Flying over the Channel Islands takes me back in time — WAY back

Posted on November 5, 2010 by a moment with god — 1 Comment

Santa Cruz, one of the northern Channel Islands off Santa Barbara

Good Morning, God!

This photo was taken as we flew home from L.A. I was delighted to “capture” one of the Channel Islands. But, which one was it? I checked a map of the northern Channel Islands and I’m pretty sure the photo is of the biggest one, Santa Cruz. Friends have told me they want to visit the Channel Islands National Park so I thought I’d find out more about them.

These islands were once one mega-island and they were the home of The Arlington Springs Man who lived 13,000 years ago. That’s the earliest finding of people in the New World — and they were found on an island off of California! The article mentioned that the remains of a complete pygmy mammoth (four to six feet tall) was also found on these islands — living in the same period (Pleistocene) as the early humans. Pygmy mammoths! I am sitting here, smiling, God! Our world is filled with marvels and surprises.

The people that lived on Santa Cruz for over 8,000 years are the Chumash and the name means “makers of shell bead money.” That is what their relatives on the mainland (between San Luis Obispo and Malibu) called them. Now, God, I know YOU know all of this — but it is new to me. Then the article said the Spanish came and settled and raised cattle and sheep. I worried about what happened to the Chumash.

Chumash with a recreation of a Tomol (canoe) their ancestors used

But, there are still Chumash people! And it seems that they were reconnecting with their past about the same time (1976) as the Hawaiians were. This photo is from 2001 when they made the crossing over to Santa Cruz in a replica of an old canoe.

It doesn’t sound as if any of them live on the islands any longer. I wonder if they would like to live there? After 8,000 years I would think they would want to keep that string going. There are fresh water springs so they could live there. Ah, but I suppose that making shell bead money doesn’t pay like it used to.

Thank You, God, for stretching my mind — and my sense of Time.

Posted in delight, earning a living, time, Transitions

Balancing amidst the Overwhelming Jumble of Options

Posted on November 4, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Philippe Petit, our most famous tightrope walker

Good Morning, God!

I love this photo — as I loved the movie — for the JOY that Philippe took in his balancing feats. As I pondered my long — 40 day — trip, God, I thought of just how many good things we have to BALANCE in our lives. Really, part of the joy of tightrope walking must be that incredible focus on JUST ONE THING. TOTAL FOCUS! Talk about Mindfulness!

And Mindfulness IS important — essential? — to a life well lived. Yet, just like Philippe’s time between Towers — Mindfulness requires preplanning and logistics. Philippe and his team needed to carefully plan the break in and the setup of the wire. Hmmm. Planning and logistics are key parts of living a balanced life, aren’t they, God. They are skills that I WANT to develop.

I realized on this trip that part of good logistics is an accurate Time Estimation. Accuracy precludes “wishful thinking.” Logistics also means an awareness of limits — if THIS, then NOT THAT. There are other components that want to present themselves, God. One seems to be the selections of “how much” is needed. The idea that a small quick act at a key point can “save the day” — or maybe the relationship — is so easy to overlook. Yes! Like taking the time from a BUSY day to send off a “thank you” note.

What a deliciously overwhelming jumble of options our lives are, God! And THAT is the reason that prayer — stopping our busyness — stepping out of our world — holding out our hand, and heart to YOU — comes before even planning.

Aaah. My prayer times tend to resemble quick “thank you” notes. If I desire REAL CHANGES in my lovely life, I shall have to INVEST more time in DEEP PRAYER. Please help me, God, set aside TIME, not just to ASK for Your help, but to RECEIVE IT!

Posted in a hand up, accepting my need for help, acknowledging my need for prayer, Balancing and adjustments

Discovering Gifts — in Dogs and People

Posted on November 3, 2010 by a moment with god — 1 Comment

A caramel colored border collie

Good Morning, God!

A couple of days ago I saw a magazine that appeared to be put out by Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer. I was surprised. I loved the one book of his I read and I knew he had a TV show — but a magazine, too? Yes, called Cesar’s Way. And to think he started as an illegal immigrant.

Then there is the fact that in the last month I have read two books that were written from the perspective of a dog. Jon Katz’s book, Rose, in a Storm, about a Border Collie dealing with a depressed “master” and a horrific blizzard — and doing a first rate job of it.

