Uphill idealist

( Image found at blog World of Snark craft ) Blanket of love Flake by flake its falling, seeking a place to land, it seems so small and delicate and melts instantly in my hand. By the thousands they are falling, making their way to earth. They shimmer as I shiver and watch them silently cover the dirt. Thinking for a moment in my quiet reverie, if each flake represented G-d's love - but looked at the drifts saying, "Surely that's not all for me." G-d's love for us is like infinity, just like these piles of snow. This morning I became more aware of it and now feel I've got G-d's story to tell. I know that snowflakes are snowflakes, and G-d's love is G-d's love. But I spied a big fat snowflake, open my mouth and ate it. Thank you God for this snowflake, thank you God for you love.

There is a song called, " I want to be in the light." written by Charlie Peacock that has been one of my favorites for a long time. I was first introduced to the song after winning a 3 cassette set of Charlie Peacock's from a local christian radio station years ago. Every chance I could get I'd play those cassettes in the tape deck of my little Ford Escort hatchback. I wore out the cassette before I wore out the car. There is such a contrast between darkness and light. Sometimes the space between seems impossible to pass through. Biblically speaking, when Moses went up to the mountian to receive the ten commandments, the physical nature of his face was changed. His face seemed to "glow"! When Jesus takes Peter, James and John up to the top of the mountain to pray, his face's appearance changed and his clothes became dazzling white! When we draw near to G-d, we soak up the light like a thirsty sponge. When we walk away from G-d, we dry up like a sponge...

Last June I was shopping for a sturdy backpack for a trip I was taking later in the summer and stumbled across a lovely black-and-aqua-not-to-big-and-not-too-small backpack that was made by the Livity company which is centered on making quality merchandise that is responsibly created and constructed to last. Here is a excerpt from the home page of their website . LiViTY is a positive, healthy lifestyle. Our products and message reflect our core values of sustainability and unity. All of our apparel and accessories are designed using organic, renewable and recycled materials and are produced in equitable trade. Livity’s 2010 collection is an expression of our commitment to conscious living and creativity. I did not purchase the back pack when I found it because it went beyond the $40.00 mark at my local Wegman's Nature's Marketplace. We were supposed to receive a bag at the event I was attending, so I tabled the idea of buying the new one. A few months later, I found the bag ...

"Agnostics, atheists, deists, seekers, the disillusioned, the contented, the hedonists - lots of names for different stopping places on the spiritual pilgrimage. The point is that different people are at different places in their spiritual pilgrimage. Our conversation needs to focus on the particular issues that engage each person when it comes to God. So in this session we will explore that shape of spiritual pilgrimage." (Page 28 Holy Conversations) According to the text in Holy Conversations, we all are on a spiritual pilgrimage. Now that you've thought about your own journey a bit, think about where you are and give a name (your best guess) to where you think you might be in your spiritual pilgrimage. What was your pilgrimage to God like? Consider the phases you went through in your pilgrimage of faith. What helped you move toward God? When you think of all the stages of your own transformation, what does that do to your perspective on other people's pilgrimage? L...

Where did I first meet God? Thankfully, my childhood experience and introduction to God is filled with memories of sitting close to my Dad, holding his hand during prayer, listening to music and the messages, and feeling wrapped in safety as light shone through the stained glass windows of the sanctuary. I recall the pastor preaching a series on committing our lives to the practice of loving others the way Jesus did. Each week, when he would ask if anyone in the congregation would like to recommit their hearts to Christ and his way of life my heart would thump loud in my ears and tears would come to my eyes. It was if a magnet would pull my hand high above my head. I'd look up to see if he'd seen my hand and refuse to put it down till he smiled and nodded in my direction. "I see that hand." , he'd say in a kind and comforting way. After a few weeks of this, Pastor C. stopped to chat with my Mom and Dad and I one week. He said, "I noticed that each week you ke...

"But, my lips hurt real bad!" - Napoleon Dynamite You may have seen this quirky film a few years ago, or maybe not, but I think everyone can relate to the scene where Napoleon is stuck in school with no chap-stick and is calling home to see if his brother can drop it off for him. Chapped lips are horrible nuisance. No, they are not life-threatening - but annoying, distracting and painful. Have you ever misplaced your lip balm when you need it the most? It's an impossible thing for me, especially this time of year, to be without a tube of lip balm in my pocket. I have a couple favorite brands of lip balm: Burt's Bee's Peppermint and Thistle Farm's Tuscan Earth . The first is soothing because of the Peppermint and the second has a sort of sweet herbal fragrance and heals chapped lips amazingly fast. Once I applied the Thistle Farms Balm while in a waiting room, and a six-year-old boy walked in, sat down next to me and happily exclaimed, "What is that yumm...

Today was the retirement reception for Pastor Billy at First Lutheran of Jamestown, NY. Pictured with him here is Nigel (my son) and Tony and Abby who are all a part of the youth at our church. I know that the students will miss Pastor Billy, I know I will as well. Thank you P. Billy for always reminding us to... "Love justice, seek mercy and walk humbly with God, this is what the Lord asks of you." Micah 6:8