Today

...while the blossoms still cling to the vine...

(I miss you, John Denver...):

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I am in love with this from tomorrow's lectionary, especially the bolded part:

Isaiah 60:1-6

Arise, shine; for your light has come,

and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.

For darkness shall cover the earth,

and thick darkness the peoples;

but the LORD will arise upon you,

and his glory will appear over you.

Nations shall come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Lift up your eyes and look around;

they all gather together, they come to you;

your sons shall come from far away,

and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses' arms.

Then you shall see and be radiant;

your heart shall thrill and rejoice,

because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you,

the wealth of the nations shall come to you.

A multitude of camels shall cover you,

the young camels of Midian and Ephah;

all those from Sheba shall come.

They shall bring gold and frankincense,

and shall proclaim the praise of the LORD.

Haven't you seen that radiance, briefly?  Those are the Godlights in our lives.  I look forward to being it myself. 

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Have been to Jazzercise this am.  Got measured (in many many places) for the new session of Personal Touch program.  Amazingly, they had my old sheet from the first time I took it, so I got to compare my scores today and in January of 2005.  Not a pretty picture, but one I knew about.  (This is no reflection on the PT program...rather on the fact that I have not been to it much at all!)

That's cool.  Today's the first day of the rest of my life.  :)  And this is just the fifth day of THE BEST YEAR EVER. 

Back home, oatmeal for breakfast, dog baths.  I've done a tremendous amount of filing and shredding the last few days and that will continue.  Ken and I will be going to see Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story later.  I shall provide a review for your interest.  EDITED TO ADD:  As one of the online reviews I read said, this is both the stupidest movie you have seen in a long time, and the cleverest.  I think the stupid won out.  Oh well!  :)  At least I didn't expect any more of it than I did.

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So, I mentioned my big exciting plans for the Spring!  Here you are: 

In a few weeks, Ken and I are going to see Terry Fator, recent winner of America's Got Talent, in Corsicana...Ken's and Terry's hometown.  Ken's sister is a friend of Terry's. 

In February, I am going with some folks from church to hear Brian McLaren speak on the Everything Must Change tour in Dallas. 

In late March, just after Easter, there is of course the RevGalBlogPals Big Event!  We are cruising toward better selves in a program called Thy Grace is Sufficient:  The Myth of Superwoman as the Enemy to Self Care.  I am SO excited to be spending time and deepening relationships with so many wonderful folks I have met through this webring (and a few in person!).  This has been in the works for A LONG TIME and I'm just thrilled. 

and...a drum roll...

in early March I'm attending the Perkins Theological School for the Laity, an annual weekend program at the Methodist seminary in Dallas.  Here's the brochure.  I've been interested in this for months, since DogBlogger mentioned it to me in the springtime.  And I've been saving my pennies, and I'm going!  There are evening lectures by Alyce McKenzie and Diana Butler Bass (!!) and I'm taking two workshops:  a two-day with Diana Butler Bass called "The Practicing Congregation: Imagining a New Old Church" and a one-day called "Five Alive! Reading the Bible with All Five Senses".  Just the recommended reading for the sessions has thrilled me to pieces.  Woot! 

We had a warm & damp front come through in the night, so instead of getting up to freezing cold and ice where the lawn sprinklers have been, it's going to get up to 77 degrees F today.  That's north Texas in the winter...wait five minutes and it'll change again.  It'll actually be back into the low thirties by Tuesday...

Blessings on your Epiphany and your epiphanies in the days to come. 

Comments

[DogBlogger]

I am so glad you're going! Wish I could go, too, but I'm going to have to skip this year because of all the vacation time I'm taking for General Conference. One of my co-workers will probably cover the Diana Butler Bass evening lecture, though. I'll have to tell you some of my favorite people to look for.

[Cathy]

Wow --- you are doing alot - admiring you for your devotion and delving into this. Looks like your spring is jam packed full!

[mompriest]

Diana Butler Bass spoke at my seminary alumnea (gosh, can't spell) event two years ago on the same topic- she is awesome. It was a total epiphany experience for me and small church sigh...I hope you like it.

You have an awesome line up scheduled...

[WideningCircles]

Your seminary weekend sounds really cool; March is going to be a terrific month for you!

[Songbird]

I can't wait to see you again!

[Elastigirl]

Is this supposed to be a blessing? "A multitude of camels shall cover you" - made me giggle in the middle of the reading the first time I heard it this morning...sounds smelly!

I'm looking forward to the parts of these we get to do together - it will be a great spring!!

[Gigi]

My cousin Ted teaches at the Perkins School at SMU :-) Although it doesn't look like he'll be teaching any of the courses at your Laity weekend. Here's his bio:
http://www.smu.edu/theology/people/campbell.html

LOVE YOU!

[DogBlogger]

Forgot to mention that I covered Brian McLaren a couple of months ago, which is why I'm not splurging on the "Everything Must Change" tour. It was a real treat for that to be "work!" Let me know if you want the link to my story.

[stcasserole]

Wonderful things to come in the New Year for you! Excited for you! I intend to have a good long visit with you on the BE! Can't wait to see you! Going to Laity school? You are SO cool!

[Mary Beth]

Yeah, EG, the camels sound like a mess! And all those people and all that stuff...

I guess there's got to be an organizational method built into this prophecy. Camel wranglers?

[lorna (see-through faith)]

excited for you :) it all sounds lovely and I'm very jealous but happy that it's YOU who is getting to do all these lovely things :)

[Sally]

wow- a busy spring indeed- may you be blessed in and through all of this.