dog blanket

lovely dog lap blanket

warm, soft, breathing

one part black

one part ginger

two living parts

a whole

in the quiet

we breathe as one

in the stillness

souls ooze together

in the peace

love finds a home

lap blanket of lovely dogs

god incarnate

lounging

Friday day off again
Two Fridays in a row
exhilarating

Joined by partner
playing an enforced hooky
TDSB lays on 5 unpaid days off
to meet budget needs

Here we are
lounging at our fave coffee shop
home made scones
beverage of choice
book and laptop bliss

nowhere to go
nothing to do
open space
delicious time
companionable company

no words needed
gentle smiles shared
grace

pancakes and people

Shrove Tuesday 

pancake day

sausages cooked

pancakes warming

coffee on

an empty room 

waiting

will anyone come?

familiar faces

come through the door

cheery "hellos"

neighbours

"just dropping by"

total strangers

"saw the lights on"

families get a break from . . .

what shall I make for supper

what will they all eat

prepare, clean up, collapse

connecting with people

who came long ago

who came last Sunday

who have yet to come

laughter lifting winter blues

syrup sweetening spirits frayed
god weaving in and out
community

lent again

every year 
the same seasons
spring
summer
fall
winter

every year
the same seasons
epiphany
lent
holy week
easter
pentecost
advent
christmas

every year
another opportunity
to explore
another invitation
to find love and joy

every year
a renewal
of life in god

aaah, it's friday

Friday
my day off

sometimes

This Friday
I don't need to go anywhere
do anything
aaah

Friday
trawling Facebook
surfing interesting sites
following link after link
bliss

Friday
two little dogs curled up
beside me
under their favorite blanket
exuding warm doggie smell
blessing

Friday
doodling with paints
embellishing with inks
listening to what the paper says
imagining where the line wants to go
benediction

Friday
breathing in
breathing out

aaah

preacher going spare

"We've got a preacher going spare.
Are you interested?"

(I have an internal giggle.
"Going spare," as a British idiom
means getting really angry.)

A guest speaker at a Saturday event
waiting around for a flight 
willing to preach at the 'drop of a hat.'
(Love to know where that idiom comes from.)

A preacher dropped in my lap.
My preaching plans dropped:
preparing, praying, reading, reflecting, connecting, ruminating, revealing, writing, editing, surfing, life-giving, satisfying, fun.

A preacher going spare
far from home
hanging around
time-heavy
community-seeking
angel-unawares-stranger.

Where better than Beach United
to greet and welcome
to embrace and uplift--

--a spare preacher's haven.

(More internal giggles--WWJD--what would Jesus do?
Does radical inclusivity include space preachers?
"Move over Jesus! Thaddeus is in town.")

Spare preacher opportunities don't come along every day.
Opportunities to hear a different voice,
to practice graciousness,
to let go of plans,
and make room for god.

godly whispering

With little response to my previous blogs
I lost energy for daily posts

Good New Year intentions
to write gratitude pieces
crumbled

A chance comment
"I liked your blog"
restored me

Godly whispering
offering encouragement
putting pieces together

Wholeness through community

perspective

Scientist Sal Khan views the place of earth 
within our galaxy, with our cosmos 
and billions of light years beyond HERE

Comedian Tim Minchin views life as meaningless HERE
not the meaninglessness of cynicism
but questions the arrogance of human's seeking meaning
in an ego self-importance

In both I hear the voice of God
one puts my life in cosmic perspective
the other offers me ego perspective

I'm neither as large as the cosmos
or as important as my ego demands

it's enough to simply be
to enjoy the delight of this immediate moment
and this one
and this one . . .

and now my task is to live that

creativity

People crave creativity

What is it?

Simply . . . creating something

Where do we see it?

Usually not in ourselves

Usually in others

So if I'm looking at others

and others are looking at me

then we are all creative

Does creativity need to be extraordinary

or is the ordinary extra ordinary

when it's not something that I do

I don't like to bake

I don't bake

Others bake

and I love their creativity

I eat it up!

What is simple for me

is creativity for another

Can I name my own creativity?

Can I crack open that nut

and find sweet meat on the inside

delicious and nourishing?

I will live into that question . . .

being present

The past, the present, and the future
walked into a bar . . .
it was tense

A friend shared this joke
which cracked me up
little grammar nerd that I am

It also got me thinking . . .
(Oh oh! There's a cure for that.)

Most tension I experience
is carrying experiences from my past
as a framework for experiencing the present
as I worry about all possibilities of future experiences

Most tension I experience in others
is from the same intersection of experiences

I've learned
and I'm learning
and I will probably learn again
that the more I'm in the present
the less tension I experience

I simply experience the experience

If I can blow away the past 
like milkweed seeds in the wind

If I can look to the future
as simply anticipation of a new present moment

I will be more calm in each moment.

The present walked into a bar
it was a gift







Photo by Alicia Bock

gratitude: day 4

Gratitude day 4

I've done my son, my dog, and being up in the night

I search around in my mind

For what am I grateful?

like my students

who use up their 3 favorite scriptures

in reflections

then actually have to learn something

I can search around

make a list

my chair, my house, my job, my . . .

365 days of items

Is this exercise more 
than simply compiling a list of things?

perhaps a state of mind

When I wake up

my mind turns to writing a gratefulness post

my heart is expecting to be grateful

and I am

small packages

Chloe is a Chihuahua
a "rescue" dog

No she did not rescue me
I rescued her
given up as a 9-month old pup
6lbs when she should be 10
patchy fur
skin sores

With food and love
she's full weight
glossy coat
flawless skin

She hops up onto Brian's lap
and burrows inside his fluffy bathrobe
enjoying heart-to-heart love and warmth

And I lied earlier
She did rescue me

whatever my day
she welcomes me

everything I do
fascinates her

all that rustles
must be a treat

wherever I am
she must be

her curiosity and delight
with the world
is contagious

we rescued and captured
each other's heart

Chloe . . . gratefulness embodied

sleepless in toronto

3:46am says the bright digital numbers in the dark
"ding-a-ling-a-ling" says the brain
get up in the dark and reduce-the-heat cold
creep past the sleeping dogs
down the creaking stairs
a few cashew nuts to assuage the stomach gurgles
an ounce of sipping rum to leaden the sleepless eyelids
curled up under a blanket 
in the light of my laptop
bliss

For this I am grateful

365 days of gratitude

Looked at a post today
take 365 photos a day for 2014
as a way to name 365 moments of gratitude

Interesting concept

It's not that I am not grateful
I am

But a discipline of naming gratefulness?
every day??

Do I want to challenge myself
with daily gratitude?

Sure . . . why not

And today is DAY ONE
January first
Let me get going . . .

New Year's brunch at the King Eddy
Mom, Brian, Stephanie

and Matthew
my child
my baby
my joy
my delight
my inspiration.

There . . . my first one done.
That was not so bad.
Actually that was wonderful

My heart is so full
full and overflowing.