tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5879770956222649532024-03-12T22:13:56.067-04:00One Eternal PresenceAndy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.comBlogger391125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-11100595475291928772019-08-28T06:30:00.000-04:002019-08-28T06:30:08.681-04:00A Blessing for Renewed Common Good<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This week’s OEP is a prayer was given
to open the U.S. House of Representatives on September 10, 2015. I hope it will
have meaning for you today.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I'm taking a little break from One
Eternal Presence for a few weeks. In the mean time, each week I'm sharing
one of the fourteen Opening Prayers for the U.S. House of Representatives I've
had the honor and privilege to deliver through the years. I'll be back
after Labor Day.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif;">As vacations and recesses draw to a
close, we give thanks for the gift of rest and recreation afforded us while so
many in our country and world have spent those same days in fear and suffering.<br />
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May we leave business as usual in the shadows of yesterday, seeking to shine
with renewed purpose, inspired wisdom, and transformative action.<br />
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May every person associated with these Halls of power remember their calling as
public servants to humbly hold the hopes, dreams, and trust of people from
every walk of life in every State, city, town, village, and neighborhood of our
country and world.<br />
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As numerous streams of opinion, interest, and need flow into the procedures,
process, and decisions of this day and days ahead, may there be wisdom and
patience to allow them to find their way to pools and ponds of peace, rivers of
mercy, and eventually oceans of compassion and common good for all people. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://chaplain.house.gov/archive/index.html?id=2286" target="_blank">Read
the prayer here.</a><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana",sans-serif;"><b><br />
<a href="http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4550509/house-prayer-9-10-15" target="_blank">See C-span video here.</a></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-34389774075023175172019-08-21T09:45:00.000-04:002019-08-21T09:45:45.230-04:00A Blessing of Possibility and Potential<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">This week’s OEP is a prayer was given
to open the U.S. House of Representatives on March October 7, 2011. I hope it
will have meaning for you today.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I'm taking a little break from One
Eternal Presence for a few weeks. In the mean time, each week I'm sharing
one of the fourteen Opening Prayers for the U.S. House of Representatives I've
had the honor and privilege to deliver through the years. I'll be back
after Labor Day.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Creator God, Eternal Presence, Spirit
of Life in whom we breathe and live, we come into another day that has never
been, a new day, an empty day waiting to be; its possibility and potential
filled with only that which we bring to it. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As we pause in this moment may we have
the wisdom, humility, and grace to lay aside the fear, scarcity, pain, mistrust
and violence that has consumed so many of our yesterdays. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Where discord has been our nemesis,
may harmony be our friend.<br />
Where suspicion shades our perspective, may trust bring light to see clearly
and know your Presence in ourselves, in others and in all Creation. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is our prayer. Fill us with
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self–control, so that these may be the gifts we bring to this day, to our work,
our lives, our country, and our world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<a href="http://chaplain.house.gov/archive/index.html?id=1684" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Read
the prayer here.</b></span></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/301961-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>See C-span video here.</b></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-16188936471797977692019-08-14T06:30:00.000-04:002019-08-14T06:30:01.908-04:00A Blessing of Interdependence<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This week’s OEP is a prayer was given
to open the U.S. House of Representatives on March 18, 2013. I hope it will
have meaning for you today.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I'm taking a little break from One
Eternal Presence for a few weeks. In the mean time, each week I'm sharing
one of the fourteen Opening Prayers for the U.S. House of Representatives I've
had the honor and privilege to deliver through the years. I'll be back
after Labor Day.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We come
today with thanks and gratitude for the eternal presence of God, known by many
names, that is within, around, and throughout all creation.<br />
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May each person in the human family be reminded today in every breath we take
of the Spirit that binds and connects us to one another. With every morsel or
drop of nourishment taken into our bodies may we remember our interdependence
with the soil, streams, seas, plants, and animals of Earth. As we gaze to the
sky above may we allow the mysterious vastness of the unknown to stir our
imaginations toward creative care of that which is known.<br />
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As citizens not only of Nations but also of the Earth itself, may we live this
day and every day in harmony with all. And may this Spirit of harmony be that
which guides the ideas, conversations, debates, and decisions of our Nation's
leaders today and always. Amen.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<b><a href="http://chaplain.house.gov/archive/index.html?id=1917" target="_blank">Read
the prayer here</a>.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/311554-2" target="_blank">See C-span
video here.</a><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br />Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-11790033841674135972019-08-07T07:00:00.000-04:002019-08-07T09:28:30.453-04:00Blessing The Day<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm taking a little break from One Eternal Presence for a few weeks. In the mean time, </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">each week I'm sharing one of the fourteen Opening Prayers for the U.S. House of Representatives I've had the honor and privilege to deliver through the years. I'll be back after Labor Day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today's prayer was given on February 4, 2010. I hope it will have meaning for you today.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white;">In thanks and gratitude we breathe the life giving Spirit of a new day </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white;">filled with creative potential and possibility.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">As on the first day, may this day be "in the beginning."</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">May we see the goodness and abundance of creation.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">May we embrace the name given to us, Human, – from the earth.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">May we look into the eternal waters and see in our own reflections </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white;">the image of the Name that cannot be named, </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white;">the Eternal Living Presence we call by many names. </span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">May we see both the Human and Divine </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white;">in ourselves </span><span style="background-color: white;">and every other person. </span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">May we see the Eternal Presence of Life in all of creation.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">May the Light of the first day be our guiding vision for every day </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white;">particularly within the deliberations and decisions </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white;">among the minds, spirits, and imagination of these chambers, </span><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">leading us to see and respect the sacred dignity and worth of </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white;">every one and every thing, everywhere.</span><br style="background-color: white;" /><br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white;">Amen.</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></i></span>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://chaplain.house.gov/archive/index.html?id=1323" style="color: #4d469c;" target="_blank"><b>Read the prayer here.</b></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/id/219174" style="color: #4d469c;" target="_blank"><b>See C-span video here.</b></a></span></div>
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Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-12938415943190910352019-08-01T06:47:00.002-04:002019-08-01T06:58:38.559-04:00August Recess<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It's that time of year again! Time for me to take a little break from One Eternal Presence. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the past, during this time I've posted some previous OEP reflections. This year, each week I'm sharing one of the fourteen Opening Prayers for the U.S. House of Representatives I've had the honor and privilege to deliver through the years. I'll be back after Labor Day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today's prayer was given on July 23, 2012. I hope it will have meaning for you today.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Creating God, we come together today in a simple prayer. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">May we be who we are created to be, reflections of your image. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">May we live as we know we should, as caretakers of creation. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">May we participate in the purpose of life, as companions to God and to one another. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">May we truly embrace the equality of humanity as ‘‘self–evident'' and know </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">that just beneath the surface of disagreement, conflict, discord, and even violence and death, </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">there is a deep river of grace, love, and forgiveness that truly binds us. </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">May this stream of eternal presence be solace for any pain in our lives; </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">but, more importantly, inspiration and hope of reconciliation and peace </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">in personal relationships, in our Nation, and throughout the world.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">May the deliberations and decisions of this day and all days </span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">take place in the spirit of common good, the spirit in which we are created.</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Amen.</span></i><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #4d469c;"><b><a href="http://chaplain.house.gov/chaplaincy/display_gc.html?id=1824" style="color: #4d469c;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Prayer on House Chaplain's website.</span></a></b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/HouseSessionPart152" style="color: #4d469c;" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">See C-span video here.</span></b></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"> </span>Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-84556174204363813742019-07-24T12:24:00.001-04:002019-07-24T12:24:55.009-04:00If there is...It is we...<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"><i>“You are the light of the world...you are the salt of the earth.”</i> ~ Jesus</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"><i>“The love you take is equal to the love you make.”</i> <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">~ Lennon and McCartney</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">The world we have </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">is the world we made </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">and continue to make. </span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">If there is hatred, </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">it is we who hate.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">If there Is love, </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">it is we who love.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">If there is violence, </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">it is we who are violent.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">If there is peace,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">It is we who are peaceful.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">If there is restlessness,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">It is we who are restless.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">If there is contentment.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">It is we who are content.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">If there is cruelty,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">It is we who are cruel.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">If there is kindness,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">It is we who are kind.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">If there is ugliness,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">It is we who are ugly.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">If there is beauty,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">It is we who are beautiful.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">If there is despair, </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">it is we who who are desperate.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">If there is hope,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">It is we who are hopeful.</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">The Universe is.,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">Creation is,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">pure Possibility. Potential,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">Our tiny piece. Earth,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">the world, our world, waits,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">not for a savior, </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">not for a Deus ex machina,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">but for us.</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">The world we have </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">is the world we made </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; color: #454545; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">and continue to make. </span></div>
Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-22044982173427228912019-07-17T11:00:00.001-04:002019-07-17T14:59:23.736-04:00EpiphanyA couple of days ago here in Estes Park, Colorado as I hiked with Peg and dear friends a slight breeze led my attention to a small Aspen tree. I took a deep breath and remembered.<br />
<br />
Eight years ago as I sat under a much larger Aspen tree in Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, the sun crept over the hundred million year plus, layered walls of Kitchen Mesa. The early morning chill had begun to recede into Box Canyon, ancient home to dinosaurs. The sky was blue, and deep in the way it can be on a late Spring morning on the Colorado Plateau. A gentle breeze suddenly became stronger and with it came a sound as if a flock of birds were overhead. Looking up, I saw, not birds but leaves, thousands of them shimmering, glistening, singing, dancing. Breathing in, eternity collapsed into one moment. Breathing out, one moment became eternal.<br />
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I can’t say for sure but that moment may have been the beginning of this weekly blog. What I do know for sure is it was an epiphany that shifted my perspective and perception from one of an autonomous individual to that of a participant in and expression of a wonderfilled, mysterious, on going process of One Eternal Presence.<br />
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<br />Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-32096977716811303792019-07-10T11:23:00.000-04:002019-07-10T11:23:07.663-04:00Rain<i>"We sure could use some rain."</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"When will it ever stop raining."</i><br />
<br />
<br />
We have all felt and expressed the above in some form, depending on our location and time. Rain is a fact of life. In fact, it is necessary for life. Without rain there would be no life. So, how come we humans are always grousing about rain?<br />
<br />
Maybe our basic problem is we insist on keeping on regardless of rain while most of the rest of nature simply takes it in stride and waits it out. There are exceptions of course like hurricanes and floods when we are forced to acknowledge rain. But for the most part rain is seen as a major inconvenience to "normal" life.<br />
<br />
We have this audacious notion that somehow we are separate from and apart from the rest of creation. Unfortunately, this notion of environmental autonomy has led humanity to abuse our planet to the point that weather is becoming more and more threatening, not only to our comfort, but to our existence. Places that need more rain don't get it and places that could use less get too much. Our climate is changing and we are a major factor in that change.<br />
<br />
It is long past time for humanity to stop hiding our heads and sipping lemonade and realize that rain or shine we have an effect on our environment. In the end regardless of what we do or don't do the weather will be fine. But will we?<br />
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<i><a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=rain+beatles+youtube&view=detail&mid=903E3048EE38209FA23B903E3048EE38209FA23B&FORM=VIRE" target="_blank">Rain - The Beatles</a></i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>If the rain comes</i><br />
<i>They run and hide their heads</i><br />
<i>They might as well be dead</i><br />
<i>If the rain comes</i><br />
<i>If the rain comes</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>When the sun shines</i><br />
<i>They slip into the shade</i><br />
<i>And sip their lemonade</i><br />
<i>When the sun shines</i><br />
<i>When the sun shines</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Rain, I don't mind</i><br />
<i>Shine, the weather's fine</i><br />
~ Lennon and McCartney<br />
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<br />Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-70605966417310451902019-07-03T13:33:00.000-04:002019-07-03T13:33:38.165-04:00from Andrew to Andrew<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dear Andrew,</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We welcomed you into this world less than a week ago. You surprised us and came early. But that’s ok because you’ll discover that some of the best things in this life come as surprises. Your early arrival is a pretty good example of that.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Coming early the way you did also means you need a little extra care. That’s another thing you’ll learn about living. It is awfully tough to make it alone in this world, practically impossible. Even though you’ve shown us you have a strong will to thrive, you need other people in order to survive and thrive. As your Mama Carina, recently pointed out, it really does take a village of family, friends, and community --all of whom have already surrounded you with support and love. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Always remember, it is ok to ask for help. It is natural to need other people. This wonderful creation you have entered is mysteriously and amazingly interconnected and interdependent in ways that you have already experienced without even knowing.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That’s another thing. There is a whole lot of information in the world that you will learn, but simply knowing something doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve experienced it, or vice-versa. So many of the best things like joy, peace, gratitude, and love are experienced before we know what has happened. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There is so much more you need to learn and know about life in this universe, but there will be plenty of time. Right now, you just keep on thriving, surviving and experiencing the sounds, touches, smells, and tastes that tell you, not only are you loved, but also that you bring joy, peace, gratitude and love to Mommy Jayme, Mama Carina, Brother Oliver and all of us other family and friends. Come to think of it, you bring love into the whole world. </span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">So one day I hope you’ll look back on these days and truly know that you are deeply loved and that you are the presence of love in this world! I also hope you’ll never forget this!</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Well that’s all for now. I’m sure there will be more later.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br /></span></div>
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; caret-color: rgb(88, 86, 214); font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody;">
<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Your Papa, Andrew.</span></div>
Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-39762752136266146822019-06-26T08:10:00.001-04:002019-06-26T08:10:09.938-04:00Children<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me…If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">~ Jesus, Mark 9</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Teach your children well</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Your father's hell did slowly go by</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>And feed them on your dreams</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>The one they picks</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>The one you'll know by</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Don't you ever ask them why</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>If they told you, you would cry</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>So just look at them and sigh</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>And know they love you</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">~ Graham Nash <a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=teach+your+children+well&pc=cosp&ptag=G6C999AEAF735706C&conlogo=CT3210127&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3dteach%2520your%2520children%2520well%26pc%3dcosp%26ptag%3dG6C999AEAF735706C%26form%3dCONBNT%26conlogo%3dCT3210127&view=detail&mmscn=vwrc&mid=9B331C521D575016712B9B331C521D575016712B&FORM=WRVORC" target="_blank">(Crosby, Still, Nash, & Young)</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>And when I die and when I'm gone, </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>there'll be one child born,</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>and a world to carry on, to carry on.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">~ Laura Nyro <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovhV_zSOVSc" target="_blank">(Blood, Sweat, & Tears)</a>, <a href="https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=who+wrote+When+I+Die&pc=cosp&ptag=G6C999AEAF735706C&conlogo=CT3210127&ru=%2fsearch%3fq%3dwho%2520wrote%2520When%2520I%2520Die%26pc%3dcosp%26ptag%3dG6C999AEAF735706C%26form%3dCONBNT%26conlogo%3dCT3210127&view=detail&mmscn=vwrc&mid=6A88F860D2C85319127A6A88F860D2C85319127A&FORM=WRVORC" target="_blank">(Laura Nyro)</a></span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The quotes above invite you into a couple of ear worms I have this morning - two songs from my youth, two songs among many about how the past becomes the present, becomes the future. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you want a glimpse at the future </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">look at how children in the world are being treated today. There is a wide range from total neglect and cruelty to obsessive attention and smothering love. Countless children are born into fear, poverty, and violence, while others come into comfort, wealth, and safety. The divides that exist in the world today become tomorrow's, or not, depending on how we welcome, teach, and nurture all children, not just our own.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today, as the song says, <i>"there'll be one child born</i>," one child, and another, and another and... <i>"and a world to carry on." </i>May we do our part to "<i>teach them well."</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span>Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-91602518250124783042019-06-19T07:05:00.000-04:002019-06-19T07:05:24.107-04:00A Father's Day To Remember<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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On Father's Day this past Sunday I remembered something that Peg and I experienced on Father's Day back in 1976. My reflections on that day were subsequently published in a religious weekly publication in 1981. It took me a couple of days to find my yellowing copy. So I'm sharing it now. </div>
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On a technical note, in order to make it readable I inserted a large photo copy that requires using the vertical and horizontal scrolling bars on a computer and/or the zoom functions on phones and tablets. Sorry for this inconvenience. I hope you are able to read and enjoy. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzEW4P6Fd5G1CLMqi0QP2aR7v2k0EsoIRYleXQ8e4IMKwFK2BNI4bbOARb_oywlgziW-naKMqsrsZBltE3FgC9JuA2nej_NNbWCrHEAAe7VIrV2h1e2rp-aEwlxg6GMb8nmibQH8x8xAg/s1600/father%2527s+day+to+remember+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzEW4P6Fd5G1CLMqi0QP2aR7v2k0EsoIRYleXQ8e4IMKwFK2BNI4bbOARb_oywlgziW-naKMqsrsZBltE3FgC9JuA2nej_NNbWCrHEAAe7VIrV2h1e2rp-aEwlxg6GMb8nmibQH8x8xAg/s640/father%2527s+day+to+remember+2.jpg" width="492" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrq6_9xKkVNRDN4FKDKgLU3SOaSTIFi36hctxelAhX9GPWFgLvK7U19cs290lEd-1UaNzrGIhsAgYLgaM-sXq7V3UymwsTrNA2rtE3uYqzxm4LjhNN58LV5jMkmSQE9af-PgUJ42uLhrE/s1600/father%2527s+day+to+remember+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrq6_9xKkVNRDN4FKDKgLU3SOaSTIFi36hctxelAhX9GPWFgLvK7U19cs290lEd-1UaNzrGIhsAgYLgaM-sXq7V3UymwsTrNA2rtE3uYqzxm4LjhNN58LV5jMkmSQE9af-PgUJ42uLhrE/s1600/father%2527s+day+to+remember+1.jpg" /></a>Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-73044857759545665892019-06-13T07:09:00.003-04:002019-06-13T07:14:28.905-04:00Believing<i>"Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."</i> ~ Thomas - John 20:26<br />
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<i>"Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." </i> ~ Jesus - John 20:29<br />
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<i>"A man [sic] hears what he [sic] wants to hear and disregards the rest." ~ </i>Paul Simon - <i>The Boxer</i><br />
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"I'll believe it when I experience it," said a deputy sheriff as we told him about the good experience friends had at the local small community hospital. "Don't go there unless you have to," one person after another told us. But our friends "had to." And what they discovered was a hospital under new management, a recently remodeled facility, a friendly, efficient staff and highly qualified physicians -some local and some resourced from other "big city" hospitals. The once inefficient, sketchy hospital has evidently taken a turn for the better. It is changing. But that doesn't change the past experiences of many people in the community who continue to believe their hospital is bad.<br />
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Which comes first - belief or experience? In the Gospel of John, Jesus' disciple, Thomas, won't believe Jesus is alive until he sees and touches his wounds. Then Jesus blesses everyone who will believe without seeing and touching.<br />
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There are also those who say, "I can't believe this is happening." in spite of their experience and evidence all around them - hearing and seeing what they want to hear and see.<br />
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Believing can save us or it can lead us into destruction. What we believe, how we believe, and why we believe is a tricky thing. I really believe this!<br />
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<br />Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-4867618515573696552019-06-05T09:28:00.000-04:002019-06-05T09:37:56.479-04:00"words" Expressing Word<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.65; margin-bottom: 3.5vw;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><i>“Words make worlds” —
because it’s true...language in poetry is magical language. It creates a world.
