RevGalBlogPals Friday Five (on Saturday night): Summer

1. Favorite summer food(s) and beverage(s)

I love summer fruit; peaches and raspberries, especially. When it’s too hot to eat, gazpacho is my favorite thing in the world.

For a beverage, ginger-peach iced tea. Yum.

2. Song that "says" summer to you. (Need not be about summer explicitly.)

Don Henley, “Boys of Summer.” (Child of the ‘80s, I guess.)
Joni Mitchell, "Circle Game." (See below.)

3. A childhood summer memory

Girl Scout camps, 1981-88. A week-long river canoe trip and the worst sunburn ever. Primitive camping. Taking the same blasted swim test in 55-degree Hood Canal every year. Being terrified of jumping off the pier--and then doing it. Sleeping on the dock, watching meteor showers. Campfire skits.

I still sing the songs in the shower sometimes.

4. An adult summer memory

Half her life ago now, watching the Lakefair fireworks on the state capitol lawn in Olympia, with a seven-year-old honorary-niece asleep in my lap. (She just turned 14; I haven’t seen the family since I moved to California.)

Also: free concerts in Sylvester Park, every July and August of my adulthood until two years ago.

5. Describe a wonderful summer day you'd like to have in the near future. (weather, location, activities)

I have the best summer job ever, right now. I work at a retreat center/church camp, with really great people. Every day here is good.

Optional: Does your place of worship do anything differently in the summer? (Fewer services, casual dress, etc.)

No on fewer services, and we dress casually anyway. I wish I could go to Pride with them this weekend, but the first round of camp starts tomorrow afternoon.

For the second time in a week...

I'm stealing from Wild and Precious.

Check out this Jesus Dance. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Instant messaging right here

Scroll down past the photo badge in my sidebar, and see what's new! I got the IM widget from Eileen.
It's easy to use; just make up a name for yourself, and say hi. :-)

Happy Solstice, everyone!

Daylight comes and nighttime goes
Nighttime falls, day flies
Round and round the cycle goes
We live and then we die
And then we live and then we die.

The seasons of my life go 'round
The sunshine and the rain
The fallow and the fruitful days
The joy and then the pain
And then the joy and then the pain

Daylight comes and nighttime goes
Nighttime falls, day flies
Round and round the cycle goes
We live and then we die
And then we live and then we die.

As light below, so light above
So light in all we see
The light is in the act of love,
The light that sets us free
Yes, it's the light that sets us free.

Daylight comes and nighttime goes
Nighttime falls, day flies
Round and round the cycle goes
We live and then we die
And then we live and then we die.

Libby Roderick, "Song for Summer Solstice." On Thinking Like A Mountain, 1991.

Five Things I Dig About Jesus

Yay, I've been tagged! Thanks, Eileen.

1) I dig that Jesus stood up for people. Women, most especially; the one with the hemorrage, and the one who would have been stoned for adultery. He showed society’s throwaways, their true worth in the Kindom of God. If people listened to the actions of Jesus, rather than what they read into the words of Paul, we’d live in a more just world.

2) I dig that Jesus took time alone, to stay focused and to really pray. I’m not about to spend 40 days in the desert, fasting, but I can do this in small ways—if I carve out the time to be with God. I’ve started doing it this summer, taking long walks on the trails here so I can consciously pray, and paying attention when I’m caught by surprise. I’ll have to transition in September back into the city, school, and busy-ness—and I need to keep the priority of this relationship. I know that God is closer to me than my next breath—but often I forget to breathe.

3) I dig that Jesus knew how to celebrate. He made wine for a party. He ate with everybody: Zacchaeus, Levi/Matthew, the five thousand. Jesus knew how to create community, and he did it everywhere. The more outcasts and riffraff, the better. The Kindom is made up of all of us.

4) I dig that Jesus healed people. It didn’t matter who they were, or in some cases even if they were dead. And I also dig that at least on one occasion, he had to do it twice. Everything isn’t perfect, or easy, on the very first try; sometimes we have to work, keep the faith, stay in relationship. Bringing instant sight to a blind person is one thing; real healing takes commitment and time.

5) I dig that Jesus was a trickster. He walked on water just because he could, and he liked to surprise people: the temple authorities when he was a kid, the Pharisees time and again, the women at the Resurrection, his friends on their way to Emmaus. I picture him spending a lot of time smiling to himself, trying to suppress a giggle. I like that in my incarnate God.

Max
Jane
Mimi
Grandmere Mimi
Pisco

Tag—you’re it!

