Friday Five: On the Road Again

On RevGalBlogPals, Sophia asks:

1. When was your last, or will be your next, out of town travel?

  It will probably be to Minneapolis for the PCUSA’s General Assembly in early July, but we’ll be flying, not driving.

2. Long car trips: love or loathe?

         Love seeing the places, but hate being in the car while we’re getting there.

3. Do you prefer to be driver or passenger?

          If the other person is a good driver, I prefer being the passenger.  If the other person’s driving makes me nervous (and many drivers do) then I prefer driving myself.

4. If passenger, would you rather pass the time with handwork, conversing, reading, listening to music, or ???

         I prefer a combination of knitting and talking—makes me feel like I’m getting something done and takes my mind off the actual driving.

5. Are you going, or have you ever gone, on a RevGals BE? Happiest memories of the former, and/or most anticipated pleasures of the latter?

         No

6. Bonus: a favorite piece of road trip music.

            For road trips I usually opt, not mainly for music, but for audiobooks.

Good Friday, Friday Five

On RevGalBlogPals, Sally asks:

1. Of all the gospel accounts of the crucifixion, which one stands out for you, and why?

Over the years this has changed.  In my teen years—perhaps because of Jesus Christ Superstar—it was John, with all its wondrous symbolism.  In seminary it was Matthew, especially for its Gethsemane scene and its Peter.  When I was first in a pastorate it was Luke that I loved to use in all seasons, because of its focus on social justice and the poor.  Now I’m happy to have all four gospels and to focus on different things each year.

2.Do you identify with any people in this account, how does that challenge you?

In many ways, I probably identify with Peter and with Judas. Living caught between God’s reign and the reign of the empire, it’s so easy to deny Jesus’ way or even betray it.

3. Hymns or silence?

Though this year the Good Friday service will be built around “irreverent” country and blue grass music and I’m excited about its possibilities, silence is usually my preference.

4. Post a poem or a quote that sums up Good Friday for you?

I immediately think of Denise Levertov’s stuff like  “A Calvary Path” and “Tenebrae”, but Levertov’s poetry moves me in so many liturgical seasons that I’ve got to choose Robinson Jeffer’s  very dark poem-play “Dear Judas” as a Holy Week piece.  The whole piece is a Good Friday piece, but here are two excerpts:

“The Woman:                                               Oh happy

                  friend: for he must love you if you love him so well:

                  And maybe you’ve even touched him from day to day,

                  serving his food or the like: what does he ai at,

                  Do you think? What can he reach and have rest?

Judas:                                                      Mother:

                  Those that ascend the mountain toward God have none.

                  And whoever dares in the endless cross-waves of time pilot

                  The people,

                  Until misfortune wrecks him has none.”

Jesus: “Listen to me now, Judas, and remember.

         Because I know your scrupulous heart, and I don’t wish

         You to die despairing.  There is not one creature,

         Neither yourself nor anyone, nor a fly nor flung stone, but

         Does exactly and fatally the thing

         That it needs must; neither less nor more.  This is the roots

         Of forgiveness.”

5.Is there a tradition you could not be without, a tradition that makes Good Friday, Good Friday?

No.

            

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

On RevGalBlogPals, Songbird writes “By the time you're reading this, I'll be en route to a Great Big City to see my son in a play. I'll go by car and bus and train and no doubt cab and maybe even subway. Thus, our Friday Five.”

1) What was the mode of transit for your last trip?

We drove the Prius through parts of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

2) Have you ever traveled by train?

I used to commute by train and subway when I was in my 20s. And on vacation I’ve traveled by train through parts of France, Belgium, and Switzerland.

3) Do you live in a place with public transit, and if so, do you use it?

Yes, there are both buses around our area and trains into New York City. And no, I don’t use them anywhere near as much as I used to or, for environmental purposes, should. This April our church school is going to try to raise congregational awareness on how using green travel— mainly walking, bikes, and public transportation—would be more consistent with what we say our environmental concerns are.

4) What's the most unusual vehicle in which you've ever traveled?

Since animals aren’t vehicles, I suppose a hot air balloon would be the most unusual vehicle I’ve ever traveled in, though it was a very brief ride because my then two-year-old daughter wouldn't stop crying.

