Needing a Helping Hand

Posted on October 1, 2012 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

The Right Reverend Sandy Millar — speaker at Life in the Spirit this weekend

Good Morning, God!

I am really looking forward to this weekend’s Life in the Spirit conference at the First Presbyterian Church at Koolau. I am feeling very much in need of Your Help, God.

Travel is diverting and wondrously enjoyable, God. But, I am Home now. And I am in need of refilling. I loved being “poured out” — that lovely extroverted time of being connected — of sharing — of hearing and being heard.

Ah, but now God, I want to go and sit at Your Feet. I want to Drink In and Refill. And so I am off this Friday afternoon to listen to Sandy Millar, who as vicar at Holy Trinity Brompton (London) helped launch a revived Alpha Course. That course is a sort of Introduction to Christianity and it helps folks over the many Unseen Barricades that keep people OUT of the church.

Currently Sandy Miller is an assistant bishop for missions in a poor parish in northern London. He has a heart for us humans, God! Just as You do.

I am looking forward to having someone remind me that we ARE loved. When I listen to the News I sometimes despair and rail at You. Could You not have done better by us, God? But, then I realize that we are now “co-creators” with You, God. You await our “permission” to do more — to work in us and on us and through us.

So, God, I am venturing out this weekend to ask for Your Help.

And if anyone else wants to join me the cheaper price has been extended through this Monday.

Tagged with: Alpha Course, Holy Spirit as Helper, Life in the Spirit, Right Reverend Sandy Millar
Posted in a hand up, asking for help for myself, Holy Spirit, intentional and invited sacred space, responsibility

A Series of Road Trips

Posted on September 30, 2012 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Santa Monica Blvd turned into a Street of Gold outside the Marouch restaurant

Good Day, God!

What a wonderful series of visits I have had, God! First I landed at LAX and drove up to Hollywood to have dinner with our Godson followed with dinner with Suzanne. The next morning I drove up to Oxnard. And over the weekend high school friends and I went to Anacapa and Santa Cruz Islands off of Santa Barbara.

Then I made the long day’s drive from Oxnard to Tucson, Ariz. where I had a lovely visit with our daughter and her family — including time alone with each of them.

Then Sandy and I had a Road Trip to LA, stopping at Desert Hot Springs where we spent the night. (She did all the driving because before leaving on this trip I had tripped and banged my right knee on Kauai so that long drives got painful.)

How like Life that my aching knees resulted in a magical time with BOTH daughters that Saturday. We started our day with a trip to Beverly Hills Juice (breakfast) and ended with a three hour visit to a Korean spa. Then it was off to the airport for Sandy to fly home.

Next it was time with Suzy. Talking and talking and consulting on home furnishings and plants and, of course, shopping! I don’t shop much at home, God. Somehow it seems like a different activity when it is done with daughters! Everything done with daughters is better!

The whole time was filled with special moments. Stepping out of the Marouch Lebanese Restaurant just in time to see the street turned to gold — see the photo above — seems like just the right image for my trip. It represents those small magical moments that one can’t “plan” — one can only marvel at them and be thankful for them.

I have unpacked my suitcase. But I have barely begun to “unpack” the hundreds and hundreds of images, memories, and Connections. Precious Connections. Thank You, God, for everything!

Tagged with: Daughters, magical moments, Road Trips
Posted in connecting, connections, family visits, friends

On the Road, Again

Posted on September 23, 2012 by a moment with god — 1 Comment

A Freeway Interchange — Approaching Los Angeles

Good Morning, God!

Being a native Los Angelina I get a strange delight from Freeways — especially their multiple overpasses. These are images my mother saw on the cover of magazines like Astounding Fiction. Fiction in her childhood — reality in mine.

So, somehow, this concrete interchange evokes my current multi-layered Trip.

A Trip that began with An Adventure of Boating out to two of the Channel Islands with good friends from long ago — my high school years. Friends rediscovered and, more importantly, revalued just a few years ago.

