Jeopardy!

 Answer is....

What can you give in exchange for your life?  

                                                   Psalms

What is.......

The other night saw the Tournament of Champions come to its conclusion--and the winner took away $250K.  Wow, I remember the days when it was a big deal to win a washer and dryer on Password.  Then, there came the 25,000 pyramid--and so on to Who Wants to  be a Millionaire?  The $250K prize is a great give-away...until you place it on the balance scale of your life. 

 Exactly what can you give in exchange for your life?  Today, Pope Benedict gives up the Papacy--and from where I sit--"to live."  He will be the first Pope in 600 years to out-live the Papacy?  Apparently there is something greater than the Papacy--and that is your God-given life.  When you rise in the morning how do you give thanks for that life?  show forth that thanks? and be that thanks for others/

My thought?  You give gratitude in exchange for your life.  At least Jesus gave up his life in the Last Supper that way--the Eucharist, the word that means "thanksgiving"--his last word to us. 

An Actual Conversation

An Actual Conversation

 “Hello, I’d like to know what you offer on NETFLIX—where can I go to read the inventory of possible choices?”

“Well Sir, there is a section on our website which is called “Browse” and you can see some selections there.”

“Yes, I have the site open.  I am looking at it now. There are about 6 or so listed.  Is that all you offer?”

“Oh know, we offer so many more.  It’s virtually limitless.” 

“Okay, but where can I go to read that inventory before I sign up?”  

“Well, I think the only way you can find out is if you sign up.”  

“So, let me understand.  You want me to give you my credit card number and email address before I know what it is I am getting?”

“Well, yes…but it is a free trial.”  

What is Really on Trial? 

  So of course, the marketing ploy is to get you signed up, get personal information which they can use, and then keep you as a customer out of habit.  Sound just a little like the Heath Care Bill—go ahead and pass it to see what is in it?  The way around the gimmick is to go to somebody who already got hooked into it and see the inventory that way.  

Remember the classic book, The Informed Heart by Bruno Bettleheim?  We retain “hearts of flesh,”—our humanity—in a high technological world by exercising our free will, the power to decide.  We degrade our humanity, the sense of self, when we become the automaton in any system that ropes us in before we can exercise a real decision.  I am better off, in other words, if I drive over to somebody’s house, watch it there, and then exercise my freedom as a person without just yielding to a blind trial run.  It’s in those words, “blind” trial that is the dead give-away to the scheme.  If it’s a blind trial—then you are blind signing up for it.  

Jesus had that uncanny way of confronting the beliefs of those who had signed up for their tradition and status quo without really checking out the bill of goods—and that’s what they got—a bill of goods!  

Blah, Blah, BLAH!

E-N-O-U-G-H! 
I just had enough at the supermarket as I walked the aisles and at least four people were walking around having "open air" conversations--no matter that they were intruding into everyone's emotional space--yak, yak YAK!

No diatribe here--just the concept that each of us occupies what I have called "space" and how we use that space really does matter.  Imagine taking your shopping cart and slamming it into somebody else with complete disregard.  We do that with our voices as well when we "collide" with others in an open-air conversation in which our voice level "bumps into" everyone else.

James Kavanaugh, priest and poet, writes in Walk Gently, that the way we "lean into life" effects everyone around us--the human domino effect--and we can knock a lot of people over that way.  I guess that's what I experienced when around every corner the dominoes kept tumbling into me.

Hey wait a minute.  Do you suppose a "gentle" calm voice, the use of "thank you, excuse me" letting others have the right of way can change the environment --even a supermarket?  Do we have the capacity to actually effect our immediate world for the good?

 

The Little Girl Who Lassoed the Wind

“You must be born from above.” The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’"     John 3



The dog walked me across the park when I watched a mother coaching her daughter into flying a kite.  Oh my goodness, how the mother tried as the little girl dashed to and fro trying to make it take off.  Suddenly the wind caught it.  The kite soared straight up. In complete shock, she let go of the string, opened her arms wind, and shouted in complete glee.  The wind, the sky had filled her with energy--and sheer delight. 

