Snapshot & Whatnot: An (owlish) April Visitor

Posted on April 20, 2018 by

Last week whilst recovering from surgery & flu blues, we had a special visitor in the back-est regions of our backyard…

A Barred Owl!!  As often happens, just as I prepared to take a closer pic (crunching through the brush) our visitor woke up & flew away, but still, how cool is that?

An owl sighting, especially for owl groupies (like me.)

Dashing off to RavenCon – a science fiction/fantasy/very cool weekend convention (yes, Virginia is feeling much better, thanks for all the well wishing!)

Here’s a quickie quote to mind munch…

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” Albert Einstein

grace, peace & owls (& howls) of fun

Virginia : )

Posted in Quotes, SNAPSHOTS & WHATNOTS | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Divine Light-Holders (needed!)

Posted on April 15, 2018 by

Virginia has been off the blogging grid after having surgery last week & tending to her flu-bug infested brother this week. Unfortunately, some of his germy symptoms matriculated & now sis has it, too. So for today, here’s something previously posted given news of continued conflict on the border of the Gaza Strip.

One of my most treasured memories of the Middle East was carrying the special Easter ‘Sabt al Noor’ light from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to the Orthodox Christian community in Gaza. This involved receiving candlelight from the priests in Jerusalem and (very carefully) making sure it stayed lit during the 2-hour car ride, plus the journey on foot through the Israeli/Gaza border where the whole Christian community turned out for a paraded caravan in buses and cars (with special Orthodox crosiers poking out windows) to accompany the light all the winding way to the heart of old Gaza City.

For some (geopolitical) reason Abuna George, the Orthodox Palestinian priest, could not get out of Gaza, but as an American I could get in to help facilitate one of the most important rituals of the church year. Middle Eastern Orthodox Christians seriously fast (no meat or dairy) the whole of Lent, but when they receive the Sabt a Noor light on Easter Saturday, fasting ends & rejoicing begins.

When I first met Abuna George in Gaza he almost had a fit because I was about to step into a part of the 4th century Byzantine church (just following my male colleagues) where no women were allowed. But then, 5 years later, he called & asked ME (not my new male boss) to bring the Sabt al Noor light to Gaza.

Five years of countless visits in and out of the Gaza Strip as a relief & development worker based in Bethlehem and many precious times shared with Abuna George & his family, friends, children in refugee camps, and communities all over Gaza.

That was awhile ago, but unfortunately, some things never change.

Extremism. Bombings. Conflict. Injustice. Suffering.

Children & civilians paying the terrible price: death and loss amidst piles of rubble.

I don’t care about your politics, or theology, or religion, this is about PEOPLE: mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons & daughters – children.  ALL beloved of God.

“We are all people with souls, sparks of the divine.” Henri Nouwen

Both sides of this current conflict need soldiers of peace and love. Maybe the Middle East seems far away to friends in America and around the far corners of the globe – but we all can be soldiers of peace and light as we get down on our knees and pray, pray, pray.

Not hellfire and brimstone prayers we might like to see fall on our enemies, but heartfelt cries for peace and reconciliation, for love and light to shine in the darkness, for the construction of new bridges of understanding – a miracle amidst the current rubble of oppressive conflict.

“Never was font so clear, undimmed and bright; from it alone, I know proceeds all Light although ’tis night.”    (Saint John of the Cross)

Please pray that the Light of the Love of God will enter Gaza somehow today, that sparks of the divine within the peoples on both sides of the border will burst into flames of compassion for all (on both sides of the border.) That the desire for peace will grow somehow in the rubble of the battered hearts and imbroglios on all sides.

May we also let the Light of God into our hearts today – for ALL people. No matter how deeply buried sparks of the divine reside, we all need God’s Light to lift whatever darkness may cloud our vision to see clearly the sparks of humanity around us: Israelis for Palestinians, Palestinians for Israelis, Russians for Ukrainians & Ukrainians for Russians, for HIV/AIDS victims, for all those of the fringe of society (& even the beanheads running things.)

Letting the Light of God in, may it gush out of our hearts with compassionate concern & love for all – like holders of the Sabt al Noor light across conflicted borders.

grace, peace & divine Light-holders

    Virginia

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons (& daughters) of God.”  (Matthew 5:9)

Posted in Advocacy Issues, Sunday-ish Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Snapshot & Whatnot: Broken World Beauty

Posted on April 4, 2018 by

Here’s a quickie pic taken last year while visiting the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Snapshot:

U.S. Botanical Garden Conservatory

& Whatnot:

“Finding beauty in a broken world is creating beauty in the world we find.”

