A Life Profound

Shadow comforts have become my way of life.  There is so much good for me right now but it is not the best.  In fact, it is actually keeping me from creating, from living, from experiencing.

I could make of list of new discoveries but today I am suspecting that adding more on top of an unprocessed pile is doing nothing more than making a tower too tall, too heavy for me to handle.  Eventually it all comes crashing down and I spend energy stacking back up and still, adding more.

In some ways, this is the life of being a scanner.  I am grateful for Barbara Sher giving me permission and validation to be who I am … someone who has a lot of interests, who learns a little and moves on.  But, being the scanner that I am, I think I moved on from Barbara’s book, Refuse to Choose before I learned how to live my life productively.

Today is just another day of chaos, it seems.  I don’t like it and I am ready to be out of it.  I have been re-visiting that Philippians series from Mars Hill and Rob Bell made a statement that during creation God brought order to chaos.  Is that creative power avaliable to me?  I need order!  Oh how I wish God were the magical wizard who would wave a wand and instantly the chaos would be gone, the order would fall into place.  Somehow, I believe this is going to require something of me.  Writing about it certainly is not going to be enough; just another of my shadow comforts sometimes.

Now the computer must be turned off, no more checking blogs, catching up on news or looking for artistic inspiration for today.  I am off to make a to-do list.

Until tomorrow . . .

That is usually at the end of my post but today I am bringing up to the top.    It is not merely words that I use to close  my posts or emails, not just words that I say when leave someone, not just a thought I try to keep foremost in my mind.  It is a spiritual discipline that I am practicing.  I didn’t even recognize it as such until recently though I had become intentional about using the phrase.  Yet, lately, I have begun to see how it is changing who I am and that is the purpose of spiritual discipline, of spiritual formation.

It all started last year when I began to listen to the teaching series from Mars Hill Michigan.  Rob Bell started off the year long journey through Philippians, my favorite letter in the Bible, by highlighting this simple phrase which was used over and over in the epistles and asking what would it be like if we became channels of grace and peace.

I made a commitment to speak grace and peace into the world and the phrase became attached to all my interactions. In all sincerity, it is my prayer, my blessing, and my benediction of the only thing I may have to offer.  Too many times, I am at a loss for what I could say in comfort or hope yet there is always grace and peace.  Each time I release those words, rather in print or verbally, I am shaken with the power that is within them.  Again, they are not merely words.

It is my wish for each one I encounter to know the incredible grace of God and with grace coming before, peace follows.

Rob Bell shared a definition of grace fromSpiro Zodiakis

“Grace is the absolutely free expression of the love of God

findings its only motive in the beauty and benevolence of God”

Though I understand the free expression of the love of God,  I am still working on the motive.  When I began to turn from a life that had been dictated by fear and controlled by rules, imposed by others and myself, I grabbed onto grace as my life preserver in those churning waters.  I tried to walk in grace in my relationships but there was still a stumbling block … my expectations.  I was still trying to change myself, change others by covering the rod of rules with a velvet covering of grace.  I did not yet understand that grace will only have the motive of the beauty and benevolence of God.  I still don’t but my heart has shifted to wanting to know.

This practice of grace and peace is forming a filter in my mind, in front of myeyes that is teaching me how to go beyond speaking and toward being the manifestation.  It is not a flawless journey; I need the grace for myself.  But my hopes are that the stumbling steps will be corrected by the love of God and the desire I have to show that love.

Old as she was, she still missed her daddy sometimes.
Gloria Naylor

We don’t typically celebrate Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day.  I realized a long time ago that if we can’t express our love for each other everyday then indulging the market for cards, flowers restaurant meals, etc. to appease our guilt would mean nothing.

But today I am thinking of my father, my daddy.  He died in November 2004 but I have felt his absence more clearly this year than ever before.  We had no start to speak of.  My parents divorced by the time I was two and evidently things happened that complicated life to the point that I didn’t see him, he didn’t see me.  Though we lived minutes apart, I only remember a few visits to his house, one last one at Easter when I was seven and no more until my senior year in high school.  Even then, I initiated our reunion and subsequent visits.  That was our start … two people who were strangers who shouldn’t have been.  A history based on no history.

It was difficult to develop a relationship but I persevered and so did he.  I moved away when I married Chris, making our progress challenging but he visited me in Memphis.  Once we moved back to Greenville, Christmas celebrations became very important to him.  The relationship was still not smooth and I thought the final chance had passed when he retired to Surfside Beach.  Little did I know then that would be the beginning of the best years.

In 1997, I spent four days with my Daddy.  The longest I had been with him under one roof in my memory.  I was so nervous abou that trip.  But we had all the kids … seven at that time, and the eighth due within weeks.  They are a great distraction.  It ended up being the most wonderful visit and the first of many.  As we left, he stood in the driveway, waving and signing “I love you”  with his hand … stayed there until he could no longer see our van driving away.  The first of many traditions that would mark our times together.

A watermelon always sat by the stairs, awaiting our arrival

Sun-warmed pecan twirls passed out at the beach

Coming down the stairs in the early morning, I would see Daddy sitting in his chair.  Most of the time, we would be the first ones awake.  I would sit on the end of the couch nearest him, drinking a cup of coffee.  Just content to be near him.

Little jokes that he told every visit to my kids … they tell them now to each other.  For instance, he would always tease them and tell them that someone had pulled the plug on the ocean, the water was all gone and there could be no beach visit.

He included us in his plans.  We visited their friends, went to their church, volunteered with him.

The first of our papa runs … pizza and  Krispy Kreme donuts.  A lot of our traditions revolved around food … Daddy loved food!

Much of our healing came after a particular Christmas.  He was so adamant that year that we ALL be there and became anxious as people kept stepping out to smoke a cigarette.  It was because he had something to say.  That night, he asked for our forgiveness for not being there when we wre growing up, for the hurt it caused us.  He called each of us up and placed his hands on our heads and prayed a blessing over our lives.  That was the turning point.

I had the privilege of enjoying a beautiful relationship with him for the few years we had left together.  My one regret is that after he was diagnosed with cancer, I didn’t deal with it well.  I didn’t call as much as  I should have or take advantage of seeing him more.  I was in huge denial and just didn’t want to deal with the reality that he would be gone soon and therefore, I missed opportunities.  But I was there when he died.  When we walked into the hospital room, expecting him to be unconscious, he looked over at us and asked question he always asked first, “Did you make good time?”  So funny that he would always figure out how long it took us to get there, congratulating us on making it in good time.  I fed him the last bite of food he would ever take, I read to him and sang to him and was able to hear him say one last time, “Hey honey”.   I was there when we took him home to die and I was by the bed when he took his final breath.

He and I were a testimony to reconciliation, redemption and love and grace.  It’s a beautiful story and I don’t do it justice with these mere words typed through tears.

The day he was diagnose with pancreatic cancer, he called me.  Once again, he had something to say.  He wanted me to know how proud he was of Chris, that Chris is a good man, a wonderful husband and father.  He was just so happy to know that I had this man in my life.

I am too.

So on this day, I think of him as well.

Chris, I looked over at you last night, as you were sleeping and I spoke grateful words.  I am so thankful that you walked into that storeroom twenty-five years ago, that you fell in love with a pregnant woman and became the father to her and the many yet to come.  You have lived out such a wonderful definition of love toward us.  You are patient and kind and selfless.  Thank you for your giving heart, for the experiences that you have given us.  Thank you for being a man that made my Daddy proud.  I love you.

It happened again yesterday.  The question, the only question it seems, that Christians ask other Christians that they haven’t seen in awhile (translated: haven’t seen in their church building in awhile)

So, where are you going now? (translated: what building are you going to now?  I am asking because this is the only way I know to gauge your spiritual life as a Christian and I just don’t know what else to ask you about your life)

Nothing else seems to matter.  No questions about my children, my grandchildren, my husband, our home, my mom.  Those are just surface knowledge.  If someone knew me even beyond five minute conversations, they would know about my art, my passion for authentic learning and for women, for life altering grace.  Yet, even those that may have taken the time to know all that usually default to that one question first.

Initially, I answered honestly.

“We’re not.  We’re not going anywhere”

When I detected the alarm in her eyes, I started reaching for excuses and explanations.

“Well, we do attend ________ sometimes because they have an evening service and since Chris works on Sundays . . . “

“But, the teenagers are stil coming here so sometimes I will be here . . . “

I am frustrated by my relenting to the single question examination, relenting to the point of stretching the reality of my life to fit into some answer she may find acceptable.

Thinking about it while driving kids to camp (in near 100 degree temperature, in my big van with no air condition), I realized that the true answer isn’t that we go nowhere but that we go everywhere!

We go downtown spending hours talking to other seekers about life and God and faith.

We go to Barnes and Noble and continue those conversations, finding ways to understand and love each other.

We go to a retirement home to deliver food and more importantly, checking in on old friends.

