The Most Oft Asked Question

It isn't a deeply theological question. The rise and fall of humanity doesn't rest on the question or the answer. There is no heresy attached to the inquiry or the response. The most oft question?? What do I do with an old bible?

I am afraid people don't like my answer -- what do you do with other books you no longer need/use? Somehow the thought of throwing it out doesn't sit well with people. "What if I burn it?"they ask, as if, I imagine, it is an American flag. I personally have a problem with burning books.

So imagine my surprise, when there on the side of the road, north of the Seneca Rocks in West Virginia, I saw the following sign:

You know what this means, don't you? That's what you do when you have an old bible -- you send it to the Bible Cemetery, in West Virginia! Who knew?

(North of Capulin, NM are the Folsom Falls. http://www.sangres.com/statenm/folsomfalls01.htm
tells about the area. I was "snapping shots" when I looked back over my shoulder and clearly saw "the dog" in the rocks looking at me. A week later during the photo workshop, I again visited the site, and although I knew where he was, he was not as clear to me as he had been a week later. I wrote this poem during the Writer's Retreat)

Great Guardian of the waters –
quietly you assumed your watch
before we walked the earth.
For generation upon generation
you have been “faithful companion”
to all who seek your waters.
We look your way, but only later see your face.

Silent sentinel of the depths –
earth, water
each fights for a place
emerging from history to find its home.
You are rock and you stand
secure in the midst of the continuing chaos of creation.

Faithful friend, observant of all –
those who seek to master the land
who tame waters, who domesticate fields –
We look your way, but only later see your face.
When you look our way, what is it you see in us?

Mandala Blessing

(the final project in the Writer's Retreat was to create a blessing -- right up my line of writing! -- so here it is!)

Mandala Blessing (at the close of the Writer’s Retreat, 2008)

To the Spirit of Creation
who holds the vastness of our lives and our lands

To the One who makes us whole,
who makes us one with creation,
one with our companions in this journey, and
one with the depths of our Spirit

To the One who hovers over the
beauty and fierceness of the earth
over our very spirits,
over the creations of our hearts –

To this Great God
we offer our profoundest thanks
our most joyful praise
our deepest love
for you have blessed us with a new landscape of the heart.

And may this One
continue with us
bring our life, our love, our laughter and our creations to birth
and bless us on the way. Amen.

Babies in the Barbeque

Doting parents they are, this bluebird couple. He, a luminous blue -- a blue like the clear, cold waters of the Sierra ponds and streams -- a blue that appears refreshing and restful, and yet invigorating. She, in typical fashion, is understated in her colorings and markings, but there is no misunderstanding her. Her very presence tells you that you are in the shadow of a magnificent, caring creature.

You couldn't miss hearing the cries. The sound of the baby birds filled the deck -- "Mom and Dad will be back soon!" And return they did, with a morsel of food to be broken and shared -- enough for all.

Satiated for a moment, the young ones fell silent. Mr. & Mrs. would head out for more food. The nest in the BBQ grill goes undisturbed.

Dusted

Capulin looms large on the horizon. You know the presence of primeval heat and power. . .the core of the earth pushing up and pushing out. One hundred thousand years ago or more, that which was deep within sought to escape – to be freed from the confines of the deep.

There it sits on the horizon, further away than we suppose, and yet beckoning us with its lone road cutting across the landscape.

But off in the distance, barely visible, a range of mountains lies dusted with snow. Its garment of white likewise beckons us on to the freshness of the mountain snow. Its beauty comes from the outside – from water and cold in the right combination – at the right time and the right place. And so the snow, dusting as it does, transforms from the outside.

Beauty and power emerging from within and bestowed upon from without.

Laundry, Part II

The irony is not lost on me!
A mere two days ago I wrote of doing my laundry and pondering my leadership skills and style. Today, our last full day at the Disney Institute (we "graduate" tomorrow!) we had our second and final on site field trip to. . .yes, you guessed it, the laundry facility!

We saw only one operation -- housekeeping laundry (there are two others -- costuming and restaurant). It is a huge operation. Think huge and then think bigger than that. And all of it happens with the same commitment to vision and purpose that you would find in any other cast area, but in a total of eight different languages!

So, I am challenged tonight, as I slip the washcloth off the rack, to think not simply of the joy of having a clean one to use, but of the many hands which have touched and cared for this one item since last it was used. And to think that in their own way, they each have contributed to making my experience here a magical one!

We are not alone in this world, in this life. We depend on others -- seen and unseen. We depend on others -- who have learned lessons we have taught and lessons we have skipped. The trick is to be thankful. . .to be thankful with an abundant heart!

Laundry, who'd have thought!

