Blog – Top of JC’s Mind

One-Liner Wednesday: Eve Merriam quote

I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, Mother, what was war?
–  Eve Merriam

join in with Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays:  http://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/08/20/one-liner-wednesday-theoretically/

From Susan Cushman – Mental Health Monday: Modern Art, Mandalas, and Origami

http://susancushman.com/mental-health-monday-modern-art-mandalas-and-origami/

While I am busy helping out family and catching up on things, I am blessed to have great blogger-friends with wisdom to share. I hope you will enjoy Susan’s wonderful post on the place that visual arts can take in a writer’s life.

This post reminds me of my friend Yvonne, who is a visual artist and spritiual companion and has done so much to give others opportunities to express themselves through the arts. And of my friend Chrstine who is about a decade older than Susan but who also loves to color and share spiritually with friends and family. And of my daughter Trinity who loves origami, especially making cranes and birds, and has gifted many people with origami she has made.

When the Circle of Life Feels More Like a Box

A beautiful reflection on grief and friendship from a high school friend who has recently begun blogging.

jazzyjeweljude's avatarjazzyjeweljude

IMG_439808736277A dear friend of mine lost his mother this week. The moments of death & grief unfold unexpectedly yet predictably. That is, not knowing when or how they will arrive, they will come. And as a close friend who, as any of us do, wants to help ease the pain, I realize such skill doesn’t always easily come. And maybe it’s not suppose to. I can think of no more solitary journey than that of grief. Being surrounded by love, family and friends cannot, nor should it, alleviate that sacred walk along immortality and mortality, finite and infinite. Life and death. We all breathe it everyday, witness it ad nauseum through news media which desensitizes us with over sensationalism giving little to no regard for the sanctity of life and death. And the most difficult observation while grieving is the harsh realization that life around us marches on. How is…

View original post 227 more words

inclusion

This morning’s service was one of the most inclusive I have attended in a long time. I won’t name the church or the priest, who was a visitor, for his protection, as the freedom with which he treated the mass texts would land him in hot water with the bishop, although, interestingly, I doubt Pope Francis would bat an eye.

The gospel story (Mathew 15:21-28) was about the Canaanite woman who begs Jesus to save her daughter who is tormented by a demon. At first, Jesus ignores her and the disciples want her to be sent away, yet she persists in her request. Jesus finally says that he has come only for the children of Israel, that it isn’t right to throw the children’s food to the dogs. She answers that even the dogs eat the scraps from the master’s table and Jesus says that her daughter will be healed because of her faith.

I think, though, that what the woman exhibited more strongly than faith was maternal love. I’ve been in the situation of having a sick daughter and know what it feels like to pursue anyone or anything to help your child, even if you have to go against society’s norms to do so. A woman in that culture would not be permitted to approach and talk to a Jewish man, much less follow after him, calling out and begging, but she did it to save her beloved daughter.

In Matthew’s account of the story, even Jesus is a bit slow to recognize that God’s love is universal, that this woman and her daughter are as precious and valuable as Jewish persons are. The priest made this point clear, not only through his homily but also throughout all the prayers of the mass, weaving in references to God’s love for all beings and our own call to love and care for every person without regard to any difference of belief, ethnicity, race, body size, ability, or any other characteristic.

I so appreciated the message and the elegantly consistent way in which it was woven into the mass. That I knew that he, like the Canaanite woman, was bending the rules to do so, was a satisfying delight.

SoCS – time management

I wasn’t sure I was going to have time to do this today because we were moving our daughter to Syracuse in time to begin her grad school orientation on Monday. But we are back home with a bit of time before bed, so I’ll give it a go.

We are back to being empty nesters and I’m hoping to take this opportunity to re-vamp how I spend my time. On weekdays, I will now have 9-10 hours of time on my own, with no one else in the house. I’m hoping to spend some more time exercising. I also hope to be more intentional with my writing time, although I’m not sure how the balance will work out between my blog, my poetry, my personal correspondence, and my comment/advocacy writing on fracking, other environmental issues, and various social justice/progressive causes. I need to put in more time on submitting poetry to journals, hoping that, some day someone will say yes.

I also hope to spend more time with my parents in person, rather than by phone. And I need to spend some time helping at the church library.

There will be a few changes for our evenings, too. Probably lighter dinners with a follow-up walk, weather permitting. And maybe an earlier bedtime.

But not tonight. It’s been a long, exhausting summer and I need a bit more time to unwind before I can fall asleep.

***** ***** ***** *****

This post is part of  Linda’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday. http://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/08/15/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-august-1614/ This week’s prompt is “time.”

One-Liner Wednesday – George Washington Carver quote

“How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong, because someday in life you would have been all of these.”
– George Washington Carver

This is part of Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday:  http://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/08/13/one-liner-wednesday-now/ Join us! It’s fun!

The Joy of Robin Williams

Robin Williams’ family has asked us to remember the joy and laughter he brought to the world.

Although his performances were jaw-dropping in their complexity, skill, poignancy, and humor, my favorite memories of Robin Williams are of his interviews, when his mental agility was on full display. Granted that a public interview for him was also an exercise in improvisation, he displayed a rare ability to rapidly bring to bear dozens of pertinent cultural and human behavioral references relating to any topic whatsoever. And on to the next topic. And the next in a dizzying display of intellect.

I am a great admirer of intellect in and of itself, but what made Robin Williams unique was his ability to couple his intellect with his exquisite sense of the human condition, and, somehow, to do it instantly and with humor.

I’m sure his body of work, including his interviews, will continue to bring laughter and insight for years to come. I wish him the peace that escaped him in this life and pray for consolation for his family and friends.

 

A tiny whispering sound

Today at church, we heard a reading from 1 Kings 19, in which Elijah is waiting for God to pass by. There are all manner of powerful signs – wind, earthquake, fire – but God is not in them, but in a tiny whispering sound that follows. We also sang the Quaker hymn “How Can I Keep from Singing” which emphasizes inner calm in the midst of storms and tumult.

Given that there is plenty of tumult in the world today – Iraq, Syria, Israel/Gaza, Ukraine, the ebola outbreak in west Africa, drought, wildfire, earthquakes, floods, storms of all sorts – and stress in my own life with my parents’ recent hospitalization and the impending move of my younger daughter as she begins grad school, I appreciated the reminder to listen for the voice of God in quiet ways.

Health care workers helping those in need of medical attention locally and around the world, a hand-made card and note for my parents from an artist friend who lives a floor below them, those working for peaceful resolution to conflicts, friends reaching out to ask how I am doing, those donating to feed the hungry, a visit from my sister and her husband, people sending out prayers for peace, healing, and strength.

The tiny whispering sounds of God and the movement of the Spirit passing by.

One-Liner Wednesday – Healing Mandala Quilt

“May the wounds which pierce us open us to the Divine Center and to each other.”
– quote accompanying a Healing Mandala Quilt by Janet Rutkowski (2002), hanging on the wall of the Interfaith Chapel at Wilson Hospital, Johnson CIty NY

I prayed beside this quilt during my parents’ hospitalization last week.

This post is part of Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays:  http://lindaghill.wordpress.com/2014/08/06/one-line-wednesday-t-shirts-say-the-funniest-things/

Share a Post! All Bloggers Welcome!

An opportunity to share a post, courtesy of OM. Also, a great chance to read what other people are sharing.
JC