| 18. weeks |
where do they go... lucky sevens... these abstractions... last week i spent some time with carmelites from the region... i'm tempted to say it was the whole week... but, in fact, it was only monday evening and tuesday... i played hookie on wednesday morning... we considered some long-range planning issues... we considered our age and our financial matters... but most of all we considered our life and our work... you'd think that given our rising communal age and a dearth of younger members (the current standard for most u.s. religious groups)... you'd think we'd be all doomy and gloomy... and fixing to close up shop... but that just ain't the case. as a group and as individuals we seem... perhaps irrationally... hopeful... future-oriented. reports from the various regional ministries suggest that there's much good work going on... we are grumpy about community life as presently lived... maybe because we cling to an ideal that will never quite match our realities... then i planted some things... which have by now been mostly chomped down by rabbits and/or deer... yesterday afternoon i caved in and sprayed some nasty stuff around the remainders... label says putrified eggs, capsaicin, garlic... may not work on critters but it sure does on me... this week began with a trip to mom's... just to say hi and be a bum for a few days... mission accomplished... of course, there are pictures... click on these...  
 
 
       as you may note, we had a bit of sun... but i didn't make pictures on the rainy days... and the neighborhood is looking good... dog, plants, lake, sky, feet... deepest thanks to mom and meg for letting me veg for a while... the best bed and breakfast in the u. s. a. ... may i never take it (or them) for granted... i was just now reminded at mass that today is the feast of the sacred heart... which i always considered a somewhat hokey event... can't shake all those keychain and dashboard magnet renditions... but something bob said put it in perspective... it's a way to remind of us an essential piece of god-nature... we must accomodate not just god-mind and god-will but also god-heart... god-love... as the center. despite my interest... a real curiosity... i've always had trouble with people claiming to know things about god... a problem more with form than matter (though that too is often problematic)... especially when the claims seem to move beyond what's asserted in scriptures (deep dark and puzzling works in and among themselves)... and i suppose that's one thing that has kept me out of priesthood... having to stand up day in day out and say things about god... would creep me out. best to stand quiet... empty... or sometimes full... 
|