Tree of Life project

Check it out... the close to final pics of all that stained glass I have been working on:)

White dreams

BiL has twice had the experience of reading his fiction book, and looking up and noting that what he is reading is happening outside. Tonight it was the wind, coming up. Oh good. He's reading about a blizzard. Hey, I'm for it.

Our autumn, except for a bountiful October snowstorm, has skimped on the white stuff. It makes me get the creepy crawlies, smelling the air for snow as if that will make it come. I have this gnawing feeling that it should be well snowed here by now, but the only consistent snowcover is on our driveway and on the upper roads. The slopes are spotty, more than half the ground with the tall brown grasses exposed. Hunting season has been expanded to give hunters the advantage on the elk still lingering at the high altitudes. Temperatures are cold enough... nighttime lows in the teens, highs in the 30's, but the moisture goddess is holding back, teasing us with clouds or hiding out altogether, chased by the the sun of the shortening days.

I should be thankful, a drive to Nebraska shortly in my future. I'll be delivering the stained glass piece I have been working on for so long, as well as tying up the final ends (I hope) of Dad's estate and (best of all) seeing some friends and family on the plains. I have driven that way, my knuckles white with tension on the icy stretches of Buffalo and Sheridan, and I am happy to think I might cruise along safely on dry roads this time, coming and going.

But here, at home, a little snowpack on the road leaves me wanting more. The wind is still dancing outside. 'Time now to bring in some more wood and stoke up the fire.

Thanks

I had a rare time of thanks Friday morning. I was doing a bit of reading (Lessons in Truth... Cady) and I was moved to put the book down, lean back in my chair and cast my eyes to the pines in the east. I started going along, remembering each of the patients I had been working with that week, visualizing them in light and praying thanks for God's perfection within each one.

Whew! It was a powerful exercise, and one that I simply was led to do. 'One of those profound moments, you know? What was really precious to me, was that the chain of focus continued, moving along like prayer beads, from one face in my mind to the next, and it did not stop when I finished my patients. It went on to my co-workers, my sweet BiL, my sons, grandchildren, sister, family gone on, friends, etc.

I have noticed that when I let myself go deeply into the prayer time, it takes on a life of its own, pulsates and flows. When it does this it forms a presence of thanks. I don't know that it gets better than that. Not from this end, anyway.

So here you go, each one of you (and you know who you are)... the wonder and delight of the Divine in you blesses me endlessly. I thank you for it. I mean, I really, deeply thank you for every word, thought, movement, dream, breath and more that you ever have or will share with me.

This Thanksgiving, if you eat, may every bite and taste be well with you. If you serve, may you receive 10 times the love you put forth.

Days of the Dead

I don't get to church every Sunday, but today was one that I did. Beginning the day this way did what I think community worship does at its best... sets the pace for the rest of the day.

Our minister spoke on Dec. 22, 2012, the day which will follow the day currently being discussed with a degree of foreboding. He is really pretty excited about it, as the more he studies these things (sacred geometry, quantum physics, bioscience, etc.) the more potential, and thus hope, he sees, and listening to him it is easy to catch his enthusiasm. This week I even took notes... this guy covers too much ground in each talk for me to remember it all by ear.

We had the traditional first Sunday of the month potato bake, and even tho those taters did not get fully cooked, they were edible and the company was good. I got 3 extras and took them to Josh and his roomies (I knew Josh was studying hard today and would not have much time to eat).

I had ideas about going up to the cliff to the east and praying about the nation when I got home, but a rain was just beginning and instead, I did my praying from the shelter of our house here. BiL is gone today and it is unusually quiet here, so after that I napped a bit, and then got up and turned on the the internet, going over some emails I'd not had time to look deeply into earlier.

One of them was about the Children's Global Peace Project. http://www.cgpp.org/
It really touched my heart, and now, as the rain is coming down hard through the darkness outside, I feel like I have invested this day the best way I could, bringing my attention to community, to Spirit, to hope.

I have been reading "Lessons in Truth" this week, too, getting back to a daily meditation time. Why is it so easy to let what really matters slip under the weight of daily lists and errands?

One of the other things mentioned in the message in church this morning was the following of Halloween (all about fear) by All Hallow's Day (all about our spiritual helpers) and the Day of the Dead (all about remembering the gifts of our ancesters, the wisdom, the deeds, etc.)
And here is an interesting idea... that when we read the writings of one passed on, we 'reincarnate' what made them tick.

Wow. An idea, rethought, refreshed. Now that is a worthy thing to do with a worthy thought. Maybe I will find this week a little less challenging to do what lasts.

Peace, y'all.

Vote.

Fall ramblings

This is going to be very short... a list of things enjoyed over the weekend:
Went to Livingston, came home with a cat (a tortoise shell, 4 yrs old, named Meara) and a locally worthy bike (Specialized Rock Hopper named Gypsy)
Chopped the rest of the pallet of wood to size, loaded lots on the deck, the rest down below
Repotted plants, revamped bath area, and several kitchen drawers
Got to talk with my precious ones (sons, daughter in love, and grandkiddos)
Played with cat a bunch
Took my maiden ride on the bike, east on Woodchuck road
Listened to the chuggles of the stream
Was amazed at the crisp chill of air
Was equally amazed at the Hoary Comma butterfly that settled in the sawdust

And so it goes

With over a foot of snow last weekend, and no plowing done from our road association (roads are still too soft to handle the big blade), we have been getting more than our share of exercise, scooping snow, spreading wood ashes and such. When not scooping or hauling wood, I have been working on my masterwork (she teaches me every time I attend her) glass piece, and I am going to attempt a photo of that here. You will see some pieces not yet foiled in the upper part of the tree, left side as you look at it. Anyway, just so you know, this has been my venture in art for the past year or so. It actually helps keep me balanced, considering all the world developments.

St. Paul, Minn Sept. 1 2008

When people wonder what I am so upset about, these are the words that inspire me:

PRISONERS OF THE CAMPS

JULY 1, 1937 MARTIN NIEMOELLER, CHURCH DISSIDENT LEADER, ARRESTED Martin Niemoeller, one of main opponents of Nazi racial ideology in the Lutheran church and one of the founders of the oppositional "Confessional Church," is arrested. He is sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1938 and spends the next seven years in concentration camps. After the war, Niemoeller's condemnation of bystanders to Nazi policies will become a call to early action. His words: "First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist - so I said nothing. Then they came for the Social Democrats, but I was not a Social Democrat - so I did nothing. Then they came for the trade unionists, but I was not a trade unionist. And then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew - so I did little. Then when they came for me, there was no one left who could stand up for me."

As those of you I most love know, I am very angry at the way the Right Wing has seen fit to abuse the constitutional rights of those who do not agree with them at the Royal .... er.... Republican Convention.

Is it surprising or disappointing to you that so little of what is happening is hitting the main news? Well, I guess if there is no glitz, flash, or pizzazz appeal, it doesn't get covered.