It summons a world into being. The existential necessity of poetry — lyric
poetry and song — emerges from the magical power of language to create worlds that
dramatize both our experience of disorder and our need for order — vividly
present, both. </i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">~ Gregory Orr, <a href="https://onbeing.org/programs/gregory-orr-shaping-grief-with-language/#transcript"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">from On Being
with Krista Tippett</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><i>In the beginning is the
Word. The Word becomes flesh and lives among us.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">~ John 1:1, 14, my
paraphrase<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Language constitutes our
reality. It is the expression of the human experience of the essence of
existence. The Word (Logos) is the embodiment, the becoming flesh, of
experience. And words give shape and meaning to The Word. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">My Old Testament professor
at Columbia Seminary, Walter Brueggemann, once said in a lecture, "Yahweh
lives on the lips of Israel's praise." This is truly Incarnation! If this
is also true in our time, that God lives on our lips, then God may very well be
on life support today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In the same interview
quoted above, Gregory Orr shares the following lines from William Wordsworth:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">“Let’s remake the world
with words. Not frivolously, nor To hide from what we fear, But with a
purpose. Let’s remove the dust of custom so things shine again, each
object arrayed In its robe of original light. And then we’ll see the
world As if for the first time. As once we gazed at the beloved Who was
gazing at us.”<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In order for humanity to
survive and thrive we must <i>"remove the dust"</i> of the
current, rampant abuse of language, stop "tweeting," and sing in full
measure of the great goodness of all people and all creation. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Words matter. Language
makes a difference. We must pay attention to what we say, write, and hear
because in the end "The Word" is expressed through our "words."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-43628158556274403582019-05-29T07:47:00.000-04:002019-05-29T07:47:32.568-04:00"ins" and "outs"According to an online dictionary the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/in" target="_blank"><b>word "in" has</b> </a>at least eleven different meanings and functions, and <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/out" target="_blank"><b>"out" has</b> </a>at least six. Both can be prepositions, adverbs, adjectives, nouns, prefixes, suffixes, and more. The function determines the meaning.<div>
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For example, when I say I "believe in love" am I saying I believe something called "love" exists or am I believing while surrounded by love? If something is considered "out" is it physically away from you or not under consideration?</div>
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What is in and what is out may very well be the primary decision process of most of human thought as we continually choose which objects and ideas receive and hold our attention. Attention then becomes thoughts, which become actions that become our life. Much of this process takes place subconsciously in the routines, habits, preferences, and prejudices of our lives. We choose one thing/person or another without realizing we are choosing. We also make conscious choices, but my guess is that even most of our conscious choices are somewhat predetermined by subconscious ones.</div>
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Another tendency of this process is that whatever is "in" probably provides comfort and love, and the "out" stuff generates suspicion and fear. This does not necessarily mean that one or the other is good or bad. We can embrace bad things and be fearful of good things.</div>
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My point in all of this is to heighten awareness of what/who is "in" and what/who is "out" in our lives, and to realize that we make choices every moment of everyday whether we realize it or not. Our "ins and outs," whether conscious or not, determine our lives </div>
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Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-69676612946558328202019-05-15T09:27:00.000-04:002019-05-15T09:27:28.255-04:00Rest PatternsDo you remember <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian-head_test_pattern" target="_blank">TV test patterns</a>? Recently in a conversation with some peers we were reminiscing on those odd looking, but familiar, mandalas that occupied TV screens while stations were off the air. <br />
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian-head_test_pattern" target="_blank"><img alt="Image result for tv test pattern" height="148" src="https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.J53OyUlXkFX3I4or9esApAHaFj&w=141&h=105&c=8&rs=1&qlt=90&dpr=2&pid=3.1&rm=2" width="200" /></a></div>
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Among the several purposes for test patterns was the need to occupy the frequency of the broadcasters signal while programming took a break. The patterns also gave technicians reference points for adjusting things like focus, contrast, and eventually color. Perhaps the most beneficial purpose of the test pattern was hidden and even unintentional - they gave the world a break, time off from the consumption of images and sounds. They helped sustain rhythms and cycles of activity and rest, awake and sleep. They even mimicked <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala" target="_blank">the mandala</a>, an ancient art form of introspection, contemplation, and meditation of the universe.</div>
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I've rarely been one to pine for the "good old days" but wouldn't it be nice to have test patterns again, not just on televisions, but also radios, computers, phones, and all of the "smart" devices that occupy so much of human time, energy, and imagination? Wouldn't it be nice if the whole world, within our respective time zones, could pause each day, take a deep breath, and get off the media grid if only for a few minutes?</div>
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Of course we can do this as individuals and groups. We humans have been meditating, worshiping, gathering, relaxing, and sleeping since our beginnings. However, we also have a strong tendency to be drawn toward whatever is flashing and shining in front of us. </div>
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Our current reality is one of constant exposure to all manner of media containing information and data in imagery and sound. There are no more test patterns. This leaves us to our own devices. And, we do have a choice. We have on/off switches. We have imagination. An amazing creation surrounds us and already provides seasons, cycles, and rhythm, if we will only turn away* from flashing shining screens on our walls, our desks, and in our hands. <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We may not have test patterns on our media today, but we can develop and practice "rest patterns" in our lives!</span></div>
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*"repent" - to turn from one thing and toward another </div>
Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-2150131296004007732019-05-08T12:30:00.000-04:002019-05-08T12:30:08.537-04:00Propaganda<i>Propaganda: the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person; ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause. </i> ~ Merriam-Webster online dictionary<br />
