Category Archives: nature

Feb15

Spiritual Friendship

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Tilden Edwards wrote a book entitled Spiritual Friend: Reclaiming the Gift of Spiritual Direction. He is the founder of the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, where many of my teachers studied.

Edwards spoke to my heart of a “calm trust in grace winding its opening way” through one’s life.

Grace has been winding its opening way through me. I stood in a small park last Spring and saw with fresh eyes each raindrop on the grass, the trees, and the lily pond as grace. A gift that was mine for the taking, created by unseen forces.

I walked around the pond and took pictures of water lilies and a small cottontail rabbit nibbling, undisturbed, on lush wet grass. It was an experience of grace.

pond-in-distance lily-and-bud bunnyThis year I have visited monthly with a spiritual director in between classes to become a spiritual director myself. “Direction” is a bit misleading; it’s more like a conversation about one’s spiritual life. How does spirituality shape the way I live in the world? What’s the reason for prayer?

Since August I have been more faithful (again) about daily meditation / contemplation / prayer / what have you. I’ve increased the time gradually all the way up to 22 minutes in the morning and about 2 minutes at night as I settle into restful slumber.

In the evening I take a series of three breaths and repeat as long as needed while I focus on being grounded, on being full of gratitude, and on God as Love. The three Gs make it easy to remember:

1) Grounded. I belong here and I can rest now.

2) Gratitude. For grace that came my way this day, for friends, for opportunities and challenges, I give thanks.

3) God. Let all abide in love. Let love guide our lives.

Gratitude in the morning for having seen a new day, and gratitude for the day as I drift off to sleep, are now the bookends of my daily life. How does grace “wind its opening way” through your life?

Jan1

Blessings for 2017!

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Kristen Cervantes is a Student Pastor at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Waco, TX, while she continues her studies at Brite Divinity School in Ft. Worth. We have weekly conversations that help us both grow in ministry.

When Kris responded to presidential election results, she posted these wise words:

I will not despair. Or rather, I will not only despair.

At times like this I really do wish I believed in a God who is an active agent in the world. But as I think of the gut-wrenching sobs I have heard, felt, held in my body and held in the circle of my arms, in my friends’ bodies, I don’t have that solace.

I have solace in the beauty and wonder of the world we share. I have solace in the deep emotion that means deep commitment to the continued work of building the beloved community for all, regardless of race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, citizenship status, ability, and all the other boxes we try to fit ourselves and others into. I have solace in the help and strength and brokenness and beauty and potential in every human body and mind and soul.

My church says it wants to ‘create a more just and loving world.’ I take solace in the knowledge that we do not stand, move, and struggle alone in this painful and difficult act of creation.

I will not despair.

The New Year is upon us! May you find your way out of despair and into community.

Aug12

Unknowing

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prepare to dive

 

I am diving into a three-year course of study through Formation in Direction, FIND. First assignments have us plunging into both eastern and western Christian spirituality, and into personality types (beginning with our own).

The Cloud of Unknowing, written by an anonymous Christian mystic in 14th century England, captures the state of my progress.

Unknowing whatever I thought I knew about God, the unknowable.

Unknowing whatever logic gets in the way of silence.

Unknowing where FIND will take me.

Anonymous begins this book by telling the reader not to read it aloud or copy it or quote from it. Its lessons about contemplative prayer belong to one reader at a time. Until I have read the 75 short chapters and actually followed their instructions, I cannot know the whole of it, nor can I explain it fully by sharing it in part.

How delightful! This unknowing!

As I travel this unknowable path toward an unknowable God, I will come here to this blog from time to time to drop pebbles of uncertain origin. They might help me find my way home. The stones on my desk are inscribed with individual words:

Spirit

Courage

Balance

Walk

Always Say a Prayer

For now I shall claim them as my touchstones and solid companions to help me find my way home. Let the Unknowing begin!