How often do we allow ourselves to be channels for the Spirit?  When do we connect with the natural world and allow it to move into being and emerge with a shout of joy?  Jesus told us what it means--to be born from above, the physical world channeling the Spiritual realm. 

Now I am not suggesting that you go fly a kite--although that may help the older you get because it taps into your child-like spirit, and after all, of such is the Kingdom.  I am suggesting that you find ways to connect with the natural world--take that hike and notice what you see. Drive to the state park, ditch the car, and walk a trail.  Get up early, go outside and catch the sunrise.  Whatever you carry can be born anew as the power of the Spirit flows through you. 

It's a Brand New Day

And what shall you give for 

the gift of another Day?

 

This is not just another day

in your life—

It is the one day given to you, today.

It’s given to you,

as a gift.

It is the only gift you have

right now.

The only appropriate response is

gratefulness.

If you do nothing else,

then cultivate

that response to this unique gift,

as if today

was the first or last day

in your life.

Then you will have spent this day

very well.

                                Louie Schwartzberg

The Lame Shall Enter First

Never Just a Visit to St. Anne de Beaupre

As a high schooler, I went on the "French Trip" to old Quebec City--and it was magnificent. Then I saw the Basilica of St. Anne de Beaupre, 30 miles east and set apart as its own world.  To enter the Basilica is to immediately loose your breath--it is that spectacular and deeply moving.   It was truly awe-inspiring and a sense of the holy abides there.  

The story if St. Anne is little known.  She was cast aside in a ship wreck and where they landed, they dedicated it to God--whereupon miracles of healing are said to have taken place.  Thought I to myself--a legend makes for good founding lore. Then, as I made my way to the entrance of the Bascilica--I discovered its true gift at the entrance.  There, strapped on the great pillars, were countless braces and crutches--presumably from those healed over 350 years.

Do I believe in all those healing miracles that took place? My decision is not important.  What is important is the faith of all those people who strapped them to the pillars. The only way into the kingdom of God is through those who trust and depend on God's grace.  Period.  

Years later I returned to the area for my honeymoon.  The Chateau Frontenac in Quebec is a virtual palace rising above the St. Lawrence.  But make no mistake that the first place I wanted to see was St. Anne's and to stand in awe of the faith that put those braces and crutches on the pillars.  That's what has always held up the kingdom of God.  That's the only way we enter! 

Blinded by the Light

It's a bird, it's a plane...it's a meteor?

Scientists were looking one way at an asteroid when a meteor surprised them from the other direction. Needless to say, those on the ground were the real ones to be surprised.  It was more than just an "event" that equaled 20x the Hiroshima bomb. For sure that was something!  The point is the sequence with which it happened.  There was a blinding light brighter than the sun (which is difficult to believe). Everyone raced to see what it was.  Then a full 3 mins later they were rocked by the sound wave. Windows shattered, buildings crashed--and that's where people got hurt. The time between the light (when they should have dove for cover) and the explosion of the sonic boom (which created so much collateral damage that hurt folks.) 

So what about that period of time between the blinding light and the explosion?  How does that sequence happen to us?  Take the annual physical--and the blinding of the test results.  Do we really do anything about them or do we wait for the explosion if we continue the same course?  Do the symptoms of broken relationships blind us to the light of their truth--and doing nothing, we end up shocked when those relationships end.  How about the blinding light of "life changing" experiences in which we "get over them" and settle back to the same routine? 

When have you been blinded by the light?  Has the sonic boom of reality crashed in on you later on? Or, did the sky light up the truth about your life so that you could do something to change your life for the better?  That's the irony--we who are blinded by the light get a second to see things as they really are--and the chance to do something with it. 

How Full is your Bucket?

The Key to Life?

                 Reverse the Golden Rule

You gotta work with this one!  The Golden Rule says:  “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  What’s wrong with that?  Why reverse it?  Well, in their book, How Full is your Bucket?, Tom Rath and Dr. Donald Clifton rewrite the Golden Rule as follows: 

"Do unto others as they would have you do unto them".

Think about this?  Does this mean, “give others what they want?”  Hmmm.   Try that one with a 5 year old—good luck!  Or, should it read, “give others what they NEED?”  I like that one much better.  Perhaps that works as long as you are clairvoyant enough to make that assessment.  

