A big blue ball and Title IX

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

father and daughter playing at the Punahou Carnival

Good Morning God! Yesterday I took 159 photos — mostly of the Punahou Carnival although some were of a 5k women’s race at the UH track.

I have photos of crowds in line for food and to ride on giant twirling machines. Photos of tons of bottles of soda and water. Even a photo of a smiling ice cream server. But what caught my eye and lodged in my memory was this father daughter duo playing with this giant blue ball.

There didn’t seem to be a “game.” No score keeping — no real effort displayed — just the joy of tossing a big blue ball back and forth.

Later, at the 5k race around the track at UH I saw real effort and purpose — women straining to go faster and faster. Much to my surprise they even used rabbits to help the winner go even faster. . . rabbits being people who go fast for the first half and then – exhausted – drop out. I said to Kit that I would have LOVED to have been in SHORT (100 yard) races in college or high school. Title IX came too late for me. I was FAST.

woman racing in a 5k at UH track

But, You know, God — as I look at these two photos — it comes to me that we women have lost something in gaining the male world of sports. Dr. Shelia Jackson points out that one thing that was lost was control of women’s athletics. Once more money came in — so did the men — and the NCAA took over. Women coaches, she said, had been more concerned with the whole athlete — with her academic and personal growth.

So, here we are, God — able to compete — but missing that joyful ball tossing experience — missing the simple joy of moving and connecting. (Could there be a connection to the obesity epidemic?) Our culture has been impoverished — the female component diminished , even for women. Now . . . how shall we respond? Not by “repealing” Title IX! But how can we (women) reclaim what we have lost?

Ideas, God?

Posted in gender universes, losing control of women's athletics, The lost world of women

The busy little pigeon — and me

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

fishing off the stone jetty at Kahala

Ah, Mornings! This is a photo from yesterday morning when I was breakfasting and talking and then PRAYING with a dear friend.

You know, God, we are ALL in need of prayer. But, every once in a while we KNOW it in an ever so stark way. At that time it is so GOOD to have prayer connections already in place. Prayer friends — Friends that allow us the privilege of coming that close to them — coming into YOUR PRESENCE — together. Sigh.

Arugh, You just brought to mind Your suggestion/COMMAND that I name/identify ten areas in which I NEED help and then ask ten people for help in each of those areas. Yes, God. You told me to do that eight or . . . more years ago. No. I haven’t done it.

Solitary, self-important pigeon at San Souci beach

And THAT is why You had me take this photo — also yesterday — of the pigeons on the beach. But, mostly of the single solitary ones, like this one. BUSY! Yes, they are all moving along busily. But, I hear You say — not too purposefully. Purpose, generally for our species, requires combined effort.

Hard to say, God, which is harder. To ask for help — or to ask someone to pray for us, WITH US. BOTH SO HARD.

Not so hard to ask for help and prayer for “Good Causes”. But for myself? I find myself constrained by strands of “ought nots” — one ought not be self serving or worse yet, self important. How foolish of me — or how clever of the Darkness — to cover Humility with the garments of selfishness. To encourage me to think — Oh, my needs are so small compared to the BIG needs around me. As if, God, You weren’t eager to help us ALL. Sigh. I need to ask people even just to suggest areas in which I need help. OK. OK. I’m asking!

Posted in a hand up, accepting my need for help, asking for help for myself, busy, busy as an attack strategy, choosing HARD, Life isn't supposed to be easy.

The Gift of ENJOYING

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

Big anthuriums -- 11 inches long -- raised in a pot

I have to confess, God, that I am very pleased with these anthuriums. I didn’t even mind when Kit said, “They aren’t very bright” . . . thinking to himself — aren’t they supposed to be red?

But, of course, they are PERFECT. And all the more so because I grew them myself in a pot in our car port! Lots of water, dehydrated poultry manure, and voila!

Voila, indeed! I really hope, God, that You are ENJOYING Your Universe. That’s a funny thought. But I feel it MUST be true.

Enjoying seems so related to Loving — so intertwined with Appreciation and Gratitude. I mean, here I am enjoying these flowers — appreciating them with a caretakers heart. If I am doing that — What about YOU? You have created such an overwhelming variety — just even considering the hundreds and thousands of kinds of insects — not to mention the uncountable galaxies full of stars. It surely seems as if You must ENJOY it. Enjoy the creating. Enjoy what You have created. Enjoy helping us create. Enjoy us.

I like that thought. I am sitting here feeling pleased. I’ve grown up “knowing” You love us. Stumbling on this idea that YOU ENJOY US . . . feels like adding another dimension.

The Fruit (flowers? smile) of the Spirit is LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS and SELF CONTROL. I have seen these as attributes that YOU long to grow in us. I have never thought of them as, perhaps, descriptors of YOUR NATURE. Please, GOD, help this thought keep on expanding.

Posted in Being ENJOYED by God, Enjoyment

Gold stars and Your Love, New Every Morning

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

Morning sky over Hawaii Kai. Photo by Pulelehua Quirk

It’s a new day, God! Thank You! Still dark but look at this glorious photo of the morning sky — sent to me yesterday. I love clouds — especially when the sun or moon is shining through. It’s a beautiful world, God. Thank You!

