Fruitfulness

I went to the Allen Street Farmers' Market Wednesday afternoon. I think about going every week, but somehow 2:30 Wednesday comes and goes and I don't get there. It is a friendly place, with folk music playing, a variety of vendors, often with children helping, selling their goods. The color, the smells, the laughter, and variety of freshly grown food, is appealing to every sense. I spent a few dollars and am enjoying a lovely autumn banquet of cut flowers, fresh carrots, green beans, tomatoes, parsley, green onions, peaches, plus potatoes from a friend's garden. I devoured that very day a large sweet potato muffin filled liberally with raisins and walnuts. Mmmm, good!

This was in preparation, in part, for the arrival of my sister today. We'll spend the weekend together and being farm girls originally, we'll enjoy all these good fruits and vegetables as we reminisce over the abundance with which we grew up.

We're also going to visit another part of the state where we will pay homage at the grave of our beloved maternal grandmother, visit the village in which she raised our mother and four other children in a tiny little house, and find her father's grave in a nearby town. He is the only great-grandparent we know much about and was a Civil War hero.

The earth is fruitful; our ancestors were fruitful. And it all points toward our being fruitful, as well, in whatever ways God has gifted us. We owe it to share those gifts liberally with the earth, with our selves and other people, with and through our magnificent Creator.

May you show forth fruit in your life today and every day!

Bee stings

I'm naive enough to believe that if you don't bother bees they won't bother you. And besides, I haven't been stung more than a few times in my whole life--until now. How about THREE in less than two weeks?!

I've been aware that bees are living in and around a bag of yard waste in the carport. I've not bothered them; they've not bothered me. And though I'd been warned, I continued to believe we were friends. Then one evening as Tessa and I returned from a walk, one got caught in my sandal strap and OUCH--top of foot hurts like heck. Used ice, anti-itch ointment, etc.

Just about the time that one was going away, I'm sitting perfectly innocently in the courtyard of Soup to Nutz Bistro when another bee liked the looks of my thigh through those lovely white slacks. Zzzttt! Again I was hurting and this one caused a bruise and LOTS of rash and itching. That was Wednesday. It still isn't healed completely.

Yesterday I foolishly turned on the outside water faucet right where they were gathered and another one got me--at the base of a thumb. I think this one hurts the most and today is swollen and itchy, driving me crazy in spite of anti-itch cream. So much for my benign theory about bees. I know they are crucial to the eco-system, but after the third sting I went for the Raid. Not that it really did them all in, but I felt better, anyway. I mean, gee whiz, The Secret Life of Bees is one of my favorite books.

So on the basis of a night of often interrupted sleep due to severe itching, I chose to stay home from church today. I'm sorry, God, but I trust You understand. Life is full of bee stings and I'm just grateful I don't violently react to most of them. May your days be mostly sting-free!

How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place: Searching for a Spiritual Home

This is the title of the October 12-17 retreat I will be leading at Ghost Ranch in northwest New Mexico. I have had the pleasure and privilege of going to Ghost Ranch almost yearly since 2002, finding renewal and growth in the mystery of the high desert, the limitless sky, the quiet yet so alive earth, and the amazingly diverse and interesting people I meet there. I've offered what I could and it has been well received.

Never in my wildest imaginings, however, did I expect a book publisher to notice. But notice she has and I am engaged in serious plans towards a formal proposal to her company. This opportunity is not something I sought, but not something I can walk away from either. I'm won't go into more detail here, but I have good reason to believe this is an upstanding and successful company.

So much of our society is "homeless". Too many are literally so; but millions more are homeless in the depths of their beings. And that's what I'll try to write about. How and where do we find and effectively dwell in our homes--our inner home, the deepest most mysterious part of ourselves; our outer relational homes and communities? How do we dwell in and with God? How do we dwell in and with the Earth and all its inhabitants? This is what I will be pondering as I move forward with this project. It may never be published, but I can't not try. I feel God nudging gently and encouragingly. I am afraid; I am thrilled; and I am willing to take on the challenge. No matter how it ultimately turns out, today I am grateful for what I am learning, for the challenge this presents, and for the loving support of many friends. I feel more alive than I have since before my husband died. May it all be blessing!

A good send off

Yesterday I participated in a beautiful memorial service. We "sent off" a fine man who died before he was 70, after many years of fending off leukemia. He was a trumpet man and so we had a brass quintet in his honor. At the end of the service, which contained a variety of wonderful music, the quintet played a "subdued" Dixieland version of "Amazing Grace". I want that at my farewell party! It was so tender, so hopeful, so celebrative. Just what our trumpet man would have loved!

And my "son" friend came home from the West to play the organ with verve and love! That not only nourished the widow, it nourished my spirit as well. He and I have been through a lot of stuff together and I'm grateful we could share such a special sacred time.

Finally, I'm so grateful that my parish church and its staff and people are open and accepting, gladly offering this beautiful space for someone who "isn't a member." We believe in the Bible verse: "God's house shall be a house of prayer for all people."
There are those who have left this particular house of God because of narrow and exclusive reasons. I stand proud that we stayed and can see blessing after blessing, no matter how hard it sometimes is. Thank you, God, and thank you, St. Paul's.