Revaluing is such an essential part of Living, God! And right now — sitting here at our oldest daughter’s apartment — my life seems overwhelmingly FULL of VALUED CONNECTIONS. Each one connects me to another Person — another Time — Another Place.

Only, of course, my Inner Emotional Interchanges are far more complex and interconnected than this simple one of concrete! Still, the image is evocative.

Due to tripping and falling while running for joy — and odd sort of climax to our trip to Kauai for my husband, Kit, to run the Kauai Marathon — my right knee has not been itself. And driving from Oxnard to Sandy’s home in Tucson in one day left my knee unhappy. So I awoke one night with the wild idea that perhaps my daughter Sandy could drive me back to LA and then fly home! Sandy loved the idea. A Road Trip! A Special Time Together! Then we joined up with Suzanne on Saturday morning. A Mother with her Daughters! Going together to Beverly Hills Juice, Erewhon Market, and a Korean spa for acupressure, saunas, and dinner. Sharing experiences, thousands of words — and LOVE.

Thank You, God. Thank You!

Tagged with: A Mother with her Daughters, reconnecting, revaluing, sharing, time together
Posted in Adventures, connections, Families, family visits, friends

Evicting a 99 year old lady — and her dogs

Posted on September 12, 2012 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Bea Berglund’s adoring dog

Good Night, God!

Evicting a 99 year old lady! Really! I am sure the Bank of America is within its legal rights to clear the land they bought after the owner died owing taxes. But LEGAL isn’t the same thing as RIGHT or KIND or maybe even decent?

I’m a bit touchy about evictions since the nice family next door turned up “missing.” After noticing they were gone for longer than usual I asked around. They had been evicted. They hadn’t said a word to us. Would we have helped? Could we have helped? We never had a chance to find out.

But, we do have a chance to help Bea Berglund and her dogs. She is a 99 year old neighbor of a friend of mine who lives in the desert land of Newberry Springs. And she is due to be evicted October 5th by the Bank of America. Please God, could you find a way for someone in charge at the Bank of America to find out about this and do something? I know You don’t normally interfere in our business practices. But, could you make an exception for Bea and her dogs?

She would be grateful for an extension. It isn’t easy to move — and it doesn’t get any easier as we get older — especial at 99! As for myself, I would be grateful if you could just get folks to read more about it in my friend’s blog. It’s savingbea.wordpress.com

Tagged with: 99 year old women, Bank of America, eviction, legal vs right
Posted in caring for the stranger in our midst, caring for the widows and orphans, Choosing to respond, Compassion

Racing and Running, Praying and Pruning

Posted on September 6, 2012 by a moment with god — 1 Comment

Kit at the Kauai Marathon awards ceremony — the fastest man 65+

Good Day, God!

I am THANKFUL! HAPPY! JOYFUL! Kit finished the Kauai Marathon in great shape. He won his Age Group and was the fastest man among 65+. BEST OF ALL, he ran a Boston Marathon qualifying time of 4:39:06, with 54 seconds to spare.

Sandy videoed him crossing the finish line and in it we hear her happy screams. I only wish someone could have videoed me as I saw Kit coming toward the finish and started running toward him screaming “YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT!

Kit is in great shape — not even sore. I, however, am another story. 1) In my mindless anxiety I didn’t even think about putting on sunscreen while watching for Kit. Yikes, such a sunburn I have. 2) Then, two days later, as I was running fast — from sheer delight — to the boarding gate for the flight home, I tripped. I did a four point belly flop. Two of the points were my knees. Swelling was instant in my right knee which did not want to bend. Two days later the swelling is going down. Thank You!

Then, just in case I missed the point, a friend sent me a link to the very first blog I ever did. In it I say: We are called to be Trees planted by the River — whose leaves do not wither and who bring forth fruit in season. I like that thought. Help me to refrain from excessive doing and committing. Help me do it – lest I be pruned!

Sigh, I recognize that You are attempting to prune me. But, I acknowledge that I am not yet pruned. I shall now go and Sit in Sacred Silence. Please help me prune voluntarily.

Tagged with: Age Group Winners, Kauai Marathon, overdoing, pruning
Posted in a prayer for healing, Centering Prayer, Cherishing our Bodies, Common sense and reasonableness, compassion to care for myself

Aimlessness vs Floating

Posted on August 31, 2012 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Boats floating in the water off of Waikiki

Good Day, God!

I have been thinking a lot about aimlessness. My church’s statement of faith talks about aimlessness and sin. And my Left Brain does think aimlessness is a kind of sin. My concern about aimlessness arose while I was home sick.

“Ah”, I thought, “I’m not finished transitioning from work into retirement!” It has been one year now, God. One year since I let go of “external goals and purposes.”

Then, after discussing my sense of aimlessness with June, my spiritual director, I decided to reframe it as floating.

I like floating, God. In fact, when I am in the ocean I spend a fair bit of time floating and admiring the fish. I am not a purposeful swimmer. I don’t log miles. I don’t take photos. I don’t even get much exercise. I mostly float and enjoy.

That is pretty much where I am now in my life.

God’s Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine

I’m floating and enjoying what’s going on around me. Not that I enjoy everything. I worry a bit about my mother. I won’t have her forever. In fact, I won’t be here forever, either. These are sobering thoughts. But necessary thoughts.

And by chance I am reading a book that shines an almost holy light on these thoughts of life and death. The book is God’s Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine by Dr. Victoria Sweet. Stories about her patients put my tiny problems into a healing perspective. And her affirmation about our body’s desire and ability to heal are encouraging. She says that a first step is to remove what gets in the way of healing.

Please, God. Help me recognize and remove what gets in the way of healing.

Tagged with: aimlessness and sin, Dr. Victoria Sweet, floating, God's Hotel, slow healing
Posted in Books, Changing, Cherishing our Bodies, healing, health, Transitions

East Meets West — Personally

Posted on August 25, 2012 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Looking out the window at the Juju’be Clinic with my feet in a small warm jacuzzi

Good Evening, God!

In hopes of completing my recovery I went this noon to get an acupuncture treatment at the Juju’be Clinic and Salon. A good friend had raved about it — but I didn’t feel I had room to add anything more to my life. Hmm. No room . . . sounds stressful.

But back to my treatment — I left my shoes at the entrance, stepped onto the tatami mat and filled out a health form. Next I was taken to a comfortable recliner and put my feet into a warm water “jacuzzi.” Then the attendant asked me to select — by color — an aromatherapy scent. I picked aqua which turned out to be good for the Throat Chakra. She squirted it on my wrists and asked me to smell it while taking deep breaths, first through one nostril and then the other — for five minutes! That was followed by a salt scrub of my feet, ankles and lower calf.

After that Dr. Kamei did my acupuncture treatment, inserting LOTS of needles in my neck and shoulders. I “floated” for a while under heating lamps before the needles were removed. Then I turned and got needles on the front of my shoulders. It was oddly relaxing!

The highlight for me came when Dr. Kamei explained — in Western Terms — that my sympathetic nervous system (the Go-Go system) had been more active than my parasympathetic nervous system (the Healing system). Oh! I knew about those two systems but only as “information.” I hadn’t thought to apply it personally! But what good is “information” if I don’t apply it?

Please, God, help me focus more on relaxing — on Centering, Praying and Praising — for total healing.

Tagged with: acupuncture, aromatherapy, holistic healing, relaxing, salt scrubs
Posted in healing, health, relaxation, responsibility, Rethinking

Lost in the Longs Parking Lot

Posted on August 24, 2012 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

A young Kolea lost in the Longs’ parking lot

Good Evening, God!

After sleeping in and doing nothing much this morning, I ventured out this afternoon. I went to pick up a medication for my mom at Longs. Coming back to my car, I noticed what looked to be a very young Kolea.

My first thought was that he or she was probably born this summer in Alaska. The Kolea (Golden Plovers) fly off from Hawaii in April to Alaska — where they pick a partner and raise a family. Then they all fly home in August.

I just Googled Kolea and learned that the juveniles are not supposed to return until October. But this bird looked like it had somehow flown in early. For one thing it didn’t seem to know enough to be afraid — I got much closer to it than it is normally possible.. And it just looked puzzled, as if it hadn’t expected to land in a parking lot.

