Wednesday, February 28, 2007
One Foot in Front of the Other
The AIDS Walk is fast approaching! I want to invite all of Wellspring to join me and the Bering Omega team. We'll have a table that clearly identifies the folks related to our hospice (Omega House), dental clinic, etc. So we'll be easy to find. For those concerned about whether it will test their physical capabilities, no worries. The walk isn't three miles and the pace is very slow because most folks are people-watching more than exercising! If you are still hesitant to walk but want to be involved, I'll gladly accept your donation!!! Check out my page for details.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Anyone up for some Anne?
That's right - Anne Lamont's coming to Houston. I read her book 'Traveling Mercies' and loved it! I'm not sure what she will be talking about - it doesn't say, but you can't go wrong with Anne Lamont. Check it out here. It will cost about $25. Let me know if you're interested. If you haven't read Traveling Mercies I would suggest reading it.
Monday, February 19, 2007
lent
so ken has given me permission to try some things this lenten season.
the first thing is going to be a 'fat tuesday' meal at pappasitos on 1960!
we'll get there tomorrow around 7 and will hopefully eat ourselves into a bit of gluttony.
(i might even bring some mardi gras beads...don't get excited rodney, you've got to keep your clothes on at dinner!)
following that is ash wednesday, and i encourage all of you to pop into a catholic, episcopal, or lutheran service...(there may be other denominations doing it as well).
it's short...and they usually do several a day.
for those of you that may not have grown up in a church or lifestyle that included lent...
you can check out some info on wikipedia
i'm usually the last person to be a proponent of anything traditional...
but i'm working on that.
it's real easy to get excited during advent leading up to christmas...
and many times i forget about the time leading up to the crucifixion.
this is a good time for reflection...
and perhaps for our community to try something new.
the first thing is going to be a 'fat tuesday' meal at pappasitos on 1960!
we'll get there tomorrow around 7 and will hopefully eat ourselves into a bit of gluttony.
(i might even bring some mardi gras beads...don't get excited rodney, you've got to keep your clothes on at dinner!)
following that is ash wednesday, and i encourage all of you to pop into a catholic, episcopal, or lutheran service...(there may be other denominations doing it as well).
it's short...and they usually do several a day.
for those of you that may not have grown up in a church or lifestyle that included lent...
you can check out some info on wikipedia
i'm usually the last person to be a proponent of anything traditional...
but i'm working on that.
it's real easy to get excited during advent leading up to christmas...
and many times i forget about the time leading up to the crucifixion.
this is a good time for reflection...
and perhaps for our community to try something new.
2-18-07
blessings...
in the moments where the cost to follow seems
too much
too hard
too long.
a place where eyes grow tired of searching
hands grow weary from the work
voice is strained from the yelling
and the heart is breaking from the waiting.
feel yourself tethered
your mourning, your anxiety, your desperation
will not carry you away.
this is where even your groans are understood.
blessings...
as you do the hard work of letting yourself go
erupting out onto the other side
stepping into the grace
into the rhythm
into the light.
allow the crying to cease
allow the yelling to subside
feel yourself enveloped in love and patience
by something much bigger than you
something that does not grow weary
and that will never leave you.
rest here...
here in this embrace.
amen.
in the moments where the cost to follow seems
too much
too hard
too long.
a place where eyes grow tired of searching
hands grow weary from the work
voice is strained from the yelling
and the heart is breaking from the waiting.
feel yourself tethered
your mourning, your anxiety, your desperation
will not carry you away.
this is where even your groans are understood.
blessings...
as you do the hard work of letting yourself go
erupting out onto the other side
stepping into the grace
into the rhythm
into the light.
allow the crying to cease
allow the yelling to subside
feel yourself enveloped in love and patience
by something much bigger than you
something that does not grow weary
and that will never leave you.
rest here...
here in this embrace.
amen.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
From "A Minute Of Margin"
Speaking of Community......Perhaps our techno world is anti-community?
Loneliness, Boredom, Stress, and The Media.
In the years ahead we will live increasingly in fictions. We will turn on our virtual-reality systems on and lie back, experiencing heavenly pleasures of sight and sound in a snug electronic nest. The real world will almost be totally blotted out from our experience.A quote from "World Future Society"
Life is meant to be participatory and relational. In the past life was "experience rich" but "stimulus poor". Today that ratio has reversed, and much of this trend is due to the pervasive presence of media in our current environment , it is easy to lapse into a media saturated existence. When lonely, or boredom or stressed, the first thing we often do is activate our media surroundings,which usually means turning on the television. In a previous era we would have perhaps have visited a friend.This is not to say that all such media usage for loneliness is inappropriate. But if over used, it will result in more isolation, not less.It is therefore wise to guard against media constituting our only barrier to loneliness.Loneliness and boredom are often traveling partners. While loneliness can motivate to move toward community,boredom can motivate us toward creativity.We should not fear boredom as we do, it can be useful. If we tolerate a bored state for long it can become a seedbed of imagination and to short circuit boredom is to short circuit creativity.The temptation is to immediately solve boredom with media. When children are bored, we usually rescue them with television,videos,or computer games. Instead, if we allow boredom to build with no possibility of electronics, imagination will begin to surface. This is called play.Play is the business of childhood. It is healthy for kids to get bored and to have to play their way out of it. In addition to loneliness and boredom,stress is another factor that drives us to a relaxing media respite. This is acceptable from time to time.But when a media respite becomes a media overload,turn off the television. When media saturation becomes physical sedentary and socially isolating,move to restore appropriate levels of physical and social activity, where real healing is found.
THE RX
Allow boredom to nourish the imagination rather than consume and reenergize your participatory experience. Dont live a vicarious virtual-reality existence, create a personal-experience reality and in doing so, you will increase physical exercise,connect to others,and build community.
Loneliness, Boredom, Stress, and The Media.
In the years ahead we will live increasingly in fictions. We will turn on our virtual-reality systems on and lie back, experiencing heavenly pleasures of sight and sound in a snug electronic nest. The real world will almost be totally blotted out from our experience.A quote from "World Future Society"
Life is meant to be participatory and relational. In the past life was "experience rich" but "stimulus poor". Today that ratio has reversed, and much of this trend is due to the pervasive presence of media in our current environment , it is easy to lapse into a media saturated existence. When lonely, or boredom or stressed, the first thing we often do is activate our media surroundings,which usually means turning on the television. In a previous era we would have perhaps have visited a friend.This is not to say that all such media usage for loneliness is inappropriate. But if over used, it will result in more isolation, not less.It is therefore wise to guard against media constituting our only barrier to loneliness.Loneliness and boredom are often traveling partners. While loneliness can motivate to move toward community,boredom can motivate us toward creativity.We should not fear boredom as we do, it can be useful. If we tolerate a bored state for long it can become a seedbed of imagination and to short circuit boredom is to short circuit creativity.The temptation is to immediately solve boredom with media. When children are bored, we usually rescue them with television,videos,or computer games. Instead, if we allow boredom to build with no possibility of electronics, imagination will begin to surface. This is called play.Play is the business of childhood. It is healthy for kids to get bored and to have to play their way out of it. In addition to loneliness and boredom,stress is another factor that drives us to a relaxing media respite. This is acceptable from time to time.But when a media respite becomes a media overload,turn off the television. When media saturation becomes physical sedentary and socially isolating,move to restore appropriate levels of physical and social activity, where real healing is found.
THE RX
Allow boredom to nourish the imagination rather than consume and reenergize your participatory experience. Dont live a vicarious virtual-reality existence, create a personal-experience reality and in doing so, you will increase physical exercise,connect to others,and build community.
Monday, February 12, 2007
blessing
per ken's request, i'll be adding our weekly blessing to the blog.
thanks to all of you for being so supportive of it.
2-11-07
you are blessed.
your inheritance is waiting,
since the dawn of time
when God molded chaos...
even then,
the Kingdom was waiting for you.
you are blessed
because at one point
you too were a stranger.
someone was kind to you
because you were different.
someone listened
when no one else would,
and perhaps even clothed, fed, or cared for you...
a stranger.
you are blessed
as you attempt to open your eyes.
your blindness is gone...
if you choose it.
your heart is softened...
if you want it.
and your hands will begin to help...
if you will only try.
you are blessed
as you choose love over indifference
as you meet eyes with a stranger
as you individually and corporately seek to help
as you are overwhelmed
as you cry out against injustice
and as you are taken into the warmth unseen
as a friend...
no longer a stranger.
be loved.
be welcomed.
be blessed.
thanks to all of you for being so supportive of it.
2-11-07
you are blessed.
your inheritance is waiting,
since the dawn of time
when God molded chaos...
even then,
the Kingdom was waiting for you.
you are blessed
because at one point
you too were a stranger.
someone was kind to you
because you were different.
someone listened
when no one else would,
and perhaps even clothed, fed, or cared for you...
a stranger.
you are blessed
as you attempt to open your eyes.
your blindness is gone...
if you choose it.
your heart is softened...
if you want it.
and your hands will begin to help...
if you will only try.
you are blessed
as you choose love over indifference
as you meet eyes with a stranger
as you individually and corporately seek to help
as you are overwhelmed
as you cry out against injustice
and as you are taken into the warmth unseen
as a friend...
no longer a stranger.
be loved.
be welcomed.
be blessed.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
I like this quote
Youth is not a period of time. It is a state of mind, a result of the will, a quality of the imagination, a victory of courage over timidity, of the taste for adventure over the love of comfort. A man doesn’t grow old because he has lived a certain number of years. A man grows old when he deserts his ideal. The years may wrinkle his skin, but deserting his ideal wrinkles his soul. Preoccupations, fears, doubts, and despair are the enemies which slowly bow us toward earth and turn us into dust before death. You will remain young as long as you are open to what is beautiful, good and great; receptive to the messages of other men and women, of nature and of God. If one day you should become bitter, pessimistic, and gnawed by despair, may God have mercy on your old man’s soul.
General Douglas McArthur
General Douglas McArthur
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