmony. I wonder whether we can make more blessing visible in this world if we look out through eyes trained to see the good that's already here.

Whole Gratitude

This morning I woke up thinking about gratitude. Like a gazillion other people, I watched The Secret, and interesting bits of the video bubble up at different times. Today the thought was about what one of the men said about gratitude--he wakes up every morning, and as he brushes his teeth, he goes through all the things he's grateful for. He made sure to say that it's not just some mental list; he really feels the feeling of gratitude.

This morning as I got out of bed, I went through the things I'm grateful for--a peaceful beautiful morning, new thick carpet (nice!), a good night's sleep, a loving family, work I enjoy, a beautiful home, health...

And then it occurred to me that I was making a mental list. I was trying to bring to mind everything I could that I was grateful for. I probably could have come up with a thousand different things. But I wasn't feeling it, I was thinking it. A mental list. An intellectual exercise. Suddenly I had an image of my prayers getting no higher than the ceiling.

Okay, I thought. The list is fine. But how about feeling gratitude for those things too? I imagined the first few things on the list, and asked for a little help in feeling a whole sense of gratitude. Instantly, I felt a wonderful sense of warmth and openness spreading through me--especially my chest and stomach. A kind of deep relaxing. I think I was experiencing something close to real, whole gratitude--not just a mental image of things I am grateful for.

It's a profound difference. Maybe you already know about it. But I'm so glad to have a way to say thank you with my whole self!

So, thank you for reading this. And when I say "Thank you," I mean "T-h-a-n-k y-o-u" in the wholest possible way. :)