Nueva Cantora: A New Song

Moving Day

2009-05-11T11:24:00.002-05:00

I've heard recently that a couple people still check this space, mostly because they say "aren't you going to blog again?"

With all the changes in our lives, I've decided I want to keep better track, so the answer is yes. However, with all the changes in our lives, I no longer want to keep track here. I'm moving to a new blog page and if you'd like to know where it is, you can email me at nuevacantora at gmail.
Thanks y'all.

Staycation

2008-08-24T14:20:00.002-05:00

Thats what another clergy friend called these days you take off from work but don't really go anywhere. I've been skeptical of the idea that just hanging around the house can be relaxing or restful. How do you resist just doing all the house stuff you've been putting off because you've been at work? After our just-under-a-week staycation (yeah, this summer got a little crazy), here are my tips.

1. have a friend visit you. I recommend Dave, or A, but your friends are probably nice too. Its especially great if the whole visiting vibe can be laid back - walk to the ice cream store one day, go to the movies one day, have lunch at the vegetarian restaurant.

2. Go ahead and do some of the house stuff, because its actually more relaxing to have two rooms set up instead of in boxes, then to have the "to-do" list hanging over your head all the time. Not too much work, and nothing you really hate if you can avoid it (turns out, you still have to do the dishes). But fun stuff like spray-painting a bookcase for the guest room makes you feel accomplished, which is nice.

3. Friends are good visitors, house invaders are not. If a bat is going to fly towards your head while you are chatting with a friend in the dining room, be sure that you've already gone back to work. There is no need to ruin the laid-back summertime vibe with shreiking and swinging brooms and hiding under the dining room table. Just sayin.

Sunday's Sermon

2008-08-18T08:11:00.000-05:00

Well-behaved women seldom make history.

Perhaps you’ve heard this quote from Laurel Ulrich before, or seen it on a button or t-shirt. Even if you haven’t heard it before today, maybe you know exactly what she is talking about. It has become a slogan – even a battle-cry – for anyone who chooses to act in a way that prioritizes speaking out over the status quo standard of “sitting and looking pretty.” It calls to all of us who have been told that we CAN’T : who have learned from a young age that as women we can’t be assertive; that as children we can’t be heard, only seen; that as men we can’t be passionate or emotional: this simple phrase reminds us not only that we CAN bend the standard expectations of society, but that in fact, great things might happen if we do.

The Caananite woman probably never heard this idea phrased in this particular way, but it seems she didn’t need the words. This woman had so little power in this world that her particular identity – even her name- has been removed from the history books. As a woman, she should not have approached a man in such a bold and public way. As a Caananite, she was an unwelcome stranger among the Hebrew people. And as a person in any kind of society – well, we just don’t like it when people stand there shouting at us and won’t go way, and certainly not in front of an important person like the Rabbi!
The Caananite woman is one of those women who do make history, tossing out the standards of culture and decency in order to seek help from Jesus. She seems to be a poster-child for those who long to use their voice, for the strength of a mother’s devotion and a woman’s fierce determinationon behalf of her tormented daughter.

Yet, the temptation to reduce the Caananite woman’s strength and boldness to that of a desperate mother, can too easily shield us from the other great force at work in her story. Because at the end of the story, Jesus does not commend the woman for her great devotion to her child, or even her great boldness in seeking out help. Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your FAITH.”

Only deep and solid faith in God’s love could bring this woman to the feet of a Rabbi, and keep her there through silence, irritation and rejection. Her great faith in the mercy of God allowed her to bring her whole self: her desperation, her need, her wit, her flat-out stubbornness to her encounter with the Lord. On that day, and in that region, she alone believed that God’s grace was big enough to hold both her vulnerability and her boldness.

Great faith is not the absence of questions or struggle: rather, it is trusting that God is big enough to hold our struggles and our vulnerabilities as well as our joys and strengths.

Great faith is knowing that God does not need to be protected from our emotions, our questions, or even our demands for healing and justice. Great faith allows us to know God in such a way that we free to be known by God.

The challenge of the Caananite woman to me is wrapped up in the traditional hymn, There’s A Wideness In God’s Mercy:

Theres a wideness in God’s mercy, like the wideness of the sea
Theres a kindness in God’s justice, which is more than liberty
There is welcome for the sinner, and more graces for the good
There is mercy with the Savior, there is healing in his blood…
If our love were but more faithful… we should take God at her word
And our lives would be thanksgiving for the goodness of the Lord.

Do we who proclaim the good news of God’s love for the outcast, believe that grace extends to all our being? The wideness of God’s mercy held the pain and the strength of the Caananite woman, the irritation and embarrassment of the disciples, and even the hesitation of Jesus. Will we allow ourselves enough faith to reveal our irritation, our determination, our hopes and gifts to God – and will we allow others to do the same, even if it shakes our notions of being “well-behaved” Christians?

Some days, our faith will not be so great. We will forget that God can take whatever it is we have to offer, we will wish that others would simply behave and not bother us or God with all of their questions. But on those days and in those moments when we allow others, and even ourselves, to live entirely embraced in the depths of God’s kindness and mercy, we will be living in the reality we call the kingdom of God, we will hear Jesus say to us, “Child of God, great is your faith,” and our lives will be thanksgiving for the goodness of the Lord.

What She Said

2008-08-14T10:44:00.002-05:00

Sisterhood lives.

Color Vision

2008-07-05T18:46:00.002-05:00

Our new home is really great, and we are definitely in love with it. One of the things that attracted us to the house is that is doesn't look like the other houses on the street. We're actually in the kind of neighborhood where none of the houses look like the one next door, so it isn't that our house is so special (though it is), it's just that kind of place.

Still, we particularly like the "curb appeal" of our place - the symmetry, the bright red mailbox, the pointy thing over the door. As we walked home from a comedy show and ice cream last night, we were talking about the interesting housing colors in our neighborhood. There is one a couple blocks over that is a great shade of green, and I said "That's about the color I'd like in the living room." Luke commented that he liked the shade of green on our house.

Here's the thing about that. Our house? Not green. Its really tan. I'll give you khaki even. But it is most definitely not green. I thought about not sharing this information with Luke, but that seemed unfair. So I broke the news to him that our house is khaki-colored. Green trim, definitely, but the house itself is khaki.

As we approached the house, the new information clearly matched up with the sensory intake. It was like he saw for the first time that our house was in fact khaki, not green. It wasn't a look of disappointment, or even surprise (well, maybe a little.) It was recognition.

If only changing our preconceptions and mis-perceptions were always so easy. In the meantime, I'm off to find that green I like so much, because I'm sure it's exactly the way I'm imagining it in my head. Where *did* that house go??

Random Update Bullets

2008-07-04T10:03:00.003-05:00

One of the blogs I lurk at recently posted and updated from a long hiatus. Her life has been complicated, and yet, her update was witty and funny and profound. She inspired me to update too, and try to get back into writing in this space. But, its a holiday and I'm off today, so I'm going the lazy route with bullets. Pretend the asterisks are fireworks, and it's downright festive around here.

* We moved, into hardcore Wolverine Country. The Phabulous Doctor is going to be teaching there beginning in September, so we've bought a house and officially moved.

* Paint colors are fun to think about, but actually getting around to painting takes us for. ever. I think our bedroom is going to have a similar color scheme to the new look here. Maybe by the end of 2008?

* Moving back to our home town is sort of crazy. It's strange to have to remember things like where the Thai food is and how to get to the dairy store with the great coffee ice cream, but run into people I've known my whole life and drive past all my college houses on the way.

* It rained every day for the first week we lived here. Now we have a lawn mower (the push kind) and a tree guy. Home ownership teaches all kinds of lessons.

* Youth ministry requires a lot of summer travel. I'm leaving for EYE 2008 in San Antonio next week, I'll be in Chicago for a week later in the month, and then DC in August. Yes, I do know that Texas and DC are not really the best places to visit in July and August, why do you ask?

* Watching friendships transform over fifteen or twenty years is an amazing gift.

* My kitchen and family room are all unpacked. The bedroom is mostly put away, and the office is getting there. Let's not talk about the basement.

* Our June included a random sports accident/head injury that lead to two days of being in the hospital. Luke is totally fine, but it was scary for a bit in there. I learned that getting a phone call from your spouse's cell and having it be someone else saying "Something happened" is terrible - but if that is going to happen, having a good friend make the call is the best possible scenario. He sounded steady and calm and in charge, in what must have been an absolutely frightening situation. I am so thankful for the new friends we've made since the last time we lived here.

* Six years ago, we lived in this town, Luke was working for the University, I was connected to diocesan youth ministry. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Happy 4th of July, y'all!

A Day for the History Books

2008-06-03T20:01:00.003-05:00

At 9 pm eastern time, with the closing of the polls in South Dakota...

Yes, We Can became Yes, We Did. As he said tonight,
"Tonight is the end of one historic journey, and the beginning of another."

Celebrating The Defense

2008-05-15T10:55:00.003-05:00

Defense is a big word in our house right now. Yeah, the Pistons are in the playoffs, so there's that defense, which seems to be working pretty well.

But more importantly... Luke is defending the dissertation as I type! In honor of the end of his educational career, a multiple choice quiz.

How does one prepare for defending a disseration?
A. Work a couple of 90-hour weeks
B. Teach a different class the day before to distract you
C. Get very nervous when people call you "doctor" beforehand
D. Be prepared with a good latte
E. All of the above

How does one celebrate defending the dissertation?
A. Go out to lunch with wife, advisor, and friends after school-sponsored reception
B. Go to a taping of "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me - The NPR News Quiz"
C. Attend another school's graduation
D. Have your wife throw you a party when you get home
E. All of the above

If you said "E. All of the Above," then you win! I'll take that as a good omen for Luke, thanks.

**Update: Defense is done, and all agreed it was a rousing success! He's now Dr. Luke!**

Organic Delivered

2008-05-01T09:04:00.002-05:00

So, as I mentioned a while back, we're moving back to our hometown over the summer. I've been dreaming about shopping at the farmer's market and Trader Joes and the Produce Station and all the other places I miss. I've thought about joining a CSA, but with a mid-summer move, I wasn't sure that would work out.

Well, Frog came to my rescue!! She told me about a national company called Door to Door Organics that operates in my new area. You can have organic in-season fruits and veggies delivered right to you door. You can choose the size of the box, the frequency of delivery, and there is no minimum time commitment! I'm so excited to have this option. If you live in Michigan, parts of Ohio, and most of the upper east coast, you should check them out too.

Someone should write a song about dreaming of an organic veggie summer...

That Check in The Mail

2008-04-10T08:03:00.002-05:00

Are you making plans yet for that "economic stimulus check" that might be coming in the mail? Honestly, we have been a little bit. We're in the process of moving and all, so a little extra cash flow doesn't hurt, even if I think the logic behind it is flawed at best.

Happily, the good folks at Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation - a non-profit dedicated to the work and ministry of the Millenium Development Goals - has been thinking about these checks too. They have started the Give it For Good Campaign. Here is the pledge they are asking folks to make:

"Because I take seriously Christ's admonition that 'where your treasure is, there will your heart be also' (Matt. 6:31), and

"Because I believe reaching out in compassion to the extreme poor around the world is more important than propping up an economy based on unsustainable consumption.

"I am donating all or part of my 2008 tax rebate/economic stimulus check (or all or part of the amount I would be receiving if I qualified for a check) to not-for-profit organizations that support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

"Instead of spending it, I am Giving It For Good."

Make sense to you? Yeah, me too. Visit their website at www.giveit4good.org for ideas about where to give and how to spread the word.

Two Toasts

2008-04-05T21:29:00.003-05:00

I've been listening to the new Carrie Newcomer cd The Geography of Light in the car, since it showed up in my Easter basket. Tonight, I spent some time catching up on blogs and thinking about friends and communities and the places we meet.

So, to all of my blog friends, two toasts from the lyrics of Carrie Newcomer and Parker Palmer:

To the words, and how they live between us, and
To us, and how we live between the words.

(Visit Carrie's website to hear a clip of the music too.)

Million Dollar Friday Five

2008-03-28T18:36:00.002-05:00

This week's Friday Five from the RevGals is very simple: Name five things you would do with one million dollars. Here goes my list... with some catch-up on the side:

1. The house: Get the house we want, in the neighborhood we want, with a garage like we want. Yep, we're house-hunting! In Ann Arbor! My genius-faculty-to-be husband has landed a job at U of M! Sometime in the next few months, I really will be back in Wolverine territory!

2. Order frozen pizzas from Lou Malnati's. I love Chicago deep-dish, especially with sausage and garlic. Sadly, there is no reasonable substitute on this side of the lake. Whenever I go to Chicago, my nice friends indulge me in a trip, even though some of them call is "italian casserole." Such pizza narrow-mindedness. Why can't pizza be both/and?! Anyway, they ship frozen ones overnight, but its always been so expensive... but not if I had a $1,000,000!

3. Go someplace. We had a great time on our dream vacation last summer to Italy. We have friends with experience traveling in Japan, China, Spain, Puerto Rico, Ecuador and South Africa - wouldn't it be great to treat our friends to a trip if they'll be our vacation planning guide?

4. Start a foundation. We have wanted a family foundation for a long time, and some of that million would be great seed money. I think it would fund projects related to children's health and education, loosely based.

5. There are these great hot pink patent leather sandals I saw at Macy's when I was in Boston a couple weeks back... we had a college roommate reunion weekend, and my friend A & I walked into this crazy spring launch party! They had a DJ, free champagne & beer, and models! Anyway, these shoes were amazing, and I haven't found them here at home. Anyway, with a million dollars to play with, I'd get at least one pair of new shoes!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T08:40:00.000-05:00

Lift your voice rejoicing, Mary,
Christ has risen from the tomb;
on the cross a suffering victim,
now as victor he is come.
Whom your tears in death were mourning,
welcome with your smiles returning.

Let your alleluias rise!

Good Friday

2008-03-21T13:41:00.002-05:00

What is there to say on Good Friday? What can be said in the face of violence? One might imagine that the front pages of our newspapers have prepared us with the right response each time violence and tragedy cross our paths. With stories detailing school shootings and suicide bombs, we see the destruction and pain that people are capable of – and yet, we are so often able to distance ourselves from the awful scene, with clichés or stereotypes or simple geography. At the cross of Christ, however, there are no simple sayings that can separate us from the grief of this death. Words seem to fail us. Perhaps, because we find ourselves to be like Peter, at a loss for words because we know too well how terrible our words can be. Or, perhaps, like Mary and the beloved disciple, we stand silent out of sorrow and grief, knowing that all our words could not have changed this ending.