Aug5

A Spiritual Life

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Breathe

A couple of weeks ago I read these words by Werner Herzog:

We need constantly to renew our relationships–

to the houses we live in,

to our friends,

to our own bodies

–all the time, every day.

I have become more diligent lately about going to yoga 2-3 times a week. It’s a gentle yoga with more attention to the breath than to the reach of the body. Focus on the breath and the body will follow.

A spiritual life means movement, not “just” prayer, writing, reflection, conversation. Thus are we invited to more mindfulness in everything we do for ourselves–food, drink, exercise; and more mindfulness in everything we do for the world–labor, chores, advocacy, volunteering, and otherwise getting out of our chairs.

The invitation has been here all the time. Mixed in with the rest of life’s debris we didn’t even notice the plain looking wrapper. But let your imagination open it. Notice the care with which it was created–the perfect choice of color and style, the quiet and open-ended invitation. There’s no deadline (other than death), no promises, no begging.

Just a possibility, waiting.

Feb11

Remembering Stuart

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Stuart Williamson

A distant friend died a few days ago. Stuart Williamson was somewhat distant in miles and through infrequent contact. When I moved to Texas in 1978 it could not have been long before I met Stuart and his wife Beth, who were married 33 years.

We were all members of Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Church in The Woodlands, TX. We also participated in weekend meetings of the Southwestern Conference, often three times a year for many years. Beth served the Conference as President, but Stuart was there, too, with quiet support.

Northwoods Church held a weekend camping trip on the Williamson property in Bedias, TX . We pitched our tents, enjoyed a glorious campfire, and appreciated their warm hospitality. A funny story: Bob Nugen, my first husband, and I went to bed relatively early, while others were still at the campfire. Morning reports were that Bob started snoring so loudly from our tent that neighboring livestock answered his “call.” I slept through it all.

Stuart and Beth were founders of a new congregation in Huntsville: now called Thoreau Woods Unitarian Universalist Church. I continued to see them at conferences around Texas. Occasionally I would travel to Huntsville to join others in protesting the death penalty outside the death house. The Williamsons would be there. It was particularly poignant when I knew the father of a condemned man. Karo Riddle had been a member of the church I served in Waco. His son Granville, an artist, was executed following a bar fight that went horribly wrong when he was 19. I was grateful to share his story with Stuart and Beth.

The last time I saw Stuart was in Livingston, TX, where I officiated at the memorial service for one of his fellow congregants, whom I had visited several times in a Houston hospital. Stuart and Beth were there along with family, friends, and many other members of their church. Six months later Stuart was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that progressed rapidly. He died at home with Beth by his side as he took his last breath.

There is a lot more to know about Stuart (see his obituary). Seeing him every so often for decades impressed me with his steadfast dedication, his devotion to Beth, and their significant service to Unitarian Universalism in a small East Texas community.

Friendship does not require daily contact. In our case, encounters were infrequent but always welcome. Repetition added layers of connection.

Rest in peace, Stuart. Cherish the memories, Beth.

Love and blessings,

Kathleen

Oct7

La Sagrada Família

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La Sagrada Família has been under construction since 1882. It is an expiatory cathedral, meaning that is has been paid entirely by donations–built by the people, not the Church. Though the work was begun by a diocesan architect, Antoni Gaudí was commissioned in 1883 to carry out the project. To quote from the website, “Gaudí himself said: ‘The expiatory church of La Sagrada Família is made by the people and is mirrored in them. It is a work that is in the hands of God and the will of the people.'” He devoted himself to this project for the rest of his life (1926) and even lived on site for the last few years of his life. In 1926 he was hit by a tram and died 3 days later from serious injuries. Architects since then have been carrying out his original plans. Latest projection is to complete the work by 2060 (but the date gets pushed back on a regular basis).

Gaudí left his mark all over Barcelona, primarily in architecture, but also in planning and landscaping, designing furniture.

My camera couldn’t capture the grandeur, so I invite you to check out the slide show on the official website. You can select the language of your choice from a dropdown list. Even better is a virtual tour. A congregation worships there in a side chapel. Hundreds of tourists come through the sanctuary on a daily basis. Definitely worth the ticket price!

Here are a few pictures I took. I chose one that shows construction cranes on one side. The door, covered with leaves of ivy, also hosts various other insects such as a praying mantis. Gaudí  wanted to acknowledge the creatures that had been displaced by construction. The geometrical shapes were in a demonstration area to show construction techniques.

The final one is an actual workshop (unoccupied when we were there) where contemporary artisans make molds for today’s construction. Gaudí had built his workshop on site and used the most modern of techniques to make construction easier and safer for workers.

Dec20

Flesh and Skin

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“The Practice of Wearing Skin,” a chapter by Barbara Brown Taylor in her book An Altar in the World, has me weeping (as has every chapter in the book).

If God became flesh (as Christians believe) or if God can be found within and among us (as I believe), then God loves the body. Each body. Lovely and irregular.

This idea links directly to a sweet, captivating story I saw yesterday of a father who tells his toddler daughter that she has a beautiful body–two strong legs on which she can walk and run, ears to hear voices and birds, a brain that can think and figure things out, a belly where food is digested to keep her healthy, and so on. [I can’t find the story! Can anyone else find it?]

The tears come because I have rarely loved my body and it never crossed my mind that God did. Taylor points out some reasons why we have a hard time loving our bodies: the Greek division between body and soul; the divide Descartes made between nature and reason; Protestant disdain for matters of the flesh; Freud and his sexual nonsense (my word, not hers); modern science that objectifies bodies and bodily functions; and an overlay of public sex from Victoria’s Secret to twerking.

I was terrified when Daddy made me touch him. I was ashamed of my body and the way it grew. I am embarrassed by the way it looks now. I am slothful when it comes to exercise and nutrition. I don’t like that it’s getting older and gray and sagging. I am loathe to admit these things semi-publicly.

But my body carries me around with some ease. It houses my brain and digests my food and allows my fingers to type. It feels pain, expresses empathy, and gives me access to sight, sound, touch, taste, and sometimes smell. It can do ordinary things like plant bulbs, read An Altar in the World, enjoy a cup of coffee, distract myself with email (stop it!).

God loves all that. God understands the shame, embarrassment, and slothfulness, and loves me anyway. Maybe it pisses God off that I don’t love my body well enough to care for it. New meaning to the prayer excerpt, “There is no health in me.”

My starting place this morning is to love my body as it is. While writing that sentence, I thought and wrote and scratched my head and shifted in my chair. My stomach growled. Then my mind turned toward gratitude. Taylor recommends that we pray in front of a mirror, naked (gulp), and give thanks for our bodies instead of rushing to cover them up. [Don’t children love to run around naked and sometimes even run outside that way?]

It is time now for me to change from comfy pj’s to comfy clothes to go get my package delivered yesterday to the apartment office. Naturally I will be properly clothed. But first I shall pause before the mirror and give thanks. Look how it can bend and stretch. Admire the shapes and scars. Wriggle fingers and toes and count them all like our parents did.

Isn’t that a good way to start the day?

Jan7

Monkey Onsen

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It’s snowing!

Light snow became snow showers overnight. By morning the accumulation was so beautiful–about 4 inches of new snow. On Saturday after breakfast we put on our warmest clothes, paid a small fee for snow boots, and were given a ride up the mountain. From there we set out to walk about 2 kilometers further up the mountain to Monkey Park!

The snowy trail was half the fun and we stopped often for photo ops.

Snow monkeys, properly known as Japanese macaque, live in the area year ’round. They spend nights in trees higher up, but come down to a hot spring and nearby stream during the day. Humans also come there during the day for research or photography, some of them with impressive cameras. The “Monkey Onsen” has a web site with more information and live web cam at http://www.jigokudani-yaenkoen.co.jp/

JIGOKUDANI YAEN-KOEN, “The world of Snow Monkey,” has attracted people since 1964. Jigokudani means “Hell Valley” because of its steep cliffs, steam rising everywhere from hot springs, and snow cover four months of the year.

