Thinking of Norris

Can you see the butterfly on Norris's hat? Isn't that just him? I probably took that during one of our many walks in the woods. We had a habit, especially on Sunday afternoons, of going for long meandering drives in the country and walking in some wild area like the Maple River Wetlands or Legg Park or Burchfield Park. Sometimes we drove all the way to Middleton just to eat in the Middleton Diner. We loved the old-fashioned home-made Mennonite flavor of the place. But true to his nature, we actually went because Norris really liked Mary Lou, the proprieter, whom he met in the process of writing a nice feature about them. They had the article framed and hung in the entrance. Mary Lou claimed their Lansing business greatly increased after it was published. Anyway, Mary Lou had VERY long hair, which she wore in one braid down her back--she probably still does. She was petite and charming and he just really liked her! Some readers know that he tended toward certain types of women: 1) those with long hair 2) those with a sparkling personality and 3) those who worked in restaurants. He tended to "father" many of them, somehow thinking that's the only way they would relate to him. He had a sad perception that he wasn't attractive. I obviously did not agree. And while I was smitten with other men occasionally, he limited himself to what I'll call "the restaurant diversion."

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, we were taking long walks in the woods. Well, you know, Norris loved nature--in all its aspects, human included. He had a great eye for beauty as his magnificent photography proved over and over.

I'm thinking about him today, because this is the day on which he moved on to greater Life. It's been four years. Time seems to have no meaning in terms of this love. It feels like yesterday; it feels like ages ago. I live without him; I live with him. It may seem cliche', but he is a part of me and always will be. Will we meet again? I honestly don't know. I *should* believe we will, but I don't know. What I do believe is that it will be OK, whatever comes after this world, this life, this day. I am joyfully sad; I am sadly joyful. It is a wondrous mystery!

Thank you, Norris. Fly free!

Our Need of Recovery

Hello, dear readers! Since I am preoccupied with writing material for a book proposal, I'm obviously not writing many blog posts just now. Today, though, I want to share a quote by Brian McLaren, which I received from Inward/Outward, a regular emailing from a ministry of the Church of the Savior in Washington, DC.

For many people, economic recovery means getting back to where we were a few months or years ago. That means recovering our consumptive, greedy, unrestrained, undisciplined, irresponsible, and ecologically and socially unsustainable way of life. I'd like to suggest another kind of recovery, drawing from the world of addiction. When an addict gets into recovery, he doesn't want to go back and recover the "high" he had before, or even to recover the conditions he had before he began using drugs and alcohol. Instead, he wants to move forward to a new way of life---a wiser way of life that takes into account his experience of addiction. He realizes that his addiction to drugs was a symptom of other deeper issues and diseases in his life---unresolved pain or anger, the need to anesthetize painful emotions, lack of creativity in finding ways to feel happy and alive, unaddressed relational and spiritual deficits, lack of self-awareness, and so on.

Similarly, I'd like to suggest whenever we hear the word "recovery," we as a nation see it not as a call to get back our old addictive high, but rather as a call to face our corporate and personal addictions...."

I think Brian makes a lot of sense. Our society is an addicted one and the 12 step principles are what can help us, from the individual, outward.

The 12 Steps

• Step 1 - We admitted we were powerless over our addiction - that our lives had become unmanageable
• Step 2 - Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity
• Step 3 - Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God
• Step 4 - Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves
• Step 5 - Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs
• Step 6 - Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character
• Step 7 - Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings
• Step 8 - Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all
• Step 9 - Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others
• Step 10 - Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it
• Step 11 - Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God's will for us and the power to carry that out
• Step 12 - Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs

As Christmas draws near, may you find time and space to visit your heart and welcome God's Presence there!

The Irrational Season

I wrote this last year and am re-posting it, because, well, I like it!

This is the irrational season
When love blooms bright and wild.
Had Mary been filled with reason,
There'd have been no room for the child.

I love this little poem by Madeleine L'Engle, a zany and brilliant woman who wrote copiously and with great joy. I thought of it and her as Advent began. The Cathedral Church of St. John the DIvine in New York was rededicated Sunday, finally restored after a disastrous fire in 2001. Madeleine worked for many years in the library at the Cathedral. As well, my mother-in-law went to missionary school on the grounds of that magnificent church. When I saw it for myself in 2002, I was overwhelmed with its beauty and magnitude. I can only imagine how it looks today, sparkling and open--"a house of prayer to all people"--as it proclaims itself to be. (That's Biblical, by the way.) And as an Episcopalian, I know how wondrous the liturgy Sunday must have been. With all its faults, I do believe the Episcopal/Anglican church's greatest gifts are beautiful liturgy and, usually, inclusiveness.

Madeleine came here to speak years ago, when my daughter was young and a huge fan of her children's fantasies. We had the privilege of escorting her. What a kind and fascinating woman! She delighted in children and encouraged M. to hang on to her imagination and nurture her creativity. I'm grateful for Madeleine L'Engle, God rest her soul. I'm grateful for all people, especially women, who have the courage to put what they have to give out where others can access it. By the way, she was turned down by publishers for years before finally being accepted.

In this "irrational season" put away your doubts, your skepticism, your false humility. Let love bloom bright and wild. Make room for all that wants to be born through you. God asks; let us answer "yes"!!

Look at the beauty; listen to the music; laugh at yourself; love with all your heart; breathe in the Life that keeps your feet on the ground and your soul in flight.

Thanksgivings

Here are a few of mine:

For a mind and body that work pretty well, I give thanks.
For medication which will help my brain chemistry stay in better balance, I give thanks.
For the creative gifts given me by a loving God, I give thanks.
For an intelligent, creative, and compassionate daughter, I give thanks.
For family members, far and near, and for the dear ones who are on the "other side", I give thanks.
For the critters who tolerate spending their lives sharing my home, I give thanks.
For all the children who grace my life, I give thanks.
For all the women and men who love me enough to stay connected and caring, I give thanks.
For the many men and women with whom I've been privileged to share spiritual life, I give thanks.
For the home that protects me, the church that sustains me, the city and state full of beauty and possibility, I give thanks.
For the country that struggles to keep an ideal alive, I give thanks.
For the love I have given and received and for all the love which lies ahead, I give thanks.
For the hope of the future, and legacy of the past, and the joy of the present, I give thanks.

Those are just a few, but they speak of a rich and rewarding life, not without it's sorrows, but also awash in blessing. May you, too, find gratitude no matter what life sends your way.