Red Fish, Blue Fish and Being Pleased to be Me/Ourselves

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

The Suess Landing at Island Adventures - Universal Theme Park, Orlando

Good Day, God!

I got to see my God son, Shane, graduate this morning! THANK YOU! That was such an accomplishment and I was both proud and happy.

And speaking of happy, I was surprised at how happy I was when I discovered Seuss Landing the other day. It brought back happy memories of reading Dr. Seuss as a child and then reading his stories to my daughters AND my grandsons.

Then this afternoon, I was sitting there in Seuss Landing idly looking around while drinking a lemon slush when I thought — this is the man primarily responsible for our culture’s shift into embracing DIVERSITY. Everywhere I looked the creatures were DIFFERENT! (Well, except for Thing One, Thing Two, etc.) And, even better, each creature seemed supremely pleased with itself!
Just LOOK at this red fish, God! How happy (yes, maybe even smug) she looks. And the blue one looks just as happy.

Aha, God! Wouldn’t it be marvelous if each one of us was THAT PLEASED to be who he or she was! I looked at each creature on the merry-go-round and each one was just as happy and “pleased to be me” as these fish.

It was Viktor Frankl who observed that each one of us has a Will for Meaning. And if the Will for Meaning isn’t met then it can be diverted into a Will for Power or a Will for Pleasure. Perhaps these fish — being so happy to be themselves — experience life as meaningful?

I’m pretty sure that isn’t the best way to express it, God. But on the other hand I feel as if I’m getting close. I confess to being happy just to be me. And part of that is that I experience life as intrinsically meaningful. Ah! But LIFE is a GIFT. Just as getting to be WHO WE ARE, is a Gift.

And, yes, GETTING TO BE WHO YOU DESIGNED US TO BE — IS AN ONGOING GIFT THAT GOES BOTH WAYS! Thank YOU!

Posted in A God given diversity, asking for help for myself, Being ENJOYED by God, gifts and giftings, God as an Ongoing Gift, gratitude, respect

Wild Rides and Approaching Storms – A Day in a Theme Park

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

Wild Ride and Approaching Storm at Universal Studios Theme Parks, Orlando

Good Day, God!

What is it about humans that LOVES to play with FEAR? The roller coasters of my childhood have morphed into Giant Creatures that spin and twirl in addition to double gravity Ups and free fall Downs. I looked at them today with a combination awe and horror.

Meanwhile, Shane, went on the biggest one four times in a row while I ventured on to the Revenge of the Mummies ONCE. Actually, I did it again with him — wanting to be a good Godmother. Meanwhile, the sky got darker and darker, God. And I was expecting a torrential downpour with lightening, too.

Meanwhile, my skittishness about the weather had been exacerbated by the Twister Ride — based on the movie about tornados. Yes, God, I KNOW they mostly don’t have tornados in Florida. But, I saw the lightening the day before. And I’d seen the rain our first night. So, all I wanted was a safe dry place to wait until it was over. While Shane kept saying IT’S ONLY WIND! And he and Pulelehua forged ahead.

I guess God, that we need prudent (cowardly) people like me and fearless folks like Shane. This is a wonderfully diverse world and we need all kinds of people — people out in the wind and up on wild rides — and people sitting down with a dove ice cream bar waiting it out.

After the Storm - the rides stop when lightening is within 5 miles

Thanks God for this amazing diversity. You have made people in all flavors and with all sorts of gifts. But, it seems to me that most all of them are basically kind and good.

Help us, PLEASE, GOD, to be good and kind to those who are far from us as well as those who are near to us. It is so easy to be kind to people we can see — somehow we can see that they are our fellows — like us at the core, even if diverse.

Posted in courage, fears, Perspective, Play

Traveling Toward the Light — Sustained by Love

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

In Orlando -- on a water taxi going under bridges on the way back to our hotel

Good Day, God,

How I love “light at the end of the tunnel” photos — photos where there is a black frame around the source of light.

In this photo I loved the fact that I was looking under three bridges at once. Ah, God, the simple Joys of Life! Thank YOU!

Thank You, too for the unexpected gifts of traveling with another family. There have been a lot of gifts — one of them is seeing what a Mother will do — go through — to be with her son on an important date. Pulelehua hasn’t had an easy time traveling so soon after three LONG pins were removed from her hip which was broken three years ago. Being on crutches and in a wheelchair is never easy. But then flying from Honolulu to Florida makes it a whole lot harder. Aches and pains AND time zone changes exacerbate the whole thing.

