Monthly Archives: June 2008

June 29, 2008 · 5:55 am

Just realized

That a couple of years ago, I would have blogged all sorts of events from the last couple of days.  I mean, a lot has gone on in my life.  I finished a great silent retreat where the subject material was on the “mystics.” I am not sure if I enjoyed the presented material most or simply the time and permission to be silent; to take a blanket out  onto the beautiful grounds and lie out there under a tree looking up at the sky through a canopy of leaves; to lie there and carry on a quiet conversation with God and to be able to sense things that I needed to hear.  The days included a session talking with a spiritual director that also clarified some things for me.  And the hospitality in the place was great.

Then the evening with Dave and Annette and a wonderfully excited Kieran at the Cirque de Soleil.  What fun.  What magic!

Then introduced Jordon and Wendy to the Konga Cafe.  On Ave. H and 23rd.  Doesn’t look like much but the food and hospitality there is great.  Food with a Carribean flavor.

And today, met another friend for lunch.  Good talking times.  Then home to celebrate a significant birthday with another friend.

So there has a been a lot that could have been blogged in great detail.   It seems that these days I have been doing less writing and more doing things with people.  Seems that if I am busy being with friends then there is maybe more things to say but less time to talk about it.  So, I guess I will spend the time doing and being and enjoying.  Maybe deep thoughts will emerge at some point but for now, I am enjoying friends, family and the warm summer weather.

Tomorrow after church I will head up to the lake with two daughters and two grandsons.  We are tenting and going to celebrate Canada Day together at the lake.

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June 26, 2008 · 5:21 am

Reflecting in this silent place

Reflecting on Teresa of Avila’s writings, The Interior Castle and a quote from someone given to me by one of the spiritual directors here,

“There are places in my heart that I have never been. Lord, sometimes I don’t know myself. I am blessed that you do.”

I get the feeling that there are whole rooms inside me that God wants to open and infuse with his presence. I don’t know what they are or how to go there – yet. I guess if God wants to go there then he knows the door to them. Someone said that these sorts of doors are tricky – they can only be opened from our side, which I think is true to an extent.  However, somehow we have to hear God knocking from the other side, I think, before we realize where the door is located.   Gradually as I open up those inner places to God I believe that I will understand a whole new level of freedom and be closer to really knowing who I am.

So, here in the silence I have been discovering stuff about me and God.  And it is good.

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June 25, 2008 · 12:34 am

An Interrupted Life

I was introduced to the life and writings of Etty Hillesum today.  She did not survive the Holocaust but she did learn to live her short life with God. 

On prayer she says, " Half an hour of meditation can set the tone for the whole day but its not so simple.  It has to be learnt." 

And, " Somewhere deep inside all of us carry a vast and fruitful loneliness wherever we go."

I think it is that loneliness that calls us to a relationship with God. 

It was a good day.  Ad now at the end of a rainy day the sun is out and I will walk a bit and enjoy the peacefulness of the grounds and the trees that always take me closer to God.

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June 20, 2008 · 8:40 pm

In Silence

For the next week and a bit I will be on vacation.  I think it would be right to call this a holiday where the time away can be called holy – although if one looks, the sacred can even be found in days at work.  I am going to spend the next week in a retreat house doing a retreat called Praying with the Mystics.  I am not sure if the whole retreat is a silent one but I know that at least one day will be spent in silence.  And there is a lot of reading and thinking and writing to do to prepare for the final intensive week of the spiritual direction course this summer.

Silence will be good. 

I will emerge from the retreat house to go to the Cirque de Soleil show on Wednesday – a Mother’s Day gift from my son and his family.  That, too, will be very good.  And I will connect with some friends when the retreat is done. 

Time with God and time with friends.  A holiday can’t get much better than that.  I guess some spectacular scenery thrown in would be awesome – but I will have to settle for Saskatoon.  Which isn’t bad, just it isn’t necessarily spectacular, at least till God throws a fiery sunset across the sky.

So posting will be very quiet around here over the next week.  It’s OK.  I don’t know that anything I’ve said here lately has been terribly profound.

I need a break from work.  I need time and space and quiet to think and hear God. 

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June 19, 2008 · 3:57 pm

Two in a Row

This is too common an occurrence.  Two guys, doubt they care much about the state of their dental health although they have underlying medical conditions that should make them more prudent, come in with lost fillings.  the most common reason for a lost filling is decay around an old filling so that the structure of the tooth around the filling breaks and it falls out.  Kind of like saying the windows fell out of the house when the house has rotten timber.  New windows won’t fix the problem any more than a new filling plopped into the hole in the tooth.  It requires a major overhaul of the tooth most of the time and sometimes the tooth is just too far gone to save. 

