Lent is over, will the news begin ~ Commuting with Bruce Cockburn's Pacing the Cage

So do I go back to the news? Mainly do I go back to listening to NPR on the way to and back from work? I am not sure I want to.  I do miss aspects of it, but can I get that in other ways.  So tomorrow, we will see.

My final commutes during Lent was with Bruce Cockburn and the song which struck a cord was Pacing The Cage from his Charities of Night CD.  The opening image is powerful to say the least.  

Sunset is an angel weeping

Holding out a bloody sword

No matter how I squint I cannot

Make out what it's pointing toward

But then these words really got me~

I've proven who I am so many times

The magnetic strip's worn thin

And each time I was someone else

And every one was taken in

Powers chatter in high places

Stir up eddies in the dust of rage

Set me to pacing the cage

 For 26 years I have taught and been judged worthy to teach another year.  The schools have changed. I have changed. The supervisors have changed.  And yet I must do it again this year.  My supervisors get a quick glimpse of me.  Swipe my magnetic strip. And the system continues. 

I understand pacing the cage.  I have seen it in caged tigers, students in my classroom, and tonight in myself as I was finishing up an IEP.  I call it caged tiger syndrome. I briefly thought I had deleted a lot of an IEP from the online site. I paced the cage ready to face my supervisor.  So I called a colleague, who stopped the pacing, well most of it.

This year's Watch ~ foiling and praying

I am not so hot with sitting still and so I entered my studio at 10:00 this morning. At that time seven pieces had been foiled. By 11:05, all were done.
Near the beginning I read a reflection by Fr. James Martin, SJ. It asked us to consider the human side of Jesus pondering a failure as he suffered. Had his ministry been for nothing? Where do we see ourselves failing? Some students came to mind. But no matter the journey they have taken this school year, I'll have hope for their future. Maybe that hope is what has allowed me to continue on as a special education teacher for 26 years.

I also took a break from the foiling to browse scripture, this passage from Matthew struck me ~

"Go and learn the meaning of the words: Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice. And indeed I came to call not the upright, but sinners."

Ironic. Sad. To come with a message of saying sacrifice is not what God wants, then to be asked to sacrifice his life. Can we be grateful? Can we experience the joy of Easter?

And surely jazz was flowing as I prayed and foiled. A few years back a friend gave me a CD, Jazz Meets Hymns by Juju Song. Wish I could have found a video of Were You There When They Crucified My Lord, but I did find this ~

May our prayers take us into deeper places.

No News Commutes is about being on the road with James Keelaghan

Been wearing out a James Keelaghan CD lately as I continue with no news during Lent. I will likely switch it out tomorrow. This song reminded me that I am thankful for a relative short commute and a job that does not take me away from home, away from love.
Musicians are a brave lot. They take a chance to survive doing what they love to do, but in the process find themselves far from their home, their love. Next time a favored musician rolls into my area, may I be ever grateful for the sacrifice being made.

No News Commutes ~ Greg Brown is searching for Rexroth's Daughter

Who are you searching for?  Maybe the tune will float up some people from your past. Sometimes I wonder how long this man could sing to a tune.  

No news is opening my heart of Hearts, a commute with Kate Campbell

this is the only video I could find of the tune that resonated with me today on my "no news during Lent" commute. She leads into the song around 2:45 into the video. It is about searching to find the love deep within us. I personally dig the idea of a rosary made of bowling balls. Of course I imagined them mosaiced by Mosaic Woman.

news on no news: Pierce Pettis follows Patty Griifin

and so it (no news for Lent) began on Ash Wednesday as I headed off to work with no NPR.  Patty Griffin singing about those times when emotional rains storm down upon us.  

Yes, I am curious as to what is happening in the world, but I'm Ok with visits from voices from my past.  Last night one of my best friends from college came over for pizza.  900 miles he travelled for that meal, well, not really.  But after a day of business in Philly working on how to help people own their own homes, he drove out to the suburbs so I could feed him and see his face.  It was the first time I had seen his face in 26 years.  So no news from NPR, but plenty of news from my friend.

