Slow your breath down- Future of Forestry

First Coming - Madeleine L'Engle

He did not wait till the world was ready,
till men and nations were at peace.
He came when the Heavens were unsteady,
and prisoners cried out for release.

He did not wait for the perfect time.
He came when the need was deep and great.
He dined with sinners in all their grime,
turned water into wine.

He did not wait till hearts were pure.
In joy he came to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
To a world like ours, of anguished shame
he came, and his Light would not go out.

He came to a world which did not mesh,
to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.
In the mystery of the Word made Flesh
the Maker of the stars was born.

We cannot wait till the world is sane
to raise our songs with joyful voice,
for to share our grief, to touch our pain,
He came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!


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art found here

Blessing for Advent

Be praised, O God, for the blessings around us that point to you.
Be praised, O God, for the signs of this holy season that awaken us in wonder.
Praise for the steadfast green of this tree, like your love, enduring all seasons.
Praise for the light that illuminates our darkness, like Christ, who brings light to the world.
Join our voices with those of the trees and all the creation who sing at your coming:
Glory to God in the highest and peace to God's people on earth.
Amen

Human Rights Day

Oh God, all peoples have their origin in you

and it is your will to gather them
as one family in yourself.

Fill the hearts of all people with your love

and the desire to ensure justice

for all their brothers and sisters.

By sharing the good things of the earth,

may we secure justice and equality for every human being,  an end to all division, 

and a human society built on love and peace.

We make this prayer in Jesus’ name. 

Amen

Advent Calendar

He will come like last leaf’s fall.
One night when the November wind
has flayed the trees to bone, and earth
wakes choking on the mould,
the soft shroud’s folding.

He will come like frost.
One morning when the shrinking earth
opens on mist, to find itself
arrested in the net
of alien, sword-set beauty.

He will come like dark.
One evening when the bursting red
December sun draws up the sheet
and penny-masks its eye to yield
the star-snowed fields of sky.

He will come, will come,
will come like crying in the night,
like blood, like breaking,
as the earth writhes to toss him free.
He will come like child.

- Rowan Williams

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art by He Qi can be found here

Once in Royal David's City - Aled Jones and Libera

Advent

Advent Prayer- Creighton Univ.Online Ministries

God of Strength,

I need your courage.

You offer to make firm the knees that are weak.

Only you know how frightened I so often am.

And you do offer me strength.

There is the promise of your Son's coming

and knowing that you will save me.

I can't do this on my own

no matter how often I think I can.

Give me the humility to ask for your help

and open heart to accept

your healing and love in my life.

-----------------------
artwork found here
prayer found here

There Was a Time: An Advent Poem

There Was a Time: An Advent Poem

There was a time when there was no time,
When darkness reigned as king,
When a formless void was all that there was
in the nothingness of eternity,
When it was night.
But over the void and over the night Love watched.
There was a time when time began.
It began when Love spoke.

Time began for light and life, for splendor and grandeur.
Time began for seas and mountains, for flowers and birds.
Time began for the valleys to ring with the songs of life,
and for the wilderness to echo with the wailing of wind
and howling of animals.
And over the earth, Love watched.
 
There was a time when time began to be recorded.
A time when Love breathed and a new creature came to life.
A new creature so special that it was in the image and likeness of Love
Of Love who is God.
And so man was born and the dawn of a new day shone on the world.
And over man, Love watched. 
 
But there came a time when the new day faded.
A time when man who was like God tried to be God.
A time when the creature challenged the creator.
A time when man preferred death to life and darkness to light.
And so the new day settled into twilight.
And over the darkness, Love watched. 
 
There was a time of waiting in the darkness.
A time when man waited in the shadows,
And all creation groaned in sadness.
There was waiting for Love to speak again--for Love to breathe again.
And kings and nations and empires rose and faded in the shadows.
And Love waited and watched. 
 
Finally, there came a time when Love spoke again.
A Word from eternity--a Word
Spoken to a girl who belonged to a people not known by the world
Spoken to a girl who belonged to a family not known by her people
To a girl named Mary.
And all creation waited in hushed silence for the girl's answer.
And Mary spoke her yes.
And Love watched over Mary.

