Snowy Adventures!

It has been a lovely holiday break in Washington. The few short days I've been here I managed to go out into the woods twice to enjoy the snow and fresh air. Both times were up near Snoqualmie and with great fun-loving ladies. I thank my lucky stars to have such lovely outdoorsy women in my life. Tracey and I headed up with little Sylas for some snow shoeing only to discover the lodge was closed on that particular Tuesday so it wasn't possible for me to rent snow shoes. Luckily, we found a trail just across from the alpine center where the snow was perfectly trek worthy with just hiking boots and waterproofs. Fantastic!

This is Sylas running his fingers through my hair where we stopped for lunch.

Sylas loves to fly.

The gang starting out. Sylas is making a little snack out of his carrier, but Tracey assures me that is what those Velcro-on-fabric-bits are for... snacking and then washing. He seemed pretty content.

Another adventure! Cross Country Skiing on Iron Horse up near Snoqualmie. Both days of snowtastic fun involved GREAT weather.

This picture above is totally posed, but we really did ski the whole day. I saw people using this ski skate things and I think I would really like them. It looked like rollerblading on the snow! How great is that? Maybe next year. :)

Always a pleasure to hang out with my cousin, Krissy and her friend, Val. They are a hoot. :)

Jurgen Moltmann and the end

I'm working on my Systematic Theology final and reading some work by Jurgen Moltmann, Theology of Hope. I really like it, here's a snippet:

“The Christian hope is directed towards a novum ultimum, towards a new creation of all things by the God of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It thereby opens a future outlook that embraces all things, including also death, and into this it can and must also take the limited hopes of a renewal of life, stimulating them, relativizing them, and giving them direction.” (Moltmann, p. 33-34)

pretty beautiful and a nice balance to reading stuff like this (which is from another book for same essay):

"Posttribulationism, like pretribulationism, is primarily a subdivision of premillennialism. Technically all nonpremillennialists are posttribulationists. Few nonpremillinnialists, however, concern themselves with the idea of a tribulation. Thus we may safely limit our treatment of posttribulationism to posttribulationists of premillinnial variety."

When coming across the second section at 10:30pm after working on a paper for hours it is entirely possible that I uttered "s&it" and laughed at the same time. In fact, that is exactly what happened. Then I made another cup of tea. I certainly won't use that quote in my essay, but I have taken some time to parse it out and it is not so crazy as it first reads. But, I won't leave you with that one, here is another from Moltmann:

“Finally, the believing hope will itself provide inexhaustible resources for the creative, inventive imagination of love.” (Moltmann, p. 34)

Wish I would have read that before sending out my Christmas cards. That's all... short blog post as I must return to this essay.

Danny Macaskill - Industrial Revolutions

Apparently, the UK, Danny Macaskill a "household name" according to my friend Jim. However, his cycling trick skills were new to me and I am really enjoying using this video as a study break during finals week. The beauty in the connection between rider in bike is what keeps me cycling. As if my bike where as part of me as my foot or arm. I can't do tricks like Mr. Macaskill is able, but I certainly love the way this video presents the playful interdependence between a bike and its rider... it is a video of what it feels like for me to be sailing down through the streets of Berkeley- a little bit of bliss in this world... Poetry in motion.

It was also great to discover the musician featured in this video. Ben Howard, also new to me, is the music you hear in the background of Macaskill's magic. His album, Every Kingdom, has been the soundtrack to the essay writing marathon that is my life this week. Check him out. If you live in Europe, you might be able to catch a show. If you live in the states, you can listen to him on spotify for free. :) If you live anywhere else... well... there is always his myspace page, I like "The Wolves" (which is what is on the video) and "Old Pine" best thus far.

Laughter came from every brick

During Clinical Pastoral Education last summer (my internship as a hospital chaplain) I spent a good deal of time reading poems and practicing yoga. As I had mentioned in a previous post, Advent seems to be filled with poetry for me, and I have frequently turned to one of my favorite recently acquired collections of poetry edited by Daniel Landinsky called Love Poems from God (which I purchased at my yoga studio.) I have frequently turned to its pages for words from Rumi, St Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila to fill my spare moments. It is really easy this time of year to surrender to the stress of finals and the end of the semester... to focus on making plans instead of living out the plan that God set in place for me... let me tell you, so much easier to focus on the doing than the being. Poetry helps keep me in check remember to enjoy the passing moments even if they are filled with essays, research, sleepless nights... they can also be filled with nights out to dinner with friends, making Christmas cards, singing carols, bike rides in the winter sunshine and moments of peace... I've found that moments of peace arrive in the most surprising places.

LAUGHTER CAME FROM EVERY BRICK

by: St Teresa of Avila

Just these two words He spoke
changed my life,

"Enjoy Me."

What a burden I thought I was to carry -
a crucifix, as did He.

Love once said to me, "I know a song,
would you like to hear it?"

And laughter came from every brick in the street
and from every pore
in the sky.