The basic premise of the book isn’t bad and too far off the mark.  We bless others by sharing affirmation.  True affirmation only comes from really listening to others and letting them know they have been heard.  This is not the same thing as giving people what they want and would like to hear.  What was that St. Paul said, “speak the truth in love?”  (Eph. 4:5) 

The book does offer some other strategies for “affirmative living.”

1. Prevent bucket dipping - ask yourself whether you are adding to or taking from another bucket.

2. Shine a light on what is right - don't focus on the negative, spend time, energy and attention of what is right.

3. Make best friends - great relationships lead to increased satisfaction

4. Give unexpectedly - the gifts can be material, trust or respect, but given unexpectedly increases their bucket filling power

5. Reverse the Golden rule - "Do unto others as they would have you do unto them".

To Save a Life

Now is the Winter of our Discontent...

So why not trade in your life?  

 

  The crocus is the symbol of new life that breaks through 

and blossoms after the worst of winters. 

I have always hesitated to write what I think.  As long as my thoughts stir your thoughts, and mine are never meant to be the last word--okay then, here goes.  What if those who had given up on their life and wanted to end it could trade in their life years?  Then others who were "dying to live" could withdraw some years for themselves?  (I deliberately did not share these thoughts with my Mindy McCready post because I never make light of any life.)  I know so many folks who would "die" for a few more years while others seem in such pain that they do not wish to live another day.  Why not trade them in?   The meaning of life is found not in throwing away our years—but in giving them away to others.  We can add to the years and blessings of others!  

Our lives makes the one we have of infinite value--whether you believe in God or not.  Take the movie, "It's a Wonderful Life."  Clarence the angel is speaking to George Bailey, Jimmy Stewart....

Clarence: Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?

George learns that if he never existed then his brother Harry would have died when he broke through the ice.  Each person cannot trade in a life.  But they can add years and a blessing to others.  

Clarence: You see George, you've really had a wonderful life. Don't you see what a mistake it would be to just throw it away?

Goodbye Mindy!

Oh Mindy, You Left Us Too Soon!

The sudden death and apparent suicide took a talented life from us way too soon.  And of course--from her two children most of all.  Nobody should cast aspersions on a person struggling with addiction who chooses the final solution.  It was THAT bad to have left her kids behind.  That's what suicide is--a final solution to an unlivable life.  You catch a glimpse of the heartache in her book:

In her words, from a CNN Editorial

A year ago, McCready posted excerpts of a book she said was upcoming about her life. She acknowledged a difficult upbringing, personal problems and the challenges she faced turning her life around.

"I haven't had a hit in almost a decade," she wrote in January 2012 on her official fan website. "I've spent my fortune, tarnished my public view and made myself the brunt of punch line after punch line. I've been beaten, sued, robbed, arrested, jailed, and evicted.

"But I'm still here. With a handful of people that I know and trust, a revived determination, and both middle fingers up in the air, I'm ready. I've been here before. I'm a fighter. I'm down, but I'll never be out."

The CNN editorial ends with these words: 

But Sunday, on the porch of her home, she may have changed her mind.

My favorite flower has always been crocus.  They overcome winter and herald spring.  In the depths of winter, I think of the crocus and know that we can weather almost anything if we know the spring will come.  What I read in Mindy's final act is that she lost the springtime in her soul. 

What are the seeds that you and I plant in our souls, and in the souls of others, which hold hope out for ourselves and those around us? 

When the World Flips

When has your World Flipped?

There we were driving in a gorgeous day in Western Virginia along Interstate 81. I had checked the 511 traffic information and all was clear.  So was the weather forecast--"cloudy and overcast" ahead. Cruise control set, no trucks bearing down, and Hayden's 104th was playing.

 

 
The weather forecast was correct--for a while that is.  It did cloud up...just before the bottom dropped out into a snow squall. In fact, we slowed down into a "white out."  Had this storm gotten lost, was its GPS off, what was it doing deluging us?  We slowed down dramatically and pulled behind a car and trailer which was breaking up the snow on the interstate.  Of course, trucks whizzed by us knowing some secret to staying on the highway without skidding into the rest of us. 

