The Main Business of Faith

David Brooks in The New York Times 12/24/2014, "Finding Ultimate Meaning
      in the Daily Living of Life":

. . .the main business of faith:   living attentively every day.  The faithful are trying to live in ways their creator loves.  They are trying to turn moments of spontaneous consciousness into an ethos of strict conscience.  They are using effervescent sensations of holiness to inspire concrete habits, moral practices and practical ways of living well.

Brooks quotes Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik:  "The pangs of searching and groping, the tortures of spiritual crises and exhausting treks of the soul purify and sanctify man, cleanse his thoughts and purge them of the husks of superficiality and the dross of vulgarity.   Out of these torments there emerges a new understanding of the world, a powerful spiritual enthusiasm that shakes the very foundations of man's existence."

Hear the angels sing. . .

Sunday at First United Methodist Church in Marshall we sang "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear".
In the third verse, a line reads "O rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing. . ."    We returned last week after almost a month in El Paso while Carrie recovered from surgery, then went to Tucson to see Richard's brother Bob and his wife Cindy who are in a lovely assisted living facility now.   Then we headed back to Missouri - a 1300 mile trip on "a weary road".   Just got back in time to be hit with the crush of Christmas activities.     At church Sunday,  I felt that I did hear the angels sing:   the bell choir, a flute and organ duet, vocal solos. . . refreshing to the soul.

The Lokai Bracelet

I just purchased a Lokai Bracelet for a gift.   Designed by Steven Izen, the bracelet is infused with elements from the highest and lowest points on earth.   A white ball carries  water from Mt. Everest, and a black ball holds mud from the Dead Sea.   A string of clear beads links the two signifying the path  that is ones own.  

To me the thread that binds them together represents God.   Through all the highs and lows and every
day ordinariness, God is within us.   I am going to suggest that the receiver of the gift use the bracelet
as prayer beads:   Each day focus briefly on the low point and using each bead, pray about what is on your heart, then find something about the day that was a high point and pray about several things for which you are thankful.  

A daily conversation with God lends balance and peace to our lives.

On troubles. . .

The world breaks everyone and afterward 

many are stronger at the broken places.

                        Earnest Hemingway

                        "Farewell to Arms"

The Cokesbury Hymnal

I saw an old familiar hymnal in our Methodist Church office the other day.  The secretary told me that
she had located the book for my old friend, Shelby, who lives in Florida.   I was delighted to pick it up to mail to her because I recall a long ago conversation between the two of us.

Shelby attended a rural church in southeastern Kansas at the same time I attended Shiloh Methodist
Church in central Missouri.   Unbeknownst to each other, we were both novice pianists for our
congregations and like me, she always selected number 124 in the Cokesbury Hymnal, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus", the easiest hymn in the book to play.

Many of the favorites of our congregation are seldom heard today.  I can get nostalgic whenever I hear "The Church in the Wildwood".   The view from every window at Shiloh was trees and fields.  So many memories associated with the old-time hymns.

Reading

Mark Edmundson has written:  "Real reading is reincarnation.   
. . .    It is being born again into a higher form of consciousness than we ourselves possess.  when we walk the streets of Manhattan with Walt Whitman or contemplate our hopes for eternity with Emily Dickinson, we are reborn into more ample and generous minds."

                       W. Andrew Ewell     Salon.com   October 11, 2014

My Latest Project

In Tennessee last month, my Aunt Jo and I edited a booklet I have put together of letters from my
Uncle George when he was on the USS Lamar 1944 - 1946.   Because we are presently too lazy to
read script, I typed a large number of letters he wrote to her during WWII and they will be put into booklets along with copies of newspaper clippings and memorabilia.   Close relatives will all get
a copy.   My aunt (who is now 97) is excellent at editing and we spent 9 hours together going over
all the details of the project.     I would not trade this wonderful experience. . .