Terry Tempest Williams (author & environmentalist)

Here’s to finding beauty in broken places – God’s heavenly paintbrushes busy around us and within us – and letting that beauty bubble forth as a fountain of hope for others.

Like a rose in the rubble!

grace, peace & broken-world beauty

Virginia : )

Posted in Quotes, SNAPSHOTS & WHATNOTS | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Easter Joy, Joy, Joy & Glorias!

Posted on April 1, 2018 by

From here @ Roses in the Rubble, Virginia wishes all a blessed Easter. May the resurrected Love & Joy of Jesus strengthen our hearts with extra doses of grace & peace today – and every day.

Putting on Easter-ish music this morning (a bit bleary-eyed after the 3 hour+ Easter Vigil last nite) Virginia started with Gospel grooves, then moved on to her Choral playlist. Too many glorious favorites to share (at one time) but will share an ear-taste of one of the most uplifting choral pieces of all time, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, op.123.

Visiting Bonn years ago, I made a day trip into Cologne to see the magnificent Cathedral. As a remembrance, and as a Beethoven groupie (I took a full semester class at uni on his symphonies) I asked a clerk at a nearby CD shop for his favorite Beethoven choral composition. He directed me to Sir Georg Solti’s rendition of the Missa Solemnis.

Back in Bethlehem (where I lived at the time) this CD transported my boombox & flat into a place of worship. And, to think, Beethoven was completely deaf when he wrote this piece.

Here’s a YouTube snapshot of the Gloria: Quoniam tu solus Sanctus

“For Thou alone are holy.

Thou alone art Lord.

Thou alone art most high, O Jesus Christ.

Together with the Holy Spirit

in the glory of God the Father.

Amen.

Glory to God in the highest. “

grace, peace & Resurrection Easter Joy!

Virginia : )

p.s. This concludes the Lenten challenge (Lent+ Holy Week + Easter Triduum) post-a-day gig here @ Roses in the Rubble. Thank you for joining Virginia on this journey –  and for the special encouragement to keep going that seemed to come in bursts on days she didn’t want to post anything! Virginia will now return to her intermittent blogging schedule (one, or if she’s feeling really prolific, two posts a week.) 🙂

Posted in Lent, Music | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Betwixt & Between: Resurrection Hope

Posted on March 31, 2018 by

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13

At the end of Good Friday’s crucifixion Jesus is laid to rest in a tomb. Imagine what it must have been like for Mary and His followers who stood at the cross, and those, like Peter, who failed Jesus and fled.

Although Jesus told them about the Resurrection, they didn’t get it. All they saw was the suffering death of their Savior – an executed exhibition of rejection.

It’s hard to stand in that place betwixt and between our hopes and dreams when we don’t understand what’s going on around us. We may ask, ‘where are you, God?’ when crosses of suffering in our lives are too much for us to bear. We may lose hope.

We might stumble and fail as we follow Jesus along the Via Dolorosa. For Peter, imagine the anguish he must have felt denying Christ, not just once but THREE TIMES.

Not just dashed hopes, but deep doldrums of despairing failure.

Yet in those places betwixt and between, of questioning, between a rock and a hard place when we don’t see a way out and all is dark — there is hope. Jesus didn’t stay in that grave, He arose.

That’s what Easter is about: Resurrected Love, Resurrection Joy, Resurrection Hope.

Hope that is a gift of God. Hope packaged with grace to keep us standing like Mary at the foot of the cross. Hope wrapped with mercy and forgiveness, since on the cross Jesus atoned for our transgressions, our failures, stumbles and falls. Hope with second (& third) chances that lifted Peter, who failed Jesus miserably, yet forgiven, became the rock upon which Jesus built His church – still standing (even if a bit tottering) 2,000 years later.

“There is no cross, big or small, in our life which the Lord does not share with us.” Pope Francis

Whenever & wherever we are betwixt and between, Christ is with us. If we believe & accept the gift of hope God has given us, we can hope in Christ and be His hope to the despairing bits of ourselves – and to others.

Touched by His love, betwixt & between.

grace, peace & resurrection Hope

Virginia : )

“Let your groanings be not for what once was but for what will soon be!” Joni Eareckson Tada

Posted in Lent | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Mending Broken Hearts @ The Cross

Posted on March 30, 2018 by

It’s Good Friday (for a few more hours.) Here’s a reflection written & shared previously (but still good) along with a song from one of my favorite singers.