The world changed instantly and dramatically.  Once we got into our safety-zone for driving, we could see red barns with black cattle standing out in relief.  The trees transformed from winter brown white shilouettes on the hill sides.  And of course we traveled at half the speed.  There was truly a sense of awe and wonder at the way the world changed...and we were compelled to slow down and see it--then enjoy it.

Do You Flip Out When the World Flips? 

We humans like a predictable world.  A weather forecast is not the only thing we 

rely on--think of the ups and downs of the DowJones, of health when the flu hits

early, of the sudden red-slip departure from business....  Do any of us ever stop and drive the new speed limit when our conditions change and take in the new world?  Not likely!  Aren't we more apt to panic and rush to get things back the way they were.  Admittedly, when the snow hit, I first thought of safety, then the time lost, and now the joy of the experience.  What is the old saying?  Life is what happens to you when you are planning for something else?  Maybe the real question is this.  Not how I put my world back together, but rather how will I accept the world as it is handed to me--with the realization that God is just as much in the new world as the old.  Maybe, just maybe--God will stand out in relief for us like those barns, cattle and trees. 

The Real Temptation

Temptations in the Wilderness?

Frankly--I have just never, ever envisioned the temptation as an arm wrestling match--especially where Hollywood casts the characters above.  Was it really the strength of Satan pitted against Jesus/  Or was it more the wrestling that went on in Jesus to prepare for his public ministry? Scripture is clear that Jesus meets and evil one, "the devil" or "Satan" in the wilderness.  I envision the temptation as within Jesus himself as he had to confront who he really was as the Son.  Would he be his own self or be the Son living his life for the Father? 

The Temptations of the Wilderness...

This may be too much of a play on words--but I am trying to say that the temptation was more the wilderness, of being alone with himself and confronting his own devil that wanted him to be free of the Father.  Once he emerges from the wilderness, he is convicted to carry out his life as the Son living toward the Father all the way to the Cross. 

We each have a journey to make -- the journey of a soul, a life that moves from cradle to grave.  In so doing, we cross the wilderness of our own lives.  We confront fears, challenges and ultimately the choice, that one choice for whom we will live.  The temptation is always there to be far less than how God created us--and that happens when we live our lives toward something or one who cannot be our God. 

The Cruise of a Lifetime

What Kind of "Triumph" on Carnival Cruise?  

There is just something strangely ironic that a modern vessel outfitted with the highest grade technology and craftsmanship would have its propulsion system blow out and strand 1500 in anything but a lap of luxury--and the vessel's name is "Triumph."  Really!   It brings to my my mind the actual sighting of a 60 foot sailboat that sailed right onto a reef--and its name was "Brilliant."  

 Alright, let’s not knock this one too badly.  The boat broke down with 1500 aboard who had booked a cruise for the “time of their lives”—and they got it—but not the way they expected.  Apparently there was a fire and the propulsion system crashed.  Everything is “okay,” the boat did not sink—but its hardly first class accommodations.  Can the passengers play their cards right?  Full refund and a free cruise later on?  Really first class accommodations in New Orleans—everything is booked—with private charters set to fly them back to Houston.  What else can be done?  After all, now they have a story to tell for the rest of their lives. 

 
 Walker Percy, American Book Award Winner, has said that we need these kinds of disruptions, major excursions off course so to speak, to prove to ourselves that we are alive. It shakes us out of the malaise, the doldrums of our lives.  Life after all is not a cruise, though that’s what we may have signed up for. Percy also promoted the idea that nobody can escape from their own freedom "to steer their own boat" so to speak. There is only one captain on board your boat.  All kinds of circumstances come and go--like being stranded on a luxury yacht--but you can only determine how you will said through those waters. 

What Does True Freedom Mean?

A Tale (Tail?) of Freedom 
 At the End of the Leash

We all know the saying—“At the end of my rope!”  But have you ever heard somebody say, “I am at the end of my leash?”  The other day, I used a 25ft flexi-leash for my dog—never a good idea says Caesar the Dog Whisperer because it gives them a false understanding of who is the pack leader, the boss.  However—I wonder!  I snapped the leash on my dog and within minutes she had wandered off the 25ft extension.  When she hit the end, she looked back at me—and if a dog can possibly register total shock, well….she did!  “How did I get way out here?  How did you get over there?  This is NOT how it is supposed to work.” 