Beauty

"The test of beauty is whether it can survive close knowledge.  This is as true of persons as of places. the dancer,  dazzling behind the footlights, may in ordinary living be so dull, so unkind, so fractious, that her smooth limbs and lovely face are lost in the immediacy of her spiritual unloveliness.   On the other hand, a very plain woman or an ugly man may receive a deep devotion, because  the known qualities of mind and spirit are beautiful, and this familiar beauty lies like a soft veil over any physical inadequacies."
                                    Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings    Cross Creek
           

Walmart Chaos

One Sunday afternoon recently I ran some errands at Walmart.   As I entered, no carts were available and the standard greeter was missing.    Carts were all over the parking lot in random places and shoppers were going out to find one.    I did my shopping, joined the long lines at every check-out only to find my cashier was a novice who was having difficulty with every aspect of closing out customers.    When I got home I realized I had someone else's groceries.  

Returning to customer service, I saw plastic grocery sacks piled up behind the counter.   The customer assistant looked at my receipt and searched through bags for my items.    When she returned my goods to me, she said, "Sorry.  We've had a bit of a moment."

Definition

ultracrepidarianism:   the habit of giving opinions and advice on matters outside of one's knowledge or competence"          With the internet, we have become "entrepreneurs of error".

                                       Think Like a Freak  Steven D Levitt  and  Stephen J. Dubner

Misunderstandings

For 30 days in late summer, I had my family coming in and out.   It was sheer delight with a different number for dinner every night.   Garden vegetables and fruits were abundant and cooking was fun.
We played games and visited and time stood still.   After everyone left, I could hardly get up in the morning, and morning is usually my favorite time of day.

I am remembering one afternoon when Susanne was trying to get a booster set up for my Wi-Fi.   It had been a real headache and she was talking to the tech support for the booster she had purchased.

Susanne:   " I am trying to get this worked out for my mother and I don't want her to have trouble with it after I leave."
. . ."Well, she gets around ok. . ."

Me:  (indignantly)  "What do you mean?   I get around just fine".

Susanne:  (aside from her conversation)    "She is talking about getting around on the internet."
. . ." Her memory is pretty good."

Me:   "My memory is just fine"

Susanne:   She is talking about your hard drive.

Joseph's Prayer

Joseph, my 17 year old grandson,  is a Special Needs student at Shawnee Heights High School. . .

The Vacation Wendell Berry

The Vacation

BY WENDELL BERRY

Once there was a man who filmed his vacation.

He went flying down the river in his boat

with his video camera to his eye, making

a moving picture of the moving river

upon which his sleek boat moved swiftly

toward the end of his vacation. He showed

his vacation to his camera, which pictured it,

preserving it forever: the river, the trees,

the sky, the light, the bow of his rushing boat

behind which he stood with his camera

preserving his vacation even as he was having it

so that after he had had it he would still

have it. It would be there. With a flick

of a switch, there it would be. But he

would not be in it. He would never be in it.

On Being Yourself

E.E. Cummings once put it: “To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”

The Power of Friendship Networks

From David Brooks' column Kansas City Star  July 16, 2014

". . .our decisions (about career paths)  are shaped  by the networks of people around us more than we dare realize.     . . .First there is contagion.  People absorb memes, ideas and behaviors from each other the way they catch a cold. . .if your friends are obese, you're likely to be obese.  If your neighbors play fair, you are likely to play fair.  . . .

. . .People with vast numbers of acquaintances have more job opportunities than people with fewer but deeper friendships.

Finally, there is the power of the extended mind.  There is also a developed body of research on how much our consciousness is shaped by the people around us.   Let me simplify it with a classic observation:  Each close friend you have brings out a version of yourself that you could not bring out on your own."

Brooks goes on to compare life to a soccer game as opposed to baseball. . .controlling your personal space is essential to success.  

Teen-Agers Employed in Fast Food Places

As we ate breakfast at McDonald's this morning, it was clear that some of their teen-age help had not shown up for work.    I was reminded of the years I worked as a therapist with teen-age foster kids when   I came to the conclusion that fast food places play an important role in the employment education of teen-agers.    