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Our modern lives are fueled by information, so much so that we've labeled our time as the "age of digital information." An older friend recently shared that several months ago he had given in to his children's chiding to trade in his flip-phone (now considered ancient technology) for a "smart" phone of which the "phone" part is the least used. "Now," he says, "I can't imagine not having it with me, and I feel disconnected if I don't."<br />
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The more we learn about the technology in our lives, the more we realize how we literally live in a multilayered maze of manipulation of information that feeds our desires and fears while shaping our perspective of the world. Remember the phrase (I suppose we call it a "meme" now) "you are what you eat." Updated a bit, it becomes "you are what you read, watch, and hear on the various screens in your pockets and on your desks and walls." Swirling about in this sea of information, sometimes surfacing enough to see it, is propaganda.<br />
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The original meaning of the word "propaganda" was religious.<br />
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<i>The Congregatio de propaganda fide (“Congregation for propagating the faith”) was an organization established in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV as a means of furthering Catholic missionary activity. The word propaganda is from the ablative singular feminine of propogandus, which is the gerundive of the Latin propagare, meaning “to propagate.” The first use of the word propaganda (without the rest of the Latin title) in English was in reference to this Catholic organization. It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that it began to be used as a term denoting ideas or information that are of questionable accuracy as a means of advancing a cause. </i> ~ <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/propaganda" target="_blank">Merriam-Webster online dictionary.</a><br />
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Of course the "faith" being propagated was that of the <a href="https://dofdmenno.org/" target="_blank">Doctrine of Discovery</a>, a Papal Bull from a previous century that sanctified domination and exploitation by European "explorers."<br />
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The only thing that seems to have changed in five hundred years is the means of communication - from Papal Bull to Presidential Tweet.<br />
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Our dilemma, and task, is first being aware that we live in this maze and sea of propaganda, and second to discern how our own desires and fears are being fed by the information we consume. Humans have a tendency to gravitate toward things we desire and hide things we fear.<br />
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There is a reason most spiritual traditions hold at their core detachment from unbridled desire and release of unfounded fear. These are truly worth propagating.<br />
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Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-87115372150642381732019-05-02T10:55:00.001-04:002019-05-02T10:55:29.589-04:00The Breakfast TreeSorry about the late OEP this week. I've been kinda busy because my grandson, Oliver, and his Mommy and Momma are visiting us this week. A four and half year old boy in the house keeps you pretty busy! He's up early and goes 100% all day long!<br />
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Oliver is into super heroes theses days and his favorite is Cat Boy on the animated series "P.J Masks." Picking up on this we've had fun imagining some other "boy" names connected to all of the things he's been doing this week. Oliver now has a string of aka's like Pool Boy, Beach Boy, Surfer Boy, Noodle Boy, Drip Castle Boy, - The different "boys" just keep showing up.<br />
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This morning I made Oliver his favorite breakfast - a ham and cheese omelet and, you guessed it, Omelet Boy appeared. While enjoying our omelets and some fruit, Oliver made the observation that we could save money by planting orange seeds in our back and then pick our own oranges for breakfast. So, I suggested why not go for the whole works and plant an omelet tree!<br />
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You can imagine where the conversation went from there. <br />
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"What if it were a breakfast tree with any kind of breakfast on it?"<br />
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"We could have a lunch tree too!"<br />
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"And a dinner tree!"<br />
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"What would be on the dinner tree?"<br />
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"Tacos!"<br />
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That's when it occurred to me -<br />
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"You know, Oliver, actually it all comes from seeds and plants."<br />
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"What? Even meat? And eggs?"<br />
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"That's right. Even meat and eggs. Meat comes from animas that eat plants that come from seeds. Eggs come from chickens that eat grain that comes from plants, that come from seeds."<br />
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Thanks, Oliver, for reminding us that we are all connected to each other and to all of creation.<br />
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There really is a Breakfast Tree! <br />
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<br />Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-35323370208073808702019-04-24T11:22:00.000-04:002019-04-24T11:22:19.228-04:00Life is a Poem<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<i>"We’re taught that poetry is some kind of elevated language about
an elevated life we don’t live. It’s ordinary language about an ordinary life
that we live."</i> ~ Dionne Brand</div>
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<a href="https://www.poets.org/national-poetry-month/home?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_YLzrtDo4QIVEFYNCh1Rzg4REAAYASAAEgKX8fD_BwE" target="_blank">April is National Poetry Month.</a> I discovered this from my car radio last night as I drove home form a church meeting.<br />
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As is the case for many of us who spend time in and out of automobiles, I caught a snippet of a radio program. The program is<i><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/radio/q/tuesday-april-23-2019-dionne-brand-tim-baker-and-more-1.5103849/dionne-brand-meditates-on-the-process-of-writing-poetry-in-the-blue-clerk-1.5103957" target="_blank"> "q" with Tom Power</a></i> from the CBC and it airs on our local NPR station when I'm driving home from evening church meetings. I've never listened to an entire program, only snippets, but I usually like what I hear.<br />
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The bit I heard included the above quote from Dionne Brand an acclaimed Canadian poet. Brand, in the interview, goes on to describe poetry as where <i>"...the music and matter of language come together..." </i>Her ordinary poetic definition of poetry sent my thoughts to <a href="http://oneeternalpresence.blogspot.com/2017/01/where-are-poets.html" target="_blank">an OEP blog I wrote last year about poetry.</a> It also inspired me to ponder the extraordinary reality of the ordinary in our world.<br />
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The convergence of music (spirit) and matter (body) is how I have come to think of, believe in, and experience religion and spirituality. We are spiritual bodies. This is an ultimate teaching and tension in every religious tradition. Our problems seem to come when we think of spirituality as <i>"elevated"</i> beyond our grasp, when in reality it is forever within our reach in the ordinary. Even our rituals, sacraments, and holy days point us in the direction of talking, listening, eating, bathing, giving, receiving, living, and dying. It's all so ordinary yet so poetic.<br />
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<i>We are God's poetry, created in One Eternal Presence to be artisans and poets of good as we live in God's eternal poem.</i> <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=423109626" target="_blank">Ephesians 2:10 </a>(my translation)<br />
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Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-3844976484000470462019-04-17T07:45:00.000-04:002019-04-17T07:45:46.271-04:00Where is Your Jerusalem?It's Wednesday of Holy Week. According to the biblical Gospel stories, this is the week Jesus finally went to Jerusalem, the place where he knew he would be killed. During the days (at night he went to safe places outside the city) he taught in the temple, mostly about the corruption of the religious leaders in Jerusalem, and their capitulation to imperial powers. By Friday afternoon he was dead.<br />
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I know it sounds cliche (probably because it is always true) but we live in such times. Imperial powers, which include untethered corporate greed, threaten not only human dignity, but also human existence. And religions in which many of us participate prop up these forces with theological acrobatics, but mostly through apathy.<br />
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What would happen if all the people who claim to follow Jesus actually did? What would happen if people of all faiths began to live by the basic values of these faiths - love, compassion, generosity, justice, grace, hope...? What would happen if each person of faith was to identify a threatening place in their life, a "Jerusalem," and enter proclaiming and living true values of human dignity? <br />
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Would we be killed? Maybe. But like a man on the news last night who escaped starvation in Northern Africa by crossing the Mediterranean in a small boat when asked, "Why risk your life crossing the water?" said, "What did I have to loose. I was already dead."<br />
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There is life and there is the illusion of life. In which are we living?<br />
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Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-45542253961011990602019-04-11T14:00:00.000-04:002019-04-11T14:00:21.881-04:00Space and TimeThirty-five thousand years ago <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/01/03/575326694/ancient-human-remains-document-migration-from-asia-to-america" target="_blank">a human migration began in East Asia</a> and for thousands of years made their way across frozen oceans to what we now call Alaska, eventually spreading east and south into North, Central, and South Americas. My daughter and son-in-law recently flew from Beijing, China to Newark, NJ in less than thirteen hours.<br />
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It took only five hundred years or so for European conquests to decimate most of those ancient people. Today a "tweet" can span the globe in seconds and affect millions of lives.<br />
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We have always been One Planet, One Creation, and One Human family. Space and time are just getting smaller and faster.<br />
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One Eternal Presence still holds it all together.<br />
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<br />Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-3215717935080914942019-04-03T09:32:00.000-04:002019-04-03T09:32:30.062-04:00Attention!In our neighborhood brewery recently, the room was filled with sound: conversations, laughter, and not too loud jukebox music.<br />
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The guy beside me at the bar and I talked sports until he left. On my other side was a couple engaged in their own conversation so I took a minute to sip my beer and take in the room. But I couldn't help hearing snippets, then more, of the couple next to me. I looked straight ahead pretending not to listen. They were engaged in a fairly common conversation between couples about how he/she "never listens."<br />
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He got into a long explanation of how when he first comes home from work he has so much on his mind and that was why he often didn't hear what she was saying to him. In the middle of this rather rambling rationalization he stopped mid-sentence and said, "I've always loved this song."<br />
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Of course, my own attention at the time was on the couple's conversation. I had never even heard the music, nor did I recognize it when drawn to it. He loved it. I had never heard it. And the expression on her face screamed, "See what I mean!" <br />
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Attention. What are we hearing, seeing, feeling? Where is our attention? Is it focused? Scattered? Bouncing all over the place?<br />
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Remember the scene from The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy and her friends finally come into the presence of The Great Oz? The "great" oz turns out to be a "little man" who is good at creating illusions. "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" He shouts.<br />
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Meditation can be described as the practice of paying attention to our attention. Taking a few minutes each day to sit quietly and let the myriad attentions of our lives settle into silence is perhaps the only way we can begin to cope with the too often chaotic cacophony of attention grabbing noise around us.<br />
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The "man behind the curtain" is all around us, but most if all he is us.Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-85628935129067492542019-03-27T08:28:00.000-04:002019-03-27T08:28:14.539-04:00Long Time Passing?<i>What has been is what will be,</i><br />
<i> and what has been done is what will be done;</i><br />
<i> there is nothing new under the sun.</i> ~ Ecclesiastes 1:9<br />
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Is there really nothing new under the sun? It sure does seem like we humans keep having the same conflicts and conversations about all the same things. How many times have you thought or asked out loud, "Didn't we get all of that worked out back when?" Yes and No.<br />
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The problem may be that we keep thinking "back when" is "now," or that we can somehow go back to "back when." Today's world is inhabited by different people, information, and technology that have changed "the way we used to do it." Besides, those good old days many people long for never really had things as settled as we thought they were. Some people were always left behind or worse trampled down.<br />
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Perhaps the thing that doesn't really change is the human penchant toward cultural amnesia and shortsightedness. Most of the time, we forget where we come from and have no idea where we are going, which means we don't even know where we are.<br />
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So, if what's going on in our lives and the world today seems like deja vu. It probably is. The illusion of change swirls around us, when real change only takes place in the human heart.<br />
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So we keep asking the same questions. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgXNVA9ngx8" target="_blank"><b>When will we ever learn? </b></a><br />
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<br />Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-55835468869675140812019-03-20T07:52:00.003-04:002019-03-20T07:52:57.532-04:00Here Comes the Sun!Today at 5:58 p.m. is the vernal equinox. Below is a slightly adapted reflection from 2013.<br />
