Rocks Are Part of Life

Posted on September 12, 2010 by a moment with god — 1 Comment

Sandy Beach at low tide, Labor Day: Photo by David Johnson

Good Morning, God!

It’s fun to look back on another morning — a morning spent at the beach. I had never noticed those rocks before. But I love them. High tide and Sandy Beach looks like smooth sand — lots of smooth sand. But when the tide is out, up pop the rocks.

So like our lives, God. When my tide is in — my life is smooth sand. But, let me get overloaded so that my energy tide goes out and ROCKS appear. My perfectionist streak kicks in. My normally pleasant voice gets sharp — perhaps even shrill — but only, of course, with my beloved husband, Kit.

It has taken me a long time, God, to think that perhaps You WANT us to see our Rocks. Jung talked about our Shadow. I have one. And it takes a fair amount of energy to keep it defanged. I was going to say, God, that at least I know I have a shadow. But, I felt You saying that I have NO IDEA what I could be like.

Sigh. That is true. Perhaps that is why the commandment to KEEP THE SABATH HOLY is so important. If we truly do REST and refrain from work — we will have the energy required to welcome in Your Spirit — and have the energy to RESIST TEMPTATIONS.

Dr. Arch Hart talked about how being too busy for too long builds a wall around our Pleasure Center. Small pleasures can’t get over the wall. We fall into a state of ANHEDONIA. And being without pleasure for a prolonged period makes us very vulnerable to temptation. Or as Dr. Hart said, it takes a BIG FORBIDDEN PLEASURE to JUMP THAT WALL.

Posted in lying fallow, Quieting my Lizard Brain, sabbath rest

Bringing the Word to Hawaii — and to Me

Posted on September 11, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

An especially beautiful morning from the Kahala

Good Morning, God!

Last night I was repairing a copy of the biography of Lucy Thurston — and reading portions of it — Lucy G. Thurston: Pioneer Missionary in Kona Hawaii. It is so easy, God, being here now — looking at all the beauty — to forget just how much courage it took in 1819 to come here on a five month journey by sailing ship around the Horn.

And because we humans fall so far short of YOU and YOUR WORD — it is easy for the Other Side to scoff at missionaries. But Lucy and the others came bringing Words of HOPE, Words of LIFE. God, we ALL need Your TRANSFORMING Presence.

I have caught a glimpse of the difference Your Word makes in the stories our Pohnpeian friends share about how life in Pohnpei was BEFORE the missionaries came in 1950 and how different it became AFTER Your Word was shared.

One of the changes was the view and treatment of women. Women are now participants in decision making bodies there in Pohnpei. You so clearly state (Galations 3:28) that in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, no male or female (meaning that neither culture nor gender are limiters).

Ah, God, if we could but step out of our culture and into YOU — then how different we would be — how different our World would be. Yes, Our World. This morning Kit said to me that he really wished that after people say GOD BLESS AMERICA . . . that they would add GOD BLESS OUR WORLD!

So, God, today, please help me. Help me be apprehended by YOU. Lift me out of my small world and into Your World. Hmmm. that isn’t quite right. Today open up my Heart and Mind to MORE OF YOU!

Will I make TIME for You? Today? NOW?

Posted in courage, Expand my Heart, God's Light, Prayer, reframing, The Flow of God's Love, the Light of the World

Interacting with a Stingray

Posted on September 10, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Animal specialist interacting with a stingray at the Kahala

Good Morning, God

I enjoy seeing the trainers at The Kahala interacting with the dolphins — it’s a familar sight. But yesterday morning I watched with amazement as a young woman seemed to be pulling a stingray around its pool by its mouth.

I had NEVER seen any interaction with a stingray so I asked what she was doing. She said that the stingray was actually on a plastic pad that had a hole in it. She was feeding the stingray through the hole — thus keeping the ray on the pad.

They made a couple of circuits of the pool while I watched. The trainer said they feed the ray that way — so that the fish don’t eat its food. They do it 4-5 times a day and vary the time so as to provide some novelty in the ray’s day.

You know, God, I have watched stingrays in larger pools go around and around — with a tip feeling the edge — looking for a way out — so SAD. Perhaps stingrays don’t really want to escape. But, it looked that way. And if I were a ray, I would want to escape.

Freedom, novelty, stimulation — did You build the desire for them into all Your Creatures?

When I was a child, God, I loved the Dr. Dolittle stories. I loved the idea of talking to animals. Even now, my mother’s cat often sits and stares at us, for all the world as if she is telepathically communicating. We just can’t receive.

Ah, God, THAT is one of the purposes of Centering Prayer — to help us become better receivers!

Posted in Communication, connecting, connections, interspecies contact, Prayer

Could I be Wrong? Really?

Posted on September 9, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error

Good Morning, God!

I’ve been listening to the book Being Wrong for several days now. The author is doing a very good job of helping me to understand that being wrong is part of how we think quickly and make decisions as needed — which is to say WITHOUT conclusive evidence. It isn’t so much sloppy or careless as essential to being decision makers.

That really made me think, God. Actually, what it did was make me feel better about being wrong. And as I step back from identifying WRONG as a sort of character defect and moral misstep — then it gets easier to relax about BEING RIGHT.

So many “arguments” have ended up just being about different definitions of a word. What do we MEAN when we say X or Y? We know in our minds that we are all different. But that doesn’t help us UNDERSTAND HOW DIFFERENT WE ALL ARE! I remember how good it felt when Kit suddenly realized that I didn’t process light as effectively as he did. (He can read in the dark, God, I can’t.)

All of a sudden — I went from being wasteful of electricity for leaving lights on (read: WRONG) — to being a MOTH who needed and loved light. Wow! I can tell You, God, being seen as DIFFERENT is so much better than being seen as WRONG!

Being the object of Moral Judgment is to be confined and limited. Compassion on the other hand — helps us to SEE ourselves and others in new and liberating ways.

You, God, are the Ultimate in Compassion. And You desire to set us free — free not just from being wrong — but FREE from Old Ways of being “Right.” WOW! THANK YOU!

Posted in A God given diversity, adjusting, clapping our hands in joy, complexity, Expand my Heart, On being Different, people as gifts

CAFO: Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations

Posted on September 8, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Hogs in a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation

Hello, God — I can’t say Good Morning!

Not after I watched the trailer that publicizes the book The CAFO Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories

The CAFO Reader: The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories

What happened, God? What happened that we as a CIVILIZATION have turned our eyes from this kind of mistreatment of animals? The trailer takes a quote from Lincoln about slavery. “If slavery isn’t wrong then NOTHING is wrong.” They say, and I agree: “If raising animals in CAFOs isn’t wrong — then nothing is wrong.”

Are CAFOs “WORTH IT”? Worth it so that we can eat way too much cheap chicken? The horrible irony is that factory raised animals — fed on grain and not on grass — are full of SLOW (omega 6) FATS. They have almost no FAST (omega 3) FATs that our brains, nervous systems, and bodies NEED to be healthy.

Perhaps, these CAFO owners are truly unaware of that fact, God? Just like the tobacco company executives were certain cigarettes didn’t “cause” cancer? For the sake of their souls, I hope so, God.

I’m not at all sure how You do things after we die, God. But, I feel as if I am going to have to review my life with You. I like the idea of being forgiven. But, even so, I do think the choices I have made — and the ensuing ripples into the lives of others — will be shown me. I’m hoping God that You’ll do it like coaches show football players “game” films.

Back to CAFOs. The good news is that people are getting laws passed against some of the worst practices. It is happened State by State. But it is happening. Please God, help me at least write my congressmen.

Posted in becoming the change I wish to see, Choosing to respond, food questions

Another Wonderful Morning at the Beach

Posted on September 7, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Kit at Sandy Beach

Good Morning, God!

Yesterday, just after sunrise, Kit and I went to Sandy Beach to join the Extended Miller Family for the 35th Celebration of their Dad’s life .

We had a lot of catching up to do as we only see them from year to year. Such a good feeling — being together — over time. A lovely sense of continuity, God. We arrived and slipped into our part of the day’s fabric.

I wonder, God, if we humans really appreciate the richness of friendships as they grow over time. So many of my friends are people I have been meeting with on a regular basis for over 20 or 30 years.

Friendships like that are like pearls — they have grown layer by layer — years of loving deposits. I’m so thankful. And thankful for reconnecting with friends that have moved. It’s a delight to find them again!

Spray off the rocks at Sandy Beach

Then, God, there is just the sheer JOY of being at the beach. Photoholics like me go wild. At one point I stood near the water clicking away to catch the spray splashing off the rocks. I couldn’t stop. True, a video would catch it better. But there is a challenge to snapping a photo at just the right time. Actually, I think taking photos has helped me to see better.

Although, God, when I showed Kit the photo of him at the beach, he said “Gosh, the guy fishing behind me looks like he is fishing for his food.” I had missed that — I had just seen Kit. I had just seen my friends.

Ah, God, it is so easy to just see our family and friends. That must be why You command us to care for the stranger in our midst.

Posted in caring for the stranger in our midst, caring for the widows and orphans, interactions, stopping to see, Sunlight explored, thankfulness

So Great a Cloud of Witnesses

Posted on September 6, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Cloud behind Koko Crater

Good Morning God,

Today is Labor Day — a day of rest — and yes, I confess I WAS going to drive in and work. How easy it is to get addicted to useful. A friend sent me a prayer, God, for Perfectionists to say. The first line is: “Lord, I renounce the lie that my self-worth is dependent upon my ability to perform.”

Shoot, God, I know that! DON’T I? Hmmm. I feel a twinge in my throat. Yes, I may believe it but parts of me don’t FEEL IT. Oh, I HATE acknowledging THAT!

WHY? Did You just ask me WHY I should hate to acknowledge that? Why do I not allow myself assorted errors and flaws? I DO! But, yes, just familiar flaws. This is a NEW ONE. I mean, it is newly acknowledged. But, ENOUGH about me, God! I want to talk about the Cloud of Witnesses.

