Testing of new layout

I've changed my layout completely. Mostly because I messed up the old layout and it just seemed easier to pick a new template! haha I've (re)discovered a downside of Blogger - my photos were linked to a picasa web album that I deleted, not realizing that would affect past entries. And so, there are now many old entries with missing photos. Oops. I don't know why the photos weren't embedded as permanent fixtures in the blog...it's a mystery to me. I was going to resurrect my old SlowTrav blog but I'm unable to access it (a report's been filed...apparently it's not a priority.) So I'm in blog limbo...still trying to decide which platform to use if ever I'm able to migrate my ST blog elsewhere. Maybe I'll try wordpress...

Breathtaking

O beautiful earth and sky, you take my breath away...

Then you breathe it back into my being

filling me with love and light.

And I am renewed.

A resurrection story

I was browsing through one of my books, Soul Weavings: A Gathering of Women's Prayers, edited by Lyn Klug, and came across this poem:

O God,
through the image of a woman crucified on the cross
I understand at last. 

For over half my life I have been ashamed of the scars I bear.
These scars tell an ugly story, a common story,
about a girl who is the victim of sexual abuse. 

In the warmth, peace, and sunlight of your presence
I was able to uncurl the tightly clenched fists.
For the first time I felt your suffering presence
      with me in that event. 

I have known you as a vulnerable baby,
as a brother, and as a father.
Now I know you as a woman.
You were there with me
as the violated girl caught in helpless suffering. 

The chains of fear no longer bind my heart and body.
A slow fire of compassion and forgiveness is kindled.
My tears now fall for man as well as woman. 

You were not ashamed of your wounds.
You showed them to Thomas
      as marks of your ordeal and death.
I will no longer hide these wounds of mine.
I will bear them gracefully.
They will tell a resurrection story.

Anonymous, inspired by the figure of a woman, arms outstretched as if crucified, hung below the cross in a chapel in Toronto, Canada.

The poem struck me deeply on so many levels...anguish for how this woman suffered, deep grief for the reality that it IS an all too common story. But her resilience also fills me with such joy and hope...God's amazing grace birthing new life in all its scarred glory. A powerful story of resurrection.

Fallow time...

After all the mandatory reading and writing I have to do for school - books and articles and commentaries...research papers and essays and reflections - I must confess I'm not feeling much desire to write in my spare time. But I will be graduating in May (if all goes well) and I hope my love of writing will come back to me once I'm finished school. In the meantime...here is a poem by a favourite poet (William Carlos Williams) and an image by a favourite photographer (me!)

Winter Trees

All the complicated details

of the attiring and

the disattiring are completed!

A liquid moon

moves gently among

the long branches.

Thus having prepared their buds

against a sure winter

the wise trees

stand sleeping in the cold.

~ William Carlos Williams

Fulfilment

Fulfilment    By  Bernard Thorogood

The leaf was made for dancing

And the cloud for shade at noon

The breeze was made for freshness

When the sea gleams in the moon

The waves were made for stirring

And the mountains to be still

The daisies made for sunlight

And great trees to clothe the hill

And everything that you have made

Was good in your sight Lord

For all things have a part to play

And nothing is ignored

You lead the way from seed to fruit

From womb to birth to youth

You trust all to be mature

To handle love and truth

Now help us Lord to give a place

To every living thing

To know the good that you have made

That every voice may sing

A friend just shared that poem and my response was:

Oh My God I love this poem!!! It resonates so deeply with my belief that we are all Good. Enough. Just as we are. Who tells a burbling brook or a crashing ocean wave or a dancing leaf to be "better", "faster", "straighter", "more than..." than the amazing creation it already is? If only we could learn to accept each other in the same way.  "And everything that you have made was good in your sight Lord." What if, instead of insisting on the dominant culture's paradigm of continuous improvement, constantly seeking to excel and striving for perfection, we decided to fully embrace and celebrate ourselves and each other just as God made us? How subversive and wonderful that would be. That is my prayer for today and always :)

Let me add that I DO still believe we need to grow and change in order to thrive as we move through this journey of life. It's just that I think we expand and become our true amazing selves through positive reinforcement and affirmation, rather than through seeing ourselves as "not quite there yet", always feeling slightly short of the mark. Our creativity explodes exponentially when we feel loved and accepted for who we are. When we celebrate our gifts, when we share them for the sheer joy of being in relationship, and bring all that we are to the circle...that's where the growth and transformation is possible. Be free from the burden getting it "right" and from thinking that we must be ALL things for ALL people ALL the time (which, of course, isn't even within the realm of possibility for anyone!) Let go of thinking in terms of being "better" than who we are, and fully live into being the amazing people we already are.

