What a Great Blessing of the Animals!

Secure Dream?

I'm reading The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane Ackerman. It is the second book in the past 3 months that have made me consider how easy we have it here in the United States. The other book was 1,000 Splendid Suns, the follow-up to The Kite Runner.
The Zookeeper's Wife is set in Poland and the story begins as Germany prepares to invade Poland. 1,000 Splendid Suns is set in Afghanistan's tumultuous past at the time that the extremist government tore down the huge Buddha statues carved in the side of the cliff. Both are stories of countries that root themselves in conflict and war and both are stories of a new generation about to experience for the first time how war steals the average-ness of life.
Thank God I have not experienced this in my life. Every so often, though, I wonder what it would be like, how our America would be different, if we did not expect tomorrow to be the same as today. If we had enough pressure behind us to push us forward to be even more resourceful, even more prayerful, and even more connected to one another. As it is right now, for the most part, all I need in my life is me. I don't ever expect to need my neighbor to feed me dinner because my pantry is empty.
Of course, this comes from a middle-class, privileged-class perspective because for some in America, this is the reality of their life. There are some people who really do need someone to feed them dinner or provide them shelter.
When I read the paper this morning, I must admit I lost this perspective. The pastor of First Presbyterian Dallas, in response to a Dallas program that sweeps-up homeless at night on the streets, has made his parking lot a Sanctuary, in the classic understanding of those in the middle ages, when fleeing a military foe, knock on the doors of a giant Gothic cathedral and yell the words "Sanctuary," announcing to the world that they are safe. His church has taken a stand to protect homeless people who don't want to be scooped up and put in treatment or a shelter and he now allows them to make camp each night in his parking lot. He provides a security guard and a power-washer, which some of the homeless help by spraying down the lot each day.
When I read the article, my first thought was how that might affect perspective visitors and their perceived sense of safety when visiting the church. Shame on me.
That's what happens when you live each day feeling as if tomorrow is guaranteed, almost as if there is some giant FDIC in the sky that protects the safety of my little world that I have worked so hard to construct and wish to all my heart that it never has to face the real challenges of life that people all over the world will endure today and tomorrow.

Eat. Pray. Love.

I loved the book Eat Pray Love. I loved it before I read it because my beloved yoga teachers, Michelle and Madelaine, said it was a beautiful book. And they were right. I read the book during my trip to China last March.
As I read the book, I kept comparing her story to mine. Being the neurotic girl that I am, I judged her soul-searching experience as better than mine. But it was on my trip to China, when I realized that the world was a lot bigger than this Wichita Falls-girl ever imagined, I gave myself permission to be me and to let my experience be the healing experience that was for my highest good. (If only I had written a memoir of the last 5 years...then maybe I would have that best-seller too!)
I love the book even more after watching Jennifer Gilbert on Oprah today. She said something very wise: you don't have to go across the world to find yourself and to find God...you can do this wherever you are if you are willing to sit still, ask the deeper questions, and seek peace. It just seems like this is the path every human being needs to take...to sit still, ask deeper questions and seek peace. It's a noisy world that prefers we stay on the surface and seeks to chip away our contentment and replace it with feelings that we are less than.
Here's to embracing a different way of life, and, as my dear friend Margaret Ann taught me, here's to being, "AS IS."

Will he win?

It's 7:20 pm on Tuesday evening as I'm writing this blog post. That's important, because in 40 minutes I will find out if Cuban wins. See, I was home last week when Dancing with the Stars premiered and I got hooked. After one show, I feel tightly entwined with these famous people's lives to see if they win or not.

I had decided last week that I wasn't going to pull for Mark. I'm not sure on what basis except that I've often had to run on the treadmill at the gym while he sweats it out on the bike in front of me. That shouldn't be a reason not to cheer for the guy. But then last night, something changed and now I want him to win. He should at least beat Wayne Newton who looks like he might melt if he got too close to an open flame. It looks like the tipping point between Mark and Wayne, both at the bottom of the professional score, will be the public opinion poll taken last night by text, internet or phone. I came close to voting last night but I am a Verizon-girl, not AT&T, the official wireless company for Dancing with the Stars.

This past month has been interesting for me. Some changes (good changes--no need to call and check on me) have slowed me down and allowed me more time to partake in public entertainment, like television. It's been at least 2-3 years since I've watched prime time television so I kinda like knowing what the season premieres are this year and hurrying home (as if I have something important to do) to see who gets cut from this week's dance crowd.

So I may be watching a little more television, but it hasn't won me over yet. I still see such a major disconnect from how shows portray American life and how most people live. And the result of that disconnect is discontentment and that discontentment looks different in every person's life--but as a society, it tells us we are not enough -- that we need to be skinnier, pretty, funnier, hip-per, flashier and need to have more "dirty, sexy money." (the new ABC show).

