Morning Prayer -- Awaken my Senses

Dear God,
Open my eyes to the beauty of this day.
The yellow of an egg yolk in a blue bowl.
The scent of bacon frying in the pan.
The soft caress of the morning breeze.
The sound of children at play.
Awaken my senses.
Let me see, hear, and feel the beauty around me.
And be aware of the presence of the Great Artist in my everyday world.
-- William Webber

Morning Prayer -- Psalm 51, The Message, Cleaning, Theology of Space

Psalm 51 (The Message)

1-3 Generous in love—God, give grace!
Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt,
soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I've been;
my sins are staring me down.

4-6 You're the One I've violated, and you've seen
it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you;
whatever you decide about me is fair.
I've been out of step with you for a long time,
in the wrong since before I was born.
What you're after is truth from the inside out.
Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean,
scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don't look too close for blemishes,
give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me,
shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don't throw me out with the trash,
or fail to breathe holiness in me.
Bring me back from gray exile,
put a fresh wind in my sails!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God;
I'll let loose with your praise.

16-17 Going through the motions doesn't please you,
a flawless performance is nothing to you.
I learned God-worship
when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love
don't for a moment escape God's notice.

18-19 Make Zion the place you delight in,
repair Jerusalem's broken-down walls.
Then you'll get real worship from us,
acts of worship small and large,
Including all the bulls
they can heave onto your altar!

This is powerful. This is my Genesis week (or Genesis Year, as the case may be.) My space will be cleaned -- and this heart shattered life is ready for God's love. Praise God!

Picture 245 and 246 of 365 -- "Frostless"

Frostless, it claims.


It lies. I haven't defrosted this freezer since I began seminary. I think it's time. In fact, I'm throwing all the food away and I'm going to try to freecycle the freezer (like anyone would want it!) I don't need a freezer like this right now.

I'm trying to freecycle a sofa as well -- no takers so far. And about 2 dozen used canning jars (need new seals.) Yesterday I got rid of a wheelchair, a wheelchair transfer board and a pair of crutches (a local little town's Senior Center was most appreciative.)

I've received several boxes of books from an unnamed RevGal who collected stuff for Katrina Relief and shipped hundreds of books (mostly novels) until they cried "Enough." I'm looking through them (did you know you can send Media Mail for really cheap?) and listing what I can on Amazon. I've bunches of things that won't sell -- Grisham books, romance stuff. I'm going to take some of them to the used book stores, but if anyone wants a "Love Package," just email me your addy at candlemb at bellsouth dot net. When you receive your package, you can send me something .... or donate some money somewhere. Or both. Mindy gets the first "Love Package." I may get a cow in return!

Oh, and did I tell you that Chaos played with the ASO? Just checking (and yanking daughter's chain a bit!) =o)

Pictures ?? of 365 -- ASO Day

the back of Chaos' head ....


Chris Rex


Violin clinician


Chris Rex and the back of Chaos' head


More of the back of her head....


My camera battery died early in the day. I'm going to download the movies next....

Morning Prayer -- from www.wellsprings.org.uk

Grant unto us, O Lord, nerves of steel
that we may dare to sing a new song -
and teach others to sing it too.

Grant unto us, O Lord, iron hands
that we might grasp the nettle of new music.
yet, grant unto us, O Lord, velvet fingers
that we may touch tenderly the sensibilities of Your people

Grant unto us, O Lord, feet light as feathers
that we may tread softly on the eggshells placed in our path
yet, grant unto us, O Lord, firm footsteps
that we might follow where You would have us go.

Grant unto us, O Lord, occasional failing memory
that we may forget the harsh criticisms of our taste in music
yet, grant unto us, O Lord, memory clear as crystal
that we may remember the joy - and comfort -
that our words and music bring.

Grant unto us, O Lord, the tongues of angels
that we may create harmony of discord.
Grant unto us,O Lord, shoulders of Teflon
that the mud that shall be cast shall not stick.

And above all else, dear Lord,
grant unto us space and time in our busy-ness
that our souls may touch your soul -
and we may learn to sing the songs
that our souls shall sing for ever.