And so there came a time when Love breathed again
When Love breathed new life into Mary's yes.
And a new day dawned for the World
A day when light returned to darkness, when life returned to dispel death
And so a day came when Love became man--a mother bore a child.
And Love watched over Love--a Father watched His Son. 
 
And, lastly, there came a time when you and I became a part of time.
Now is the time that you and I wait.
Now we wait to celebrate what the world waited for.
And as we wait to celebrate what was at one time, we become a part of that time
A time when a new dawn and a new dream and a new creation began for man.
And as a part of time, Love waits and Love watches over us.

Fr. Joseph Breighner

Irish Prayer

I arise this day

with love in my heart,

through the warmth of the sun,

the radiance of the moon,

freedom of the wind,

joy of rushing water,

splendor of fire,

stability of the earth,

serenity of the stars and,

the wisdom of silence.

I embrace this day

through the grace of life to guide me

and the promise of love to inspire me.

art work found here

etsy store for Meredith Bub is here

Psalms readings for today

Psalm 16

   A miktam by David.

 ¹Protect me, O God, because I take refuge in you.
 ²I said to the Lord,
  “You are my Lord. Without you, I have nothing good.”
³Those who lead holy lives on earth
   are the noble ones who fill me with joy.
⁴Those who quickly chase after other gods multiply their sorrows.
   I will not pour out their sacrificial offerings of blood
  or use my lips to speak their names.
 ⁵The Lord is my inheritance and my cup.
   You are the one who determines my destiny.
 ⁶Your boundary lines mark out pleasant places for me.
Indeed, my inheritance is something beautiful.
 ⁷I will praise the Lord, who advises me.
   My conscience warns me at night.
⁸I always keep the Lord in front of me.
   When he is by my side, I cannot be moved.
⁹That is why my heart is glad and my soul rejoices.
 My body rests securely
 ¹⁰because you do not abandon my soul to the grave
     or allow your holy one to decay.
¹¹You make the path of life known to me.
   Complete joy is in your presence.
      Pleasures are by your side forever.

--------------------------
Beautiful artwork found here

The trustful willingness to live without closure

“Come, Lord Jesus” is a leap into the kind of freedom and surrender that is rightly called the virtue of hope. The theological virtue of hope is the patient and trustful willingness to live without closure, without resolution, and still be content and even happy because our Satisfaction is now at another level, and our Source is beyond ourselves.

We are able to trust that the Lord will come again, just as Jesus has come into our past, into our private dilemmas and into our suffering world. Our Christian past then becomes our Christian prologue, and “Come, Lord Jesus” is not a cry of desperation but an assured shout of cosmic hope!

Adapted from Preparing for Christmas with Richard Rohr, p. 5

Love Revealed

This is what Trinity Wall Street says about their 2010 online advent calendar:

Trinity Wall Street’s 2010 Advent Calendar, Love Revealed, takes a look across America at young people who are growing into wisdom, advocating for change, and creating a better world, particularly through partnerships with churches and church programs. Stories this year are drawn from the Episcopal Service Corps, the All Our Children public-school advocacy program, and other innovative church initiatives involving youth and young adults.

I applaud their efforts and happily share their calendar here:

http://www.trinitywallstreet.org/news/features/2010-advent-calendar

Lego Nativity

This is for those who wait - Fireflight

I will wait.

Today is the first day of Advent.

Baggage

Hilarious!
found here

Goat Head Beach, Jenner, CA

Spent the weekend with friends in Jenner. Love the rhythm of the waves there.

Free Fall from Prolifik Films

Free Fall from ProlifikFilms on Vimeo.

Time - Og Mandingo

Never allow anyone to rain on your parade and thus cast a pall of gloom and defeat on the entire day. Remember that no talent, no self-denial, no brains, no character, are required to set up in the fault-finding business. Nothing external can have any power over you unless you permit it.

Your time is too precious to be sacrificed in wasted days combating the menial forces of hate, jealously, and envy. Guard your fragile life carefully. Only God can shape a flower, but any foolish child can pull it to pieces. - Og Mandingo

Quotable Quotes

” So much of what we deal with in day to day life is personal, subjective, emotional, reactionary, hurt, etc. None of this is dealt with in most Preaching, apologetics, exegesis or Eisegesis, eschatology, Soteriology ecclesiastical, etc. So the place where most of us spend our time, in the real world, has very little if anything to do where we are taught, exhorted, and even threatened to stay. We operate in the day to day world but are expected to think in the pseudo other world of the “apologetic” .