I liked yesterday. Fasting for two meals isn’t hard — maybe not hard enough? Although as it got closer to dinnertime it did get hard enough for me to really think about the people I was doing it for.

I did do some work with my large calendar. I gave myself various colored stars for the days when I did what I want to do more of — feeling slightly like an eight year old — but pleased in spite of that. And I worked on German. That really felt good as learning languages is very hard for me — impossible. I have an old trauma connected with it. But I feel as if You are willing to help me heal.

Notice that I said FEEL. I know — up in my mind — that you want to heal all of me, indeed all of us. But with longstanding traumas or injuries I feel helpless. Helpless. Gosh, that takes me back to a conversation last week about my being terrible about asking for help. I DID ask a friend to help me with German by reading off a list of words into my iPod. Hmmm. I think I’d better give myself a star every time I ask for help! Maybe blue? (It’s the only one of the five colors I haven’t yet assigned.) And, come to think of it, I’d better add myself to the list of people I’m fasting for! DUH! I mean, that’s allowed? ENCOURAGED, EVEN!

Posted in fasting FOR someone, healing, learning, Light shining through

Fountains and God’s Living Water

Posted on February 2, 2010 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Dillingham Fountain with Diamond Head behind it.

Good Morning, God. Today is another day at home — and now that a lot of underbrush got cleared away yesterday — maybe today I can sit and plan. Yesterday was all about PROCESSING! A bunch of stuff that had piled up, got done. In fact, I have it all in a basket — ready to take in tomorrow.

So, today? Today I want to fast . . . jog first so as to start burning fat . . . and then fast. And fast FOR more than fast FROM. I love Vickie’s idea of dedicating the day to a friend, or a person in need, or a cause. And I have some in mind. The idea of FOR and not just FROM is helpful in other ways, too. For example, God, it helps me to abstain from food if I reframe it as GIVING my body Time and Energy to PROCESS stuff that has “piled up”. Fast connotes emptiness. . . and empty cries out to be filled. Now, best to fill it with YOU. But if it is with YOU — FOR A FRIEND — or orphaned child — it is easier to picture, to see.

A lot of SEEING is about where we stand when we look. This photo is a shot of the fountain from a slightly different angle than I had before. And that difference was so pleasing that I wanted to reframe it. In this case, the center spout of the fountain is just about perfectly under the peak of Diamond Head. I cropped it to remove the street — reframing it. And that is what I want to do today — with Your Help — to reframe fasting into giving my body the GIFT of PROCESSING TIME. Processing on a deeper level than the processing of yesterday. And I remember going to a 10 day silent retreat right after retiring which gave me time and space to process at a deeper level, still. YOU ARE THE TRUE CLEARER OF UNDERBRUSH AND SWAMPS!

Back to the image of the fountain: YOU are FAR MORE THAN A TAME FOUNTAIN. What I really want is to have Your Rivers of Living Water flowing through me — sweeping away what doesn’t belong! Help me hold on to that image and request, please, God.

Posted in perspectives, processing on deeper levels, reframing

A Day at Home

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

a view of part of my desk

Good Morning, God, This is the Day After the Sabbath — my second Sabbath — and I am eager to WORK. Thankful to stay home and plan. PLAN. Not just DO but plan. Ponder what it is that I want to do. Hey, maybe even what I feel CALLED to do.

And not just DO, but LEARN. Learn as in exercise my brain. Like learn a bit more German . . . something heretofore impossible for me. It feels, God, like THAT kind of year.

Thank You. Thank You for TODAY. This small packet of Time — given to me to WORK in. Six days shall you WORK . . . and maybe, unless we are really WORKING on those six day we can’t fully KEEP the Sabbath. But, I seem to hear You say, BUSY isn’t the same as WORK. Busy, then is neither work nor rest nor play — busy is to work as static is to music. Hmmm. Now there is a thought for me to ponder.

Spaces between. Margins. Pauses. Focus. Emptying. No Pressure. Such small words, God. But so important. Help me to use them to build today.

Posted in asking for help for myself, authority over my life, Balancing and adjustments, busy, systematic rebuilding required, time

Putting a face on Love

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

Love Never Faileth and cross at Central Union Church

Good Morning, God. This morning I get to read the scripture at Central Union Church — at 9:00. Kit will read it at the 11:30 service. This chapter really says it all about how we are to live.

First it puts accomplishments — even spiritual accomplishments — in perspective. WITHOUT LOVE THEY ARE NOTHING! Or to put it as Paul did . . . even with great faith, great prophetic powers and great giving — without LOVE, I GAIN NOTHING.

Next it gives us a list of descriptors — telling us what Love LOOKS LIKE. Patient. Kind. And then what Love is NOT: Not envious. Not boastful. Not arrogant. Not rude. Not insisting on its own way. Not rejoicing in wrongdoing.

