A Treacherous Path

You are looking at the entrance to one of my favorite places. Blackacre (my apologies for my aparent inability to quit thinking about it). As an adult this cattle guard makes my heart pound as I know I'm about to start a weekend or if I'm lucky, a whole week of experiencing God and nature. But as a child, this threshold made my heart beat in panic. All I had to do was walk across the cattle guard and the fun and excitement would begin. But wait! First we have to think of all the scary stuff that could happen while making that short journey. My tennis shoe could slip and I could get my leg caught in there. Or there could be a snake coiled up underneath just waiting to spring up and bite my ankle. Or one of those pipes could role and I'd be on my back even closer to the snake! yipe! Even now, as an adult...I sometimes get that weird knot in my belly when I walk across. But even with all the possibilities of harm that could befall me during that journey, nothing could stop me from making it. I know the promised experience is worth the risk.

There are so many things we can all become. There are many wonderful relationship offered us. So many opportunities for growth as God calls to reach out and love people Are we willing to take the risks along the way? The risk getting our feelings hurt? The risk of being rejected? I'm often worried people will think I'm strange when I'm compelled to talk to strangers in the grocery store. It's funny to watch the face of a young kid about to sack your groceries after you've spoken to him/her in a kind and genuine way. That kid probably thinks I'm a freak but later may feel good that someone actually wondered how his day went. Totally worth the risk!

I'll have the Fish Basket

I found this 'thing' hanging on the wall of the shed where we keep the tractor at our farm. I had no idea what it was but I was sure that some kind of ground cover should planted in the bottom so it can spread out and hang through the little holes and that a flowering plant is just screaming to sit in the top section. So I asked my dad what it would have been used for in it's previous life. I'm not a fisherwoman so I would never have known that it most likely hung off the side of someone's boat...in the water...and that once caught, fish would be stored in there till the end of a day of fishing. In the divider part in the middle there is a spring door through which you stuff the fish so they can swim out. It's a trap.

Since it seemed like no one wanted or needed it anymore, I decided to make it mine. Rather than it hanging around doing nothing and having ceased to be needed, it will now have a new life as entertainment for me. Now I just wait for someone to come to my house and see it with plants stuck in there so they can ask, "What is that thing?" I love to think that even though it was made to be a trap, the tendrils of a plants will free themselves and be all they can be.

I hear many people talk of Sin as a trap...one that they don't understand how to get out of. I say that Sin will never not be a part of our lives but that we can thrive and grow in spite of it! What a lovely rusty reminder :)

Dad's Pocketknife

Today I heard Earl Pitts on KHYI Dallas talking about how to find a 'real man'. "It's very simple", he said, "You simply ask a guy if you can borrow his pocketknife. If he reaches into his front pants pocket and produces a pocketknife, you've found yourself a real man".

During the entire commentary I thought of my dad and his pocketknife. He's always carried one for purposes that seem to be endless. My dad is an expert with that thing. He can remove a thorn or a splinter from my finger with his pocketknife. He can get that last piece of pecan out of the shell...wasting none of it. He can sharpen a pencil or make a referrence mark on a fencepost. He can remove a small branch from a sappling one moment and then slice off a piece of apple the next...of course he stabs the piece of apple and eats it right off the knife. When other families are preparring a meal of cold cuts and are fumbling and fighting that little plastic thing under the cap on a brand new squeeze bottle of mustard...my dad is reaching in that front pocket, opening the pocketknife and removing that blasted obstruction. I've had stray strings removed from the hem of my skirt on Easter morning with that pocketknife. He's saved many a cow from eating that poison weed that grows on the banks of the Guadelupe by cutting them down and throwing them in the river. He removes paint can lids, trims off the extra length on the cats' flea collar or just sits quietly contemplating life while he cleans under his fingernails...the man just takes care of stuff.

It is a special sound when he reaches for that pocketknife...one of my favorite sounds. The sound of change, some spare nails and other random hardware and that pocketknife getting swished around in there. He reaches out for me to hand him whatever I can't open, gets the lid off, then hands it back to me...handle first. That's a Real Man.

Golf Fan

I'll do my very best to relate my rant to Lent today but honestly, it's not looking good. I'm just having one of those "Really?" moments.

Let's start with making a list of outdoor sports that require a fan. Not a "Woo Hoo, I'm a Packer Fan!" kind of fan...I'm talking about an actual fan used to cool off the sportsperson. Okay, here we go...let's see...there's the football field. You know, the one that has the water spraying through it? So after the player has run a 80 yard touchdown in 90 degree weather he doesn't keel over. Can't remember if I've ever seen once on the baseball field but it's possible...and there is probably one on the soccer field as well. All needed as all those sports are quite strenuous. But now I come to the sport that could not exist without the use of a giant mondo fan to keep it's participants nice and comfy...GOLF! Here's what I saw just before my hand slapped to my forehead and I yelled, "What the....!!!"

