Summer to Fall

This is getting embarrassing. I promise to write and then fail to follow through. We have a few weeks this time of year when I'd like to clone myself and send one of me to the barn to ride, one of me out to work in the yard, and one of me off to the lake.  The temperature is perfect and we're starting to get regular rain after the blistering summer. Indoor activities will have to wait until cold weather sets in, which is always too soon for me.

It has come to me from several sources lately that looking at everyday tasks as holy can keep us constantly prayerful. As I have mentioned before, I slip easily into prayer when my hands are busy. Trail riding and time at the lake are perfect for gratitude and worship. Yard work lends itself to intercessions. I ask the Holy Spirit to bring people to mind who can use a prayer and am sometimes surprised at who comes up. 

Here is a reflection before I head to the lake tomorrow:

Glorious God, thank you for the beauty of fall. Help me use my time well with diligence and praise. Thank you for sending Mother Katie to St. Thomas to minister to and with our precious community. Help me to be content with simply putting one foot in front of the other as I go about fall tasks that I'm in a hurry to complete. What gets done, gets done. And that is enough. The changing leaves arouse my anxiety as I know cold weather and seasonal depression are on the horizon. Keep me focused on the majesty of your kingdom and on your unfailing love for me and those around me. Empower me to reach out as your messenger to people you put on my path. My wellbeing rests in you.

Amen

Reunions

Sorry Peeps.  I've been busy getting ready for visitors and uninspired about writing.  We picked up my Ohio daughter from the airport this morning; her husband will join later in the week after putting in a few workdays. We just watched the first Razorback game of the season on TV. I spent most of it scrolling through my phone looking at pictures of my 50th high school reunion, happening this weekend.   

I went to the 40th. To be honest, I did not enjoy high school and harbored much trauma from my days growing up in south Arkansas. I felt the movement of the Holy Spirit to go to that reunion and touch base with my roots as a competent adult with agency over my feelings and behaviors. I did so much mental preparation that I experienced the weekend as OK and somewhat pleasant.  When I mentioned to my priest that I was attending the 40th, having never had any inclination to be present at a reunion, she said, "Well, it's Biblical. 40 years simply means 'long enough'". 

My spiritual work at the moment is about making peace with the past, forgiving myself and others, and letting go of what no longer serves to connect me with what is holy and life-affirming. Experiencing the current reunion from a distance in favor of precious time with my daughter feels right, like I am making progress on living in the moment, where the Holy Spirit dwells.

Precious Savior, bless and heal our memories.  We never can nor would want to lose them, but help us make peace with the past. Empower us to show mercy to our younger selves and the people who had control in our lives. Let the gift of years inform us. Draw our attention to the personal and spiritual growth you have nurtured in us over time. Direct our feet on the path of faith. In You we will know rest and an easy yoke.

Amen

Housework

It is Friday.  It is 100 degrees outside. We had our Friday coffee and browse date at the library this morning. Now it's time to face the music and do some house cleaning. The starting point is the pile of laundry in the utility room. This is a task I do not mind, the way I mind dusting. Sort, pre-treat, load up, move to dryer or hang up, fold and put away. There is a nice rhythm to this process and there is plenty for me to pray about as I progress from dirty piles to clean, folded stacks. I changed the bed too, so there is a treat in store for bedtime tonight.

I like ordinary jobs that provide quick, satisfying results. That's why I enjoy yardwork as well as some housework (not dusting!). Putting my hands to work on familiar tasks frees my mind to allow the Holy Spirit to suggest people who could use prayers and rough spots I can offer up about myself and my life. If you struggle with the routine jobs of life, I recommend Kathleen Norris's small book, The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy, and "Women's Work". Pick a household job and do it mindfully, with love.  The transformation will take care of itself.

Loving God, come to us in the everyday. Come to us in the small things. Momentous days are few and far between, so we need you to meet us where we spend the most time. Help us to see our daily lives as holy. Help us to accomplish with joy the tasks that put our lives in order that we may better serve you. Sanctify our ordinary lives and help us to hear your voice in the small, quiet moments.

Amen

Imposed Sabbath

I live in the northwest corner of Arkansas where a heat dome has settled, probably for the remainder of August. We had a couple of nice days early last week when I rode Jo as much as possible and worked in the yard. But now we've been driven inside with no relief in sight. It feels a little like the pandemic. I realized I could treat this time as a kind of extended Sabbath imposed by the weather. I don't have to get out for the sake of children or anyone else, so can use some of this time for the spiritual care I often crowd out with busy tasks.

Last Sunday and today, we have had an adult Sunday school class on Clearing the Cluttered Heart: A Soulful Housecleaning. My friend, Vinita, a gifted spiritual director (as well as author, editor, speaker, and Ignatian expert), has led us and proposed a number of practices we might employ ("Don't try to do all of these!") to clear our hearts and minds for the work God puts before us right now.

Here are a few questions/observations that resonate deeply for me:

• What are some items piled up in my inner room - worries, relationships, guilt, failings, regrets, health?
• Am I assuming responsibility that isn't really mine - another person's happiness, for example?
• What got put in my heart by other people? How is that baggage affecting my current situation?
• Am I holding onto unrealistic expectations?
• What spiritual aspects of life am I curious about?

