Ghandi
I’ve been on an organizing kick tonight, at least when it comes to this website. Please don’t look in my cupboards! And especially not on the bookshelf next to my desk that serves as an impromptu filing system. In it’s dreams! And the pile of papers above the label “To File”? Yeah…
Sooo…about that organizing kick. There are some big changes coming up on this website. I’m quite excited about them, actually. There’s no telling when they’ll be ready to share, but in the spirit of those changes, and hoping for more organization I was digging through my archives, looking for un-posted posts.
You know those posts you start writing, and then run out of words, or stop yourself because the post is just sounding too lame but you can’t bear to not save it because you’ve spent so much time on it already so to pacify yourself you save it but you know you’ll never use it but you just don’t care? Or you can’t come up with a catchy close, and your post – a lesson on brilliance up to that point – just dangles helplessly like a sentence without punctuation and you think to yourself, “I’ll think of the appropriately witty ending tomorrow.” But tomorrow you are too busy and before you know it you’ve forgotten the whole thing.
Or those posts where you go on about something for so long you just know that all four of your poor faithful readers will have gotten fed up and bored by the end of your rant, so why bother them with it anyhow.
I was going through those posts, and I saw this post I started on the movie Ghandi, and thought I’d go ahead and post it. I started it almost 3 years ago, back in September of 2005. I had kind of forgotten that day, but reading this brought it all back, and was a great reminder of some powerful lessons.
Last night Brian and I watched the movie Ghandi. Watching this amazing portrayal of the life of an incredibly peaceful (while at the same time being very forceful and uncompromising) man made me feel a bit inclined to become a pacifist myself.
His whole life spoke of unselfish respect and love for his fellow man. The amazing thing (to me) was that he not only practiced these values himself but by methods which were passive (in the best sense of the word) and loving, yet very shrewd, he inclined others to do so as well.
In thinking about this movie and the way Ghandi valued other people, I was reminded of something that was said to me this past weekend. Brian and I went up to the mountains, to an amazingly beautiful outdoor chapel of Saint Anna on Saturday with a group from our church. Everyone brought a picnic lunch.
Father Christodoulos, a monk from the monastery that is responsible for the chapel, was sitting and eating with us, and he said something that just stuck in my mind. He said that when we greet each other – with a handshake, or a hug, or a holy kiss, or even a wave – we are, in a sense, greeting the image of God in each of us.
Isn’t that an awesome thought? And it makes so much sense. But the profoundness of it just floors me. Each of us, created in God’s image. Mirrors, tarnished and stained and warped, it is true, but mirrors nonetheless to the brilliant, holy Divinity of God. Essentially, it is what Christ was saying when He said “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:31-46 (The Sheep and the Goats)
I hope I am reminded of that more often. I think I would treat others with much more dignity and respect. And love and kindness.
The Jesus Prayer
I don’t write about spiritual things very often here, but I think this is a good time. Frankly, life has been a little overwhelming lately. We have our hands full with a new baby and a new puppy (not a recommended combo, but they’re both great), and keeping up with those two while trying to juggle the other areas of our lives has been a bit nuts. Today I was inspired by a blog post my amazing sister-in-law wrote (and have seen about 3 other similar themes in other unrelated blogs I visit), and reminded that I don’t need to just blindly accept all the overwhelming things that I come across (and get overwhelmed and paralyzed by them). I have tools!
My favorite is the Jesus Prayer, a simple, ancient prayer just one sentence long that pretty much encompasses all of the theology I’ll ever need, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Repeating this over and over has an amazing calming, healing effect on me, and I wish I would do it more – not just during Lent or when I’m overwhelmed, but a constant internal repetition – the prayer of the heart.
Today
Today Brian and I headed up to the Boulder Reservoir to see the mother of our godchildren, Amy, finish a half-marathon. It was so much fun! We waited with John and the kids, Carolyn and William, and we all cheered her on as she came down to the finish.
Then we sat around and had some lunch. Amy went home for some well-earned rest, and the rest of us headed down to the reservoir (what is it that pulls us to water?) and we sat and chatted and watched the kids as they ran around and climbed some low trees, and found cool sticks and small pebbles.
What a pleasant afternoon. And to spend it with our good friends and our godchildren just made it perfect. Carrie affectionately calls me her “Godmomma”, which I think is just amazing, and she and William always have tons of hugs for Brian and me whenever they see us.
Me on a Box
This is me on a box.
Here I am all dressed up for work – apron and all. I have just realized that I made your drink incorrectly. You can tell this by the way my eyes have slid down the side of my face, and the strength with which I crumple your Latte’. My neck also seems to have inexplicably disappeared.
Seriously, if you want to make your own picture-on-a-box, visit the box doodle project. You could go so far as to create your own real box, but the easiest thing for us dabblers is to use the handy-dandy box doodle tool offered on the website.
What fun!
If you didn’t know before, I work at a coffee shop. Just a couple of weeks ago I switched cafe’s, and now I work at a coffee shop that has a totally different recipe for drinks. I’m getting the hang of it – I think it’s easier because my brain already has all the compartments for lattes and mochas, and all the other info vital for making nicely caffeinated drinks, but I still make mistakes.
I’m learning – fairly quickly – but it’s sometimes frustrating going from a job where I knew all the ropes and all the drinks, and was in a position of responsibility to a job where I’m the one constantly asking the questions instead of answering them, and am playing the role of the newbie. Oh well. I really like all the people that I work with, and I like my manager, and I think those things are very important in a job. The rest will come with time.
Enjoy the link, and tip your barista well!
