Destiny or floating....

"I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating

around accidental-like on a breeze, but I,

 I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is happening at the same time."

from the movie Forrest Gump

I've been thinking today and watching people.  People moving all around, running into each other, trying to avoid each other, pretending we don't see each other,

all moving around on this tiny speck of a planet we call earth, living out what we call

Life.  I wonder, is this the providential master plan

or

do we float around with the wind underneath our spread out feathers,

gliding along on a breeze in some happen-stance kind of way where hope rises up to meet our fears to allow us to  meet each new encounter as it comes to us.

I'm like Forrest

I don't know.

I used to believe in the Master Plan,

all drawn out in some Record book.

I'm not sure I beileve that now---believe that we are just mere checker pieces that some bearded guy in the sky moves in a random amusement like fashion.

I'm not sure it is all accidental-like

but perhaps a bit of both all rolled up

in a big bundle known as life that moves along, rolls along, occuring all around us...

Why such deep thoughts?

Perhaps, it was part of that Master Plan

or

just mere happenstance that I was standing where I was standing today...

whatever it was

it invited me to think about what all this meant...

I'm still not quite sure

don't have it figured out,

but perhaps

if I tell you the tale of my day,

you'll have some thoughts to share

about

whether our road map is all planned out or

if each new encounter rises to greet us

or do

we

we have the choice to say Hello-new occasion, nice to see you!

or hide our eyes and move on by....

so here is what happened.

this my tale of the today....

I stopped by the pharmacy to pick up some medications on the way home.

There was a line and so I stood there,

watching and listening to life all around me.

When from behind me,

I heard,

"I like your head cover" said a man with a deep voice.

"Why thanks--I don't have hair, I've been getting chemo for cancer."

"Well I'll pray for you," said the man.

"I found out a couple of months ago and found out yesterday,

I am in remissions, Praise God.  God is Good!

"all the time." said the man.

"Let me have a high five for Jesus!" said the woman and

I heard the sound of their hands slap.

I began to think

and

wonder as I listened to their continuing conversation,

"When are people gonna realize that everything is part of the Divine plan....blah blah..."

and I left their conversation.....

and

.....

I began to think...

think about what they were saying...

"I used to believe this...used to embody this....but is it true???

Is that how God works?

some are healed and others left to die,

planned remission or put out of commission.

I listened some more as the gentleman insisted that the woman go in front of him---I was of course dying to turn around and stare at them, to see her hat, to see what these strangers who met in the line were all about.....

They continued their God talk and

I went off into my own world,

thinking about the Mystery that I believe undergirds us......

Destiny

happenstance

accidental collisions...

and

the world turns

and

life goes on

night comes and the sun rises

and

we people

wonder around like little ants

scurrying

hunting,

running into each other,

over the top of each other

sometimes

right through each other...

I don't know...

don't know how it works...

and

you know what

I don't need to know...

my role is this...

to learn what I can

as I journey along,

to listen,

love,

play,

move,

see,

be

and

to connect along the way.

planned or unplanned

controlled or random

Life moves forward

and

sometimes

strangers meet in a line at the pharmacy

and

cause

a radical rambler to

go on a

word vomit....

and

for that

she is most thankful

on this Tuesday night.

Have a great day

and

pay attention to

all the sights,

all the people,

all the things we can learn

every day

along the way.!!!

for life is Good....

All the time!!!

Do you see what I see?

"Do You See What I See?"

Yesterday, Big Daddy, Off Color Daughter and I took a walk. 

I was not really in the mood and wanted to stay in bed where I'd been for half the day watching 'tv'

and catching up on some rest from overworking last week.

I'm glad I was persuaded because the warm sun coupled with the brisk wind

awoke my senses.

As we walked, I realized that life was waking up all around me.

The bare trees that have been standing stark against the blue sky,

suddenly

are waking--- one can see as their tiny potentiality springs in

little tiny buds at the end of their fingers, so tiny one almost misses them,

but so intriguing to examine aclose.

Are we like the trees,

do we grow tiny buds of potential, wrapped up at the ends,

waiting for just the right "weather", temperature, soil conditions?

As we walked, Off Color Daughter, put in her ipod and pretended not to notice us as we headed toward the local grocery to pick up a few items.  Big Daddy of course would be the strong man who carried them home in my nerdy "co-op" bag.

Life popped all around me,

causing me to wipe a bit of my lazy day sleep from my eyes.

The purple of the Crocus bud,

was pushing its' tiny head from out of the soil

heading toward the sky about to break open in spectacular violet to splash the dried up grass from summers past with a bit of color.  Up ahead a bit further,

yellow daffodils were at work doing the same.  And I wondered if somewhere deep inside my fearful spirit---Can this frozen soul awaken too---just like the view of nature all around---Can I shoot forth in potentiality or will I choose to stay in my safe place of hibernation?

Do you see what I see?

Life

waking up all around me

and

i have to wonder?

As I beginning to wake up from my long spiritual hibernation?

Will I soon be stretching my arms toward the sky?

Will I spread my petals far so that I can capture more of the Creators Love Rays?

Do you see what I see?

Life

coming forth

warmth beaming into the brisk cool air,

Life

springing forth all around

inviting us---inviting me---

to get up out of bed

and

enjoy

the wonder of it all.

Go on...

head out into it this morning

and

see....

Do you see what I see?

Life

all around....

Life...

and it is a good thing.

Have a wonderful Monday...

hugs and blessings...

The radical rambler from the south

standing with the Holy Artist.....

