Floating Schools

Psalm 23

Simple Pleasures

taken from YLiving.

For Beauty

Some Instagram joy!
enjoy!

paz.

How to Share

Here are some resources for sharing your stuff! It's the new sharing economy or perhaps as Wendell Berry put it, the true economy where everyone has Enough.

Shareable

Collaborative Consumption

Meshing.it

Wendell E. Berry Lecture

Wendell E. Berry Lecture

Teaching

THE JESUS MARK KNEW Wednesday, April 25, 2012 Feast of St. Mark Mark begins with the preaching of John the Baptist, a voice announcing Jesus from the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance. The truth comes from the edges of society. Jesus’ reality is affirmed and announced on the margins, where people are ready to understand and to ask new questions. The establishment at the center is seldom ready for the truth because it's got too much to protect; it has bought into the system. As Walter Brueggeman says, “the home of hope is hurt.” Remember that John the Baptist’s message of repentance was an invitation to a turned-around life, letting go—downward mobility, as some call it today. John wore a garment of camel hair, and he lived on locusts and wild honey—he identified with the poor and marginalized, as we see Jesus doing. John is so free from his own agenda, religious and cultural system, and ego. He's able to point beyond himself. He's not trying to gather people to himself—which is why he becomes the proto-evangelist—pointing beyond himself and his own ministry. One can only conclude that Mark began in this way, not just because it was historically true, but because it mirrored his own journey. Some scholars today, especially with new information from the Gnostic Gospels, think that the anonymous man who “runs away naked” in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:50-52) is very likely Mark himself. He is quietly admitting that he also “deserted him” (verse 50) and ran from suffering and humiliation. His “nakedness” is not just his but ours too. Adapted from The Four Gospels (CD, MP3) - Friar Richard Rohr Prayer: Teach me the way to live and die.

Hell's Kitchen Farm Project

Feeding the hungry one roof at a time......here.

Earth Day Links

Article by Dr. Susan Thistlethwaite about taking action, making a commitment to Creation.

Earth Day Network here.

Huff Post Green blog.

Happy Green Baby.

Green Kids.

Lord, the air smells good today,
straight from the mysteries
within
the garden
of God.
The trees in their prayer,
the birds in praise,
the first blue violets,
kneeling.
— Rumi
paz.

Family Photo Booth

Here's some fun you can have with props.

props here.
paz.

Friends, today is National Day of Silence in support of LGBTQ youth who are bullied, and whose voices are often silenced or unheard. Please hold in your prayers LGBTQ youth across the country, especially those who are bullied or otherwise feel unsafe.  
paz.

Post-Candidate Politics

Bread for You

“We discovered that faith is not expecting that the Lord will miraculously give us whatever we ask, or feeling that we will not be killed and that everything will turn out as we want. We learned that faith is putting ourselves in [God’s] hands, whatever happens, good or bad. [God] will help us somehow.”

- Felipe and Mary Barredafrom, Common Prayer - A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals

Words for You

"But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High."

- Luke 6:35

Music for Baby and Mama

Cool for Mama

Change

This is an article (here)about the United States and our inability to separate the problem of crime and poverty. I saw Jim Wallis of Sojourners last night at Loyola University (he was amazing!!) and he said this is a Biblical problem - justice in the sense of equity is a problem the Bible deals with from start to finish.
May we come to have a new perspective on those who suffer.
Amen.

Orange Sherbert

this is a new children's music cd by my wonderful college friend Tamsen. share it with your kiddies......
You go girl!

Becoming One - Right Brain Hemisphere

If you're not familiar with the TED series of speakers check it out. Jill Bolte Taylor's session on her stroke is amazing.
Blessings.

Words for You

"Let us leave a little room for reflection in our lives, room too for silence. Let us look within ourselves and see whether there is some delightful hidden place inside where we can be free of noise and argument. Let us hear the Word of God in stillness and perhaps we will then come to understand it."
- Augustine of Hippo

New Passover Haggadah

Watch Passover Haggadah on PBS. See more from Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.

Joy! He is Risen Indeed!!

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

Mean Moms Rule

This is a blog by Denise Schipani. I first found her in Better Homes and Gardens. She wrote a wonderful piece on walking.
Why I Walk:
I walk to mark the changes in my community: a stork decoration announcing a new baby, a porch newly built, a garden coming into bloom....
...I walk to take stock of my experiences. I find myself silently retelling old stories and new - the happy ones and the less -so - turning them over in my mind until I come to fresh conclusions: walking as therapy.

Maybe you are healed by something similar. Share it with us!
paz.

Karen Maezen Miller

A piece of paper has been sitting in my desk drawer for a while. It was torn out of Shambala Sun - a wonderful Buddhist magazine.  The article is about Karen Maezen Miller, mother and Zen sage. She's written Hand Wash Cold and Momma Zen: Walking the Crooked Path of Motherhood. Thinking about books by moms (like Reverend Pershey's new book) and sages (you are all sages!) these days. Thank goodness for such wisdom we can share with one another.
Also, check out Miller's blog here.
paz.

Jewish Values

Passover begins this evening. Jews celebrate their liberation from slavery in Egypt. This is an interesting article about the tradition and its people, their values. Always something new to learn about our faith as well. Article here. 
Blessings to you all on this Holy Good Friday.
paz.