First of all, show up.      Periodically, someone would say "I am just too upset or depressed to work today, I am calling in sick."       No, we counseled, the best place for you when you have things on your mind is to be at work. . .concentrating on the tasks at hand and keeping busy.    To the contrary, if you stay home and think all day, your problems will seem much worse.

I was constantly reminding my clients that it is not wise to tell your co-workers your life history and all your problems.   Too much information.   If you get angry with a co-worker or you think the work schedule is unfair, it is best to keep it to yourself.   Emotional outbursts in the workplace do not recommend you as a good worker.  

Then, too, there was always the dilemma of the kids being asked to do things they did not want to do.
"If you want that mess cleaned up, do it yourself!" an inexperienced young employee would say to the boss.  

 "So, what have you learned from getting fired?"

Sometimes kids have to get fired more than once before they get the big picture.   My sympathy goes  to the management.

Joseph and His Quilt

Cynicism and Dementia

A study by the University of Eastern Finland determined that cynical people were three times as likely as optimists to get dementia.    Put on your rose colored glasses!

Neovonen, Elisa et al. "Late-life cynical distrust, risk of incident dementia, and mortality in a population-based cohort." 28 May 2014. Neurology. 29 May 2014. http://www.neurology.org/content/early/2014/05/28/WNL.0000000000000528.short  

"Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it.   Because cynics don't learn anything.

Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us.  Cynics always say no.  But saying 'yes' begins things.   Saying 'yes' is how things grow. 

Saying 'yes' leads to knowledge."    Stephen Colbert  2006 Commencement Address   Knox College

              Above information from an article by Cindy Hoedel in the Kansas City Star June 8, 2014

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A Good Listener

             I am a lay speaker in the Methodist Church and substituted for the minister
             last Sunday, Pentacost.    I rehearsed my message on the Holy Spirit before
             my cat on my small screened-in porch.   She listened with rapt attention and
             every time I paused, she said, "Meow".     I believe that is Feline for "Amen".
             (See yesterday's entry for an example I gave in the sermon.)

Connections from the Past

A few weeks ago, I had a message  from a person with with whom I had a family connection many years ago when I was a teen-ager.  Judy now lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, and someone sent her a copy of my book, "Water Carried Uphill", a collection of stories of people born before 1940.    She wanted me to know how much one of the stories in the book had meant to her.   "Virginia Ahrens",
she said.

Virginia is now 90 years old, lives in a nursing home, but attends church every Sunday wearing one of her favorite hats.   What most people do not know is that she spent half of her adult life as a minister's wife in a big church in Chicago.   That marriage came to an end, she was divorced and had to re-invent herself into another life.    When interviewed for the book, she did not want to dwell on the painful experiences of the past.   She said, "Life can be a rocky road.   Bad things happen.   If you don't turn it loose, you can't lead a healthy normal life."

Judy said that at the time she read this, her son was going through a messy divorce and she was heartbroken.  Virginia's words suddenly gave her a perspective.   Sometime later, one of her friends was experiencing hard times and she was becoming bitter.   "Listen to this,"  she told her friend,
and she told her Virginia's story.

I told Judy that I shared her message with Virginia and how pleased she was.   The Holy Spirit works through us to strengthen the lives of others.

Bjorn - Age 10 - Beaconsfield, UK

Women's Fashion Today. . .from a new book on the subject

“Living in an age when the only standard of female attractiveness is hotness, and when every detail of life is offered up on Facebook, young women find it normal that the whole world, not just their sweetheart, their gynecologist and their mother, should know the exact shape of their bodies.”

              ‘The Lost Art of Dress,’ by Linda Przybyszewski

Maya Angelou

"I think courage is the most important of the virtues.  Without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently.   You can be anything erratically - generous, kind.   Without courage, people can shame you and blame you."
                                                Maya Angelou 1928 - 2014

Outdoor Chess in Kansas

Alex, age 14, and his father created this outdoor chess set made from logs.

My imagination never pauses. . .