Rocking the Bible

Thanks Juniper for the link! I know more than I thought I did... but if you see these questions, you will too.

Um, and yes, I do have a real update coming. I'll post it in the next few days or so. The short answer is that the Ranch is wonderful, and the best possible place for me right now.

You know the Bible 100%!

Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses - you know it all! You are fantastic!

Ultimate Bible Quiz
Create MySpace Quizzes

Can you do this?

I can't.

Stolen from Wild and Precious.

Color quiz, idea of home, and driven-ness

Stolen from Deb; and oddly enough, it's accurate.

One of the questions asks, "Which body of water are you?" I chose ocean, because bay/sound wasn't one of the options. I grew up with my feet in Puget Sound and mountains all around me, and that's what I ache for when I miss home.

"Home" has lots of meanings for me, as noted in the comments two posts down, about arriving at the Bishop's Ranch. The Northwest is home on a cellular level. I'm coming to know and love the SF Bay Area; I realized I was home here when I saw it from the plane yesterday, and felt a deep, peaceful relief. (That may have had something to do with two hours on the tarmac in Philly, and five and a half in the actual air.) My school community changes every year, but it's where I live most of the time, and where my work and friends are. My church was home the first week I went there. I love the Ranch, asked to be here, and am living and working here; that makes it home as well. Certain friends' houses are home; I've carried a key to a house in Olympia for ten years now, and to the Apostle in Exile's house for two.

I'm socially at home pretty much anywhere I am. My friend was right; that ability is a gift. (I also called her house last week, needing a place to crash the night before I flew to Philadelphia. I knew they'd give it to me.)

These quiz results say I'm "driven." I'm not like my new friends at Yale (and probably General as well); I do academics because I need them for the life I'm headed toward, not for their own sake. My favorite classes--other than Ethics, which I loved as much for the faculty as the material--give practical knowledge about how to actually use what we're learning. I have not been the student I thought I would be. I procrastinate like nobody's business. But when I'm passionate about something, I do it creatively, with energy, and well.

You are Ocean Blue

You're both warm and practical. You're very driven, but you're also very well rounded. You tend to see both sides to every issue, and people consider you a natural diplomat.

What Color Blue Are You?

Calling

Linda Allen is an artist local-ish to my home; she lives in Bellingham, WA. This is on her 2005 CD Where I Stand. I've been listening to it a lot lately, and the lyrics are part of my e-mail signature.

It's a prayer for compassion, wisdom, and capability. Enjoy.

Thank you to Jane for the idea of posting music!

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Jetlagged, and joyful

I am at my home for the rest of the summer, at the Bishop's Ranch. I got here last night about 10:30, and the first thing I noticed was the stars in the sky. We are definitely out of the city. They have me ensconced in a staff apartment that's really, really nice--and it has a bathtub. I also get to sleep on a futon again, after two years of awful dorm beds and the air-bed I got because the last dorm mattress was intolerable.

I never really adjusted to East Coast time, and I'm not sure what time my body thinks it is right now, but it's quarter past five here and I'm still exhausted. Happy, tired, and here. I'll probably find out today exactly what it is I'm supposed to be doing; the directors and I had a conversation about possibilities in April.

I will write more about last week's conference, later. I'm going to try going back to sleep.

Heresy test

In honor of the conversation we just had, I went back into Chris' blog and dug this up. I was less Chalcedon-compliant when I took it the first time, more than a year ago, but there it is.

Wanna play?

You scored as Chalcedon compliant, You are Chalcedon compliant. Congratulations, you're not a heretic. You believe that Jesus is truly God and truly man and like us in every respect, apart from sin. Officially approved in 451. Chalcedon compliant 100% Pelagianism 92% Apollanarian 50% Monophysitism 33% Gnosticism 33% Nestorianism 33% Modalism 25% Socinianism 17% Albigensianism 0% Donatism 0% Monarchianism 0% Docetism 0% Arianism 0% Adoptionist 0% Are you a heretic? created with QuizFarm.com

Update from Philadelphia

I'm at a preaching conference at Villanova this week.  I'm busy, jetlagged, and having a mostly great time.

 

I'm meeting some neat people, whom I know I'll stay in touch with.  Hearing some fabulous sermons, and learning some tricks of the trade.  We had a lecture tonight on using Howard Gardner's multiple intelligence theory in our preaching.  I wish I could have taken notes on the demonstrations--but I think I absorbed them.  A lot of this stuff is intuitive, but I would never have verbalized it on my own.  Once you see it, it really makes sense.

