LABYRINTH

Several years ago I got really into labyrinths. Read all there was on the web at that time. For more information check here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinth and for more information than you will probably ever want to know check here http://lessonsforliving.com/labyrinth.htm. I read a couple of books. Then I discovered that a Chartres labyrinth on canvas was open for public walks once a month at a local church. I became a once a month walker. Basically, for me, this is a meditative/prayerful walk. I stand at the opening facing the center, take a few quiet moments to settle myself, and then step by step, make my way to the center.
The Chartres style labyrinth is much more intricate than the basic seven path Cretan ones pictured below. It takes me about three quarters of an hour to walk to the middle. Now this is a slow meditative walk, mind you. I have seen children delight in a labyrinth run. And I once had the privilege of seeing Helen Curry, author of "The Way of the Labyrinth: A Powerful Meditation for Everyday Life," dance around it. That was a spiritual vision to behold. It is a great book to read, by the way.

My son Jeff and I put two labyrinths on the floor of the undercroft at our church. (Undercroft -- that is church talk for basement.) We used masking tape so it wasn't permanent. We encircled each one with votive candles, had a CD player for Celtic type music, and invited one and all to come walk the labyrinth. People of all ages came on a Saturday evening, removed their shoes, and quietly walked these labyrinths. The next morning, the Sunday School children enjoyed themselves also -- in a much more playful way. It was such a great success that we wanted to paint it on the floor, for a more permanent meditative tool. Alas, the knowledge about the origins and use of a labyrinth were not fully understood, and the project was suppressed.

Now, though, years later, we have more knowledge, acceptability, and an enlightened priest. We are planning labyrinths. Did y'all get that? LabyrinthS -- plural. I am excited about the future of this church. We are going forward. The Holy spirit is pushing us.

LIMES

Some people buy fresh cut flowers. I buy lemons and limes for our table. Sounds weird. I am a weirdness in many areas of life. Why pay a lot of money for flowers that are going to drop petals and stickiness and lose color and droop muddy the water and ...yuk.

I don't have anything against cut flowers. Actually I am pretty good at making passable and pleasing arrangements and I have discovered that cutting the stems every other day or so and replacing the water with fresh VERY warm water, will hold the flowers for ten days and more. The frugality of it is that this is an expensive luxury and one of my main weirdnesses is frugality. Not cheap, mind you, but definitely frugal.

Lemons and limes last for a very long time AND they are practical -- edible, tasty, a wonderful addition as zest, juice, slice, wedge. Can't say that about cut flowers. I have a favorite use for lime wedges which I keep in a little baggie in the frig. I wet the rim of a tall drink glass, dip the rim in salt, squeeze the wedge into the glass, shake in a few drops of Tabasco, and top with a can of Miller Light. Don't laugh, it is a wonderfully refreshing drink.

My friend Kathy has discovered that lime wedges and slices, frozen on a tray/plate and then bagged will keep in the freezer for a long time and are instantly ready for culinary use. I haven't tried this yet. Today's super bargain of a dozen limes for $1.99, of which I purchased TWO dozen, is certainly incentive to give this a try.

Lemons and limes, do turn, though. Lose color. Sometimes get fuzzzy spots. I can't bear to throw them out so I move them to a "past their prime" spot. Maybe not as attractive as fresh but interesting in its own way.

When my sons say to me, "Mom, you're weird," they are undoubtedly right.

Lovable though.

THE PEACE OF GRIEF

In the twilight of this morning,
When all of time meets and folds over
and in and on and between itself,
I went back to my mother's dying and told her of my love.

I was the child offering the mothering.
She was fetal, wanting, waiting.
I love you, I said, it will be okay.
She was fetal, wanting, waiting.

My fingers smoothed over her brow.
Love her, Lord, make it okay.
My cheek touched the forever smoothness of her cheek.
Take away her darkness, Lord.
Tell her I loved her.
Tell her I love her still.......


It has been almost ten years since my mother's death. I think I am finally at peace with it and with her. Thanks be to God!

TWITTER/BLATHER/PHTTTT!

Twitter seems like so much blather. Or so I am assuming from the descriptions I hear on the news and in some blogs. I don't blather -- much. Maybe why I have been so quiet here for such a long time. I need to think through things before I see the letters forming into words.

