West Meets East

We had a rare opportunity in our area yesterday; the Dalai Lama came to Houston for a visit, so of course a group of us headed to Rice University to see and hear for ourselves. It amazes me still that I am at a place in my journey through life that I can even hear another spiritual voice speak into my life--especially one from the East. But I'm there, and I welcome the balance the other half brings. Again, one of those paradoxes in life--there is no West without East, there is no us without them, and there is no complete without all the parts. My western mind has been so lopsided for so long, and my spiritual process has been so "partial"--it's a joy to be able to open to the other and to hear with an open heart instead of a closed mind. What I find is that we're all saying much the same thing. The Dalai Lama's talk yesterday was on compassion in our every day life--the same message Jesus spoke as he walked among us. And it's a message I long to hear and experience in my life--if I must err, may it be on the side of compassion.

The Dalai Lama is a humble little man with a joyful smile that radiates from inside to the outside. And he left us with a profoundly humble statement: If you've heard something today that you can use, then take it and practice it and make it yours. If you haven't heard anything that's useful to you--then just forget all that I've said and don't worry about it. That's another place I want to get to--a place where I'm willing to let go of my agenda and my "right-ness", trusting that each person I meet will find his/her own way. What a gift to have someone say, "Trust yourself to know the truth and to find your way."

After those wonderful words of wisdom and love, a few of us went and ate and shopped! A pretty grand day--one filled with simple pleasures and simple words.

Happy Easter!

Father Karl joined us from Houston today to help out with the overflow Mass. On Easter Sunday, we have one 8:00 Mass, 2 9:30 Masses and 2 11:00 Masses--usually quite a large crowd. I like Fr. Karl. He's a sweetie, and he always gives a good homily. I laughed at him this morning before Mass--he commented to one of the servers that it was so cold he was afraid he would accidentally celebrate the Christmas Mass instead of the Easter Mass.
I've never attended Mass in the Hall before, but I was assigned to serve there, so there I went. It was nice--the lilies smelled so good. Frankly, lilies, hydrangeas and azaleas were the only sign of Spring. Everyone was dressed in winter attire. There's always next Sunday.

Hope you've had a blessed day, and I hope the sun was shining where you are, and that it was warm.

Sounds of Silence

There is something magical about this time of day—holy, sacred. As I sit outside with my coffee, the world begins to wake up, and the hush is palpable, as crickets and a few distant birds begin their song.

How did we ever decide that the place to meet God was inside a building? That amazes me…it may be a good place to meet fellow sojourners and seekers, but “worship” is so spontaneous outside in Mother Nature’s cathedral.

There is a slight chill in the air this morning—a slightly damp chill—and the sky is what my Mother calls a “buttermilk sky”—little puffs of clouds that allow the stars to keep peeping through so that I don’t forget they’re there.

I think this is a holy time of day—it’s not night time, but day hasn’t come yet. It’s not dark, but it’s not light, either. It’s that “in-between time”…like stepping over a threshold from one time and space into another. I’m not here anymore, but I’m not there yet, either. I’ve experienced that in-between moment often in my life, and it seems to be when transformation is most likely to happen.

I thought I would post pictures today of the busy-ness of my day: helping hang the People’s Choice show at the Gallery this afternoon or helping set up the room for our week-long watercolor workshop featuring one of my favorite artists, Ken Hosmer. But as I sat this morning, listening to the cacophony of nature's song, I felt instead that THIS is the intention I’m setting for my day: peace and stillness underneath all the noise of a busy life.

Signs of Spring

We're headed into my favorite time of the year, when things begin to wake up, and all the gray turns to color. My yard needs a lot of work right now, but through the eyes of a camera, you'll never know! :)
Our lemon trees are full of buds--just what I need, more lemons! These are ponderosa lemons, and they're the size of large grapefruit when ripe. And our little tree puts out a bunch of them. One can only eat so many lemon pies!
These are babies. They won't be ready until this fall, and they'll finally be bright yellow and huge. There's a LOT of peel, but when you get to it, the lemon's really good. Jim's mom used to get three lemon pies from each lemon. I don't need more than a couple of lemon pies a year, so we give most of them away. It's a good thing you can freeze the juice and rind, but even then, I have more than I'll ever use. Makes for a good conversation, though!
And the trees will be breaking out in green in another week or two. Some of them across the creek are already light green (itty bitty leaves). This tree is full of leaf buds out my kitchen window, but couldn't get a very good picture from the ground. I love Spring and Summer, in spite of the hot. It's just a pretty time of year. There's a reason I live down South, you know!

Sunday, February 25, 2007, A Trip to the Movies

I've discovered I like taking my grandkids to the movies, so we do it a couple of times a year. Ok, so not very often, but that makes it special. From left to right: Emmanuel, Isaac, Eddie and David. Back row next to Grandma is Ellen--my gosh, look at that! She's as tall as I am! Good Lord, when did that happen????

We went to see Bridge to Teribethia, a very good movie, but no one warned me that it was so sad! I cried. So did the grandkids...movies with grandkids are supposed to make us laugh. Darn! I guess we'll have to try again! Courtney and friend Christin went too. We had a good time. Next time, kids, we'll try to find one that makes us laugh! :)

Massage - My Healing Stones

My favorite time of the month! Massage time! These beautiful stones are heated in hot water, then used to rub out all those aches and pains. I have shared a lot of things with the stones--they've absorbed pain, stress, anger, disappointment, and sadness. And they give back to me warmth, stillness and infinite pleasure. My thanks to the stones.

Friday, February 16, 2007 Weekend Get-a-Way

Since I arrived at The Land of Ease later Friday evening, I went back Saturday to get a picture, but you can pretend I'm driving through this simple gate to a whole 'nother world--a world of simple, easy pleasures--nature, beauty, and very good friends. Even though I haven't been in THIS particular spot, I'm coming home.

Valentine's Day

You know, love comes in all kinds of packages, especially on Valentine's Day. A good friend helped shoulder a burden with me today. It was too cold to sit outside on this swing, but this picture is a "picture" of what I was given today--the gift of "porch swing therapy". I'm so grateful for friends who simply listen.
And what better flowers to represent the day--passion flowers. Albeit, the beautiful pot of azaleas that hubby gave me are pretty awesome, too--pink azaleas in a purple pot, my two favorite colors. It's been a day full of love for me. I'm grateful.

Nature's Mandala

I'm late posting this--time has gotten away from me. I bought some forced bulbs and planted them for my mom and me. We both needed some color for all these grey days. This is one of the tulips--one of Nature's own mandalas. They have been so pretty, with their long graceful necks turning to see the sun. I love looking for Nature's mandalas--all that creative energy, moving to make such pretty pictures.

Ok, This is All...

There's nothing like the sun to warm your heart and lift your spirits. I'm very grateful for this simple pleasure. And I probably wouldn't have noticed or enjoyed nearly as much if I hadn't been inspired by Project 365--and my friend Susan--to pick up a camera. Life's little pleasures are so very grand indeed!

Simple Faith

I think this is my favorite shot taken this morning. For me, personally, it speaks volumes. Simple faith--faith in goodness, faith in a loving universe, faith in people, faith in humanity, faith in simple things.

Welcome Back to the Sun

As I finished my morning read, and started to get up from my chair, this sight caught my eye! Welcome back Sunshine! A friend of mine chronicled the return of the sun on her blog a few days back--now I can understand what caught her heart as she snapped away. It's amazing, but we just don't appreciate simple pleasures, like sunshine, until we've gone days (two weeks worth!) without it. And apparently it could be a fleeting pleasure--clouds and rain are forcasted to return by tomorrow afternoon. But for the present moment...