I seek contentment and if I could find a television show that offered me contentment, then I would be a faithful fan. Until then, I'm content with waiting to find out if Cuban stays or goes.

9 years and counting

I knew a couple of days had passed since my last blog entry; didn't realize it had been 21 days. After two of my faithful readers expressed their personal concern for me and my absence from my beloved blog, I decided it was time to pick up the pen, or type on the keyboard, to let you know that I am alive and well.
It's been a busy month as we move towards launching UrbanLife. Our goal is to build community and deepen spirituality among young urban professionals and we have several different ways to meet this goal. One way is through our fall classes that will begin in October. We are kicking-off our classes with a community-wide Blessing of the Animals event on Sun., Oct. 7, in Reverchon Park.
With the big event less than three weeks away, it feels a little like when you've planned a party and now are waiting to see if people come. And with things like ministry, it's not just about your strategy or how well it is executed; it's also about God. It's about trusting God, and, being able to ask at every moment of the process--what is God teaching me, my leadership team, and this church about what it means to make disciples of Jesus Christ?
This month I have experienced a deeper relationship with God as I have realized my need to draw close and rely on God's strength versus my own finite self. It has been humbling, and yet in that humbleness, I have felt God's guiding presence. I'm really thankful. And I'm so excited to see what's going to happen in October with UrbanLife as we open the doors and welcome people to the ministry.
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On a separate note, I want to give a quick shot-out to my girls in our "A Little Deeper Book Club." We started our 9th year today, reviewing Jodi Picoult's book, "Nineteen Minutes." It was so good to see everyone after our annual summer break. The idea for this book club came during my second year in seminary, Fall 1997, when Stanley Hauerwas told us as part of Christian Ethics, "It's not what you read in seminary that matters, it's THAT you read when you get out of seminary." There's no better way to keep reading than to join a book club and discuss good books with other people.

Say One Kind Thing

Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.--Ephesians 4:29, from The Message translation

At this very moment, I'm making a choice. Now, it's a moment after that moment, and I'm making another choice. Now that I am starting my day, Aug. 29, 2007, at 5:55 am, I will be making choices all day long. I will choose what I allow into my mind; I will choose what emotions I dwell on in my heart, and I will choose what actions I will show the world. And throughout the day, I will be choosing what I will say to people.

Speech is taken for-granted in our society today. I see a great deal of talking but I'm not sure if communication is happening. It's very easy to ask someone, "How are you?" It's much harder to commit to really wanting to know the answer before you ask the question. It's easy to ask someone for help on your projects. It's much harder to ask them if they need your help on their projects.

If I could start a national campaign like the Random Acts of Kindness that hit a few years ago, I would call it the "Say One Kind Thing" campaign. Say One Kind Thing...when I am stuck in tunnel vision in my own life, I can often step outside of myself by practicing saying one kind thing to someone else. Saying one kind thing means I have to see that someone else in this world is offering something valuable and worthy to humankind. And I want to help build them up.

I've also found that when a behavioral pattern sets in, changing the behavior can begin with changing the way I talk. When I have found myself being snippy with my spouse, I can shift out of that by simply focusing on saying only the things that help. And if I can push past my own ego, I can usually separate that which helps and that which doesn't help.

Today, I'm making a choice to make my words a gift to those around me. Let's see how this can help. Join me. Say One Kind Thing today.

Beginnings

Incipe; dimidium facti est coepisse. Supersit Dimidium: rursum hoc incipe, et efficies.

Begin; to begin is half the work. Let half still remain; again begin this, and thou wilt have finished.

UrbanLife had a great beginning last night as the Leadership Team met for its 3rd time. This team is composed of 13 people who blindly agreed to help me figure out if and how a downtown traditional Methodist church can be engaged in ministry with uptown/downtown young urban professionals with disposable incomes and play-filled lifestyles.

For the most part, the Leadership Team didn't know one another before August. We are still learning about each other and finding out who does what and how they do it. So last night, with the church completely empty, we met in the gym to assemble "Save the Date" Reminders for the Blessing of the Animals (Oct. 7, 5:30 pm in Reverchon Park, off the Katy Trail.)

I gave them all the supplies and a couple of samples and then let them figure it out. Not only did the project get done, but we learned a lot about each other and how we do things and how we are going to work together.

Beginnings are such a creative time...so much learning about yourself and others. As my friend Linda Bush says, "Beginnings are all about time-zeros."

I'm enjoying the beginnings in my life. It reminds me that we serve a God who created this world and continues to create this day. Beginnings are always followed by endings which sometimes launch new beginnings. Learning to observe and release judgement of beginnings and endings, for me, is freedom.