Amen

Monday Bullets

• I found out that orchestra moms are necessary -- I handed out band-aids, kleenex and a tampon. We also handled two emotional problems, a nosebleed and one nauseous cellist. One poor kid didn't have a cello (never got the story straight -- he either broke it or left it at home.) One nickel in a cello and one slipped bridge. I understand that there was a broken bridge in one of the other orchestras. Ouch.
• I found out that aging musicians who never had children don't handle middle schoolers extremely well -- 13 year olds are indeed a special breed. One ADD kid was driving a 70 year old clinician crazy by 1:30 -- the meds must have worn off. He was twirling his bass 'round and 'round, poking other kids with his bow and actually sat on his bass at one point. The topper was about 12 trips to the bathroom. The musician now knows that ADD is REAL.
• There was a disparity between the kids; there is such a wide range in Atlanta. Really rich kids were paired with really poor kids; the rich kids had "fashionable" clothing, iPhones, Sidekicks and many had lots of private lessons. And there were some who were just plain rude and spoiled rotten. My "bossy teacher" persona came out in force. Too bad I couldn't keep an iPhone....
• I stopped by and purchased a "cello coffin" at our favorite strings store. I have too much money invested in that cello to risk a separated neck or a broken bridge. Soft cases are OK when transporting back and forth to lessons, but in a crush of a crowd -- I'd much rather have a hard case.
• I'm proud as punch of Chaos. I must have told people a dozen times yesterday, "Did I tell you that Chaos played with the ASO?" I think I got on Chaos' last nerve with that.
  
• I'll try to upload some video/pictures this morning.

Oh, by the way, did I tell you that Chaos played with the ASO??

=o)

Busy Saturday

Chaos played with the ASO yesterday; I was an "orchestra mom" and now we are both tired.
The official name was the ASO-GMEA Middle School String Project.

From the website:

The ASO-GMEA Middle School String Projects provide area instrumental string students the opportunity to work closely with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra musicians either through All-State Clinics or Orchestra Clinics, and an afternoon concert open to the public. Projects also provide opportunities teachers and families to establish / strengthen ties with musicians of the ASO and to attend an ASO concert in Symphony Hall.

Schedule:
8:30am – 9:30am Registration/ Acoustics
Clinicians will take students to sectionals
9:40am – 10:50am Sectionals
10:30am – 10:40am Break
11:00am – 11:50am Large Group Rehearsal
11:50am – 12:20pm Pizza Lunch and drawings for ASO prizes
12:20 pm – 1:30pm Rehearsal Block #3
1:30pm – 1:40pm Break
1:40pm – 1:45pm Assemble in Auditorium
1:45pm Side-by-Side CONCERT followed by Reception

Wednesday Bullets

• I think I'm in a bullet kind of mood right now.
• I have un-earthed the freezer in the garage. There was too much stuff in front of the freezer for me to get to it; mostly things to give to Goodwill and what not. The freezer is totally frozen up -- it says "Frostfree" on the front -- Ha! I removed the food items I could and threw them away this morning; the garbage people (sanitation engineers?) will be here this morning. Much nicer to throw the stuff away frozen than to let it sit and rot for a few days... I'll have to let it thaw a while before I throw anything else away. But before I let it thaw, I have to get all the things around it off the floor of the garage so they don't get wet.
• I've moved most of my shipping supplies to that corner of the garage; it's nice to see the dining room again. As soon as the freezer leaves, I'll have room for the giant stack of books (listed on Amazon) that are currently in the living room.
• I get to be "orchestra mom" on Saturday. The ASO workshop is this Saturday, but none of our orchestra teachers can go. So I suppose I'll carry books to read while they play. It looks as if there are going to be 200 kids from all around the Atlanta area and 100 ASO members, so two kids will get to practice for several hours begin tutored by one ASO member. The concert will be at 2:00 pm. It should be cool.
• Part of the "what-not" in front of the freezer was 5 bags of the Loving Husband's Mother's clothes. We brought them home shortly after the funeral and to be honest neither one of us have had the where-with-all to sort them out until now. I have three of her pocketbooks that I am going to display in my bedroom and Chaos' bedroom. She made them herself and I treasure them. I also found about 5 evening dresses; two of which are black with sequins. I am putting them aside for Chaos and Entropy. I don't know if they will wear them, but the two black ones would be appropriate to wear in a Symphony. As it is, next year Chaos will need something black and white to wear. Guys have it easy. One Tuxedo and a couple of shirts. Harder for girls.
• The house is still a wreck, but I suppose that part of the process of this deep cleaning is initally getting messier.
• Trans-Siberian Orchestra was also taken by the story of the Cellist of Sarajevo. There is a song on one of their CDs called "The Prince of Peace."
  