Good Friday: Jesus is rejected, beaten, mocked, whipped, and scourged. After carrying a heavy cross, nails pierce His hands and His feet.

There He hangs on the cross, suffering for you and me; suffering for us and all humanity.

“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”  (Luke 23:34)

Easter is coming, but the Suffering Christ is here for us, with us, in our suffering. Can we draw closer to the cross?

To stand, like Mary.

“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother…” (John 19:25)

At the foot of the cross, Mary must have wondered amidst flashbacks of angels, shepherds, wise men, kingly gifts, and miracles of water into wine. How came her son, the Messiah, to hang like a common criminal on a cross?

Yet, in sorrow Mary stood. With the faith of her ‘yes’ to Angel Gabriel and to God, 33 years later she stands at the foot of the cross. Confused and bewildered? Most likely, yet Mary still stands with Jesus.

Maybe our suffering is so great it’s hard to move forward; maybe it’s crushing our spirits and our will to do. Perhaps we’ve stumbled, taken a tumble, and it’s hard to stand after a fall.

But, look at Christ on the cross, suffering. He’s here for me, and for you. Do we have faith, like Mary, to stand even if our hearts are breaking? Even if we don’t fully understand?

Here’s one of Sarah Hart’s songs from her Above Earth’s Lamentation compilation (about which I have previously blogged) – Praying with a Broken Heart, sung with Matt Maher. Be blessed to give it a listen via this YouTube video.

grace, peace & praying hearts

Virginia

Posted in Lent, Music | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Holy Thursday: L.O.V.E. Muscles in Training

Posted on March 29, 2018 by

Holy Thursday takes us to the Upper Room where the first thing Jesus did was wash the feet of the disciples, humbly like a servant. Across the world this evening thousands of lay people will have their feet washed by the clergy. If my feet were to be in-public-washees, I’d make sure they were clean, really clean.

At the time of Jesus, however, most folks wore sandals. It gets decidedly dusty walking around the Middle East, which would make the disciples’ feet dirty and smelly. But Jesus takes those smelly feet gently in His hands and washes the grime away.

Jesus, their Teacher. Jesus, the Messiah. Jesus, the Son of God.

Jesus, on His knees with a towel and basin, washing their feet. Teaching them (& us) how to develop L.O.V.E. muscles:

Live Others-centered Valuing Everyone.

L – We must choose to live love, because love is a choice. Choosing to live with a towel of love wrapped around our attitudes vs. being dead to the needs of those around us and within us. Living in love is to be alive with the love of Christ in the deepest part of our hearts, letting His love empassion and empower every part of our being.

O – Washing feet puts the focus on what we can do for others. Small things, big things, sometimes smelly things – our actions speak louder than words. Being others-centered means not seeking ‘what’s in it for me’ but what’s in me for others. (“Love always protects, always hopes, always trusts, always perseveres…” I Corinthians 13)

V –To tenderly wash someone’s feet intimates value. Jesus tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves, but first we must ‘get’ our beloved status as daughters and sons of the King of Heaven. We are beloved. As we act out of our beloved-ness, we recognize that same status in others and lift them up as fully beloved of God with our words and deeds.

E – Tax collectors (sell-outs to Rome), zealots (freedom fighters/terrorists depending on which side you were on), & Judas (the betrayer): Jesus washed the feet of everyone in that Upper Room. That means our annoying colleagues, neighbors, pushy Republican/ Democrat in-laws, liberal or conservative (sometimes) friends. Ever thought about washing the feet of those with whom you have very little in common? (Or maybe even dislike?) Love is not so much about ‘like’ as it is about choice & commitment. Everyone also includes HIV/AIDS victims & people of every color, ethnicity, orientation & ability around this world. EVERYONE.

If we exercised L.O.V.E. muscles more often (vs. ‘judge-others’ muscles) maybe (just maybe) we might fulfill what Jesus Christ asked us to do.

“Do you know what I have done to you? If I, your Lord & Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet… As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you; abide in My love… This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”   (John 13:12, 14; John 15: 9,12)

It’s time to put on our aprons of faith, roll up our sleeves and start washing. Let’s give our L.O.V.E. muscles a good workout.

grace, peace & busy basins (& towels)

Virginia : )

Posted in Lent | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments