Lenten update, week #2

There was a minor setback when some sort of wimpy flu bug grabbed hold of me last week. How is it that, every single time I have worked up some good resolve to change my ways, my physical plant shuts down and/or revolts? Hmm... Well, I shall not be moved: I have resumed making some modest progress. Not only that, but I've not had a "wasted day" since I got back on my feet last Wednesday. Yay me!

So here's the list, last posted 8 days ago, with progress noted:

upload the last 4 weeks' worth of photos from my camera... tend my very neglected garden... embroider Max's onsies... (Note on 2/28: these are almost done; just have to embroider the cute little accents on them. Will show photos when they are finished! wrap Emilie's gift and give it to her parents ... write the minutes from last month's Worship Committee meeting... read and highlight and/or redline the recently completed Mission study... clean the bathroom... fix the (collapsed, egads) interior of my craft cabinet... laundry... find out why the engine light went on in my car ... tie and hem my picnic blanket... figure out how to use my new iHome machine so I don't have to wear the earbuds to bed... make a new holiday-related craft. (note on 2/28 - the holiday has passed. Do I still make these, or wait until next year?) ... change the sheets... make a new bedspread... go outside and take photos... make and market and sell my photo cards (ahem)... take a walk... bake off the rest of the gingerbread dough... take out the garbage... vacuum... put the dates (birthdays and such) in my 2010 calendar... learn how to crochet a ball (maybe a few for Max and one for Emilie)... bake something for tonight's OMN@B... make a craigslist ad for the Calie Celae Calaei that Irish celebration at the church... learn how to spell it Ceili! ... pay the February bills... do my taxes... plant stuff into the now-cleared out garden (note on 2/28: this has begun but has not been completed)... edit those 4 weeks of photos... watch as much of the Olympics as I can (which is good for the onesies project, too). (note on 2/28 - gosh I enjoyed these Olympics) ... get the Advent/Christmas banners back from wherever they are right now...

New for today/this weekend: Write an article for the church newsletter as assisgned by my (More Light) Task Force (I missed the March edition deadline!)... make a poster for Sunday's committee fair... arrange the Sunday flowers... deal with the piles of stuff in my bedroom... fix the sewing machine (broken for about 7-8 years, but I've had the part I need for that long, as well)... grocery shop... put away the groceries... get a haircut... order prescription refills... figure out what it means and how to manage the fact that I agreed to be the church webmistress... reschedule a Worship Committee meeting... schedule a Task Force and an OMN@B meeting...

Oh, and take a nap!

Granted, it would appear that great progress has been made... and some of these items are long-range things, have been on my mental to-do list for years now. But before I go patting myself on the back, I also need to remember that this started 14 days ago, and ... well, okay. I'm not going to beat myself up. Onward! And thank you, God!

missing: 1,000 words

turning a city block after work
a sight made me

halt

and catch my breath.

t'was 20 minutes before sun set
90 minutes after moon rise:
the orbs almost facing
in the sky.

it rained most of today
but the clouds had receded from the city
leaving an island
of clear blue
surrounded by thick
sunlit
whipped cream mounds
(the top side
of rainclouds.)

I was facing east
the sun at my back.

in front of me
a half-mile down geary street:
st. mary's cathedral
resplendent in golden light
billowing rain clouds behind her
the near-full moon hanging
in a deep blue sky above.

I watched
as an airplane flew in front of the moon
and one second later
was dazzled
when the sun suddenly reflected
off all of the windows
in the sky scrapers
behind the church.

of course I had no camera.

photo harvested from google images

updating the list

There has been progress, albeit small! I am beginning to get things done:

(Feb 14)
Here is a list, in no particular order, of the things I would like to accomplish in the next day/days/week/weeks: upload (or is it download?) the last 4 weeks' worth of photos from my camera... tend my very neglected garden... embroider Max's onsies... wrap Emilie's gift and give it to her parents... write the minutes from last month's Worship Committee meeting... read and highlight and/or redline the recently completed Mission study... clean the bathroom... fix the (collapsed, egads) interior of my craft cabinet... laundry... find out why the engine light went on in my car (this is new, and it will be addressed before I drive any further, I promise) (note on 2/20: one oil change, one air filter, one air flow sensor and $300 later, this has been taken care of!)... tie and hem my picnic blanket... figure out how to use my new iHome machine so I don't have to wear the earbuds to bed... make a new holiday-related craft... change the sheets... make a new bedspread... go outside and take photos... make and market and sell my photo cards (ahem)... take a walk... bake off the rest of the gingerbread dough(note on 2/20: I threw it out - it was from December - there are no eggs or dairy products in the dough and was probably okay, but I threw it out)... take out the garbage... vacuum... put the dates (birthdays and such) in my 2010 calendar... learn how to crochet a ball (maybe a few for Max and one for Emilie)... had enough? At least my Christmas decorations are put away.