 

I'm struggling with the feedback I got from my sermon today.  I told a story I know well and am passionate about--but I added metaphorical language and such that I don't normally speak in.  Condensed, what I heard back was, "You're a wonderful writer--but this was a written piece."  It's really frustrating.  I need to figure out how to bring my voice outside of myself.

 

Have to write another one for Thursday--but we also get most of tomorrow off, and I really want to go touristing.  I'll try to go in the early afternoon and get back here with some semblance of energy.

 

Still tired, and scribbling quickly--I just got invited to a sangria party upstairs.  I normally write much more thoughtfully, but not tonight.

 

Eyes Wide Open

If you're in the SF Bay Area, come to this event remembering the war dead in Iraq tomorrow.

Cut-and-pasting from the Facebook page:

Event Info
Name: eyes wide open
Tagline: remembrance of the war dead in iraq
Host: quakers
Date: Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Time: 10:00am - 1:00pm
Location: federal building, 450 golden gate and larkin, San Francisco, CA

Description
empty shoes and boots represent the nearly 400 californians, over 3,000 americans, and 600,000 iraqis who have died in the iraq war. there is a press conference at 10 a.m. bishop marc will be among the speakers"Eyes Wide Open" exhibition in front of the Federal Building at 450 Golden Gate & Larkin

Friday Five--Habits

1. Have you ever successfully quit a bad habit, or gotten a good habit established? Tell us about how you did it.

I used to keep a prayer journal daily during Lent--but I haven't done it for ages. I just got up early, and made myself do it. Sounds easy... it was, then, though I didn't always want to. I really ought to do something like that again.

I'm taking a book of Ignatian spiritual exercises to the Ranch with me this summer; that'll be a good time to start experimenting.

2. "If only there were a 12-step program for Internet surfers!"

Given unstructured time, I do this way too much. I'll be better this summer, because I'll be outside a lot, and I don't think about it when it's not available... but it's a really unhelpful habit.

3. Share one of your healthy "obsessions" with us.

I drive as little as possible, and I walk as much as I can. That's partly economic, partly out of global concern, and partly because, as a student, I don't get any other exercise.

4. Share the habit of a spouse, friend or loved one that drives you C-R-A-Z-Y.

I don't talk about people I love behind their backs--and I wouldn't even if I didn't know that some of them read this. But someone I used to be close to drove me bananas, by taking long phone conversations when I was visiting. If I called her when she had company, she'd tell me it had to be quick. I never got the same courtesy, however.

That's not why we aren't close anymore, but in retrospect it's a sign of things not having been right.

5. "I'd love to get into the habit of getting up early to pray in the morning.

Bonus: What is one small action you might take immediately to make #5 a reality?

Two steps: Leave my laptop on my desk, and go to bed by, say, 11.

Bonus 2: Try it, and let us know how it goes in a future post!

I shall.

Tagged

Thanks, Max... I think! I skipped a few questions; here is a random bit of surrealism for you.

1. What's in your pocket?

A BART pass that I have to remember to put back in my wallet.

2. Is the pork ready?

Huh?

3. Do you like onions?

Yes, cooked--but I don't like chopping them.

4. So, how big is it?

<--THIS--> big.

5. Budweiser or real beer?

Neither (and particularly not Budweiser, ick). I do like wine, though.

6. What do you feel about your nose?

I'm thankful for Claritin.

7. Children: Baked or broiled?

Actually I really like kids... and I've never eaten one.

8. Do you like it when I do this?

What? Send me silly memes? Sure--but I would like you no matter what you did.

9. Do you like the sound of chickens?

Not particularly. Frogs and crickets are just fine, though.

10. Would Beyonce clip her own toenails?

I've lived under a pop-culture rock for two years; I barely even know who she is.

11. Do you like pork?

Yes, but not half as much as sushi.

12. If the butter is soft, does the bus arrive on time?

Q: How many surrealists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
A: A fish.

13. When do you get up?

Way up in the sky, the little birds fly
While down in their nests, the little birds rest
With a wing on the left, and a wing on the right
The little birds sleep, all through the night.

SHHH! They're slee-ping!

The bright sun comes up, the dew falls away
"Good morning! Good morning!" the little birds say!

14. How did you survive childhood?

I read like a fiend, and spent summers at Girl Scout camp.

15. What do you do before bed?

Put my jammies on and brush my teeth, silly.

16. What are your hidden charges?

A friend told me once, "You have more power in your life than you think you do." She was right.

17. Who's behind you?

Many good, compassionate people.

18. Does George Bush replace the toilet paper tube?

You're assuming he knows how.