It has made me realize that I haven’t done enough BEING WITH my beloved children. Gosh, God, this WASP culture is so invasive! Stiff upper lip and carry on no matter what. I wish I had realize this earlier . . . but then I am so THANKFUL to have realized it AT ALL!

And, perhaps, that is why I love this photo — traveling TOWARD the LIGHT — and going under bridges. Yes, God, our lives are all about traveling toward the Light — toward YOU. We never finish. But that is as it should be. Please, God, encourage us to keep on keeping on.

Oh! One last thought — YOU do understand ALL ABOUT PARENTAL LOVE, don’t You!

Posted in clear waterways, family visits, gifts and giftings, growing toward up, Mothers and Fathers, people as gifts, Rivers of Living Water, simple joys of daily life, the gift of persistent love

Portofino and People and Being Present

Posted on June 2, 2010 by a moment with god — 2 Comments

Looking out our hotel window at a "copy" of Portofino

Good Day or Good Evening, God!

After flying overnight from Honolulu to Orlando I’m not sure just what time it is. Well, it is 11 pm in Florida. It’s my body time I’m not sure about!

Traveling to be with people is different than traveling to go places. It was wonderful to see Shane — to see how he’d grown — and to see how much he remained himself. People are really what it is all about. Connections.

Relationships. I can see how cultures that are rich in relationships would naturally have saints involved in their religious world view. We are, after all, told that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. How much nicer to “know them by name.”

Names are important! Servers in restaurants always introduce themselves. Gosh, God, on the plane one of our flight attendants said, if you want anything just call “JoAnne”. I love it! Names help us connect. It’s like what Greg Mortensen said about the saying about how after you’ve shared tea and conversation for the third time, you’re family.

Ah, God! That’s what we all need! More time together sharing and becoming family! More time face to face and not just online or over the phone. Time sitting together. And now You bring to mind that when I sit quietly in Centering Prayer — outside of words — we are being knit together.

So, then, God, bless Shane in his graduation and his transition into the wider world. Hmm. Bless our Wider World! And help me to learn to be present in a deeper way. Thank You God!

Posted in Centering Prayer, connections, Conversations, inner paths of the heart, intentional and invited sacred space

The importance of our physical presence – and paradigm shifts

Posted on May 31, 2010 by a moment with god — 3 Comments

looking down on San Francisco

Good Morning, God!

I’m off again. This afternoon I fly to Orlando to see Shane (my Godson) graduate with a Masters in Music Business from Full Sail University. I’ll be traveling with his Mom – a longtime friend.

Part of me thinks “better I should give him the gift of the money I’ll spend going to see him”. But GOING THERE, BEING THERE is a gift to me . . . and, I hope, a gift to him, too.

I remember — way way back in the Living the Adventure series at church — hearing Keith Miller talk about when his Dad died. One old friend of his father came during the time with the family and sat with him. He said little or nothing. But, Keith remembered it as the most comforting thing anyone said or did. Our Physical Presence speaks.

Tony Campolo talks about letting the Holy Spirit in him speak to those around him — without words — when he travels. Could I do this? Really?

I am so slow, God, in learning to respect the gifts of our body. Years ago, I learned that my hands had more “intelligence” than my mind when it came to using a light pen to wand a barcode AT JUST THE RIGHT ANGLE. But, I didn’t GO ANYWHERE with that knowledge. I failed to EXTEND that information.

Hmm. Yes, God, weaving Patterns out of seemingly disparate bits of information is challenging. Please help me with that. Aha. I think I am hearing You remind me of how DIFFICULT PARADIGM SHIFTS ARE. So, it isn’t so much how difficult it is to build patterns — as how difficult it is when the new pattern seems to overturn a pattern or paradigm from our childhood.

All of a sudden I am connecting that thought with yesterday’s thoughts about Romans 12:1-2 about offering ourselves as living sacrifices TO BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF OUR MINDS [and HEARTS].

I bet You are talking about DEEP PARADIGM SHIFTS. Wow! Please HELP ME. Please help me to WANT to Hear, See, and CONNECT! Thank YOU!

Posted in a series of molts and upgrades, accepting my ability to REDESIGN, accepting my need for help, acknowledging another's existence, asking for help for myself, connecting, connections, Expand my Heart, generating options, gifts and giftings, letting the Holy Spirit flow through us

Rome, Romans and Me

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

The Coliseum in Rome at sunset: Photo by Oliver Ross

Good Morning, God!

A Sabbath Morning — a Day Set Aside for Rest and Restoration. And, I confess right now, I shall most likely do some work.

