Summer of My Dreams by Delores Keane

Leading into the summer this video on you tube speaks volumes.




Delores Keane has just the lilt for it.

reality within reality (mystic layer)

crawling in and working out
craving for divine invasion

mystically expressed yearning
union continuous increasing

reality inside reality
healing old, revealing new

distinctive mark on the heart
“the deep and burning wound”

propelled to life transcendent
object of desire consumes, inspires

moving through the day

(thanks to a friend for a comment-able comment :)
it started here

strong craving - attempts enslaving
early pre-dawn - cobwebs moving on
slumbering conscious - not pretentious
faith walking - forming tallking
full desiring - start perspiring
longing increase - time of release
chosen nature - every creature
good reminder - blank daytimer
a day's inherent - defines existent
many longings - produce belongings
longings pondered - dreams squandered
release frustration - quadratic equation
music musers - gods and losers
wish today - give love away
memories small - refresh recall
ask someone - share memory fun
be soft, sweet – shaped, spent complete

Cabin Gathering

I saw this guy (yes he's a for real jackass - lol ) on the way up to the cabin and couldn't resist pulling over to snap his photo.

You may have seen the post for April 26.
We did gather at the cabin.
It is such a place of peace and rest.

Opposite the cabin is this "pole barn" -
the band played golden oldies country music.
One I remember had the lyrics, "Lost all my money but a two dollar bill"

Some of us "amateurs" pitched in a bit too!

week number 115

this from http://curiousasacat.blogspot.com/

1) how would you redesign the way movie ratings are assigned?
this i know nothing about - and don't have the desire to learn it... better to know the filmmaker and their attitude prior to attending and their desired effect and-or motives

2) what is the best way to make friends?
to have a friend - be a friend, and pass it on along...

3) what is the most sacred or holy spot you've ever seen?
the place in my heart where affirmation of the love of the eternal one has been expressed from that eternal being to my immortal soul

4) what is the most irrational thing you've ever done?
i insisted on entering the mental ward of the hospital once (as a patient :) - totally irrational and helped nothing :) ahhhh the fantasies of youth!


5) show and tell. what comes to mind first when you see this picture? or, tell a story if it reminds you of one.


OH WILDFLOWER

oh wildflower, sacred child of immensity,
blossoming with no regard for beauty
giving vivid colour, fragrance freely
hiding nothing selfishly from view

no self adulation expressed by wildflower
gift of presence offered without reserve
remembered long, wildflower's gift replete
this frankness, boldness, and air both rich and sweet

Pamela

We were married for 19 and a half years when she died.

Pam was born 9-18-1963 and died 1-10-2006.
It was breast cancer that took her life.
But cancer did not dominate her wonderful spirit or stop her from giving all she had to friends and family along the way.

Saturday - Not a problem to Conquer

"Life is not a problem to conquer. It is a mystery to be explored."

Some 24 years ago I connected on the job with some folks.
We are still friends; we get together several times a year.
We enjoy together :)

Today we will be at the cabin. We'll eat BBQ and fixings.
We'll sing, talk and visit.

We'll explore the mystery together!

The picture is the cabin where we gather.

Randy

This guy is going through it these days.

If you are familiar with the "last lecture" this is his update site.

His name is Randy Pausch . And that is his link -

If you haven't seen the "last lecture" search it on YouTube.
It will inspire.

something small

I found this on google by searching images with the phrase "spur me on" -

Are, in fact, the small inklings ignored instead of encouraged that should "spur on" wonderful life?

I was challenged by an idea (that's right it doesn't take much for me) this morning. The writer said consider the following: "the thing within I fear is the thing to be attempted."

So what is there within me to "fear" - I read a story this morning in our local paper about the outrage of one neighborhood in our city. The people are upset because a private school campus has been purchased for conversion to a homeless shelter. The nerve of the local rescue mission to think the fine folks in this neighborhood could accept this and all the "baggage" that would come to their neighborhood with the shelter. And what could the city council have been thinking??!!##@$#@!!~~?? Here is an editorial link in local paper. Also this article on a recent council meeting.

Yet, I hear nothing of those who would stand for the homeless.
Is this a challenge to "this old heart of mine?" something to ponder...

Is fear an indicator to speak out or take action?
What do you fear?
What takes you out of your comfort zone?

my secrets

"There, there is the crooked tree, the moss with my secrets, those pines upon that cliff of shake, the valley living with the tunes of diesel trains. Nobody knows the exact place I speak of, and why should I tell them? For every man is his own Jacob. He wakes up at the foot of his own ladder and sees the angels going up and down, with God at the top of the ladder. And thus he wakes up in his own unrecognizable house, his gate of heaven." - "April 23, 1951, II. 456-57" The journal of Thomas Merton.

When have I been "my own Jacob" ? Or awakened at the "foot of my own ladder" ?

Often I have suspected I was in the "unrecognizable house", but not so often have I felt it a gate of heaven.

My gate involves an 11 year old, a 15 year old, a sometimes home 18 year old and a cat named twilight. There is the "other", she climbed her ladder Jan 10, 2006 and has since remained with God on high, leaving us here to contemplate just what that could mean to each of us.

