Easter and Easter Eggs

Posted on April 9, 2012 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Volker and Christa Kraft have decorated the tree in their back garden in Saalfeld, Germany with beautiful Easter Eggs for the past 40 years -- now 10,000 eggs

Good Day, God!

We had a wonderful Easter! The music was marvelous. There is something so uplifting in singing those Easter hymns! Of course, five brass players and a tympanist helped stir the exultation!

Rejoice! Rejoice! And again I say, REJOICE! YES!

So, God, after reveling in a very traditional Easter service, I find I’m now thinking about the “Pagan” side of Easter — more specifically the Easter Eggs.

Perhaps the organized church has been a tad too left-brained? I fear that the Protestants turned too far to the “left” in their 16th Century zeal in tossing beauty out of the church buildings. Or maybe that is just my Episcopal upbringing speaking, God? They adopted protestant theology but kept the liturgy and stained glass windows and so forth.

But back to the Easter Eggs and Christmas Trees and other Celebratory Things we borrowed from the Old Ones. Such images and icons communicate to us so viscerally, God! To hold an egg in one’s hand and think that inside the egg a chick grows. How amazing is that! And to ponder that we, right here now — we, too, may be growing — and someday “hatching?” For me that is best felt viscerally, while holding an egg.

YOU are Mystery, God! Profound and unspeakable MYSTERY! You have shown us glimpses — and I am so thankful for each little bit we have seen. But YOU ARE SO MUCH MORE! Oh, that we would all humble ourselves before YOU. Please, God, help me to enter into AWE!

Tagged with: AWE, Borrowing from the Old Ones, Celebratory Things, Easter eggs, Mystery
Posted in Easter, Music, mysteries, rejoicing

Living in the Light of Easter

Posted on April 8, 2012 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Delphiniums in the Huntington Gardens

Good Morning, God!

Thank You for Easter! Thank You for being the Light of the World! And thank You, most especially, for the Gift of Life.

This is Easter. This is a New Day. Help me to REJOICE in it. And help me to make GOOD USE of it.

It is mine. My Day. Mine to do with as I wish. I can receive it and revel in it. Or, I can be grumpy and snappy — as I have been this last little — or not so little — while.

Strange, God, how all of a sudden my viewpoint has shifted. Or, since You have been “keeping watch” over me — maybe not strange at all.

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

So! I am off to jog around the block before church. REJOICING that I can live and move and have my Being . . . in You!

I’m back! Running around our block while listening to The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg.

Yes, God, we CAN increase our Willpower — it just takes EFFORT! Effort and a lot of HOPE! The effort has to come from me. But, I sure need Your Help on the HOPE!

Tagged with: Charles Duhigg, exercising and strengthening our willpower, The Power of Habit
Posted in authority over my life, Books, Easter, encourage and comfort, Endurance, hope

The Gentle Rains of Waikiki

Posted on April 7, 2012 by a moment with god — 1 Comment

A gentle rain wafting over Waikiki

Good Day, God!

After thinking about Tornados in Texas, it was a relief the other day to sit and watch rain mist waft over Waikiki. I suppose it was, technically, a rain cloud. But, “cloud” sounds so definite!

Really, very often our rains here in Hawaii are mists. I remember seeing them sweep down Manoa Valley every morning as I walked from my parking lot to the library. Usually, I was a bit ahead of them. If not, I waited in my car for a few minutes.

The same scene 25 minutes earlier

The further up a valley one is, the wetter one gets. By the time the rain makes it all the way down to the ocean, it is almost done.

Looking at my photos, I found the same scene just 25 minutes earlier. I’m including it, God, because I’m afraid people might not believe it really is raining in the top photo.

I suppose, God, that looking at these two photos ought to help me “adapt” to transitions. Things change. Weather comes and goes. This seems so obvious, God, but applying it to the rest of my life is challenging.

As I wrote that I thought, “but then ‘what’s a heaven for?'” Indeed, God, if I fail to set my Life inside a meaningful framework, then I am truly vulnerable to transitions and changes.

Hmm. When crossing a very high bridge the advice is: “Don’t look DOWN!” Once, when crossing a wide crevasse along the Kohala Ditch Trail on the Big Island of Hawaii, I forgot and looked down. Yikes! I only made it because the guide picked up my backpack to carry it as a lure. Of course I had follow.

So, perhaps, God, resiliency comes not just from setting our lives in a good context, but also from focusing on small, immediate things — like backpacks and the gentle rains of Waikiki.

Tagged with: Change, gentle rains, Kohala Ditch Trail, seeing our life in context, Waikiki
Posted in Inner Journeys, Meaning, Rethinking, seeing

Tornados, Trust and Transitions

Posted on April 6, 2012 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

One of several tornados over Dallas

Good Day, God!

Our friend Ann from Dallas was visiting last month when she got word of a Tornado Warning back home. That was scary enough, God. I didn’t grow up with tornados so I’m skittish about them.

But, then just a couple of days ago I got an email from Ann saying that she had spent the afternoon in the library basement as there was a Tornado Watch. She “had to pop up periodically,” reminding students not to stand by glass doors and skylights.

