Uphill idealist

About a year ago I was completing an internship at Lutheran Social Services for my pastoral counseling course. My internship involved learning the duties associated with ministering in a nursing and long-term care facility, helping with on-site worship services and visiting residents with various needs and health issues. One of the most challenging aspects of visitation was always keeping to the present. My mentor carefully chose the residents for me to visit. Some people I had been assigned were quite alert. One lady was quite young and was there to recuperate from a badly broken leg. Several people on my list were recipients of butterfly magnets that were fixed to the metal nameplate on their room doors. The butterfly magnets were given to residents that were in the process of dying. They were presented to the resident in order to give an opportunity for the ministry staff to discuss important spiritual matters concerning rebirth and renewal in heaven. The butterfly magnets also help...

Tipsy So much seems to have fallen In my lap. So much change that needs to Happen - and fast. So much progress that is invisible to see. So much of what I do is what if, and what could be. Visions I see seem invisible to others. Visions I see are just impossible to recover. Visions of beauty, community and faith – Slipping through my hands at increasing rates. So much life In days and in lores. So much effort and input and chores. So much is uncertain and teetering me. Visions I see are the opposite of What eyes witness and what ears document. Visions of restoration, recreation and right. It all will happen, but rush it and maybe not might. Rushing deters the dreams of what could be and what should be with love. Slow down to nurture, to tend to too - with patient gardener's gloves. The garden I tend isn't filled with hoes and carts. The garden I work in is the unpredictable human heart. Copyright T.L. Eastman 2007

My last twelve Advent and Christmas seasons have been full of rush and scurrying. Partially because either my husband or I had been employed by a social service agency that provides a great deal of services to the needy this time of year and partially because the mood and effect of "rush" seems to worm its way into life unannounced. I've repeatedly commented to friends and family this year, especially since Thanksgiving was just a day ago, that... "It just doesn't feel like the holidays to me - I'm not stressed or frazzled!". Since when do the words "stressed" and "frazzled" have to be directly connected to the holiday season? The earliest coining of the words "Black Friday" in connection to the official beginning to Christmas shopping the day after Thanksgiving reaches back to the year 1970 in Philadelphia, PA. "Philadelphia police and bus drivers call it "Black Friday" - that day each year between Th...

Pessimism keeps people trapped in a life where everything is always the same, people never change and daily life is drudgery. Optimism allows for the possibility of surprise, people are full of possibility and life is an adventure. These twos worlds are ones we all live in. Some people are naturally more one or the other; in fact we all have tendencies to either be a glass half full or a glass half empty kind of person. In the book of Luke we have seen the Samaritan woman at the well become the messenger of good news to her entire community, the blind faith of the Roman Centurion who trusted in Jesus' word to heal his ill servant, a sinful woman anointing Jesus with expensive perfume and washing his feet with her tears of gratitude and drying them with her hair, demon possessed men are freed from their torment, children are raised from the dead, and Jesus feed thousands with the lunch of one small boy. Over and over again Jesus takes the meek, unwanted, outcast and small things and...

I wonder why life can't be written in invisible ink – So all the errors wouldn't show up in indelible ink. Questions unasked, and lessons unlearned If I couldn't see them would I be so concerned? White washing fences only covers decay. White washing fences only divides us today. White washing fences won't fool me at all. White washed fences make faulty walls. I wish my days would be written in invisible ink – Too many dishes to wash in the sink. To many chores and to many lures. If I could ignore them I'd have learned so much more. White washing fences only covers decay. White washing fences only divides us today. White washing fences won't fool me at all. White washed fences make creaky walls. I know my life is written in invisible ink – So much talking – I need to learn to listen – to think. So much worry over this and over that – If I could let go it would be such a snap. White washing fences only covers decay. White washing fences only divides us today. Whit...

I hope you all can make it to this event next weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or would like to help. Tara

You Are 4: The Individualist You are sensitive and intuitive, with others and yourself. You are creative and dreamy... plus dramatic and unpredictable. You're emotionally honest, real, and easily hurt. Totally expressive, others always know exactly how you feel. At Your Best: You are inspired, artistic, and introspective. You know what you're thinking, and you can communicate it well. At Your Worst: You are melancholy, alienated, and withdrawn. Your Fixation: Envy Your Primary Fear: To have no identity Your Primary Desire: To find yourself Other Number 4's: Alanis Morisette, Johnny Depp, J.D. Salinger, Jim Morrison, and Anne Rice. What Number Are You?