Thanksgiving

Posted on November 23, 2010 by freda

Quite a number of the blogs I read regularly are from the USA and of course there is a lot of chatter right now about Thanksgiving. What a wonderful holiday to have and celebrate; realistically I suppose it is better for those who have places to go and a bit lonely for others. The whole idea of a celebration of Thanksgiving seems very special. As far as I can see from the net, it is a combination of thanksgiving for the nation, for the harvest and for one another. In the UK many churches will have a special Harvest Festival service, but there is no equivalent in the life of the country.

At this time of cuts it would be a good way to focus on all the blessings we have instead of the things we will lose, if the media is to be believed. The trouble with a so-called free press is that they can stir up anxieties and discontent as well as being a force for good. Many of us older people find it increasingly harder to be positive, instead we give way to fears and anxieties. The same holds true for the vulnerable and disabled.

When we hear of Ireland facing a the need for a massive bailout and the fact that we are borrowing money to lend money to them, it seems as if the whole world is going mad. I can’t pretend to understand the complexities of the economic system and I get worn out trying.

Maybe it will help to count some blessings today:

  • The sun is shining and the frost sparkles on the grass
  • There is the faint sound of happy children playing in the school playground along the road.
  • My Sacred Space book has been posted from the States
  • We are going to visit Son #3 this afternoon and he usually cheers us up
  • The birds are busy feeding from the nuts and seeds
  • There’s no housework till tomorrow
  • We still live in a democracy
  • I’m well stocked up with books to read

There are loads more blessings that could be added. What would your list include today?

    Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

    Embracing change

    Posted on November 21, 2010 by freda

    Part of my meditation and prayer routine is to use the prayer suggestions produced by the Jesuits in Indiana, USA. And most years I have managed to buy this online via amazon. Unfortunately this year it seems to only  be available from the American website, not the UK one. No problem, thought I, it just means one click ordering and it will arrive shortly. Sadly, that has not been the case, and now that I have checked online there was an order delay of 1 or 2 months!

    Now – the prayers run from Advent, which is the start of a new church year. Yikes, it’s next Sunday. Oh well, that means that I shall have to find other things to go along with the other material I also use. All well and good, but I was talking recently about the development of habits and routines that made life easier day by day, so I wonder how my spiritual life will survive this little challenge. It will probably be good for me. In fact, I’d be grateful for any suggestions and ideas that you may have that have worked for you. Or maybe you are the sort of person who advocates breathing and relaxation, or looking at a flower or candle.

    Here’s one of the prayers I’ve quoted before.

    Take time off each day to think and pray
    To care how your life is going.
    Give your roots rain.
    Take time with a friend to do nothing too important.
    But just be together, to enjoy another person.
    Give your roots rain.
    Take time to write a poem or grow a flower,
    To create something that is of you.
    Give your roots rain.
    For in your roots you find who you are,
    And there too find who God is,
    For he has not forced you into his home,
    Rather he has made his home in you.

    Sacred Space


    Posted in Blog, Book Reviews, Poems and Prayers | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

    Interaction

    Posted on November 20, 2010 by freda

    Bedtime reading is habitually a diary or journal – the favourites being those of May Sarton. She found literary fame in her final years, principally through the journals, which then led people to go back to her novels and poems. I’ve mentioned before how it feels like communing with an old friend, though there is always the caveat that any writer rarely exposes themselves warts and all. However, she seems to do a very good job. I read through the journals in sequence, following them with a biography, so by the end of that (it takes about 2 years!) I am in need of a change. Doris Grumbach was a Maine writer at about the same time, so I go on and read a couple of hers.

    A creature of habit indeed, and of course it helps to ensure a decent night’s sleep – unless one of them is sharing a sad story – there are a few of those in amongst the nature watch, routines of Maine life throughout the year, visitors, talks, reviews and illnesses.

    But all is not well at bedtime these days. I find myself coming to the end of a day’s entry and I immediately want to write a comment. Online reading of blogs and articles has made me used to expressing an opinion, and I miss it with the printed word. Does anybody else have this trouble?

    Posted in Blog, blogging | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

    Amazing or what?

    Posted on November 19, 2010 by freda

    Thanks to Julie for posting this on her facebook page.
    What are your thoughts on this? Note to any grandchildren straying onto this page today: – Don’t try it!

    You can read an interview with Danny here.

    Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

    Chocolate cake and Kings

    Posted on November 17, 2010 by freda

    Today has been one of those nothing days, you get up, it is light, you sit down, you do one or two emails, you look up and it is dark. And what has been achieved? Nothing very much.

    Actually that is not quite true – the email was to the MSP for this area (Member of the Scottish Parliament) and it got some things off my chest about the way Local Government is wriggling out of shedding management jobs by charging for frontline services.

    I haven’t read any blogs so far today, neither have I listened to or searched for any news. However, I suspect that there is much about the engagement of Prince William and Miss Middleton. It has been said that it took Maggie Thatcher 3 years to organise a royal wedding to take the heat off her unpopular government; whereas the Coalition have only taken 9 months! Anyway, I must add my congratulations to the happy couple, and admit there is a sense of being glad of good news for a change.

    Yesterday was the last of our Living the Questions discussion group, so HBTW and myself cheered ourselves up by baking a gluten-free chocolate cake. To be honest it was a bit dry – any suggestions for a new recipe to try out?