5) What's the next trip you're planning to take?

Next trip planned is London in February (and then it’s on to Minneapolis in July).

If

Not much time in my schedule today, so here are my brief honest but anything-but-creative answers for this week’s Friday Five . On RevGalBlogPals, Jan asks:

1. If you were a color, what would you be?
I think I’d either be lavender or beige, fairly neutral colors that fit in easily next to other colors.

2. If you were a flower (or plant), what would you be?
A hyacinth—probably a blue one—or a daisy.

3. If you were an animal, what kind would you be?
A dolphin or a black capped gull.

4. If you were a shoe, what type would you be?
Definitely a sneaker—probably a Converse.

5. If you were a typeface, which font would you be?
Either Arial (the font I use as my default font) or Consolas.

Friday Five; What's New?

At RevGalBlogPals, Songbird writes: “There's a new baby on my street, a double PK whose Mom and Dad are Methodist pastors and church planters. I'm hoping to go over and meet her today. I love new babies, the way they smell and their sweet little fingers and toes. Little K has me thinking about all the new things that please us with their shiny freshness.

Please share with us five things you like *especially* when they are new.”

1. A new box of crayons. I love the way they look, I love the way they smell, and I always, always hate it when I finally have to use one and ruin the new newness. (I’m not a big colorer to begin with so wanting to color has never overpowered my desire to keep the box looking so wonderfully new.)

2. A new hardback book that hasn’t been opened yet. No matter what the book’s about, I love opening it for the first time and watching how pages separate (often with a slight noise as they do so).

3. New tech stuff. I love new tech gadgets—whether it’s a new phone (oh, to convince my family that I need a Droid if not an iPhone!), a new computer, a new gaming system, a new software application, or whatever. I know that keeping up in this area is well beyond my financial means, but when I get the luxury to get something techie that’s just been released have and is new, I love it.

4. 4. New school supplies, whether I a reason to use them or not. The very idea of having new pens, new notebooks, new index cards, or other stuff I used to have to buy for school when I was young call up the excitement of a new school year. Which leads me to….

5. 5. A new course to teach or take on a topic I’m excited about but haven’t taught before. Beginning to engage with new material that has a connection with things I care a lot about is so much fun.

Touching Holiness Friday Five

At RevGalBlogPals, Sally writes:

Yesterday I was privileged to join the thousands of pilgrims who had flocked to York Minster to see the casket containing the bones of St Therese of Lisieux. People came from miles around, some with deep faith came to venerate the Saint, others with none came out of curiosity. The Christians who came represented a mix of denominations, I went because I have read her writings and out of sheer curiosity having never been to anything like this before.

To put it in crude terms I was blown away by the by the deep sense of God's presence, of gentleness, of holiness and purity. Today as I reflect upon the experience I recognise that there have been other places and other times when I have experienced a tangible touch of God. I wonder if it was because the message that Therese had is so much needed today, she experienced God as a God of love, and encouraged others to draw closer...

How about you, where do you find God's peace and presence, is there:

1. A place that holds a special memory?

Farmer Jones’ field in the Berkshires, a place where, as a young teen, I first learned to sit in silence and let what wanted to speak do so.

2. A song that seems to usher you into the Holy of Holies?

Music of all kinds can do this for me—from U2’s “Walk On” to the Largo of Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” to Luka Bloom’s “Blackberry Time” to Cris Williamson’s “Song of the Soul”

3.A book/ poem/ prayer that says what you cannot?

“Mohammed’s son pores over words,

and points out this and that,

but if his chest is not soaked dark with love,

then what?

The Yogi comes along in his famous orange.

But if inside he is colorless,

then what?”

--Kabir

4. How do you remind yourself of these things at times when God seems far away?

Ah, there’s the rub. Taking time to sit quietly and center myself works some times. Centering of other kinds—be it through swimming or focusing on music—sometimes works. Yet at other times, the best I can do it to try to pay attention to and be grateful for the beauty of whatever surrounds me.

5.Post a picture/ poem or song that speaks of where you are right now in your relationship with God...

“The mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it.”

