Joy

Joy is not the absence of sadness.
Joy is not about having fun, or about being happy.
You can't buy joy, or borrow it.
You can't create joy.
Joy simply comes,
unbidden,
unearned,
a gift.

On saying "I'm sorry"

To say "I'm sorry" is to express what is already known to God.

Saying "I'm sorry" to God frees me from that thing I've done for which I cannot forgive myself; that thing for which God has no interest in punishing me, but for which I have already begun to punish myself: through guilt, or shame, a diminished sense of well-being, or a desire to hide. Saying "I'm sorry" brings into my consciousness the very thing I’ve tried to bury. Expressing it holds me accountable.

I tell God "I'm sorry," and I'm forgiven, though sometimes I'm slow in accepting the forgiveness. I have to remind myself I really am loved “in spite of." Forgiveness enables me to let go and move on, unencumbered.

photo:AP

On meditation

Meditation is nothing more

than making contact with the person you were

before you did your best

to become everything you aren’t.

Trijn Touber

Accepting life as it comes

To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way, good or bad...

Eckhart Tolle

photo: mkbilyk

On pastors

Most churchgoers don’t know what to reasonably expect from their pastor. Who can blame them? The church doesn’t provide a consumer’s guide and - as yet - there’s no “Clergy for Dummies.” As a pastor who has served both in- and outside the local church for over twenty years, I offer these observations:

Your pastor is not perfect. If he acts that way, or expects it of you, refer him to the 12-step meeting in your church basement. (Ditto, if you expect your pastor to be perfect.)

Your pastor doesn’t have all the answers. If she did, she’d be God. She’s a human being, who - like you - is seeking to live faithfully in a world that’s broken.

Be suspicious of a pastor who smiles all the time. Pastors with a healthy emotional life will be present to pain and upset, as well as joy. Life is not a bowl of cherries.

Your pastor is not your mother, sister, father, cousin, or any other significant person from your past. This is important, since the feelings you have for others often get projected onto a pastor. If you’re upset your pastor has left on vacation, ask yourself, “Am I feeling abandoned? If so, what experience in the past does this remind me of?“ Pastors really do work more than one hour a week and – like everyone else - need time apart.

You, alone, are responsible for your relationship with God. Your pastor can help you discern the obstacles you’ve placed between yourself and God, as well as the steps you can take to re-connect (e.g., prayer, worship, reading scripture, acts of mercy, fellowship, service, meditation). Any intimate relationship requires trust, commitment, presence, and a willingness to both talk and listen.

Don’t be disappointed if “Onward Christian Soldiers” is not your pastor’s favorite hymn. If he’s honest, he’ll tell you he thinks the lyrics are militaristic and contrary to Jesus’ teachings. He may also be opposed to displaying the US flag in the sanctuary, reciting the pledge of allegiance during Vacation Bible School, and singing “God Bless America” in worship. This is a church, not an American Legion hall.

Also, don’t expect your pastor to demonize homosexuals or "illegal aliens". She’ll have to pray for help in forgiving you, and that only adds to her workload. It’s difficult to like people who think of and/or treat others like objects or things.

Great preachers are like great batters. They don’t always hit a homerun. It’s exciting when it happens, but the sport would be boring if there were no walks or strikes.

Finally, how do you treat your pastor? Do you ask too much? not enough? Are you merciful and honest? Ornry or condemnatory? Most likely, that’s how you treat yourself, your neighbor and your God.

PS: God works in some not-so-mysterious ways. Take your meds.

God, where are you?

Dryness does not deprive one of the presence of God, even though it can deprive one of the feeling of God's presence.

Francois Malaval

Food for Thought II

The author of “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth,” Dr. Jonny Bowden, put together for the NYTimes a list of the 11 best foods that you and I, most likely, aren’t eating:
1. Beets,raw
2. Cabbage,raw
3. Swiss chard, sauteed in olive oil
4. Cinnamon
5. Pomegranete juice
6. Dried plums (prunes)
7. Pumpkin seeds
8. Sardines
9. Tumeric
10. Frozen blueberries
11. Canned pumpkin, with butter, nutmeg, & cinnamon (yum!)

Sunset - Columbia, NJ

photo:mkbilyk

Close to my heart

Waking up in a Medivac en route to a trauma hospital puts you in touch with your mortality. In 1997, I broke my femur in half in a moped accident on Nantucket. Following surgery in Boston, I convalesced at home, with time to reflect on what I still hoped to do/accomplish over the next 40 years (given the average life expectancy of Caucasian women in the US.) I penned a 40 year plan, which I periodically update. The most recent additions: hug a panda, cross the plains of Mongolia (where eagle masters still practice their craft), visit Morocco and the Sahara, use more of my right--and less of my left--brain. Surrender. Love, love, love.

Lead us from death to life,

from falsehood to truth.

Lead us from despair to hope,

from fear to trust.

Let peace fill our hearts,

our world, our universe.

Let us dream together,

pray together,

work together,

to build one world

of peace and justice for all.

When I despair,

I remember that all through history

the ways of truth and love have always won.

There have been tyrants, and murderers,

and for a time they can seem invincible,

but in the end they always fall.

Think of it - always.

Mahatma Gandhi

You rock, Fratello Metallo

Friar Cesare Bonizzi, aka Fratello Metallo (Metal Friar), is about to release his second album "Misteri" (or mysteries) on a punk label. It was inspired by a group of Italian women singing about Jesus' mother Mary. Fratello Metallo wowed fans at last year's "Gods of Metal" concert, playing alongside Iron Maiden.

