Have you ever just sat and written a stream of consciousness on paper or on a computer? It can be an amazing experiment showing where you have been and where you are. What follows are a few of my random entries. Maybe it will spark ideas on how you can benefit from it.
Looking back at a torn page from travel: Rhododendron leaves reflect the sun as if festooned with tiny mirrors. A breeze blows through and the mirrors reflect the movement of the wind.
Help me daily to sit in silence and LET GO everything
As I child I “sang, stop, look and listen.” As an adult God asks me to stop, look and listen to Him, to my life around me, to my inner chatter that threatens to block out His voice.To hear as one with opened ears.
The guy next door is riding his mower around after the tremendous rains and soaring temperatures we have had lately. I hear him humming around and around his house. The sound carries into the office in the front of our house where I am writing. He has no idea I am writing about him, (I giggle).
When was the last time I came to a full stop? Likely at the cemetery where the headstone says Daughters. And I listened for the Holy One to speak. I was not disappointed.
I wish all of my word processors would autocorrect when I type teh and make it the.
The sky is full of wing shaped clouds this morning. Are they to remind me of angels’ wings or to take shelter under the wing of the Almighty?
Where is your brain? Can you tap into the chatter and then will you choose what to weed out? Point your focus upon the Christ and see where He leads you!
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12:1-2a NIV
You are in charge of what you allow to remain in your mind.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV
Last Sunday was the traditional time in the liturgical calendar to celebrate Pentecost. Forty-nine or fifty days after Easter this celebration commemorates “the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles of Jesus while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1–31). From Wikipedia the worldly font of wisdom!
In Christian tradition, this event represents fulfillment of the promise that Christ will baptize his followers with the Holy Spirit. Out of the four New Testament gospels, the distinction between baptism by water and the baptism by Christ with “Holy Spirit and fire” is only found in Matthew and Luke. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentecost
At Saint Timothy’s we celebrated and asked the Holy Spirit to fill us once more. I believe the promises of Jesus are real and for everyone. So in case you missed it, I pray that you will look to the Father of all good things and ask for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to guide, direct and order your life for the glory of God.
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” John 14:15-21 NIV
This promise by Jesus comes from Father God and is for all who accept Jesus and love Him. Lord may the fullness of Your promise fill all who come to You. We look for You to manifest Yourself in our midst. And as You bring this to pass we will be careful to give You all of the glory. Amen.
Took me years to attend the group called Women Writing for a Change. I was raised in an alcoholic home. The number one form of child discipline was criticism and shame. The idea of sharing my writing with a group of women for critique was beyond intimidating to me.
This is part of my speed writing exercise from that meeting. “She walked into the meeting space blinded at first by the brilliant morning sun. As her eyes settled in, the sudden realization broke over her that this is not much different than crochet group. A bunch of women with a common interest. Huh. Wonder why she never considered that before? Fear can do nasty things to women of sound mind. So here she is today, willing to expose herself to this practice of sharing her writing and “listening to others’ writing with attention and deep listening.” God, help me give them the same consideration I desire.
When it was my turn to share, I felt like a child as I gulped and read my poem aloud. Did not tell them I wrote this after our daughter’s wedding as we sat at the beach. At the time, I was absolutely exhausted and glad for a time to be refreshed.
And I yield to You To lie in Your arms Imbibing Holy Breath Entire being – renewed.
Your sparkling glow Moves rapidly across the expanse of water To here and now You surround me Uphold me Indwell me Live through me.
How could I ever hesitate Preferring dim to illumined? You enlighten me Flaws, shortcomings, Weaknesses, strengths and all. Fact: You love me. Fact: You desire me You declare I am Yours.
Like sudden deep piles of shells Buried, unseen yesterday Revealed today by the powerful tide Your Kingdom unfolds before me and Yes, Lord, I yield Knowing You go with me And will arrive ahead of me You have my life in Your scarred hands.
Abiding under Your wing Your Light fills the throne room And I must close my eyes To bear Your brightness O, All-Powerful Lord, I refuse to doubt Your methods Your holy mercy endures As You bathe me In Your everlasting Love.
Come my King O Light Eternal Bring forth the treasure You have hidden within me As I embrace Your will Illumine me.
