beautiful

"For beautiful eyes,

look for the good in others;

for beautiful lips,

speak only words of kindness;

and for poise,

walk with the knowledge that 

you are never alone."

-Audrey Hepburn 

Life is Art

"I think everything in life is art.

What you do.

How you dress.

The way you love someone,

and how you talk.

Your smile and your personality.

What you believe in,

and all your dreams.

The way you drink your tea.

How you decorate your home or party.

Your grocery list.

The food you make.

How your writing looks.

And the way you feel.

Life is art."

-author unknown

[Also, broiled grapefruit is nice for brunch.]

about coffee...

“Coffee is far more than a beverage. It is an invitation to life, disguised as a cup of warm liquid. It’s a trumpet wake-up call or a gentle rousing hand on your shoulder…Coffee is an experience, an offer, a rite of passage, a good excuse to get together.”

-Nicole Johnson, Fresh Brewed Life

Strength of Character

“It requires great strength of character for a woman to be gentle in an age that screams for her to do otherwise.” -unknown

(Thanks to my friend Shaunda and her little Christopher for being the subjects of this snapshot.)

Morning Inspiration

"Good is stronger than evil.

Love is stronger than hate.

Light is stronger than darkness.

Life is stronger than death.

Victory is ours through Him who loved us."

-a prayer of Desmond Tutu

(I shot this picture at the beautiful convent that witnessed The Taking of Anthony and Jess's wedding pictures on Saturday. I felt like I was in Rivendell.)

I Don't Understand

I don't understand

Why people are prejudiced
Why adults fight
Why people must die
Why we do things we'll soon regret

What I do understand is
Writing is knowledge
Reading is influence
My brain is smart


-written by "Allie" (nickname), age 14

* * * *

This girl's strength, wisdom, and self-respect... after knowing abuse, neglect, and homelessness... amazes and inspires me. She gave me her notebook to read, and I asked her permission to share this one.

My Resignation

At the risk of inciting controversy, I just want to say this aloud:

I'm resigning from culture wars.

I want to put more focus on how well I love than how right I am.

I'm sorry to the point of tears that Christianity too often looks at a person and sees a race, a political affiliation, a sexual orientation, a socioeconomic status, an addiction, a psychological profile, or a convict rather than a person.

I'm sorry that we scorn.

I'm sorry that we feel cleaner and more justified in comparison.

I'm sorry we don't see a person like ourselves: a person with a story. A person who has hurt and been hurt. A person who laughs and cries and bleeds the same color as the rest of us.

I say this, not to be more politically correct or to be more approachable or just a nicer person, but because the minute I take up a picket sign or suddenly loudly support fast food to try to score one in the culture war... I place myself in opposition to people I am called to love. In that position, I appear as though I care more about being right and trying to make everyone else act right than I do about actual people. I'm pretty uncomfortable with that.

Because I have no stones to throw.

When Jesus stands in the center of our circle of opposition and yelling and says that lust makes me just as culpable as immorality and hatred equal to a murderer, all he leaves me is the sound of stones plopping in clouds of dust from my hands to the dirt and a confession:

"Me too."

*****

"So, then, the gist of the Gospel is this:

No man is so high or may rise so high
that he need not fear becoming the lowliest.

Conversely, no one has fallen, or may fall,
so deeply as to preclude all hope of becoming the highest.

By saying: 'The first shall be last'
Christ takes all presumption away from you and forbids you
to exalt yourself above any prostitute,
even though you were Abraham, David, Peter, or Paul.

By saying: 'The last shall be first' He guards you
against all despair and forbids you to cast yourself
under the feet of any saint, even though
you were Pilate, Herod, Sodom and Gomorrah."

-Martin Luther

Bloom

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. 

Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. 

If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, 

not even to an animal. 

Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; 

lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. 

But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. 