Today I grabbed a Pierce Pettis CD and headed out to scrape some snow off the car to head to work and tried to remember:

"Oh, everything matters
If anything matters at all
Everything matters
No matter how big, no matter how small
Oh, God believes in you
God believes in you"

Returning to Lent 2003

 Ten years ago on Fat Tuesday 2003 a war was about to be started.  So I gave up news for Lent.  I am going to do it again.

No NPR.  Yes to some of the best CDs from our pre-jazz day.

Revisiting old friends is on my mind, so I am going with it.

The Spiritual Practice of Drawing Cards

Stratozpheric Cards from Lent by Wayne Stratz 

What you see above are the final six cards I drew by way of my Lenten practice of drawing cards for staff members at my school.  In all 35 people were chosen by...  Count down 21 names, draw a card, count down 21 names draw a card...

Some of the people I treasure the most at work got a card, some who I was sad to say, "Who is that?" got a card.  But that was part of the practice, to let the number 21 guide me, not my opinion on who should get a card.

and I was reminded of the positive energy that flows back to me when I take the time draw a card...

Thanks for the lovely drawing it was a great way to start the day

Thanks for  the lovely card! It was such a nice treat to see this morning.  I had the day off on Friday, so it brightened my Monday! I will find a nice location to display it in my office

Thank you so much for the drawing!!!  It was a beautiful suprise to find in my mail box this morning!!!!!!!!!

Thank you for the BEAUTIFUL flower painting - I love it and have already bought a frame for it.  You are very talented and I appreciate you sharing your talent with me! Have a great day.

Thanks so much for the art work.  I don’t know what made you think of me, but your “symbol of hope and peace” couldn’t have come at a better time.

God bless,

Thanks for the card!  The warm colors are very pleasant and soothing to look at.

You brightened my day.

I just wanted to thank you for brightening up my day!! You are so thoughtful and I love it!! I hope you have a good day!! J 

and finally...

Just got your drawing.  That’s cool, thanks

I think I may continue on.

Lenten Practice, bringing the Jesuit Center Home

check out the time

doing what I do there, Wernersville that is...

1.  Turn on the i Pod and go to tune 21, then stretch out and listen to music and breathe.

2.  Draw cards.  I have a history of drawing many cards while at the Jesuit Center.  Now I am 21-ing people at work.  I printed out a copy of the school's phone directory and while I did choose the first person to get a card, but then I counted 21 names and drew the next card, then again, then again.  When I reach 21, I may be staring at a name that brings on a variety of reactions, but that is part of the exercise.  The 21 gets a card.  I sign the card, then write hope and peace on the envelope and stick it in their mail slot.

March is going to be crazed.  An on-line class on teaching physics has begun and will end the first week of April.  Three craft shows in four weeks.  And there is that ever present day job as a teacher.  So can I afford to listen to jazz with God and to step into the studio and not work on a commission or a piece for a show?  The bigger question is,  what if I said I didn't have time for these things?

so the question from God becomes, Shall We Tango?

7 for the weekend--- Lenten Benefits

Can't say that I consistently find a goal to help me get closer to God during Lent. In years past I have given up news, red meat, potato chips...

This year I have decided to get off the computer by 8:30 every evening, and except when I am writing a blog post I plan to monitor my time on said piece of technology.

Benefits:


1. More sleep. If I begin to unwind towards sleeping earlier maybe my brain will have time to develop answers to what it has not figured out during waking hours. Science is proving much about the value of sleep. Giving ourselves rest follows that suggestion to love ourselves so we know how to love others.

2. More reading. I rarely read these days, except for the last moments of my day, so if I unwind toward my bed sooner, the more I will read.

3. More time in the studio. I have been blessed with some stained glass commissions and we have another house number commission to start. There are so many designs I want to revisit and new ones I want to imagine. Yesterday I sold the above piece to a friend, who I had not seen in 30 years. It is a piece that surprised me by how much I loved it, so it is even cooler that a friend bought it. I want to do a series of black and "fill in a color" 3-pointed starflowers. But need to give myself time to bring them out of my head to windows.

4. More time to pray. Praying is again part of that unwinding to bed routine and if I start it earlier, I would hope that I will spend more evenings examining my day with God.