We watched in wonder and amusement at the monkeys soaking in the steamy onsen, grooming each other, sitting on the ledge, or digging in snow for morsels of food. As long as we don’t scare them or try to feed them, they are basically disinterested in people.

A heated cabin nearby offers hot drinks, souvenirs, displays, and prize-winning photographs of snow monkeys. It’s a very popular stopping place!

We made it down the mountain in time to catch a bus back to the train station, just a short walk from the family-run inn. I fell a couple of times on the ice–just went down on one knee the first time but fell pretty hard on my hip the second time. My younger escorts and I linked arms the rest of the way.

It was nice to get back to the warmth of the inn, then into the onsen, with time for a nap before dinner. A beautiful day!

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Jan5

Two days in Nagano

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What a fun weekend! Thursday the 4th of January, Lin and Rob took Fred and me on an adventure. Without telling us the destination, they told us to bring warm clothes for two days and we piled into a rental car for a five-hour drive from Kawasaki.

Destination Nagano! Rest stops along the expressway are quite extensive, with large parking lots, restrooms, shops, and vendors. Paper cones of roasted and sweetened almonds, cashews, or peanuts enticed us to buy one of each to share. Yum!

Thanks to GPS we found our way to Yamanouchi-machi. We checked into our large room  and found tea waiting for us. The square table has four adjustable stadium-type seats on the floor. Under the table top are blankets and a quilt to hold in heat generated by heat lamps that are protected by a mesh cage. We can choose low, med, or high heat and our legs are toasty warm! We have enjoyed tea and good conversation here several times a day.

The first afternoon we agreed not to use any electronics until after dinner! Today as I write this, Lin and I are both on iPads and the guys are playing Minecraft on their phones

Dinner at 6 and breakfast at 8 were served Japanese style with so many delicious dishes. I’m not sure when I”ve tried so many new and unfamiliar foods. Using chopsticks was sometimes a challenge for me with the odd shapes and sizes.

After dinner was the first of several trips to one of the onsen (hot springs) at the inn. They are mostly segregated by gender, but after 11 if no one else is there, a group or couple can lock the door for a private spa. Lin and I loved the outdoor onsen under a light snow. So beautiful! The guys had different hours for that experience

Tomorrow, another surprise planned by Rob and Lin!

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Sep28

Crystal Bridges

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About five years ago Alice Walton decided to build a museum. Wouldn’t it be nice to have that much money at your disposal that you can start a museum? 😉 As the daughter of Sam Walton, she can do just about anything she wants that merely requires millions of dollars.

The good news for the rest of us is that museum is free. Sure, you can spend money at the restaurant or in the gift shop or toss in a donation, but all they ask is for your zip code. Sweet!

Anyway, Crystal Bridges is architecturally interesting, built as it is over Crystal Springs in Bentonville, Arkansas (north of Fayetteville). Its collection is American art from colonial times to the present. So a lot of North American history is left out, but it is not completely ignored. It’s a small enough collection that one day is sufficient for exploration. We spent 4-5 hours there; some people get in and out in an hour, though that seems mighty limited.

The guided tour we joined pointed out 10 different paintings (or sets of paintings) and sculpture depicting strong women. Some of these women were the subjects and some were the artists. It was interesting to notice the change in style over various periods. The iconic Rosie the Riveter, brawny and tough, contrasted with another propaganda painting of a smaller woman who was doing lathe work at a steel mill during the same period. The message was that even ordinary women could do this kind of patriotic work while so many men were at war.

After the Civil War, women artists became more visible and we haven’t looked back!

The museum is on beautiful parkland on which sculptures invite perusal along with lovely flora and fauna. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon or a day!