I'm not always great at this myself...but I keep trying!

Happy Thanksgiving!

So much to be thankful for...far too many things to list.

And I confess, the true purpose of this post has nothing to do with Thanksgiving Day, it is just to get the photo of sideways Anne's head off the top of my blog!

I picked a random photo from my folders...here's the story:

A couple months ago, Dave and I celebrated our 26th anniversary by going out for supper (to the local tavern...ooo, fancy!) I had a draught beer with my liver and onions (yes, I actually LIKE liver and onions).

The foam in my glass of my 26th anniversary beer formed into a heart. How amazing is that?!

Happy ME Day!!

Celebrating me in 2011

♫ ♪ ♫ 
Happy 18th Anniversary of the 29th Anniversary of the Day of My Birth to me,

♫ ♪ ♫ 

Celebrating me in 2012

♫ ♪ ♫ 
Happy 19th Anniversary of the 29th Anniversary of the Day of My Birth, to me,

♫ ♪ ♫ 

♫ ♪ ♫ 

Happy 20th Anniversary of the 29th Anniversary of the Day of My Birth, dear Me-eee...

Happy 20th Anniversary of the 29th Anniversary of the Day of My Birth to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

♫ ♪ ♫ 

I wonder how I will celebrate me in 2013?? :)

Our next great adventure: France and beyond!!

The time draws near for our trip. This time Mom and I are spending almost three weeks in France, plus a couple days in London and ending with five nights in Barcelona. So exciting!!

We'll be flying direct from Halifax to London, and spending our first three nights at the Arosfa Hotel. Not enough time to do more than get a taste of London, but the things we have on our wish list include: St. Cyprian's (described as "the most joyful church interior in London"), Westminster Abbey, The British Museum, and The National Gallery. We have tickets to Les Miserables, so that is a definite - woot! We plan to end our London leg by going to the choral matins at St. Paul's on Sunday morning, before catching the Eurostar to Paris. (I'm a tad anxious at the thought of being on a train travelling under the Channel, but I'm sure I'll be fine...I just won't focus on the fact that I'm in an underground tunnel with tons and tons of water bearing down on me! lol)

The Word

Ash Wednesday prayer

I wrote the following prayer for the Ash Wednesday service at the church where I am doing my supervised field education. I incorporated a hymn called "Don't Be Afraid" from the hymnal More Voices, which I sang a capella. The Spirit moved in our midst as we prayed...

Compassionate God, lover of us all,

From scattered lives, we come to be reconnected…

            With bruised or broken hearts, we come to be healed…

Feeling isolated and alone, we come to be loved…

We long to be reawakened to the melody of your presence that sings through our lives…

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger; my love is stronger than your fear.

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger and I have promised, promised to be always near.

In our times of distress, when the pressures of life overwhelm us

We sometimes worry others will not understand…and we become afraid to share our burdens for fear of judgement…

When we feel disconnected from our shared human experience…

When we no longer look into the faces of loved one’s to see our own beauty mirrored there…

We can lose sight of how wonderful we are as embodied expressions of your divine love,

We are numb to your Spirit moving in us and in the spaces between us. Our relationships begin to unravel…

O God, draw us back into community when we wander too far alone in the wilderness of life…

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger; my love is stronger than your fear.

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger and I have promised, promised to be always near.

In the shadows of a lingering winter…

When cold temperatures and slippery roads often mean we are housebound and cut off from the incredible glory of the earth that sustains and shapes our being…

Our relationship with Creation can become weakened and distorted…

Life-giving God, breather of life and energy into every particle of the cosmos…knit us back together, as one body, on Spirit, one strand in the great cosmic web of the universe…

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger; my love is stronger than your fear.

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger and I have promised, promised to be always near.

God, your healing touch renews our souls…

You enliven our life, our being, our relationships with one another…

Thankful for your eternal presence binding us together,

we tenderly offer the silent prayers of our hearts...

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger; my love is stronger than your fear.

Don’t be afraid. My love is stronger and I have promised, promised to be always near.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

PS - You might find tumbleweeds rolling through my sorely neglected blog during the early part of 2013, but…stay tuned for travel stories and photos in April and May, as my Mom and I head off on a month long exploration of London, Paris, Provence and Barcelona!!

A Time to Act...A Time to Lament

As the news unfolded yesterday about the elementary school shootings in Connecticut, my heart was swollen with grief...how can this happen? Expressions of shock and pain rolled across the pages of my facebook newsfeed...every media outlet carried the story...it was inescapable. As it should have been...inescapable. Change doesn't come in those moments when we are able to turn a blind eye. Maybe this horrific event will be a catalyst for change.