So what do we do, we spend much of our time, hand waving about how we dont hurt, we dont need, we understand, we accept, we have dealt with it, etc. When in reality we do hurt, we dont understand, we dont accept, we do need. Others do the same and thus we are accepted, Jesus stands at the door and knocks, wanting to explain, heal, accept, understand, deal with it, and just plain love us. Basically we are broken people who need a savior”

- brian at Phoenix Preacher

MANIFESTO: THE MAD FARMER LIBERATION FRONT by Wendell Berry

Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay.
Want more of everything made.
Be afraid to know you neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery any more.
Your mind will be punched in a card and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something they will call you.
When they want you to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something that won't compute.
Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace the flag.
Hope to live in that free republic for which it stands.
Give you approval to all you cannot understand.
Praise ignorance,
for what man has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium.
Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.

Say that the leaves are harvested when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion--put your ear close,
and hear the faint chattering of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world.
Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable.
Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap for power,
please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head in her lap.
Swear allegiance to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and politicos can predict the motions
of your mind, lose it.
Leave it as a sign to mark the false trail, the way you didn't go.
Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.


Copyright Wendell Berry

Confidence

Greatness emerges when, above all else, people are confident. When we believe—together—that life is good, God is good and humanity is good, we become very safe and salutary people for others. What we seem to suffer from today is a lack of confidence, which would become a calm self confidence. St. Therese of Lisieux wisely said that her entire spirituality was about “confidence and gratitude”!


We can all do exciting and imaginative things when we are confident that we are a part of a story line that is going somewhere and is connected to something good. Without this, it is very hard to be either confident or grateful.

- Richard Rohr, Hope Against Darkness

Green Beans

Conversion to the religious Mindset

ht: nakedpastor.com
This image really captures what I've been feeling lately. I've liked living my life over on the colourful side for the last few years but feeling pressured, by whom I'm not sure exactly, to move over to the black and white side.  This is right, that is wrong....Do this, but not that, think this but don't even think about thinking that...

I feel somewhere stuck in the middle, pulled from both sides and unclear about where to go next.  Is it even possible to live life in the in between space? Or, is there too much tension, too much pressure to conform in order to be accepted.  I'm not sure...but this image is a very helpful way of thinking about it.

Thanks David!

iphone fun - hipstamatic application

Hipstamatic Application with John S lens and Kodak Verichrome film

iphone fun

Pile of Pallets and then "sloppy border" application.

Mom and Baby

Turns out that the previous pictures were of the baby.  It's just such a large baby it was hard to tell.  Haven't seen it until today so it was a surprise to see how big it was.

Mama Bird

This little bird has set up house on the top shelf of our ladder.  We've been watching her for a few weeks now.  She's "hunkering down" more so we think that she has her eggs finally.  She's been a good mom so far and dutifully stays on the nest day and night.

Trust

"The way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined, into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan for the future. The next step discloses itself only out of a discernment of God acting in the desert of the present moment. The reality of naked trust is the life of the pilgrim who leaves what is nailed down, obvious, and secure, and walks into the unknown without any rational explanation to justify the decision or guarantee the future. Why? Because God has signaled the movement and offered it his presence and his promise."


— Brennan Manning

Quotable Quote

When our days become dreary with low hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights,let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. 
Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice. 
- Martin Luther King Jr

The Breast-Plate Prayer of St. Patrick

 I bind unto myself today
The strong name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever,
By power of faith, Christ's Incarnation;
His baptism in the Jordan River;
His death on cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb;
His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom;
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of the Cherubim;
The sweet 'Well done' in judgment hour;
The service of the Seraphim,
Confessors' faith, Apostles' word,
The Patriarchs' prayers, the Prophets' scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord,
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun's life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, his shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours
Against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan's spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart's idolatry,
Against the wizard's evil craft,
Against the death-wound and the burning
The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love me,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the name,
The strong name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Falling Whistles Interns

Today a couple of us had the opportunity to have lunch with some remarkable young women traveling from L.A. to OKC via ABQ. They are interns at a non-profit called "Falling Whistles" and are on their way to join other groups from around the country to support the activists staked out in front of Senator Coburn’s office.