Then it is back to what love does: Bears all things. (Note: love does not make you a doormat or a victim.) Believes all things; hopes all things, endures all things.

Next Paul moves on into the FUTURE and assures us — LOVE NEVER ENDS. Knowledge will end, as will prophecy and tongues. He points to our limitations. Now we know, only in part. Then, as if with a drum roll, he proclaims: BUT THEN WE WILL SEE FACE TO FACE. THEN WE WILL KNOW FULLY, EVEN AS I HAVE BEEN FULLY KNOWN.

Finally, going back to the present he affirms: NOW FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE abide, these three, and the GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE.

Thank You, God, for YOUR LOVE THAT NEVER ENDS. Help us to desire it to receive it — and to live in it — and to let it live through us.

Posted in developing helpful definitions of love, God wants to nourishes us, LOVE, New Creatures in Christ, Perspective

Humuhumu’s and Hibiscus

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

Hibiscus on a hedge.

The Heavens DO declare Your Glory, God. And as the full moon (the Wolf Moon) last night was 14% wider and 30% brighter than usual — it was doing its part to show forth Your Glory. Not that I saw it — as the rain started soon after it was due to rise.

But, Your Glory is also found in the ordinary things around us. Like flowers — even those that only last for a day.

Jesus said it well. “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”

You lavish care on the flowers — even the fish (here in Hawaii) are arrayed in splendor. Consider the Humuhumunukunukuapua’a — the cross-striped lagoon trigger fish — with the lavender lips. Such attention to DETAIL, God! What a glorious world we inhabit.

Humuhumunukunukuapua'a

It only takes a minute — less really — to stop and SEE — or HEAR — or TOUCH. How good it is to come to a FULL STOP and consider that YOU are seeing me — seeing each of us. Attending to us, even more (well, as much as?) You attend to the flower.

Oh! Oh, that I might marvel at that fact — embrace it — live based upon it. I am; we are; LOVED and SEEN . . . and HEARD. Not “heard” as in being given everything we ask for . . . that’s a poor kind of love. Heard, as in, Paid Attention To. Valued. Called to GROW in a million different ways. Called to get up and try again! Called to value and see and hear — those around us. Thank YOU!

Posted in appreciation, beauty, blooming, gratitude, stopping to see

Swans and Puppies

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

Swan in the Mosel river. Photo by Ann Peters

Good Morning, God. You know, when I look at this swan I think of Apple. Both seem to embody great design! And there is something very attractive — appealing — in good design.

For one thing, it is sleek and clean — elegant. Nothing extra. Someone told me a good rule for dressing well is to get all dressed and then remove one accessory.

Hmm. When I make my plan for the day, perhaps I should remove one activity. Or two. But back to swans.

Swans, God, are not cuddly. As I was looking at the swan I was thinking of how fluffy and cuddly puppies are. Puppies you want to touch and hold. Swans less so. And as I have read that swans are ill tempered and inclined to bite — that is just as well.

Swans and puppies. One represents our love of Great design– the other represents our need for Relationships. One we want to touch. The other we need to be touched by — to hug and be hugged. And that brings me to Virginia Satir’s quote about how we need 4 hugs a day to survive – 8 hugs a day for good health — and 12 hugs a day to thrive. Touch is important. After all, You made us with skin on.

Hugs are not preached on, are they God. Somehow we miss the basics. How important it is to have family living close enough to hug and good friends who are hugging friends.

You, God, have done a wonderful job of designing us! Please, Help us to sort through Modern American Culture and get back to how we are designed to live! Connected to You and to each other.

Posted in beauty, connecting, connections, hugs

Unexpected Joy (a guest blog by Vickie Paulsen)

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

Deep snow - Silent night. Photo: from Vickie Paulsen

deep snow Photo: from Vickie Paulsen

Bad weather can bring unexpected joy. After a blizzard in Colorado, my daughter and I put on our cross country skis at midnight and headed toward the schoolyard a mile away. Though the heavy snow had knocked out power everywhere, the bright moon gave plenty of light. Houses were completely dark, people asleep. Our skis made the only sound. I loved the big snows that closed schools and work, and gave us all the gift of nothing to do.

We live in a surfeit of action and sound. It’s almost as if we were afraid of quiet, needing to stuff the air around us with noise and surround ourselves with stuff.

“Stuffing” makes me think of its opposite, Fasting. I never would have expected that giving up food for a day could feel almost as good as skiing in deep silent snow. Oh, I don’t look forward to fasting any more than I look forward to a power outage. It’s unnatural! It’s scary! But there is always someone who needs my prayers more than I need food, so I kneel and talk to God about it. In no time at all, He takes over and I feel free, without the heavy burdens that usually tie me down. I’m filled with love. When I’m tempted during the day, as I always am (Satan does not give up easily), I simply think of the person I’m fasting for, because they are more important than any food could be. I feel in harmony with God, a kind of conduit between heaven above and the earth beneath my feet. Fasting and Bad Weather both bring unexpected joy.

Posted in a surfeit of sound and stuff, afraid of quiet?, the gift of nothing to do