Here’s the point.  Caesar hears dogs tell him that a short 6ft lead lines them up with the master, the pack leader.  They know freedom by being in a relationship—a certain tether.  If they are trained that way, and then they suddenly end up at the end of a 25ft leash—of course, “surprise!” 

 "Whose service is perfect freedom...."

Freedom is being in relationship. Are we “free” by just being able to go where we want and when?  That’s one type of freedom alright.  There is a beautiful prayer which reads “whose service is perfect freedom.”  In service to God, in that relationship, we know perfect freedom.  Freedom is not what the song says—just another name for nothing left to loose. 

What do we live for?

Christopher Dorner, What Did You Die For? 

We’ve watched a painful manhunt for 9 days.  Or should we say that the man who hunted down and killed others was himself hunted down and killed.  And for what, the rage over losing his job?  This was seem in his distorted mind as the equivalent of taking the life of two others, the one who fired him and his daughter. A deputy sheriff lost his life in the final firefight. 

How do we make sense out of the senseless?  The only way I know is to take our individual human stories and place them within a larger narrative.  This is Lent.  We give things up to gain life.  Whatever we give up can create the sacred space in which we can realize God in a new way.  Dorner turned that narrative on its tragic end.  He took life to inflict pain, a “final solution” to his outrage at his personal loss. 

Dorner dies in inferno

Is it true that fires purify 
what we cannot redeem 
with human hands?" 



Such is our challenge.  To find ways to give up our lives so that others live.  In acts of mercy and kindness—never random as the saying goes—we create a sacred space in the world for the Spirit to fill.  According to M Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled, love is what we do to enrich the lives of others—to give life.  In a world that is never fair, declares Peck, we still have the choice of how to respond with our lives. How tragic the choice of Dorner.  

Looking at the World Through Ashes

Memorial Cross, Univ of South, Sewanee TN

Ashes to Ashes Today, this Wednesday 

This picture of the Sewanee cross says it all to me for Ash Weds 2013.  Normally, you drive up on a crystal clear day and can see for miles.  You look through the cross to the valley below.  The cross casts a shadow that marks the world--this is God's creation.  But on Ash Weds, ours is a different vision altogether--of our mortality, of the way ahead uncertain as a fog clouding our vision. 

There is this essential mystery.  The more we claim our place as the creation which is mortal, the more we see the Creator which is eternal.  When we claim our place, we find our place in relationship to God.

I love to tell the story of beloved Drummond. When I heard the story, I knew it had to be him, the real thing.  It was Ash Weds, he was in the hospital and knew he was dying.  He did not request the Communion, often brought to the sick, nor did he ask for Last Rites.  The story I hear is that he asked for ashes.  Could it be that he saw the world through ashes, his mortality in the new  Light of the Creator?  Funny twist, that ashes would open our eyes to see our real nature and who we truly are in the Light of God. 

Sewanee Cross at Sunrise

A Pope Steps Down

Last Act Makes History

The sudden announcement by Pope Benedict may not have been so sudden after all. In the past year, he held two large assemblies to name a record number of cardinals.  This coincided with his very frail appearance at the Christmas Eve Mass—coming down the aisle on a car and being escorted during the entire service.  He literally was not under his own power. 

However, and this must be underscored, that this is the first time in about 600 years that a Pope has resigned.  Some speculate that he was persuaded by his experiences with his predecessor and his slow death and inability to function.  He saw what happened to the papacy and to that pope as the object of such attention.  Who knows….   

What we do know is that the yielding of power is a monumental struggle for people.  There is something of self-preservation in the yielding of power.  Is there the deep seated belief that we cannot give up power without GIVING UP OURSELVES?  Or could it be said that in giving up ourselves we yield to highest, most noble of instincts for the calling to Christ’s Church in the service of others?  There is a vast difference between “giving up on ourselves” and “GIVING UP ourselves.”