  And the deepest scars of all
  Which to humans are unseen
  But the angel could see clearly
  Were the scars upon the dreams

  Like Belfast and Burundi
  Rwanda, Palestine
  The only decorations here
  Had been awarded for their crimes

  And in gardens where the children played
  Now soldiers only trod
  And stranger still, he heard some say
  That they were killing for their god

  Now the angel heard god speak many times
  And he had always paid attention
  But this killing of ones neighbor
  Was something the Lord had never mentioned

  But as he neared the earth
  Of a recent battleground
  From among the ruins
  He once more heard the sound

  It was a single cello playing
  A forgotten Christmas song
  And even on that battlefield
  The song somehow belonged

  And as he flew away
  The angel did take note
  That where he found this music played
  One always could find hope

Bullets

• There is either way too much to blog about or way too little. If you know what I mean.
• I'm not really in the mood because I'm writing papers for the Board of Ordained Ministry and I'm getting tired of writing.
• I'm shipping 2 to 6 packages a day still from either Amazon or eBay. The River flows swiftly at times and not so swiftly at others. Sales are lumpy.
• There is some sort of scare about accounts at eBay today. Don't think it's a real problem for me, just enough of something for the newspeople to get themselves in a lather.
• I'm watching The War on PBS. It makes me think of my parents: my mother was the girl at home and my Dad was career Army until he had thorastic surgery during Korea and he was sworn out of the Army.
  
• Coincidentally, I found my dad's letters home from that war this week as I was cleaning the garage. I can't bring myself to read them yet.
  
• I'm listening to Yo Yo Ma's "Cellist of Sarajevo" -- and the Adiago in G Minor by Remo Giazotto based from fragments found in the ruins of the Saxon State Library on the slow movement of a Sonata in G minor by Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni. The Saxon State Library of Dresden was firebombed by the Allies in February and March of 1945, near the end of the war. This piece is the major piece that Vedran Smailovic played in the ruins of the National Library in Sarajevo (among other places). He played for 22 days straight, in full dress and in harm's way to honor the 22 people who had been killed while queuing for bread during the siege of Sarajevo on May 27, 1992. For some reason, this captures my imagination -- to sit in that ruined space and yet to be faithful to his calling. Beauty amid unmistakable signs of violence. Is this not too our calling?
  

Morning Prayer -- Psalm 96

Psalm 96
1 Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the whole earth.
2 Sing to the LORD and bless his Name;
proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations
and his wonders among all peoples.
4 For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised;
he is more to be feared than all gods.
5 As for all the gods of the nations, they are but idols;
but it is the LORD who made the heavens.
6 Oh, the majesty and magnificence of his presence!
Oh, the power and the splendor of his sanctuary!

Collect of the Day: Pentecost, Proper 20
Grant us, Lord, not to anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things which are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.*

*Appropriate today as I continue to clean my space, giving away all that I can to those who need it.

Go Jackets!

Morning Prayer -- Psalm 46

God is our hope and strength,
a very present help in trouble.

Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be moved,
and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea;

Though the waters thereof rage and swell,
and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same.

There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God,
the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.