Then just yesterday I read an article about NorthStarDogs.com — an organization that raises Service Dogs for a variety of people. They talked about one dog that was trained to signal his companion when that person was in danger of a diabetic coma. They also talked about dogs who helped autistic children.

Gosh, God, just the other day I was rueing the fact that we don’t make very good use of the extraordinary gifts that various humans have. Now, I am becoming aware of the special gifts that dogs have. Hmmm. I’m very pleased about the increased use of Service Dogs. I just hope we can be as good in using hidden gifts in people!

Gustavo Dudamel, conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic

And that reminds me. The conductor of the LA Philharmonic is Gustavo Dudamel, a young genius from Venezuela — the product of that country’s commitment to making a music education available to ALL the children of the country no matter how poor or disadvantaged they are. According to an article in the New York Times magazine Dudamel is now working with the LA Philharmonic on Youth Orchestra L.A. — a program aimed at 8-12 year olds and modeled after the Venezuelan prototype.

That’s GREAT news, God! It seems to me to be part of what you WANT us to be doing. To discover someone’s gifts is to truly set that person free. We need to be about YOUR business of Discovering Gifts, in people, and in dogs!

Posted in gifts and giftings, imagining, interspecies contact

A sort of secret garden

Posted on November 2, 2010 by a moment with god — 1 Comment

The Entrance to the Little Door restaurant

Good Morning, God!

Thank YOU! Birthdays can be tricky. Parent / Adult Child relationships can be tricky. In fact, sometimes LIFE seems designed to be tricky. But in spite of all the many chances of a misstep — we had a perfect day yesterday! Thank YOU!

Hmmm. As I read that, God, I reflect that I might have been nervous. I probably WAS! But, thank goodness, I wasn’t aware of anything but having a good time ALL DAY LONG!

Suz and I have eaten at the outdoor cafe type restaurant that is right next door to its Big Sister, called the Little Door. And Suz has wanted to eat there in the “big” restaurant for ten years. So, that seemed like the right place to go for her Birthday Dinner. I was dropped off at the entrance while Suz and Kit found a place to park.

There was nothing but the small address sign to the left of the door. Was THIS the restaurant? I asked a young couple taking a photo of the door. Yes, this was the restaurant called “The Little Door.” I entered to find a “Secret Garden” of a restaurant. Vines dangled. There was a tree in a corner. And candles and tiny lights twinkled everywhere.

Our avuncular waiter spoke French with Suzanne and hit just the right notes in his interactions with us. The restaurant filled up after our arrival but our table was just enough removed to make us feel it all belonged to us. And it did. The evening was special — not only good food and great conversation — but our own special “secret garden” of an evening — out of ordinary time and space.

Thank YOU, God! Thank You.

Posted in being together in a compassionate presence, Celebrations, thankfulness, Thanksgiving!, Uncategorized

Down into the City and into the Disney Hall

Posted on November 1, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Entrance to the Disney Hall in Los Angeles

Good Morning, God!

Ah, we are down out of the mountains and into the CITY! LA is a megalopolis of a city — although it has always seemed to me more a collection of neighborhoods or suburbs — not a real city like San Francisco. But last night, standing downtown in front of the Disney Center and looking at the tall buildings, it felt like a city. I loved the Disney Hall. Gosh, God, I even took photos as we left the parking area to enter the building — it was so RED and so 21st Century.

Suz going up the escalator from the parking lot

The only small problem with our outing was that I had forgotten that I hate horror movies! I don’t like being scared, God. And, it is more than that. I don’t like the feeling of revulsion I get at seeing evil. The movie was the 1920 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde starring John Barrymore. Mind You, it was fun to see Barrymore and he did a marvelous job of silent film acting. Just over the top enough that I could disassociate a bit.

But, as I watched him turn into the awful looking Hyde I thought that the movie had it totally wrong. It seems to me that AT FIRST evil manages to look ATTRACTIVE. Victims at the end of crack cocaine use look DREADFUL . . . but at the beginning they are possessed of super human energy — an attractive quality. Ah, God! If only we could see ahead! Make that if only we WOULD look ahead.