We go to a building and shovel insulation and ceiling material, making  a place available for children and believers to meet.

We go to movies with our children, enjoying the chatter that lasts for hours afterward.

We go to my mother’s and direct the remodeling of her home because she can’t and we want her life to be stress-free.

We go to Scouts and Co-op, teaching others what we love.

We go to help friends sew dolls to honor the memory of another’s mother, grandmother, to help ease the grief of her husband.

We go to the museum, to the park, to the library finding God in art, in nature, in literature.

We go to concerts, near and far, nurturing our love of music and finding God again.

We go to art tables and to bird sanctuaries, honoring the passion that we have inside.

The point is that we are never not going.  Even at times, for various reasons, we may go to a church.  But those isolated occasions don’t define us spiritually, those aren’t the culmination of our walk with God.

We are seeking a more holistic journey that doesn’t compartmentalize our spiritual experiences.  One that becomes aware of God in each conversation, in each experience, in each opportunity to share the burden of another.

So what about you … where are you going now?

From Catherine via Sharon

Today I am All About:

Freedom and Grace and Love and Godde

Femininity, Feminism, and the Divine Feminine

Meditating, Awareness and Presence

Community, sacrifice and sharing

Speaking and writing and creating

Bohemian Bedrooms with purple, orange, gold and green

Summer storms and air conditioning

Moving

Coffee, water and Lambic Framboise

Ice cream and watermelon

Breathing, closing my eyes, breathing some more

Waking up

The Moon and the earth that is calling my name

Loving my husband

Creating and re-creating

Finding balance

Thinking about painting, not painting, wanting to paint, needing to paint … rooms and art

Friends and family

Becoming Stronger

Looking Forward with ancient eyes

Wanting more, doing less, simplifying

Answering the knock at the door

Now it’s your turn … What are you all about?

Several things have attached to my heart and are drawing me back to blogging.  Rachelle Mee-Chapman’s Thursday 8 Things Meme is one.  I have been writing responding posts in my head for awhile, yet never taking the time to actually get it all down here.

This week especially called to me:

So, what *8 Songs connect you to the Divine? Songs that aren’t classically “religious” or “church music” but create a harmonic bridge to all things holy. Songs that soothe the soul. Songs that encourage and shore you up. Songs that connect you to something bigger and beyond, or more deeply and truly to the here/now. What songs are just Good Medicine? Do tell…and if you have time link us to online versions and youtube videos, just for fun. Here’s my list of *8 Songs for the Soul.

How could I resist the opportunity to list 8 songs that connect me to the Divine, to the Spirit that lives within me.  But I have driven myself crazy trying to find just the right songs.  It’s too difficult to choose because one song will be perfect for one day yet another for another.  Instead, I think I will just list 8 artists who woo my heart, singing my pain and my joy, exposing my spirit to the world where I must choose to follow to the heights and depths of love and life.

Rosie Thomas

Over the Rhine

Josh Garrels

Ellery

Sister Hazel

The Dirt and the Flood

Jennifer Knapp

Various Soundtracks … Les Miserables, Rent, Across the Universe, Once, etc

and when I am looking for something that would be considered more classically religious, I love the projects from Enter the Worship Circle

Ok, yeah, I know it is more than 8 things.  I am never good at staying between the lines.  I’ll leave you now to explore some music.

It has been a long time since I have sat to write a post for here.  Blogging has been such an important part processing all the things in my life and I have ignored any analysis that has suggested that blogging is now yesteryear, giving way to twitter or other forms of media that I probably don’t know about yet.

However, the things that I would formerly have posted here … a quote, a video, a review … are finding their place on my Facebook page.  I don’t twitter really though I have an account and have twitterfeed set up to post my updates, my new blog posts, my shared googlereader.  But Facebook has been a more convenient place for those short snippets of daily life.

Still, there is something missing when I am not writing.  I am beyond the verge of the next season of my life and I know there is no turning back.  So many wonderful things and people have been filling my days and I want to write about it all.  I must find a way back here, back to writing and putting my life out there to share.

Someone recently asked me why blog?  Though at the time, I had not posted in a long time, I told her, “When I am not blogging, I find that I become creatively constipated.”  Writing it in a journal is not the same … those pages usually just get full of the vomit, the dross that is skimmed off the top.  Writing here is more focused and therapeutic and helps me release my energy so that I can go back and live creatively.

Today, I have put off this priming post so long that it is time to head off to walk through the day that has begun while I have sat stymied in front of the computer screen.  But already, I feel lighter, ready to see the world with more clarity.