There are things added to the list, now....
bake something for tonight's OMN@B... make a craigslist ad for the Calie Celae Calaei that Irish celebration at the church... learn how to spell it... pay the February bills... do my taxes... plant stuff into the now-cleared out garden... edit those 4 weeks of photos... watch as much of the Olympics as I can (which is good for the onesies project, too)... get the Advent/Christmas banners back from wherever they are right now...

Mostly, I am happy that there is, at last and for now, forward motion. Keep it comin', Lord!

dust, to dust returning...

Almost didn't make it to the Ash Wednesday service. (It's always so hard to get anywhere by 7:00 on a work night.) I decided to grab an "after school snack" and then go, having dinner later. Though I probably missed the first half, I'm glad I went. The service was quite spare, and the songs simple.

Ubi caritas et amor, ubi caritas Deus ibi est.
(Where there is charity and love, God is there)

Come and fill our hearts with your peace; you alone, o Lord, are holy.

Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true. With thanksgiving, I'll be a living sanctuary for you.

The first was sung in English, but I love the Latin - probably because that is how I learned the song. The second is one of my very favorite (and well-used) meditative songs... it is best to sing it over and over and over again, until it sinks in deep and becomes part of my breathing and being. The third has not been a favorite of mine; it has a fairly modern, "pop"esqe tune. However, tonight the words were what carried me, and I went into a good place with those.

The silences were the most wonderful...

In the last, long period of silence all was still - until a distant train whistle broke the silence. It reminded me that we are not (as I tend to imagine on holy days) in ancient Christian times, walking in the dust that Jesus trod. No, we are in 21st century America, where trains whistles still blow, cell phones go off, and electronic gadgets remind us that we are late for church.

Even so. Lent comes to this wonderfully imperfect, American culture - as surely as it came to the English and Germans in the 1930's, slave traders in the 19th century, our founding patriots in the 18th century, to the Italians and French during the renaissance, and so on, through the ages.
It is so odd to see people walking around with an ashen "†" on their foreheads. These people with whom I share my experience - my family of friends, brothers and sisters in Christ - are all 21st century beings, too. And yet we carry the ancient symbol on our foreheads tonight. We are but dust and ashes, (carbon-based beings!) and to dust we shall return. What we celebrate is eternal - even in this modern time. And so we observe and celebrate Lent in our way, in this time.
I think this is the first time I've wrapped my brain around the idea that liturgy is not a reenactment of events that happened long ago. Though our traditions have their origins with Christ, through the timeless hand of God they stretch through the ages, morphing and evolving with the centuries, to meet us here, and they will greet us again in the future.

I'm still trying to figure out how I'll observe Lent this year. A while ago, I thought I might be giving up Facebook. I heard on NPR this morning that English priests asked their congregations to give up carbon emissions for at least one day of Lent, to relieve climate-change suffering for the poor around the globe. (A lofty goal! Imagine not using electricity/gasoline for even one day per week!) I might be working on this. I might keep you posted. ;o) Time will tell.

a valentines day memory

(candy photos courtesy of Google images)

This happened one February 14th, some time in the early 70's when my younger brother and I were still living at home. It was the weekend. Mom was doing housework (I might have been helping her), Dad was working in the garage with Charlie.

Dad has always had a thing for Necco wafers, and so there are always (Necco's) conversation hearts around for Valentine's Day. Mom sent a few downstairs to Dad. He sent one back, saying something like "my way". She sent one back to him, something like "wise up".
They went back and forth for a few rounds, actually having an argument with those little candies! Gradually, though, the comments softened to "sweetheart" and "kiss me". I seem to remember a big smooch (ew!) when Dad finally came upstairs to wash up.
Another year (or maybe it was the same year?) Mom really wanted new bricks for a project in the backyard. Dad bought them, brought them home on Valentine's day, and did this, which could be seen from their bedroom window:
And that's how you stay married for 60+ years.