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Spring Threshold</div>
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<i>Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? </i> Isaiah 43:18-19<br />
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Today is the first day of Spring in the northern hemisphere of Earth. At 5:58 p.m. today the tilt, rotation, and orbit of the Earth are such that the Sun is directly over the Equator and moving north.<br />
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The wonder and vastness of this mysterious yet predictable moment becomes evident to us as days become longer, the sun rises higher in the sky, and the dormancy of winter stirs awake in countless ways.<br />
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The early days of Spring are days of transition not only in the Earth as green shoots appear, blossoms flourish, and foliage comes alive; but also above the Earth as cold and warm air collide in turbulent ways bringing both destruction and nourishment.<br />
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Spring reminds us that transition and change in our lives just like the seasons of Earth continually ebb and flow between dormancy and new life. And like the storms of Spring, changes in life produce turbulence as former ways collide with the new.<br />
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Today, and everyday for that matter, is a threshold where the "no longer" and the "not yet" meet. To stand in the threshold too long is to endure unnecessary turbulence and even pain. However, stepping through opens us to emerging possibilities and potential of Life.<br />
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Enjoy this from 50 years ago -<span style="color: red; font-weight: bold;"> <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=here+comes+the+sun&oq=here+comes+the+sun&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.5696j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8" target="_blank">Here comes the Sun!</a><span id="goog_1679612883"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_1679612884"></span> </span><br />
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Happy First Day of Spring!Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-32520058736895354062019-03-13T09:17:00.004-04:002019-03-13T09:17:40.727-04:00Reformation? or Transformation!Many people in religious and spiritual circles think and believe that we are living in a time of reformation similar to time in Western history we know as The Reformation or The Renaissance.<br />
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Both The Reformation and The Renaissance were times of great change that involved reshaping and reforming the religion, art, and science of the time. However, this was mostly change in form rather than substantive, transformative change. Such transformation, or dramatic change in form and substance, came later with The Enlightenment when seeds of radically new concepts of freedom, equality, and independence took root. This created a tension that we continue to live with today between the dynamics of reformation, which cling to old substance in new forms, and transformation that seeks new substance and form.<br />
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In the broad story of the Bible we see this same tension between reformation brought on by empires and kings, and transformation imagined and announced by the prophets of the Old Testament and evangelists of the New Testament. Kings and empires preserve the status quo with just enough change in form to placate most people. Prophets and evangelists inspire toward radical change that fulfills deep desire for meaning within all people.<br />
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The New Testament word for transformation is <i>metamorphosis, </i>the word used to describe the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly. This is the kind of radical change in form and substance called for by not only prophets and evangelist of old, but voices of today calling us into transformation not merely reformation.<br />
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Here are some biblical voices of transformation:<br />
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<i>Do not remember the former things,</i><br />
<i> or consider the things of old. </i><br />
<i>I am about to do a new thing;</i><br />
<i> now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?</i><br />
<i>I will make a way in the wilderness</i><br />
<i> and rivers in the desert. </i> ~ Isaiah 43<br />
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<i>Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. And he was transformed before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.</i> ~ Matthew 17<br />
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<i>Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.</i> ~ Romans 12<br />
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<i>Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside. Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.</i> ~ 2 Corinthians 3<br />
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Several readers have suggested that "Stardust to Dust..." is not just for Ash Wednesday, but also a meaningful contemplation throughout Lent or anytime. So, I'm keeping the link here for a couple of weeks.<br /><br /> <strong><a data-cke-saved-href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HVhi-VkxVAjDk8zEGV4BjiK-6QmsvVF1" href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HVhi-VkxVAjDk8zEGV4BjiK-6QmsvVF1" target="_blank">"Stardust to Dust - A Deep-Time Creation Contemplative Liturgy for Ash Wednesday."</a></strong><br />
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Feel free to share!Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-587977095622264953.post-11275263804113329042019-03-06T06:28:00.000-05:002019-03-06T06:28:09.470-05:00Stardust to DustTen years ago I ran across a concept called a "cosmic walk" that had been conceived by a progressive, evolutionary minded nun, Sister Miriam Therese MacGillis. I adapted her labyrinth walk into a 28 station pilgrimage through creation in deep-time. The first version of my adaptation was the culmination of a study on evolutionary faith by a group at Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. The second and subsequent versions have all been on Ash Wednesdays. We go station to station in a darkened, candle lit sanctuary in a participatory, meditative experience which ends with imposition of ashes. Through the years I have added scripture, tweaked photography, updated some of the readings, and given it the name, "Stardust to Dust."<br />
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Tonight at Trinity Clearwater Presbyterian in Clearwater, FL a group of Ash Wednesday pilgrims will again travel through time and space to experience our oneness with the universe, our interconnection with Creation, and the One Eternal Presence in our lives. From Stardust we come and to dust we return. If you are in the Tampa Bay, FL area I invite you to join us in this unique Ash Wednesday observance.<br />
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For those in other parts of the country and world, I offer for the first time a video version of "Stardust to Dust," available to One Eternal Presence readers. Sometime today, Ash Wednesday, or anytime really, find a quiet, darkened place where you can be undisturbed for about 25-30 minutes, light a candle, follow the link, and experience <b><a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=1HVhi-VkxVAjDk8zEGV4BjiK-6QmsvVF1" target="_blank">"Stardust to Dust - A Deep-Time Creation Contemplative Liturgy for Ash Wednesday."</a></b><br />
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Feel free to share!<br />
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Andy Waltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14406746128923936141noreply@blogger.com0