It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”

-C.S. Lewis

resurrection love

[from the top of my book case, signs of spring]

"so even as we see the horror of death,

may we be reminded that, in the end,

love wins.

mercy triumphs.

life is more powerful than death.

and even those who have committed great violence

can have the image of God come to life again

within them

as they hear the whisper of love.

may the whisper of love grow louder

than the thunder of violence.

may we love loudly."

-shane claiborne, in Jesus for President

bravery

I was doodling while ruminating a Dorothy Day article on war...

...and thinking how violence is idealized

and called Necessary

in politics

and street life.

Another way, another world

is possible.

I think I feel another Restorative Justice post brewing;

stories I've seen that are worth the telling.

Be brave in your world today.

[save and share my doodle if you want]

my prayer for this morning

[source]

"Sweetest Lord,

make me appreciative of the dignity

of my high vocation,

and its many responsibilities.

Never permit me to disgrace it

by giving way to coldness,

unkindness, or impatience. "

~ Mother Teresa

Wednesday morning meditations

All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.


 Romans 8: 22 - 25 The Message

Derek Webb on judgment

This quote by Derek Webb encapsulates my ponderings and discomfort of the past year. I hope it challenges and motivates you.

"I felt a lot of people around me drawing lines in the sand, and that year I decided: I don't want to draw lines and have to be on one side or the other, but if someone's going to push me to one or the other side of the line, I'm going to stand on the side of those being judged because that's where I feel Jesus meets people."

-Derek Webb

Day 7

"We can do no great things; only small things with great love." -Mother Teresa






This jazz band was playing on the sidewalk in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Playing their hearts out, for free, so people could dance down the sidewalk. 

Day 6

Earth's crammed with heaven


And every common bush afire with God;


And only he who sees takes off his shoes--


The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.


-Elizabeth Barrett Browning












Photo taken on Sam & Mattie's farm... several springs ago.

Day 5

"Behold my servant,
whom I uphold, my chosen,
in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him,
he will bring forth justice to the nations.
He will not cry or lift up his voice,
or make it heard in the street;
a bruised reed will he not break,
and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;
he will faithfully bring forth justice.
He will not fail or be discouraged
till he has established justice
in the earth;
and the coastlands wait for his law."

Isaiah 42:1-4


This passage... and the season of Christmas... has become warmer and more precious since I've begun to understand what God's justice is: quiet instead of forceful, patient instead of judicial, healing instead of destroying.

It's getting colder, naked tree branches fringe the sky, Christmas music is constantly playing in our house, and Market House has evergreens and bows on their windows... I wonder if our expectant waiting and preparation for Christmas is anything like the excitement and patience of the people who waited for the birth of our Savior.

Day 4

A Franciscan Benediction

May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts.

May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world, so that we can do what others claim cannot be done.

Amen.

Day 3

Hard times can eat away at a person's identity. The things and people dearest to you shape you, and when you lose them, you start to wonder who you are. It's a good thing, a purification. But it also feels as though you just lost your anchor.

A few years ago, when I had "lost an anchor", I got this text from a friend who knew what was going on:

"You are God's treasured possession."

Something about the image those words invoke still changes me... and tells me who I am.

Anna, thanks for giving me today's "sticky words".

Day 2

The prayer of St. Francis of Assisi 

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

Sticky words week

Some poems and passages stick to the sides of your soul like good, whole-wheat bread "sticks to your ribs". Months and even years after you first read them, they roll about in your brain and make their way down into your heart.

This week, I plan to introduce to you some of my favorite "sticky" pieces. One every day.

Martin Luther starts us off:

"No man is so high or may rise so high

that he need not fear becoming the lowliest.

Conversely, no one has fallen, or may fall,

so deeply as to preclude all hope of becoming the highest.

By saying: 'The first shall be last'

Christ takes all presumption away from you and forbids you

to exalt yourself above any prostitute,

even though you were Abraham, David, Peter, or Paul.

But by saying: 'The last shall be first' He guards you

against all despair and forbids you to cast yourself 

under the feet of any saint, even though

you were Pilate, Heord, Sodom and Gomorrah."