Washing Feet

Feet are sacred. They carry us from one moment to the next, from one day to the next. They're not so pretty sometimes but they are the the parts that get us out of bed, over to kiss our children, to walk under blooming crab apple trees.....even if our legs don't work, we usually still have our feet. Our feet can remind us of the "ground of being" (Paul Tillich) - of God, of living and being in the face of nonbeing. I think the Friar is right about making foot washing a sacrament - Holy time to care for one another, to grab the things that sweat, have odors and soars but we can still love them and wash them tenderly despite their appearance, their defects. Maybe then we can remember that our feet are gifts and that we can humbly be gifts to one another. 
Amen.

From Friar Richard Rohr:

There's no real story of the Last Supper in the Gospel of John as we find it in the other Gospels. There is no passing of the bread or passing of the cup. Instead we come upon the story of Jesus on his knees washing the Apostles' feet. Really quite amazing, and even more amazing that we never made the foot washing into a Sacrament! It is much more explicit in the Scriptures than many other actions we made into sacraments.
Perhaps John realized that after seventy years the other Gospels had been read. He wanted to give a theology of the Eucharist that revealed the meaning behind the breaking of the bread. He made it into an active ritual of servanthood and solidarity, instead of the priestly cult that it has largely become.

Peter symbolizes all of us as he protests, "You will never wash my feet!" (John 13:8). But Jesus answers, "If I do not wash you, you can have nothing in common with me." That is strong! We all find it hard to receive undeserved love from another. For some reason it is very humiliating to the ego. We all want to think we have earned any love that we get by our worthiness or attractiveness. So Jesus has to insist on being the servant lover. Thank God, Peter surrenders, but it probably takes him the rest of his life to understand.

Maundy Thursday

Interesting article on The Last Supper, Gethsemane with songs......here
Our Lord takes up his cross tonight. The lights will go out....let us pray for that Holy light to enter the world on Easter Sunday.
Amen.

Spirituality of Subtraction

from Friar Richard Rohr:

The notion of a spirituality of subtraction comes from Meister Eckhart (c.1260-1327), the medieval Dominican mystic. He said the spiritual life has much more to do with subtraction than it does with addition. Yet I think most Christians today are involved in great part in a spirituality of addition.

The capitalist worldview is the only one most of us have ever known. We see reality, experiences, events, other people, and things—in fact, everything—as objects for our personal consumption. Even religion, Scripture, sacraments, worship services, and meritorious deeds become ways to advance ourselves—not necessarily ways to love God or neighbor.

The nature of the capitalist mind is that things (and often people!) are there for me. Finally, even God becomes an object for my consumption. Religion looks good on my résumé, and anything deemed “spiritual” is a check on my private worthiness list. Some call it spiritual consumerism. It is not the Gospel.

God's Love

Watch God's Love Homeless Shelter on PBS. See more from Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly.

Words for You

from Friar Richard Rohr daily meditations:
Jesus enters the temple and drives out the dealers who are trying to buy and sell worthiness and access (Luke 19:45-46), which is the great temptation of all religion. He symbolically dismantles the system. The temple of religion (read “church” or “mosque” too) is henceforth to become personal, relational, embodied in people, and not a physical building. He came to say that God is available everywhere, and for some reason we like to keep God “elsewhere,” where we can control God by our theologies and services.

God, thank you for being available to us everywhere and for not allowing us to buy our self worth or access to your love. Amen.

Holy Week Reflection

Dr. Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite from Chicago Theological Seminary has written a piece on what she things it means to be a Christian.
Article here.

Eco Eggs!

Colorful, compostabable Easter eggs here. Made from cornstarch!!

Our Reverend Pershey Congratulations

Creation Care

Just found a great green site called Practically Green. Pass it on. That's how movements get going ang keep their momentum.
Let us not be mistaken that this is God's green earth and we are blessed to share in its abundance of food and beauty. Creation care needs to be a priority for us all - as humans, as Christians.
paz.

From their site:
Practically Green helps busy people take smart, practical, eco-friendly actions at work, at home and in their community. Whether you’re just here as an individual or as part of an employee sustainability program, we offer hundreds of healthy, green steps you can take, expert advice, scientifically accurate information, and peer-reviewed product recommendations.
We make green living easier and more enjoyable, as well as remove some of the guilt, confusion, and even cost that can arise. If you are visiting for the first time, sign up and be sure to take ourquiz,which is a fun and fast way to determine your starting level of green. Then create goals, share with and even challenge friends and colleagues, and watch your points and badges pile up as you embrace healthy green choices.
(or you can just get great tips fromt the site and share them with others!)

Holy Water

50 Ways to Conserve Water

Photo: Martyn Thompson

Art of Aging

This looks like a really good read. I'm thinking of this as I come upon another year next week.
May we all know the art of growing older, wiser, more curious, more patient, more bold!!
paz.

From Amazon:
How should we accept growing old? It's an inevitable progression and yet in Western society the very subject of aging is often taboo and shrouded in anxiety and shame. Not anymore, says Marie de Hennezel, an internationally renowned clinical psychologist and bestselling author. Now that our lives are longer and richer than ever before, it's imperative to demystify our greatest fear and cultivate a positive awareness of aging.

In this timely and essential book, de Hennezel offers a fresh perspective on the art of growing old. She confronts head-on the inevitable grief we sustain at the loss of our youth and explains how refusing to age and move forward in life is actually what makes us become old. Combining personal anecdotes with psychological theory, philosophy, and eye-opening scientific research from around the world, she shows why we should look forward to embracing everything aging has to offer in terms of human and spiritual enrichment. The Art of Growing Old is a thought-provoking, brave, and uplifting meditation on the later years as they should be lived.

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