I am the loser. But, perhaps, others are too. Now THAT is a sobering thought. This morning I awoke with Paul’s words to the Romans in my heart. Probably because of a conversation yesterday with a dear friend.

And I remembered, God, that I had done a paraphrase of that chapter in the 1980s. Here is the first part:

Therefore, I urge you dear fellow children
in view of God’s patient and undeserved love for us let us give God
not just our money and our time but our complete and entire selves

When the offering is taken in church it should be
as if our very bodies themselveswere carried up to God’s altar

for it is not enough to die for God. we are to be living sacrifices
for God wants to set us free from the prison of conforming
to the expectations of those all around us.

God wants to make us over completely by changing
how we think about things

God wants us to demolish old ways of thinking and even feeling
so that we might clearly see God’s Presence and the existence of what the world denies
so that we might hear God’s voice and do God’s will.

Once again, I say YES to You God! I am willing to do Your Will. But, somehow, my will — which I view as doing absolute necessities — is squeezing out Your Will. And, yes, I confess, saying YES to YOU is scary. I admit, I like myself JUST THE WAY I AM.

Even so, I hear Your Gentle Voice saying that You don’t want me to become anyone else — just a bit more truly me. Hmmm. More truly ME? That is still scary. But, LET’S GO FOR IT!!!

Posted in a series of molts and upgrades, an invitation to abundant life, asking for help for myself, responsibility, Rethinking, Risky living with the Holy Spirit, sabbath rest

Wrapping my roots around Your Love

Posted on May 29, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Saguaro cactus taken in the Golden Light period before dusk

Good Morning, God!

I just read an email from my youngest daughter saying she had her own retreat yesterday — sitting next to a small stream in the Sabino Canyon National Park and reading her Bible and journaling.

I’m back to WATER, God. Sitting beside a flowing stream and “being with You” as a chosen action — connecting with You — the Living Water.

And I just looked up an my indoor anthurium plant and took it into the tub for several doses of water and had a glass myself. We need water. And I need YOU.

In looking up how to spell saguaro I discovered that they grow slowly (one inch a year) and live to 200. They also have short (3 foot) tap roots. BUT they have smaller roots that extend out the height of the cactus and encircle big rocks to steady themselves in high winds.

I like that! I like it that I’m not the only Slow Grower You created! And I loved the idea that they are able to have anchoring roots. We ALL need anchoring roots, God! It’s a Windy World.

Photo from Friends of Sabino Canyon website

Now back to sitting by a stream. Water in the Desert is even more appreciated. And somehow streams are more intimate than rivers.

I am sitting here thinking about how the Saguaro flowers feed the birds in the Spring and their fruit feed birds and many other creatures in the Fall. I’m pondering the fragile yet durable web of life in the desert.

And, I guess, thinking of the sheer numbers of species — how many millions of insect species — and how EVERYTHING is CONNECTED to EVERYTHING ELSE.

That can cut both ways — it can make us seem insignificant — or it can invite us into a far deeper meaning than our mind can comprehend. We are INVITED to join into the CHORUS of PRAISE for the GIFT OF LIFE.

And to wrap our roots around Your Love! Smile. THANK YOU!

Posted in A God given diversity, a matter of scale, an invitation to abundant life, appreciation, attunement, clapping our hands in joy, embedded in God's Time, intentional and invited sacred space, small meaningful moments, stopping, The Flow of God's Love, web of life

Wake UP, Women of Planet Earth!

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

Looking toward Waikiki from the Outrigger

Good Morning, God!

It’s another Ocean Day . . . well Ocean morning. I LOVE Your World, GOD!

And, I love all the wonderful people in my life. FAMILY! And Friends! And people met just for a few moments.

You did a really GOOD JOB with us, God.

I’m sort of amazed at all the trouble we get ourselves into . . . how badly as a GROUP we seem to manage.

But I have an idea! I think it goes back to Women! I think older women have not USED all the gifts You have given us. That is what I think!

That wonderful quote by Edmund Burke about “All that is required for Evil to Triumph is for good men to do nothing”. Well, it seems the real evil happens when WOMEN DO NOTHING!

I remember reading that our species took a LEAP FORWARD when women lived long enough to help our daughters with their children. GRANDMOTHERS! That is what helped our species progress. (Yes, God, progress is not defined correctly by us!)

So! WHAT I SAY IS THIS! IT IS TIME FOR ANOTHER LEAP FORWARD FOR OUR SPECIES. TIME FOR THE GRANDMOTHERS AND GREATS TO GET OFF THE DIME AND HELP!!!