The other option is me doing what is commonly termed "herodontics"  where I try heroically to save a tooth that has hardly a hope in hell to survive.

So, here I go.  Wonder what I will attempt this time.

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June 16, 2008 · 11:24 pm

Kimia’s dedication

IMGP3582 edited Some events are very special. Yesterday Kimia Lanoie was dedicated to God. A big day for my littlest granddaughter. Kind of special for a Father’s Day since my son is the proud dad.

At times like this my thoughts return to the past; to Eric’s dedication and our idealism at that time as we set out to raise our first child to know God. My memories run over all the years in between then and now. Memories are both funny and serious but all those times remembered are savored and pondered over one more time.

And here we are – a new generation well on its way. Our children beginning to collect their own memories of their children’s lives.

As for Grandma – well I will remember this day. It goes in my collection bag of good times and special memories. I will remember this day as she grows and as those occasions come when she will need to be reminded that she is loved and cared for by her parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and by her Heavenly Father.

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June 16, 2008 · 1:23 pm

O taste and see…

Seems I used to have a lot more time to reflect on life.  I am anxiously awaiting my week of retreat.  Only one week to go! 

Life still teaches me lessons but I learn them only if I stop and take some time to reflect on their meaning. 

Zaka’s response to the delicious taste of the cherry was so much like my own reaction to the new experiences life offers me.   God may be offering me the very best that he has for me but it does not look like the familiar fruit, the one that I’ve learned to relish.  I take a taste and find only the pit, rejecting the good fruit around it.  So I miss out on what God has to offer for the moment.  My tastes are too immature and I don’t hear him saying, "Linea, taste the fruit around that hard pit that you just spit out in disgust"  I think he has to re-introduce me to those tastes he offers again and again, patiently waiting for my taste buds to mature so that I can appreciate the succulent goodness of what he offers me.

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June 16, 2008 · 4:21 am

First fruits

It is always interesting to watch little kids take the first taste of new foods.  Their faces are so honest.  Tonight Zaka had his first fresh cherry.  He ate the pit and spit out the fruit.  It was funny to watch.  He has decided against cherries. 

Only two years and already he has very definite likes and dislikes.  Most green foods are not fit to be eaten – "no want" is his pronouncement.  And even without the words, one look at the turned up nose and the face full of disgust tells the true opinion.

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June 15, 2008 · 4:06 am

Grandmothering

The day began early – that’s how it goes when a garage sale is going on. Also Leo left at 6 for a meeting in Davidson so I was up for that. He did bring me coffee in bed this morning though.

My contribution to this humongous garage sale is childcare. For the most part it went fine. This morning we played in the livingroom. I have one end barricaded off with the sofa and the other with a baby gate so Ronin can’t escape. We have too many stairs and they are hard to block off. Then we all went for a walk in the park – interrupted towards the end by a call from the security company that monitors the office. So I went running off to check on that – all was fine as I suspected. No idea what set it off.

Made lunch and fed the shopkeepers, then played some more.

Later I decided that it would be fun to take Zaka to a little fun house for kids. It was the first time we’d been. Got to the door – carrying Ronin and dragging Zaka by the hand to read on the door “all persons must wear socks” Back we went to the car. Strapped both kids(now crying) back into the car seats and drove to the closest store. Grabbed a shopping cart, unbuckled the kids and loaded them into the cart. In we went and out we came with Zaka’s pick – some Spiderman socks. Pretty cool. And the ride in the shopping cart was a hit for both kids.

Buckled up again for the two block ride back to the fun house. Unbuckled and went in, Zaka proudly wearing his new socks. I was wearing sandals – I ended up purchasing a pair of socks which I discovered they sell at the door for unprepared people like me. Also paid for Zaka and myself. Ronin was free.

I had no idea that Zaka would be so hesitant to interact with strange kids. He refused to try any of the climbing and sliding equipment so he spent his time in the area for really little kids with me and Ronin. He seemed to have a good time but it was an expensive treat considering it consisted of crawling around on foam toys and he might have had just as much fun at home for free. I think he needs to go with someone who is a bit braver and more agressive socially.

It was a good day of just being a grandmother. But entertaining and hauling around a couple of kids is tiring work.

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June 13, 2008 · 1:22 pm

Music

I am up and listening to the Boyce Symphonies.  We played one in orchestra.  I like baroque music.  I suppose that music is some of what I like best on the recorder.  Oh if only I could make mine sound like the really good recorder artists.  I guess I have neither the skills or another lifetime to perfect them.

Listening to this kind of music in the morning starts my day off well.  It seems to have some sort of effect on me.  Sort of says to my spirit – all will be well as long as there is this kind of beauty around me.

Even if we have this huge garage sale beginning – which is really NOT my kind of thing!

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