THE PRACTICE OF ENCOUNTERING OTHERS

Thursday, April 15, 2010

(I love these wise words from Barbara Brown Taylor)

The next time you go to the grocery store, try engaging the cashier. You do not have to invite her home for lunch or anything, but take a look at her face while she is trying to find "arugula" on her laminated list of produce.

Here is someone who exists even when she is not ringing up your groceries, as hard as that may be for you to imagine. She is someone's daughter, maybe someone's mother as well. She has a home she returns to when she hangs up her apron here, a kitchen that smells of last night's supper, a bed where she occasionally lies awake at night wresting with her own demons and angels. Do not go too far with this or your risk turning her into a character in your own novel, which is a large part of her problem already. It is enough for you to acknowledge her when she hands you your change.

"You saved eleven dollars and six cents by shopping at Winn Dixie today," she says, looking right at you. All that is required of you is to look back. Just meet her eyes for a moment when you say, "Thanks." Sometimes that is all another person needs to know that she has been seen--not the cashier but the person--but even if she does not seem to notice, the encounter has occurred. You noticed, and because you did, neither of you will ever be quite the same.

BROWSING THROUGH SOME BOOKS

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Most of the books I receive I am given in return for an honest review. But some of the books come to me free with no requirements. I am free to tell you about them but cannot quote from them because they are advance reader's copies and are uncorrected and not for sale. Here are a few I would like to tell you about:

KEEPER by Kathi Appelt
Kathi Appelt follows up her Newberry Honor Book bestseller,The Underneath with a tale that will pull right at your very core. Ten year old Keeper knows who can make things right: Meggie Marie, her mermaid mother who swam away when Keeper was just three. A blue moon calls the mermaids to gather at the sandbar, and that's exactly where Keeper is headed--in a small boat, in the middle of the night, with only her dog BD (Best Dog), and a seagull named Captain. When the riptide pulls at the boat tugging her away from the shore and deep into the rough waters of the Gulf of Mexico, panic sets in, and the fairy tales that lured her out there go tumbling into the waves. Maybe the blue moon isn't magic and maybe the sandbar won't sparkle with mermaids and maybe--Oh, no..."Maybe" is just too difficult to bear.

I'LL MATURE WHEN I'M DEAD by Dave Barry
The New York Times calls Dave Barry "The funniest man in America." I'm not sure that is true, but he is funny and this is a funny book. As with most comedians, Dave uses some words that are not a part of my daily vocabulary. In spite of that, I find his stories hilarious. Of the eighteen stories I laughed the most at: The Elephant and the Dandelion (A Defense of Men), If You Will Just Shut Up, I Can Explain: A Man Answers Questions from Women, Dance Recital, and Colonoscopy. If you tend to the prudish side--don't buy this book. Don't forget. I warned you! But if you need some laughter in your life, run out and get this one.

THE LOST SUMMER of LOUISA MAY ALCOTT a novel by Kelly O' Connor McNees
Readers across generations have laughed and cried with the March sisters of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel Little Women. And there has never been a more beloved heroine in the history of American letters than Jo March, Louisa's alter ego and an iconic figure of independent spirit and big dreams. But as Louisa knew all too well, big dreams often come at a cost. In her debut novel, Kelly O'Connor McNees deftly mixes fact and fiction as she imagines a summer lost to history, carefully purged from Louisa's letters and journals, a summer that would change the course of Louisa's writing career--and inspire the story of love and heartbreak between Jo and Laurie, Jo's kindred spirit.

I agree with author Terry Gamble who said, "A superb, thoughtful and deliciously paced book that will hook lovers of history and Alcott alike.I enjoyed it tremendously."

THE PRACTICE OF FEELING PAIN

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

I have long been convinced that pain brings out the best in people along with the worst.

In years of counseling,the one topic I discussed with people of all ages, was pain.

Barbara Brown Taylor said, "Pain makes theologians of us all."

Those words have stuck with me. I can't get them out of my head.

"PAIN MAKES THEOLOGIANS OF US ALL."

I could go on to tell you what she says about pain and why she thinks it makes theologians of us all.
But I'm not going to. If I did you would just think about it for a while. You would either agree with it or the debate would begin. Her words would give you something to debate.

This way you have only yourself to reason with and that's what I want you to do.

Pain is nonnegotiable. You can try to avoid it. You can deny it. You can numb it and fight it. Or you can engage it and give it your full attention.

Where is God in all of this?

Any ideas?

PRAY FOR OUR NATION

Monday, April 12, 2010

Please listen to the following message and encourage your friends to listen also. I don't usually ask people to do this. Most of the time I feel like intelligent people will do what they feel in their heart they want to do and do what is right without being told or that they just don't care. So either way, I don't ask them to forward messages or copy messages. I just put it out there and let them do what they want. But this time I feel so strongly about this message that I am asking, please help get the message out that we need to pray for our nation. PLEASE!

Pray for our nation

www.greatdanepro.com

THE PRACTICE OF WAKING UP TO GOD

Saturday, April 10, 2010

I do some picking and choosing when I go to my holy book for proof that the world is holy too, but the evidence is there. People encounter God under shady oak trees, on riverbanks, at the tops of mountains, and in long stretches of barren wilderness. God shows up in whirlwinds, starry skies burning bushes, and perfect strangers. When people want to know more about God, the son of God tells them to pay attention to the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, to women kneading bread and workers lining up for their pay.

This is wonderful news. I do not have to choose between the Sermon on the Mount and the magnolia trees.

(The above words are not mine. I wish they were but they are not. They are the words of Barbara Brown Taylor from her book, An Altar in the World)

WALKING/DANCING MY WAY AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD

Friday, April 09, 2010

Exercise has never been "my thing."

Some people love it. They step out with purpose. Their eyes sparkle. They whistle as they walk.

Not me! No stepping out with purpose, no sparkle--definitely no whistling. I barely breath.

Until one day, "out of the blue," I started singing along with Kenny Rogers and Dottie West.


"Your back in my arms back where you belong, the love that I knew, is living again and nothing else matters girl, we're together again...... "

I smiled, stepped out with purpose, and even did a little dance step.

But then "out of the blue" in my minds eye I saw an image of Buzz Aldrin on Dancing With The Stars.

I knocked off the dancing immediately. But I hummed along with Kenny and Dottie all the way home.

I'm sitting here this morning half awake trying to get up enough moxie to get ready for Tai Chi class.

Hey, I wonder if my instructor would let me listen to Kenny and Dottie? I wear earphones.

Nah, we exercise in front of a big mirror. Not even Kenny and Dottie can overcome that sight!