Sunday, March 7
Waffles and eggs for breakfast! I spent some of the morning in reading and reflection from my various Lenten devotionals plus Fr. Rohr, Center for Action and Contemplation. Below, I will share the reflection that I sent to my New Vision SS class. Most of the afternoon we watched BBall. We picked up LeRoy to keep for a few days while the Matzeks - Mike, Laura and Amanda - enjoy a snowboarding adventure in West Virginia.
One year ago today, we celebrated Mother's long and productive (a favorite word of hers) life with a memorial service at Sunflower UMC. We interred her ashes privately at Indianola Cemetery next to my father.
Ruby T was out of our favorite salmon. I chose my favorite New Orleans Seafood - tilapia with shrimp sauce, and Bill had fried shrimp. His serving was really big, so he set aside half for shrimp salad tomorrow.
Reflection:
Wednesday (3/3)
The Disciplines reading today is the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20. The rules that we follow define who we are. But Fr Rohr reminds me in his meditation that Jesus calls us to go beyond rules to the heart of the matter, to the heart of our being. Following rules can cause is to dig deeply into our own biases and see life from an “either-or” perspective rather than a “both-and” perspective. To recognize our biases and see beyond them requires difficult self-examination. Do I have an “over-attachment to my own way of seeing?” Jesus’ way can help free me to see more clearly, more deeply. His way of teaching with stories and parables can help me penetrate my biases and see with fresh heart/eyes. In science teaching I learned to call this method “disequilibration”. In order to penetrate a students preconceived notions of how things work (science), I first had to shake up their expectations with an unexpected outcome - disequilibrate them. Only then were they ready to receive new knowledge. Likewise, if I want to gain new spiritual insight I must be ready and willing to recognize and give up old ways of knowing. I have to loosen my grip on some of my rules to make room for new understanding.
Thursday (3/4)
Disciplines today has the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple. Jesus sometimes acts or speaks in contradictory ways. In a discussion of bias, Fr. Rohr has this to say: “The one we follow into mission and ministry—Jesus the Christ—was an avowed boundary crosser, a reformer of the religious and secular culture of his time.” Again I find an overlap of theme from very different perspectives.
Friends,
I hope you have had a good week and have had a chance to feel the sun on your face. I have been thinking today about the importance of experiencing a sabbath each week. For me, sabbath is a day to step outside of my weekday routine, to find time for rest and reflection, to feed spirit/soul. I don’t feel the need for physical rest like I did when I was a working mom, but sometimes the rest we need is mental or emotional. Our church service, which includes wonderful interludes of music and quiet time for prayer provides a perfect opportunity for sabbath experience. I miss sharing that experience with you. Whether you are back in church or not, it is important to find opportunities for a sabbath experience every week. For me, that might be a quiet walk.
Monday, March 8
We are still eating waffles! One recipe make a lot. I had a UMW meeting at 10:30. It was an actual meeting with 7 of us present in the fellowship hall. We each had a table, so there was plenty of room for distancing.
After lunch, Bill helped out and we cleared all the vinca and other old growth from the lower flower beds. I still call it a flower bed, but the vince has so taken over that nothing else grows there except a couple of straggly rose bushes. I have given up trying to clear it out and now just try to hold it back from the paths. The vinca started from some springs I transplanted from the home place in Sunflower almost 40 years ago. I was pretty worn out when we finished, but a dose of my favorite back medicine (a shot of Jim Beam or Jack if I have it, over ice with a splash of water) restored me.
As planned, I made a salad featuring the left-over shrimp and some chopped ham. I added chopped boiled egg along with beets, artichokes and red onion (all pickled) and kalamata olives. I thing I prefer the marinated vegetables over the traditional tomatoes and cukes.
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| This is actually Sunday's lunch salad, but almost the same. |
Tuesday, March 9
We had planned a day trip for today, but put it off until tomorrow in hopes of slightly more sunshine. We had a cloudy day, but no rain. I spent a lot of the morning on tech support with AT&T. (I hate AT&T). They are overcharging us for data uploads. I did not get a satisfactory resolution but they promised to reset our data allowance. Unfortunately, we have no other option for broadband internet.
After lunch we went to Costco to get a membership and look around the store. We have to order the deck umbrella that we have selected from their online store and it will be delivered to us on Saturday. The umbrella is the reason for the membership, but we also found a new grill that we will probably buy. On the way home, we picked up Orange Chicken and Masumum Chicken Curry from our favorite, Little Bangkok.
Later in the afternoon I worked on digging iris roots out of the pond so I could pull the old pump out. My goal is to clean the pond out enough to put in a new pump. I love the sound of the dripping, gurgling fountain.
Wednesday, March 10
At 10:17 I logged us leaving for Red Clay Historic State Park south of Cleveland, TN. When we leave for a trip, day trip or longer, I log the time and mileage. We had LeRoy with us since we didn't want to leave him home alone all day. Two hours, 85 miles later, we arrived at the park.
The drive was easy enough and after the initial excitement of barking at trucks, LeRoy settled into a good traveller. Red Clay is tucked away well off any major highway on the TN-GA border. It was the site of the last eastern capitol and gathering place of the Cherokee nation.
Red Clay is the figurative, if not literal, starting point of the Trail of Tears because it was here that the Cherokee learned that their lands had finally been taken and they would be removed west to 'Indian Territory.' The removal of native Americans from their ancestral lands, the dishonesty and deception, was one of the most shameful acts by our government and people again those perceived as 'other;' that is, not British/Northern European.
The most striking geological feature of the park is Blue Spring, located a few hundred feet behind the visitor center. The spring pool reminded us of the clear, blue-bottomed springs in Florida. The spring pool fed a beautiful flowing creek. A picture cannot fully capture the clarity of the water and the fact that you are seeing the bottom of the pool many feet deep.
We had our picnic first in hopes that the visitor center would open and we would be able to see the interpretive video, but that did not happen. Just as we were about to leave for our hike, Bill pulled a let muscle. We took the short walk around the Blue Spring and the reconstructed buildings as Bill tried to walk off the injury, but a longer hike was out of the question. We will have to come again to complete our visit. I hope that seeing the start of the Trail of Tears will lead us to explore more of the places and history of this tragic era.
Except for Bill's leg problem, it was a good day. About 85 miles and less than 2 hours each way. I was glad to have Thai leftovers for supper.
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| Cherokee farm reproduction |
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| Blue Spring creek |
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| Blue Spring |
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| Blue Spring |
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| Council House replica |
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| Picnic with LeRoy |
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| Daffodils at our house |
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| Laura's new Daffodils |
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