One friend posted this: "I'm sorry, people, but posting on FB about how sad we are, raging at the "machine" and having some breakfast, will not make the children any safer. It's time for action. Anyone up for it????"

I pray people answer the growing call to action. Positive, fruitful action, that is. I am starting to see a lot of polarization around tangents and side issues that serve only to deflect our attention and prevent real change from happening.

But as important as it is to bring about change in the coming weeks, months, years...we also must be mindful of our very human need to grieve. Time to come together in community and lament. To weep in the darkness, waiting for the light to shine again in our hearts.

I read the Book of Lamentations yesterday and my eyes kept stopping at verse 16:

For these things I weep;
   my eyes flow with tears;
for a comforter is far from me,
   one to revive my courage;
my children are desolate,
   for the enemy has prevailed. 

I thought, yes, sometimes that is how we feel. Discouraged, desolate...as if the enemy has prevailed. Almost. But not quite. I also recalled the words of the Psalmist. Psalm 147, which President Obama quoted: "God heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds." And Psalm 23, that source of great comfort in our times of grief: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me." 

And I saw my facebook newsfeed fill with an outpouring of prayers for all those affected, even from those who are normally (and often vehemently) non-religious. We wrap each other in the arms of comfort, setting aside our differences. And in the face of such love, the enemy cannot prevail. Now I pray that the anger and pain in our hearts gives way to justice seeking, and not vengeance or apathy.

"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." (John 1:5)

Grateful for Living Waters

I'm sitting here feeling so incredibly grateful for the amazingly beautiful and wondrous world that surrounds me...for the loves of my life...for the path I am walking (leaping, crawling) toward ordered ministry...for the movement of the Spirit and the mystery of life. The following words by David Steindl-Rast, shared in a video by Louie Schwartzberg called Gratitude, really resonate in my soul.

“It's not 'just another day', it's the one day that was given to you today. It's given to you...it's a gift. It's the only day that you have right now, and the only appropriate response is gratefulness.”

“If you do nothing else but to cultivate that response to the great gift that this unique day is…if you learn to respond as if it were the first day in your life and the very last day, then you will have spent this day very well.”

“And on this day all the people you meet, all that life from generations and from so many places all over the world flows together and meets you here, like a life-giving water if you only open your heart and drink.”

“And so I wish you will open your heart to all these blessings and let them flow through you...that everyone you will meet on this day will be blessed by you...just by your eyes, by your smile, by your touch...just by your presence.”

“Let the gratefulness overflow into blessing all around you. Then it will really be a good day.”

Amen, brother. Amen.

Saturday Photohunt: Seasonal

It's been a long while since I've posted an entry...but I was meandering around my yard the other day taking pictures in the rain and thought I would share a glimpse of what the season looks like in Nova Scotia right now...what a blessing to be surrounded by such beauty!

Check out Sandi's Photohunt page to enjoy more seasonal offerings!

Saturday Photohunt: Oooooo

I say "Oooooo" when I stumble upon quirky corners of the world...like this street in Citta' della Pieve, Umbria:

Vicolo Baciadonne, which is Italian for (I believe) Kiss the Woman Street. I have heard a couple explanations for this name:

• It is so narrow a person can lean out a window on one side and kiss a woman in the window on the opposite side.
• It is so narrow two people have to kiss in order to squeeze past each other.

Either way, it was fun wandering through, if a shade disconcerting because you cannot see the other end when you start, and the street is longer than you'd think! Plus when you turn the corner, it seems to get reaaaaaaally narrow and you wonder if you are going to fit! Sadly, I did not meet George Clooney coming through from the other side...

Check out more "Oooooo"-y posts at Sandi's Saturday Photohunt !!

ABC Wednesday: Z is for...

Zattere

From A View on Cities: "The Zattere was built in 1519 and first used as a landing dock for the delivery of timber used to construct ships and buildings, which gave the quay the name Zattere, Italian for raft.
The timber gone, the Zattere today is a spacious promenade that runs along the entire southern shore of Venice's Dorsoduro District, from the Marittima and San Basilio all the way to the Punta della Dogana."

My mother and I spent two nights in Venice in 2008...it was our first visit to Venice, to Italy, to Europe! We both fell under the spell of La Serenissima. We were there in March, when there were (relatively) few tourists. The mornings and evenings were misty and mysterious...strolling through the hushed calles, it really felt like we'd been cast way back to a distant time past. One afternoon we wandered around the Dorsoduro sestiere and came to the Zattere. The buildings glowed in the sun and we couldn't resist sitting on this bench by Ponte Longo and gaze across to the island of Giudecca. Here is Mom on the Zattere, basking in the wonder of being in Venice...