-Sri Nisargadatta

(The painting is Asher Durand’s Cathedral Ledge. I’ve chosen it because both the Hudson River School of painters and the White Mountains of New Hampshire often remind me of the awe and majesty of God and our relationship to both God and nature, all of which must be experienced to be understood.)

Friday Five: Games

On RevGalsBlogPals today, Jan explains that this week’s Friday Five is
So this Friday Five is about games, so play on ahead. . .

1. Childhood games?
Kickball, Spud, mumblypeg, Horse, and Red Light-Green Light were the big ones.

2. Favorite and/or most hated board games?
Favorites as a child would be Candyland, Clue, and Go to the Head of the Class; my least favorite was Parchesi. As an adult, I still love puzzles and games including Pictionary, some versions of Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble, and puzzle type (Myst type )computer games.

3. Card games?
As a child, rummy (with my mother), Spit/War and SlapJack (with my friends) and especially canasta (with my grandmother, aunts, friends, etc.) As an adult it always seems to be canasta first.

4. Travel/car games?
As a child, when we went on a trip of any distance we always sang in the car. For very long trips, there were the “find license plates from different states”, “find words beginning with each letter of the alphabet” games, and I Spy. With my kids it was trivia questions and game boys along with the same games I played.

5. Adult pastimes that are not video games?
Reading, puzzles (jigsaw, sudoku, wordfinds, etc), playing music, knitting, gardening, and swimming.

Friday Five: Life is a Verb

At RevGalBlogPals, Jan writes:

Jennifer recommended this book, which I got because I always value Jennifer's reading suggestions. The author of Life is a Verb, Patti Digh worked her book around these topics concerning life as a verb:

Say yes.
Be generous.
Speak up.
Love more.
Trust yourself.
Slow down.

As I read and pondered about living more intentionally, I also have wondered what this Friday Five should be. This book has been the jumping off point for this Friday.

1. What awakens you to the present moment?

Lying in the hammock looking up at the trees, working in the garden, petting the cat, focusing on my breathing, and so much more

2. What are 5 things you see out your window right now?

Hanging baskets of flowers, my car, strawberries and blueberries, roses, the composter

3. Which verbs describe your experience of God?

Embrace, create, laugh, love, play

4. From the book on p. 197: Who were you when you were 13? Where did that kid go?

The 13-year-old loved playing basketball and swimming, enjoyed school but was a bit of a troublemaker, was intrigued by spirituality of all kinds, wanted to live in harmony with God, and had just decided to go into ministry because of the involvement of MLK and his clergy colleagues in civil rights issues. The kid’s still here, though is often forgotten because of all the institutional issues that she never dreamed she would need to deal with. Part of my summer goal is to give up some of the adult that’s gotten in the way and get more of that kid back .

5. From the book on p. 88: If your work were the answer to a question, what would the question be?

How do we make the world a bit more just and kind (because God is reflected in everything/everyone around us)?

Bonus idea for you here or on your own--from the book on p. 149:

"Go outside. Walk slowly forward. Open your hand and let something fall into it from the sky. It might be an idea, it might be an object. Name it. Set it aside. Walk forward. Open your hand and let something fall into it from the sky. Name it. Set it aside. Repeat. . . ."

Friday Five: Taking a Break

On RevGalBlogPals, Songbird writes: Where we live, it's February School Vacation Week!
Yes, that's an odd thing, a vacation extending President's Day. But it's part of our lives here. Some people go South or go skiing, but we always stay home and find more humble amusements.

In that spirit, I offer this Taking a Break Friday Five. Tell us how you would spend:

1. a 15 minute break
2. an afternoon off
3. an unexpected free day
4. a week's vacation
5. a sabbatical

1. a 15 minute break—I’d use it to sit and meditate.

2. an afternoon off – On a day like today when it’s very cold outside, I’d probably either read or go to a movie. If it were warmer, I’d work on the yard or go down by the river. And if it were –oh, I can’t wait—spring or summer, I’d go somewhere where I could be among flowers!

3. an unexpected free day – Depending on the weather, going to the theater or a museum, hiking, swimming, visiting friends.

4. a week's vacation – Travel, travel, travel to some place I haven't been yet!

