Priorities, Gender Differences, And a New Attack on Structuring my Space

Posted on August 7, 2010 by a moment with god — 1 Comment

A colored hibiscus for Kit

Good Morning, God!

I saw this bright colored hibiscus yesterday and whipped out my camera to capture it for Kit. I was remembering the time I showed him a glorious hibiscus bush in full bloom — showed it to him for him to admire — and he said dismissively: It’s WHITE”!

Who would have known that preferring colors would preclude appreciation for white? But perhaps that is why men are always saying “You HAVE to prioritize”! So linear! So non-comprehendible! Like: how could a mother “prioritize” her children?

Oh, oh. Yes, God, You point out to me how blessed I am that I have never had to make that kind of really hard choice. Yes, we DO have to prioritize — we cannot do it all. But, it comes to me: WE CAN DO MORE THAN WE THINK WE CAN.

Hmmm. Actually, it is much more complex than that because I can do BOTH More and Less than I think I can. The Sabbath Day of Rest is essential. And when I cheat, I feel it. Now I LONG to keep it as my GIFT to myself — a Gift from You, God. That’s a GOOD Less.

At the same time, I have yet to succeed (read: failed) in creating a supportive structure that will help me with keeping on top of all my stuff — my wildly expanding, multiplying, proliferating — stuff.

A compounding factor is that I over-reward myself for things DONE and under-value and under-reward myself for STRUCTURE and for CLEAR DECKS! Hmm. Part of the problem is that I don’t know how to create a structure that WORKS for me.

Ah, but,God. It is a NEW DAY! And I have another shot at CREATING a SPACE STRUCTURE that will SUPPORT ME! Let’s GO!

Posted in both / and, choices, Colors, complexity, sabbath rest, supportive organizational structures

Gut, Mind and Heart — We are FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY made

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

An aerial lift platform for changing light bulbs

Good Morning, God

I was about to exit a downtown high rise parking lot and this machine went by me. I had never seen anything like it and I stopped my car to take a photo — fortunately no one was behind me. The young man said it was for changing light fixtures.

Now, God, I have no idea why this contraption would have caused me to laugh with delight! Perhaps, it is just seeing something NEW? Or maybe it was the inelegance of the design? It felt like some combination of mechanical bug and childhood extension toy.

We humans have a mixed response to new, God. Kit read me the other day — from a Bill Bryson book — that the Pilgrims wouldn’t eat the lobsters the Indians brought them. I have no idea if that is true. But, I can “understand” it. As in: “You want me to eat THAT”? It is easy to think — wouldn’t trying something TOTALLY NEW be better than starving? But that is our Mind talking, not our Gut.

I’m sitting here thinking, God. Or maybe I’m just sitting and FEELING the challenges of being BOTH Gut and Mind. HEART? Did I hear You say, HEART?

The Heart — placed between the Gut and the Mind — speaks with such a quiet, gentle voice. We have to LISTEN carefully to hear our heart. Look at that word, God! It has EAR in it — and ART in it. I’m smiling. The Art in Life is to open our Ear to our Heart. I need Your Help, to do that. Then I need even MORE of Your help to sort out what kind of path to follow.

Yes, God, I’m always ASKING for Your Help — but not focusing on RECEIVING IT! Hmmmm. Good point. Let’s do a little Centering Prayer.

Tagged with: There's a reason the word EAR is in HEART
Posted in being heard into speaking, Centering Prayer, Hearing, listening, power and peace and gentleness, the layers of life

Prayers and Rainbows and Cell Phones

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

Moon over the water. Photo: Pulelehua Quirk

Good Morning, God

It has been a week since the last full moon and given how dark the sky is in this photo it looks like this moon was a day or two past full. Taking photos at night — with a slow shutter — makes the moon seem so much bigger. I love it! I love taking photos! It’s one of those unexpected joy things. Not just taking photos — but SHARING them — sending them off around the world.

Our prayers can go off around the world, too. I like that thought. I like praying for people. You know, God, if I told someone 200 years ago that I could call people and talk to them on a small “cell phone” without wires, even — they would have laughed. There are folks who laugh at the idea of talking to You.