"I am religious and I am a priest, but I am not doing this to convert people to Christ, to faith or the Church, but for them to try to understand life, to be able to enjoy it. Nothing more."

Friar Bonizzi, a Capuchin monk, was once a missionary in the Ivory Coast.

photos: Alessandro Garofalo

news feed: Yahoo

You need chaos in your soul

to give birth to a dancing star.

Nietzsche

Whirling Dervishes

Whirling Dervishes trace their origin to the 13th century Ottoman Empire. The Dervishes are Sufis, the mystical branch of Islam. They celebrate the birth of Jelaluddin Mevlana Rumi, a mystic poet, on December 17. When they whirl, energy from above enters through the right palm, passes through the body and the left palm into the Earth.

Holy be-ing

Just to be is a blessing.

Just to live is holy.

Rabbi Abraham Heschel

photo: Ernesto Benaviddes/AFP

Immersed in God

Watching a marvelous film
about the ocean depths
I felt a huge desire
to help the fish
understand how lucky they are
to live immersed
in so much splendour.
Imagine then my thirst
to cry to men, my brothers,
that we live immersed – coming and going,
swimming to and fro –
not in the oceans
but in God himself.

Dom Helder Camara, R.C. Bishop, Brazil

photo: National Geographic

On patience

The key to everything is patience.

You get the turtle by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.

photo: Denis Balibouse

On soul mates

"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that’s holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so that you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you’ll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then they leave."

from "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert

On taking risks

Be bold and mighty powers will come to your assistance.

Goethe

photo: Ivan Alvarado/REUTERS

Beware: Barbie

I agree with Iran's prosecutor general (!) on one point: his country should be alarmed by the influx of Barbie dolls. Ghorban-Ali Dorri Najafabad thinks Barbie, among other imported Western toys, poses a threat to "children and young people whose personality is in the process of being formed."

What Western girl hasn't internalized a negative body image after holding, dressing, and admiring Barbie's perfect figure and Hollywood features? Her attributes have become so ingrained in the American psyche, MAC now carries Barbie cosmetics for women (who still yearn to be her?)

The Church of England's General Synod voted this week to allow women to be bishops. I'm intrigued with the outcry against the vote. Is not the English monarch, the Defender of the Faith, a woman? But (sigh) I'm being too logical. I've forgotten that hierarchies rooted in Rome are suffused with misogyny and sexism. Plus, many Anglicans consider themselves Anglo-Catholics; they fear the move will nix a hoped for reconciliation between the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. Once again there is talk of a schism within the Anglican communion.

Given the byzantine process by which the Synod's vote is to be ratified by various bodies, the very earliest a woman could be consecrated bishop is December 2014.

In the meantime, how many children could be fed, housed and educated with the funds and energy that will be focused on overturning the vote?

Buenos dias!

The more Spanish speaking people I encounter, the more limited I feel in my ability to communicate. So, I have decided to teach myself Spanish, as both a mental discipline and a means of expanding my world.
I found "Speak in a Week," a boxed set of 4 CD's, at Borders. But when I got home and opened it, I discovered "Speak in a Week" is a 4-week course. (Whatever happened to truth in advertising?)

I was a German major in college; can speak & read some French; and once excelled at Latin. I imagine my German-French-Latin Spanish will sound a bit like pig latin!

Papa Bear

Papa Bear ambled through our neighborhood Saturday. It's the first I've seen him. He's big, considering the distance from the double line to the road's edge is 10'. And, in the garbage raid above, the overturned Sanico can is 30" wide.

No wonder the cubs around here are so big.

photos: mkbilyk

Maggie (aka Magpie, Buttercup, Sweet Potato Pie, Magnolia, Lotus Blossom, Wiggle Worm)

Maggie, our intrepid swimmer, who's built as solid as a gymnastic vault, is having surgery this morning. (So, please, say a prayer for her and for her surgeon, Dr. John.) She ruptured the cruciate ligament in her right leg and will be walking on three paws for the next two weeks. Then, it's leash-only activity for 6 weeks. All of which is difficult to imagine, because Maggie has been "strong like bull" since she was a puppy. It's painful to see her so vulnerable.

photo: mkbilyk

Faces speak volumes

Quadafi photo: Asmaa Waguith/REUTERS

Mandela photo: Akira Suemori/AP

Skywalking

If the sky begins at the earth's surface, do we walk through sky?


photo: mkbilyk

Rumi

Out beyond ideas of

wrongdoing and rightdoing,

there is a field.

I'll meet you there.

photo: mkbilyk

On procrastination

If you have to swallow a frog,

don't look at it too long.

Shalom

Wish it were a sneeze, but...
Ultra-orthodox Jews in Jerusalem are protesting that city's Gay Pride parade. The sackcloth is a traditional sign of mourning.

photo: REUTER/Gil Magen

Unconditional love

Maggie, our black lab, has dug a pit beneath the picnic table. She dips, flips, and rolls herself in the loose dirt, like Shake-n-Bake, until covered.

"Do you suppose there's a reason for the behavior?" I ask Ed.

"She has a need to do it," he says.

Ed loves Maggie and accepts her behavior, like he loves me and accepts mine.

photo: mkbilyk