The silence of Good Friday makes us uncomfortable because it asks us to face darkness and recognize it in ourselves. We can no longer pretend that we are above the hurts of the world. Here, on Good Friday, our brokenness is revealed in all its ugliness, brokenness suppressed for so long that it can only be released in violence and used for our own conviction. God becomes Incarnate that we might be reconciled, and we crucify Him! But here, also, is the salvation: God knows our faults, but God can work through our weakness, our mistakes – even through our treason and betrayal, even through our arrogant attempts to kill God. God will transform our brokenness and violence into Resurrection.
The love of God is stronger than the powers of the world, and can work in our lives despite our best (or worst) intentions otherwise – and will go even to the cross to show us the love.

I wish that Jesus had filled the silence with more words. I wish that he had been able to proclaim the new commandment of love once again. There is a Spanish poem that captures what I wish Jesus might have said:

Yo no nací sino para quereros;
mi alma os ha cortado a su medida;
por hábito del alma mismo os quiero.

Cuanto tengo confieso yo deberos;
por vos nací, por vos tengo la vida,
por vos he de morir, y por vos muero.

I was not born but to love thee
my soul is patterned to thy measures
and because of my soul’s habit I do love thee

I confess to owe thee all I have
for thee I was born, for thee I am alive
for thee I have to die, and for thee I die.

Jesus knows that humanity is a community of broken lives. We all have hurts we have received, pain we have caused, and grief we have lived with. By coming to live as one of us, Jesus has patterned his soul to our measure. As one who lived among us, he knew what it was to see hunger and disease, to feel loss and grief.

As one betrayed and crucified, Jesus knows the depths of what we are capable of, and yet, it is the habit of Christ’s very being to love us, live for us, and even die for us: because God knows that the consequence of giving one’s life to love is to eventually give one’s death as well.

So what can we say in the face of such committed love? We are, again left at the foot of the cross without words, but not without hope or action. We are here together, grieving over the losses of life, and the failings of our stories. We stand, looking for glimpses of hope and sharing words of comfort. We stand at the cross of Christ waiting and watching for God to act once again and make creation new – bound to one another by the love that led Jesus here.

Maundy Thursday

2008-03-20T13:39:00.001-05:00

Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” – John 13:34-35

I wonder, if it were up to us, how we would spend our last night on earth. What might you say and do with such limited time? Would you tell your family and friends that you would be leaving them soon?

We may well imagine that these are the questions running through the mind of Jesus on that Thursday night as he gathered with his friends and disciples in the Upper Room. What a heavy heart Jesus must have had that evening! He knew it would be their last gathering, their last meal, the last chance to help them understand all the events that were still to come – from the garden to the cross to the empty tomb. If only the disciples had known that this night would be the last – maybe they would have acted differently. Maybe Peter would not have protested the foot washing. Maybe Thomas would not have asked so many questions – or maybe the rest of them would have asked more. But, that is the hindsight of sudden loss. It leaves us wondering what we might have done differently, or what we might have said – the “if onlys” and “maybes” that we can never answer.

But Jesus knew. He knew it was their last meal, their last gathering before everything changed. And so he gave the disciples their final instructions: Love one another, as I have loved you. We call it a commandment, but it is more than that. It is a gift. Jesus gave these instructions as a final word to his disciples, so that they would have a way to survive the confusion and pain of the next days. Jesus spent his last time with his friends serving them, feeding them, and caring for them – and then telling them that they must always do the same.

Growing up in the church, I knew that Holy Week was an important time – the services were very different, between palms and processions and the stripping of the altar. In fact, I was so certain of the week’s importance, that I thought we celebrated Monday-Thursday so that none of the days would be missed! Of course, as I grew older, I learned that today is really called Maundy Thursday. Maundy is from a Latin word – mandatum – meaning “commandment.” Today is called “Commandment Thursday” because this new commandment – to love one another- becomes the framework for all of the events of Maundy Thursday. The love that Jesus demonstrates is the kind that is patient and kind: that will get “down and dirty” to wash the feet of friends. It is the kind of love that hopes all things and believes all things that is willing to serve and share a meal with the one who will betray – wishing it might be different, and offering love anyway. In the midst of pain, it was Jesus desire that the disciples love one another as deeply as Jesus loved them.

And it is still his desire. In the darkest hours of his life, Jesus demonstrated amazing love for his friends. Jesus calls us to love one another through the hurts and struggles of this life, to serve, to encourage, and to strengthen. On this night especially, we renew our commitment to serve the people we live with everyday – not just the faceless, the far away, the ones we can think of as “other.” We try to be in relationship with the people we serve – and, to serve the people that we are in relationship with, helping them wash the parts of their lives they can’t quite restore on their own. We renew our commitment to gather and break bread, practicing the love of Christ that calls us to let down our guard a bit, easing our suspicion and cynicism to make room for grace and hope, or at least at the altar rail.

What we learn in these holy days of violence and loss is the same lesson that is true every day in our communities of faith: God is present in the acts of genuine love we extend to one another: in loving service, in open arms, and in this meal. Tonight, as we reflect on his actions of love, and move together toward the cross and new life, we remember that new life in Christ begins here, among friends, with the new commandment: Love one another as Christ loved us.

Mottos

2008-03-16T18:31:00.001-05:00

I think I may have a new motto.

I may love to cook, but some days, I just want a frozen pizza.

Just a thought as Holy Week begins.

Remembering

2008-03-08T20:46:00.002-05:00

I've preached on this lectionary before, and it was not long after tragedy struck close to home. As I'm writing today, I'm glad to be writing from a different place. But I'm still remembering that time, and saying a few prayers for that family. I wonder where the girls are now (young women, I suppose), and I hope that the stories of resurrection we'll hear tomorrow have held them across time.

Shuffle's Favorite

2008-02-28T12:35:00.002-05:00

My ipod may be trying to tell me something, or it may just have good taste.

The Wood Song - Indigo Girls
The thin horizon of a plan is almost clear
My friends and I have had a tough time
Bruising our brains hard up against change
All the old dogs and the magician
Now I see were in the boat in two by twos
Only the heart that we have for a tool we could use
And the very close quarters are hard to get used to
Love weighs the hull down with its weight

But the wood is tired and the wood is old
And we'll make it fine if the weather holds
But if the weather holds we'll have missed the point
That's where I need to go

No way construction of this tricky plan
Was built by other than a greater hand
With a love that passes all out understanding
Watching closely over the journey
Yeah but what it takes to cross the great divide
Seems more than all the courage I can muster up inside
But we get to have some answers when we reach the other side
The prize is always worth the rocky ride

But the wood is tired and the wood is old
And we'll make it fine if the weather holds
But if the weather holds we'll have missed the point
Thats where I need to go

Sometimes I ask to sneak a closer look
Skip to the final chapter of the book
And then maybe steer us clear from some of the pain it took
To get us where we are this far yeah
But the question drowns in its futility
And even I have got to laugh at me
No one gets to miss the storm of what will be
Just holding on for the ride

The wood is tired and the wood is old
We'll make it fine if the weather holds
But if the weather holds we'll have missed the point
Thats where I need to go

Seabury Prayers

2008-02-22T11:44:00.002-05:00

Distressing news about Seabury, my seminary alma mater, has been floating around for a day or so now. In short, they have elected to end the 3-year M.Div program, suspend all admissions, and make alternative arrangements for current masters/certificate students to complete their degrees while the Planning Committee does its work to figure out the "what next" of theological education. The details of this, through the Dean's official letter, can be found here. Its worth reading all the way through.

"Mixed emotions" might be the only way to describe my reaction fairly - though, in that mix, I'm not finding much positive right now. I'm worried for friends trying to get through the ordination process, who don't need added complications to an already-complicated system. I'm very worried for friends whose careers and livelihoods have huge question marks hanging over them. I'm concerned and sad that the institution that formed me for ministry might cease to exist, despite the best efforts of people who love it and work on its behalf.

Beyond my concerns for these folks, though, I am concerned about the larger church. Twice now (at least), General Convention has essentially ignored the cries that our seminaries need a new way to fund preparation for ministry. In a sermon earlier this week, the Dean commented that

"It would be injudicious of me to compare the Episcopal Church to scribes and Pharisees, so please don’t call your bishops and tell them I did; but it does seem to me that the institutional church has laid on all of us seminaries burdens which it is not itself willing to help us bear. The church has fewer students and no money with which to support us, and yet it it continues to demand that we behave in certain historical institutional ways."

I believe that there is need for traditional seminary education. I believe that there is value in face-to-face classroom experience. I believe that the Church needs leaders who have learned to debate in a classroom and then share evening worship and dinner. But I believe that the seminaries cannot continue to do this as lone operators. Until the Episcopal Church finds a way to support formation for ordained ministry, this will not be the last dean's letter like this.

Please pray for this community, and for the church.

Google Calendar Can Haz Grammar

2008-02-21T17:46:00.002-05:00

Have you discovered Google Calendar yet? Its our new family favorite. You can set up online calendars, for free, and share them with other users. The research project that Luke works on uses it to set up interviews and meetings. We each keep our indivdual calendars updated there, as well as a family calendar. I also run a calendar of continuing education and conference opportunities, and when I decide to register for one, I can simply switch it over to the calendar that Luke sees too. You can import from iCal, it has pretty colors, you can set it to remind you of upcoming events. Basically, we're very happy with it.

Not all programs are glitch-free of course. Those little reminders? Well, they're just fill-in-the-blank things, so they can sound a little funny. For instance, I occsionally schedule conference calls, and the reminder looks like this:

Phone: Mr Rev (Susie) is happening at 10:30 in phone

Google can haz grammar. Our family can haz organizing. I still think we win.

My Funny Valentine

2008-02-18T10:56:00.002-05:00

Or... Twelve years of dating and marriage.

Thursdays are my day off. I know this is somewhat odd, but it was the only thing that would work when I started this clergy-life a couple years ago, and now I love it. All that to say, I actually had Valentines Day off this year! I was going to cook salmon and champagne risotto and panna cotta (why yes, I watch Everyday Italian with Giada, why do you ask?) but after spending 10 hours in the car in two days, I just wasn't up for it. So we decided to go out to dinner see a movie, and just hang out for the day.

After lunch and a West Wing episode, Luke surprised me with chocolates! Of course, we're sharing them, so its partly a present for himself, but it was pretty great considering we aren't always big on holiday presents. Case in point... later in the afternoon, he said "I'm so proud of myself for getting you flowers!" Um... or not.

Apparently, going out to dinner and seeing a movie is a popular choice for Valentines Day. Around 4pm or so, Luke thought we should try and get reservations for dinner. Well, no one had space for a reservation. Oops. Oh well, we figured, they must leave some openings for people who drop in - we'll just give it a try. So, we went to our movie (Definitely, Maybe - pretty cute) and headed out to dinner. First restaurant? 3 hour wait. The next couple weren't any better. At that point, we were hungry, and decided that take-out pizza and buffalo wings (for me, not for the vegetarian) on the living room floor with some more West Wing sounded just fine.

As we left restaurants #2 and #3 both packed with young couples hoping to get seated, Luke said "Wow. It must really suck to be a guy who plans to take a date out for dinner on Valentine's Day, and didn't think far enough ahead to make reservations. Thats so sad for them."

Ten minutes later, we both realized how ironic and funny that was. And we're still laughing.

I'd say Valentine's Day number 12 was an all-around success.

Lenten Hope

2008-02-06T17:20:00.000-05:00

So give me hope
Give me hope
That emptiness brings fullness
And loss of love brings wholeness
To us all

-Hand Me Downs, Indigo Girls

Expectations

2008-01-24T16:22:00.000-05:00

In my work with youth and young adults (and children, and adults) I find that having clear expectations is a plus. People are, on the whole, happier and more productive when they know exactly what it is they're supposed to be going. Also, its much easier to fix problems when everyone agrees to the expectations up front.

Some folks like to complain that we have no expectations of people anymore. Generally, I think they're being cranky and just don't like the way these times, they are a-changin.

But on my way to work in Detroit, I pass one of those light-up highway signs that warn you about accidents and things up ahead. There wasn't a traffic jam to report, so instead, it had the following message:

"Aim to drive safe and sober."

Just call me crankypants who doesn't like the way these times are a changin.

Old News

2008-01-18T09:43:00.000-05:00

This quote from an article in the NY Times caught my eye this morning:

“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.”

You know how this story goes - the millenials, or Gen Y, or whatever name you prefer for the upcoming generation, is the most narcisscistic, self-centered generation EVER. They've been spoiled by digital media, over-attentive parents, highly structured lives, and too much praise. They don't care about the world around them, the traditions of their family, and they're epidemically obese - which is also because of that digital media, by the way.

Folks - that quote up there? From the NY Times article? Its more than 2000 years old, penned by some guy named Plato.

Bemoaning and bewailing the next generation isn't just an American hobby - it seems to be human nature. Go check out the article: Generation Me vs. You Revisited. Its in the style section, because bashing the young people? It never seems to go out of fashion.

Backing Up

2008-01-17T12:34:00.000-05:00

Technology amazes me. As I'm typing this morning, all of my files - my music, the pictures from my seminary graduation, the sermons I gave at my field ed parish, my favorite recipes, my address lists - they are all getting put into a little tiny silver box. Its backup day in our house!

I've been pondering a move back to a paper system though. After seven months of doing everything via laptop, I think I need a paper calendar. In fact, I think I'm going to get this one - my friend Dave has it, and its really cool. But mostly, I want to be less tied to my computer so that my MacBook continues to be fun and exciting - and its moving off the edge right now.

Over the weekend, we went to CA to visit my best friend and her husband. It was her birthday this weekend, and the second show of the season for her brand new theatre company was still showing. (By the way - if you live even vaguely in the Bay Area, drive on out to Antioch this weekend to see the Hapgood Theatre Company's production of Rumors. Its hilarious, and the director is pretty fabulous.) Anyway, all four of us are serious Mac people. As in, we drank coffee on Tuesday while J read to us from a liveblog about the Mac launches. While we were sitting around one morning, one of the three assembled Macbooks made the "new mail" noise. J and I immediately groaned - the noise was just stressful to us.