    The evening was challenging as always and there was a sense of being pleased with ourselves for lasting the whole of the 21 week course, and still being cheerful.

    It’s worth quoting Gordon D Kaufman, Professor of Divinity Emeritus at Harvard Divinity School. He says:

    We may find a certain security in believing that “our” way is the only way. This is a natural part of any cultic religious experience. Far greater faith is required, however, to seek and trust that which you accept as infinite, beyond your comprehension and subject to change. Today, this just may be the challenge of an educated and thinking Christian – and to retain a faith ‘in the face of the mystery.”

    In other words, God or the Divine Spirit or the Divine Essence or even “The Force” is bigger and more mysterious than we can ever imagine. When you think of the consequences of that thought, it is the biggest challenge ever.

    Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

    Julie and Julia

    Posted on November 15, 2010 by freda

    It’s a bit surreal to be writing about a film about blogging through a book in a year, but that is what this magnificent film is about. Right at the start, I’m giving it a 20 out of 10 for content, poignancy, contrasts, magical moments and cooking, cooking, cooking together with love, love, love.  It has been nominated for many awards, including several oscars – no wonder with the sensitive performances from all the cast but particularly from Meryl Streep and Amy Adams as the two women.

    The film is based on the blog of a young American woman, Julie Powell. To add extra meaning to her life as she approaches 30 she challenges herself to cook her way through every recipe in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking (originally published in 1962, and still available in paperback today.) Julie Powell, at her husband’s suggestion, decides to blog about her adventures.  The film leaves us at the point where she is receiving countless offers to tell her story and ultimately spawns her book, Julie & Julia, my year of cooking dangerously.

    To sum up, the film is 120mins of escapism, humour, tenderness and insight into the two women. They are united, even though there is 60yrs between them. I’d love to know what you think about it if you’ve seen it. I suspect that it is a film you either love or hate. Only problem? HBTW is wandering around muttering Butter, butter, butter under his breath. Treat? Here is the youtube trailer.

    .

    Posted in Film Reviews | 7 Comments

    As near as a prayer

    Posted on November 14, 2010 by freda

    Sometimes all we need to do is to look around us at the beauty of creation, then when we take a breath we know that we are connected with one another throughout the world.

    Your joys are my joys and your troubles are my troubles.

    And we are not alone.

    Posted in Blog, Poems and Prayers | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

    Grandma

    Posted on November 13, 2010 by freda

    The computer’s swallowed grandma,
    Yes, honestly, it’s true.
    She pressed ‘control’and ‘enter’
    And disappeared from view.
    It devoured her completely.
    The thought just makes me squirm.
    She must have caught a virus,
    Or been eaten by a worm.
    I’ve searched through the recycle bin,
    And files of every kind:
    I’ve even used the Internet,
    But nothing did I find.
    In desperation, I asked Jeeves
    My searches to refine.
    The reply from him was negative,
    Not a thing was found ‘online’.
    So, if inside your ‘Inbox’
    My Grandma you should see,
    Please ‘Copy’, ‘Scan’ and ‘Paste’ her
    And send her back to me!

    This is by Valerie Waite of Anstey Methodist Church. Absolutely priceless!

    Posted in Blog, Poems and Prayers | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

    Wet Friday

    Posted on November 12, 2010 by freda

    This is making me smile today, despite all the wet. I did wonder about having a naming competition, but for now she is Fluffy? Do you see the resemblance?

    Posted in Blog | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

    Armistice Day

    Posted on November 11, 2010 by freda

    At 11am today millions of people kept a 2mins silence to mark the end of the 1st World War. I looked at my watch too late, but this blog post is a way of remembering all those who die in wars and conflicts and through terrorism.

    Peter Millar, (a global peace campaigner and member of the Iona Community,) wrote a letter to his young granddaughter on the day of her Dedication/Blessing, of his hopes for her as she grows up. This next bit struck me as being most apt for today.

    You will soon learn that we live in violent times. There are wars and rumours of wars in many parts of our interconnected world. Terrible poverty touches the lives of billions of people. Sadly, one of the causes of these wars is religion. So my hope is (my prayer is) that you will always be open to those who walk on a path other than Christian. May you be able to see the beauty and wisdom and truth in other cultures, traditions and faiths, while remaining true to your own understanding. There is no place in our world for religious intolerance – which is why it is crucial for you to embrace both cultural and human diversity in love. I love the prayer which says “Stay with us, Lord, for the day is far spent and we have not yet recognised your face in each of our sisters and brothers” Without this wide compassion, the world in which you are growing up will only become a place rent asunder more and more by war, famine and increasing injustice. Never make your God too small or too domesticated.

    Ministers, Pastors and Priests will be leading services all over the UK this coming Sunday, in which they try to keep in balance gratitude for sacrifice and honour of the dead, whilst at the same time not glorifying wars and violence. Remembrance Sunday was always a day which moved me greatly, especially the open-air short services at War Memorials. As the generations who lived through the World Wars die, my generation has a responsibilitiy to remember and to learn lessons.

    Peter finished the letter with a beautiful Celtic Blessing, which I would wish for all of us this day and every day.

    May the raindrops fall
    lightly on your brow.

    May the soft winds
    freshen your spirit.

    May the sunshine
    brighten your heart.

    May the burdens of the day
    rest lightly upon you.

    And may God enfold you
    in the mantle of his love.

    Posted in Blog | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments