Terrapin Station

Writing To God Day 11

Rachel says:

In the soaring romantic tale that is Song of Songs, a lover wanders daydreaming through an orchard and is surprised -- in actuality? in imagination? -- by the appearance of her beloved. "I went down to the nut orchard, to look at the blossoms of the valley, to see whether the vines had budded, whether the pomegranates were in bloom. Before I was aware, my fancy set me in a chariot beside my prince." (6:11-12, NRSV)

Friends, pause to daydream today ... and in your marveling, let God surprise and amaze you. Then pick up a pen and write a prayer of thanksgiving.

 

Good morning, God

Today there are two!

Initially there was spitting and fussing

But now they dine together in peace.

Tails on guard !

but in peace.

The cedar tree greens more each day, and birds sing.

In a world, a country, a home of disagreement and predicted crisis...

there can be peace,

even as with these two.

When they disagree, they agree to do it

and move on.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Friday Five: Frodo and Sam

Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.
Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for.

===oOo===

In these last few weeks there's been all kinds of bad news. Tornadoes and a blizzard. Gun violence and a legislative body squabbling like toddlers over budgets, health care and who knows what else. For those of us in the US, it's tax season. Yuck.

We're only in the second week of Lent. Easter's a long way off. And here in the Mid-Atlantic region, the weather can't seem to make up its mind. Is it winter? Is it spring? Will it snow? Will it rain? Are my daffodils doomed if they actually BLOOM next week like they are threatening to?

So this week's Friday Five is courtesy of my good friends Frodo and Sam. Tell me 5 things that are good in our world. Or your world. Photos are a bonus.

Thanks, Deb! I really needed this. Here are mine:

1. The squirrel who comes to my window every day for sunflower seeds. I interchangeably call him Max and Bob. Here he is. :) Say hi! Choose whichever name you like.  

2. The cedar tree you can see greening up behind him.

3. My public library. It's recycled: it used to be a Food Lion grocery store, and after that closed, the building was cleverly repurposed. I adore it.  Click here to see the project portfolio. I love the kids' areas.

4. This organization in my city: I Heart Denton. From their website:  i[heart]denton’s sole goal is to provide humanitarian aid to those in need, within our city. Through actively engaging in community benevolence, i[heart]denton strives to freely provide basic resources to help increase the quality of life to the citizens of Denton, TX. Mostly what I've seen them do so far is bring and install fans and air conditioners for people in the community who cannot afford them...and they are a necessity here. Especially for the ill and elderly.

5. Our kiddos, who are well and healthy and succeeding at their current pursuits. Miss Holley has built a beautiful house where she lives with her partner TJ, and she continues to love her EMT career.  

and Brandon works at UNT and has a dear and wonderful girlfriend, a hairstylist, whom we adore:

 

I am grateful.

Writing to God Day 8

We must -- at some point along our Lenten journey -- be candid about death. Lent begins with the reminder of our mortality, with the ashes from which we are knit together, and the season reaches its climax in the crucifixion of Jesus.

The truth of death is painful, which is why (as I wrote here) it is important that we keep one another company in the shadows of death. Even Jesus, praying at Gethsemane before his death, asked his friends to keep him company. "Then he said to them, 'I am deeply grieved, even to death; remain here and stay awake with me.'" (Matthew 26:8, NRSV)

In your prayer-writing, seek the comforting companionship of the Spirit through the worries of death.

My God,

I am not afraid to be dead,

but I am afraid my life will last longer than my body.

I am afraid of being ill alone.

I know you will be with me;

I am still afraid.

Thank you for letting me say so.

Writing to God: the Mockingbird

Rachel says:

Today's prompt begins with verse 6 of the familiar Psalm 139 (NRSV): "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it." The psalmist's use of "high" here indicates "expansive, beyond reach" . . . but what inspiration and insight might we find today if we literally gaze at high places, at nearby mountains, for example, or at the sky? Look up today. Let the high places catch your eye and your imagination. Be full of wonder as you pick up your pen to pray.

 

The mockingbird sits to sing

on the topmost branch of the tree outside my window

It's three stories and a bit

as high as she can go!

Every day she sings songs she's learned from others

Around the neighborhood she goes,

Celebrating and praising in many many languages

Listen to the mockingbird! O, ye birds of other hues

Praise the Lord with your songs!

 

 

Kids in Church

I visited a new church this weekend. It's one I've been to before, for special services and on Saturday night, but this was the first time on a Sunday morning.

I liked it very much. It reminds me of the church I grew up in, architecturally and personality-wise, despite the "high church" flourishes that prevail up here in The North Country. 

This parish had switched from Rite II to Rite I for Lent, so Eucharist was words that were deeply familiar and also new-ish to me, through recent non-use.

During the Gospel I realized that there weren't very many children in the nave and wondered about it.

And then during the Eucharist, I saw children and adults outside, coming past the windows on my right, obviously joining the congregation for Communion. I was so enchanted with looking at them as they passed the narrow windows that I almost missed my opportunity to go up for Communion. 

The kids came, and came, and kept coming. They had clearly been doing a craft that involved making foam visors with foam stickers on them, and most were wearing their creations. And they were all smiling broadly. 

And so was I.

Have you seen this piece going around Facebook called, "Your Screaming Kids are Distracting Me"? I was finding it very distracting to be in a church without children. So grateful that so many came to surprise me! 

 

 (image from Michaels.com)

Writing to God

Today's prayer prompt begins with Jesus' lament in Luke 13:34 (NRSV): "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!"

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus leans on metaphors (especially parables) to teach fuller understanding of faith and of God. Here in Luke 13, a metaphor demonstrates the keenness of his love for the people despite the strident tone of his speech. For your prayer-writing today, create a new metaphor for Jesus. You might let yourself get carried away and write a list of metaphors; you might choose one metaphor that expands into a prayer. For inspiration with your metaphor(s), just look around you!

 

Unseen jet plane

streaking through a fading sky

reflected in the sun's dimming rays

I barely see your edge some days

and other days not at all

you are always there

you are mystery

Friday Five: Lent

 Jan asks at RevGals:

1. Oddly this year, the second day of Lent was Valentine's Day. How was this for you? Was Valentine's Day any different being in Lent? Nope. There were opportunities to eat chocolate and donuts, but I was already eschewing those, so no difference. 

2. Did you celebrate Mardi Gras/Shrove Tuesday this year? Any memories of memorable celebrations past? I managed to find and wear my Mardi Gras beads to work, and that was pretty much my observation. Usually I'm at a pancake supper, but see above. 

3. How about Ash Wednesday, past and/or present?  This year I was home on the couch feeling horrible, although I'd planned to go to church for the 7 pm service. I hate to miss that service; it means a lot to me, so I read through the liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer and called myself to a holy Lent:

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 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. And, to make a right beginning
of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now
kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.

4. Do you have a personal plan of give-ups, take-ons, special ministries, and/or a special focus for your own spiritual growth between now and Easter? There's something private I'm doing. Also, I'm writing daily prayers thanks to Rachel Hackenberg's prompts, and I'm reading the Sermon on the Mount each day. There's a group on FB doing the latter, and so far I find that pulling it out of my bag and giving a read each day is illuminating. I'll have to let you know how it feels after 40 days.

5. Do you have a book or a website you are reading often during Lent? Lent Madness!  I pray both collects daily.

Words of love

One night at dinner, early in the BE, a recently-engaged person asked one of the RevGals who's been married a good little while if she had any advice of a sucessful relationship sort.

The person who'd been questioned considered, and then said, "Outdo one another in love."

She went on to say that her husband's parents had lived by that maxim and it had been very good for them. 

I have been reflecting on that. My husband told me recently that he never remembers seeing his parents show any affection to one another. I found that so sad...mine did it and still do. 

In the daily life of marriage, it's easy to forget little sweetnesses. Early on in our marriage, my husband pointed out to me that I was speaking to him condescendingly...and I know just where I saw that modeled! I was glad he told me. I learned to stop it (mostly) and if I do it now, he tells me so.

Tuesday night I came home and said, "I am so exhausted...I really want a drink, and you know it's bad if I come home wanting to drink." Ken said, "Let me make you one." And he did. 

That doesn't sound so amazing, except that for so long he has felt so bad that he barely had enough oomph to get up out of his own chair and go to the bathroom...much less make me a drink.A special Bloody Mary, to be exact.  

I was utterly charmed.

Saturday past, we'd planned to go fishing, but we didn't because it was cold out. Instead he took me out to breakfast...something he doesn't like to do and he knows I LOVE.

At night, sometimes, I turn over and put my hand on his arm, and he takes my hand.  In May, we'll have been married 14 years. It is good.

Here's what my favorite author has to say about it:

To a Long Loved Love: 7 (by Madeleine L'Engle) 

Because you're not what I would have you be
I blind myself to who, in truth, you are.
Seeking mirage where desert blooms, I mar
Your you.  Aaah, I would like to see
Past all delusion to reality:
Then would I see God's image in your face,
His hand in yours, and in your eyes his grace.
Because I'm not what I would have me be,
I idolize two who are not any place,
Not you, not me, and so we never touch.
Reality would burn.  I do not like it much.
And yet in you, in me, I find a trace
Of love which struggles to break through
The hidden lovely truth of me, of you.

(in The Irrational Season)

Okay, change of plans for Lent...

The Ignatian Spirituality thing wasn't really jiving for me, and yesterday when I went to the site for the prompt I couldn't get in for a while.

So I am here to say that instead I am doing my private thing, and also writing prayers from Rachel Hackenberg's prompts. 

I started the latter before Lent, actually, and the first prayer I wrote was so personal I didn't feel I wanted to publish it on the blog. But it was very, very powerful! So, I may not publish everything I write...but I will try to write about the process. 

Here's today's prompt, read on my phone as I headed to a potentially difficult meeting. It gave me a rush of courage! that was only second to knowing that some praying folks had my back, too. 

***

Today's reading to prompt our prayers is Isaiah 10:21 (NRSV): "A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God." The prophet Isaiah foreshadows warring years for Jerusalem and a scattering of the people, but he also claims with hope that a remnant of the Israelites will be saved from the destruction in order to rebuild the nation. Despite all that will be lost, those who remain will be Israel's good news.

Many of us have experienced moments of devastating loss. Sometimes we've known long seasons of loss, when it feels that life is stripped bare and hope is a word only for the privileged. Life breaks us into pieces. To those seasons of our lives, Isaiah brings amazing good news: God only needs pieces to rebuild the whole. God can replenish a fire-devastated forest with just a few seeds, and God is fully capable of renewing life with just a few remnants.

In your prayer-writing today, observe the devastated or broken places of your life with God, and pray for God's blessing and renewal upon the remnants. (My writing is here: http://rachelhackenberg.com/lent-2-3/)

***

God,

There was a cataclysm of loss one day

in the very same room that feels so scary today.

I thought you had left me, then.

Today, I needed to remember that I lived through that.

In fact, I found my voice in it.

I learned to say, "What's the worst they can do...kill me?"  (with the certainty that it wasn't going to go that far!) 

I found grace in the love and support of others there,

the same as I did today.

I found confidence to remember my voice and speak. 

I held my head up and walked through it.

When I forget to ask your help, I am broken and alone.

Today, I walked on.

With your help, I can continue to walk.

If I had the world to give...

If I had the world to give, I'd give it to you
Long as you live, would you let it fall, or hold it all in your arms?

If I had a song to sing, I'd sing it to you
As long as you live, lullaby or maybe a plain serenade
Wouldn't you laugh, dance, and cry or be afraid at the change you made

I may not have the world to give to you
But maybe I have a tune or two
Only if you let me be your world
Could I ever give this world to you

But I will give what love I have to give,
I will give what love I have to give,
I will give what love I have to give, long as I live.

If I had a star to give, I'd give it to you
Long as you live, would you have the time
To watch it shine, watch it shine
Or ask for the moon and heaven too? I'd give it to you.

Well maybe I've got no star to spare, or anything fine or even rare,
Only if you let me be your world, could I ever give this world to you.
Could I ever give this world to you.

The Grateful Dead