The story has a happy ending - the email was actually for Ms. Theatre Director, a request for more ticket sales. Huzzah! But the moral of the story for me? If four days into vacation, the email noise stresses me out... I'm not using my computer the way I want to.

Oh yeah, and the other happy ending? I get to go shopping for my new planner!

Because Its Saturday

2008-01-05T11:57:00.000-05:00

As seen around at various Rev Gal pages...

The Recipe For Susie/Nueva Cantora

3 parts Tease
2 parts Vitality
1 part Poise

Splash of Ingenuity

Finish off with a little umbrella and straw

What's the Recipe for Your Personality?

Though, I wish the picture was more pink... like a cosmo!

New Year Friday Five

2008-01-04T11:28:00.000-05:00

2007 went out with a bang! We've had visits from friends, a birthday (the husband, not me), good food and a good break. Obama won the Iowa caucus, Michigan won Lloyd's last game. Life has been pretty great.

Now that I'm back to work, it seems like a good time to play the Friday Five again!

Well it had to be didn't it, love them or hate them I bet you've been asked about New Year resolutions. So with no more fuss here is this weeks Friday Five:

1. Do you make New Year resolutions?
I always have before - and not just in January. I've made new school year, birthday, new church year resolutions too! But this Janauary, I'm just not there. So much seems in flux for us right now, and so little we can control about it all, that I just can't get into the whole resolution thing.

2. Is this something you take seriously, or is it a bit of fun?
I usually take them seriously - not in the "get down on myself" way, but usually resolutions are about hope for me. And, you know, thats inherently serious and fun at the same time.

3. Share one goal for 2008.
I plan to turn 30.

4. Money is no barrier, share one wild/ impossible dream for 2008
We would own a transporter machine, so that no matter where we end up living, we could be near friends and family without long travel times. Hey, if money is no barrier, I don't see why physics should be either!

5. Someone wants to publish a story of your year in 2008, what will the title of that book be?
Manaman (doot doot doot doot doot)
Hard to make sense of it, but it still sticks in your head for some reason. See? You're singing it, aren't you?

Blessed Nativity

2007-12-26T11:49:00.000-05:00

How silently, how silently
the wondrous gift is given
How God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of all heaven
No ear may hear his coming
but in this world of sin
Where meek souls will receive him still
The dear Christ enters in

Christmastime is Here...

2007-12-21T11:29:00.000-05:00

Happiness and cheer...
Fun for all, the children call...

And that's all I remember of that song right now. So instead of Peanuts Christmas songs, how about we try this week's Friday Five, from Rev HRod?

1. What was one of your favorite childhood gifts that you gave?
My favorite thing to give as a kid was a plate of Christmas cookies. My mom would put together cookies for a bunch of our neighbor friends, and then I'd go around and deliver them. Sometimes a few of us would go, and we'd sing a Christmas carol too.

2. What is one of your favorite Christmas recipes? Bonus points if you share the recipe with us.
When I was very little, and my grandma was still alive and traveling, my grandparents would bring Cuban treats for Christmas. My favorite was guava paste - it came in a brick, with a strip of guava jelly on top. Here is the recipe: Cut a thin piece of guava paste. Put it on a Club cracker with cream cheese. Eat until you pass out from the sugar coma.

3. What is a tradition that your family can't do without? (And by family, I mean family of origin, family of adulthood, or that bunch of cool people that just feel like family.)
The order we do presents and stuff... it would just be odd to change it! First we do stockings, which always have an orange in them. Then we take our oranges and go eat breakfast - a cinnamon roll coffee cake thing my mom's been doing for years. Then, finally, we open presents under the tree.

4. Pastors and other church folk often have very strange traditions dictated by the "work" of the holidays. What happens at your place?
I don't think I've been in this ordained life long enough to figure that out. My first year, another family with a clergy dad (who's youngest son is a good friend) invited us over in between early and late services. This year, we'll be joining another clergy family for in-between services dinner too... so I guess thats becoming a tradition that I'd love to continue.

5. If you could just ditch all the traditions and do something unexpected... what would it be?
Leave the crazy snow behind and go to Puerto Rico. My husband has always wanted to visit.

Amen (Sung, of course)

2007-12-03T10:44:00.001-05:00

Do y'all ever look at the Christian Century's blog? I only look once a week or so, but a headline from last week caught my eye. Check out Jason Byasee's piece on Singing Clergy. Its very short and very true.

The Whys

2007-12-01T12:17:00.000-05:00

Today is entirely a day off, and I'm happy for that. Instead of making lunch or getting to that laundry that is still in the suitcase from a conference last week, I'm reading blogs. And in doing so, I'm remembering why I love this blogiverse, even if I don't write so often anymore.

Blogs make me laugh out loud so that my husband gives me funny looks.Like this piece from Preacher Mom.

Sometimes, blogs give words to stuff I've been wondering about. Or, they share poet's words that I wanted to hear, like this Rumi writing from Ladyburg.

Often blogs make me cry, like PPB's witness of grief. Or, for tears of joy, Reverend Mother's newly-expanded family pictures!

Today, I'm celebrating blogs.

Leftovers Friday Five

2007-11-23T17:07:00.000-05:00

This week's questions are brought to us by Singing Owl and the letters P and T, for Post-Thanksgiving!

1. Did you go elsewhere for the day, or did you have visitors at your place instead? How was it?
We went down to my mom's house, which was nice. She hosted a couple international students from the local university, so we totaled out at 6 people.

2. Main course: If it was the turkey, the whole turkey, and nothing but the turkey, was it prepared in an unusual way? Or did you throw tradition to the winds and do something different?
The turkey was pretty much straight-up turkey, though my mom found one at Whole Foods that is bred to be smaller - helpful, when we were at one point only expecting 4 people! Our dinner is usually traditional with a few twists: mashed potatoes, two kinds of stuffing (one with apples, one with something else), green beans cooked with parmesan, pine nuts, and carmelized onions (think gourmet version of green bean casserole), homemade cranberry jelly, salad with dried cranberries and honey-roasted almonds, and pumpkin pie. You can see why going to Mom's is such a good idea...

3. Other than the meal, do you have any Thanksgiving customs that you observe every year?
We mostly just hang out. Usually we watch at least part of the Lions game, and usually they lose. This year was no exception to any of that.

4. The day after Thanksgiving is considered a major Christmas shopping day by most US retailers. Do you go out bargain hunting and shop ‘till you drop, or do you stay indoors with the blinds closed? Or something in between?
We did some shopping, but Christmas shopping. More like "we have a whole day to get stuff done, lets go get some things" shopping. If you wait til mid-afternoon, the crowds aren't bad.

5. Let the HOLIDAY SEASON commence! When will your Christmas decorations go up?
Probably not for a couple weeks, until after Luke's term is over. Though, two of the nativity sets I've recently added to my collection are already on the mantle. The tree and lights and the other dozen nativities will come soon enough!

Sick Day Amusement

2007-11-21T09:46:00.000-05:00

I've had a cold for two weeks now, but also a lot on my work agenda. Today, being the day before Thanksgiving and all, my pressing agenda items are complete, and I'm staying in bed. Sick days always sounds like they'll be fun, but really, when coughing fits interrupt you every few minutes, its less exciting. Luckily, the blog doesn't mind coughing breaks.

Yesterday was a day of mailings and copies. We have a great copier at my far-away office. Still, it has one feature that drives me crazy. When you press the "clear" button - it doesn't actually clear the settings! I'm not really sure what the function of the button is. Maybe there is some computer screen in another state that keeps going blank everytime I hit that little c. All I know is that if your previous job was 15 double-sided stapled copies, and you hit clear, and then try and run one copy, you'll get 15 sets anyway.

Happily, the comic people at toothpaste for dinner like copiers about as much as I do.

toothpastefordinner.com

Clergy Day Quote

2007-11-06T11:28:00.001-05:00

"The problem in America is that people borrow money they don't have, to buy things they don't need, to keep up with people they don't even like." - Will Rogers

And last night's How I Met Your Mother was all about massive credit card debt. This week seems to have a theme.

Dinner for One

2007-11-04T20:10:00.000-05:00

Put a cup and half of water and about 3/4 of a cup of oats and a pinch of salt into a pot with a lid. Be careful not to mix up the amounts for water and oats, or you'll be confused and have to start over. I'm just sayin. Anyway, bring to a boil and stir until its just a little thinner than you'd like. While that happens, toast some almonds. I like the slivered ones because they are easy to chop. When the oatmeal is almost done, stir in a spoonful or two of raspberry jam. Sprinkle with toasted almonds and a little brown sugar.

Sit and eat, and think about the great day you had: a full church with nine baptisms, your new goddaughter, her fabulous parents, her awesome twin brother and his supercool godparents, and how fun brunch is when all those people are in the same place.

Enjoy the quiet of your own house, especially since you broke your cell phone so no one can call you anyway, enjoy watching your football-boyfriend beat the Colts again, enjoy your Sunday night tv that your husband wouldn't ever watch. Appreciate the fact that your dinner is good for you, and isn't pizza, unlike five of the meals you had the previous three days.

Really though, after the brown sugar part, do whatever would make you as relaxed as I'm feeling tonight.

Reading with the Sisters

2007-10-22T09:38:00.001-05:00

Why is it that I always end up with the refrain for Manic Monday in my head at the beginning of the week?

If you are, like me, feeling a bit overwhelmed or isolated or wanting to something to read or are interested in the stories of young women clergy or know a young woman who is or may be clergy... then you've got to check out Fidelia's Sisters, the new-this-month ezine of the Young Clergy Women Project. I've already used some of this material in a sermon!

In case you're busy right now though, I've added the link over on the side, you can come back tomorrow.

Friday Five, Can't Resist Top Chef Edition

2007-10-19T15:34:00.000-05:00

I love Top Chef. I've watched all three seasons start to finish. (Sam from season 2 is my favorite, though Casey from season 3 is also fabulous).

So... I had to jump in and play the Top Chef Friday Five! Thanks, RevHrod!

1. If you were a food, what would you be?
Ice cream. Because I love it so much, I'm surprised I haven't turned into a pint of Ben & Jerry's yet!

2. What is one of the most memorable meals you ever had? And where?
We put a lot of thought into choosing the food for our wedding. We had some food outside at a kind of cocktail reception, then a platter of grilled vegetables on the table when people came to sit down. The vegetarian entree (which we both had ) was a filo purse with artichokes, tomatoes, zucchini, feta, maybe some other vegetables, with a tomato sauce. We used a local caterer who grows most of her own produce and emphasizes fresh local ingredients. The food was amazing, and having a fabulous dinner together was a wonderful way to start our marriage.

3. What is your favorite comfort food from childhood?
My friend Sandy & I loved to cook together, and whenever she spent the night we would make the same thing for ourselves: Hot Dog Macaroni Casserole. You cook elbow macaroni in a pot, drain it, and rinse with cold water. In the meantime, you cook sliced hot dogs, a can of tomato soup, chilli powder and maybe some onions? in a skillet. Then, add the macaroni. The recipe also called for a can of corn, but alwasy skipped that part. We loved it then, but I'm not so sure I'd still eat it.

4. When going to a church potluck, what one recipe from your kitchen is sure to be a hit?
Happily, I have a few of these. My easiest one is tropical fruit salad - canned pineapple chunks, canned mandarin orange segments, chunks of kiwi, and strawberries tossed in just enough lemon yogurt to coat them. I've also done couscous with nuts and dried fruit, where you cook the couscous in orange juice instead of water.

5. What’s the strangest thing you ever willingly ate?
I had this dried octopus snack once, from Japan. A friend in middle school gave it to me to try and wouldn't tell me what it was. I didn't like it much - it was really chewy, and I'm just not a fan of that texture.

Bonus question: What’s your favorite drink to order when looking forward to a great meal? Hmm... something light, so I have room and tastebuds left for the food - G&T is always a good choice!

Day Off Serenity

2007-10-15T13:30:00.000-05:00

My new sabbath slogan?

Take us out of the world, Wash. There's crime to be done.

Brought to you by the letter Firefly.

'Tis Better to Give...

2007-10-08T10:37:00.000-05:00

Dave played a game, and its popping up in some other places too.

He says "By the end of the calendar year, I will send a tangible, physcal gift to each of the first five people to comment here, so long as each of those five people are willing to make the same offer in their own LJ or blog."

I'm tired of credit card offers and bills in my mailbox, so I'm playing! Leave a comment, and let the gift party begin!

Calling Californians!

2007-10-07T10:04:00.000-05:00

My best friend has started a theatre company in Contra Costa county. Let me tell you - she is talented and fabulous, and you will love this play. So, if you live in a 500-mile radius or so, check out the Hapgood Theatre Company's debut show, A Moon for the Misbegotten, opening in Antioch, CA this week!

Here is one of the spiffy articles about her new project: O'Neill Classic is theater troupe's first effort

29 is such a liminal number

2007-10-01T00:13:00.000-05:00

It seems to be the kind of age where I'm...

Young enough to still think one of the major perks of being a grown-up is getting to have ice cream for dinner...
... and old enough to get to have it too!

Old enough to know that 29 is a prime number...
... and young enough to still think its kinda geeky to think a prime birthday is cool.

Old enough to have a husband of five years, a masters degree and my second position in my chosen field, and a house that we own...
... but young enough to sometimes wonder when the real grown-ups will come and tell me to make my bed, do my homework, and eat my veggies.

Old enough to have some ideas about what I don't want to be and do in life
... but young enough that the possible choices still seem pretty wide open.

Old enough to be married to a handsome man, who happens to have a few gray hairs...
... and old enough to be glad its him, not me!

Young enough to giggle when I think of us as the Rev & Dr Us...
... and old enough that that reality is getting wonderfully close.

Young enough to have lots of great friends...
... and old enough to know how lucky that makes me.

Young enough to advertise my own birthday...
... but old enough to at least turn it into a blog post!

Ah, teh Internets

2007-09-19T15:25:00.001-05:00

Todd may be one of the only people who I would let tell me this joke.

"How many batteries does it take to shock a Wolverine?"

Answer: One double-A.

Ha, ha, ha. Really though, I have no idea what he's talking about. I thought our season opener against Notre Dame was a good showing!

And in other fantasy lands, this is a video for all of you Sesame Street fans.