5. a sabbatical – Assuming there was money for it and my family could come with me, I’d go to live in another country for a while—perhaps Italy or the French countryside—learn to speak the language better, do some short trips to neighboring countries, and spend the rest of the time writing a book.

Gifts of the Spirit

Today at RevGalBlogPals, Presbyterian Girl wrote: Anyway, it's Pentecost (You won't know it's Pentecost at South this Sunday. People have inappropriately loaded so many other things into the service that there's no time left for Pentecost.) and my very first Friday Five! Thinking about all the gifts of the spirit and what Peter said of the "last days"......

Have you or anyone you know

1. ...ever experienced a prophesy (vision or dream) that came true?

I’ve had two extremely vivid dreams in my life that continue to be guiding truths for me. Would I call either a prophesy? Nope.

2. ...dreamed of a stranger, then actually met them later?

No.

3. ...seen a wonder in heaven? (including UFO's)

Seems to me that so much of the heavens are so awesome that I see wonders whenever I look up. But UFO’s- no—though I keep hoping to see the U.S.S. Enterprise appearing in the sky!

4. ...seen a "sign" on the earth?

Nope, no “signs” in the sense that you probably mean them, though plenty of signs that have come to function for me as “signs”.

5. ...experienced knowledge of another language without ever having studied it?

Some languages I’ve had to learn—Hebrew for example—have come to me almost immediately when I’ve begun to study them while others—like Greek or German—have been almost impossible for me to get my mind around. But I’ve never just started speaking or understanding another language out of the blue.

My grandmother, perhaps the wisest woman I've ever known, believed that all of these "gifts of the spirit" were possible and had stories about most of them, so I've always been open to experiencing them, but so far I haven't.

Wait and Pray

Sally created this week's Friday Five for RevGalBlogPals:

Part of the Ascension Day Scripture from Acts 11 contains this promise from Jesus;

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Then he was taken from their sight into the clouds, two angels appeared and instructed the probably bewildered disciples to go back to Jerusalem, where they began to wait and to pray for the gift Jesus had promised.

Prayer is a joy to some of us, and a chore to others, waiting likewise can be filled with anticipation or anxiety....

So how do you wait and pray?

1. How do you pray best, alone or with others?

I’m not sure what best means, but I find myself most fully in prayer when I’m alone. More and more often that centering and openness will be during my times of silent meditation, though I will also pray while playing my flute or guitar. Praying aloud with or on behalf of others is hard for me, unless it’s a prayer gathering up joys and concerns that have just been shared. Even after all these years, it’s the part of my pastoral job with which I am most uncomfortable. It feels presumptuous of me to feel assume that my words are going to express the unspoken concerns of others that are often too deep for words. I often feel in those situations that prayer becomes like the definition in the poster above. And it feels even more presumptuous to then expect others to take my words and read them as their prayers to God.

2. Do you enjoy the discipline of waiting, is it a time of anticipation or anxiety?

If it’s something I’m looking forward to, I generally wait with a lot of anticipation and, sometimes, a little anxiety. If it’s the unknown future and what it holds, I wait with anticipation and excitement. But if it’s waiting for hospitality and love around some social justice issue, I wait like the importunate widow –with an anxious and somewhat annoying persistence.

3. Is there a time when you have waited upon God for a specific promise?

I’m not sure I wait for a specific promise for anything from God as much as I wait for a call, a confirmation, an intuitive sensing of what/where/how God wants me to live and respond next. When I was younger, I found this waiting hard and became restless in the process. Now I’ve come (mostly) to enjoy the process itself for the ways in which it helps me hear that prompting more and more clearly.

4. Do you prefer stillness or action?

I prefer a combination of the two. When it’s been a busy ‘action’ period, as it has been in the last few weeks, I prefer stillness as a way to keep myself present and centered. That stillness can be by grabbing time for meditation or music, or more recently, from yoga as well. When I’ve had longer periods of stillness, I find myself raring to go, wanting action to embody what I’ve been getting in touch with in the stillness.

5. If ( and this is slightly tongue in cheek) you were promised one gift spiritual or otherwise what would you choose to receive?