In Servant Leadership, Robert K. Greenleaf writes that we recognize leaders FIRST as servants.    Certainly the act of stepping aside for welfare of others and the Church is a true act of servanthood, regardless of other motivations that may be attributed to it.  

In Philippians 2, St. Paul recognizes the giving up of ourselves, “the emptying of oneself,” as the time of servanthood in which there is no void—but the opportunity of the Spirit to fill us and to lead us.

Let each of you look not to your own interests,

but to the interests of others.

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
   did not regard equality with God
   as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
   taking the form of a servant,
   being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
   he humbled himself
   and became obedient to the point of death—
   even death on a cross.

I heard the owl call my name...

I Heard the Owl Call My Name

by Margaret Craven 

I heard the sound before I stepped out of the car--that distinctive call of the Great Horned Owl. By the way, those tuffs are not ears--but give the appearance of horns.  Walking down into the back yard--I heard it again--just like a dog barking.  I called out--and sooner rather than later--it answered me.  I had connected.  And it is precisely that connection with the natural world that we have lost and need to get back. 

The book, I Heard the Owl Call my Name, is the story of a young clergyman who is sent by his Bishop to a Native American tribe and village in the northwest. These are different times--because unknown by young cleric, the Bishop has the secret knowledge of the young man's terminal diagnosis. The Indians tell him he is going to die because the "owl has called your name."  In this painful saga, the cleric reconnects with the natural world in which the tragedy of the terminal illness is the hope of finding his place in the natural world. 

There is the unmistakable call of the owl that reconnects us with our natural world.  It is what we belong to by heritage--yet disavow with our dependence on technology.  Young Mark Brian dies more alive than when he arrived in the village. 

Of course, this takes me back to the call of the owl in my back yard.  There was the irresistible call of the owl which connected inside me to the world I really belong to.  William Faulkner had an abiding theme of connection with the natural world and the land.  Sever it and cease to be fully human and therefore alive.  I know I was richer, more alive for the encounter--which elicited from me the cry of an owl in return.

Waking Up to Life

Waking Up to Life....

Okay.  I am going to admit this. I fell asleep in my chair with a roaring fire going while most of the northeast had a blizzard.  I startled myself awake as I got drenched in Coke.  What?  Can I really believe that I fell asleep with a can of Coke in my hand?  Then when I woke up, my entire mid-section got soaked in Coke. I'd like to forget the logistics and antics of what happened.  All I can say is that I have never jarred myself awake like that!  

Now here is the question.  Was I really awake?  Oh yeah, I was out of physical sleep--for sure--and needing a change of clothes. But are the spiritual masters correct that most of us are really asleep, not alert to life, when we are supposedly awake? 

Now, look at this person meditating. He is still, but very much awake.  The point of meditation is to be alert, concentrated, focused--some would say to hear your own heart beat.  And then from within to be awake to life in a whole new dimension. The serenity of the morning sunrise, I would say, is in the heart of this person. 

We don't need to turn into a guru.  We need to become more than tourists in this world and especially of our inner lives. I have no doubt that I needed the rest--but to have fallen asleep with a Coke can in my hand says volumes to me of needing the real rest that does not come from this world. 

Forecasting the Weather of the Heart

Forecasting Phil the Groundhog Predicts Early Spring

Northeast Now Braces for Record Setting Blizzard!  

So much for that Groundhog and its forecast for an early Spring!  I guess you get what you order from a Groundhog anyway.  There is no way to tell if the blizzard predictions will come true. The juxtaposition of Phil followed by a "perfect story" scenario for the northeast is its own lesson. 

For centuries, our prophets, poets and spiritual leaders have told us but one thing--weather of the heart is what matters. "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you"--thank you Jesus for saying what we have learned.   The external circumstances do not matter to destroy our peace. They are neutral.  What we THINK and FEEL about them does matter.  If we wait for the world to harmonize and give us peace--whatever does come will be a short order! 

Just One Good Day, Please

Just One Good Day...Please. 

What happens to life when the only prayer is for just one good day?  Haven't you heard that request from those who suffer chronic pain, extreme medical therapies, or terminal illness?  Please, pray for just one good day... Or, we call to see how somebody is doing--and what do we hear, "Today is a good day," or "This is not a good day."