Point of View

2007-09-13T07:50:00.000-05:00

Did you know that the fear of heights is one of the top ten phobias in the country? According to some website at least - but given some of my friends I'm not surprised. Heights aren't so much my issue, most of the time, as small enclosed spaces. In fact, I love heights and views. On our first trip together, Luke and I went to Chicago, to the top of the Sears tower. We read the posters about the skyline that now says home, and watched the sun set over the city. When we did move there, thanks to an awesome tip from my mom, the Hancock Tower bar became one of our favorite places to take visiting friends.

Being up high, looking down on a place that is familiar or not, gives me a sense of wonder about the world below. I point and look and find landmarks I recognize. I think about the little itty bitty people I can see, and wonder what their days will hold. It is the best getaway that I have found.

This summer we added a few more of these perspectives to our memories: here we are at the top of the dome of St. Peter's in Vatican City. The tightly-wound, old, narrow, anxiety-creating 320 or so steps were worth it.

What I did on my summer vacation was find a bit of my perspective.

Pondering

2007-08-29T15:31:00.001-05:00

Have you ever played guitar? If so, then you know that there are more hands in this picture that are.. well, normal.

You see, after graduation last summer, we were hanging out and someone thought itd be a good idea to put a guitar in Luke's hands so we could all sing. You know, your average weekend on the back porch kind of sing-a-long: John Denver, Indigo Girls, Guns N Roses. The only problem was that we decided we wanted to sing a song that needed a capo, and sadly, Tripp had misplaced his capo. Being a creative bunch, we improvised: This is the picture of my friend Les being a human capo, while my Luke plays Closer to Fine.

What's a capo, you say? I'm so glad you asked that. A capo is a little contraption that hooks onto the neck of the guitar. Sometimes they're fancy with levers and clips and stuff, othertimes, they're really plain - bars with rubber bands. Essentially, it changes the basic key of the instrument, so that you can play the same chords but in a range that people might be able to join into the music.

In my new job, on good days, I feel a bit like that: that I am serving as a human capo, transposing programs and ideas and generational differences so that everyone can sing the Gospel in a key they can reach. Its great work, fun and creative, but also a bit sloppy as I try to get organized, build up those callouses again. I'm getting to the point where I can start to imagine us actually making music though, and its exciting. I can't wait to hear the song.

PS: Les thinks being mentioned in blogs is kinda like writing his own. I want to remind him that it is not, and he should try writing one to see the difference:)

To Remember

2007-08-08T08:07:00.000-05:00

A song from the Vintage Winers (by Libana)

Theres a river of birds in migration
A nation of women with wings

Having a blast in DC, listening to music and preaching and women's voices and thoughts.

Pilgrimage

2007-08-05T13:57:00.001-05:00

Three years ago, a few friends and I embarked on an accidental pilgrimage of sorts. Blowing off a week of seminary classes, we piled into Jane's big ol' vehicle (a necessity on curvy Pennsylvania turnpike roads during construction season in the dark), and drove to DC for the Festival of Homiletics. We had a blast - it was enough fun to get me out of bed and downstairs by 6:30. In. The. Morning. And trust me, thats saying a lot. Between the friendship, the worship, the preaching and the general freedom of taking schedules into our hands, it was the closest thing to a pilgrimage I've done so far.

While we were there, we heard a particular preacher. As she climbed into the pulpit I leaned over and whispered "Thats who I want to be when I grow up." I'd always grown up with great preachers in my congregation, but something about this woman's style spoke to me in a different way. This week, I get the chance to study with her, and 40-some other young clergy women. I've changed quite a bit since that conference three years ago, and I think its time for another pilgrimage.

DC, here I come again!

On The Job Training

2007-08-04T09:29:00.001-05:00

I missed yesterday's Friday Five. Well, plus the last month's worth of Friday Fives. Seriously though, who said this job transition this is easy? Because they need to attend Telling The Truth class 101. Yeesh.

One of the new parts of my job is commuting to a second office that is about an hour and a half from where I live. I only do that once or twice a week, but really, driving doesn't bother me anyway. I get to stay caught up on all my favorite podcasts, practice my voice exercises, and learn some Italian.

I also get to listen to my friend Missy on the radio in the morning. She is the local host for Morning Edition on a public station near here. Recently on her program, someone was interviewing Joe Biden about how he wants to be the President. Now, I know very little about Sen Biden (and most of what I know, I learned in this interview). But he said something that got under my skin: when asked why he should be President, he said "because this isn't the time for on-the-job training."

Perhaps I'm a little sensitive, being in the midst of job transition and all, but... Excuse me? Watching someone do a job (even, or especially, if they do it rather badly...) is simply not the same as knowing how to do the job yourself. Some things can only be learned by doing. Preparation is important, knowledge and theory and history all matter. But a job of that magnitude simply must include some on-the-job training. To think otherwise is to miss opportunities for growth, and maybe even for greatness.

Friday Five, Finally

2007-07-06T13:17:00.000-05:00

So, it turns out that transitioning takes a lot of time and energy, so I've been away from here for a bit. Also, we were away at a wedding for a few days.

Easing myself back in with a Hasty Friday Five seems like a good way to spend the last bits of a hasty lunch hour, so with no further ado, welcome to my day!

Today I am....
1. Wearing
Pink & white-striped shirt, khakis, and my tan socks with butterflies, and my always jewelry (engagement ring & wedding ring) . I chose the outfit because I knew I'd be moving boxes and unpacking boxes... and well, thats hard to do gracefully in a skirt. Oh! And very cute brown shoes that I love, but they're currently somewhere under my desk...

2. Reading
Preaching as Testimony, by Anna Carter Florence - I've been meaning to read it for months, but now I have conference deadline to help me along, and a whole lot of files for my new job

3. Eating
I just had Noodles & Co for lunch - and I'm very excited that I didn't add "mac & cheese" to the first category. That was a close one.

4. Doing
Um, blogging. Duh. But after that... see number 2 above.

5. Pondering
How to catalog the books I have for a resource center, how to set up my new office so that it has two functioning desks, how best to support friends who are hurting, and what it means to have a diocesan community rather than a congregation

Enough pondering though, time for more work.

Shalom

2007-06-24T18:30:00.000-05:00

Today, I preached on my last Sunday as a curate. In one week, I'll begin a new job, as youth & young adult missioner for my diocese. It was a great morning, full of tears and blessings and generosity and Spirit. Here is something like what I said from the pulpit.

Shalom…. That word has been used around here a whole lot in the last week or so. It’s a Hebrew word that means Hello and peace and goodbye as any of the 63 kids who participated in VBS 2007 will tell you. We used it as a greeting, a way to focus attention, as a prayer. There is no real English equivalent, no word that captures all of these sentiments into one sound. While the specificity of our own language can be helpful, us English-speakers can miss our on the way SHALOM points to a cycle of life, a cycle that runs through our Christian calling again and again.– the coming and goings that are part of greeting, blessing, and sending.

Greet, bless, send. Welcome, renew, and commission – this pattern is evident in today’s readings from Scripture. Elijah, a burned-out prophet in violent kingdom, comes seeking after God on a mountain. On the mountain he is fed with water and bread, and then nourished by the very presence of God before being sent to name his successor in Elisha. In the Gospel of Luke, the man possessed by demons finds Jesus, and is healed from a life of torment and isolation, and is then sent by Jesus to share the story of God’s grace and power. Each one comes to God, bringing their sorrow, their struggle, their searching – and is fed, healed, renewed by the encounter with God’s wild and powerful love. But the renewal is not the end of the story. Each man is sent from the encounter with a purpose and a mission.

Greeted by God, blessed by God, sent by God - it is one of the basic cycles of life in Christ. We see it in our worship – as the Body of Christ, we gather and greet one another, in the informal ways of morning chatter in the vesting room, and in our ritual language – The Lord be With You. And then, we are nourished by God’s grace – in the reading and the prayers, by sharing in the peace together, and most especially at the table of Christ. Yesterday morning, I attended an ordination service for a friend who will serve as pastor of a combined Episcopal/Lutheran congregation. The Eucharistic prayer we used was unfamiliar to me, but it illustrated this idea of nourishing and sending so beautifully. The prayer read: “…but here at this table, he (Jesus) is the host. Those who wish to serve him must first be served by him. Those who want to follow him must first be fed by him. For this is the table where God intends us to be nourished. This is the time when Christ can make us new.” Once we have received this grace, this nourishment, this fulfillment of God’s promised presence, we are sent into world “to love and serve the Lord.”

But even beyond the space and time-frame of Sunday worship, this pattern of welcoming, of nourishing, and sending out renewed by God’s grace is the basic building block of all our ministry. In instances big and small, we do our best to imitate the love of God by greeting those in need, strengthening them for their journey, and wishing them well. I have witnessed it in the way we greet and care for the children in our midst, and the way we celebrate them as the graduate high school.

This ministry is evident in the generosity of this place: the way we can give of ourselves and our resources to support and nourish the people we love, and the people we’ve never met.

I know this pattern of ministry is alive and well here because I am a product of it. This place has become a community of formation, giving of your time, energy, wisdom and care to raise up new clergy, and that is a ministry for which I am supremely grateful. Over the past two years, I have been warmly greeted and welcomed into guilds and committees, into meals and homes, into moments of life and death that have been my privilege to witness. The first years of my priesthood have been fed and nourished by shared prayer and shared work, by pictures scribbled in crayons by children, by kind and encouraging notes from adults. In washing dishes on Wednesday nights, in singing carols at a nursing home, around a campfire in Tennessee, even talking about finacial reports at Vestry meetings! – this community, your faith and love and energy, have blessed me beyond any words.

Happily, God does not simply sends us away – we are, instead, sent away changed and empowered. Each time we leave this place, whether for a day, a week, or an unforeseen time, we are different. We are reminded in this cycle, in the greeting and blessing, in the Word and Sacrament, in bread and wine that we are, all of us, clothed with Christ. This clothing isn’t like the kind that we change at will, or stain or tear.

Here is an image for “clothed in Christ”: When we are sent, its like those commercials on TV for the Verizon network – where the cell phone user is always surrounded by the millions of folk who make up the network… When we are sent out, clothed in Christ, we are first and foremost, children of God: neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female. The political, social, economic, and geographical differences and distances are diminished by the power of God’s love – by God’s shalom. As people clothed in Christ, we carry with us all those who are part of this cycle, all those who have been the hands and feet of Christ to us in this world, all who have witnessed to the love of God. Their strength and prayers strengthen us for the work of ministry, and blesses us through the power of the Spirit.

Full of blessing and peace, we come to another moment of sending. As I leave this community for a different ministry, I am surrounded by the love of God shown and lived in this place. But all of us are sent! So, be watchful, because cycles have a way of repeating. Know that you have been clothed with Christ, and Jesus has called you to more ministry: more welcoming of people who hurt, who seek God’s face, who seek formation and nourishment. They may be at the door or across the world – but God will send you where you are needed. As our ministry continues, may the grace of Jesus Christ fill us all with the deep and abiding Shalom of God.

Eight Things

2007-06-12T20:52:00.000-05:00

Sometime I'll get back to posting something other than memes and quizzes. But, for now, Grace-Thing tagged me for the Eight Things meme, so here we go...

I'm supposed to post the rules. So, I'll be nice and do that:
1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3.At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I love to cook, and would love to take classes at a culinary school. I'd especially like to take a knife skills class. However, I cook vegetarian food - except mushrooms. I hate mushrooms. I think I could not really go to culinary school because I hate mushrooms. Yes, even portobellos.

2. I have sung in choirs since I was six years old, and I used to want to go into music education. Since I was eleven years old, I've wanted to take voice lessons - but it never worked out. Until now! This fall I will start singing with a choral ensemble in my area, and to get ready for that, I'll be taking some voice lessons with someone from my church. I'm so excited about both prospects that I get teary and a goofy grin whenever I talk about it.

3. If I lived in a warmer climate, and had a relaxed enough job, I would wear a tank top everyday, with a cotton skirt. Its the most comfortable outfit ever.

4. I have two sapphires in my engagement ring, and two in my wedding ring. I had wanted an engagement ring with sapphires since I was a kid. The choir director at my church has sapphires in her ring - I think that was probably what planted the idea in my mind. I loved everything about her when I was kid. (Still do!) The summer before I got engaged, my mom inherited some jewelry from my great-grandmother... including her engagement ring, which had a row of sapphires. My mom let us re-set some stones from Nana's jewelry, and so I got my engagement ring with sapphires. I love it, and I wear it everyday.

5. Its not random or a secret that I love Michigan football. But that wasn't always true! As a kid in Ann Arbor, I thought football was annoying - on football Saturdays, we couldn't go downtown, and my mom liked to sit in her room and listen to the game on the radio. I thought it was terribly boring. It was only as a student at Michigan that I learned to love football. Now, my mom and I call each other after almost every game!

6. People associate me with ice cream. I think this is because I would happily eat ice cream for most meals. I just love the stuff. When I got married, we received multiple ice cream makers, as well as ice cream accessories (scoops, dishes, toppings).

7. I can't stand turning off a tv show or a movie in the middle. Even if I've already seen the movie, or don't like the show, I just can't stand not finishing it. And yes, I'm a "J" on the Meyers-Briggs.

8. My church "aethestic" is low church - I'm not big on lots of vestments, or incense, or big processions really. But I love to sing the service. I love the sound of chant, I love the feel of chanting the words, and the holy space that opens up when worship is sung. I hoep to someday find a community where I can easily live into both of these worship identities... though, my current one is pretty close in a lot of ways.

Now for eight other people to play.... I don't know who all's been tagged on this yet... how about PPB, Tripp, TurtleDeb, Mark, La Sequencia, Mrs. M, Si (so he'll post!!), and Frank (same reason!)

Five and Five!

2007-06-08T13:46:00.000-05:00

Today is my fifth wedding anniversary! You know, with all thats happened in the last five years - two moves, two masters degrees, ordination, first call - its the wedding anniversaries that catch me off guard. How can I have possibly been married for five years? You know what they say - time flies when you're having fun.

So what better way to celebrate five years that with a round of the Friday Five?* '
This week's theme, from Cathy, is an Island Getaway!
We snitched a bit of time on an quiet island nearby this week. It was a last minute plan, escaping with a minimal amount of preparation. One must have essentials that make it a relaxing time. Perhaps you have had this opportunity to escape, or maybe it's only been a thought to get away. However, suppose you were told to pack some essentials for a trip to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

Describe your location, in general or specific terms and....
Location... I'd love to go back to San Diego (where we honeymooned). I know its not an island, but the place we stayed was on an island in the bay... beach right outside our back door, easy access to all kinds of fun... something along those lines, beach with city perks in warm climate, would be fine with me.