5. Mosaic Woman. Mosaic Woman to wants to unwind, so if she knows she can have the computer at 8:30 to do a final task or two, she can be done before 9:00.

6. Banging louder on the drum: I have a large drum sitting next to my prayer space and I have been picking it up while praying. But if I pray late at night, one has to be careful not to annoy neighbors (we live in a row home and share a wall).

7. The unknown: though I have other ideas of how this will benefit my life, I am also looking forward to welcoming the unexpected.

any Lenten changes emerging in your life?


...

Joy emerges

This is the story of a stained glass, it may have started long before I start the story, but most stories do. Tomato seedlings emerging at work were in my head when I headed to Telford, PA a few weeks ago for my Lenten retreat. Reflecting on Isaiah, the image of God holding me in the same manner as when I hold a seedling in the palm of my hand as I move it to a larger less crowded home. Then given some tools to play with, I made these prints....



since the previous week retreats had inspired stained glass (here and here) I imagined making a stained glass that spelled out JOY, but I didn't. The next week in Telford I was directed to do a collage, so being a good student.....




Then I was told to use my scraps to make a collage. The other man in our group had three pieces to work with, but I had plenty and it was a hoot. I loved the result more than my original...



A friend, and co-leader of the retreat, asked me to turn it upside down. A voice rang out, "I see a J." Others agreed, now I had two weeks to get JOY done. Yesterday, with 15 minutes to spare, I took this photo of the result before I headed out to my last Lenten retreat in Telford.....



I took it out of the box and hung it in a window and practiced taking compliments, and thanked them for inspiring me. The piece made it home and has been hanging in a window, which is just to my left. It did make a journey upstairs last night, and with the lights out in my studio, JOY shines out.

outer space to off-Broadway

Jesuits do travel in my enjoyable reading. James Martin, SJ moves into the world of theater and lives to write about it in A Jesuit Off-Broadway. Just as we stumble into adventures, he falls into the theological/spiritual director for The Last Days of Judas Escariot, which was written by Stephen Adly Guirgis. This was a timely book for this Lenten season.

But what it inspired in me was a boost for my imaginative prayer. Reading about the transformation of the Bible to the theater allowed me to enter deeper into my spiritual exercises.

What touches a person when placing yourself into Bible stories is important and the book is loaded with stories of how the play touched all who were involved.

And Tuesday night when I entered into Matthew 26: 6-13, I was aware of what happened when I was introduced to a leper by Jesus. Introducing my customs, I reached out my hand, but a moment later wished I hadn't. Who do I not want to touch? Who do I not want to be touched by?

fasting and the screaming carrot-- thoughts on red meat

I'm a vegetarian at home, but when we eat out anything is open game. As I reflected on how to fast during Lent some previous seasons came to mind. I gave up news once, but the war that the press was building up still came to be and the headline was so huge I saw it while parked at a red light.

It has been a few years since I gave up red meat, so I went for it.

People tell me their reasons why they don't eat meat.... unhealthy, cruelty to animals, environmental problems. I believe these problems are true, but also that they come from our excesses, not from eating animals. I cry out in the Wilderness to live in a society that eats meat in moderation. Not at every meal, and maybe not even every day.

And as far as the right of the animal and discomfort of it being killed, well let me tell you, if I was a carrot I surely would scream if I was pulled out of the ground and eaten raw; and no matter what you tell me I can not believe it is considered a pleasant experience by the carrot. I have pulled carrots, cut peppers, and yanked lettuce plants. These could very easily be seen as violent acts, or just as butchering they can be done with gratitude to the life force that will nourish us.

Anyway,

I lasted two days. There I was eating pho in Telford, PA when I looked down at the slice of beef floating on my spoon and announced my failure to Mosaic Woman. She said, "Yes, the tradition of red meat Fridays continues." Two days later eating brunch at my church, I almost picked up some ham... sure sure it is the other white meat... I don't buy that.

So, only one slip in 10 days. I can live with that, especially since now I seem too be more aware with what I have chosen to be without this Lenten season.

Peace, Joy, and Hope.