Yes, Thank You, God! That feels RIGHT! And since women are not leader dependent we can each one of us get going and DO WHATEVER! Hmm. Yes, if we DID TURN TOWARD YOU that might be another leap forward!

Now — off to ponder this — with friends.

Posted in a hand up, accepting my ability to REDESIGN, accepting my need for help, the importance of Grandmothers

Breakfasting in Beauty — Pondering Oil Disasters

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

breakfast at The Kahala

Here I am , God.

I’m looking forward to having breakfast this morning at the Plumeria restaurant at the Kahala hotel. I love this place. I love the green grass, the palms, the ocean and the sky. Then there is the view of Koko Head and Koko Crater.

Koko Crater and Koko Head

Then there are the pools of fish and even dolphins which seem to be having a good time with their trainers — although captivity bothers me. I have swum in the bay the the builders created many years ago — alas, by blasting out the coral reef.

The builders couldn’t do it now. And, as far as that goes, Henry J. Kaiser couldn’t have built Hawaii Kai. He built it on wetlands. Indeed, Waikik was marsh and wetlands, too.

How easy it is, God, for us to REMAKE the Earth. We see it as IMPROVING. But, of course, it is upsetting the delicate balance of the Web of Life. And, there are consequences. The trouble is, God, that we are not able to predict the Unintended Consequences.

I woke up this morning early to the light of the full moon shining on my face. What a delight! The next time I awoke it was to news of the BP oil disaster. The news was confirming that it was MUCH LARGER than reported. Oh my goodness. What to do?

One path is for the big oil companies to invest in solar and alternative fuels. The Rocky Mountain Institute just posted the video Reinventing Fire. YouTube – Reinventing Fire which preaches getting ourselves free of our oil addiction. Oil is easy. And You know, God, how very tempting EASY is for us.

Sigh. Well here I am, God, about to go off and enjoy myself and Your world — albeit somewhat “improved”. I am just ONE. But help me understand that does not make me powerless. It just means I have to search for like hearted Ones. Please HELP me. Please HELP US TO SPEAK UP, AND SPEAK OUT AND COMBINE OUR EFFORTS.

Posted in a matter of scale, adoring Easy, asking for help for myself, authority over my life, Balancing and adjustments, beauty, Choosing to respond, Options, responding to God's Spirit, responsibility, systematic rebuilding required, Venturing out of the shallows?

Star Makers and Day Makers – Stretching and Contracting

Posted on May 26, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Heart and Soul nebulae

Good Morning God,

I just love it when my mind gets stretched!

WISE Has A Heart And Soul in this article in Space Daily I learned that these two active star making nebulae are in another arm of our spiral galaxy — the one we call the Milky Way. They are 6,000 light years away and our galaxy is 100,000 light years across. I think I remember reading that our galaxy makes a complete rotation every 200,000 years.

Both nebulae are busy creating stars out of dust and gas. Some baby stars are only one million years old — not like our sun which is 5 billion years old. I confess, God, that while my mind is stretched — it is not truly comprehending either Time or Space. Still, I can feel the tug of this information. And I sit here shaking my head.

Yesterday was a day of contracting — I STAYED HOME ALL DAY. I did jog up the valley, but slowly. And then I puttered about redesigning my files and tossing and filing. I still have an 18″ pile to dispose of. Hmmm. Yes, God, and two boxes of papers to sort and toss too.

Yesterday was a day of Consolidation, and it felt GOOD. It felt NECESSARY. Stretch and Contract. Just as we Inhale and Exhale. I’d really like Your Help, God to get those into balance.

Hmmm. It comes to me that I experience Stretching and Expanding as EXHILARATING! Whereas, I now realize, I have considered a Day at Home as DULL. Only yesterday wasn’t dull at all! Perhaps, it wasn’t dull, because I was listening to Glimmer: How Design Can Transform Your Life and Maybe Even the World. I was inspired. It helped me to reframe my Day at home as REDESIGNING both my Day and REDESIGNING HOW I DO THINGS. That’s a very exhilarating concept.

Please, God, help me to understand that I CAN REDESIGN THINGS! And NOTHING ever should be labeled dull! Labeling constricts and doesn’t allow for expanding.

When that is done to people, they tend to explode – or maybe collapse. That is an important thought, isn’t it God. A thought to ponder.

But, now, I’m on to a Day of Stretching!

Posted in a matter of scale, accepting my ability to REDESIGN, authority over my life, Balancing and adjustments, breathing in Your Spirit, Rethinking, so much to learn