1) What book(s) will you bring?
On vacation... I'm more of a magazine kinda person. Though, and I know this is odd, I like to read cookbooks on vacation. Also, cooking magazines - Cooking Light, Food & Wine... something about the easy schedule makes me think I might conquer some of those complicated recipes some day. For actual books though... my friend's mom just published her third novel, and that'll probably come with me on my next trip.

2) What music accompanies you?
Indigo Girls (always). Norah Jones. Since my husband is coming too... maybe some Regina Spektor. Oh! And Ella & Louis, one of our favorite cds.

3) What essentials of everyday living must you take (as in the health and beauty aids aisle variety)?
Nail polish!! Vacation is for painting nails. Also my entire make-up bag! You never know which color eyeliner you'll want with a sundress for a nice dinner out...

4) What technological gadgets if any, will you take with you or do you leave it all behind?
I would take my ipod - for the plane - but it was stolen recently. Phooey. Oh! But this is imaginary vacation! Sweet. Then in imaginary land, I have a video ipod with episodes of Scrubs for the plane ride, as well as The American President.

5) What culinary delights will you partake in while there?
In San Diego - definitely seafood, and Mexican. We're also big fans of Italian food, the whole "local organic California" scene (a la Alice Waters), and ice cream. And cotton candy, in case we run across any.

*Um, to be clear, I don't actually think that this is how I'm celebrating my anniversary. We're actually going away overnight to my husband's college town (we dated all through college, though we went to different schools.) It'll be fun. Not that this wasnt'... but c'mon!

Life Eternal

2007-06-04T08:58:00.000-05:00

Auto accident claims life of Northern Michigan Bishop James Kelsey

I didn't know Bishop Kelsey well - I'd met him on an occasion or two, but being in the same state, I've heard of his faith, his graceful ways, his deep spirit. His sudden loss is a great and sad thing for our church. Consider his family, his friends, and his flock in your prayers today.

May he find eternal rest in the arms of the God he loved and served.

Graduation Day

2007-06-01T07:21:00.000-05:00

Today is commencement at the seminary. It will be a big service with tickets and everything, and then there will be much hanging out and celebrating with the brand-new alums, some future alums, and some already-alums-before-today.

Oh? You want to help celebrate? Thats very nice of you. You can say congratulations to these folks: Beth, Archer, Raisin, Ian, and Laurel.

Congratulations, class of '07!

Spiders and Shrieking

2007-05-26T13:29:00.000-05:00

The other night, while I was innocently putting my dishes in the dishwaher, I disocer a very large 8-leged THING on the floor of my kitchen. This was somewhere between "black widow-grade" and "tarantula-grade" invader. So, naturally, I shrieked, until my ~~knight in shining armor~~ ~~lovely husband~~ live-in exterminator took care of the problem.

The result? Today is Spring Cleaning Day in our house! I'm contributing by doing laundry, washing dishes, moving the refrigerator, tossing stuff from the pantry, and taking out the recycling.

And, of course, encouraging the ~~live-in exterminator~~ lovely husband, staying out of the way, and suggesting that our day be interrupted by ice cream. Spring Cleaning Day is fun!

Later Update: Shelf fixed, new shower caddy assembled, new stain on carpet where I dropped the bowls of spaghetti... two steps forward, one step back.

Making Music

2007-05-23T20:29:00.000-05:00

Seen over at RevEm and Mrs. M... who along with ReverendMother have been added to the sidebar as well. Based on the questions, I would've thought music would show up, but I guess that goes to show what I know!

Your Dominant Intelligence is Interpersonal Intelligence

You shine in your ability to realate to and understand others.
Good at seeing others' points of view, you get how people think and feel.
You have an uncanny ability to sense true feelings, intentions, and motivations.
A natural born leader, you are great at teaching and mediating conflict.

You would make a good counselor, salesperson, politician, or business person.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

Basketball Rules

2007-05-21T20:48:00.000-05:00

Since the Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 isn't going so well for my team right now, I thought I'd take a minute to review my rules of basketball. Its very simple.

Rule #1: If you want to win, you have to make the ball go in the hoop. And you have to do that more than the other people.

Rule #2: You have to stay inside the box painted on the floor.

My Pistons seem to be having some issues with that first rule (except for Rip Hamilton, they shot 29% in the first half. Thats not good.) But, rough game means I want a distraction, so at least y'all get a post out of me.

How did I get to be such a basketball expert,you ask? Well, it turns out that marriage is about more than compromise, its also about growth. So, in our house, Luke has grown in his appreciate of football, and I have grown in my appreciation of basketball.

Plus, look how adorable Tayshaun is... how could you not watch?

Mothers

2007-05-11T12:09:00.000-05:00

We celebrated Mothers Day in our families yesterday with a very long car trip. My mother and mother-in-law like to travel together to visit art exhibits in general Michigan vicinity. The Cleveland Art Museum has a great Monet exhibit right now, so the four of us piled into a car and drove down together. If you're going to spend eight hours in a car, its good to have two hours of walking in the middle, so it worked out well. To our surprise, the reciprocity of museum membership between Cleveland and Detroit meant that we got in to the exhibit for free! The exhibit was great, laid out chronologically, and it was especially interested to watch Monet grow in and out of styles. The final piece was one his Water Lillies series - a large canvas, maybe 10 feet wide and six feet high, with no refernce to the sky, the land. Just flowers floating in water, filling your whole perspective.

That quiet impact, that shift of perspective, might be a way to describe another Mothers Day celebration. A group of women in Ohio are calling on women all over the world to stand together on Mothers Day, in silence, to change the world. Can you join these women? Visit Standing Women for their story.

Double Double Party

2007-05-04T12:24:00.000-05:00

Its time for the NBA playoffs, which means lots o' basketball on in my household. Before I got married, I would've thought a double double had something to do with ice cream. Or some Shakespearean witches. Now I know its a basketball term about stats - and poor Dirk Nowitzki managed to average a double double in the first 5 games of their Round 1 series, and he's still going to have a crappy off-season because his game six performance was so terrible. A double double is good, it just isn't enough to win a series.

Also, its what I'm calling my post because I'm playing two Friday fives.

So, last week first: The What Are You Game!
What are you...
Wearing? Jeans, a tank top and a cute red & white polka-dot short-sleeved button-down. And no shoes or socks, cuz I'm sitting on my front porch enjoying the sunny mid-60s weather on my day off.

Pondering? The workshop I'm doing tomorrow on "Essentials for Parish Youth Ministry" at a diocesan event. Specifically, a comment someone made recently that if you want a strong youth formation program, you need a good adult formation. I'm not sure about the ordering there, but I do think there is a close relationship. If I could articulate that before tomorrow afternoon, that'd be nice.

Reading? Anne Lamott's new book, Grace (Eventually), which my mom got for me for Easter. My latest issues of Blueprint magazine and Cooking Light. Also, I started Dianna Butler Bass Christianity For The Rest of Us, but I've misplaced it...

Dreaming? About re-decorating my office/spare room here at home. So far, an enormous map of the world, a new desk, and some star-shaped things are part of the idea.

Eating? Um, I was always taught not to eat at a computer. But for dinner tonight - panzanella, with basil from the plant on my patio and some Trader Joe's sourdough I picked up yesterday.

And now its time to Parrrrrrty!

1) Would you rather be the host or the guest?
Both! I like hosting parties on the smaller side and planning food, but I like going and not having to plan too.

2) When you are hosting, do you clean everything up the minute the guests go home? Will you accept help with the dishes?
Um, you'd have to ask my husband... so I guess thats a yes!

3) If you had the wherewithal, and I guess I mean more than money, to throw a great theme party, what would the theme be?
If I could think of party themes, I'd have more parties.

4) What's the worst time you ever had at a party?
I went to a wedding once where the bride's father had too much to drink and made a really uncomfortable toast... especially odd, since there wasn't any alcohol served at that wedding, come to think of it.

5) And to end on a brighter note, what was the best?
My own wedding reception! Seriously, we had great food, great people, great dancing. It was a blast - and people besides us said so too :)

Ice Cream Tonight!!

2007-05-02T09:04:00.000-05:00

File this under "Public Service Announcements"...

Baskin-Robbins is holding 31-Cent Scoop Night
Tonight, Wednesday May 2nd

Its not quite as good as Free Scoop Day at Ben & Jerry's, but still. I scream, you scream...

I Sing A Song...

2007-05-01T10:08:00.000-05:00

Well, memes are always a good way to break a cycle, and Beth tagged me for the current "four favorite saints" list.

The instructions are: Name your four favorite saints, your favorite blessed saint, and the person you think should be canonized.

So, lets see...

St. Cecelia: The patron saint of music, the junior choir at the church where I grew up was named for her. Me & my low church self actually had a St. Cecelia medal that I wore for a long time that I got from my time in choir.

St. Clare: The church where I grew up was named for her, and in high school, I had the chance to visit Assisi and sit in the church of her convent, which is still an all-time "God moment" for me.

St. Brigid: Again, some of this is that I've been able to visit Ireland, and spent a day in her town. But, also, her feast day is my mom's bday, so that's pretty good.

George Herbert: His poetry is just beautiful. I used to know a beautiful choral setting of "Love Bade Me Welcome," and remember how it felt to figure out the words.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton: I didn't come to know her through the church, so I'm gonna count her as my "blessed saint" even though I'm not clear on that distinction. Anyway, I wrote a paper on her for my AP History class in high school, and was really drawn to her as a personality.

As for someone who should be canonized... I think we do a pretty good job of adding folks to our commemoration calendar, but I'm going to go with Beth on this one. Thecla should be on our calendar, even if one could be "pedantic" and claim that Anglicans can rightly see her already as a saint!

No Words

2007-04-18T09:47:00.000-05:00

I have no words for the horrible violence at VT this week. But I've heard and read many words, and these were especially moving to me.

From PPB and a commenter:
Unbelievable. Lord have mercy - May it never, ever become believable.

From Laurel:
What kind of hell was the shooter in that made him think mowing down 33 people, including himself, was a better option?

For our noon service this week, we skipped our usual observance of lesser feasts and used the propers "For Peace". It doesn't seem like enough, but clinging to hope and prayer as one woman awaited news from Blacksburg was what we had.

O day of peace that dimly shines
through all our hopes and prayers and dreams,
guide us to justice, truth, and love,
delivered from our selfish schemes.
May the swords of hate fall from our hands,
our hearts from envy find release,
till by God's grace our warring world
shall see Christ's promised reign of peace.

Then shall the wolf dwell with the lamb,
nor shall the fierce devour the small;
as beasts and cattle calmly graze,
a little child shall lead them all.
Then enemies shall learn to love,
all creatures find their true accord;
the hope of peace shall be fulfilled,
for all the earth shall know the Lord.

Funny Guy

2007-04-14T20:55:00.000-05:00

I'm struggling tonight with the shape of my sermon. (Why else would I be blogging at 10 pm on a Saturday evening?) So, over dinner, I generously offered to let my husband preach, and I would take his ushering duties in the morning. He countered that his sermon would be string of platitudes and quaint sayings, like the following:

An apple a day keeps bankruptcy away

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, especially if you're hunting with VP Cheney.

A penny saved is a germ-ridden piece of metal that costs more to make than its actual worth.

Needless to say, I've revoked my offer. Back to the sermon...

2007-04-08T07:26:00.000-05:00

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.” This is my message for you.’ So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’

Alleluia, Christ is Risen!

Back

2007-03-30T11:24:00.001-05:00

We're back at home. Transitioning from the beach back into work can be difficult, which is why I like coming home on a Thursday, so I can catch up on stuff at work on Friday before church on Sunday.

Happily, a friend showed me a video to help me make the transition from South Beach to church office.

Enjoy!

Forget the Desert...

2007-03-25T14:45:00.000-05:00

We had rivers in the church!!

Its been a full couple of days. Yesterday, somewhere between the morning baptismal prep sessions and my afternoon of children's communion instruction, we had a small flood in the women's room at church. Well, actually, not so small - the water flowed all the way across the hall into another room. Still, it wasn't all bad: since parents were attending the communion instruction afternoon with their kids, there was plenty of help on hand. Even better - one of the moms was way better at managing busted plumbing than I am. So, we did some clean up, while other parents got snack and a game going (Memory, but with pictures of things associated with Eucharist).

So, this week, I have no Friday Five "rivers in the desert" because I have had quite enough rivers, thank you very much.

Happily, I'm off to warmer waters and warmer climes for a few days, visiting my sister-in-law.

Did I mention that the flood went through the floor, causing all kinds of problems in the church school supply room too? Yeah. I'm so going on vacation now.

Coffee Coffee

2007-03-21T10:04:00.000-05:00

And now for a short public service announcement.

Today, at Dunkin Donuts, is Free Iced Coffee Day. Go to a store near you & pick up a free iced coffee! Such a deal - especially if you live in Chicago, and there is a Dunkin' Donuts every 10 feet. Enjoy!

And now back to our regularly scheduled flyer-making.

Last Day of Winter

2007-03-20T14:41:00.000-05:00

The RevGals say its the last day of winter.

I say, "THANKS BE TO GOD!"

To celebrate, I bought three little bud vases at the Pottery Barn outlet store last week, while on a shopping expedition with my mama. They are now sitting on my dining room table with these beautiful orange and pink baby gerber daisies, brightening up the place a bit. And to top it all off, my skirts have made their way back out of the closet. It really is starting to look & feel like spring.

That, plus, I need to get working on the Easter Vigil bulletin...

Scampering Spring

2007-03-13T19:39:00.000-05:00

Bunnies live in my condo complex. We have an abundance of pine trees, which seem to be the perfect shelter for them, no matter what the weather. Sometimes on the drive between my garage and the main drive through the complex - a whole two blocks - I'll see as many at 5 or 6 bunnies in the summertime.

Forget robins, forget flowers: here, bunnies are the signs of spring.With these warm, sunny days, the bunnies have reappeared.

On my way home tonight from doing a presentation for one of our women's groups, I saw a bunny sitting on the corner. As my headlights turned the curve and landed on the little guy, he seemed confused. As my headlights continued to turn, he continued to stay in the lights - and scampered into the road right in front of me. He seemed to be simultaneously scared of the lights, but wanted to be in the light. Maybe after the dark and gray winter, he just hasn't remembered the difference between sunlight and headlights. Excitement and nervousness and lights turned him into one fast-moving bunny!

