Mystical Monday: welcome to Kabir why he laughs

Kabir wrote...

I JUST LAUGH

If I told you the truth about God,
you might think I was an
idiot.

If I lied to you about the Beautiful One
you might parade me through the streets shouting,
"This guy is a genius!"

This world has its pants on backwards.
Most carry their values and knowledge in a jug
that has a big hole in it

Thus having a clear grasp on the situation
if I am asked anything these days

I just laugh!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I have to wonder. There are those, who I think are a genius. There are others that disagree and feel others are geniuses. I am wondering if it would be better if we hung out with pugs and laughed. The pug is not Kabir, she is Jazz.

Wordless Wednesday: Three from the Memorial Art Museum in Rochester, NY

Mystical Mondays: on Sanctuaries by St. Catherine of Siena

I will not argue the point which is about to be made. All is sanctuary. But there are places my feet know the land, my eyes swim in light, and my soul finds peace and hope. Maybe one day I will find this everywhere.

THE SANCTUARY

It could be said that God's foot is so vast
that this entire earth is but a
field on His
toe,

and all the forests in this world
came from the same root of just
a single hair
Of His.

What then is not a sanctuary?
Where then can I not kneel
and pray at a shrine
made holy by His
presence?

St. Catherine of Siena

The jolt of transitions ~ storms, realism, and work

I was standing in the kitchen with visions of a simple dinner (tomato, kidney beans, basil, oil, vinegar) as tree branches flew into my yard. Cold air was pushing under the 100 degree air that had inspired the bean salad. Changes can jolt not only the atmosphere but us as well.

This break I have created five sun catchers that had no set design. Listen to jazz, cut pieces, solder into a pleasing shape. Add light...


And then I designed a mosaic to honor a cool pug, named Jazz of course. Now the pieces need to be exact. There is no random choosing of colors. It has been a bit of a jolt, but two things have helped. A piece of grey glass that has a myriad of shades and the enthusiasm of the client. The jazz pieces were done with the hope that someone out there would find it worthy of their house. This piece is fueled by the woman who loves Jazz.

And then there is this. On Monday my longest break from teaching in years is coming to an end. I am not quite ready for that transition. A storm may gather when the alarm goes off, but it is a good thing that I enjoy teaching.

What has jolted you?

Wordless Wednesday: entering the 4th dimension

Mystical Monday: a day late ... Changing times or not

More and more churches are accepting of jazz these days, which was once considered the devil's music.

I wonder if the men at the Vatican have shunned Nuns in the US for digging a righteous riff as they have been shunning them for their thoughts recently.

so things have not changed as far as Catholic women being brave in expressing themselves ...


CONSECRATED

All have been consecrated.
The creatures in the forest know this,

the earth does, the seas do, the clouds know
as does the heart full of
love.

Strange a priest would rob us of this
knowledge

and then empower himself
with the ability

to make holy what
already was.

St. Catherine of Siena

Jazz Poetry: William Matthews mourns Coltrane

Church of the Coltrane from the Flickr set of Damian 

The Saint John Will-I-Am Coltrane African Orthodox Church (now at 1286 Fillmore St. San Francisco)
Photographer: Damian Rafferty

Musicians connect to us and their passing can shake us. One of the first I was introduced to was Johnny Cash and I remember the waves traveling through my car the day I found out he had died...  I should have pulled over.


Blues for John Coltrane, Dead at 41

Although my house floats on a lawn
as plush as a starlet’s body
and my sons sleep easily,
I think of death’s salmon breath
leaping back up the saxophone
with its wet kiss.

Hearing him dead,
I feel it in my feet
as if the house were rocked
by waves from a soundless speedboat
planing by, full throttle.

By William Matthews


... then there is the joy of stumbling into videos for a blog post.  Coltrane playing an appropriate tune & the video was posted by a lover of Cash and Coltrane