And, by golly, God, tornados came! She said that the most impressive video (click to load) showed semis being tossed way up into the air. I watched it several times and it was “unreal” to watch great big truck rigs zoom up over 100 feet into the air — spinning around and then landing hundreds of yards away. The wind blew them around as easily as if they were window curtains flapping in the breeze.

All of this is unsettling, God. This Earth has been so “well-behaved” for so long that I have just expected it will continue that way. I have been to Yosemite and marveled at Half Dome — cut by glaciers — but that was long long ago. That was then. Our Now seems so peaceful, God. And, I want it to stay that way!

Such a Balancing Act You have given us, God — to Appreciate Now and still look ahead and prepare for the Tornados of Life. It reminds me of the old story of Grasshoppers and Ants. People seems to be one or the other. But to be an Anopper? Saving for Rainy Days — not to mention Tornados — and yet able to set aside both Time, Money and Energy for rejoicing in our Daily Flow of Nows? That is HARD, God.

Please help me to Trust You with Transitions!

Tagged with: Being an Anhopper, Change, Dallas Tornados, transitions, trust, weather
Posted in adoring Easy, Transitions, Trusting God, Uncategorized

A Walk Along the Kaiwi Shoreline

Posted on April 5, 2012 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

Standing on the Kaiwi shoreline looking up at Pele's Chair

Good Day, God!

And it was a Very Good Day! I set out this morning at 7:30 with my friend Pulelehua planning to walk down to the Kaiwi shore and then drive off for breakfast.

But, once we had walked to the shore, I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t care about eating! In fact, I wanted to spend the day there. Alas, I had made a commitment for a 10:30 meeting with several people. Otherwise I might have spent at least the morning there.

I have always loved the shoreline, God. To me it is the Meeting Place of Earth, Sky and Sea. It might be the negative ions released by the waves breaking against the lava rocks. And, perhaps, the very low number of people in sight had something to do with my desire to stay there.

looking at the back of Koko Crater and the third inlet

Or, maybe, God, it is one of Your Thin Places? The Celts felt that there were places where it was easier to sense Your Presence.

Hmm. When I go back, I will see if I might “notice” that. I wasn’t even thinking of that today. I just knew I wanted to be there. I wanted to keep on walking to the third inlet. Ah, Another Day!

Thank You, God, for friends who get me out walking!

Tagged with: Kaiwi Shoreline walk, Makapuu Head, Pele's Chair, Thin Places, walking with friends
Posted in friends, people as gifts, power and peace and gentleness, recovery time, Vantage Points

Falling into the “Sometimes Stupid” category

Posted on April 4, 2012 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

An obake anthurium

Good Morning, God!

After delighting in the beauty of unexpected bromeliads and wild grasses, it feels like it’s “too easy” to find beauty in a formal flower arrangement. Having people invest energy in arranging beautiful things ought, one would think, add to their beauty. Often it does. But, still, I rarely take photos of “arrangements.”

Perhaps, God, it is related to how our older daughter, Suzanne, doesn’t mind candid photos of herself — but hates all posed shots.

But, God, it wasn’t just this beautiful flower that caught my eye at church this morning. The large wooden cross draped with purple cloth also compelled my attention.

The Holy Week cross at Central Union Church

There it stands, God. Bespeaking Your Love for us — for all of us humans.

Actually, God, I am quite certain You love ALL of Your Creation. That seems to be Your Nature and besides, look at Your Command for us to be Stewards — Caregivers of Creation.

Good Friday is a reminder to me of our failures — failures as Caregivers — and all of our General Failures. A friend told me recently that he hated working with stupid people. I gave him a quizzical look and he asked why. I told him I was just wondering “where do you find the Other Kind?”

I didn’t go on to say that I had surely been “stupid” often enough. I figured I had said enough . . . maybe more than enough. But, as Paul said so well, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

People like me — raised as a good Episcopalian — don’t much care for the word Sin. But, I sure do identify with FALLING SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD! So, please God, help me to come to You — asking for help, asking for compassion for myself and all the rest of us sometimes stupid people.

Tagged with: Good Friday, Holy Week, sometimes stupid, Wooden Cross
Posted in Failing, Holy Wednesday, Holy Week, Humility or Needing Help!

Stopped by Beauty!

Posted on April 3, 2012 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

A bromeliad, I think -- BEAUTIFUL!

Good Day, God!

This afternoon I drove up our valley to see Dr. Fickes for a thermography exam. As I was walking toward her entrance I was stopped by this flower. Out came my camera so I could capture its glory. Amazing!

Beauty is important, God. Maybe it is even essential? What comes to mind is the Chinese proverb: When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.

That feels very wise. And I’ve been pondering why that might be. Perhaps it’s because beauty tugs me toward You? Beauty speaks to some inner part of me — reassuring me that both Beauty and Hope exist — and will continue to exist.

Beauty appears daily . . . in the daytime sky and in the starry night. The Heavens DO declare Your Glory, God!

Wild grass -- with light shining through it

And so do the ordinary things of life. I stopped this morning on my jog to take a photo of weeds . . . or wild grasses. Less obvious beauty, but it’s there, if we only look. Your Light can transform anything.

I suppose, God, this may be why some older people can radiate beauty . . . they are letting You shine through them.

Transparency . . . focused on others . . . hearts full of love . . . I have friends like that, God. Thank YOU!

Tagged with: beauty, bromeliad, hope, thermography, wild grass
Posted in beauty, hope, Hope as a gift from God, Light

Noticing — And Being Noticed

Posted on April 2, 2012 by a moment with god — Leave a comment

very small pink flowers — waiting to be noticed

Good Day, God!

I just happened to look down and see these very small pink flowers. I was leaving my mom’s and when I saw the little flowers I thought, “How many small “ordinary” things are there waiting to be noticed?” I’m quite sure there are far more than I see.

What do I notice, God? What are the thoughts that regularly run through my mind? Often they are Next Actions. Things like returning overdue library books, getting cash out of an ATM and gas for my car.

Today, while listening to Roy Baumeister’s book, Willpower, I heard him say that “raising the level of our thoughts” does increase our willpower. Raising my thought level sounds pretty abstract, God, but I think he means focusing on why I want to do something instead of how am I going to do it. It seems that a good “why” is motivating.

Baumeister went on to talk about how Eric Clapton and Mary Karr were both freed of their alcoholism through AA — Eric instantly as he overcame his pride and surrendered to You. Mary took a longer slower path. But, as they both said when asked about it — IT WORKS!

I’m smiling, God. It all seems so simple. You really do care about us. But, You know our hearts and wait to be wanted. I’m smiling, God, because suddenly I am seeing myself as one of these Very Small Flowers. Only, it is You who have paused — to notice us .

Being seen, being heard, being noticed. That fills my Heart. It answers my Whys.

Tagged with: being noticed, noticing, Roy Baumeister, Willpower
Posted in Affirmations, Being ENJOYED by God, Books, Perspective, seeing, small meaningful moments

A String Bass, Mellow Music and Respect

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

Kaipo of the Mokulele Trio

Good Day, God!

Palm Sunday, complete with a donkey and Hosannahs filled our morning. Marvelous music, God! Children’s choirs and massed choirs and all of the congregation singing away.

Then this evening we went up to the Oahu Country Club for dinner as the guests of a dear — family, really — friend. And more music! The Mokulele Trio was so mellow. When they played at our table my ear was up close to the bass. I could feel — as well as hear — the vibrations of the strings. Real music, God. Real music.

It was quite a contrast from the amplified big band music of last night. I like big band music, God. But, when the volume is cranked way up it becomes painful!

Hmm. Peter tells us to always be ready to give an answer to those who ask about the hope we have within us. Then he says, “But do this with gentleness and respect, . . .” [I Peter 3:15]

Yes, God, the music I heard tonight spoke to me with “gentleness and respect.” Whereas the amplified music of Saturday night was neither gentle nor respectful. It bulldozed its way into my being!

Music or words — both are more easily received when they are “gentle and respectful.” And, You, God — You seem to speak in whispers. We have to really want to hear You. In fact, rereading the verse from I Peter, it looks as if we have to ask!

Oh my, I am so eager to share my thoughts on this and that that I don’t wait to be asked . . . I just look for an opening. Sigh. Ah, yes. Here is an “assignment” — to be so full of hope that we are asked about the reason for it.

Thank You, God, for the Hope You give!

Tagged with: Hawaiian music, I Peter 3:15, mellow music, Mokulele Trio, Palm Sunday, respect
Posted in hope, Music, respect

Time — How best to Dwell in it?

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

Heliconia seen while shopping at the Farmers' Market

Good Day, God!

I enjoyed strolling around at the Farmers’ Market this morning. I had time to do that because I wasn’t driving home before going to my Retreat Meeting at Central Union Church. Not having time constraints felt lovely, God. Hmm. It was only looser time constraints — but that still felt good!

I’m thinking more about Time for several reasons. The first, and I have too smile at it, was “seeing” my inner (imaginary!) service dog sitting next to me with my shiny silver Timer in her mouth. Talk about a message from my Inner Self!

That same Timer is sitting next to me now, God, ticking away. I need it. It is easy for me to get lost in what I am doing and loose track of Time.

The Time Paradox by Philip Zimbardo

The second reason was that after the meeting, when I stopped at Barnes & Noble, I discovered The Time Paradox by Philip Zimbardo. I came home and took the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI).

The results sure surprised me, God! I think of myself as a Present Person — but my score on that was lower than 50%! And my future orientation was the only thing higher than 50% — the average score. Could it be that I am still “working”– not yet living as if I am fully retired?

Hmm. Self awareness comes so slowly, God. Of course, I will have to read the book — not just skim it — to get a real understanding of how my Time Perspectives matter.

One story that caught my attention was about a psychologist working with Post-traumatic stress sufferers. Their focus on their painful past was eating up their Present and affecting their Future. It helped them to take a Time Overview of their lives.

I’m pretty sure it would help me too, God.

Tagged with: living in the Past Present and Future, Philip Zimbardo, The Time Paradox, time constraints
Posted in Perspective, perspectives, time