Azaleas - A goose

On my way to work today ...
I really enjoy the reflections in the water

If you could have

found at curious cat

1) If you could have participated in any political march (protest or support or other), which one would you have chosen.
The Selma March that came to be called Bloody Sunday, (Not the Bloody Sunday in Ireland)

2) Talent show tonight!! Give us a preview of your act. - Performing Irish tunes on the octave mandolin: A reel, a jig, a waltz and a polka. All for your dancing and-or listening enjoyment. Hear a wee tune played by moi on the mandolin

3) What architectural wonder would you like to be in charge of, or own?
Something by Frank Lloyd Wright - Falling Waters would be terrific

4) What is the hardest test you've ever taken? - Calculus Semester III

5) What comes to mind first when you see this picture? See the above link to curious cat for the picture... but simply stated "a rocket" - I guess I was supposed to ramble on about it ... but.. well ... gee --- it's a rocket :)

Discover this, discover life!

Once I asked my confessor for advice about my vocation. I asked, "How can I know if God is calling me and for what he is calling me?"
He answered, "You will know by your happiness. If you are happy with the idea tha God calls you to serve him and your neighbor, this will be the proof of your vocation. Profound joy of the heart is like a magnet that indicates the path of life. One has to follow it, even though one enters into a way full of difficulties." - From "My Life for the Poor" by Mother Teresa

To ponder the places where I experience "profound joy" takes a bit of time.
Discover this, discover life!

"Profound joy of the heart is like a magnet that indicates the path of life."

I will take some time for this today.

possibility of love

Can you give me one good reason to rule out the possibility of love?
The wonder of childhood is the simplicity with which love (and other emotions) are shared.
Do adults simply rule out the act of love (kindness) too quickly?
Is the possibility of simply showing love (graciousness) too raw?
Why do I withhold the very thing that should come first?
The possibility of love is near.

Poem in your Pocket day

May the light of your soul guide you.
by John O'Donohue (1954-2008)

May the light of your soul guide you.
May the light of your soul bless the work
You do with the secret love and warmth of your heart.
May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul.
May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light and renewal to those
Who work with you and to those who see and receive your work.
May your work never weary you.
May it release within you wellsprings of refreshment, inspiration and excitement.
May you be present in what you do.
May you never become lost in the bland absences.
May the day never burden you.
May dawn find you awake and alert, approaching your new day with dreams,
Possibilities and promises.
May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.
May you go into the night blessed, sheltered and protected.
May your soul calm, console and renew you.

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Poem in your pocket day Link

where do you find statements of faith

"How" was a song written by John Lennon.

It says something of faith.

Oates quote

"They were married, and each became the other's best friend. And each realized he hadn't had a true best friend, until now."
page 118, The Falls, by Joyce Carol Oates

Perhaps you have had this experience? or desire to attain it?
or desire to repeat it?

I suspect it cannot be willed into existence, yet, when two people turn
their interest fully to one another it often happens.

get in touch with chosenness

Below is an excerpt from a book I have read.
It challenges me personally to
live a life that expresses itself with "Gratitude" or "Thankfulness".
Yes, this is high idealism. But I do believe we can live for a higher standard if we plan, these things however may or may not happen by accident.
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How do we get in touch with our chosenness when we are surrounded by rejections? (I have already said that this involves a real spiritual struggle.) Are there any guidelines in this struggle? Let me try to formulate a few.
First of all, you have to keep unmasking the world about you for what it is: manipulative, controlling, power-hungry and, in the long run, destructive. The world tells you many lies about who you are, and you simply have to be realistic enough to remind yourself of this. Every time you feel hurt, offended or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: “These feelings, are strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God’s eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity and held safe in an everlasting embrace.”
Secondly, you have to keep looking for people and places where your truth is spoken and where you are reminded of your deepest identity as the chosen one. Yes, we must dare to opt consciously for our chosenness and not allow our emotions, feelings or passions to seduce us into self-rejection. The synagogues, the churches, the many communities of faith, the different support groups helping us with our addictions, family, friends, teachers and students: all of these can become reminders of our truth. The limited, sometimes broken, love of those who share our humanity can often point us to the truth of who we are: precious in God’s eyes. This truth is not simply an inner truth that emerges from our center. It is the truth that is revealed to us by the One who has chosen us. That is why we have to keep listening to the many men and women in history who, through their lives and their words, call us back to it.
Thirdly, you have to celebrate your chosenness constantly. This means saying “thank you” to God for having chosen you, and “thank you” to all who remind you your chosenness. Gratitude is the most fruitful way of deepening your consciousness that you are not an “accident”, but a divine choice. It is important to realize how often we have had chances to be grateful and have not used them. When someone is kind to us, when an event turns out well, when a problem is solved, a relationship restored, a wound healed, there are very concrete reasons to offer thanks: be it with words, with flowers, with a letter, a card, a phone call or just a gesture of affection.
-From 'Life of the Beloved' by Henri J. M. Nouwen

Artist's Date

A date with myself to nurture the "artist" in me.
Could be interesting.
I have done it, but it has been a long time ago.
There are lots of things I could do.
Take a camera to the Botanical Garden for lunch.
Go to the museum downtown.
Spend time in the park.
Take a walk through the mall.
Pick up a CD and put it on for my listening pleasure.

Have "YOU" ever done an Artist's Date ? What was it like?

the challenge was this...

The challenge was to use basketball, grocery store and Valentine's Day in a story.
My poem is the story.

I edited a dab my outburst on Stilletto Irreverence.


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Heart jolts thump, thump, thumping like a basketball,
Feet meander to the flowers in the grocery store.
The thump thump thumping becomes electric.
There! The roses! The petals! The smell!
On Valentine's Day they will adorn a grave.

~for a cancer victim