Sunday Ponderings

I dislike missing church.   I grew up going to church and if it’s Sunday I don’t feel right not being there.  But, there was no getting around it today.  We were good and stuck.

I was thinking today how often I get interrupted during the services.  There often seems like there is some kind of distraction or another.   I remember one particular Sunday during the Cherubic Hymn (a very solemn moment) when I felt this earnest tugging on my arm.   I was trying to pay attention:

“Now lay aside all earthly cares”

but a little boy had something quite pressing to tell me….

“Do you know what I want for Christmas?”

Never mind that this was summer.  Somehow that was pressing.  Every week it’s something…. usually of the “I’m hungry” variety.

So, today I thought I’d squirrel myself away for a bit and listen to a recording of the liturgy I have (I had already missed the one that is live-streamed on the internet).   And, just as the Alleluia’s were being sung to announcing the reading of the Gospel someone came in to announce that the snow plows had arrived.   Yes, good news, indeed, but bad timing – yet again.

And I am reminded of something Fr. Stephen Freeman has told us several times on his blog.   It won’t be just me and Jesus in heaven. God is the God of a very large crowd.

But I do wonder…. will our kids still be tugging at our sleeves?

Yeah, We got a lot of Snow

Our son measured 27″ before the storm ended.

Looking out our back deck. I had already shoveled a few times, but the snow kept coming.  We needed a path to get to the satellite dish.

The teens did almost all of that.  I’m very proud of their efforts.   I thought I was just going to have little paths out to the cars.

As you can see, there are still two vehicles buried.

Sledding really isn’t an option.  It’s hard enough to walk through when you’re 8.  But, digging snow caves is definitely in.  My husband helped my son and a neighbor friend make this next to our driveway.    They’ve dug out enough that they can sit up straight in there.

It’s nearly 7AM here and the snow plows have not come through, yet.  It doesn’t look like we’ll be making it to church this morning.

I hope everyone in the path of the storm is safe and warm.

Pippin

We’ve added a new member to the family.

I’ve been wanting a bird for several years and couldn’t decide between a Cockatiel or Budgie (Parakeet).   A friend of my daughter’s began breeding and hand raising budgies this year, so we decided to go with this as our first birdie.    Pippin (I know it isn’t very original) is quite friendly.

I picked him because of his lush blue coloring.  It’s almost bluebird blue. I think this picture shows his color the best.

As you can see he is being well loved by the family

When we first brought him home yesterday he was really missing his family.  So, thought to put a Youtube video of Budgies singing for him… he chirped right up.

One last shot.

Eight

That’s how many books I read in the month of January.   If I keep that up I’ll go from 53 books in 2009 to 96 this year!  Of course,  the reality is, there will be many months when the well runs dry, so I don’t think I can keep my hopes up too much.  Besides, I really don’t want to race through every book.  Some should be savored (like Irrational Season, which took me most of January to finish).  I was fortunate to find several fun books this month to read and that is what boosted my count.

January Reads:

Ice Land by Betsy Tobin 4/5 stars.  I thoroughly enjoyed this mythical book set in Iceland in the year 1000AD.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman.  My review here

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza. 4/5 My review here

Irrational Season by Madeline L’Engle.  4.5/5 stars.  My review here.

The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester.  3/5 stars.  I enjoyed it, but not as much as The Professor and the Madman.

Little Britches by Ralph Moody.  3/5 stars.  We’re not quite finished reading this one to our youngest.  It is such an endearing story.  I’m surprised it hasn’t been made into a movie yet.  Where is Michael Landon when you need him?

Murder on Astor Place by Victoria Thompson.  2/5 stars.  Eh.  Not really all that enjoyable but certainly not terrible.   Mimi has told me that others in the series were better.

Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey. 2/5  I loved her last book in the Inspector Grant series (Daughter of Time), but this one – the first in the series – was a yawner.

—————-

Mimi is hosting another read-along, this time for Lent, and she has chosen Middlemarch.  I’m hoping to join in.  Anyone want to come along too?

Irrational Season

What can I tell you about The Irrational Season?

I loved it.  It is the kind of book I want to buy several copies of to pass around to friends.

Originally, written in the mid 70’s when L’Engle was in her 50’s, it is similar to a personal spiritual diary.   The 3rd in the Crosswicks Journals, this book takes place after the Summer of the Great Grandmother but before  The Two-Part Invention, a memoir of her marriage.  In here she shares what she has learned on the journey about motherhood, marriage, church and living a Christian life.

Ms. L’Engle takes a tour through the church year beginning at Advent, the  beginning of the liturgical year in the West.  However, it is not always immediately obvious which season she is in, so those unfamiliar with the liturgical year won’t be puzzled.   By far my favorite chapter is when she delves into The Beatitudes.  We sing them every week during Liturgy and Irrational Season gave me new things to meditate upon.

“If I look at the Beatitudes not only as though each were a description of Jesus, but also a definition, they shine in a powerful and brilliant light, so that light and darkness are suddenly alike.  He is poor in spirit as we are seldom able to be, because we are seldom that spontaneous.  He mourns with them that mourn and dances with them that rejoice and is criticized for both.  He is meek, that lamb who is also a lion.  He hungers and thirsts, as we do, and offers himself to assuage our hunger and thirst, and so we are filled.  He is merciful, with a compassion and joy beyond forgiving.  There is power of life and death in his mercy, and it is good to remember this each time we receive the power of his mercy in the bread and wine.” pg. 79

When writing about those who hunger after righteousness she tells us, “A righteous person has a forgiving heart.”  pg. 76

My only difficulty was her frequent reference  to “the failure of God” when speaking of the cross.   It grated on my ears since Orthodox see the cross as a triumph of love.   I don’t know if she was using it because she really saw the cross as a failure or because she was trying explain it the way the world sees the cross (and to shock us into paying attention).  I lean toward believing the latter because of all the other things she wrote in the book.

This book, more than any in a very long time, made me so wish that I could have sat down with Ms. L’Engle over a cup of tea.  She writes in such a way to make the reader feel like a friend and confidant.  Oh, not that she gives away deep dark family secrets, but there is a kindness in her writing that speaks like a letter from a dear friend.

I am so thankful to Janet for doing a review, because otherwise I might not have gotten around to reading Irrational Season.  My copy will be underlined and re-read for years to come.  It will certainly be on the list as one of my favorite reads in 2010.

A Light to Enlighten

Today is the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple.  Forty Days since Christmas.  It is also called Candlemas… except in non-liturgical circles when it is called Groundhog day.   The feast is taken from Luke 2 when Mary and Joseph bring Christ to the temple and He is greeted by St. Simeon and the Prophetess Anna.

At the end of the service we have a blessing of the candles.   I brought the candles I use in my prayer corner to church last night for a blessing.  My priest reminded us that we bless them, not because it bestows upon them any special power, but because we use candles to remember that Christ is the light that illumines all.

Fellow blogger, Matthew, did a very nice series on this particular Feast day and its connection with Groundhog day.   The first installment is at the bottom of the page.

Finally, here is a youtube video of the Hymn of St. Simeon as I often hear it sung in my own parish.

Happy Feast Day!

The Best of Friends

The Best of Friends is a charming and deeply satisfying movie.  Having originally been a play, it was turned into a Masterpiece Theater production in 1991.  The play was inspired by a book which wove 25 years worth of correspondences  between George Bernard Shaw, Sister Laurentia McLachlan, and Sir Sydney Cockrell.    When my husband and I first caught it (quite by accident) on PBS back in 1991 we knew immediately that we had stumbled upon a gem.   I bought the movie when it came out in DVD and recently finished watching it again. This is Masterpiece Theater at its best.  Not your typical lush costume drama with sweeping landscapes but, rather, it’s a modest play beautifully executed.   It is all the more wonderful because of the acting triumvirate of Dame Wendy Hiller, John Gielgud, and Patrick McGoohan.

If you love the written word, old fashioned correspondences, longtime friends, and excellent acting get this movie.   It will be a delight to your ears as well as your heart.

Left to Tell

I hadn’t expected to enjoy reading this book when Book Club suggested it.  I wasn’t really in the mood for yet another true-life story about a holocaust.  I was beginning to feel rather voyeuristic about reading such books.

But, Left to Tell really touched my heart.  This is much more than a story about survival and the depths of human cruelty.  It is a book about prayer and faith in God.   From the cover:

“Immaculee Ilibagiza grew up in a country she loved, surrounded by a family she cherished.  but in 1994 her idyllic world was ripped apart as Rwanda descended into a bloody genocide.  Her family was brutally murdered during a killing spree that lasted three months and claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans.”