I guess thats how these early days of spring are for me. I've been waiting for this season, for the gray to go away for at least a few hours a day, to pull out skirts and shoes I haven't used: to enjoy the warmth and light. But this taste of spring reminds me that this spring might be the season that brings answers to some potentially big changes, or, it may be the season to discover that its not time for change. I don't know yet, but 72 degree weather fills me with the possibility of knowing.

Turns out, excitment, nervousness and light make for fast-moving brains, too.

Friday Five - A Matter of Taste

2007-03-09T17:11:00.001-05:00

This week's challenge was inspired by figs. Incidentally, I was *just* out buying Fig Newtons for church school classes on Sunday, to enjoy with their story of the fig tree!

But moving on to the question at hand: Name five things you like a lot that some close relative or significant other did/does not like. This could be food, movies, hobbies, music, sports or whatever springs to mind.

1. Disney movies in general, but especially, Newsies.
I have this habit of hanging on to things from childhood in a sentimental way. There are all kinds of ironies there, but those aren't the subject of today's post. I love the movie Newsies, and I have since I was about 11 and watched it at a sleepover with my still-best-friend. Occasionally, to bother our husbands, we quote from it. Also, I still have the soundtrack tape in my car.

2. Marzipan
I love marzipan candy, and I think I always have. Apparently, lots of people do not share my taste for almond paste & sugar shaped like little fruit. So sad for them, more for me.

3. Food Network
My husband makes the very good point that its kind of rude of Giada, Rachael, Ina, Alton, and all my other food tv-buddies to make good food and not share with us. However, he doesn't really complain because they inspire me to cook food that doesn't have to go through a TV screen to be enjoyed.

4. Scrapbooking
I think this is mystifying to lots of people, but I really enjoy it. Though, I don't do it much anymore, I just love the book I made for my wedding, and I like making little gift albums for other people.

5. Michigan Football
I love Michigan football. I love watching it. I love Lloyd Carr. I love our fight song (though, the alma mater song is pretty lame...) I love football Saturdays on campus. I love that I bleed maize & blue. None of those things were especially true 10 years ago... but theres nothing like moving away from home to make you miss it! So, I am now a raving football fan, which I think confuses most people I know.

And just to be contrary...
#6: A distaste response: MUSHROOMS. I can't STAND 'em. (said in my best nasal Singin' In the Rain imitation way).

Balloons

2007-03-06T12:19:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid, I couldn't tie balloons for the life of me. I blame it on small fingers. Okay, so maybe the logical thing to say is that small fingers should make it *easier* to tie those darn knots, but c'mon. My sister could tie balloon knots, and her hands were four years bigger, so the problem was surely my small fingers and not my general lack of motor skills. Both of which (the small-ness of finger and general lack of fine motor skills) continue to this day.

But I digress. Back to those balloons. Since I couldn't tie them, I'd spend all my little lung power on blowing them up, and then they would immediately deflate and fly all over the room because I would fumble the end, and inevitably drop it. And then I'd try again - blow the balloon up, try to tie it, slip, and the balloon deflates.

That is the best metaphor I have for how my energy works this time of year. I am still capable of getting energy worked up around an idea or a project or a task. I can build enthusiasm and focus... but then, something keeps slipping, and fffffffffttttttttt - all the air is gone again. I just can't hang on quite long enough to tie that knot on my brain.

Of course... once in a while, watching ballons fly all over the room can be fun. As long as you don't break the vase on the piano.

Welcome Wagon

2007-03-02T10:36:00.000-05:00

So, I've been away from my blog-reading, which makes me a day behind on this... but Congratulations to Micah & Laura on the newest member of their family! Go on over and say hi.

ROAR

2007-03-01T18:40:00.000-05:00

They say that March comes in like a lion.

So far today, we've had sleet, ice, rain, freezing rain, thunder and lightening. Its the kind of day that makes it hard to remember why I live in this part of the country. Especially when work committments have had me on the road quite a bit this week. The grayness, the coldness - by about this time each year, it seems to have seeped into my being, making me more edgy than I'd like.

But those same commitments have created a lovely space in my week that gives me this evening and tomorrow off, and the weather is a great excuse to order pizza, get out the fleece blankets, and just lounge for a bit. Already, the cold is ebbing, the crankiness subsiding.

With a little bit more self-care, the lamb may just show up by the end of the month.

Companions Friday Five

2007-02-23T17:32:00.000-05:00

The RevGals Friday Five:

Dante had Virgil as a guide. Before he had younger siblings, my oldest child had an imaginary friend named Patrick. Betsy had Tacy. Laura Ingalls depended on her brindle bulldog, Jack. All of them were companions on the way.

As we take the beginning steps of our journey through Lent, who would we take as a companion? Name five people, real or imaginary, you might like to have with you as guide or guardian or simply good friend.

Five people? Only five? I'll refer to yesterday's post if you're unclear as to why that poses a challenge to me.

I attended (most of) a conference on formation ministries today. The retreat leader asked us to reflect on the people who had greatly impacted our faith formation. It was a lovely question, and, even more lovely for me because of the top five people I would name, three of them are taking part in the conference. I really enjoyed that moment, realizing how blessed I am to have these women still in my life. They were, and still are, companions on my journey because this journey would simply be different if they had not been along for the ride.

So, I will expand my companion list today beyond those women, and dream a bit more. For this Lent? This year?

Anne LaMott - She'll make an appearance in Lent for me, as one of our book reviews at church will be about Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith. But this year, I'd love to have her pointing out the humor, the grace, the moments of God in my life because she makes me laugh.

Saint Clare: Because I don't think she'd put up with much bs.

Luke: Not the Gospeller. My Luke. I just like to include him to remind myself of how lucky I am that this one isn't imaginary. Also, he makes me laugh and doesn't put with bs.

Amy & Emily: Better known as The Indigo Girls. I'm making music part of my Lenten practices, inlcuding picking up my guitar more often (which isn't saying much, but anyway...) How awesome would it be to have them helping me, singing with me, teaching me little tricks, talking and drinking coffee and and and...

My seminary friends, who are scattered far & wide: Today, I'm especially missing that community... games, lunches, movies, Gilmore Girls, road trips, late night discussions about universal salvation. How we ever found time for class, I'll never know. But whether it was sorting through discernment questions, slogging through tough readings for class, preparing for a chapel service, or debating the finer points of leadership (also known as watching The Apprentice) - community was never far away. I miss that, and I miss you all.

Technically, thats way more than five people. But again, I refer you to the previous post. 80% extroverted, people!

Self-Reflection

2007-02-22T11:31:00.000-05:00

So, this isn't surprising enough to even be reflective, but...

You Are 80% Extrovert, 20% Introvert

You are as outgoing as they come
The life of the party, you're friends with everyone
You're a people person, and you are quite the entertainer
You love being around a crowd and acting spontaneously

Are You An Extrovert or An Introvert?

Seriously though, I think this introvert/extrovert stuff plays into who blogs, and what they blog, and why. I tend to blog as yet another way to sustain friendships and community. I started this blog because it was something a bunch of seminary friends were doing, and it was another way to get to know people that I already knew face-to-face. Happily, thats expanded in all kinds of ways. I still read a blogs from tons of seminary friends, but also blogs of folks I've never met and don't know their names. Still, I've never quite settled into the idea of processing in writing, on cyber-paper. But here I am, working on a new skill.

But still... could that quiz have been less surprising?

Invitation

2007-02-21T21:26:00.000-05:00

Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great
devotion the days of our Lord's passion and resurrection, and
it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them
by a season of penitence and fasting.
This is season of Lent provided
a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy
Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of
notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful
were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to
the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation
was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set
forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all
Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.

I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the
observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance;
by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and
meditating on God's holy Word.

I read these words twice today, once at noon and again at 7 pm. And this is part of my response. I plan to use this space to support my meditating on readings, on ministry, on life in general. The extrovert in me needs the space - outside of my head - to think. I've spiffed it up (or toned it down?) to match the liturgical season, as a reminder to myself that using this tool is part of Lenten discipline this year. So, I don't want to get your hopes up by promise daily postings. However, I will be here with great frequency during Lent, and perhaps even daily. I'll look forward to seeing you, and getting to know you again. Unless, of course, your Lenten disciplines include fasting from the blogiverse, in which case, may you be blessed til Easter.

What He Drew

2007-01-17T12:54:00.000-05:00

So, here I am, avoiding a big task and checking out blog feeds, when what do I come across?

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Busted! Back to work now.

moving right along

2007-01-13T14:28:00.000-05:00

There it is... the fork in the road/tire. Thankfully, my car doesn't look like that anymore, especially since I'm putting all kinds of miles on it this weekend.

Our New Years vacation was wonderful. We loved everything about Pasadena except the score of the game, which really isn't Pasadena's fault. Since returning, life has been a bit of a whirlwind - Luke is at a conference this weekend, I'm away next weekend, etc.

In the meantime, however, I made a new pasta recipe that I'm enamored with, courtesy of my new Moosewood Simple Suppers cookbook. Here's what you do:
- Boil water and cook pasta - something small and chunky. I used bowties.
- chop up a bunch of onion, and cook on medium/medium low heat in a tablespoon or so of olive oil until they carmelize (turn brown but not burned).
- after the onions caremelize, add veggie stock or white wine or water or something to deglaze the pan - I used lemon juice and water - then take it off the heat
- crumble up a bunch of blue cheese.
- toss hot pasta with onions (and liquid), blue cheese, and little of the pasta water.

The cheese melts and gets all creamy and yummy. Its super rich. A great bowl of comfort food, that comes together in very little time. Yum!

Fork

2006-12-30T10:15:00.000-05:00

When I was in seminary, a certain professor, with whom I spent quite a bit of time thinking about writing, went on a small rant (rant-let?) about a grammatical pet peeve. He (and most of the folks gathered for Writing Boot Camp that day) found it especially frustrating when people use the word "literally" but actually mean "figuratively." For example... if there is a terrible storm outside, and someone comes in drenched and exclaims "It is literally raining cats & dogs out there!" Unless that person is drenched in dog hair and kitty fur, then they are using the word literally incorrectly.

So, AKMA, I thought of you when, yesterday on Luke's birthday, I literally came to a fork in the road.

No, really.

We were driving out of our complex, running late for birthday lunch and birthday IKEA run, when my back passenger tire starting going "THWAP! THWAP! THWAP!" I was pretty sure I'd blown a tire, but the steering wheel didn't jolt or anything. So, we slowly and carefully drove around the block into another driveway. Luke got out to inspect the strange noise.

I ran over a fork. The tines were jammed into the tire, and the handle was bent back, now curved to match the shape of the wheel. The noise was the metal hitting the pavement. Since we are fortunate enough to have two cars, we drove home, switched cars, and continued with our plans for the day. All told, the delay was only an hour or so.

After meals and visits and shopping, we came home, and stopped into Meijer to deposit a couple checks before we go on vacation today. While Luke was at the ATM, I was listening to the store music. The song was - I kid you not - GreenDay's Time of Your Life.

"Another turning point
A fork stuck in the road..."

We're off. Feliz navidad y espero año felicidad.

Advent 4

2006-12-24T13:34:00.000-05:00

At this time of year, it seems that music takes a more prominent place in our daily lives as Christmas music and winter songs are piped into shopping malls and through radio stations all over town. There are school concerts, holiday concerts, marching bands in parades, and music specials on television. I’m not sure that there is really more music surrounding us as Christmas approaches, but something about the season tunes our ears in a different way. A particular magazine I enjoy recently capitalized on this awareness in one of its motivational columns. The author writes about the day she discovered her personal theme song. She was on her way to a meeting with a potential publisher, and each moment of travel time was raising her anxiety level. Then she remembered the story of a certain dancer’s earliest Hollywood audition, where the studio had written “Can’t sing. Can dance a little.” on the comment card. That dancer was Fred Astaire. The author concluded that he must have drawn his courage to keep going from music – and so she decided to sing the song that came to her – “I’m The Greatest Star” from Funny Girl. By the time she arrived at her meeting, she was filled with confidence and energy, and she had her personal theme song. The author writes that she still sings that song whenever she needs a boost of energy and confidence for a difficult situation: she doesn’t always “make the sale, but she always brings her best self.”

A source of strength that prepares us for whatever comes next , that energy to move forward is the finishing touch to the season of waiting and watching we call Advent. After hearing the warnings to be ready,
and the annunciation of what is coming, on this Fourth Sunday of Advent, we have come to that final moment of expectation. The young, single, pregnant teenaged Mary travels to her cousin Elizabeth – perhaps to share her news with an older and wiser friend, or perhaps she was simply running away from her own town where the likely consequence for an unwed mother was being stoned. Whatever brings her to the home of Elizabeth, what she finds there is a warm welcome and a blessing.

And in that moment – in the relief and warmth of that moment - Mary finds her song. The song that will carry her through whatever is to come, whatever the world throws at her. For a task as great as hers – to bear the Son of God into a broken and hurting world – not any song will sustain her. Rather, she sings a new song, the Magnificat, to mark the creation of a new world beginning with the child she carries. It is a song born from wonder and waiting. It is a lullaby and a battle cry all in one. It is the song of a young woman who finds welcome and blessing, and through that welcome, is able to remember that God’s promises are never empty, and God’s mercies are never-ending. The Magnificat is the hope of the generations, given voice and set to music. It is the final and joyful song of Advent.

What is your Advent song? In the waiting and watching of life, what words are there to describe the fulfillment of God’s promise in your life, in this community, in this world? If you have been welcomed and comforted, received a blessing through family or friends, or glimpsed the joy of expectancy, then the Magnificat is your song too.

But the Magnificat is born from more than joy, because Mary’s story is more complicated than that. The song of Mary sings of promise, but also of the hungry and the lowly. It is born not only from blessing, but from long fearful journeys and years of unanswered prayer. It dreams of the time when God’s justice and mercy rule the earth – but only because Mary is too familiar with a world where justice and mercy are altogether rare. So for many who wait and watch this Advent, unable to find their own song of hope: Mary will find one for you, and this is your song too.

