July 19, 2009

When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,his heart was moved with pity for them,for they were like sheep without a shepherd;and he began to teach them many things. (Mark's gospel, chapter 6 from today's reading.) Now Jesus is teaching. If we are the sheep, and Jesus is the shepherd, what would He want to teach us? How are we lost?

briefly

In Matthew's gospel, chapter 12: Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,my beloved in whom I delight;I shall place my Spirit upon him,and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.He will not contend or cry out,nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break,a smoldering wick he will not quench,until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope. Before these verses we learn that Jesus has been healing people, in fact, it says that he healed all the people. I'm trying to imagine what happened here acc. to Matthew. It sounds like Jesus' approach is to heal and then lay low. He asks the people not to tell anyone about his deeds. He knows he is in deep water, but because he can't help himself, he heals people. He has compassion for the people. That's the Jesus I want to focus on... the heart that loves that much. Someone said recently, Edwina Gately? , that the Spirit reaches us through the cracks in our hearts. Hmmm. Jesus must have had a lot of cracks.

Danny, the dog and Names

"I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord." Psalm 116 Yesterday my "insight" after listening to the readings was "Let God be God". So today's psalm evokes an image of Jewish ritual. The priest or the rabbi holds the cup, asks Yahweh to bless it and gives thanks. Calling on the name of the Lord. I love that! Calling on the name of the Lord. Names are big for the Hebrew spirituality... calling someone by name, I've been told, establishes a relationship then between the two, namer and named. So the person calling on the name of the Lord recognizes the presence of the Other, the Creator, the Lover. This reminds me of hearing my name called. When I was little, my parents would call my name... and I could tell by the tone of voice if it meant dinner, or that I was in trouble, that I had a nice surprise or was being given a chore to do. Friends would have nicknames for me... that was fun, mostly. One friend called me "Betty" and I called her "Celeste" which struck us funny every time we said it. It conjured images I think of Thelma and Louise or LaVerne and Shirley. For a long time, Pete couldn't call me by name... what that was about I don't know. But, when he finally did, oh, that made me happy. The boys called me Mommy only for a short time, and then I became Mom. Most of the time I have loved being called that. There were days I'd have liked to divorce myself from the title... when I was tired and losing my identity as an entire person. Now, I'm over 50 and getting reacquainted with who Katie is. Part of who she is knows that raising the cup, blessing it and giving thanks is an important part of discovering more of who I am . "Calling on God, calling on God!" Oh, I'm reminded of Kaitlin, played by Amy Poehler on SNL. She has a special relationship with her stepdad, Rick. Rick is patient and longsuffering. Kaitlin is manic and her brain is active... I'd say she is fully alive. I think I'll try emulating Kaitlin's relationship with Rick in my prayer life. It's not very mature, but it's REAL. Try hulu.com, "kaitlin goes to the mall".

yoke, moses, burden, light, Pete's garden

Moses is still talking to God by the burning bush. I love how they hammer out exactly what it is that Moses is supposed to say to the Israelites .. okay, now WHO is it that I'm supposed to say sent me? God says, "I am who am".. or how about just "I am" . If I say those words of God "I am" it sounds like a mantra or a breath prayer. If I try to ignore what the words mean and just listen for the sound of "I am" ... I hear the brand name of a dog food. Oops, no, "Ehyeh asher ehyeh" that's the Hebrew translation ... which doesn't evoke anything solid either. My parents used to refer to individuals with exuberant egos as the "Great I Am". So, Moses says...and then you want me to tell them that we'll go tell the Egyptian king that we're leaving for a few days to go out into the desert to worship our god, and when the king says oh, no you won't then ? Then, says God, I will smote the Egyptians with all sorts of horrible things. Now, if this was the story, which was told years afterward as the Israelites sat around their dinner tables or camp fires, then this was their story. If I were to look back on events in my life, would I see God's hand at work?

Jesus says in today's gospel: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,and I will give you rest.... Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."

What I'm hearing in the readings in this moment: Let God be God.

still searching.. and being hounded

From Lucy Grealy's Autobiography of a Face:

"I used to think truth was eternal, that once I knew, once I saw, it would be with me forever, a constant by which everything else could be measured. I know now that this isn’t so, that most truths are inherently unretainable, that we have to work hard all our lives to remember the most basic things." This is why I blog. To help me remember the truth and maybe to discover it anew.

and another thing

At a gathering of old friends the question was posed: What was something someone told you that remember as words of wisdom? On the spot, that was tough for some. Some though were able to identify a phrase or a statement and share right away. Two I remember: "never take your eye off the ball".... and "do not look back and regret" Both of those were statements made by dads to their sons. Knowing the two gents as I do I thought how lovely that their dads were able to offer what I thought were real words of wisdom to these two particular men. It actually almost made me cry to think of those two fathers whom I know are now deceased. I made myself cry just by thinking and writing about them. Anyway, my father also said, "keep your eye on the ball" which is a great one! He actually said a lot of things like that as he taught me how to use tools, hammer a nail, hit a baseball., change a tire.. I was the oldest of four girls and then a boy entered our family. So Daddy taught me the stuff dads know how to do, since I was his first. My mother taught me about domestic tasks: "always pre-shrink fabric before you sew with it", "always wash anything raw chicken touches", "wash your sheets once a week" "eight inches is the span between your thumb and your middle finger"... There was a lot of unspoken stuff ... I knew that clean fingernails were a good thing. Back to the words of wisdom. I remember my mother saying, "No one chooses to be unhappy." "They just don't know any better." "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." My father said, "Don't try to teach your grandmother how to suck eggs" which kind of left me wondering... I'm remembering some things they said that didn't ring true as wisdom, but that's for another blog and possibly due to the generational difference? Name words of wisdom that someone shared with you. Please?

my favorite recipe

This quilt was made by my mother for me on the occasion of my 40th birthday. That was a few years ago. She made it all by hand. That is what she enjoys! It hangs in my family room and reminds me of my mother... and how she loves to make things with her hands and of how much she loves her children. I know the feeling!


I'm making my favorite Moroccan Carrots recipe right now. As I was concocting I thought it'd be fun to share the recipe and to ask my readers if they would share their favorite recipe. Let me say right up front, that I am not a great cook. I'm really not even a good cook, but I do like to eat and this recipe is pretty fool proof. So, here goes:





3 lbs. carrots, peeled, trimmed, and cut on sharp diagonal into 1/3 inch slices


1 C fruity olive oil


1/4 C balsamic vinegar


3/4 C red wine vinegar


1/4 C. sweet Hungarian paprika


1/4 C ground cumin


5 lg. cloves garlic, coarsely chopped


1 C. minced fresh parsley


1 T salt or to taste





1. Place the carrots in a large pot and add cold water to cover. Cook over high heat just until the carrots are crisp-tender. DO NOT OVERCOOK. Drain immediately. Do not rinse with cool water.


2. While the carrots are cooking, make the dressing: Whisk the oil, both vinegars together in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the paprika, cumin, and salt.


3. Add the hot carrots to the dressing and stir to coat. Add the garlic and the parsley and toss to combine. Let the salad cool to room temperature, then serve. The salad can be stored in the fridge for several days. For the best flavor, let it warm to room temp before serving.


Makes 10-12 servings.