I’d expected to write as an answer to this the one ability I’ve always really, really wanted to have but don’t—the ability to sing well. But instead, if I think about it, these days the gift I’d like would be the ability to respond with patience, openness, and love to people (including myself) when they remain politely indifferent to the hurting of others.

An Old Versus Modern (Postmodern?) Friday Five

At RevGalBlogPals, Singing Owl writes:

Yesterday I had two separate conversations in which people were musing about how much change is occurring. The WW II generation, of which my mom is a part, went from horse and buggy to automobiles, saw the lessening, or even the end of many diseases, went from widespread use of kerosene lamps and outhouses (in the country, and most folks were rural)) to a totally electrified and plumbed society. The fastest means of communication was a telegraph. The second conversation--gulp--was about MY generation and how much change occurred in the last half of the 20th century. The person said his 13 year old had not seen a vinyl record album until a few days before, couldn't remember a time without cell phones, and on and on.
As for the questions!

1. What modern convenience/invention could you absolutely, positively not live
without?

My iPod. I not only listen to music on it—whether in the car, in the garden, or when out on a walk—but also use it for audiobooks, keeping my photos with me (instead of those chunky picture inserts in my wallet), and keep my calendar on it. Aside from my glasses (without which I can’t see) there’s probably nothing I carry with me more than my iPod.

2. What modern convenience/invention do you wish had never seen the light of day? Why?

Cell phones, especially textmessages on cell phones! Before cell phones there wasn’t the expectation that I’d be accessible 24-7. Before cell phones (especially blackberries!) we didn’t have constant interference on the church PA system. Before cell phones, I could work in my garden or go for a walk without being interrupted by business calls or children’s texts (of messages that they want me to know but don’t’ want to talk about).

3. Do you own a music-playing device older than a CD player? More than one? If
so, do you use it (them)?

I own, but almost never use, a Walkman cassette player. And I own a record player which I periodically use to listen to records that I haven’t been able to find on CD or that sound better to me on vinyl.

4. Do you find the rapid change in our world exciting, scary, a mix...or something
else?

I find it exciting and, once in a while, scary. There’s a lot of new possibilities (good and bad) to weigh in the new technologies that are being developed, a lot of amazing things to experience and experiment with, and SO MANY things to learn how to use. I’ll never be a native in this new world but I love seeing ways in which we can become more of a positive global village because of the changes taking place. After all, without this rapid change, I’d never be able to have any contact with folks from RevGalBlogPals.

5. What did our forebears have that we have lost and you'd like to regain? Bonus
points if you have a suggestion of how to begin that process.

The wonder of time on the front porch. Ray Bradbury has a wonderful description of front porch days in Dandelion Wine:

“About seven o’clock you could hear the chairs scraping back from the tables, someone experimenting with a yellow-toothed piano, if you stood outside the dining-room window and listened. Matches being struck, the first dishes bubbling in the suds, and tinkling on the wall racks, somewhere, faintly, a phonograph playing. And then as the evening changed the hour, at house after house on the twilight streets, under the immense oaks and elms, on shady porches, people would begin to appear, like those figures who tell good or bad weather in rain-or-shine clocks.

Uncle Bert, perhaps, Grandfather, then Father and some of the cousins: the men all coming out first into the syrupy evening, leaving the women’s voices behind in the cooling-warm kitchen to set their universe aright. Then the first male voices under the porch brim, the feet up, the boys fringed on the worn steps or wooden rails where sometimes during the evening something, a boy or a geranium pot, would fall off.

At last, like ghosts hovering momentarily behind the door screen, Grandma, Great-grandma, and Mother would appear, and the men would shift, move, and offer seats. The women carried varieties of fans with them, folded newspapers, bamboo whisks, or perfumed kerchiefs, to start the air moving about their faces as they talked.

What they talked of all evening long, no one remembered the next day. It wasn’t important to anyone what the adults talked about; it was only important that the sounds came and went over the delicate ferns that bordered the porch on three sides; it was only important that the darkness filled the town like black water being poured over the houses, and that the conversations went on and on…. Sitting on the summer-night porch was so good, so easy and so reassuring that it could never be done away with. These were rituals that were right and lasting…”

Friday Five: What Are You Doing For Lent?

