Here I Go...

This feels like such strange suspended reality. It feels like vacation, but I’m never going home… because I don’t actually have a home.

Vacation looks like this

I’ve been trying to get into the habit of praying daily. I’ve always been bad at keeping rituals for myself, even when I know that I feel better when I do them. Having a designated space for that helps. And I brought with me the daily devotional that Hillary gave me back in January. It’s a collection of short writings by Bonhoeffer and here is one from the other day that I liked:

“Serve the opportune time. The most profound matter will be revealed to us only when we consider that not only does the world have its time and hours, but also that our own life has its time and its hour of God, and that behind these times of our lives traces of God become visible, that under our paths are the deepest shafts of eternity, and every step brings back a quiet echo from eternity. It is only a matter of understanding the deep, pure form of these times and representing them in our conduct of life. Then in the middle of our time we will also encounter God’s holy present. ‘My times are at hand’ (Ps. 31:15). Serve your times, God’s present in your life.God has sanctified your time. Every time, rightly understood, is immediate to God, and God wants us to be fully what we are… Only those who stand with both feet on the earth, who are and remain totally children of earth, who understand no hopeless attempts at flight to unreachable heights, who are content with what they have and hold to it thankfully- only they have the full power of the humanity that serves the opportune time and thus eternity… The Lord of the ages is God. The turning point of the ages is Christ. The right spirit of the ages is the Holy Spirit”

The Easter season is over now, with the coming of Pentecost. I did not do it this year, but I look forward to future years when I can be more intune to the rythyms of seasons and holidays and really take the time to reflect on how I am living during those times.

———Now for something completely different———-

BABIES!!!! Because no one ever gets tired of seeing me post pictures of other people’s children!

Sue, Bill and all the kids have been out of town this weekend for Frida Berrigan’s wedding, so Rhonda and I have been making good snacks at the house. And I did some work in the garden, but mostly we made snacks.

Today, we picked up S so her momma could go to work. These children are so cute it hurts. This is S:

With Rhonda…

With me…

Being naked with some prickly heat rash.

Then everyone came home! and a very dramatic game of Candy Land ensued with Bill, J and D

It looks like I will be leaving on Tuesday to go to PAPA Festival up in PA with my friends in Lynchburg. I’m actually sad to be leaving Little Flower sooner than anticipated. I was hoping to spend more time with the family as a whole and to speak more to Sue and Bill about their experiences raising a family in Catholic Workers. I think it will be good, though, to go and meet more folks from the New Monastics movement. I do have to admit a bit of trepidation after recent conversations(etc.) that really brought to light how un-accepting and un-affirming these communities can be of queer folks. It’s both frustrating and heart-breaking. I still think it is important to make appearances at these things because there is no reason to expand their range of thinking, if there isn’t any reason to. As long as queer folks stay out of Christian communities, there is no motivation for Christians to embrace us.

But, there are also awesome people doing awesome work about this. Like THIS ARTICLE, co-written by one of the folks Hillary and I will be visiting in New Mexico in August. I’m getting pretty excited about that.