While on a Sunday afternoon drive through Highland Park, my husband said he wanted to show me something. He knew I would be highly amused. As always, he knows me oh so well. I had the biggest laugh over this fan on it's pretty little grassy green just waiting for the temperature to climb so it can perform it's needed duty. I was thinking maybe I should get one of these monsters in my front yard so that when I'm working outside in the sun, in July, in 98 degrees with dirt on my face, I could still be cool as a cucumber. Why be uncomfortable...ever? Good grief people! Yep, I failed at the Lent/Golf Fan connection. Maybe next time.

Easter Basket

Today, I was in a strange pull between my Lenten concentration and the stores' understanding of Easter. Agh!!! Commercialization! Yes, I'm deep in my Lenten journey but then, in a moment of fluffy, pink, blue and other pastel abominations I was in shoulder deep amidst 'Easter'. I'm not ready for that celebration. I'm still in the journey!!! But as I sauntered (that's what we do in Texas)...as I sauntered through the Michaels looking for items for a church luncheon...there they were...gazing at me... Bunnies, eggs, baskets, fake grass...Dang it! I couldn't help but think of my niece and how fun it would be to give her an Easter basket full of goodies. At first, I just let my eyes skim over the baskets. None of them measure up to my Easter basket, the one I've had forever, but they were pretty. Then I looked at the fake grass. I have an issue with plastic grass since the grass in my basket is made of paper. So I didn't look at that plastic grass and I surely didn't buy any! Then, finding that the basket had made it's way into my cart I thought, awe, what the heck, and walked over to the little Easter gifts. Before I knew it, there was a nice little Easter backet for a 15 month old taking shape. May I say it is lovely. There is no candy, no sidewalk chalk and no Peeps. (I get the Peeps...although I'm not allowed to eat them till Easter morn.) So here is my revelation. I can plan for what is to come in the midst of my journey. I can be in the zone of self examination at the same time I'm embracing the joy of the moment of the resurrection. As we continue our journey, we do so with the joy of the life we live in Christ. Now!!!

The Lutheran in me...

We made FUMC Dallas our church home in June of 2004 and I have been on the church staff since 2001. Before that that I was a church shopper/hopper. I was raised in the ELCA Lutheran tradition and I claimed that identity well! (still wear my Luther's rose). I was baptized in the Lutheran church, was active in the youth group and eventually attended Lutheran colleges. Heck, I even sampled the Scandinavian side of Lutheran life and learned how to make Lefse and eat Ludefisk. (That last thing should only have been on a dare! bluchchch) As I was looking at my Lenten study this morning I was thinking about how darn good I am at doing Lent. It's amazing really. As I considered the requirement of laying all the trash out there for God to see I saw that I'm making quite an amazing display of my garbage. I've done this enough times to know that this is only a growth experience if I remember God's love for me or else I'd flog myself silly in the tradition of Luther before he fully grasped the concept of Grace...which he then developed into an amazing understanding of God's love. The founder of the Methodist movement, John Wesley, was highly impressed with Luther's writings and theology and the theme of God's Grace is tightly woven into the traidition of which I am now a part. Thanks Martin for giving me the closest interpretation I have to understanding how much God loves me.

Unknown Caller

Today, I woke knowing exactly what I wanted to do. I got home late yesterday and couldn't do this thing. And yesterday was the first day to do it. So this morning I got up, washed my face, brushed my teeth and put my hair in a ponytail and fired up the Escape. Since it was rush hour and the regular neighborhood traffic was hopping, I slyly took the back route through less traveled avenues. With a determined face I didn't stop for coffee. I didn't need to stop at the ATM. As I arrived at my destination, I took the keys from the ignition, opened the car door and felt a peaceful smile spread over my face as I entered the Best Buy. I recognized it right away as I've been anticipating the new U2 CD "No Line on the Horizon". The sweetness of this moment was only enhanced as I reached into my wallet and produced a Best Buy gift card.

The song I will highlight is about us not listening to God. During this Lenten season, it is being clearly communicated to me that I hardly ever listen to God. Unknow Caller:

Sunshine, Sunshine,

Sunshine, sunshine

Oh, Oh

Oh, Oh

I was lost between the midnight and the dawning

in a place of no consequence or company

3:33 when the numbers fell off the clock face

Speed dialing with no signal at all

Go, shout it out, rise up

Oh, Oh

Escape yourself, and gravity

Hear me, cease to speak that I may speak

Shush now

Oh Oh

Force quit and move to trash

I was right there at the top of the bottom

On the edge of the known universe where I wanted to be

I had driven to the scene of the accident

And I sat there waiting for me

Restart and re-boot yourself

You're free to go

Oh Oh

Shout for joy if you get the chance

Password, you enter here, right now

Oh, Oh

You know your name so punch it in

Here me, cease to speak that I may speak

Shush now

Oh Oh

Then don't move or say a thing