Immaculee was saved by living with 7 other Tutsi women in the small bathroom of a local Hutu pastor.  Because Hutu killers were looking for her and constantly coming to the home to ransack it looking for Tutsi…and the house itself was quickly filling up with family members fleeing the capital, the women were forced to remain silent during their 90 day ordeal.   But, what a gift this ended up giving Immaculee !  She spent hours and hours in prayer and reciting memorized Bible verses.  The only aid she had was her father’s rosary which he had given to her as she fled the family home.  It was the last time she saw her father.    She relates how her  prayer life and reliance on God during this awful time changed her.  Her transformation shines through as Immaculee is rescued from the genocide and as she begins to build her new life.  As she stands in front of the jailed neighbor, who had helped to chop her mother and beloved brother to pieces, and forgives him you see that she has chosen the better way.   Those hours and weeks of reliance on God and constant prayer were not wasted.  At one point she even  said she missed those days of solitude when she could pray without distraction.

This was much more than the retelling of the Rwandan genocide.  This is a powerful story of faith and forgiveness.

Talking to an Old Friend on a Snowy Day

I got a call yesterday from a friend I hadn’t seen in nearly 15 years.  This friend (S) had left the church we went to for many years.  About 3 years ago he came back to the Lord and began attending a different church (Aren’t we all!?)   First off, I’m beginning to wonder about my constant contact with old friends.  It seems to be happening with some frequency lately.   The conversation was pretty one sided, which I found a bit weird for someone who was calling “to see how you’re doing.”

But, he did say something that I’ve been thinking about.  He relayed an incident with another old friend (JB).  This person had been very special friend to S.  In many ways he was S’s spiritual father.  After being out of contact for many years, he was in JB’s neighborhood and he thought it would be nice to drop by to say hello.  However, the message he got was “I don’t have time for you.”  He wasn’t even invited into the house.

Now, I don’t know all the details about the falling out and I don’t know the circumstances surrounding his sudden appearance on our friend’s doorstep.  JB may really not have had time.  But, it did make me pause, and it’s made me sit and ponder myself and my own actions.

That could have been me!

I’m often in a hurry and too busy to just stop and pay attention.  I could easily brush someone off  – especially someone who just dropped me like a lead balloon and disappeared for 10-15 years.    It made me feel so bad for JB.  Sometimes you only get one chance.  And oh, how easily that could have been me.

Simple Woman’s Daybook ~ 16

**** FOR TODAY… Jan. 25,  2010****

Outside my window… dark, windy, and rainy

I am thankful…. for long-time friends

I am thinking…. I’ve been asked to help in several areas at our parish and now I’m beginning to wonder if I haven’t bit off more than I can chew.

I am going… to have another busy week

I am currently reading… Irrational Season by Madeline L’Engle and I’ve just begun Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza for bookclub.

I am hoping… to get the house ready in time for our house blessing on Weds.

On my mind… Whew!  A lot of things jumbling around in there.

~We had a long-time missionary friend visiting for the weekend.   It was such a nice visit with him even though we missed his wife, who is visiting family in Finland.  Next month they will begin their final translation work in Papua New Guinea before moving to Finland.  We had many good conversations I’m still ruminating about.

~My husband’s science group has had several lectures and dialogs at area churches and colleges over the weekend.  Science is  so fascinating and the rate of discovery is staggering.

~Lent is quickly, quickly approaching.

Noticing that…that we never raked the last of the leaves and now they are a mushy carpet in the front yard.  I hope my grass survives.

I am Pondering These Words.…  “Death is often brutal, but death does not win” by Madeleine L’Engle in Irrational Season.

Around the house… I’m slowly preparing to have my kitchen re-done.  It has taken me months to get this project started.  Today  I want to spend some time de-cluttering the computer area.

A few plans for the rest of the week....  meeting with the kitchen designer, getting our 20 yr old back to college, house blessing, and out to dinner with old friends next weekend.

From my picture journal..

Actually I have two this week.  This one is of my husband, son and our missionary friend playing a board game together.

And this is of our weekend birthday celebrant:

Sometimes I am just so amazed at how quickly they are growing.