And, now I am smiling, God, as I think of myself and overeating! The problem of obesity is surely a matter of failing to look ahead — to look past the attractive dessert — and into the three way mirror they used to have in store dressing rooms. Ah, God! That is one of the problems with temptation — short term pleasure — with the problems pushed just out of our willingness to see. Help us, God. Help ME to be willing to look ahead.

Posted in accepting my need for help, Temptation

Words about Wonder from the Poet Denise Levertov

Posted on October 31, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Sunset Light on Sequoia mountain peaks

Good Morning, God!

Denise Levertov said it so well, God, in her poem Primary Wonder:

“Days pass when I forget the mystery.
Problems insoluble
and problems offering
their own ignored solutions
jostle for my attention, they crowd its antechamber
along with a host of diversions,
my courtiers wearing
their colored clothes; caps and bells”
. . .
And, I too, God, will forget. I will forget these majestic peaks, sunlit by the day’s last light. I will forget the mystery of standing next to a giant creature alive since Athens was in her glory.

My mind will fill with the flotsam and jetsam of a busy life. It is a GOOD life, God, perhaps, VERY good. Yet, it seems sad . . . not quite right . . . to forget as Levertov says at the end of this poem

“the mystery that there is anything, anything at all,
let alone cosmos, joy, memory, everything
rather than void:
and that, O Lord, Creator, Hallowed one
You still, hour by hour sustain it.”

Ah, God! I need to fill my Heart with Words of Wonder! I need to step out of my Daily Doings and into Your Love-Filled Mystery that is always with us — always waiting — always welcoming.

Posted in acknowledging my need for prayer, appreciation, attunement, beauty, busy as an attack strategy, Meaning, mindfulness

A matter of Perspective

Posted on October 30, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

At the Top of Moro Rock

Good Morning, God!

I’m on stage 10 of my 11 stage trip and THANKFUL! Thankful for each separate stage — thankful for the family and friends I’ve been blessed with — thankful for the beauty of the World around me.

Thankful too, for the changes of perspective I’ve been given. Simple ones like seeing Moro Rock from the TOP (as seen by Kit, not me) and seeing Moro Rock from below when we were stopped by the road improvement project.

The world as seen by my younger grandson — in which I was a grievous disappointment technologically speaking — and the world as seen by my brother-in-law with his 8 year old computer — are so different.

Looking UP at Moro Rock

Where we STAND — topographically or generationally — makes an enormous difference in what we see. Ah, now, God! Would that we could see if from YOUR perspective!

What does TIME look like to YOU, the Creator of Time? And, then, there is the even more dizzying question of keeping track of us ALL — the one-day May fly and the 2,800 year old Sequoia — and the BILLIONS of people! Hmmm. And the billions of galaxies, too.

All of it is Too MUCH in quantity and quality for my mind. And I guess that is one of the reasons why people think You don’t exist. Hmmm. Yes, just WHO do I think I am talking with?

A COMPASSIONATE BEING! Yes, I FEEL that I am talking to a Compassionate Being. I am thankful for Jesus because I can’t imagine anything MORE than human. I can imagine BETTER HUMANS but not the MORE than Human that people “reach for” when they talk about The Force, or THE GREAT SPIRIT.

And I know that Compassionate is but one aspect of YOU — but, at this point in my life, it seems to be the quality I value the most. Help us, God, especially in this election year, become more compassionate beings.

Posted in being together in a compassionate presence, Perspective, perspectives

Some thoughts on being Half Way UP

Posted on October 29, 2010 by a moment with god — 1 Comment

Midway up the General Grant Tree

Good Morning, God!

Part way up the General Grant tree is a puzzle. And there are no rangers around to ask. The small straight “tree” shown coming out of the left side here in this photo — is it a branch or is it another tree?

The branches we have seen on this tree and all the other sequoias go pretty much straight out and then may curve up. But this one goes straight up — as if it were its own person — not a branch.

Kit spotted it and we wondered about it. Could it be a pine growing out of the sequoia? Just this morning I read about truffles and other fungi that live in symbiotic relationships with trees.

And it seems as if even dead trees are essential to the health of a forrest — the Web of Life is far more complex than we realize. Still, fungi down on the ground is ONE thing — a separate species growing midway up a sequoia — is quite another.

And, God, speaking of half way up — that is where I was this morning on Moro Rock. I was impressed I got that far up! Fear of heights feels like a body thing. At least that is sort of how I know I am frightened — my BODY tells me!

Now, God, I know it is really my MIND that is responsible. And knowing that, I should be able to work with my mind to reduce the fear — instead of letting my imagination increase it.

Hmmm. But, then I think about how just taking vitamin E has greatly reduced my fear of heights. And how it helped Suz get over “panic attacks.” So, God, what if a lot of the things we think of as “mental” are actually physiological?

Yes, God, I need to stop my Either / Or thinking. Please help me expand and deepen my mental maps!

Posted in accepting my need for help, complexity, web of life

Looking UP — what about GROWING toward UP?

Posted on October 28, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Looking UP at a Sequoia

Good Morning, God!

Last night I learned that around 70% of the sequoia trees were logged — cut down — and the wood wasn’t even that useful. I suppose, God, I ought to be thankful we created the National Parks system. Thankful we left ANY!

Is that the Nature of our Species? Did the Indians NOT cut these trees down only because they lacked steel saws? Or is it the Mindset of our Culture to cut down and may way for ourselves? Not just cut down trees but wipe out other peoples — telling ourselves it was “self defense”, of course.

Individually, we are mostly good and kind. What is it, then, God, that motivates us to disrespect our environment, other species, and even our own people?

A good question I shall ponder over breakfast. Breakfast has come and gone and the only extenuating circumstance I have come up with is the “Mother Tiger” factor. A mother in defense of her young is FIERCE.

So, I am forced to conclude we are the survivors of the fiercest, not the fittest.

Shoot, God, this is not something I like thinking about! On the other hand, lying to ourselves and to our children doesn’t give us a chance to face facts and . . . maybe find other paths?

It is like learning a few days ago that the population of Rome was 40% slaves. 40%!!! How is it that we fail to see another human AS a fellow Human? How is it that we are willing to live on the substandard wages of others?

I feel a tug toward the “theological”, God. How is it that we fail to see we NEED Your HELP to become New Creatures? Humbler creatures. More COMPASSIONATE creatures. And, then, of course, comes the my excuse — where are our Role Models?

Ouch! Here comes Your Response. I have given you a Role Model — and I am offering you help to change. Why are your waiting?

Posted in a matter of scale, Perspective, perspectives

The General Sherman Tree and Me

Posted on October 27, 2010 by a moment with god — 1 Comment

The General Sherman Tree and Me

Good Morning, God!

I am so grateful to be RESTING! Really resting — with no places to go and people to see. Of course, God, we HAVE gone places and we HAVE met people — people like our waiter, Julia with a photographic mind who has theories about autistic minds.

We are having a marvelous time but nothing is scheduled. Aaaah. I know I will long for the FULLNESS of my normal life. But, right now I am enjoying going slow. SLOW, it is a lovely word, God, one that I have never really appreciated.

Perhaps, it is being here with these amazing trees, God, that helps me appreciate Slow? With luck I might live to 120 — the Giants’ Grove is filled with Sequoias over 1,200 years old. Some are around 3,000 years old. They are taking it slow, all right.

They don’t fear fire. In the museum I picked up a piece of bark and it was so light! It felt like it was some sort of cross between fur and feathers and plant stuff. Obviously a marvelous insulator! Wrapped in that bark the tree would be safe from fires. More than that, it turns out the Sequoias NEED fire to reproduce. Fire causes the cones to drop their seeds — drop them into ash covered soil — cleared of deep piles of organic material that keep seedlings from rooting. And the death of the surrounding trees means more sunlight and nutrients for those seedlings.

The Forest Service now has regular controlled burns — after “protecting” the trees from fire and finally noticing that there were NO SEEDLINGS. And they have removed all the commercial cabins and souvenir shops that were damaging the trees’ environment.

Hmmm. What might I need to remove from my environment? Something to ponder, God, something to ponder — along with how we as a civilization can make better use of the Julia’s among us!

Posted in a matter of scale, the layers of life, time