The practice was for those of us who were listening to write down phrases that struck us as the others read. When all the readings were finished, we participated in ‘popcorn’ response, each of us just saying out loud what hit us. I was touched by the words that came from what I had written. I shared lines from others, too.
I am not certain this practice group is what I need. I am not going to sign up for the 10 week group that begins in a day or two. I believe God will show me where to share my writing and what the plan is for the future. If that plan becomes Women Writing for a Change I will post it here.
Yesterday I went to the garage to put used sharps in the red container. As I stepped close to the container on top of the freezer I saw a snake. A very large snake (maybe 4-5 feet long) draped along the base of Bob’s antique lab chair on wheels. Fear can do nasty things to women of sound mind. I made it into the house to call Bob. He came running and grabbed the old wooden cane from Scotland. He too was surprised at the size. Told me to move the car. While I went to get the keys he decided to roll the lab chair, complete with snake, out of the garage and into the grass. He clubbed it on the ground with the cane. Asked me to get a five gallon bucket because it was still alive… Using the cane he put it in the bucket and continued to club it. That racket of cane clubbing within plastic bucket brought out the neighbor. He too recently had a snake in his garage, though not this large. We told him his snake has been feeding and growing! He teased us that it looked meaty. We could have it for supper. I told him naw, he could have it all.
Bob took a photo. Yuck.
Finally determined this was a gray rat snake. Oh gross. I do not want to post a photo of what the snake looked like. Feel free to look it up yourself! It is dead. I amazingly did not have nightmares about it. What is it about snakes? I have this primeval fear that makes me freeze when I see a snake. I become almost incoherent. Is it linked to Scripture when Eve was deceived by the serpent?
So the Lord God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. Genesis 3:14 NIV
I often wonder what I will do in these situations if Bob should die before I do. Dealing with snakes might be the worst one I can imagine. If – the snake had gone behind the freezer (which is where it was headed). If – I had not seen it when I did. Oh I could go on and on with scary scenarios of IF. Bob’s favorite: IF we had opened the door to the garage and it had entered the house. EWW!
For today, I am glad the snake is gone and my husband of 53+ years is still with me. Forgive me, Father, for my inordinate fear. Lead and guide me in how You wish to use the writing and I pray it is all to Your glory.
I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4
The photo above shows the outside of what remains of the church called Teampall Bhreacain, Na Seacht dTeampaill, County Galway, Ireland. I believe it is also known as Church of the Hollow. I think r m dutina took all of these photos, but honestly I cannot remember. We were wandering separately around the grounds. When he caught up to me I could barely speak!
The altar from afar
Through the window of the ages Past the thick walls of time Stands a symbol of death Nay! Bright resurrection Hope of all men
The rough stones placed In geometrically sound patterns Of worship, of honor, of praise Roofless now that heaven may freely break through to us of long ages later Arches , capstones, edges of time Torn by the worship of long ago Until our hearts are lifted up To worship the same lovely truth
You came for us You come to us still To have us for Your own Encircling with Spirit Invading with Holy Illumine our techno age With truth of heaven Power of Holy Spirit of Life.
Why would I want to return to Church of the Hollow at Inishmore? I could have sat there for hours, listening, praying, in worship and wonder. Next time I would return with a folding chair!
One of our favorite adventures is wild flower hunting in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We use to try to go every other year. We have gotten away from that practice. We decided to return this spring and test ourselves to see if we are still able to hike the trails where we have found our favorite flowers, especially Lady’s Slippers.
Lady’s Slippers are wild orchids and are quite rare. We learned not to tell others where we find the flowers. They need a specialized environment to grow. Some folks try to pick them. They do not thrive. Some folks try to dig them up and take them home. You cannot duplicate their environment. They even require a certain kind of fungus to grow.
In order to survive and reproduce, pink lady’s slipper interacts with a fungus in the soil from the Rhizoctonia genus. Generally, orchid seeds do not have food supplies inside them like most other kinds of seeds. Pink lady’s slipper seeds require threads of the fungus to break open the seed and attach them to it. The fungus will pass on food and nutrients to the pink lady’s slipper seed. When the lady’s slipper plant is older and producing most of its own nutrients, the fungus will extract nutrients from the orchid roots. This mutually beneficial relationship between the orchid and the fungus is known as “symbiosis” and is typical of almost all orchid species.
