simple symphony

Wanting to post another entry here on honey girl's blog spot over the past few weeks, several drafts have been composed but nothing felt right. You know I like to keep it simple. Today, then, allow me to simply share the following quote:

To live content with small means,
to seek elegance rather than luxury
and refinement rather than fashion,
to be worthy, not respectable,
and wealthy, not rich
to study hard, think quietly,
talk gently, act frankly,
to listen to stars, and birds,
babes and sages, with open heart,
to hear all cheerfully, do all bravely,
await occasions, hurry never-
In a word, to let the spiritual,
unbidden and unconscious,
grow up through the common.
This is to be my symphony.
William Ellery Channing (1780-1842)

I like it. It holds a reflection of this blog spot's purpose - to post simple reflections expressing gratitude for God's goodness and abundant provision. It reminds, me, too, of a plaque hanging on my wall, which affirms this truth - Beckoned or not beckoned, God is present.

Taking a cue from starsandstillness, I'll add this caveat:
"As always, this quote is not a recommendation of the author’s general work, about which I know next-to-nothing."

Where are you aware of God's goodness and abundant provision -
unbidden and unconscious growing up through the common?

simply me

Today's post stems from some ponderings that I've been absorbed with after someone asked the question, "when are you most completely you?"

I am most completely me when I'm in a creative space. There are several facets to Honey Girl's creative side - I'm a writer, yes. I'm also a baker and a musician. (Does my interest in photography make me a photographer?) These are some of the creative processes that feed my soul - that flow out of my true self and give expression to the woman that God created me to be.

I am also most completely me when I'm in a relational space as a spiritual director and spiritual companion - fully present to those around me.

Another scope of these ponderings is a reflection of my relationship with the ONE who calls me friend. Whether blogging, baking, making music, in community, or practicing silence and solitude, my hope is that my heart's desire is clearly echoed by these words of Brother Lawrence in The Practice of the Presence of God:


The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.

I invite you to consider this question, when are you most completely you?
When are you most fully alive, living out of your true self, in possession of God?

Simply grateful

Summer is in full swing and this post invites me to give expression of simple gratitude as the rhythm of the seasons pulses along.

This morning found me grateful for flitting hummingbirds and butterflies in the perennial garden and a pair of wild turkeys strolling in the back yard with their ten chicks. Now, as dusk settles in, I'm grateful for lingering daylight and flickering fireflies. In the growing darkness, I’m grateful for the faithful appearance of Venus in the Western sky. Bird song has settled down for the night and a chorus of crickets has taken up the beat.

Except for the awareness of these simple pleasures it might have been an ordinary day.

I’m so thankful for eyes to see and ears to hear these evidences of God’s goodness and abundant provision.

How might you give affirmation of the same during these summer days and nights?

grateful with nothing new to say

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Chorus
Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Chorus

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside

Chorus

Lingering sounds from The Lion King http://disney.go.com/theatre/thelionking/#/home/ – like a perpetual eight track - (The endless loop tape cartridge player from the ‘70s) keep going round and round in my head. You know how that is? To get rid of it, you just have to sing it – belt it out. Allow me to share. Sing along if you like. Please note that I’ve taken a bit of liberty with the interpretation, but this is, in part, why I particularly love these two songs: Endless Night & He Lives in You (Reprise).
Listen and you'll hear Simba’s lament in the first of these.

Where has the starlight gone? Dark is the day
How can I find my way home?
Home is an empty dream Lost to the night
Father, I feel so alone
You promised you'd be there whenever I needed you
Whenever I call your name you’re not anywhere
I'm trying to hold on just waiting to hear your voice
One word, just a word will do to end this nightmare
When will the dawning break Oh endless night
Sleepless I dream of the day when you were by my side
Guiding my path Father, I can't find the way
I know that the night must end and that the sun will rise
I know that the clouds must clear and that the sun will shine
I know
Yes, I know
The sun will rise
Yes, I know
I know
The clouds must clear


Sometimes one needs to put it out there in the form of a good lament to clear the air and get centered with a proper focus on the reality of God’s presence with you again. Here, let me say that I’m uncomfortable with the phrase, “…and then, God showed up.” Let us remember that God is omnipresent – he is everywhere. (Psalm 139:7-12, Jeremiah 23:23-24)

Simba’s confidence in his father’s abiding presence – even though he hasn’t felt it, has been restored. He can now join in the chorus of the second of my favorites. (Consider this one from the perspective of Colossians 1:26 and 27 “the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages & generations…the glorious mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”)


He lives in you
He lives in me

He watches over
Everything we see
Into the water
Into the truth
In your reflection
He lives in you


Having shared these thoughts, I’m grateful for the music - for the artistry and the beauty that the Lion King has brought into my life.
More than that, I’m grateful for reminders of God’s abiding presence.
Grateful too, that in difficult times, times when I feel lost and He seems far, far away, He hears the cry of my heart.

What is your lament today?
How has God proven His abiding presence in your life?

Did I say ordinary?

Wait a minute - did I say my life was ordinary? Ordinary - not to be confused with dull, indifferent, humdrum, run-of-the-mill, second-rate, so-so, undistinguished, uneventful, unexceptional, uninspired, unmemorable, unremarkable... Pondering my musings of yesterday, I see that my life is anything but ordinary. Simple, yes. Ordinary, no. How could it be ordinary? There is so much to be grateful for. Is anyone's life ordinary? Is not life itself extraordinary?
This thought has stayed with me all day & I can't rest until I set the record straight.

Here’s my short list for the day that proves (to me, at least) that life is anything but ordinary – each jotting a source of uncommon praise:
• I have opposable thumbs
• Watched a doe deer go face to face with a tom turkey in the back yard
• Enjoyed a picnic supper out at Lake Michigan
• Climbed the 240 stairs of Mt. Pishgah with out stopping
• Savored a Tommy Turtle Sundae from Captain Sunday

Life is good. I see God’s goodness and abundant provision at every turn.

Where do you see the extraordinary in the day to day?

living an ordinary life

Today finds me grateful - back home after a week of safe and satisfying travels to Southern California. One of the highlights of the trip was experiencing The Lion King. I was enthralled – enraptured with the sounds and sights of my first Broadway experience! Now I’m back on the stage of my ordinary life – catching up with cleaning and yard work, getting essential errands run – trying to get back into the groove of the day to day without loosing my focus and center.

During Lent and the Easter Season I found that certain practices helped establish a practical rhythm that kept me on track. Sometimes I need an assignment to get ‘er done. A good book points the way - The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy and "Women's Work" (Madeleva Lecture in Spirituality) by Kathleen Norris begins with a quote by Gregory of Nyssa:

“Let us remember that the life in which we ought to be interested is “daily” life. We can, each of us, only call the present time our own… Our Lord tells us to pray for today, and so he prevents us from tormenting ourselves about tomorrow. It is as if [God] were to say to us: “[It is I] who gives you this day [and’ will also give you what you need for this day. [It is I] who makes the sun to rise. [It is I] who scatters the darkness of night and reveals to you the rays of the sun.”

But I don’t want to read my life, I want to live it.

So, as I live this day, in the day to day, I choose an attitude of gratitude even in the ordinary.