"Senator Coburn has put a block on the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act. The bill authorizes $40 million to post-conflict recovery efforts in Northern Uganda and directs President Obama to come up with a peace and recovery plan for war-ravaged Northern Uganda.

The number count varies, but people from all over the country are gathered in OKC, sleeping outside in the freezing cold to request a meeting with the Senator to state their case."


These young women, ranging in age from 18-23 have a great energy and passion about them and it was exciting to get a chance to get to know them. One of them is a kid I've known and loved her entire life, and I could not be prouder to see her spending her time this way!!


Please pray for the 7 of them as they travel 1400 miles in a van, then sleep outside for the next 3 nights in an effort to bring more awareness to what is happening to children in Congo and Uganda.


You can learn more about what's going on here:
Falling Whistles

Quotable Quotes

“I dont believe in charity.
I believe in solidarity.
Charity is vertical, so it’s humiliating.
It goes from the top to the bottom.
Solidarity is horizontal. It respects the other and learns from the other.
I have a lot to learn from other people.”

-Eduardo Galeano.

ht: Falling Whistles

Marvel - by Liberty Hyde

“Marvel”
Liberty Hyde Bailey

(From WIND AND WEATHER: POEMS
Doulos Christou Press, 2008 edition)

Ah, the wonders I have seen
At dawn and sunset and between!

The ocean beach on wild midnights
Deep steaming swamps and northern bights
The cirrhus clouds in high moonlights
The magic calm of tropic seas
The nameless sails at distant quays
The long long walks on lonely strands
Dead vacantness of desert lands
The constellations in new skies
The rounding landscape’s million dyes

The fling of frost on country side
The burning stacks on prairies wide
Surpassing peace of autumn leaves
Ten thousand stooks of harvest sheaves
The ruddy camp-fire’s holy zest
Howbe the catbird builds its nest
And how the palm-tree rears its crest
The sanctity of falling snow
The lull before the thunder-blow
The sacred naves of forests old
Strange rivers bearing freights untold
Serenity of mountain peaks
The youthful worlds in rolling creeks
The glacier gleams on headlands far
Deep chambered caves and calcic spar
The iceberg’s crystal citadels
And all the people in the towns
In all the sleeping virgin towns
And all the partings and farewells,—
Oh the spaces and the sweep
Of the zenith and the deep!

Ah, the marvels I have seen
At gloam and sunrise and between!

ht: @ERbks 

quotable quotes

Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word "love" here not merely in the personal sense but as a state of being, or a state of grace -- not in the infantile ... sense of being made happy but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth. - James Baldwin, from his book The Fire Next Time

Typography

Typography from Ronnie Bruce on Vimeo.
ht: Abraham Piper although I'm not sure he'd be thrilled to know I found it funny. ;-)

Stephen Kellogg & the Sixers - Shady Esperanto and the Young Hearts

As a former band geek, I have to say I absolutely LOVE this song!

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day 01.11.10

Yes, slavery still exists. Even in America!
Learn more here

Quotable Quotes

“To wait open-endedly is an enormously radical attitude toward life. So is to trust that something will happen to us that is far beyond our imaginings. So, too, is giving up control over our future and letting God define our life, trusting that God molds us according to God’s love and not according to our fear. The spiritual life is a life in which we wait, actively present to the moment, trusting that new things will happen to us, new things that are far beyond our own imagination, fantasy, or prediction. That, indeed, is a very radical stance toward life in a world preoccupied with control.” - Henri Nouwen

Pirate Radio

Went to see Pirate Radio with my nephew tonight and really enjoyed it!
The story line was good, with lots of twists and turnsc The actors seemed to actually be enjoying each other's company, and the sound track was a perfect fit!
The young actor that plays the ship captain's godson did a great job with his role.  He had the perfect balance of innocence, surprise and michief.  
Philip Seymour Hoffman was fantastic as the only America DJ.

This was the first movie I've been to in a while that people clapped at the end.  It was a really fun night out!

Happy New Year!!!