"Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?"

The thing on my mind for this fifteen minute foray is not particularly upbeat. We've had a rough couple of weeks - our vacation was both preceded and followed by major water problems in our basement. Expensive. Stressful. Time-consuming. Our vacation was cut short by a flood. Rushing water in our haven, mud, major appliances ruined, fear for the future, bleary eyes, the whole bit.

We have problems with water. I would like to say that. I will leave it at that grand understatement.

And now comes the turn. I guess most people have problems with water if you look at it globally. Whether it's monsoons or droughts or a wall of water in your supposedly snug suburban home. This is how it is and this is how it was and this is how it shall be until the end of time. Water is life giving, and it is death giving. God created out of the chaos of the waters, and God has dominion over them.

When you run into water problems, which you inevitably will in one form or another, remember how Jesus stilled the sea for the fearful apostles, saying, "Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?"

"Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?"

Cool - I'm back! 15 minutes a day!

I found the link to this old of mine blog on a friend's blog, and I thought: I've gotta do Blog Nerd's 15 minutes a day.

Tonight. This is just a one minute hello before Little Boy wakes up from his nap.

Lift Up Your Arms

"I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture." (Jn 10:9)

"Behold, I have left an open door before you, which no one can close." (Rv. 3:8)

I read that the gate to true happiness here on this Earth and in Paradise is cut in the shape of a cross, and I imagine lifting up my arms so they are parallel to the ground and trying to walk right through it. It is a wooden door, and my body fits into it just so, as long as I keep my arms up.

The strange thing is that I don't want to walk on through immediately. I pause right here in the doorway because it seems just the right place for me to be. It's not vast and green and free like the pastures I glimpse on the other side, but when my arms get tired I know I can rest them right here, and no alarm will warn me against doing so.

Mainly I feel secure in the doorway, like someone is here with me even though there's really no space for another body. We stand here together, and I lean on Jesus when I get tired, then he tells me not to worry if it seems like stepping through the door takes a long time.

He gently suggests that, for now, this door is the destination.

Flood Watch

Record breaking weather here in DC! 10 inches of rain in less than 3 days is a lot of rain around these parts.

I came home from work because I just knew the basement was flooding and it's my responsibilty to be on flood watch since my husband is out of town. No water in the house - yet! Give it time, though - water has a way of getting in if it wants to.

I think it is dry in Indianapolis. I know Francis feels like Noah right in the thick of it. But the closest he is in reality is on weather.com.

I'm the one who's here, and that's good because I'm a lot calmer about water. The people who sold us our house lied to us and said it didn't have water problems. But it sure does. People aren't inherently evil, but people are BAD, and that's a fact.

I can't help but love the rain. It causes a lot of damage to our leaky little home, but it also reminds me of God for some reason.

Renewal. Cleansing. Growth. You know what I mean.

But as I slog through the water and muck that is bound to be coming, I'm sure I'll be thinking more along these lines:

Destruction. Chaos. Death.

Yeah, that's life here in our little ark. Nature - what a beautiful and horrible mess!

Writing in a Lovely Green Blog

Hello Readers!

Isn't this new blog template beautiful? I was so charmed upon finding it, that I resolved to try to revive this new yet already dying blog. I feel the need to write more here, if only so you can enjoy the varied greens!

Let me gush some more - don't you think that if Gerard Manley Hopkins were a blogger, he would have chosen this template? Clearly. But of course Fr. Hopkins would never have blogged. He could barely bring himself to share poetry with friends because he viewed his desire to be read, to be heard, to be understood, and most of all -- to be published - as evidence of black pride. You know what, he was probably right. Hey the man knew himself.

Well, on that note (nervous laughter): Please come back and have a look here some time! I will write - I promise! My problem is that I have all sorts of reflections, but I fear disclosing myself in the way bloggers do. Although I am so very grateful for all the disclosing going on, I'm not sure I'm ready for that kind of radical openness. Hmmmm. Perhaps I need a good ole pen and paper journal! I have a drawer full of those.

They are very pretty things. They collect dust like curios.

I think that what is in order is some reflection on why we humans write, why we need to share what we write with others, and how writing can lead us to be more honest about how little we really know about ourselves and the world. And that, in turn, might lead us, if we're so inclined (aren't we all? by our natures, I mean) to turn towards someone who actually knows quite a bit about us and about our world - the Creator God!

So that's what's up next at this lovely green blog. I do wish blogs were called something else. Because lovely and "blog" just don't seem to belong in the same sentence.

Calling all readers of this post to reflect on what drives them to write. If you don't write some personal reflections or fiction at least twice a year, why don't you? Might you try?

News Flash - Women Suffer More Than Men

"The bottom line seems to be that women are suffering [physically] more than men," said Ed Keogh, a psychologist from the Pain Management Unit at the University of Bath.

I would just like to say -- duh.

It's interesting if you want to read it, though. The webpage with the link has all sorts of interesting studies on physical differences between the genders. Apparently we've got the same "hardware" in the brain, but women and men have quite different "software." Yes, I know we're not computers - we invented computers. But you get the point.

Which all leads me to my favorite Gospel reading from the Synoptics. It's in Mark. Mark tends to drop events down into the middle of a story in order for that event to comment on the story as a whole.

So check out Mark 5:7-43. Jesus is on his way to raise Jairus' 12 year old daughter from the dead when a woman who has had a flow of blood for 12 years reaches out to touch his garment. She gets cured (She's spent all her money on doctors to no avail and Jesus up and heals her!). He goes on to cure the little girl. The woman who has had the flow of blood for 12 years is healed just as the 12 year old girl is probably going to start her own flow of blood. I see this Gospel as commenting on Jesus' redemption of womanhood - and his recognition that women do have a special suffering.

This is a very bodily passage in the Gospel. The woman is extremely bold in even touching his garment b/c she is "unclean." In her condition, she definitely shouldn't be touching a Jewish holy man - it's against the laws of ritual cleanliness. Also, note how Jesus says that they should feed the little girl when she comes back from the dead. Oh - yeah - she might need a little food b/c she was just dead.

The Incarnate One knows that exhausted middle-aged women and sick little girls need extra care!

Easter Pink

We had the most delightful dessert for Easter - Pistachio Rhubard Trifle!

Who would've thought?

The domestic goddess who brought it did say it was really hard to make and took her 4 hours - we're all about full disclosure with recipes - no pretending it was a cinch when you used every dish in your kitchen -- twice.

But if you are inspired to make this trifle -- you will not be disappointed!

The link is under Easter Pink! And yes, that rhymes.

"We don't do dying."

My 3-year old nephew randomly announced while riding in the car: "We don't do dying because we don't like it." He put this forward late in Lent (his mother suspects Lent was getting to him), and it turns out he was right -- Christ is risen! Happy Easter!