A Rainbow seen on Wednesday Morning

But prayer is real. I suppose, God, that it is a bit like the photo above. It takes TIME for the camera to “absorb” the light. That’s why Centering Prayer is now “set” for 30 minutes. Smile. There’s a lot of stuff to let go of — to let float away — before we can begin to “feel” connected.

We are ALWAYS connected. But my end of Our Connection is cluttered. For me, God, FEELING connected to You is like SEEING a Rainbow. Rainbows are awe inspiring. And I can’t begin to capture one in a photo. So, God, I’m back to prayer — as an undocumentable experience.

I suspect that You designed it that way.

I can’t say I am “better” for praying. But I AM more JOYFUL and more at PEACE. And, I am ever so much more thankful for YOUR LOVE!

Tagged with: Digging Out My End of The Connection, For every one step we take towards God - God takes 8 steps toward us
Posted in Centering Prayer, connections, JOY, Perspective, Prayer, time

Imagine! I’m Still Longing to Become an Organized Person

Posted on August 4, 2010 by a moment with god — 1 Comment

A fan palm branch

Good Morning, God!

A small step or two! I’m rejoicing. You know, God, getting over the idea that I should have gotten control of my life by now — makes life much easier. I haven’t. But, I’m working on it.

I’m a difficult person to manage. I said that to an acquaintance who looked puzzled. (Maybe most folks don’t have a problem with this, God?) Anyway, I searched around for a reason and all I could think of was that “I’m subject to bursts of enthusiasm.” But, I was just being polite — let’s correct that, God, I just didn’t want to tell her the truth.

The truth is I am not YET systematic — I haven’t valued the just plain grit it takes to get things done AHEAD of a deadline. So, here are my two small steps. 1) I made a checklist today with 11 things on it. Things to take in with me and hand out. I actually LOOKED at the checklist and checked things off. I guess most people do that naturally. I had to listen to all of the Checklist Manifesto book and reread parts of it before it came to me that I could do this.

The second small step is what I call Sift • Sort • Sequence. What it means is — when I get home from running around “working” and “meeting” I sit in a comfortable chair and sift through all the bits and pieces of notes, ideas and commitments. Yes, God, I could put them in my iPhone and not scribble them on scraps of paper and stuff them in my pocket. Good point! Next I sort them out by listing them on a big pad of paper. Lastly I attempt to sequence them by time available, need, and priority. Sounds SO ELEMENTARY! But, these are small steps toward becoming an Organized Person!

Posted in accepting my ability to REDESIGN, accepting my authority to set limits, Ongoing Transformation, organized, so much to learn

On the unexpected joy of being corrected

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

a Heliconia

Good Morning, God!

I must say that Google is an amazing help to bad spellers — that being me. I use Google instead of a dictionary because in a dictionary — if you have the second and fourth letters WRONG — you can’t find the word you want. Aaah, but with Google you can! I was delighted, God, to have Google correct me on my spelling of heliconia.

It seems to me, God, that I have been corrected a bit more frequently than I like in the last few days. Mind, You, God, cleaning up mistakes is very satisfying. Having to acknowledge that I MADE them is hard. And, yes, it DOES make a difference on WHO it is that is “correcting” me.

As with most things, there are concentric rings of difficulty involved in being corrected. Being a semi-nonspeller from birth makes acknowledging that sort of error relatively easy — if embarrassing. Other errors or mistakes are more painful. Certainly, mistakes that effect other people are very hard.

I can’t imagine what it would be like to be a doctor who slips up in surgery and nicks an artery — or a nurse who gives a patient the wrong medicine. Or, just recently, a young man — racing — who crashes and kills a child. Sigh. Ah, GOD. How are we EVER to forgive ourselves for mistakes like that?

We want to be “good” people, God. We don’t want to hurt or harm others. And when it becomes clear to us that we have — what then? Oh? You seemed to have backed me up a step. You say that You are pleased when we do “A Fearless Moral Inventory” and have our mistakes become clear to us? Being willing to see — even to search out — our mistakes is a big step forward in growth. That’s a comforting thought. Thanks, God!

Posted in a hand up, a series of molts and upgrades, choosing HARD, courage to see myself, Help me to see

Joyful Colors — And a Rainbow of Choices

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

Blossoms of the Royal Poinciana

Good Morning, God,

It’s been raining — thank YOU! But even if the days are a bit wet these brilliant red-orange blossoms of Summer bring delight! Colors do bring joy. That’s why I bought some zinnias for my car port pot garden. Joy is important. Beauty is important.

And living in Hawaii, beauty is all around me. Actually, the world seems amazingly full of beauty. It just comes in a variety of colors and shades. I remember how hard it was for me as a child to move from the green of the Bay Area down to the browns of Los Angeles. Green is so easy to appreciate.

Appreciating shades of greys and browns requires a more nuanced pallet. And the coastal June gloom of California requires a bit of effort. I remember on one grey day — a friends saying to me: “I KNEW you’d wear your red skirt, today!” What a wonderful step forward it was when artificial dyes made color accessible to ordinary folks.

Hmmm. Not so wonderful when they put dyes in “food products!” Still, God, I’m glad I’m living right now! It’s true we haven’t figured out how to clean up after ourselves — or better yet, live without poisoning the planet!

Part of what makes that so hard is the amazing array of colors and choices spread out before us. Consuming less is like eating less. And our obesity epidemic makes it painfully clear just how hard choosing wisely is — both for ourselves and for our world.

Please help me, God. I need Your Help. And I hear: SMALL STEPS. VALUE SMALL STEPS! MAKE SMALL CHANGES!

Tagged with: It takes a lot of hope to keep on trying
Posted in becoming the change I wish to see, being a Slow Learner, Colors, hope, JOY

A Palm doing its job — Am I doing My Job?

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

a palm living inside a huge building

Good Morning, God!

Today is a lovely — slow — relaxed Sabbath Day. And I think of what Jesus said about The Sabbath Being a GIFT to Man. It IS!
But, alas, God, like many of Your Gifts it goes unclaimed. I am sitting here “seeing” the various people around this lovely world that I am praying for. To see them IS to hold them up to Your Light.

Hmmm. Small aside here — I shall print up a Prayer Photo Album — to help me in my intercessions. Praying WITH and FOR people is another one of Your Gifts that often goes unclaimed. How easy it is, God, to have our attention diverted — or worse yet, to be disconnected.

Anger and Fear do that. They send us back to a primal, vulnerable-to-attack state. And, then people do horrific things to one another — horrific things that are gathered up and stored to feed the hate of future generations. Tragic. It becomes a cycle of Victims and Revenge Seekers.

Worse yet, those who have been harmed seek to inflict twice as much harm on the perpetrators — the Fire Bombing of Dresden springs to mind. MADNESS, God, MADNESS. All of this creates great gapping cracks in the surface of the earth. Abysses separating peoples on Ice Flows of Hate.

Hmmm. Perhaps You are calling us to be like this Palm. It is doing its best to process CO2 into oxygen — life giving oxygen. Do You want us to process Hate into Love? Ignorance into Understanding? Fear into Confidence?

YES! YOU ACTUALLY WANT US TO PRACTICE FORGIVENESS! ZOONDS! Now there is a whole Series of Unclaimed Gifts!

Ah, GOD! Now THERE is a CALLING! Having Planted us in Your Love — help us through Your Holy Spirit to bear fruit worthy of Your Calling!

Tagged with: Called to overcome Evil with Good
Posted in a matter of scale, being planted, being together in a compassionate presence, breathing in Your Spirit, Choosing to respond, Expand my Heart, God as an Ongoing Gift, images, letting the Holy Spirit flow through us, living by every word that comes from God, water and love

Sweet Temptations, Industry Funded Studies, and new fangled “foods”

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

An American Agave

Good Morning, God

I’ve been sitting here looking up articles on High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). Last night Kit showed me a letter to the editor of the Princeton Alumni Weekly that said Americans consumed 37.8 pounds of HFCS a year. I’ve been avoiding HFCS — yes, God, reading the labels of the few packaged “foods” we eat. But, I thought I’d try and see what the problem is.