Twitter just appears to me to be brainless. Like texting, who needs to be that attached. I am thinking that I don't need to be that attached. I like to listern. I am a blog lurker and rarely comment. This is pretty much the way I am in "real" life. I sit on the sidelines and listen. When I do speak it is from the innermost part of me. Sometimes spoken without prudent self censorship. I get into a lot of trouble this way. But the truth in my heart gets put on the table. The elephant in the room is acknowledged -- sometimes too forcefully, but, hey, somebody's gotta do it.

I am too private for twitter. Anyone else's and especially my own. Maybe I am too private for blogging. Maybe that is part of my problem here. Perhaps I need to let my hair down, so to speak, and really say it the way I see it. That can get me into a lot of hot water, so to speak, so I will give it a little bit of consideration. But watch out, folks, I'm tired of rigid thinking, passive, denial ridden pew sitters. I am about to explode with frustration and continually thwarted hopefulness.

STABILITY

Our lives are troubled and fraught with difficulties, challenges, and, oh my gosh --change. In every generation. Those behind me face the problems that some of us are escaping. Those ahead of me, although there are not all that many any more, are facing the end times and resolution with their present and past. Technology mushrooms. The environment? Who knows. The financial situation is disastrous. And on and on.

No wonder that we seek some stability for our lives. And so we turn to the church for the sameness that will offer solace and peace. Surprise! The church is not the same. And trying to make it the same is causing it to die. And those that don't want it to die are struggling to find new ways. It is hard. Jan Edmiston's blog has been addressing this issue in the church where she serves for quite a while. Yesterday's blog spelled out many of the stumbling blocks that we face. Do go read it here. It is also worth reading the links to which she points.

The struggles with an emerging church in a staid congregation sets up an "us/them" situation. And this in itself is not healthy and, worse yet, not pastoral. But what to do? This morning as I was thinking through some of these things, I realized that God is the sameness. God is what we are all seeking. And yet.... I think that some have embedded "God" in the rituals of old. Somehow God is lost in the trappings of the sameness that we hold so dear.

Perhaps we will find a way to release God from the bondage we have created and thereby set ourselves free to know the living God once again.

PROMISES OF SPRING

The snow has melted, the ground is soggy, and the air is warm. Time to start thinking about yard clean up and plants and containers and all that good stuff. spent some time today looking through some container gardening books and then walking the yard to see what was and what is now and what might be.

Bill cut the butterfly bushes back. Just in time before they start sending out new growth. I hate cutting new growth. He also cut a couple of branches out of the Japanese Maple or maybe it's a Chinese Maple, don't know. There are still more branches that need removing but there is always another day. Then when I was carting all the branches out back to pitch over the fence, I found these lovely little green sprouts poking up through the rich brown earth.

Ah, I said to my self. And 'ah' again. How green, how tender, how young and fragile and vulnerable. And how much these dainty little creatures give me hope. Spring is coming.

THE ICE OF WINTER

It was only twenty this morning when I went out for the paper. And there is still plenty of snow. And, of course, all the water in my pretzel containers have turned to ice. Well, they have been ice for a while, because they have been on the deck for a while.

Ever since reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy, I have been super conscious about our use of water. Bill would say I am over conscientious, even obsessive. I have been known to just turn off the water when he is rinsing out the sink. And I go bananas when he rinses dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. This water conservation effort isn't new with me. I used to siphon the kid's bathwater out to the lawn. Here in the northeast we have nasty dry periods.

Since The Road this water obsession has led to the saving of water in many ways. The water run until shower temperature is reached is a considerable amount of water. The water from rinsing out the coffee pot is quite acceptable for plants as is the water from cleaning vegetables. We save it in big Utz pretzel containers. There are containers in the bathrooms, in the kitchen, wherever there are plants, and eventually the overflow makes it out to the deck. We have LOTS of jars of water. We also had a great amount of rain this fall and winter so that the containers were not emptied. So, I have jugs and jugs of water -- ice in the ones on the deck.
And a fascinating formation of ice. There is a cone of ice in the center, surrounded by ice. And I don't know which froze first the cone or what surrounds the cone. Whatever, there will be water for plants when the time comes.