Doing Laundry

Can there be a more mundane task -- while on vacation -- than to do one's laundry? At least we are no longer pounding it on rocks and leaving it to dry on the trees -- but here I am at Walt Disney World -- learning about Leadership Excellence at the Disney Institute and doing my wash (and dry) after hours. Go figure.

I've already had a good couple of days here at the Parks running around with a friend (okay, four and a half days). It has been beastly hot (low to mid-90's) and the ground radiates the heat, and I sweat like it is going out of style. Still, we have seen shows, ridden rides, met people, seen fireworks, played as pirates one evening (aaargh, matey!), and marveled at the number of things we were seeing for the first time (even when we've already seen the attraction countless time).

I think maybe the Leadership Excellence course is about these two things -- seeing my leadership approach and style with new or fresh eyes, and being willing to launder it -- clean it up a bit (or maybe a lot) and get it ready for all that is ahead.

Who knew that the laundry would be that productive?!?!?

Post Rapture Radio

In his book by the same name, Russell Rathbun tells about un-covering a box of miscellaneous writings (sermons, random notes on the backs of cereal boxes, a journal and other writings) which once belonged to the Rev. Richard Lamblove. Lamblove is railing again the Contemporary Christian Culture Conspiracy (C4) and their seeming take over of the world. C4, among other things, seeks to preach the message of Christ to everyone, so that the whole earth would hear it, and Jesus would come back and the world would end.

In one of Lamblove's dreams (visions?) he is talking with "Idiot John" (John the Baptist? John of Patmos/Revelation?) about the end of the world.

"Is the world going to end?" (asks Lamblove)
And I'll tell you what he told me: "What if the world ends one person at a time? And what if the New World begins one person at a time? And what if you bring each person over the line, help them to die, by wasting time with them, listening to them, taking advice from them, or eating with them at a dinner table -- a communion table."

As Professor Andy Dearman at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary would say -- that'll preach! I like this book. Not everyone will. You might. Read it and see.

(Post-Rapture Radio: Lost Writings from a Failed Revolution, by Russell Rathbun, San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2005)

New Math

Wasn't it that great, iconic songwriter Tom Lehrer who once wrote about new math?

Hooray for new math. . .it's so simple, so very simple, that only a child can do it. (I remember quite well, my beloved father, throwing his hands up in the air when it was time for out math homework!)

I am back from my first visit to the Tennessee Fitness Spa (www.tfspa.com). I had a good week. Everyone walks in the morning. There are three groups -- A, B, & C -- and the water walkers. We (the C group) started at 2.5 miles and added mileage each day so that by Saturday it was a five mile walk. I averaged just over a twenty-minute-mile by Saturday! Stretching and water aerobics filled the rest of the day. I met some truly wonderful people who were encouraging and supportive.

Oh yeah, the new math.

I only lost 1/4 of a pound, but I lost a total of twelve inches -- that's right, twelve inches -- mostly in the thighs, but a bit "up north" as well. Turns out I was making lean muscle the whole week. New math, indeed!

The purpose of all trips. . .

The purpose of all trips, as G.K. Chesterton used to say, is to come home.
So, the purpose of the pilgrimage is to come home–
but to come home with new eyes and a new heart.
If we return home the same as when we left,
then the pilgrimage has not been successful
and perhaps has just been a pious vacation where shrines are visited
instead of nightclubs.

(Pray all Ways, Edward Hays, Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 2007. p 73)

Yesterday morning during fellowship hour, one of the congregation members pulled me aside and asked: Do you know where your home is? The asking of the question touched me, and the answer is yes, I know where it is. My home is where my heart is and where my heart is kept by others.

People keep asking when I am going -- as if to go away is the only way to pilgrimage. It might be more challenging to pilgrimage while at home, but I look forward to the challenge.

Here's to new eyes and a new heart!

Counting Days

Last night, amid the tinkling of icicles on the trees, I was stunned to think -- four weeks from today, I will be on Sabbatical. This is something I have thought about, dreamed about, planned for -- for well, quite a long time. So I have been "finding" my desk at the office (why is it taking being out of the office for four months for me to do that?) -- and writing to-do lists. All of this amid the planning and preparation of Lent and Easter. And in the midst of all this, it dawned on me -- I want to do this Sabbatical "right."

Of course that means that I think there is a "right way" and a "wrong way" to do Sabbatical. I know what wrong would be -- ignoring the boarders and boundaries of being away. But somehow what I know as the "right way" seems reckless -- all this getting away -- read, relaxing, resting. . .

And yet, we were created for that as well.

So I plan -- I purpose -- I pray. Sabbatical -- time away.