One surprising and distressing (to me) bit of information was that agave syrup was pretty much the same as HFCS. That is to say highly processed and not at all Natural! Dang! I was had — not that I bought the product, just the idea — by advertising. We humans really do CRAVE SWEET! And there is money to be made on anything we humans crave. How sad to have to give up an appealing substitute. (All appealing substitutes?)

Here is what Wikipedia says about glucose as used in the brain. “When glucose is low, psychological processes requiring mental effort (e.g., self-control, effortful decision-making) are impaired.[8][9][10][11]”. My my. That explains a LOT!

So, I guess the real question is: Are all forms of sugar the same? Or is glucose what our bodies and brains were designed to run on? Let’s see. Chemists and Industry experts — who are making lots of money off of their CREATIONS — say they are all the same.

But there is a big difference in the results of INDUSTRY FUNDED studies verses INDEPENDENT studies. Sigh. Then, of course, there is the BIG BELLY SYNDROME (my term) diabetes, and assorted new kinds of cancers that are on the rise. Hmmm.

My money — at the store or Farmers’ Market — is on the OLD ways.

Tagged with: Distrusting New "Foods"
Posted in complexity, food questions

We Are Learning About Learning!

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

Sunset from the Punahou Campus

Good Morning, God

What a lovely time I had yesterday — ending up with a presentation at Punahou on brain research — followed by a tour of the Omidyar Kindergarten and First Grade complex.

Just think, God, now they KNOW that children learn better if they are active every 25 minutes. Amazing! It sounds as if children are no longer being set into little rows (like corn) and expected to grow. Movement is now seen as a key to learning. Indeed, to leap to the other end of the age spectrum, movement is a key to keeping older minds working well.

I suppose, God, that the sunset photo is a symbol of the sun setting on the old model of education. Hmmm. At least it’s setting at Punahou. I’m very happy about this as it seems clear to me that you designed us to enjoy learning. And maybe it will have some effect on our culture’s current obsession with being RIGHT.

Right is such a narrow, joyless place — at least to my mind. I suppose it comes from the emphasis on taking “tests” where there is a “right” answer — unlike “life”.

A friend said that he had learned in life that: “You can be Right or you can have Relationships”. Wouldn’t it be extraordinary, God, if we could learn to enjoy discovering that we were wrong about something? My, THAT would change things — turn them right side up! How about if being “smart” wasn’t about getting the right answer — but being flexible enough to play with ideas and delight in tossing out disfunctional ones.”

How about if we could leap over arguing — and get into observing what works, and what doesn’t? Hmmm. I think, God, that this sounds like Humility. Humility that learns and admits mistakes and errors. It takes a very strong person to be able to be that humble.

Tagged with: Can we redefine "smart?"
Posted in humility, learning, Ongoing Transformation, Play

The Joy of Seeing, Appreciating and BEING appreciated

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

Monkey pod tree in silhouette seen Wednesday morning

Good Morning, God

This tree — seen in silhouette — stopped me in my tracks and I reached for my camera. I love these trees, God. I love the way they branch and twist and curl. They go from trunk to branch to smaller branches to tiny branches so quickly. Or maybe it is only the last two stages that happen quickly?

No matter! These trees bring me joy — and even more joy when the sky above them is a clear blue with white clouds. The background is important.

Hmmm. We have emotional and expectational backgrounds, too. For example, my father told me early on that Life is Hard — it isn’t supposed to be easy. So, when I look around me and see kindness and beauty I am filled with joy.

Alas, some people seem to expect life to be easy and painless. And when something bad happens, as it not doubt will, they seem fixated on it. Frozen in place, staring at it. How sad, God, how sad. Perhaps that is why people in underdeveloped countries manage to find joy? They know that they have to look for it.

I’ve recognized that we have control over what we choose to focus our attention on. But, I don’t think I’ve thought much about our ability to choose what’s the background and what’s the foreground. Indeed, mostly I haven’t even been aware that I have a background of expectation — and of emotion.

I suppose, God, that my relationship with YOU is my True Background. It seems woven into my being that I matter — and that EVERYONE matters. We are all somehow Your Favorite Child. Hmmm. I wonder, does each leaf on the tree feel that IT is the tree’s favorite. I hope so.

Posted in background / foreground questions, beauty, clapping our hands in joy, Vantage Points