I Want to Believe

I just read an excellent article, available here, which discusses the importance of magic, fairy tale, and myth to faith. We need fairy tales and myths to teach us how to have faith in God. The world is not explainable through rational means - we've been trying that for over 200 years, and we've failed. It fails our faith as well. Reducing our faith to logical sayings, archeological evidence, and Biblical harmonizations does violence to our ability to appreciate the mystery of God. The early church fathers and mothers knew this. Their best and most accepted definitions of mysteries like the Trinity and Atonement do little to actually EXPLAIN those doctrines. The best they can do is say what those mysteries are not.
I'm not rejecting the importance of the scientific method, or the value of logic. I am extolling the importance of fantasy, wonder, and mystery. We need more Fringe and less CSI. Not because of violence, because Fringe has plenty of violence. But because in Fringe (and earlier, in the X-Files), there is mystery and wonder and alternate explanations, miracles.
And so in 2009 I want to look at the Bible as a wondrous storybook of mystery, not a source of guidelines for life. I no longer want to know, or to reason out, or to prove. I want to believe.

Home Sweet Home

It was great fun visiting family, but it's good to be home. The cats were happy to see us, although Duchess is still acting a little feral. She gets that way. I'm mostly looking forward to being home for a whole week with Dale! We have a nice long to-do list to keep us busy, but we also plan to relax and enjoy our time off.

What am I asking of the universe?

Things are good right now. Not perfect, but of course, they never will be perfect! But very very good. And so I have the time to wonder, what am I asking for? Life is smooth, on-course. It's the opportune moment to sit back and think about what I'm asking for. Martha Beck talks about desire, and about asking "what then?" This is my "what then?"
And there's another piece too. I've been thinking about Mary: this is my time of year to think about Mary. If God offered me a divine Son, a child born of my virginity, what would it be? What would it look like? What area in my life is unexplored, but waiting to be filled with life?
I consider with fear and trembling, because I've learned that when you ask things of the universe, the universe becomes very personally focused: if I ask for relational reconciliation, for example, I will be forced to confront my unreconciled relationships. Just the way of things. But relational reconciliation is high on my life. Of course, so is writing 2 books and getting them published.
What are you asking of the universe? What barren area of your life is waiting to be filled with divine conception?

The coolest thing

I just discovered Pandora radio. And it is the coolest thing. I have it on my iPhone, but you can get it on your computer. You set up a username and then you pick out songs and artists you like. Each artist or song becomes a radio station. So I put in "Tori Amos." And then it starts playing Tori Amos songs. Nonstop. For free. :) And here's what really makes it cool - it also plays other songs that are similar to Tori Amos. If you like a song, you give it a "thumbs-up" so it learns your preferences. If you hate a song, you give it a "thumbs-down" and it skips the song and adjusts your preferences. So cool! I've already discovered a couple of songs I want to buy.

Looking inward

So I'm deeply disturbed today by news of something George W. Bush has done. It's something that I really disagree with, for many reasons. I'm not sure discussing the actual action here has merit. Because the fact of the matter is, I'm angry and upset and I just want to point fingers and screech.
But then I drop back and think about how often I implore people to look inward before they point fingers. So, I'm trying to do that. I'm angry at other people for not being willing to lay down their rights and stop judging others, so I need to stop judging others as well. Does this mean I check my political opinions at the door? Well, no. Does it mean I have no right to speak up? No.
I need to let go. I agreed with very little that President Bush did and so my current state is nothing new. There is a new political party in power soon. They are already discussing how to reverse this current action. My role is to love others and to pray for everyone. So I'm letting go. I'm releasing all my upset over this. I'm releasing my judgment and my anger. If nothing else, this action of President Bush's is initiating an important conversation that needs to happen. Both sides need to rationally discuss the implicit issues and move forward. I am happy to do so. I will attempt to do that with objectivity. Because I'm letting go of the emotions, for now.
It feels good to let go, even though I know I will probably need to let go a few more times today. :)

A peaceful rush

A few of the blogs I read regularly have been posting about resting. About taking time to breathe in this busy hectic season.
Me, on the other hand, I'm just gearing up! I suppose that my desire to NOT rest has something to do with the fact that I was sick for a month - enforced rest is a real drag. Plus school is wrapping up, and I am entering the Danger Zone for my productivity: when school's out, it's easy for me to just sit around and do nothing. Again, however, the month of doing nothing has really cured my desire for that. So I'm making a list and checking it twice and running around doing things constantly. And I LOVE it! Ah, health is such a wonderful thing...

