The Spirit Rumble with Home Cooked Dining....

“When love takes you by the hand and leaves you better,

 that is home. 

That's the place to stake your claim and build your life.” 

― Philip Gulley

It has been quite the dry stretch from writing but for the past two days words have been flying through my head so fast I find I can hardly speak in coherent sentences....that's how many of us introverts handle the world---words flying in our head, bombarding, emotional overload--some days, i think it would be nice to be one of those thinking out loud kind of people and vomit all over who ever the hell it is that is sitting around me--but that rarely ever happens for me.

Yesterday...was a combination of memory lane, home cooked dining and wonderment.  

The church I have joined---yes you heard me right---I have agreed to give God and humanity one more chance 

to prove that I'm not crazy to believe that 

there is more goodness in the world than bad

that us humans--we were meant to share in life

and somehow all of our sharing , our grinding, our being

it leads us to fuller versions of our authentic self

and that I'm crazy enough to believe we can prove

 that 

in the end

after a long hard day

after a shower has been had and you sit down on the couch with the dishwasher rumbling...

in the end

just as darkness is saying goodnight to the sun....

LOVE WINS...

so long story shorter...

I joined a church 

and

that will be a topic for another day.

Yesterday Big Daddy and I loaded up the green alien 

with chairs, 

his macaroni and cheese and baked beans and

one of those big ass jars of pickled peppers

and

we drove to what the pastor called

"church out of the box"--

Big Daddy and I arrived

marriage still intact after 

him riding for a few miles with me

I think underneath his breath I did hear him

say

"thank you Jesus" after I'd just hit that last speed bump going way too fast....

when we finally pulled up to the shelter and the emergency brake of the car was pulled I immediately felt his tension go down.

I don't know why...

We only suffered one wrong turn, a U-turn, an almost missed exit that caused the pickled peppers to fall over into 

Big Daddy's baked beans--which caused me to have to pull over on the side of the interstate while Big Daddy 

fixed his baked bean creation and dropped the "f" bomb.

(I also add--I get why he was upset--because I had actually sat on the couch and watched him prepare 

his food...

and I swear

Big daddy should have been a chef

cause when I watch him cook

it's like watching

his greatest joy meet the world right where it is hungry---

he cooks and moves and

"pitter pats around" 

smoothing things with spoons 

and

smelling and tasting

...

watching him cook is like a taste of pure joy...so i get why the pickled peppers in the beans

upset his mood.

Anyway...

we got there

almost everything as we left home with

and

safe--all limbs still intact...

and

I did what I do best

I stood back 

and

I watched...

and

in a field of dreams

kind of moment

"they came"

....

first people sweeping and setting up a microphone and piano

hymnals and xerox copies

people sweeping up

others sponging tables

all in preparation of guests and friends and family

....

the tablecloths were spread

and

people

they started coming

in a steady stream

and in a 

moment

that could have been from a 

Dr. Seuss book

they each brought their 

best

kind of dish

and

placed it

on the communal table

in preparation 

of 

a feast of all feasts.....

we sang and laughed 

and

ate and ate and ate

but 

the wonder of the day

for me 

was 

just standing still

moving my eyes

smelling with my nose

experiencing something 

so much bigger

that  a little bit of home cooked food....

HERE 

underneath a shelter

people--they converged--gathered if you will

We'd all come from different roadways, pathways, and highways

that

all converged 

at 

a feasting table

spread at a local campground 

underneath the canopy usually the home to an array of birds

...

and

they came

carrying spoons and aluminum covered pans

crock pots and fried chicken

and deserts

of all shapes and sizes

....

prepared by hands 

that had worked

and

loved

and

nursed

...

all

converging

all placing their love

offering

on the common table

to be shared

....

I watched hands

watched feet walk

heard voices with different accents

saw colors

felt the wind

heard the birds sing

saw a butterfly 

fly to the beat of the hymn we sang

and

I felt

it

under my feet

heard it 

in my head

felt the tiny electric

spirit bumps rise 

on my arms

and

felt tears 

well up in my eyes...

and

as they sang

the old hymn

:when the roll"

I felt for a brief moment

like for a slight moment

in this day

with sunlight on my back

and cold air hitting my face

like 

I'd journeyed back 

I closed my eyes

and

there sitting beside me was 

my fatma (my great grandmother) 

and

I could hear her voice join in 

crackled and off key

and

I felt myself 

smile...realizing that somekind of way

I guess

someway

somehow

there are parts of us that live forever

...

I watched some more and

I wondered...

how long 

had this 

"thing" we church folks 

call God

been trying to nudge us all together

wondered

"what" this "thing"

was about to do with us all

had a vision

of 

our little roads

all twisted and turning

overgrown and bumpy

all converging

all coming to this one 

time

at this one place in this one moment and it was almost so big I had to step back and take a breath

for 

just for a moment

I felt like Moses

standing in front of the burning bush

with such holiness present
I could barely breathe

there was me

 underneath 

God's canopy...

and

home cooked food

hands sampling the taste the spice of anothers world

and

it hit me

I was home 

and I pulled up a plate

went straight to the 

desert table

and

had myself 

a 

slice of six layer rainbow colored

pick pickin' cake (look it up--I had to!)

and

I sat down

and stopped watching 

and started eating

and

the Spirit

she continued to blow on through...and I still get 

those electric bumps 

just thinkin'

about how all of it happened....

but it sure is nice

to be

Loved 

and

HOME.

Happy Monday to all of you......

Be a great day!

the radical rambler.....