I don't want to hit this one too hard. But I do think how days fly by with me at times and I take for granted that my body works and is not in a dire condition.  So how do I use my "good days?" Is there time to pray for those who must count the days that are "good?"  Do I use my days to do more than remember them by putting prayer into action--a card, a call, maybe a visit?

Jesus was called "the Good Shepherd" for a reason.  No matter the situation--for him personally, for those who sought him out---He was there for them. Some even say that God was there too. 

Chemotherapy

By:  Julia Darling

I did not imagine being bald

at forty four. I didn’t have a plan.

Perhaps a scar or two from growing old,

hot flushes. I’d sit fluttering a fan.

But I am bald, and hardly ever walk

by day, I’m the invalid of these rooms.

stirring soups, awake in the half dark,

not answering the phone when it rings.

I never thought that life could get this small,

that I would care so much about a cup,

the taste of tea, the texture of a shawl,

and whether or not I should get up.

I’m not unhappy. I have learnt to drift

and sip. The smallest things are gifts.

Richard's Bones Tell His Story

 It's Richard III Alright!

"This has been an extraordinary journey of discovery.  

We came with a dream and today that dream has been realized. This is an historic moment that will rewrite the history books."

Philippa Langley, Screenwriter

Champion Search for Richard III 

Only with DNA technology...a living bona fide relative...and a whole lot of luck did the bones that turned up in a car lot outside Leicester Cathedral were proven to be those of Richard III.  He will be buried adjacent to the Cathedral, the place of his historical death in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. 

What else do we know?  That he died from one of two violent blows to the head and 8-10 wounds to his body. It appears that his body was beaten after his death, a ritual for humiliation.  Scientists speculate that he was buried with hands tied and squeezed into a grave. No dignity was paid to the one called "criminal king."  

Yet scholars still wonder if the Tudors set about to bury Richard III with the pen to establish their line. The archaeological evidence surely backs up the popular view that this was a King not for the liking of the people.  

So what do we really get from the discovery?  It confirms that Richard suffered from a hunchback with scoliosis. He died a violent death and his corpse was humilated to denigrate his memory as a criminal King. The location of the battle is right on accurate. Perhaps the physical remains will spur somebody to revisit his story.  History is after all--written by the winners.  

 

Deadliest Sniper Dies Trying to Save a Life

The man called America’s Deadliest Sniper, Navy Seal Chris Kyle, died with a friend doing what he said was his life’s legacy—trying to save a life.  Kyle authored American Sniper about his training and action as a sniper, and by all accounts, he did earn the reputation for being deadly with more than 150 kills.  And what was his regret?  That I could not save more of our people….  

The tragic irony is that the retired SEAL died doing just that—trying to save the life of Eddie Routh who returned from Iraq with PTSD. By all accounts, he wandered hometown streets crying, smelling of alcohol, without a shirt or shoes.  Kyle heard the story went to try to help him out.  At a shooting range, Eddie took down “America’s Sniper” and friend.  

It is such tragedies for Shakespeare that people’s lives interweave and seek the noble trial to rescue another person. After all--Chris was doing his life’s mission trying to save another life.  The two seemed inextricably bound together from the war, one the victim and the other still on mission.  
Is there more than Shakespearean tragedy here?  John’s Gospel writes that “no greater love has anyone than to lay down their life for another.”  (3:16)  Sometimes when we really see it, we can believe it.  

Second Thoughts about Alabama Kidnapper

This Time We Lost 3 Children

The horror story in rural Alabama came to painful end with the rescue of the little boy Ethan and the death of kidnapper Jimmy Lee Dykes.  In an ironic tribute, they buried bus driver Albert Poland, Jr. who was killed fighting off the kidnapper – for what he wanted most, the safety of all of his children.  

The ultimate sadness is that some where along the line, the “child” in Jimmy Lee Dykes died. Let’s face the difficult truth—a human being in full capacity of rational wit does not use a child in such a horrific manner.  Poland the bus driver, however, knew the value of the children he tried to protect—in fact, so well enough that he was willing to die for them.