I couldn’t help thinking — where are your parents? Where are your friends? I know, God, that You have done a marvelous job designing these birds to fly from Hawaii to Alaska and back. But, this little bird seemed to need more help!

Ah, maybe I am over identifying? I have not been my “normal” self-sufficient self these last three weeks. And my wonderful husband, Kit, has done a splendid job of caring for me. Family and friends have called to check on me — and to offer advice. I have even taken some of the advice.

I guess, God, that I want every creature to feel cared about. Cared for — valued — heard — and helped out of the parking lots of life!

Tagged with: Golden Plovers, Kolea, lost, need for help, self-sufficiency
Posted in accepting my need for help, Caring, Families, friends

Opening Our Windows and Our Minds

Posted on August 21, 2012 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

a rainbow in our valley this morning

Good Evening, God!

The day began with a rainbow. Then I worked around the house. And tomorrow if I have not “relapsed” with another sore throat, I shall consider myself recoveredI

The photo of the rainbow was taken from the window in our lanai — a closed window. This morning I went all around our home opening windows. And that was because of an article in Discover magazine (July/August 2012). It was about the ecology and microbiology of the Indoors. This new field is booming now that the DNA of microbes can be sequenced relatively cheaply.

The field got its start thanks to a chemist named Dr. Paula Olsiewski. She was in charge of the Sloan Foundation’s initiative on biosecurity after the 2001 anthrax attacks. When she inquired about the science of indoor biology, she found there really wasn’t such a field. So she asked J. Craig Venter to help with funding to establish one.

The timing was perfect. Before, scientists could only study microbes that could be grown in a petri dish, and that is only 1%. Now, given cheap sequencing, the other 99% has become “visible.”

But back to why I opened my windows. It seems, God, that Florence Nightingale was right when, over 150 years ago, she insisted that patients needed outside air. Inside air is filled primarily with microbes from humans. And in hospitals that can mean deadly microbes. In a series of studies in Peru, Dr. Rod Escombe showed that simply opening windows cut the rate of TB infection by two-thirds. The diversity of the outside air is that beneficial.

Soon after opening my windows I thought: Minds need to be opened, too! We need to experience a diversity of ideas and viewpoints. Closed environments can breed nasty ideologies.

Tagged with: diversity, Dr. Paula Olsiewski, Dr. Rod Escombe, fresh air, natural ventilation, the ecology of the built environment
Posted in Changing, health, Rethinking, Transitions

Microbiomes, Mexican Pyramids and MORE

Posted on August 20, 2012 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

The Pyramid of the Moon in Teotihuacán Photo by Gorgo from Wikimedia Foundation

Good Day, God!

I’m so aware of how much I don’t know. In my Centering Prayer this morning, God, I was overwhelmed by how much MORE You are than we can ever realize.

Then, while reading the October 2012 issue of Discover magazine, I learned that we have an intestinal “microbiome” that functions like an organ. It seems that the contents of our intestinal track are now considered one of our microbiomes — one we can’t live without. It was several months ago that I came across the idea of fecal transplants. Now it seems that our understanding has deepened and gastroenterologists like Colleen Kelly consider the microbial contents of our bowels “like an organ.” And, like several organs, it can be “transplanted” with amazing results. Good bacteria from the transplant can overwhelm the assorted troubles caused by bad ones like Clostridium difficile. Promising news!

Pyramid of the Sun

Next I stumbled on a blog about the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan in which I learned that it and the Pyramid of the Moon were not built by Aztecs but early in the 100s by a people unknown — maybe the Otomi. And that the city itself may have been multiethnic.

Both are examples of what I don’t know — and examples of subjects not often examined in my educational past.

There is so much going on, God! Going on inside each one of us. And going on in the vast and busy stretches of our Past. So much more than we know! Yes, God, MORE is a very good word.

And we are only one species on a small planet in one of billions of galaxies. We are small and fleeting — ah, but, we are loved! Thank You, God!