Here are RevGalBlogPals Friday Five for the week:


1. Did you celebrate Mardi Gras and/or Ash Wednesday this week? How?
Instead of Mardi Gras, my congregation and I celebrated Dimanche Gras the Sunday before—lots of bright colors, jazzy music, drumming along with communion in worship, followed by a potluck meal afterwards.

2. What was your most memorable Mardi Gras/Ash Wednesday/Lent?
Probably my second Lent while attending a Catholic high school. The first year really showed me what Lent was all about. By the second year, I’d sorted through the traditions and was able to apply those that fit my more Protestant upbringing.

3. Did you/your church/your family celebrate Lent as a child? If not, when and how did you discover it?
Not really. The Reformed and Presbyterian churches we attended mentioned Lent once or twice during the season and then focused on Palm Sunday and Easter (skipping most of holy week as well as the rest of the Lenten season). At home we gave something—usually chocolate—up for Lent. But there wasn’t much depth behind any of it. It wasn't until I was sent to Catholic school that I became aware of the liturgical seasons.

4. Are you more in the give-up camp, or the take-on camp, or somewhere in between?
It depends on the year and what feels most like it will help me along the wilderness journey path for the issues in my life at the time. Some years, that means giving up something that I’ve found standing in my way of practicing resurrection. Other years, it’s meant taking on something. For the last two years, for example, I’ve added the practice of keeping “fixed-hour” prayer (using Phyllis Tickle’s The Divine Hours ).

5. How do you plan to keep Lent this year?
Lenten devotions and prayer, meditation, and the reading of Bread and Wine along with RevGalBlogPals.

Options, options

At this week’s RevGalBlogPals’ Friday Five, the “options, options edition”, Sally asks:

First Superbowl ( someone explain to this Brit the significance)- love it or hate it?
I used to consider watching the Superbowl for the commercial breaks when many of the better commercials we’re going to see in 2008 are aired for the first time. Last year, many of these were even awful, so…now the only good thing about the Superbowl is that, once it’s over, there’s no more football on TV for a very long while!!! Hurray!!!

Second Candlemas/ Imbloc/ Groundhog day/ St Brigid's day- all of these fall on either the 1st or 2nd February.

1. Do you celebrate one or more of these?
Nope, not very often. Last year, though, I had a great time down in Little Italy celebrating the feast of San Gennaro, a 3rd century martyr. Great cannolis!

2. How?
(see 1)

3. Is this a bit of fun or deeply significant?
I think it could be fun to celebrate them—especially if they’re like the celebration for San Gerraro!

4. Are festivals/ Saints days important to you?
No, though part of me wishes they were. The idea has an appeal to it.

5.Name your favourite Saints day/ celebration.
Probably St. Francis, since I love animals and early October is a beautiful time of year in the northeastern US.

Friday Five: Dental Edition

As posted by reverendmother over at RevGalBlogPals:

Cheesehead and I are both laid up this week with various tooth maladies. This one's in honor of us:

1. Are you a regular patron of dentists' offices? Or, do you go a) faithfully, as long as you have insurance, or b) every few years or so, whether you need it or not, or c) dentist? what is this "dentist" thing you speak of?
A and C. I used to be a regular patron, growing up and for most of my adulthood. The church I currently serve doesn’t provide dental insurance as part of its medical coverage though, so in recent years I’ve had to stop going except for medical emergencies.

2. Whatever became of your wisdom teeth?
Two of them have been removed and two are still in my mouth.

3. Favorite thing to eat that's BAAAAAD for your teeth.
Popcorn. I actually asked my dentist about this and he assured me that popcorn is a very healthy snack for your teeth, but I don’t believe it. Parts of kernels get caught between my teeth and irritate my gums when I eat too much of it, so the dentist has got to be wrong. Still, I love popcorn.

4. Ever had oral surgery? Commiserate with me.
I had an impacted wisdom tooth removed right a week after the birth of my first child. Because I was nursing, they did it without novacaine. I’d thought labor had prepared me for any other form of pain, but….

5. "I'd rather have a root canal than _________________."
...be tied to a rack, drawn and quartered, or crucified. Root canals remind me of ancient torture rituals.

Bonus: Does your dentist recommend Trident?
I have no idea—never asked, probably never will.