We were also coached on how to rethink and revise the weight (importance) of the 'clutter' we identified and bring the content of our hearts into better balance with how we wish to live. (Am I spending more energy on this than is wise or helpful?) Some things I've been holding onto can be let go or altered or celebrated. What an ideal set of tasks for a blistering hot summer!

Lord Jesus, my desire is to have you fill my heart. Help me with this journey of discernment and inner housekeeping so I can make more room for you and less room for my worldly distractions. I know you want me to live in the time, place, and circumstances of my life, but there is so much to pull my attention away from what is good and holy. I remember how I could think expansively as a child, with imagination and creative energy. Help me recapture some of that curiosity and optimism now that I know more of the ways of the world. My peace rests in you.

Amen

Hello School

Today is the first day of school for most of Northwest Arkansas. Parking lots are full, pick-up locations are marked, and social media is full of back-to-school photos. If I'm honest, first day of school was a joyful day when I was raising my kids. Summer was a footrace of camps, sports, and activities. Neither daughter was adept at 'playing quietly in her room', so I worked hard during the spring to meet sign-up deadlines for things that would keep them occupied and engaged in the summer. Another mom once asked me, "Since you're a stay-home mom, why don't you home school?" 😂😂😂 I loved first day back more than Christmas! And I have the utmost respect for the trained, dedicated professionals in our public schools. I could never give my children all they received in school, both in learning and in socializing.

My girls finished school before campuses became common locations of violence and strife. The school shootings at Columbine, Colorado and Jonesboro, Arkansas occurred during their school days, but those were viewed as outliers. People were horrified and wondered how youngsters got their hands on firearms, but there was nothing like the frequency of school violence we see today. And we did not have to contend with groups who were not educators but banded together to ban books and make restrictive policies regarding LBGTQ+ students in service of a political agenda.

I have grandchildren in grades 5 and 7 who attend a small school district. Even my daughter and her husband occasionally disagree about how to define their social positions. She grew up in our liberal home; he grew up in a conservative home. They are doing an admirable job navigating this political climate with their eyes on the prize - doing what is in their children's best interest and trying to raise kind people. I am proud of them.

I offer this prayer as school year 2023-24 begins:

God of all providence, enfold our schools in the light of your protection. Keep the students, teachers, and staff safe. Let schools return to their mission of teaching. Bless those who teach and those who learn with curiosity, patience, and ability. Empower the people who work to fill in the gaps for students whose home lives are impoverished in any way. Create spaces of tolerance and acceptance where questions are valued and differences celebrated. Jesus, our Savior, was a teacher in his earthly life. Make the way of learning a sacred path.

Amen

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our 43rd wedding anniversary. We got married in south Arkansas during the blistering hot summer of 1980. Thank goodness for air conditioning! My New England-born cellist fiancé was not what my traditional southern family had in mind, but I would not be deterred. A dear friend said in his toast, "I have never actually seen anyone float above the ground until now." Bless you, Chris. I am still floating.

I cannot improve on the beautiful prayer that was said over us after our vows.  I offer it here for all married persons reading this. It is one of my very favorites from the BCP (p. 430):

Most gracious God, we give you thanks for your tender love in sending Jesus Christ to come among us, to be born of a human mother, and to make the way of the cross to be the way of life. We thank you, also, for consecrating the union of man and woman in his Name. By the power of your Holy Spirit, pour out the abundance of your blessing upon this man and this woman. Defend them from every enemy. Lead them into all peace. Let their love for each other be a seal upon their hearts, a mantle about their shoulders, and a crown upon their foreheads. Bless them in their work and in their companionship; in their sleeping and in their waking; in their joys and in their sorrows, in their life and in their death. Finally, in your mercy, bring them to that table where your saints feast for ever in your heavenly home; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God for ever and ever. 

Amen

Dog Days

Hello everyone.   This summer has reminded me of summers when my children were growing up - one day school was getting out, and, in a blink, school was starting up again. I am buying back-to-school shoes for my grands and slowing down in the school zones as the teachers prepare for next week.  Horse camps and lake time have flown by.  My intention is to get back to writing more faithfully.

Things are also off to a fresh beginning at my church. Our new rector preached and celebrated for the first time this past Sunday. She moved in July, along with her husband, who landed a job teaching middle school math, and their 9-year-old daughter. We are all so excited they have arrived. Yesterday, she joined our monthly meeting of the Daughters of the King (DOK) and we began talking about how she might call on the group to partner with her in ministry to the parish and beyond.

Two women in our congregation are going through the required discernment process to be formally admitted to the DOK in November. These friends are already mature Christians, so we are able to grapple with serious questions of faith as we join in their process. We have a safe space to discuss our doubts, stumbling blocks, and hopes. Yesterday's meeting had some storm clouds as we have several beloved members of the parish with undiagnosed complex illnesses, life-threatening health problems, trouble with the health-care system, and end of life spiritual needs. One of the main ways we can help is to hold these individuals and families up in prayer.

Lord Jesus, you knew the suffering of the human experience. Even you, Holy One, were not spared. Help us to pray. Help us to turn our loved ones over to your merciful care, as you know best what each person needs. Wrap your arms around those experiencing pain, fear, and frustration. Comfort and strengthen all caregivers. Energize your people to extend the hand of compassion and companionship to those on unwelcome journeys that we all must face at some point. Be our stronghold in times of turmoil.

Amen