This morning Kit and I drove off to Sandy Beach to join the Greater Miller Family in their 35th Celebration of the life of their dad. We have been invited to join in ever since Patty’s death 29 years ago. That has been more than enough time for our lives to intertwine — becoming part of their Extended Family. They have given us the gift of inclusion. The gift of belonging to one another.

And as Hebrews 12:1 says so well: “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us.” Yes, God, all by myself I figured out that perfectionism is a sin that ensnares me. And so is not being willing to do a fearless moral inventory. Sin, after all, is just MISSING the Mark. Or is it, MISSING THE POINT?

Tagged with: We ARE surrounded by a Great Cloud of Witnesses
Posted in being together in a compassionate presence, breathing in Your Spirit, busy as an attack strategy, compassion to care for myself, confession, courage to see myself

Living (responsibly) on Our Water World

Posted on September 5, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Looking back at Waikiki

Good Morning, God

Just a few mornings ago I was by the water, looking back at Waikiki. Clear, clean and lovely. But about the same time as I was sitting and enjoying I got an email from a friend about the North Pacific gyre — a floating confluence of plastic — a garbage dump.

Gosh, God, is it just about 100 years that we’ve had plastic? Hmmm. “Had plastic” makes it sound like You handed it to us. Let me correct that — since we started manufacturing plastic. Like so many gifts we give ourselves: it brings short term magic and long term problems.

A research ship for project Kaisei

Hmmm. Seems that way, doesn’t it God. Problems take TIME to accumulate and notice. Now we know that HEATING plastic activates chemical reactions, speeding them up. Time also breaks down plastic into pieces small enough to be eaten by sea turtles.

My friend’s husband and son just got back from a research voyage on this ship — a trip out to the North Pacific Gyre — a plastic vortex — a visual sign of accumulating problems. The research is sponsored by Project Kaisei — Japanese for Water Planet.

We do live on a Water Planet. One Planet. Our minds have made hundreds of countries — and I LOVE my country — but we are ALL ON ONE PLANET.

I’m shaking my head, God. The young who’ve grown up with seeing our world from space, KNOW this. But, can the rest of us learn this fast enough?

Only with Your Help, God. Please help us ALL to do what we can — maybe MORE than what we comfortably can?

Posted in a new view of Commons

A Few Thoughts on Doors

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

A sunlit door in Dublin

Good Morning God,

I do love photos of doors. This is one of a row of doors in Dublin but the light caught it and made it special. Doors are so symbolic, God.

One of my favorite verses is Revelation 3:20 where Jesus says “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in . . .” No battering ram — no knocking the door down — just knocking. That overwhelms me with the respect You show to us humans. You knock, inviting us to open the door of our hearts to You.

I do wish, God, that Your followers could also be so respectful. Sigh, there have been way too many examples on all sides of the only choice being “converting” or dying. Then there are just those awful times of genocide where no one had any choice at all — genocide requires that we make another group less than human. Labels, name calling, jokes. In Rwanda there was hate radio.

An archway at the Royal Hawaiian

But let me avert my eyes from genocide and go back to doors. Because the yellow door looks like it was intended to keep people out. While this lovely arch way invites us to enter — to look through if not actually walk through. It is so open and welcoming.

I find myself wondering what kind of door I have. I’d confess, God, after the attack by the burglar, I keep my doors LOCKED. I am like the door in Dublin. No open airy archway for me.

But, that is what I would like to be like — inside. Trusting and OPEN to YOU.

Posted in doors and doorways, Light, Trusting God

Being by the Ocean and Loving It

Posted on September 3, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Looking east to Koko Head and Koko Crater from Kahala

Good Morning, God!

There is almost nothing as wonderful as sitting by the water. A small stream or creek will do. Water has an incredible attraction. But sitting by the water here in Hawaii has a special SUPER SATURATED FEEL to it.

Blue! How You must LOVE Blue! In fact, the only speaker I ever heard who seemed to GET how ENTHUSIASTICALLY YOU LOVE is Tony Campolo. He was talking about You making daisies and how You loved them so much You just kept making them.

Orchids lining the main stairs at the Kahala

Aaah, God, if you love daisies how about orchids? Wow!

Of course, You love US too . . . I was going to say that You love us EVEN MORE but I think trying to quantify You is impossible. Anyway, I was just going to observe that even more fun than the venue are the friends! Yesterday my friend was telling me all about “Second Life” (3D virtual reality web sites) — telling me how REAL it feels — how she feels as if she has WALKED on the Great Wall of China. She is amazing and she’s learning to create sites in Second Life.

I teased her about the Joy of “Playing God.” But she observed that as we are “Made in God’s Image” it makes sense that we LOVE to create. Good point, God! Creating IS a JOY! Then my friend observed that SHARING what we create is EVEN MORE of a JOY! And, here I am with my mini creations — sharing as best I can — so I sure do agree.

Is that why You made us, God? So You could SHARE with us? It sure feels like it and it feels really good, God.