I love Lent. It's kind of like spring cleaning for the soul. I remember our parish priest at the Newman Center starting us off on Lent with 3 suggestions: start doing one thing that is a personal challenge, stop (give up) doing another, and do one thing that is a complete secret between you and God. Then he would lean forward and say, "And I don't mean giving up watermelon and one-armed women."
A few days ago on Sacred Space, my one-stop website for a bit of daily bread, the scripture was about learning to live without all the attachments of the world - to "travel lightly," without the burdens of anxiety, greed, worldliness. I find myself needing to travel lightly - some personal disappointments of late have left me feeling resentful and overwhelmed with burdens I thought would be eased. So my personal challenge for Lent will be to start traveling lightly. I have already decided what to give up, but it also includes the 3rd challenge - to keep it a secret between me and my God. So there you are. Good luck to all of us travelers.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Happy Valentines Day, Grandma!
I'm a little weary of the Valentines Day haters - those who whine and complain, say it is a holiday made up by card companies, that kind of thing. ( It is remarkable to me that the same people who hate on this holiday will go to the time, extent, trouble and yes - spend money - sending anti-Valentines Day sentiments. Whassup with that?)
Yesterday at work, a man took a Valentine card off the rack and said to his wife, "Here, this is a Valentine for you. Now I'm going to put it back on the rack!" He was serious. I shook my head and thought, "oh boy, aren't you a treasure...." Of course it isn't about if or how much you spend, or mandatory card & gift giving. You celebrate it because you want to, not because you have to. And before I hear one more time - "Oh, I show my love every day, I don't need a holiday to force me, " I say well, stupid, you are SUPPOSED to show it every day. Some days that is more of a challenge than other days, as anyone who has been in a relationship of any kind lasting longer than 15 minutes can tell you.
My Grandma Emma died on Valentines Day many years ago, and it was perfect. Let me explain - she was a very simple woman, who conceived and bore her children in the same bed, on a farm in Nebraska. I remember asking her what it was like to give birth at home and she said, "Well, I just did my best, that was all we could do back then." She adored her husband, my Grandpa John, and she loved her Lord. Grandma's mother died on a holiday - Easter - and she thought that was the most wonderful thing, that you could go to meet your Lord on Easter. That's when she told me she wanted to die on a holiday. My Grandpa John died years before she did, and she mourned and missed him profoundly. When she did pass, I thought it would ruin Valentines Day forever, until I remembered her wish to die on a holiday. What better day to be reunited with the great loves of her life - her husband and her Lord - than on Valentines Day?
Valentines Day is about love. Period. All kinds of love - family, friends, pets, lovers, caregivers - all should be celebrated and acknowledged in whatever manner you like. This acknowledgment of others will enrich your soul, and remind you to give yourself a "Valentine" of some sorts as well. Here is my favorite Valentine, one my mother did up in calligraphy and I have it hanging in (yes) my bathroom. I see it every morning and it reminds me every day to love myself in order to love others better.
Thomas à Kempis said, "Keep thyself in peace, and then thou wilt be able to bring others to peace. Have a zeal, therefore, in the first place over thyself."
Yesterday at work, a man took a Valentine card off the rack and said to his wife, "Here, this is a Valentine for you. Now I'm going to put it back on the rack!" He was serious. I shook my head and thought, "oh boy, aren't you a treasure...." Of course it isn't about if or how much you spend, or mandatory card & gift giving. You celebrate it because you want to, not because you have to. And before I hear one more time - "Oh, I show my love every day, I don't need a holiday to force me, " I say well, stupid, you are SUPPOSED to show it every day. Some days that is more of a challenge than other days, as anyone who has been in a relationship of any kind lasting longer than 15 minutes can tell you.
My Grandma Emma died on Valentines Day many years ago, and it was perfect. Let me explain - she was a very simple woman, who conceived and bore her children in the same bed, on a farm in Nebraska. I remember asking her what it was like to give birth at home and she said, "Well, I just did my best, that was all we could do back then." She adored her husband, my Grandpa John, and she loved her Lord. Grandma's mother died on a holiday - Easter - and she thought that was the most wonderful thing, that you could go to meet your Lord on Easter. That's when she told me she wanted to die on a holiday. My Grandpa John died years before she did, and she mourned and missed him profoundly. When she did pass, I thought it would ruin Valentines Day forever, until I remembered her wish to die on a holiday. What better day to be reunited with the great loves of her life - her husband and her Lord - than on Valentines Day?
Valentines Day is about love. Period. All kinds of love - family, friends, pets, lovers, caregivers - all should be celebrated and acknowledged in whatever manner you like. This acknowledgment of others will enrich your soul, and remind you to give yourself a "Valentine" of some sorts as well. Here is my favorite Valentine, one my mother did up in calligraphy and I have it hanging in (yes) my bathroom. I see it every morning and it reminds me every day to love myself in order to love others better.
Thomas à Kempis said, "Keep thyself in peace, and then thou wilt be able to bring others to peace. Have a zeal, therefore, in the first place over thyself."
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Paralyzing Snowstorm
Truth be told it is light flurries right now, but expected to close down much of the state by about 2PM. The ensuing shut down of businesses & activation of snow day policies has left me comfortably at home, still in my PJ's, with the entire day ahead of me and I am.....paralyzed. I don't know what to do (or not do) first. I have so many options that I instead of being gridlocked in traffic, I'm blocked with indecision. I like the feeling. As much as I thought I loved snow days as a kid, the same event as an adult is intoxicating. 
Meanwhile, I'm trying not to think about my front steps looking the way they did after the last storm (see picture), and the inevitable tunneling out the basement door like a mole. Right now the coffee pot is full, the electric blanket on my bed is still turned on, and I'm absolutely convinced I will not be setting any land/speed records for accomplishing anything of substance. I might sew, I might read, I might veg and watch a movie. Maybe I'll make cinnamon rolls.
Unfortunately, if I don't work, I don't get paid. I can make up the hours later this week. But the actual cost of having a day where I can do (or not do) anything I want..... priceless.
Meanwhile, I'm trying not to think about my front steps looking the way they did after the last storm (see picture), and the inevitable tunneling out the basement door like a mole. Right now the coffee pot is full, the electric blanket on my bed is still turned on, and I'm absolutely convinced I will not be setting any land/speed records for accomplishing anything of substance. I might sew, I might read, I might veg and watch a movie. Maybe I'll make cinnamon rolls.
Unfortunately, if I don't work, I don't get paid. I can make up the hours later this week. But the actual cost of having a day where I can do (or not do) anything I want..... priceless.
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