And that's all for Round 10!

Zip over to ABCW for the last word in Zzzzz...and an update on what Round 11 might bring!

Saturday Photohunt: Zany

Sandy on the Photohunt page posted a pic of a zany display outside a shop in Montepulciano...I can't resist posting my own photo of that very shop! Mine is from last summer, when their theme was yellow shoe planters...



But my own zany choice is a photo of a big painted egg Mom and I stumbled across while wandering around Ferrara. The egg was displayed in the courtyard of the Centro Cinema E Audiovisivi building on via Gaetano Previata. The place was closed that day so we were not able to find out what the egg display was all about, but we found it fascinating and...ZANY!

Here is the egg from a couple of different angles...

Here is a close up of one of the scenes...the detail was amazing!

ABC Wednesday: Y is for...

Yummy in my tummy!!

Like this yum-elicious pizza...

Mom and I had lunch in the funky little Bar Brera after our visit to the amazing Brera Art Gallery in Milan. (No clue who the dude in the pic is...he just happened to be sitting at the table next to us and it was impossible to get a photo of the place without getting him in the shot!)

Yahoo, I've nearly made it through Round 10 (my 1st round) of ABCW!!!

ABC Wednesday: X is for...

Χριστός

The Greek Christos, the annointed...which is a translation of the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ, the Messiah.

I'm taking an intensive course in liberation and post colonial theology, taught by a passionate and brilliant scholar/theologian from Guatamala. The past couple days we've been talking about queer theology, and how the theology expressed in many churches and denominations can be deeply damaging and oppressive for those in the LGBTQ community. Far too often, hate and rejection is preached and practiced by those who name themselves "Christian", instead of living out Jesus' Gospel message of love. Jesus was present with the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized. Jesus did not walk among the wealthy and powerful saying "By jove, you've got it, well done, give yourselves a pat on the back!" No...it was more like "Oh My God people! 'Love God, love each other.' It's so simple, why can't you get it?? Sigh...let me try to get it through your thick heads and hard hearts one more time..."

Granted we humans, including those of us who walk a path with Jesus, are far from perfect! But we must keep trying to love one another, to speak out for those who have no voice, to actively seek justice, to risk standing up for what is right. We have a loooong, long way to go before the light of the risen Christ shines fully in our hearts and in our world. June is, of course, Pride Month and so, as always, I stand in loving solidarity with my LGBTQ brothers and sisters...and I plan to join or at least cheer from the sidelines of Halifax's upcoming Pride parade. In the meantime, I will continue exploring the theology of the Queer Christ...and hoping homophobia will soon be but a distant memory in the dust of our earth...


I have no photos of the risen Christ depicted in art, but here are a couple pics of Jesus, living and crucified.

I encountered this piece of art in the Church of Santa Maria Maddalena in Castiglione del Lago, Umbria (Italy) It is a stone carving of a scene from the Gospel named for Luke (Lk 7:26-50), the woman anointing Jesus' feet with oil.

The Baptism of Christ by Pietro Vannucci, known as Il Perugino in the cathedral in Citta della Pieve, Umbria

Glazed terra cotta crucificion by Andrea della Robbia in the early Christian church (built in 996) Santa Maria Primerana in Fiesole (near Florence, Italy). Della Robbia was a Renaissance sculptor, specializing in ceramics, so obviously his work is a later addition to the church!






X marks the spot over on the ABCW website this week...check it out and see what treasures you uncover on the other participants' blogs!

ABC Wednesday: W is for...

Well...source of potable Water, which is itself source of life. All over Italy one encounters courtyards with a well in the middle...or the equivalent of a village square (piazza, campo, corte) with a communal well. Here are a few I encountered last summer...

 A well in the courtyard of Abbazia di Spineto, a former abbey, now private retreat centre in Southern Tuscany...

A well on the ground of an old home (Casa Romei, I think), now a museum, in Ferrara

Well in a beautiful cloister just off Piazzetta Sant'Anna, Ferrara.

Well in the cloister of what is now Museo della Cattedrale, in Ferrara

A well that appears to have been moved from its original location and used here for decorative purposes. This is beside the castle walls in the little Umbrian town of Parrano.

And finally, a well with a very ornate hook! I came across this in the inner courtyard of the castle in Sarteano, Southern Tuscany.

Enjoy the rest of the Wonderful entries this week on the ABCW website!!