Psalm 46: 1-4, BCP 1979

Morning Prayer -- Emerson

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
Father in heaven,
We thank thee.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thelogy of Space -- the Problem of the Living Room

I've turned my not insignificant analytical skills over to the "Problem of the Living Room." This is the room I most associate with my "public life"-- that and the front porch. This is really very Jungian -- Jung described seeing his life as a house, and in 1909 had his dream about the sub-celler that he called the collective unconscious. I dream often about houses; my life IS my house; my house IS my life; an inner expression of an outward state and thus the way I keep my "house" is sacramental. I don't know of anyone really doing serious work on this in Western thought. I know that many Eastern religions see and express this relationship between inner spaces and outer spaces, but not traditional Western Theology. This is an area that indeed fascinates me. I think about it often.

So by addressing the inner clutter and placing spiritual disciplines into my inner life is not the end all, be all. My outer space needs to reflect that discipline. Thus my musings on the "Problem of the Living Room." My bedroom is usually the neatest and most uncluttered room. In fact, most of the time my bedroom (the place that represents my most inner self) is quite nice; serene.

But the Living Room. Yikes. There are several "systems problems" going on. We tend to fold the laundry in the living room and never put it away. There are magazines and books heaped on the coffee table. The cat's quilt is always in a heap on the sofa. And recently I've added to the mess -- I've got about 12 boxes of books that have been listed on Amazon stacked up near the fireplace and 2 boxes of eBay stuff. The kitchen catches the spill over and it's quite messy too.

And I wonder -- isn't this just reflective of my "public life." There's too many activities to do in a day. Chaos alone has almost 8 separate extra curricular activities and the number is growing rather than shrinking.

(An aside; Chaos has been selected to participate in the big Middle School event that the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has every year -- Metro Atlanta has 15 counties, a couple of million kids, and only 200 selected to participate in this clinic. It's a great honor. But it's another thing to add to the schedule .... This kid has at least 6 concerts this year. Yikes!)

I need to enforce the same discipline in my public life that I have in my inner life. I started yesterday by hiding Chaos' laptop and Entropy's Wi-Remotes. Funny, with those things gone, more chores got done. The mess in the Living Room is much reduced.... Hmmm..... Time for me to get off the sofa/computer and do a little more picking up. Oh, and post everything on the family calendar on the back door so we don't have as many conflicts...

To do:

• Clean out the garage so that I have room for Amazon books and eBay auction stuff.
• To do that I need to give away the Goodwill stuff.
• To do that I need to find the iPod that Entropy has lost (to make sure it's not in the giveaway bags.)
• To do that I need to clear out dirty laundry.
• So laundry will be first.
  

I've had hay fever

I've had hay fever (or congestion or a cold or whatever) for 3 weeks now and this morning I woke up with a full fledged sinus infection. Bleh. I suppose it's time to go to the doctor now. I get something like this about this time every year. I guess I should just expect it, but I thought I could be proactive about this and head it off in the pass. I've been upping the vitamins, drinking a Danactive every day, orange juice, green tea, gum with Xylitol, washing my head out with salt water and I suppose my sinuses could be worse...

But now it's time for antibiotics. Goody.

Morning Prayer -- from Augustine

Breathe in me, inspire, O Holy Spirit,
that my thoughts may all be holy.
Act in me, shape my will, O Holy Spirit,
that my work, too, may be holy.
Draw my heart closer to you, O Holy Spirit,
that I love but what is holy.
Strengthen me, O Holy Spirit,
to defend all that is holy.
Guard me, then, O Holy Spirit,
that I always may be holy.
Amen.

(From a prayer of St. Augustine)

Picture 239 of 365

Clutter Monday Morning.
Different stuff. Different Day.

Morning Prayer -- Serenity Prayer

God,
give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
courage
to change the things that should be changed,
and the wisdom
to distinguish the one from the other.
Amen.

DC Talk

Picture 238 of 365

State of the House Picture: Thursday Morning
Same amount of clutter; almost completely different clutter...
(eh, on second thought, I think maybe it's a little worse. Time to declutter the living room.)
Other updates: disposed of 8 Christmas Boy Scout Popcorn tins. FreeCycle. Yeah!
6 books sold on Amazon.