We hiked our first test, The Townsend trail called Middle Prong of Little River. We did not find the Jack-in-the-pulpit. One of my favorites. With global warming it is difficult to know when we should travel there. The “Jacks” along this trail had already bloomed and wilted. The waterfalls, however, were running gloriously. The rushing water always reminds me of the ‘streams of living water’ promised in the New Testament.
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as[a] the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. John 7:37-39
Along the trail we did see Showy Orchis. It too is part of the orchid family. The ones below are fairly bleached out indicating they are older blooms.
If you notice the fly on the leaf you can estimate the size of the flowers!
Here we are, not pros at selfies, but delighted to have made it up our first trail!
Waterfall between us!
We checked into our motel and rested towards our BIG hike. It was amazing how things looked so different. A couple of years of absence, a few wind storms and bunches of fallen trees – we at times had difficulty recognizing the next trail.
Unheard of for me to hike 5.11 miles. My shoulder definitely felt it that evening.
My phone told me about my activity level. It was very high activity level for me. There was some difficulty from pain on the way back to the car. Phone did not record flights climbed, but the altitude did change throughout the morning.
One phenomenon I never tire of is the swallowtails and other butterflies sipping minerals from horse apples.
photo by Molly Lin
photo by r m dutina – notice all the wing movement he caught!
photo by r m dutina THIS is why we hiked so hard!
and these hidden on the hillside, but not from us! photo by r m dutina
Yep, old folks hiking and spotting and then, not exactly scampering, but getting up the hillside for a better shot! The horses are not allowed on this part of the trail, but old people are!
photo by r m dutinaphoto by r m dutina – While up there he saw her, too!
We hope and pray this was not our last time on this trail, but if we cannot make it the next time we visit, at least for this one day we were totally satisfied! the hike back to the car is all down hill and takes a toll on your knees, not to mention your back. We made it! Only had to rest a few times and rest is okay. One friend gave me a sticker that says “It doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop!“I just imagine if these are the lady’s slippers we know about, how many more are hidden on this part of the earth! The Lord certainly delights us with beauty.
But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you. 8 Or speak to the earth, and it will instruct you; let the fish of the sea inform you. 9 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? 10 The life of every living thing is in his hand, as well as the breath of all humanity. Job 12:7-10 CSB
I did not post much last week because we were a way from home. First I went to the Associates Spring Retreat at the Convent of the Transfiguration where I have been an Associate since 1991. After that I came home on Sunday afternoon, emptied parts of my suitcase into another larger suitcase. On Monday morning we departed for the Great Smoky Mountain National Park to hunt for our favorite wildflowers. It seems like whirlwind now, but it was all loads of fun.
The retreat was led by a man named Kelly Latimore. He has a degree in art and religious studies. Since 2011 he has been painting or as the iconographers say ‘reading’ icons. If you have participated in Lectio Divina, (divine reading of Scripture) you will be able to relate to what he asked us to do. He called it “Visio Divina,” (divine seeing of the icons). It was a fascinating experience. There were about 15 of us in person at the retreat and another group joined us via Zoom.
Kelly would show us a slide of an icon on a large screen. We would begin to share what we saw in the icon. He educated us in the history of making icons and shared the vision for his art.
“However, I do not wish to approach Iconography as an art form that simply follows an inherited tradition, knowledge and practice. I want it to be a creative process, meditation, and practice that brings about new self knowledge for the viewer and myself. Who are the saints that are among us here and now? I feel the need for new images. In some icons I wish to embrace the traditional forms and image but for many icons the image needs re-shaping, re-imagining, and re-wondering.” https://kelly-latimore.pixels.com/
Christ the Light
Mary Magdalene and Christ the Gardener
If you go to his website you can follow the progression of his paintings and icons. There you will see how his talent has grown.
If you have never before used an icon for prayer, here are some pointers from online.
Praying with icons is a contemplative practice wherein we slow down to pray and pay attention to God. This may be done in silence, by talking to God casually, or by using hymns and other ancient prayers. Or even in combination of all three. If you are just getting started in praying with icons, I suggest starting by working on your attentiveness to the image.
Look at your icon. What is the first thing you notice about the image? Where are your eyes drawn? What colours are attracting your attention?