Tradition claims Mary as mother of the church, and so her song is the song of all the faithful. Its joy is born not from naïve optimism, but from traveling through darkness and then glimpsing the light. Its hope rests not in our own exaltedness, but in knowing that God would come among us and share our lowliness. That is the hope and joy we are called to, not only in this season of Advent that is drawing to an end, but in our lives as disciples of Emmanuel. God was with Mary and Elizabeth, not only as they gathered together as women of faith, but before that, in the waiting and the wondering. And in this place and time, God comes to be with us not only moments of welcome and blessing, but in moments of fear and confusion. It may be harder to know God’s love in those moments, but that is the gift of community. It was Elizabeth speaking words of blessing that enabled Mary to sing. Our prayers and actions can lift one another until we can look for God-with-us and sing together “My soul magnifies the Lord.”

ABD

2006-12-13T13:38:00.000-05:00

ABD: In academic circles (for those of us who don't really travel there), it means "All But Dissertation."

In our household parlance, it also means "Heck yeah, baby! Luke defeneded his proposal sucessfully!! Now all he has to do is write the damn thing."

He commented that it seems silly for people to congratulate him on this step, since all he gets is the privilege of writing a 200+ page pager. But the milestones are important, and yesterday's defense marked an important point. So, happy happy joy joy!

Next steps? Job hunting and disseration. Oof.

Fa La La La La La - LA Friday Five

2006-12-08T11:21:00.000-05:00

Thank goodness for Friday Fives. Oh, and cinnamon-laced coffee. And working fireplaces.

Where was I? Oh yes. Christmas music. I should preface this by saying that I love Christmas music (and Advent music, but we covered that last time.) In December, I entertain myself on car rides by singing Advent and Christmas hymns. On the way home from Thanksgiving, I kept Luke awake by doing this. For an hour, with no repeats and no slow ones - he said they would make him fall asleep, no matter how pretty I think "A La Ru" is. Sigh. So, I am siginificantly *more* steeped in the non-seculart stuff... but what can I say? I'm a hymnal geek. None the less: the Friday Five!

1. A favorite 'secular' Christmas song.
I don't know if its a "favorite" per se, but Luke and I always find ourselves singing Winter Wonderland this time of year. Living in Michigan helps. But I tend to mix it up with Let It Snow, which, incidentally, is not ever a sentiment I actually mean.

2. Christmas song that chokes you up (maybe even in spite of yourself--the cheesier the better)
I love Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, especially if Judy Garland is singing it. I love the movie Meet Me In St. Louis and the scene where she sings this Margaret O'Brien... how can you not get teary?

3. Christmas song that makes you want to stuff your ears with chestnuts roasted on an open fire.
The most annoying Christmas song ever is Suzy Snowflake. But thats probably a person issue...

4. The Twelve Days of Christmas: is there *any* redeeming value to that song? Discuss.
Yes! Occupying kids for a long time. While you are in another room.

5. A favorite Christmas album
Barenaked Ladies, ~~"A Barenaked Christmas"~~ Oops - its actually called Barenaked for the Holidays - their combo of God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman and We Three Kings is sooooo fabulous.

The Advent of Advent

2006-12-01T10:50:00.000-05:00

Advent is coming! Advent is coming! I love Advent. I love the music and the candles and the quiet and the preparations and the waiting. So of course, I'm playing the RevGals Friday Five today!

1) Do you observe Advent in your church?
Absolutely! We are Episcopalians, after all. This year we are having an Advent pageant, that explains the different names for Jesus in the hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel, and other years we've had craft stations after service to make Jesse Trees, explore December saints, and of course, make Advent wreaths.

2) How about at home?
Heck yeah! We have an advent wreath, as well as an Advent calendar. Also, I kinda never put the creches away from last year, so they're around too...

3) Do you have a favorite Advent text or hymn?
Lots. From our hymnals, I love Comfort, Comfort, ye my people, Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus, and People Look East. I also have a cd called Keepin' The Baby Awake by a (now separated) duo called The Miserable Offenders - its Advent and Christmas music, and I love it.

4) Why is one of the candles in the Advent wreath pink? (You may tell the truth, but I'll like your answer better if it's funny.)
The Advent wreath was orginally intended to be a birthday cake for the Baby Jesus. But when Baby Jesus was three, he really looked up to his cousin John, who has very strange eating habits. So that year, the cake was made of leaves and dirt. The pink candle is the "one to grow on".

5 What's the funniest/kitschiest Advent calendar you've ever seen? I used to love the chocolate ones. My calendars aren't usually all the kitchy. My mom buys them for me and sends them to me - even when we lived in Chicago she bought them for me. Its just a thing.

Taking Names: A Playlist

2006-11-29T11:13:00.000-05:00

When I got home last night, I was fired up from a meeting. I had plans, I had ideas, I had energy. Then I went to bed, and woke up to a gray & rainy day. Its so hard to be a night person in this work. But, I was determined to keep up some of that determination - and as I left, Luke called down the stairs "Kick some and take names!" So, I put my iPod on shuffle and skipped through to some songs for a bit of entusiasm with just the right edge of attitude. Here's what I've listened to so far:

All American Girl - Melissa Ethridge
I Will Not Be Broken - Bonnie Raitt
Do Something - Macy Gray
Thank God I'm A Country Boy - John Denver
Jonas & Ezekiel, Go, It's Alright - Indigo Girls
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Song of the Soul - Cris Williamson
Let's Go Crazy - Prince
Straight To the Point- Carrie Newcomer
Undo Me - Jennifer Knapp

Of course, I've been skipping several songs inbetween these - all Norah Jones, a couple that would be fun to listen to but really aren't so good for work, and anything from Into the Woods.

I think I need some more music along these lines. What do y'all listen to to wake up and energize for the day?

Christ the King

2006-11-26T15:26:00.000-05:00

Before I attended seminary, I worked at the career center at UM for a short time. It was the kind of office anyone might want to spend some time in after college – the staff cared about their jobs, cared about the students, and enjoyed one another. This was especially evident in the way career-humor would be shared around the office. I remember a particular article that made the circulations between desks and email boxes – it was the report of a mock study showing that the number of girls who wished to be princesses when they grew up was shrinking. It claimed that our democratic political system, with its lack of princesses, meant that little girls weren’t really sure what princesses actually did all day. Interviews with imaginary princesses such as Butterlilly and Twinklerose bemoaned the lack of understanding of the royal life of ease and beauty among today’s children. As a result, little girls were forsaking this once prosperous and popular career for vocations they could understand, such as teachers, veterinarians and astronauts.

Silliness and satire aside, however, that article gets at a particular conundrum for theology today – that is, most of us in this country, both children and adults, have very little idea about what kings and queens really do. There has not been a king with power in these United States for 230 years, and we wrote a declaration and fought a war to bring an end to that power. Even outside America, many kings and queens are no longer powerful monarchs, but figureheads whose families make more headlines in gossip tabloids than major newspapers.
In a world where “kings” have such little impact on our daily lives, how are we as Christians to understand a feast called Christ the King?

This morning, let me suggest that our inexperience with earthly kingly power is exactly what we need, because the kingdom of Christ will not look like any reign or regime this world has seen before.

The title of King is only one attempt to understand what the power of God is like. Look again at today’s Gospel, and the encounter between Pilate and Jesus. Jesus does not say “I am king,” but “you say that I am a king.” We have heard other claims about who Jesus is: Elijah or John the Baptist, a drunkard who eats with sinners, a prophet. All of these are attempts of the human imagination to understand the power of Jesus. But there in the Roman headquarters, Jesus explained exactly what his power was. He goes on to say, “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” As a powerful man in a powerful and oppressive empire, Pilate knew the importance of those words. He would have known that truth is power, and not the kind of power one can lose in a battle or an election. Truth is the kind of power that proclaims good news to the poor and opens the eyes of the blind and gives them hope. Truth sets people free.

And that is what it means for us to claim Christ as King – it sets us free to imagine the world as the location of the future reign of Jesus Christ.
When we celebrate the feast day of Christ the King, we celebrate the truth that God created the world and all that is in it. We claim the hope that one day, people of all nations and tribes and races will be one people, freed from poverty, famine, disaster and war, free to seek truth and understanding

But as we know so well – faith without works is dead. So the feast of Christ the King calls us to do more than have visions of the reign of God. It calls us to stake our lives on the truth of that vision, and do our best to build glimpses of the kingdom here and now. And so, it is this Sunday, the feast of Christ the King, that our national church has chosen to reflect upon the Millennium Development Goals as part of our mission priorities. The Millennium Development Goals – or MDGs, as they are sometimes called – are part of a declaration written in the year 2000 by leaders of 189 countries. These world leaders pledged to fight the extreme poverty that slowly kills millions of people around the world each day. They adopted the eight goals, each of these which is then developed into more specific tasks and indicators to measure progress. The eight goals are:
* Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
* Achieve universal primary education.
* Promote gender equality and empower women.
* Reduce child mortality.
* Improve maternal health
* Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
* Ensure environmental sustainability.
* Develop a global partnership for development.

The United Nations, legislators, international aid organizations, even celebrities have signed on to continue this campaign – along with churches and international faith-based organizations. Why would churches all over the world sign on to the Millennium Development Goals, a project of a distinctly secular organization? Perhaps because our churches envision the reign of Christ as a time and place where the secular and the sacred are no longer separate categories because God’s love will touch all things. Or perhaps it is because theologians are no longer the most highly educated group of people, and it is good for us to partner with experts in all areas of our common life.

But mostly, I believe it is because the MDGS, and the work they require of us – are a spiritual discipline. The tasks and goals laid before us – eradicating extreme poverty, achieving primary education, reducing infant mortality and combating diseases that affect millions of people – these goals keep our eyes focused on what the Christ’s reign will be like. It is hard work, that calls us to see the reality of the world around us, and then speak of that truth to those with power. But working together with people of all nations and tribes and languages to see that “they will hunger no more, and thirst no more” moves our vision beyond current reality, and gives us a glimpse of the kingdom where “God will wipe away every tear.” This work stretches our imaginations and strengthens our hope. It is how we how we celebrate our allegiance to Christ the King and claim the greeting of all Christian disciples: “Look, the kingdom of God has indeed come near.”

On The Menu

2006-11-23T11:58:00.000-05:00

From our kitchen:
Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes
Roasted Honey Mashed Sweet Potatoes (with no wheat, for our gluten-allergic family)
Green Beans with Cider
Dinner Rolls (Luke's in charge there - his first solo attempt at bread!)

From kitchens of our parents:
Turkey
Gravy
Stuffing
Cranberry Sauce
Jello Salad (Hernandez family tradition)
Various Pies (My mom's doing dessert, so I'm guessing... 3?)

Plus, the usual trimmings:
phone calls to friends
discussion of sermons for Christ the King (my father-in-law is also a priest)
football
music
enjoying having in-laws who would rather spend holidays all together

The table is set - have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Then Our Lives Would Be Thanksgiving

2006-11-22T15:23:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here, trying to cobble together a sermon for this evening's service, and needed a break. And what better way to take a break than come visit over here and catch up with all you blog-o'-riffic folks? So, pull up a chair if you're looking for a coffee break! I'll be sticking with the non-caffeinated root beer, but you're welcome to whatever you can find.

First, the update. Michigan 39, OSU 42. A rough day for us Wolverines, but as David said below - what a game! Of course, that score is much easier to swallow after the BCS standings came out on Monday , and Michigan held out at #2. A rematch in the making? We shall see after this weekend, but its awfully great knowing that OSU wasn't able to knock us out of the top two position. Plus, Troy Smith threw an interception and had at least one fumble. All in all, not as bad a day as it could've been.

Of course, all of this was overshadowed by the death of Bo Schembechler. As an Ann Arbor kid, Bo was a household name. He and Woody Hayes made the Michigan-OSU rivalry what it is today: such a great rivalry that it was actually mentioned in a book prayer and public ritual for Liturgy 1 class. His passing was sad news indeed, and the number of folks who gathered to say goodbye and give thanks for the ways he touched their lives was a testament to a life well lived.

Which brings me back to my sermon for this evening. From the time we are toddlers, we're taught that saying "Thank you" is a response to a completed action. In this life-as-clergy, I go to many more funerals than I probably otherwise would. One of the frequent themes of burial services is giving thanks for the life of the person we remember. Saying thanks is our response to the completed action of their life - gratitude that may have been missing from someone's life.

Why do we wait so long to say thank you? I think because we're out of practice. Last Saturday's game - a three hour, forty-five minute blip in history - was decades in the making. Hundreds of guys spent hundreds of hours practicing over the years to make that game happen, and not a single one of them would imagine wearing that Wolverine jersey without putting energy and passion into the dream of having the heart of a champion. Why do we as Christians think a heart of thanksgiving will come more easily?

A heart of thanksgiving takes skill and practice. It takes patience to filter out the anxiety that clouds our vision. It takes wisdom to see the blessings of God in our lives. It takes faith and generosity to recognize our abundance, and share it with others. It takes the work of the Spirit.

So, here is my first Thankful Heart practice drill, in no particular order: music, the church I serve, Luke, families and in-laws that enjoy one another, friends both near and far, Laura on her birthday, the blog world, coffee, dark chocolate, sweaters, cookbooks, and photographs.

Oh! And, I'm thankful for de-lurking week! Join in the fun, and leave a note!

Simple Gifts

2006-11-16T22:42:00.000-05:00

It doesn't take much to make me happy, and today was a very happy day: sleeping in, chatting about vacation possibilities over coffee, a little TV, new recipes that turned out well.

But the crowning moment of the day? Discovering this.

Yep. A punk-rock version of Lord of the Dance. We're having a youth group lock-in this weekend, and I wanted to find an interesting version of the song. Turns out I was sucessful - and now I'll be giggling all weekend.

Normally, Purple is My Favorite...

2006-11-10T12:42:00.000-05:00

... but I'm awfully fond of blue this week! Anyway, after a few weeks away, here is the return of the Friday Five - a special (non-election) red/blue quiz!

1. Favorite red food
I do love food... in the crazy artificial category, I'd have to say Faygo Rock & Rye - a dark-red colored pop that is kind of like vanilla cream soda. In the more normal category, this roasted red pepper sauce we make for pasta: 3 or 4 roasted red peppers pureed with garlic, basil, olive oil and parmesan cheese. SO good - especially when you can roast the peppers on the grill.

2. Tell us about the bluest body of water you've ever seen in person.
In high school, I got to travel to Italy with the Latin club. We spent one day on the island of Capri, and took boat tours of the Blue Grotto - a small cave where the water glows blue. Its a little bit like the lights at the bottom of a really blue swimming pool, except its actually natural. Gorgeous.

