Uphill idealist

After a busy Saturday morning working out the last few touches on our upcoming Christmas program for church on Sunday, I made a quick drive up to Fredonia NY to play some music for my friend Andy's last Christmas bazaar of the holiday season. I was feeling a little rushed when I arrived, but after walking in the door, getting a cup of coffee, setting up my stand and guitar, I was happy and ready to play. I played a song and waited for Andy to come up and accompany me on drums and we started to jam to my tweaked version of 'Silent Night'. After a chorus or two, a guy with a cello wandered up on stage and sat down and started to play along with us. I asked Andy if he'd sing the verse and I'd take the 'peace' round I'd learned in high school and as he set up his mic, the cellist played a solo verse of the song. Andy and I sang harmonies on the chorus and he continued and I went off and improved the 'peace' part. On the last two chorus repeats, my fr

If it weren’t for holidays, I think it would be possible for people to keep on trucking through days and weeks before they’d take notice of how quickly time was really passing. Rush is such a part of our western world, that most of the time we don't know any other way to function. Advent is passing into Christmas and Christmas to New years and we find ourselves in the midst of resolutions and hopes for the upcoming year. What will this year hold? What do I hope and dream of in the 365 days of 2009? Before I get thinking too far in the future, there is a point that I’d like to make. The holidays have a way of marking time for us. When we return to our lives beyond Christmas, New Years and Three Kings day – what will help us to slow down and become more aware of life and spiritual matters? Living in an attitude of contemplation is one way of striving for this awareness. Contemplation is defined as being given to or characterized by contemplation. Some synonyms of contemplation are:

© All rights reserved. Dee Muzzi. Jan 08. Connections was a ten-episode documentary television series created and narrated by science historian James Burke. My husband and I used to watch reruns of the show when our kids were little and really enjoyed the varied and unique way the show went about teaching the audience about science. I've always had this love for connections. Things that bring people and ideas together really have a way of making my day. Even in writing for this blog, it is an exercise in connections of what is brewing and bubbling in my mind and hopefully connecting with the reader. Connections in writing, science, community and life are life-giving. Last night, some of my church kids and I went to a retirement home to go caroling. We brought caroling books, a Santa hat for one of us to wear, and some battery powered electric candles we borrowed from a supply closet at church. We wandered around the floors of the home and sang in hallways, dining areas, and even t

My friend James sent me an email this morning that showed the scale of the earth compared to the sun. The diagram even went on to show the scale of our sun to star further out in the universe. At this level of the diagram, the earth is invisible on the chart. The earth is invisible! Wow! Sometimes it is easy to allow little things to overwhelm us. It's possible that there are many little things that add up to a large burden, but in the light of this universal diagram, what we think is important is determined by our perspective. What may seem like a big deal could be invisible to someone else and vice versa. Going one step further, take a look at an image taken with the Hubble ultra deep field telescope of countless 'entire' galaxies billions of light years away. This next image is taken of one of the darkest spots in space. It is humbling and awesome when I consider the vastness of the universe. Even in a section of space that seems to be dark and void, when looking with th

I find this t-shirt so funny. Pretty good goods is where you can find it. For me right? Click here to join in on NaBloPoMo 16 thankful posts down, 15 to go!

Photo from webshots Taking this old bed apart rail by rail, turning the wrench, thinking of all the childhood memories it imparts. Stuffed animals there and comics here. Action figures strewn everywhere. Still there are clothes to sort and order to restore. I'm in not so much of a hurry though. Without this bed, the room won't look quite the same anymore.

It's Monday morning and it's the first time since Friday that I've had time to catch up with reading in the "blogverse" (as my blogging friend Mary Lue says). Speaking of Mary Lue , today is Sleeping with bread Monday and that is the day that I (along with other bread bakers) assess the last week of life and look for the moments, things, conversations and experiences that I felt the most alive and the most drained of life. This examen is one that I've found most helpful, and I'd be happy to have you join in on the Monday bread bakers. If you'd like more information go to Mary Lue's Sleeping with bread . Now on with the baking. ____________________________________________________________________________ The moments that I felt most drained of life were ones where I was unexpectedly put in situations that I was not prepared for. One of my friends calls those opportunities, baptisms in fire. While I do enjoy challenges and figuring out solutions, I

Photo from Wikipedia Lucia Festivals are common to churches that originate in families from the Scandinavian or Italian culture. Lucia was a Christian woman who lived in the Roman empire who decided to give her dowry to the poor instead of marrying whom she had been promised to. Lucia was burned at the stake for her rebellion against what she described as pagan society, but is remembered and held as a Saint for her willingness to stand true to her faith. She is often referred to as the "Queen of light". This evening, First Lutheran Church held its annual Lucia Festival. The festival includes a meal, some entertainment, the procession of the Court, flower girl, crown boy, star children and tom te goobers (Sorry for the bad spelling, I'm not Swedish.), the announcement of the Lucia bride and the eating of cookies. In the past, I've helped and organized Lucia Fest's in other circumstances and mostly remember panic and anxiety as partners in the program. In the effor