After you have taken in the image, you can start to think about the details. Are the eyes of Christ or the Saint looking at you, or elsewhere? If Christ is looking at you, spend some time gazing back into his eyes. I find this is an especially good practice when I’m working on listening to God.
What other symbols are in the image? Do you know what they mean? What does looking at the icon make you feel right now. What is the icon saying to you?
The retreat was so interesting! Sharing what we each saw or sensed was particularly enriching. Hearing Kelly’s reasoning for how he did the various paintings was educational and nothing I would have understood on my own.
He has paintings in the National Cathedral and many churches throughout the United States. There will be an exhibit at St Paul’s Episcopal Church, Cary, North Carolina on May 4 from 1-7 PM as follows:
“Join us as we welcome acclaimed artist Kelly Latimore to Cary for a show featuring his vibrant and thought-provoking icons. Kelly’s work has appeared nationally in places like the Washington National Cathedral and was selected as the cover of a Pope Francis book of sermons. We will have 25 of his pieces on display throughout the interior of the church on Saturday, with doors open to the public from 1-7 pm. Children are welcome, and Kelly will be here during the exhibition. There will be a panel discussion starting at 4:30 pm, which will feature the artist and guests from the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice and the Episcopal Farmworker Ministry. The day ends with an artist’s reception at 5:30 pm, and we’re asking folks to RSVP so we can plan accordingly. This is a day to celebrate Kelly’s art and vision, to see others in a new way, and to offer something to the community. There is no charge for the exhibit, but we do encourage donations.”
If you click the link above you can see his icon of the Transfiguration and Pentecost. He said when they were designing the Transfiguration the congregation did not want Christ in all white clothing. They decided to add silver leaf to the painting. When it was hung in the sanctuary he was amazed at how the light in the sanctuary made the icon flash and dazzled his eyes, like the actual transfiguration. I want to go to Salisbury to see that painting/icon! ROAD TRIP!!!
I signed up a long time ago for a newsletter from Joan Chittister. I so enjoy her writing! This one arrived recently in my email box and I thought you might enjoy her ideas. Here is a portion of the article. I have added a link at the end in case you want to read the entire article It is taken from her book The Monastic Heart.
What You Pay Attention to in Life
“Every afternoon, as I sit in my upstairs office, I hear the old monastery bells begin to ring in the once Benedictine church that then adjoined this inner-city monastery. In fact, the bells from Benedictine monasteries everywhere still peal out around the world. Our original monastery moved over 50 years ago from an in-town property to the edge of the city. So, we have another bell tower and a new electronic carillon. The big old brass bell, “Theodore,” shipped from Germany ages ago, now rests retired and reverenced on a brick base in the memorial garden of the new monastery. New bells go on ringing over our lakeside property daily, just as the old one did here in the inner city for more than 150 years. No bedroom clocks, no personal watches take their place as harbingers of spiritual time.
“But why?
“The purpose of Benedictine bells is not to spell out the hour of the day at all; that task is left to horologists. Our bells, on the other hand, are there to wrench our attention back to what is really important in life: the memory of God in our midst. The memory of the purpose of life. The memory that time is moving on and so must we. The recognition that life today is different than yesterday, and we must not try to hold life back. The bells jog the memory that there are actually more important, more meaningful, more demanding dimensions of life than anything ordinary we can possibly be doing as they ring.”
The bells are there to “wrench our attention back to what is really important in life: the memory of God in our midst.” I occasionally hear the bells from the Catholic church that is several blocks away and through the woods. When I notice them I stop to breathe deeply and pray. I more often hear the sirens going down the busy highway two blocks away. I have made it a habit to pray for the police, EMS and fire people responding to their various emergencies. I like Joan’s idea of ‘wrenching our attention back to what is really important in life.‘ I think I will continue to pray for the emergency workers but also pause to ask myself if I am remembering God in our midst whenever I hear the sirens.
What reminds you of the presence of God in your midst? We have two clocks that chime. A Cuckoo clock that was a gift from friends who traveled to Germany and my parents mantel clock that was a gift for their wedding in 1934, almost 90 years ago, and it still runs. At times, living with the clocks, I do not even hear them ring. Bob says they draw him back to what is really important.
