Not Untitled Anymore

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Richard and I made our own damn #valentineschocolates. Callebaut dark couverture with saffron-candied Rangpur limes or peanut and creme de cacao ganache.

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I went to church with my family tonight and the pastor said something that I think every Christian should hear

Pastor: Now, according to a few passages in the bible, homosexuality is a sin.

Couple of older males in the audience: Amen!

Pastor: Now, wait, I'm not finished.

Pastor: You know what else the bible defines as a sin? Divorce.

-uncomfortable silence-

Pastor: There are countless passages that talk about how divorce is wrong, and that there are consequences to getting a divorce, such as the wife should be stoned.

Pastor: Yet, I witnessed a divorce just this morning. And I gotta tell you, it was heartbreaking, but I definitely didn't attempt to throw rocks at the wife, even though she was the one who filed for divorce.

Pastor: We choose to overlook the consequences of divorce because time has proven that they're inhumane and cruel.

Pastor: The bible doesn't say anything about the consequences of a homosexual lifestyle. Yet, we seem to be spearheading a campaign to ruin the lives of people we don't even know.

-the pastor shifts a few notes around-

Pastor: The bible states to love thy neighbor. That's it. There are no other rules or restrictions to that passage.

Pastor: So, we as a church family have to support equality with a smile on our face. THAT is the true Christian way.

[mindgardenzen]

Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, whatever is fluid, soft, and yielding will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. This is another paradox: what is soft is strong

Lao Tzu (via mindgardenhealth)

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The Tea Ceremony by Thich Nhat Hanh

“You must be completely awake in the present to enjoy the tea.

Only in the awareness of the present, can your hands feel the pleasant warmth of the cup.

Only in the present, can you savor the aroma, taste the sweetness, appreciate the delicacy.

If you are ruminating about the past, or worrying about the future, you will completely miss the experience of enjoying the cup of tea.

You will look down at the cup, and the tea will be gone.

Life is like that.

If you are not fully present, you will look around and it will be gone.

You will have missed the feel, the aroma, the delicacy and beauty of life.

It will seem to be speeding past you. The past is finished.

Learn from it and let it go.

The future is not even here yet. Plan for it, but do not waste your time worrying about it.

Worrying is worthless.

When you stop ruminating about what has already happened, when you stop worrying about what might never happen, then you will be in the present moment.

Then you will begin to experience joy.”

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Usucha

© Donald Kimon Lightner

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#AdventWord Day Five: #Abide. Growing up with the Bible as my main literary influence, a lot of my vocabulary and linguistic preferences echo the language of the Bible. It used to drive my English professor crazy, with all my long, flowery sentences, archaic word usage, and using "which" instead of "that." Well, the major definition of "abide"'for me is to dwell or live in something, mainly because of the way it is used in the Bible. It wasn't until today that I looked the word up (after seeing so many people use it differently) to find that this usage is considered archaic. I love the word when used to speak of an abiding (indwelling or living) thing, or abiding with a person, and yet it grates on me when people say, "I just can't abide that language" or something similar. It makes me wonder just how much language has been influenced by sacred texts and stories. The photo is of my Bible from my ministry days, and is literally falling apart from use. Even when I left religion, this book continued to shape my words, thoughts, and actions, continuing to abide in me in some way even when I thought I hated it. When I got my old Bible out to photograph for today's word, I opened exactly to the right page without even looking. It was as if my muscle memory just knew the precise pages to split when opening, as if the book was just an extension of me, opening like a palm to the exact passage I needed. Years ago I would have instantly taken that as a sign, and Richard was amazed, but now I find that I also have an abiding sense of skepticism. It is harder to trust in the miraculous now that I've lived more life and suffered more losses. I think of abiding fears and traumas in people with PTSD and anxiety disorders, biases and injustices that abide in systems like a cancer. Like the Bible abiding in me, shaping even my language and filters, what else abides in us below the level of our perceptions? And does anything I've said or done abide in someone else in some way? #gspadvent

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#Kombucha just got spirited: Campari, whisky sour, elderflower with blue curaçao, mango with ginger liqueur and Chinese five spice, and more. #itsgoodforyou #fermentation #creativecocktails

[attndotcom]

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Pumpkin Spice Communion Bread with Mulled Wine for Eucharist!   Just kidding.

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"Congregants are invited to get involved with homeless ministry to give something back, to offer people a hand up or to bring some good news. What we see then is nothing but an abstraction that makes us feel good, while protecting ourselves from the danger that we might be provoked to fundamentally change how we live by seeing ourselves as part of the reason why there are homeless people in the first place."

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Episcopal Prayer for Scotland and the UK

Today we pray for Scotland and the UK: God grant our sisters and brothers discernment in their choices, honesty in their proceedings, integrity in their leadership, and peace in their outcomes. Amen.

-Grace St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Tucson, AZ

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Ouch.

[hokkyokukou]

Kōdai-ji Teahouse at Dusk

Kōdai-ji is a Rinzai Zen Buddhist temple that was established in the Higashiyama area of Kyoto in 1606 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s widow, Nene, in honor of her husband. Upon the death of Hideyoshi 1536-1598, Nene took the tonsure and became known by the name of Kōdaijin Kogetsuni, and upon her passing in 1624 at the age of 76, the temple that she founded (with Tokugawa Ieyasu’s generous patronage), was aptly renamed Kōdai-ji.

The temple’s magnificent garden was supposedly designed by the legendary landscaper, architect, poet and tea master Kobori Enshū (1579-1647)

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Sacred spaces

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"For centuries, people have been afraid to acknowledge that Jesus is a racist in today's Gospel."

Fr. Steve Keplinger, Grace St Paul's Episcopal Church Tucson gsptucson.org

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We are doing it again! We are hosting a free community spa day with special invitations to local shelters and food pantries. Our Maundy Thursday Spa Day had a waiting line out the door, so this time we will have over thirty stylist helping. I can't wait!

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Grace St. Paul's celebrates the life, message, and inspiration of legendary poet and prophet of our times,Maya Angelou. Rest in peace, dear sister. May your voice continue to sing out, releasing us from all our cages.

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Flowers from Mission San Xavier del Bac, Tucson, April 29 2014