What do you do when a cat shows up on the porch and won't go away?
Ok - got it - don't feed him.
Week two - he's still there.
Ok - give him some food and water. But ignore him.
Week three - he's still there.
Is it a he or a she? I think it's a she and I'm worried about more cats. Does anyone want a cat?
Week 4- late October in Pennsylvania - put a box and blanket on the porch.
"Go home cat. You are NOT coming in."
Oh - it's a boy - young boy. Whew! No kittens on the way.
Week 5 - snowy and cat is at door with snow on his back. Water froze overnight.
Ok - you can stay in the basement but someone must be looking for you. For now, you stay in the basement.
Week 6 - Tobey (the Sheltie) loves you and you love him. Ok - you can play upstairs a while and then go to the basement, Mr. Jeepers. By the way, Molly Mutt is annoyed. Tobey is HER buddy.
Week 7 - Ok if he's going to be an indoor cat, he MUST be fixed.
Week 8 - litter box and vet bills - Who wanted a cat?
Week 9 - Mouse 1, 2, 3, and 4 taken care of - Thank you Jeepers!
Week 10 - What kind of food do you like most Mr. Jeepers? Come and go as you like.
Week 11 - 5, 6, 7 mice gone. Hello MR. JEEPERS. So glad you and Molly are friends now.
Week 12 - Pose for pictures Mr. Jeepers. Are you happy? We sure are. Now tell us how you decided to choose this house?
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Monday, February 24, 2014
It's ok...she said
Through the years I've wished I could remember my grandmothers voices, my mommy's voice and Aunt Dorothy's laugh. I can't hear them in my mind no matter how hard I try to remember. I can remember that Aunt Dorothy laughed out loud but I cannot hear it.
That makes what happened last night all the more meaningful. I heard my step-grandmother's voice. Not the 100 year old voice but her voice from younger, stronger days.
She and I were estranged in these last years before she died. Six or eight years ago she felt a need to write me a letter about repenting from my "lifestyle". I tried to temper my response noting that my lifestyle is pretty ordinary - going to work every day, volunteering, caring for my dog... And I wrote that being a lesbian is very much like being left handed. It's just the natural way I was born. And I noted that many years ago being left handed was considered a mark of Satan, people were forced to be right handed, and that the world is mostly over that now. I had no idea, until I got her response, that she had been born left handed and forced to be right handed. Of course, she stuck to her position and said it didn't hurt her a bit to be forced to be right handed.
I threw the letters away and have tried not to worry about it, understanding that she was old, set in her ways, and likely thought she was trying to do something good. But it was painful and caused some conflicts.
So, I was quite surprised to hear her voice last night. I was sitting at the computer, reading news about gay marriage issues as I tend to do. She startled me. As clear as if she were right beside me, "It's ok to be left handed." she said. I recognized her voice immediately and smiled.
"The grass really is greener on the other side." I said back.
Oddly, today I cannot recall her voice any more than I can any of the others. Some may say I'm crazy but I know it really was her.
Thank you Grandma Elsie.
That makes what happened last night all the more meaningful. I heard my step-grandmother's voice. Not the 100 year old voice but her voice from younger, stronger days.
She and I were estranged in these last years before she died. Six or eight years ago she felt a need to write me a letter about repenting from my "lifestyle". I tried to temper my response noting that my lifestyle is pretty ordinary - going to work every day, volunteering, caring for my dog... And I wrote that being a lesbian is very much like being left handed. It's just the natural way I was born. And I noted that many years ago being left handed was considered a mark of Satan, people were forced to be right handed, and that the world is mostly over that now. I had no idea, until I got her response, that she had been born left handed and forced to be right handed. Of course, she stuck to her position and said it didn't hurt her a bit to be forced to be right handed.
I threw the letters away and have tried not to worry about it, understanding that she was old, set in her ways, and likely thought she was trying to do something good. But it was painful and caused some conflicts.
So, I was quite surprised to hear her voice last night. I was sitting at the computer, reading news about gay marriage issues as I tend to do. She startled me. As clear as if she were right beside me, "It's ok to be left handed." she said. I recognized her voice immediately and smiled.
"The grass really is greener on the other side." I said back.
Oddly, today I cannot recall her voice any more than I can any of the others. Some may say I'm crazy but I know it really was her.
Thank you Grandma Elsie.
Friday, February 21, 2014
The Ruby moment...
Many of us look back with shame at the treatment of Ruby Bridges, one of the first black students (1960) to attend an all white elementary school. Only one teacher in the school would agree to teach her. Armed guards escorted her to school amid an environment of unimaginable hostility.
It's hard to imagine today what people were thinking as they threatened a little girl going to school. It's hard to understand that most school officials, the community, and most of the parents affiliated with the school could be so hostile - even to the point that one put a black doll in a coffin outside in protest. Viewing this in hindsight and for those seeing this from a great distance at the time, it was horrific. But in that community, at that time, the hostility was normal and they felt - quite justified.
Ruby Bridges symbolized a break in tradition and a crossing of barriers that they felt should not be crossed. They were justified to express their anger and could not see beyond it - even justified enough to hate a little girl going to school. Blacks, they felt, were not and could never be treated as equals.
Scenes like this awakened a nation. It unveiled the core of hatred for what it is - sad and evil.
I recall the news stories and the talk of that decade. We may not have had separate water fountains, but even here in Venango County, Pennsylvania there were traditions and cultural lines that were not to be crossed. Those carried into the 70's and 80's and undertones continue.
As there is a push for change, there will always be resistance. As I watch the stories unfold in the quest for LGBT civil rights, I need only read stories like this about Ruby Bridges to understand how far people will go to resist change. It will boil up in outrageous hatred. There will be communities who stand by silently as vocal citizens say and do outrageous things.
On the other side - decades from now - many will look back in shame. It will be hard to imagine what people were thinking as they picketed a soldiers funeral saying that it was God's punishment for Gays in the military. It will be hard to imagine that someone actually thought that marriage was somehow less sanctified if people of the same sex could marry. It will be hard to imagine that someone thought selling a cake might infringe on their religious freedom. It will be as hard to imagine that civil rights had anything to do with religion as it is hard to imagine now that religious freedom had anything to do with DE-segregation of the United States in the 1960's.
Monday, February 10, 2014
Don't tell me you're Gay!
I understand it can be quite annoying to keep being reminded that you actually know a lot of gay or lesbian people. You just want to cover your ears and eyes and start doing the "la, la, la, la" thing. It's especially hard if they are people you actually like or liked if they would just quit reminding you that they are gay. It can be down right painful.
If it's your neighbor, co-worker, cousin, sister or child, it's really hard to hold onto any long held belief that homosexuality is dreadful or dangerous. It would be much easier if they would all just keep it to themselves. How can you look them in they eye and say calmly "hate the sin, love the sinner"? It's a serious problem.
Now gay and lesbian people are getting married. You can't even tell anymore that everyone who says they are married is heterosexual. How can you separate them out? It was so much simpler when you could assume that everyone was straight and wanted to be straight.
Who could have ever imagined that gay and lesbian people would try to convince you that they are just as normal as you? And openly announcing it - well - that's just too much!
Why would anyone want to announce who they love? What is the world coming to?
Here is your answer -
“Every gay person must come out. As difficult as it is, you must tell your immediate family. You must tell your relatives. You must tell your friends if indeed they are your friends. You must tell the people you work with. You must tell the people in the stores you shop in. Once they realize that we are indeed their children, that we are indeed everywhere, every myth, every lie, every innuendo will be destroyed once and for all. And once you do, you will feel so much better”
― Harvey Milk
If it's your neighbor, co-worker, cousin, sister or child, it's really hard to hold onto any long held belief that homosexuality is dreadful or dangerous. It would be much easier if they would all just keep it to themselves. How can you look them in they eye and say calmly "hate the sin, love the sinner"? It's a serious problem.
Now gay and lesbian people are getting married. You can't even tell anymore that everyone who says they are married is heterosexual. How can you separate them out? It was so much simpler when you could assume that everyone was straight and wanted to be straight.
Who could have ever imagined that gay and lesbian people would try to convince you that they are just as normal as you? And openly announcing it - well - that's just too much!
Why would anyone want to announce who they love? What is the world coming to?
Here is your answer -
“Every gay person must come out. As difficult as it is, you must tell your immediate family. You must tell your relatives. You must tell your friends if indeed they are your friends. You must tell the people you work with. You must tell the people in the stores you shop in. Once they realize that we are indeed their children, that we are indeed everywhere, every myth, every lie, every innuendo will be destroyed once and for all. And once you do, you will feel so much better”
― Harvey Milk
Monday, January 27, 2014
The ones I did not Acknowledge
On this blog, I have expressed many thoughts. It started 5 years ago, in a difficult time, when I was trying to make sense out of madness. I knew somehow that the path to better things required my getting deeply connected to most important, most central beliefs and values. I realized that my path had gone wild because I allowed myself to be aligned with beliefs and values that were far from my own. I had overlooked and ignored the signs that should have told me that danger would lay ahead.
After reading my acknowledgement for the book I just published, (Find Your Spirit) Holly mused that I was oft inspired by others I would not wish to acknowledge. How very true! I have needed to write to create a better energy. Quite often the loudest voices around me have been quite negative. I wrote because I had to express and hold onto a better voice - the voice deep in my spirit.
I recall "religious" discussions. One particular favorite involved a Bible slammed on the table in front of me. It seems the slammer was intending to impress me with her sacred interpretation of the word and her belief that I was ill informed on it's content. When I asked how literally she interpreted the part about the sons of God having sex with the women of the world and producing giants, she insisted there was no such thing in the Bible. It didn't take too many more months before she found no value in our friendship and set her sights on holding Bible studies with people who did not question her as an authority on the subject.
Other similarly minded authorities have lost patience with my lack of seeing them as conduits for God. And, of course, they perceive that in questioning their authority, I am questioning God. They don't seem to understand that I simply don't see them as God. The more it angers them that I don't, the more I am certain they really don't speak for God.
But I am thankful for these people who have tested my spirit. They pushed me into a deeper search for understanding. They inspired me to be a voice - to raise my voice - to speak more clearly about a path of love - the need for love - the need to see God not as the image of us but rather as the entity that binds us all together.
Listen - Hear all voices. Even the ones who speak in a strange language can inspire you to speak yours in a profound way. So, I take a moment to acknowledge those strange ones too.
After reading my acknowledgement for the book I just published, (Find Your Spirit) Holly mused that I was oft inspired by others I would not wish to acknowledge. How very true! I have needed to write to create a better energy. Quite often the loudest voices around me have been quite negative. I wrote because I had to express and hold onto a better voice - the voice deep in my spirit.
I recall "religious" discussions. One particular favorite involved a Bible slammed on the table in front of me. It seems the slammer was intending to impress me with her sacred interpretation of the word and her belief that I was ill informed on it's content. When I asked how literally she interpreted the part about the sons of God having sex with the women of the world and producing giants, she insisted there was no such thing in the Bible. It didn't take too many more months before she found no value in our friendship and set her sights on holding Bible studies with people who did not question her as an authority on the subject.
Other similarly minded authorities have lost patience with my lack of seeing them as conduits for God. And, of course, they perceive that in questioning their authority, I am questioning God. They don't seem to understand that I simply don't see them as God. The more it angers them that I don't, the more I am certain they really don't speak for God.
But I am thankful for these people who have tested my spirit. They pushed me into a deeper search for understanding. They inspired me to be a voice - to raise my voice - to speak more clearly about a path of love - the need for love - the need to see God not as the image of us but rather as the entity that binds us all together.
Listen - Hear all voices. Even the ones who speak in a strange language can inspire you to speak yours in a profound way. So, I take a moment to acknowledge those strange ones too.
Friday, January 3, 2014
Spiritual multilingual
When talking about spiritual matters, I realize I speak a different language from the majority of my friends and family. And speaking a different language is really the best way I can think to describe it. It's like I'm spiritually multilingual. Christianity is my native spiritual language and the one I know best. I've read the Bible in various English translations many times and studied it with Methodists, Church of God, Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostals and even Jehovah Witnesses. They all talk a variation of spiritual Christian language. I've studied the history of the Bible and how/why it was edited and translated. I've loved learning about the context of the times of the Bible and various stages of the church.
There came a time that it seemed the main Christian spiritual language was so focused on hell fire and condemnation that I felt I needed to step away. It sounded like hearing the English language spoken by a bunch of drunken cursing sailors. It sounded crass and sure wasn't my mother's Christian spiritual language or the language of the church I knew as a little girl.
As I traveled and met many people from many places I heard other spiritual languages that spoke more of the truths I believed in my early life. I learned other spiritual languages and they are filled with great beauty. At the core of all of them are similar teachings and values. They all speak of a greater power with which we can commune with discipline, love and awe.
Knowing this, how can I look at these people speaking other spiritual languages and say they are not chosen by God? How can I condemn them? To me, condemnation is the same as cursing them.
How can any of us believe we have exclusive rights to God? I cannot see it that way any more and it's the one part of the Christian spiritual language I can't embrace.
I'm happy to be re-discovering the true beauty of Christian spiritual language through some very beautiful people in my life. They are not focused on condemnation but rather the love that Jesus taught. I can fully embrace that!
There came a time that it seemed the main Christian spiritual language was so focused on hell fire and condemnation that I felt I needed to step away. It sounded like hearing the English language spoken by a bunch of drunken cursing sailors. It sounded crass and sure wasn't my mother's Christian spiritual language or the language of the church I knew as a little girl.
As I traveled and met many people from many places I heard other spiritual languages that spoke more of the truths I believed in my early life. I learned other spiritual languages and they are filled with great beauty. At the core of all of them are similar teachings and values. They all speak of a greater power with which we can commune with discipline, love and awe.
Knowing this, how can I look at these people speaking other spiritual languages and say they are not chosen by God? How can I condemn them? To me, condemnation is the same as cursing them.
How can any of us believe we have exclusive rights to God? I cannot see it that way any more and it's the one part of the Christian spiritual language I can't embrace.
I'm happy to be re-discovering the true beauty of Christian spiritual language through some very beautiful people in my life. They are not focused on condemnation but rather the love that Jesus taught. I can fully embrace that!
Monday, December 30, 2013
The Good News
We need to spread the Good News.
Jesus came to tell the world that God loves us all. In those days, the Jewish people believed they were the chosen ones and that only by following Jewish law could a person find favor with God.
The Good News was and still is that we are all chosen and all Children of God.
Even more important is the rest of the Good News and this is the part that is often lost in the translation of the message. Jesus told us and showed us how to save the world. Love God. Love our neighbor as ourselves. This is our salvation and the salvation of the world.
For several thousand years, man has been muddying that message; first in defining God and next with defining which neighbor to love as ourselves. Piety and righteousness are far removed from the Good News and often Jesus taught that this would not gain favor with God.
We first need to let go of the notion that God has a chosen people - not Jew - not Christian - not Protestant - not Catholic - not Muslim - not Buddhist - not Hindu - not you and not me. God loves all equally and unconditionally. Put down your stone. Quit looking for splinters.
We cannot define God in human terms or in human ways. We need to bow to that knowledge and simply view "God" as the source of all things and a part of all things. Be in awe of that! It is infinitely complex and infinitely simple.
If we can do that first, we begin to see everything around us in a different light. Nothing and no one is separate from God. We are all part of the whole. The glue that holds the whole together is love. Anything other separates us both from God and from one another.
We may each come to our understanding of "God" in a unique way and by a different name. Look for the glue (love) and the salvation - one source and that source is bound in love. This is the truth. This is the Good News. This is how the world is saved. This is our salvation.
Jesus came to tell the world that God loves us all. In those days, the Jewish people believed they were the chosen ones and that only by following Jewish law could a person find favor with God.
The Good News was and still is that we are all chosen and all Children of God.
Even more important is the rest of the Good News and this is the part that is often lost in the translation of the message. Jesus told us and showed us how to save the world. Love God. Love our neighbor as ourselves. This is our salvation and the salvation of the world.
For several thousand years, man has been muddying that message; first in defining God and next with defining which neighbor to love as ourselves. Piety and righteousness are far removed from the Good News and often Jesus taught that this would not gain favor with God.
We first need to let go of the notion that God has a chosen people - not Jew - not Christian - not Protestant - not Catholic - not Muslim - not Buddhist - not Hindu - not you and not me. God loves all equally and unconditionally. Put down your stone. Quit looking for splinters.
We cannot define God in human terms or in human ways. We need to bow to that knowledge and simply view "God" as the source of all things and a part of all things. Be in awe of that! It is infinitely complex and infinitely simple.
If we can do that first, we begin to see everything around us in a different light. Nothing and no one is separate from God. We are all part of the whole. The glue that holds the whole together is love. Anything other separates us both from God and from one another.
We may each come to our understanding of "God" in a unique way and by a different name. Look for the glue (love) and the salvation - one source and that source is bound in love. This is the truth. This is the Good News. This is how the world is saved. This is our salvation.
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