Christmas Card Photos

Merry Christmas!

Open Hands

I had a funny experience today. I was offered a gift, something that I want very very much, and because the gift was perfect, no strings attached, exactly what I wanted, I created drama around it. My unconscious literally made up a problem with the gift. And then I went right along and agonized over it! I just couldn't receive with open hands. Ironic, especially in this season of gifting, but I think this is just one of those universal things. Our world is so quid pro quo, so bent on earning things, that we lack the ability to receive.
I'm just now beginning to see that this is one of the big problems of religion: we take a free gift and attach strings. I think God's biggest frustration with us isn't that we're evil, or weak, or hateful. God's biggest frustration is that we just won't take His love. We try to earn it. And we tell other people that they have to earn it. Instead of just opening up our hands and saying, "Yes, I will accept your blessings and your forgiveness and your love and the fresh start on my life and beauty and joy and peace and I will take all that I can get." Like me creating drama around a gift that I could simply receive with joy.

Turkey Stock

So yesterday I finally had a whole day at home. Which was great, because I've been waiting to make turkey stock ever since Thanksgiving. I used a recipe for chicken stock, figuring poultry is poultry. My first oops moment of the day came around 9:30 AM, when I realized that my pot was really too small for the full recipe. Fortunately, Dale and I froze the turkey carcass in 2 bags, so I cut the recipe in half and moved forward. This means we still have half our turkey carcass in the freezer. I had to boil the water, then skim the top every 15 minutes, for an hour. Then I skimmed every 30 minutes for 2 hours, while it simmered. The final stage was letting it simmer, uncovered, for 8 hours. It was really quite nice. I spent the day sitting in my breakfast room writing on my computer and monitoring my bubbling pot of goodness. When the simmering was done, I strained the mixture and put it in ice water to cool. Then it sat in the refrigerator all night. Today I was supposed to skim the fat off the top and then put it in containers. Well, funny thing, there was no fat! I guess turkeys are leaner than chickens... Then I dipped into it with a spoon to put it in the containers. That's when I noticed that the consistency was decidedly different from the consistency of canned stock. In fact, it jiggled and moved in a disturbingly reminiscent way. A way that reminded me of... Jell-O! So I spent 10 hours yesterday making turkey Jell-O. Yum. I bet it will be a great soup!

Christmas Cats

Pipsqueak shows off his Grinch face.

Duchess can't climb as high this year as she did last year. Unfortunately, that's not saying much.

Shadow likes the tree too, for eating...

Post-Thanksgiving Nap

Aren't they sweet? This picture was taken sometime after Thanksgiving, don't remember the day. This is why I believe Duchess and Pipsqueak are secretly friends.

Merry Christmas!

Instead of spamming this, I'll blog it! Post your response to as many or as few as you like in your comments...
1. Real tree or artificial?
We are artificial all the way!
2. Eggnog?
I didn't use to drink this, but Dale has converted me
3. Hardest person to buy for?
Dale's parents, by far. They have everything they want and never give us suggestions.
4. Easiest person to buy for?
Each other, cause we just do 1 big gift that we agree on in advance.
5. Nativity scene?
Oh yes. I'd like to collect several and put them out all over the house one day...
6. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Definitely mail
7. Christmas letter or just card?
We do some form of a letter each year. But it's mainly so we can stay on other people's letter lists. Because isn't making fun of Christmas letters the best part of the holiday?
8. Favorite Christmas movie?
How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Love, Actually. Oh, and the Abilene Family Christmas...
9. Favorite Christmas song?
O Holy Night, the Messiah, and of course, Jingle Bells by Wing (David and Sallie, did you enjoy that one?)
10. Angel or star tree topper?
We have a really beautiful angel, courtesy Mom.
11. Open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas?
Depends on where we are, but mostly on Christmas these days.
12. Most annoying part of Christmas?
By far, the commercials urging people to buy ridiculous gifts... A close second would be hearing "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" on the radio approximately 1,052 times per week.
13. Best part of Christmas?
Sitting in a dim room, listening to beautiful Christmas music while looking at the brightly lit Christmas tree.

HOT DOG HOT TUB

We are finally making progress on the hot tub!!! After weeks of confusion and runaround and unreturned phone calls, we are on track for installation! I talked with the building inspector today, and after we make a few minor changes, we will be able to go ahead and have the hot tub put in place and connected, possibly next week!
Expect posts to become very few and far between, as Dale and I will be living in hot water as soon as possible...