The police share this much from the conversations with Dykes. "Based on our discussions with Mr. Dykes, he feels like he has a story that's important to him, although it's very complex," Olson said Monday before the hostage situation ended. He didn't elaborate.  Something dies in us when nobody hears our story.  

I want to say something that prevents us from just mentally burying the kidnapper and killer Dykes and forgetting that he was also a human being too.  A horrifically tragic one...but still somebody we are all related to.

There is a viewpoint, just one particular opinion, that says that we all have a hand in creating this kinds of character.  No question that nature left something out.  Okay. But the kidnapper and killer had a human face that died before this event.  He was the town odd-ball, known for killing pets that strayed his way, and wandering around in the evenings with a shot gun.  He roamed until he found that school bus, Albert Poland, and then Ethan.  We lost 3 before it all ended. 

The Real Super Bowl Score

Super Lights Out! 
Bowl Game #47 
into Record Books

Super Bowl #47 goes into the record books for two reasons--the dramatic 110 yd run-back for a TD and the 3rd quarter lights out for more than 30 minutes. What really happened is still everyone's guess. What it did for the game is nobody's guess. Forget the announcers saying it had no effect on the game.  Nobody watching what ensued (17 quick pts for SF) believed that nonsense!  The announcers were just trying to protect the "integrity" of the game.  Laughable!  It let SF back into the game--when ironically--it appeared to be lights out for them.  The Ravens were running up the score and folks were ready with channel changers with just one more TD. 

So what we saw is this--first, SF came back dramatically and took over the game.  The Ravens could not fly--they were grounded.  The temporary lights out "rebooted" SF.  However, and this is not to be lost because it makes a champion. The Ravens then got their second wind and did what was necessary to win the game in the end.


The Real Score
 

The real score and lesson is this: LIGHTS OUT.  A second wind. Taking yourself out of the game for a few plays.  Catching your breath. Time out.   Whatever you call it -- we know that we reach a point in life where we confront a problem, and the harder we work at it, the more difficult it becomes.  Then if we back away, detach, do something else, our minds still work on it--but not on the front burner.  Our best problem solving happens at a subconscious level.  Ever hear the phrase--go sleep on it?  Then you awake the next morning and --bingo!--the answer is right there. 

Check out Richard Carlson, PhD: You can be Happy No Matter What (Five Principles for Keeping Life in Perspective    The chapter on "problem-solving" is terrific. The harder you try to solve some problems the worse they get.  Back away, let it go, forget it for awhile--and the answer jumps out at you.  Once you detach--a different part of your brain can work on it with less clutter and especially the emotion of frustration that builds when answers elude us. 

What was that you said? Wasn't that pass interference on the Ravens at the end of the game to turn the tide for SF? I don't know.  I am gonna go turn off the lights for a while. 

Just Counting the Days?

 

Groundhog Day 2013:

Punxsutawney Phil

Does Not See His Shadow

 

What is the forecasting fad with the groundhog?  If he sees his shadow, then it is weeks more of winter.  If he does not, then Spring comes sooner.  I remember the year he did not see his shadow and we had two February blizzards.  That’s when I turned to The Farmer’s Almanac! 

That’s social custom for you.  They dress up in top hats and heavy gloves—to keep from getting bitten—the crowds gather, the cameras roll—and presto, Groundhog Day!  It’s utterly amazing how we set up this mile-markers—the rites of life. Think of all the mile-markers we create to count time. That first child, the 50^th birthday, marriage and grandchildren—on and on go mile-markers. 

Now comes the question.  What do we do to set up the mile-markers toward our personal growth?  Not just the passage of time—as if we could count SuperBowls (and I was around for the first one!).  But for growth?  There’s a series of books out there called “Younger this Time Next Year.”  Not bad, but you are still counting time, rolling it back so to speak.  

So Which Are You Headed?
 

 So why not set some direction--maybe some goals--for how you'd like to see yourself grow.  
Take on listening skills for the Spirit within you?  For those around you?  In other words, as you walk through linear time--whether it be an early spring or not, you are still deepening your life.  Call it time for growth or spiritual time. 

The point is that just as they have gather for 127 years to watch Phil, you can take one day and concentrate on something that gives you life for living.