Daily Word April 23, 2014: Sometimes life seems anything but simple. Yet the more I focus on how complicated a situation is, the more complexity I create. My imagination never pauses. Left to wander, it will often create problems and obstacles. But I can choose differently. I let go and surrender the situation to the power of God within. I give my imagination a rest and listen for divine guidance. I know that God’s guidance is neither complicated nor negative. It is simple, peaceful, and true — it feels right. Back on the right path, centered in God-consciousness, I now direct my imagination to envision the good unfolding in my life, and I am grateful. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything.—John 14:26 My husband says I should post this all over the house. My imagination runs wild on health concerns, et cetera. I struggle to center myself in "God-consciousness".

Further Adventures in Animal Control

A donkey and horse belonging to our neighbors down the hill broke through their fence around sundown this evening - looking for greener grass. The most appealing green grass is always the nearby Marshall Public Golf Course, so they headed for it. These neighbors were out of town so Sarah, Olivia, John and Grace Anne got in the golf cart to pursue the escapees. Another neighbor, Cindy Hayob, who is horse savvy, got a rope and joined in pursuit. They were able to catch the horse; the donkey is people-shy, but would follow the horse. The group proceeded down Watermill Road. Golf cart in the lead followed by the horse being led and the donkey following with John, Olivia and Grace Anne bringing up the rear. We followed in our car with the hazard lights on because hills make the situation a little scary with poor visibility to oncoming traffic. All was going well in the rescue until the four big dogs who live at the home of the runaways came bounding out and barked. The horse refused to go any further and the donkey turned around and headed back toward the golf course again. The procession reversed itself. Some confusion prevailed about where to take the animals. First thought was to take them a half a mile or so to a horse facility closer to town. But the valuable mares there have baby colts, and the behavior of the donkey toward them would be unpredictable. Finally, Cindy decided to take them to a pen behind her house for the time being. At this point the Marshall police arrived to help with traffic control. The round-up crew were joined by Darin and Ben plus some members of the Marshall boys golf team who had just finished a tournament. Life in our part of the country is not boring!

Junior Prom: Olivia and her Grandmother

Quote from Outside the Design Museum

Though human genius in its various inventions with various instruments answer the same end, it will never find an invention more beautiful or more simple or direct than nature,  because in her inventions, nothing is lacking and nothing is superfluous.         Leonardo da Vinci

London Design Museum

My son in law drove us to the door and let us off for a quick tour of inventions which have been nominated for design awards in many different fields.     How "Posh" to have a driver through the traffic and dropped off right in front of our destination!

Among the entries were:
- a keyless keyboard with silicone touch which has a grand piano sound
- a mobile phone with snap in components so it can be upgraded without having to throw
    the entire phone away
- a kid friendly wheelchair which can be adjusted for the growth process and doesn't need replacing
- lufa sponge from plants used to make casts for fractures and used to absorb dyes from denim so that
     they don't go into the water supply.   Then the colorful material is used to create ceiling tiles
 - silk worms turned loose on a constructed base to create an innovative thick new fiber
- drones adapted for alpine rescue
- a single seat light weight airplane
-a smoke alarm by Nest (inventors of a self regulating thermostat widely in use already) The alarm
    speaks before the siren goes on.  

I was "gob smacked" as the British say (mouth gaping open with awe) when I viewed the exhibit.   Such genius in our world today - it gives one renewed hope in the future.

My Youngest Grandson

Thor, age seven, practices his archery skills at his home in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, UK.   Thor is a distant descendant of Harold Bluetooth who is remembered for introducing Christianity to Denmark.  

Viking exhibit at. The British Nuseum

"Berserk":  a Danish word.  Fighting Norse invaders wore bearskins, filed their teeth into points and colored them.  Going into battle, they dropped the bearskins, charged ahead naked and went into a fighting frenzy terrorizing the assaulted by going berserk.

An ancient Viking saying:  "If you don't have anything sensible to say, shut up."