After a night of prayer, He
changed my life when
He sang,

"Enjoy Me."

modern Psalms in surprising places.

when I don't have words that can express my emotions, frustration, joy, praise, there is... as my classmates and I use to joke... a Psalm for that. It is one of that aspect of the psalms that I love the most. One of the categories for Pslams found in the Hebrew Bible are those for Lament. You can choose from your garden variety or group wailing if you really want to have a proper bemoaning of life... and let's face it: sometimes it feel GREAT to just let it all out. What I like about the Psalms? It is one of the parts of the Bible that remind me that I don't have to be happy all the time; that God wants all my emotions... all of ME... and not just when I am hippy skippy happy healed. Being a Christian certainly does not guarantee a happy ride through life, but I do embrace the comfort offered in Christ's presence and Christian community that I don't have to go through it alone.

A few weeks ago I went to a pretty terrible lecture on hymnody where there seemed to be a chorus of "where are the poets?" "where are the poets?" "Who will put the words of this generation to music that we can use for worship?" etc etc. I really wanted to stand up and say, look around you! Turn on the radio, read a book. Poets are everywhere. You know where you are less likely to find them? In a place that dictates what worship with God needs to look like. I am not against liturgy, the opposite, actually... I love liturgy so much that I believe it needs to be allowed to grow and breath and become part of the worshiping community in a real and authentic way, reflecting tradition and the people gathered.

After all.. God is everywhere and that means in you and in me... so perhaps we should be looking for songs and psalms that can give us words to talk about how we are experiencing God in the world and with each other right now. maybe turn on the radio? **


**also acknowledging that there are lots of crap songs on the radio and lots of commercials as well... etc etc... but hey, sometimes i feel like those crap songs do a better job at meeting me where I am... even when I am kind of angry. One of those songs would be, Jenny Owens Young: "F%^k Was I" I like the female vocals and the cello juxtaposed with the harshness of the lyrics; gives the song a kind of fullness, if you ask me (and you kind of implicitly did because you are reading my blog.)

Advent.

I've been thinking a lot about Advent lately. I've grown a new appreciation for Advent as a church season. I might even say that I have come to love it. This season of waiting that precedes Christmas where we anticipate the coming of Christ; the word manifest. It is a season of hope. Hope that no matter how gray and dark things may seem to be... the trees bare, cold wind, the sky a bit overcast and perhaps you feel alone this holiday season, perhaps you are alone. Then the holidays that are meant to be a joyful time to be with those that we love, are sad for those of us that have lost...and I would reckon that would describe more people than you know. Please don't mistake this for some exposing of emo bs, and I am not saying you need to believe what I do, beleive what you want and read another blog... but, for me, Advent...the coupling of love and sadness is beautiful... it is breathtaking and it is hope and sadness together. Because as soon as we anticipate Christ's birth, we know that death is around the corner, as it is for each one of us.

No wonder I seem to want to read poetry all through advent... poetry reminds me that there is a living word right now. In the words of poems, in you. in me and in the hope that after winter, there is the coming spring... there is new life. So I start off this Advent (a bit late, I know) with a poem from one of my favorites, Mary Oliver:

Spring

Somewhere
a black bear
has just risen from sleep
and is staring

down the mountain.
All night
in the brisk and shallow restlessness
of early spring

I think of her,
her four black fists
flicking the gravel,
her tongue

like a red fire
touching the grass,
the cold water.
There is only one question:

how to love this world.
I think of her
rising
like a black and leafy ledge

to sharpen her claws against
the silence
of the trees.
Whatever else

my life is
with its poems
and its music
and its cities,

it is also this dazzling darkness
coming
down the mountain,
breathing and tasting;

all day I think of her –
her white teeth,
her wordlessness,
her perfect love.

~ Mary Oliver ~

Happy Birthday Dad! The Brunch!

Last Weekend was the birthday celebration of one of my favorite fellas in the world: my dad. :) We surprised him for his 60th birthday weekend by flying me home so we could all be together. It is weekends like this, with my family, that make me remember everything good in the world. Above is the picture of the restaurant where we went to have the most delicious, posh, elaborate brunch in town: Salty's... with its view of Seattle dining here is certainly a treat for everyone.

While we waited for our seats, we enjoyed the scones, hot chocolate, and coffee they had in the waiting area. I love this picture of Kelly, Bea, and Dad. That little face enjoying the scone with a great big bow? How adorable, right?

Mom and Dad at the end of our meal. As you can see, the sun did come out and with the great big windows around the restaurant it was bright light and lovely!

Above: The Parents
Below: The Siblings(/Children?)

One thing I love about my brother is that he gets his money's worth at a buffet. Salty's is all you can eat, but not in the typical all you can eat way... in the "oh my goodness they have oysters on the half shell, blackened salmon, two kinds of eggs Benedict, all kinds of carvery meat, a pasta bar, omelet bar, etc" and that is not even mentioning the desserts! Needless to say, we all ate our fill, it is just that Erik has the magical ability to eat more of his fill than anyone I know... impressive! Makes up for me being a vegetarian at an all you can eat buffet. :)

"Did somebody say Bacon?"

Beatrice helped dad open his cards. What a great meal; what a great family. Happy Birthday Dad!