july 22, 2010 happy birthday Pete!!

Today at my house we're celebrating Pete's birthday. He told me this morning when I drove him to BART that he was thinking about his parents and the scene of his arrival in their lives. He was blown away thinking about how little he was and how big they were. He was thinking about their encounter and the fact that he was ever SO little once. I've seen pictures of Pete when he was little ... big head, little bitty self. But, it's him alright. His little hands resting on his knees as he sits.. his fingers firmly lined up.. just the way they still do. His BIG blue eyes... as benign and beautiful as always. and big smile... a happy soul. I thank God for his gift of Pete to me... today and always. Let the festivus continue!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Peter Manning Hayes. July 22, 1958 was a day that changed my life immeasurably and without whom there would be no Tommy, Billy, Robbie or John. HIP HIP HOORAY!! for PETE!!

monday, july 19, 2010

There is a very happy bird singing outside my living room window. A breeze is blowing, the sun is shining if I listen very carefully, I can hear the leaves rustling on the trees, the bird, a neighbor's dog, a motorcycle motoring down St. Mary's Road. If I quiet my mind, and just listen I can hear insects , the clock ticking on the kitchen wall, a car leaving its driveway. Just as I was thinking we hadn't seen any squirrels lately, I heard some ruckus and looked out the window and guess who was climbing the neighbor's fence not 12 feet away? Squirrel. Now there's a funny word. My friend asked if my name could be a noun, what would it be. Squirrel did not spring to mind. Actually, Pashmina did. Does Pashmina sound like a fat girl? If your name was a noun what would it be? Protuberance? How about Kaleidoscope? or Quilt? Kinda funny ... if you think about it. I mean Quilt is not too different from Quinn or Chet.... John said yesterday he was thinking that if a police man stopped him... he would say, "Is there an officer, problem?" Can you tell it's summer vacation? the things we have time to think about.

saturday, july 17, 2010

Never have I enjoyed packing for a trip as much as I have today. Pete and I hit the road early and ran all sorts of errands in preparation for our trip to Wales in one week. Haircuts, dry cleaning for wedding finery, travel stuffs like quick drying towels for the boys while they are staying in hostels in Ireland and Scotland, and then we came home and did a virtual pack. So nice to be doing it not in a panic late at night while exhausted. We could shuffle around the house and make lists and discuss things like the best way to pack five suit jackets, dress shirts and dress slacks. Then we made dinner with four of the five recommended courses from a menu for grilled salmon. It was fun because I did the asparagus and the Burgundy salad (a classic from Burgundy, France) while Billy grilled the salmon and Pete concocted the saffron risotto. There was a simple feta, pepper and honey first course served on crackers. The washing machine has been running non stop lately, so I took a break from that chore. There's more that needs doing! but I've packed what I'm taking and am NOT taking them out of the suitcase. It feels good to be getting well prepared. Keeping in mind, however, Rick Steves' encouragement to let go of expectations once the trip commences and to just see it all as part of the adventure. Good advice for life too eh? Serenity now.

friday, july 16, 2010

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel... don't 'know much about Mt. Carmel. I'll look that up. Jesus' gospel today is the story of the disciples eating grain from a field on the Sabbath. The Pharisees criticize them for it and Jesus says, essentially, the Sabbath was made for man, and not the other way around. The Son of Man is the master of the temple. My wonderings want to lead me to the question: where in life do I allow structural demands to supercede the life of the Spirit? Where am I not hearkening to the life of God within and ignoring them for the sake of some "societal norm" or law that is outdated or not as important as the life giving spirit within. I spoke to a woman yesterday who will be coming to speak to our Women's Group .. the title of her talk "Women Responding with a Resounding Yes!" I'm thinking about the ways that I ignore the yes's within that yearn to be spoken. The yes's that I would love to act on: some ideas I have for quilts, some calls I would love to make, some questions I'd love to ask. It seems to me that the God of love and of life would like me to follow those promptings too. Often, I worry that the prompting isn't valid OR that I don't have the stamina to follow through on the prompting OR that it isn't a valid desire. Hmmm. Consider this posting an invitation to do that thing that is an answer to the prompting of the spirit within. (that you might dismiss or ignore.)