What serves to wrench your attention back to God? Years ago when I taught Bible study I would encourage the students to find something they do daily. Then prayerfully dedicate that to the awareness of God. As a daily practice begins to build, the awareness of the Holy One becomes easier and easier. I used to dislike bracelets. I would wear one so that each time I was bothered or irritated by the bracelet I was reminded to turn my attention to God.
Sirens? Church bells? Bracelet? Huge water bottle you drink from all day? In this day and age it would be fairly simple to set your smart watch to ring once an hour as a reminder to pay attention to the Trinity in your midst. To stop and breathe, returning ‘back to what is really important in life.’
“The bells jog the memory that there are actually more important, more meaningful, more demanding dimensions of life than anything ordinary we can possibly be doing as they ring.”
The Verdin Bell Company is anchored in the Cincinnati area. They have made, installed and restored church bells for years. Perhaps this photo will encourage you to restore your attention to the Holy One?
Seven times a day I praise You, Because of Your righteous judgments.
Recently I met with my best friend from childhood for a 2 hour lunch. We talked about everything under the sun including what is most important to us in our lives right now. I spoke about writing this blog. I spoke about editing my poetry. She spoke about how much I need to get involved in a program in Cincinnati called Women Writing for a Change. (Evidently they offer the program in other areas of the country, too.) I’ve known about this program for years. I have a major objection and a minor one.
The minor one is that there is a charge. The major one is much larger. Let’s discuss moving out of your comfort zone. In my family of origin the #1 method of control was criticism. Constant, unrelenting criticism over anything and everything I ever did. And nothing was ever forgiven or forgotten. When there was any opportunity for criticism the past was dredged up and gone over, rehearsed, rehashed again as if it had just happened this week. One of the tenets of writing groups is, as I understand it, sharing your work for input from others. OUCH! I do not believe I could ever risk taking what is so valuable to me and asking others for their input. That’s likely why I like the blog.
One day while driving to another part of town I was listened to a radio program called One-A on public radio. They were discussing a book I had never heard of. One Thousand Words: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All Year Round by Jami Attenberg. I did not want to listen, but I was drawn in. Jut like the “Lookie-loos” at a highway accident I had to know what this book was about. It stressed content for those who are writing a book, but I am just interested in being a better writer, I argued. They repeated more than once the importance of sharing your work with other writers who can help you improve your work. I cringed at the very thought. The book is new, so it was not at the library yet or available used at my favorite place, Abe Books. I ordered it that evening from Amazon.
While I waited for it to come I took the challenge of writing 1,000 words. I mean, how hard could it be? I chose a story from 1954 during my childhood. My first mistake was thinking they meant write 10,000 words. Have I ever mentioned that numbers are not my strong suit?
After I got finished writing my dislike for all of this, I began rolling along. Frustrated at the word count I put it away for a day. Next day I realized my mistake in the number of words required. I edited out my complaining and got to work at trying to finish the vignette. I was able to accomplish the piece.
On Tuesday my same friend sent me information about a free introductory class on Core Groups for Women Writing for a Change. (Core groups are the small groups organized for the writers.) Okay, I did it. Signed up for a free Thursday morning class in May. Oi-yoi-yoi. What have I done?
One of my favorite words is oy. Yes, it’s an exclamation of disappointment, dismay or exasperation, but it’s also many other things.
We use oy when things aren’t going so well. It seems older Jews use it much more than younger Jews, perhaps because they always have a pain somewhere.
Oy-yoi-yoi-yoi-yoi-yoi-yoi (or any multi-syllabic utterance of the term) suggests a more lasting discomfort. Oy vey suggests that things are “hitting the fan”; it says this is not your average oy.
The book has arrived. It includes “wisdom and inspiration from more than fifty beloved writers.” Sure hope they can help me move forward with this experiment. Wonder if they are up for the task of overcoming many years of criticism. Maybe, just maybe I will hit my stride and surprise myself?
Psalm 27 was one of my favorites as a teenager and into my early adult years. It applies now, too.
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me up.
I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yea, wait for the Lord!
Recently while reading the Psalms in a month I came across the verse above. To read the Psalms in a month I basically read 5 per day with a portion of Psalm 119 per day. I thought you might like this reminder to cling to God at all times. He is worthy of our praise. He upholds us and accompanies us through all the areas of our lives.
Today may you be blessed by an increased awareness of His Presence!
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 