SACRAMENTALITY

Hi Rev Gal Friends!

Thanks so much for your wonderful warm welcome to revgalblogpals.  While I've not met any of you face to face you have an incredible gift of hospitality.  I'm looking forward to getting to know you and all the work you are about.  Thank you thank you for stopping by and saying hi.  Hope to see you again soon.

Welcome Night!

Give me grace Holy God, to enter the night free of fear.  Open my heart to know the night creatures as you so intimately know them.  May I embrace the message they bring as the key that opens the door to the Morning Star.  May friends visit my dreams to recall to mind the drink of love experienced in the painted sky just as night permeated the ethos.  Thank you, thank you for the dark so that my mind, my heart, my soul may rest, may heal, may greet you in the new dawn.

After the Rain

Do You Hear the Cry?

There is a profound cry piercing the ethos today.  This cry transcends religious beliefs, political frameworks, borders, economics, power, and any other tool by which we measure human worth.  It is a cry of hearts breaking as people desperately try to find loved ones crushed by falling buildings in earthquakes or tornadoes, or swept away by flood waters and typhoons - not to even mention the many who will die today due to illness, war, or unexpected tragedy.

Holy God, have mercy.

Hypermiling

I never thought I'd be one of those pokey drivers.  You know the type, the person who gets in the way of those of us trying to get to our destinations a few minutes early.  But paying 40 dollars at the pump has got me rethinking my driving habits (when I bought the car in 2001 gas was only 1.50 a gallon). I came across this term, hypermiling, and am willing to try just about anything to stretch my mpg as far as I can.  Here's what I learned;

1. Slowing down will save gas!  (We know this people!)

2. Stop using your brakes so much (who knew that braking burned gas? Apparently it does.)

3. Check the air in your tires regularly and change your oil often.

4. Live without the convenience of the air conditioner - it will save you in the long run. They also say to keep your windows up - I can't go there yet.

5. Hug the white line on highways so that you are not driving in the ruts.

6. Carpool when you can; walk when you can; or get the bike out.

7. Unload any extra weight - clean out the trunk!

8. Use cruise control whenever you can.

9. Coast as often as you can - anticipate red lights or cars slowing down ahead of you (yes, that means leaving enough space between cars)

There are lots of other things to consider, some which do not sound too safe.  But these mentioned above are simple things we can all do to stretch our mpg, save money, and most importantly - save oil.

I for one am amazed that folks overall seem to be doing little to change their driving habits.  What's it going to take - 10 dollars a gallon?

Thank You Beloved Friend

Like an angel, you showed up one day on the doorstep;

no wings could be seen

but a wagging tail and compassionate eyes

stole our hearts from day one.

You whined and we opened the door;

a seemingly small embodiment

of the divine entered

and filled our lives

connected our lives

with walks

and talks

and laughter

and tears

for a heart

that in the end overflowed.

Nature's Sense of Humor

I have to laugh at my miserable condition, the worst hay fever ever!  It feels like such a paradox, that someone can love nature so intensely and yet be allergic to it!  Several allergy tests later revealed reactions to grass, trees, pollen, the sun, and molds.  I never had such allergies as a child, they only surfaced later in life.  Not sure what to do with it all, other than popping the pills.  Somehow that doesn't seem to be the answer.  Any suggestions out there?

Invitation to Poetry

I love coming across creative blogs.  Here is one inviting others to co-create in a unique way;

http://abbeyofthearts.com/blog/2008/04/14/invitation-to-poetry-illuminated-from-within/

There you will find this picture along with an invitation to write a poem in response to the theme, Illuminated from Within.  Below is my attempt to do so. 

Illuminated from Within

I was given no choice in the matter
you who say I create my own reality.
I was fine, thank you very much,
in the deep dark
where my life was comfortable, secure.
Sure there were cold days, wet days,
and days when uninvited guests passed by;
the grub, the colony of ants, an occasional ground hog.
Even so, life was predictable, or so I thought.
One day, out of nowhere, everything turned upside down.
An urge so unbelievable, so irrational, so illogical,
took hold of every cell in my being.
Next thing I knew I was moving,
slowly at first, until I was moving faster and faster.
Imagine the fear when out of the deep dark
a great light appeared.
I don’t understand how or when or why
this light merged;
enveloping, incarnating, illuminating
every fiber of my being until
all I could do was laugh, shine, play,
and ride the urge to
open fully and expose the beauty within.

BEHOLD

 

 

Celebrate LIFE

There is something about spring that makes it easy to celebrate the gift of life.  Perhaps its the outward and visible signs of hope such as when the daffodils and crocus suddenly pop up from the hard cold ground and offer color to a gray world.  Before you know it trees are exploding with life - a life that seems to appear out of nowhere.  How grateful I am to our dear mother earth who continually surrounds us with meaning, speaking to us through her mysterious beauty.  Her life is mirrored in our own internal seasonal cycles, yet we somehow separate ourselves as different from all creative life.  Nature offers an opportunity to learn and know ourselves at a deeper level, an invitation to listen and trust our own cycles.  It seems that so many people get stuck in their winter seasons, unable or unwilling to hear the stirrings deep within calling life forth from a hard dark place.  Rather than trust that light will follow darkness, as it does daily in our outward world, so many either give up completely or try to force the sun to rise before it's ready by turning to alcohol, drugs, sex, violence, or anything that might help to tolerate and navigate through darkness. 

What I love about the nature world is that it cannot help but explode with life.  The trees, plants, birds, etc. would never consider doing anything other than dancing with the moon, stars, sun, water, air, and earth.  All of nature moves in step naturally to ensure its life.  We have the same internal navigation system installed from the beginning of life.  The difference is that we get to choose whether or not to utilize this priceless hardware.  Why would you not want to dance?