3. It's movie rental time: Blue Planet, The Color Purple, or Crimson Tide?
I think none of those... how about Moulin Rouge! - I even own that one! Or, to go with the blended theme, Primary Colors, which I still haven't seen.

4. What has you seeing red these days?
After the elections, the fact that this passed, despite the efforts of the group linked. In other news? I've actually just come out of a slump of seeing red, and now the world is looking rather rosy again.

5. What or who picks you up when you're feeling blue?
This week: Friends who patiently put up with my ranting until we can get down to the heart of the matter. Friends who leave me cheery voicemail because they know I'm having a bad day/week/month. Friends who leave me voicemail in song-form telling me they are coming to visit next month. And, having a husband who is so understanding and funny that when I read that my childhood church-crush got married last month, he actually responed, "Aw, I'm sorry honey". I'm still laughing, a day later.

With friends and loved ones like that, the forecast is definitely rosy!

Choosing a Blessing

2006-11-06T15:29:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite things about this priestly life is distributing communion. I love interacting at the communion rail through this simple act of placing the wafer in people's hands. I love the personal-yet-communal receiving that happens at this kind of distribution (as opposed to standing stations). I love that some people really seek eye contact, and even that some people don't. I love the really little kids who are practically bursting they are so excited to come to God's table, and I love the kids who forget to hold out their hands. I love how different everyone is when they come to this altar rail, and how they all receive the same wafer. And, happily, I get to participate in the Eucharist this way every week.

As much as I love this... I struggle often with the "blessing" portion of distribution. There are all these beautiful babies at my church - just tons of them! - and, well, they don't really eat solid food. So, they don't receive Communion yet. So, we make the sign of the cross on their foreheads, and say a prayer - and some kids receive this until they are 6, 7 or 8, depending on their parents theology.

Here has been my struggle (besides the whole children-not-receiving thing, thats a whole other issue!): I want to say a prayer that helps the children hear and know that they too are welcome at the Lord's table. So, I experiment with wording. My usual blessing is something like "May the blessing of God who made you, Jesus who came as a child, and the Holy Spirit who lives in your heart be with you always, Amen". This past Sunday, for whatever reason, I had a musical version of 2 Corinthians 13 in my head.... "May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God..." So, I changed my wording and said, "May the love of God, the grace of Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit bless you today and always, Amen"

As I laid my hand on one baby girl - a very very cute baby with big wide eyes, pink chubby baby cheeks, and two little brown pigtails that stick straight up and out - after I finished the prayer for her, she clapped. She grinned and she clapped.

I think I'll be sticking with the new wording for a while. It has baby approval.

And I Want To Be One Too

2006-11-01T10:27:00.000-05:00

Let us now sing the praises of famous men and women,
our ancestors in their generations.
The Lord apportioned to them great glory,
his majesty from the beginning.
There were those who ruled in their kingdoms,
and made a name for themselves by their valor;
those who gave counsel because they were intelligent;
those who spoke in prophetic oracles;
those who led the people by their counsels
and by their knowledge of the people's lore;
they were wise in their words of instruction;
those who composed musical tunes,
or put verses in writing;
rich men and women endowed with resources,
living peacefully in their homes--
all these were honored in their generations,
and were the pride of their times.
Some of them have left behind a name,
so that others declare their praise.
But of others there is no memory;
they have perished as though they had never existed;
they have become as though they had never been born,
they and their children after them.
But these also were godly men and women,
whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten;
Their offspring will continue forever,
and their glory will never be blotted out.
Their bodies are buried in peace,
but their name lives on generation after generation.
- Ecclesiasticus 44:1-10,13-14

In my home church, on All Saints Sunday, we used this reading every year. After each line describing the works of these famous people, the lector would pause, and various people from the congregation would stand and read names of saints and heroes who have impacted the world in those ways. And then, after the link "But hese also were godly men and women, whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten", we would simply pause. And remember.

All Saints Day is the day to remember heroes of the faith, living and dead, ancient and recent, and to give thanks to God for their lives and ministry. I love this idea. I love singing the songs about meeting saints "in the lane or at tea" (Oy, how Anglican are we??).

So, today when thinking about heroes of faith, I'd like you to consider a particular group: parents. Specifically, parents with very sick children. Last week, I asked your prayers for a young girl, Caroline, having surgery. The surgery was sucessful, but it was indeed cancer. This very little girl has a very long road ahead of her, including radiation and chemo - yet, her mamas got dressed up and got her a costume so she could attend the Halloween Party at the hosptial. They are pushing through with strength and faith and prayer because Caroline needs them to, and because they love. And today, we will pray for them, and give thanks for their quiet testimony.

Off To See The Wizard

2006-10-25T07:58:00.000-05:00

I am sitting in the Anglobaptist's kitchen, drinking my coffee, before I head off to day 2 of my seminary alma mater's Alumni Conference. The keynote speaker this year is Diana Butler Bass (see her books here and here).

Before I got here, I had the song from The Wizard of Oz running through my head, and I couldn't quite figure out how it got there. Granted, coming back to the Northshore and meeting up with friends can feel a bit like going to Oz - and the going home part almost always feels as conflicted as poor Dorothy was at the end of her time in Oz. And then, there are Tripp's ridiculous cats that I'm sure were actually flying monkeys in a former life. And this time around, there is a chance for a blogger friend first-time real life meet-up! *Waves at Emily!!*

But no, its not any of those reasons. It turns out that my subconscious already knew what I know now: Diana Butler Bass is a genius. Not because she has fancy smoke-and-mirrors tricks to help you grow a congregation in 3 easy steps!!! - because she doesn't. No, listening to her talk is really truly like Dorothy's trip through the magical land of Oz - I am learning everything I already knew all over again and in a completely new way, and it is a wonderful gift.

Back on the home front, however, please let me request your prayers for a small girl named Caroline. She is having surgery this week for a brain tumr, and we are very worried about her - and her parents. Please keep this family in your prayers.

By Any Other Name...

2006-10-19T08:40:00.000-05:00

So, if I enter my given name:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
4
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

But if I use what I go by:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
0
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

And that, my friends, is the beauty of nicknames.

Thanks to Jane for the fun game

Because I Occasionally Listen...

2006-10-17T15:28:00.000-05:00

Tripp told me to post. He even tried to bait my competitive side to make me post.

And since I'm such a good listener, here is my random thought for the day:

I have my iPod going in my office when I'm doing work like making postcards and organizing folders. Current music? U2 - Wild Honey. On our mission trip this past summer, great youth minister guy commented that he thinks Wild Honey is Van Morrison tribute song. Which makes perfect sense, and explains why the song feels out of place on the album style-wise. But now, for some reason, the song gets on my nerves - and I like Van Morrison.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Newsworthy

2006-10-04T08:55:00.000-05:00

The NY Times has an article this morning related to the horrific killings in Pennsylvania. To be honest, of course the NY Times actually has several articles related to this story. But this one caught my eye: Strong Faith and Community May Help Amish Cope With Loss. (Free registration is required to read articles.)

Yesterday morning, I attended a Clergy Education day sponsored by the pastoral care department at one of the major hospitals in the area. For the first session, a hospice social worker talked about the role of "companions in grief" - walking with those who are facing loss, helping them find sacred space to do the work of grief when they are ready, and before that point, just helping them get through the days.

The NY Times article concludes with this quote,"“For the families who lost children, there will be a tremendous community outpouring of love and support,” Ms. Schmidt said. “They will not suffer alone in their grief at all. People will bring in meals for weeks. As devastating as this is, there’s so much strength they can draw from their community.”

This morning, I'm glad that this will be true for these families, and still, I'm sad that it isn't true for so many more. I hope we in the church take these small reminders that our God promises to comfort all who mourn - and we are vessels of that grace. I look forward to the day when a supportive Christian community is newsworthy only in the sense of proclaiming the Good News.

Namaste

2006-09-19T08:41:00.000-05:00

"The divine in me honors the divine in you" - or so I've been told.

Last night, I started yoga class again. Again might be a bit misleading, since the last time I went to yoga classes I still lived in Chicago and I only went spring term of my senior year. But even after only one class, I'm so happy to be doing this again.

Yoga is wonderful for impatient exercise types like me. I love that even in a one hour class, I can feel improvement in my postures - the fourth or fifth time around on a pose, and I remember how my hips are supposed to line up. I remember what it feels like to let my head and neck hang loosely, and to straighten my spine. These are good things to remember.

I also like being in yoga class because I like the instructors. Yoga teachers have a calm energy about them, as though nothing can phase them. Maybe they aren't like that outside of class - but to spend an hour a week with someone who seems so grounded certainly can't be bad for those of us who try to be grounded and non-anxious the rest of the time.

Of course, all this happiness may just be related to how much better my back feels today. Note to self: If you wish to keep picking up the godson-who-got-very-big-lateley, keep going to the yoga class.

All The News There's Time To Print

2006-09-12T08:36:00.000-05:00

Vacation is a wonderful thing - nothing bad to say there. Wine country, nephews, good friends, swimming pool, ice cream, meeting anew blog-o-sphere accquaintance IRL, cedar point, family game of Apples to Apples, and Michigan starting the season 2-0.

Coming back from vacation... well, lets just say thats more of a mixed bag, with entries on "both sides of the ledger", as our church musician would say.

Pros

Cons

I'd say the score is still in my favor. I hope your day is as blessed.

Football, Tripp-style

2006-09-02T10:55:00.000-05:00

Its opening day of football season! As my best friend just put it "Its just like a holiday!"

So, we're watching the ESPN Gameday coverage, and they're hanging out on the campus of Georgia Tech for the GA Tech/Notre Dame game. Whatever campus the ESPN guys hang out on, there is always a mob scene of college students behind them waving signs and yelling and generally acting like college students. Occasionally, there are some clever signs.

Today's clever sign for the Georgia Tech game?

"Calvin. Defeating Catholics since 1509"

GO BLUE!

Suburban Morning

2006-08-29T08:14:00.000-05:00

We're coming to you live from Wilmette!

I'm blogging at Tripp's dining room table in suburban Chicago. We've been a little quiet lately because I am on vacation.

Vacation, all I ever wanted, vacation, had to get away

We spent the weekend at a fabulous Shaefer family get-together. There was Cedar Point time with our almost-teenage nephew, and bounce-on-lap time with our new four-month nephew. Now we are in Chicago, flying to California to visit friends and wine country. All of this includes kick-butt food (mmm, including this mango-banana-orange smoothie in front of me), good hang out time, and the opening of college football - GO BLUE!!!

Hail to the Victors, valiant, Hail to the conquering heroes! Hail! Hail to Michigan..

Sorry, got distracted. Anyway, all this is to say: I'm having a great time, hope you are too, I miss you all and I'll be back soon.

Love, S

A Few Thoughts

2006-08-22T15:27:00.000-05:00

I'm back from camp, which was exhausting, though I'm glad I went. I have some hope for the future of Episcopal camping in Michigan, although there is work to be done.

I made the silly mistake of planning my vacation for the two weeks before church school starts, so I've been very busy at work since I got back, so blogging will continue to be light.

While I'm getting ready for vacation (California, here I come!), its hard not to remember that on this day last year, I was getting ready to leave for California when I got this call. Luke and I just recorded another version of Amazing Grace for a cd we're making.

Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind but now I see.

May the souls of all the departed rest in the peace of God's eternal light.

Friday Five, Mango version

2006-08-11T19:35:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I leave for a week at camp. Those of you who've been reading for a while might remember that "my camp" - the one where I spent all my summers growing up, where I worked for eight summers, where I met some of dearest friends and got to know my husband - "my camp" was closed. Last summer, the diocesan council decided to sell the property. So our new Canon for Youth & Young Adults (who is super-swell and was ordained with me) has inherited the task of figuring out how to have camp without having a camp.

This week is one of the experiments: we're joining next-door-neighbor's diocese for a week of their camp session. I'll be a counselor for the counselors-in-training. I'm not quite sure how that'll work, but I think I'll enjoy it. I also think it will be hard and sad, being at camp without being at Camp.

Needless to say, this whole endeavor has been bringing back all kinds of memories. Which is where the Friday Five comes in. Work was kind of hectic today (and that was with the office officially closed) in that "I'm leaving town for a week" kind of way. So, I just skimmed the F5 post, and saw that comment at the end about Generosity being a banana.

Banana? Nope. Generosity is a mango. A seven year old taught me that, a long time ago.

One summer at camp - my last summer working there - I was what we call "administrative staff". I supervised some folks, and part of "supervising" meant helping cabin counselors with the kids who were kind of a handful. This particular boy had a problem with his hands. They kept balling up into little fists and landing hard on other kids. One evening before bed, early in the week, the assistant camp director & I were in the office, and the little boy needed a time out - and so his counselor needed a break. So, he came to sit in the office with the Ad Staff. This was not a reward. After a bit of quiet time, it was our job, the three of us, to come with a "behavior contract". Since it was snack time, the other staffer & I had been sharing a mango - she'd gotten it at the store on her break that afternoon. She offered him a piece, which he took cautiously. But - mangos are sweet, tangy and messy. What self-respecting seven year old doesn't like those things?

With markers and paper in hand, we made a list of two behaviors the little boy needed to work on: keeping his hands to himself and... well, I don't even remember the other one. Behavior contracts had three other parts. First, there were consequences - if he couldn't stop hitting people, the next thing would be to call his mom. Then, there was a reward. What reward would he like? He pointed at the plate with the mango peels. "Could I get more of that?" And so it was included. The reward for a good behavior day would be a shared mango at snack time. That made the third part of the contract easy: we needed a secret signal to help him remember what he was supposed to do. So for the next day, whenever he was starting to have trouble, we'd whisper "mango", and he'd remember to keep his hands to himself.

The next night, I'm happy to say, the three of us enjoyed a perfectly ripe mango in the office together. It was much more fun than the previous night, and we were so proud of him for getting through the day without any incidents.

Unfortunately, even with the promise of the mango reward, the next day he punched another kid, and then a counselor. It was only the third day of camp, but it was clear that he just wasn't ready for camp. His mom came and picked him up, and we said goodbye. The assistant director & I both cried after he left. He had tried very hard, but already in his young life, someone had taught him that violence was the solution to any problem that comes your way.

I don't know if he came back to camp, or where he is now. But I really do hope that the one day of success, and his sweet reward, stuck in his mind. And I know that sharing a mango taught me a great deal about "fruits of the Spirit" - patience, love, kindness, self-control. A little can go a long way - especially if you're willing to share your fruit.