A lovely Easter Hymn by John M. C. Crum

Now the green blade rises from the buried grain.
Wheat that in the dark earth many years has lain.
Love lives again, that with the dead has been.
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

In the grave they laid Him, Love whom we had slain,
Thinking that He'd never wake to life again.
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

Up he sprang at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave has lain;
Up from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

When our hearts are saddened, grieving or in pain,
By your touch you call us back to life again;
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come back again, like wheat that springs up green.

                                 - to a 15th century French melody "Noel Nouvelet"
 

Easter in England

A beautiful misty rain and everything is green, daffodils galore, every shade of tulip and blooming trees. England is soothing to the spirit.  The season moves much more slowly here with constant coolness and moisture.   Easter service at st. Mary's in Beacon field was packed.  We stood for at least half of the 90 minute service. The vicar tells you when you can sit!   An overflow crowd. Richard saw a boy using his iPhone behind his program!   Inspirational with beautiful unfamiliar hymns but closing with the Hallellujah Chorus    A blessed Easter to all. . .

My Oldest Grandson

Nick Trussell is twenty years old this week!  Nick is a student at El Paso Community College.

At work in the kitchen at home. . .

Runaway Calf

Last week one of our angus cows had twin calves - an unusual occurrence.   Twins require careful monitoring as their mother will often reject one of the two.    Richard and I went over in the truck to check on the babies who were only about one day old.    The two had gotten separated; we think the mother moved one and went back to get the other, but all the herd started milling around in the field and she got confused.     As reported by Sarah, who texted the drama to the immediate family, with photos:
 

"Runaway calf caught and on way back to her mother.   Dad wrestled her  into the back of the truck.   Then the calf once again escaped out of the truck before Dad could get the tailgate closed.  He chased this newborn at least a mile.  Darin, Grace, and I came to help.  Darin wrestled it to the ground and carried it up a huge, deep ravine.   Grace met us in the truck to be taken back to its mother and twin.

Back with Momma

Carol taking instructions from Richard during the rescue

Now to get Momma and runaway calf back to the twin brother.   Dad is going to be exhausted.

He is incredible shape for 77!  

Other twin

Darin and Grace Anne watching to see that the cow takes care of both babies!"

Gun Country

While visiting in the Southwest last week, we saw humorous signs to put up at your home:

- You can't have my country-
   You can't have my guns
     I don't want your handouts

- Invest in precious metal.  Buy lead.

-Warning:   Due to the price of ammo, there will be no warning shot.

-Never mind the dog.   Beware of the owner.

-Welcome.  The door is locked for your protection

-Warning:   We do not dial 911


After entertaining these cheery thoughts in Texas,  I overheard a conversation in Arizona between two men who were discussing the best ammunition to use for protection.  
"I don't go anywhere without my gun.   I wear it to work.   The day you don't have it is the day you
need it.   I sleep with my gun on my bedside table.  If I wake up at night, I just reach out and touch it.
Such a comfort.

"Locked and loaded" is a playful metaphor which  means "ready to go" in the wild West.

I find all of this chilling, but my brother-in-law tells me the world is a safer place if many are carrying
concealed weapons.  

Tohona Chul Park Tuscon, Arizona

One of the most beautiful spots I have ever visited and one of National Geographics 22 most notable secret gardens in the USA and Canada.  An old hacienda has been converted into a tea room.  We ate outside under a tree on a brick patio.   The paths in the 49 acres wound through desert flowers blooming and the fragrance was compelling at certain points.  Even though many people were in attendance that day, I sat alone at times and felt like the only person in the garden.  Interesting birds, a greenhouse, art exhibits and museums - I could go there again and again.  

All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind.
                                Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)




The Raynor brothers at Tohona Chul Park
Ray, Sacramento, CA, Richard, Marshall, Mo.,
Bob, Tuscon, AZ    (We miss  the late 
H.G. Raynor, Jr.. "Bud", Little Rock, ARK)

Addie and Her Guitar

Addie, age 15, is taking singing lessons in Las Cruces a couple of Saturdays a month.    On a recent Saturday we all went to a big Farmers Market with street musicians.   Addie went to the car and got her guitar, sang for an hour and collected $20!   Here she is at home - sitting on the quilt I made for her.    (It is denim and southwestern looking fabrics and I call it "Texas Crazy".)