"One of the most satisfying experiences I know is fully to appreciate an individual in the same way I appreciate a sunset. When I look at a sunset...I don't find myself saying, 'Soften the orange a little more on the right hand corner, and put a bit more purple along the base, and use a little more pink in the cloud color...' I don't try to control a sunset. I watch it with awe as it unfolds."

-Carl R. Rogers
Experiences in Communication

Slowly on the horizon,

the movement of an artist begins,

sun descends 

behind the clouds,

blue sky begins to mix with rays,

colors move with wonder and creates a

master piece filled with moments  

of 

Holy Encounter.

Invitation perhaps,

to 

a new day,

new life,

new hope.

The sun rises,

the sun sets,

colors roll over time,

mixing and mingling and creating

and

at any given 

moment

we stand there

on holy ground,

be it tile in the kitchen,

grass beneath our toes,

wooden plank or sand,

we stand

our mouths fall open,

our hearts pound

and

awe,

sacred awe

begins as we watch

the work of 

an Unseen Artist,

create a unique work in time,

splashes and movement and shadow,

swirl,

life continues

the sun rises,

the sun sets,

and

in the middle of it

Holy

moments 

waiting for us to see and experience

to capture our attention

and

cause us to acknowledge

the 

wonder of creation.

Worship in the grandest fashion,

soft spiritual breeze on my face,

night coming,

light leaving,

love enfolding.

Just for me...

well that's what I think...

no that is what I believe..

for me

and you and you and you...

the Master Artist 

invites us

to leave the day behind 

and awaken to a blank palate

where hope rises to meet fear

and

love mixes with anxiety

and

life moves forward

inviting us to paint a new day.

May we all use our time and our tools

to 

share our gifts and color the world,

one palate at a time.

May the Sacredness of the Day,

meet all of 

during the 

Ordinariness of our lives

and

May 

we

be changed for the better because of it.

May it be so...

for all of us.

happy Sunday...

blessings...

the radical rambler

It's all Good....Life that is!

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.John Ruskin

Many of you will not believe me, I'm sure,

but the older I get,

I've come to believe that life is good

even when it feels bad.

I mean the alternative to living is definitely a much less desirable idea, don't you agree?

I prefer trying to be fully 

awake and alive,

to 

experience it all

and

yes

it does come rushing at us 

bringing us 

all kinds of weather

and

yet

for the most part,

we survive,

come out of the storm,

brush off the snow,

dry from the rain,

and 

cool off from the hot sun.

Life is a wonderful adventure

meant to be lived

with eyes awake,

feet dancing

and 

lessons learned.

There is no right or wrong way to experience

just your way

and

for me

mine.

It's all good.

Life that is!!!!

If you don't believe me,

close your eyes and go deep within,

find that little cavern of hope and

wallow in it.

May life come rushing at us this morning

with what ever kind of weather

and 

may we experience it--the Mystery--

it all its fullness..

Have a great day

blessings and hugs,

Pam

We all die a bit everyday......

“You are dust, and to dust you shall return”

 (Gen 3:19). 

I'll be damned if it is not another liturgical day--one of my favorites, 

Ash Wednesday.  There was nothing I didn't love about being a leader in the church when this day came.  I don't know why..why it is that it is the one day, I miss more than any other about not being a participant or a minister in a church.

There was something that rattled my bones every single time the night came forward.  Congregants would gather for a brief service.

My colleague and I would don our attire, prepare our little clear bowls of ashes---we'd mix pre-burned ashes purchased from the Christian bookstore into the bowl and add just the right amount of olive oil with them, stir with our fingers and then try to get the remnants from our nails and fingers before the service began.

We'd always hide wet paper towels behind the table, so we could clean up before shaking the folks out the door.

There is a fragility to this day...it reminds all of us that life is short,

that it comes at us at a fast pace never knowing what will happen next and each precious moment----is ours to make of our life..good or bad.   I loved making the sign of the cross on foreheads as they would come forward, old wrinkled foreheads, pretty made-up face forehead, worried foreheads, and fresh baby foreheads

all lined up,

all touched with the same plan

We live

We die

and

what is in-between

well that is where we get a chance to 

bloom into the authentic creation 

that the Universal Love 

birthed us for.

I'd stare in their eyes,

knowing and realizing

that the same time 

next year,

i may have stood at their casket,

or 

by their bedside

or held them as they sobbed 

or 

rejoiced at new life being birthed into the world.

My Mama always does say as she ages and her friends become sick 

many facing life threatening illness...

she'll

says....

"well we all die a little bit every day.....some of us just do it quicker than others"

she's right you know...

we all die

The death mister comes at us,

with grabby fingers

to rob us of our place on the world.

I suppose

that is what makes each moment

so 

much a blessing...even the bad moments we think will be the death of us.

I miss my robe today,

my stole,

burned ashes,

colleagues

a

 church community.

I miss

the greasy feel of ashes and oil,

the stiffness of the day where folks

come but really don't want to think or talk about it--death that is---

I miss staring into their eyes, 

touching their skin

connecting on a God-plane for just a moment in time 

where the Spirit stands time still.

On this day

this day that reminds us that 

We come from dust

and

to dust we shall return...

or as my mama always says...

"we all die a bit everyday".

Today,

grab hold of that thought

and let this be the one

that we allow the Mystery to 

pull us forward,

bloom us out

into 

the 

authentic self we are.

From Dust we came......

and

To Dust we shall return..........

and

that is the truth for every human being on the face of our planet.

think about it

and

make 

claim this new day of being alive.

Blessings

the radical rambler