tuesday, july 13, 2010

I was in the habit of looking up whose saint's feast day it was each day, but I've lost that habit. I wonder if I could identify a saint in my own midst and celebrate their sanctity, their gift to our world in my own way. Hmm. It occurred to me that July 13th seems like the middle of summer. Halfway between Independence Day and Pete and Billy's birthdays. July 22 and July 24 respectively. It is also a few wks before we head to Wales for Amy's wedding. ETD: July 24. So, summer saints. Maybe I'll celebrate the gardeners in my life... Peggy, Diane down the street, ah, Moyra and Thad up at Farm Fresh to You, Sally and Jeff whose garden is a feast for the eye. In gratitude for their growing things this time of year... to honor them? I'll find a garden gnome and put some flowers with it and say a prayer for them. Got any other ideas?

july 12, 2010-monday

This is from the prophet Isaiah! "Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan's plea, defend the widow." Here Isaiah says that Yahweh is telling the Israelites that he doesn't need any more animal sacrifice. What he yearns for? Listed above. What I hear? Love one another. Isaiah lived in the 700's B.C. The second Isaiah lived in the 500's B.C. Either Isaiah lived a LONG time before Jesus of Nazareth. The message was and is still: love one another. What does that look like? what does it mean to love someone? To trust in, believe in, hope for, care for, forgive another. What else ...no, seriously, I mean it? what else must I do.... reminds me of the rich young man who asks Jesus : what must I do to inherit the kingdom? Jesus says: give everything away and follow me. OMIGOSH! That is asking an awful lot! So, what are my riches that I must give up? and what would following His path look like? I'll take my answer off line. I'm gonna go sing about it in my car.... har!

saturday, july 9, 2010

Sisters, today, let us begin again. Today's gospel reading is from Matthew and is a favorite I think. "Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." Jesus points here to the way that his Father loves all of his children. And not only loves us, but loves us so particularly that he can account for each hair on our heads. That almost sounds like teenage idol worship. Or a parent infatuated with her child. Like most children whose parents are that enthralled with them, we might be uncomfortable with that much "being known". Particularly if it exhibits itself in a way that makes us feel like we're under the microscope. Try to imagine a loving parent who cherishes us that much and who allows us the freedom to be children of God. Try to imagine being that child who values that freedom enough to BE a child of God. What freedom we are invited to! BTW: we're witnessing the blossoming of a fly colony. We must have had 25 flies in our house last night and looking out my living room window, I see more flies landing on the neighbor's fence. Could it be that Robbie's composting experiment has resulted in a fly planet in our back yard? or ? They're just being flies. Today we're hiking on Mt. Tamalpais .. doing what people do.

july 8, 2010

From Matthew's gospel, chapter 10: "If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you." Matthew's Jesus is speaking to his apostles as he advises them on their discipleship. He is sending them out to preach the coming of the kingdom and here is addressing the inevitable happening: some will not receive or welcome the news. His suggestion is to hold on to the peace of the good news and carry on. This is such sage advice it seems to me. For some reason, I especially need to hear it. From a lot of angles. One, it is good to be reminded that not everyone is going to like you. That's a fact. and Two, move on! and keep your eye on the prize! Oh, and of course, there is the challenge of remembering Jesus' peace... which takes constant prayer. My goal for this week is to turn to prayer, in what ever shape or form that takes... my current favorite: singing in the car a made up prayer, which is amusing cuz I am not really a songwriter in real life, and because what surfaces as my prayer is sometimes a surprise.. but I try to go with it and am delighted that my songwriter self knows better what I need to ask God for than my fold my hands, and kneel-before-God self.

july 1, 2010

"Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic, “Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.” He rose and went home. When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to men." From Matthew's gospel we see Jesus revealing a new understanding of our relationship to his father and to eachother. In Jesus' day, I've been told, that if a person were afflicted with poor health, it was understood that that person was a sinner and that was God's judgement. In this story, Jesus shows us what authority we have as sons and daughters of God. Jesus got into trouble with the religious authorities of his day for healing people and claiming to have power from God. What wrath do we risk by reaching out to those who stand in the margins?