C.S.Lewis

My friend, Mary H., just posted this quote on her Facebook page and I love it!

I am a product [...of] endless books. My father bought all the books he read and never got rid of any of them. There were books in the study, books in the drawing room, books in the cloakroom, books (two deep) in the great bookcase on the landing, books in a bedroom, books piled as high as my shoulder in the cistern attic, books of all kinds reflecting every transient stage of my parents' interest, books readable and unreadable, books suitable for a child and books most emphatically not. Nothing was forbidden me. In the seemingly endless rainy afternoons I took volume after volume from the shelves. I had always the same certainty of finding a book that was new to me as a man who walks into a field has of finding a new blade of grass. C. S. Lewis

Advice in Latin

Alis volat propris.    Fly on your own wings.  Be independent of spirit and have your own way
  of doing things.
                              Peter Tremayne in "Behold a Pale Horse"

Five Ways Reading Improves Your Health

http://bookworm-tips.tumblr.com/post/59027629945/5-ways-reading-improves-your-health

Check out this article by "BookBub".    
1.  Reduced Stress     Reading for only six minutes can reduce stress by 68 percent as well as slow your heart rate and minimize muscle tension (Research links are provided)
2.  Improved Memory    Elderly people who read regularly are 2.5 times less likely to get Altzheimer's disease.
3.  Younger Brain     Reading can significantly reduce your rate of cognitive decline
4.  Increased Empathy     Relating to the situations of characters in fiction can cause us to be more open to real people in our lives.
5.  Increased Tolerance for Uncertainty      Readers become more comfortable with possibilities, options, and uncertainty - developing more open minds.

Marcus Borg

  Whenever I miss church week after week, my thinking becomes very egocentric and negative.   Recovery from my knee surgery has left me weak and lacking in energy; I tend to stay by the home fires to heal.  I turned once again to one of my favorite little books, A Prayer Book for the 21st Century, by John McQuiston II.  
   When I heard of the recent foolhardy debate between atheists and creationists, I thought of the introduction Marcus Borg wrote to this prayer book.
    By an inexplicable process we were brought into life by stardust.  Daily it provides us with all the wonders and challenges of existence:   spring breezes, loyalty, wildflowers, curiosity, mountains, consciousness, poems, friendship, tragedy, laugher, fear, trust, joy, death, birth, clouds, love, sexuality, tigers, songbirds, struggle, gain, loss, integrity, duplicity, oceans, economic forces, concern, trees, doubt, and faith --in short, with all that is.   And when we look deep inside ourselves to discover what we are, we find that the answer to that question is as much an unsolved puzzle as the origin of the universe.
 . . .God is the spirit behind the eyes of every living being. . .for Christians, Christ exemplifies the profoundly deep, selfless life to which we should aspire. . .

A Perspective on Age

Last month I had a knee replacement.   In the hospital, a young physical therapist said to me, "When I started out, I would look at my daily patient list and I thought I would find their attitudes and abilities
would correspond to their age.    I quickly learned that someone who is 55 might not co-operate and respond to therapy as fast as someone who is 85."    She also said, "I have come to regard as 'small',
anyone who fits into a standard size hospital gown!"

A Quote I Like

Let us dare to read

    Think, speak and write.

                      John Adams

Holiday discussions

As a follow-up to my Christmas letter (previous blog), I asked those family members present at our
family celebration to each tell about a time when they had helped someone.    I sent advance notification of the topic and also sent word to those who weren't able  to be with us this year.   My daughter, Susanne, asked the same question at their family gathering in London.   She shared with me
their responses which mostly  paralleled our examples.  My son-in-law's family from Denmark was with them and participated.  Perhaps the most unusual response from their side of the world was from Susanne's brother-in-law, Lars, from Copenhagen,  who said his good deed was offering to marinate salmon for others in his workplace who didn't know how to do it.  No one here in the Midwest speaks of marinating salmon!