Grandma Texas in the air again

 The Value of Things. 

When things are valued too much, they lose their value because they nourish a never-satisfied craving for more. Conversely, when things are received as gifts from God and used obediently in service to God, they are enriched with gratitude. As sages have said, contentment lies not in obtaining things you want, but in giving thanks for what you have.  (Arthur Simon)


This is my fourth trip this month–Chambersville, Georgia, North Carolina, Indiana, and now California  on my way to Oregon for Austin’s #5. 

Traveling is a spiritual discipline for me. We can plan all we like, but there are always surprises. That’s why I seek to look at these travels as pilgrimage–a place to find God in new ways. 

That being said, I love the little luxuries that can be present during travel. On this first long leg to San Francisco, I used travel miles to upgrade to first class. And I struggle. Is it being Christ-centered to place myself in such a place of privilege?  

As I was easing through security and then boarding with my premier status, I wondered about the ever so many others who are grateful simply to have a seat. To make it through security with time to spare. I pondered: what if I chose to board last (certainly a modern hair shirt)?What if I offered my good seat to someone seated in a middle seat near the back (a hair shirt indeed). 

I didn’t. I haven’t. My so-called servant heart hasn’t surrendered my aisle seat in first class. I’m enjoying my glass of sparkling water as others board. Having not to fret about breakfast has been sweet. And then there’s the hot towel.  

I know that some folks would say to me:  You deserve it. Or you earned it. Or even, well, you paid for it. 

Truth is, I don’t deserve it and I didn’t earn it. I didn’t do anything special to have the resources to upgrade.  It just is. 

The best I can do is be supremely grateful for my privilege. I can search for how I can serve those who have so much less privilege than I. 
Still.  I am a pilgrim, so I pray. I give thanks for all that I have. It is so very much more than enough. 

Enough: Dream


Dream

The vision is here, the dream is here, the unseen presence is here. What we are to become is dancing along with us even now, just out of sight. If we listen, if we are attentive, if we are obedient to this new, true self in Christ, it will lift us overhead and help us fly.

-Br. Mark Brown
Up early to walk the labyrinth as my prayer this morning. The labyrinth was created when the sisters transformed their tennis court in celebration of their fiftieth anniversary.  A dream prayed and lived and now shared with the world. 
My prayer walk continued over to the peace garden. Rain last night had left large pools of water. 
The sister who walked with me yesterday evening took great delight in one particular flower called the cardinal flower. It has a large red spiked bloom, and the plants once covered the Indiana prairies.  

When the peace garden was created this past year, the gardeners had planted a few starter plants.  Sister Jeanne’s dream was to harvest the seeds, germinate, and transplant the seedlings with abandon. 
She proudly showed me her tiny seedlings for the cardinal plant. The seeds themselves are smaller than a grain of salt, so the fact the flowers grow wild is quite a work of God. She told me of the challenges and trials of getting the seeds to grow and the many that had not made it though too much water or too much sun. 

As we walked together, what delight she exuded whenever she spotted one of these red spikes, walking purposefully to one after another, and admiring each that she found like a long lost friend. 
There are so many dreams in the peace garden.  As I walked back to the monastery, a dove landed in front of me. She wandered through the flowers as if there were beauty enough for her, too. 

Enough


The opposite of scarcity is not abundance. It is enough. Katie+ preached about enough on Sunday, and enough has been my prayer word here at Our Lady of Grace. 


One of the things I’ve learned in the twelve years that I’ve been praying with this Benedictine community is about true hospitality. When i am here with the sisters, My spiritual practice is to receive whatever I’m given as a gift, and to know that it will be enough. 

Today we worked hard visioning how to grow and fund Women Touched by Grace, a time apart for women pastors where they live in Benedictine Community, and through a rhythm of prayer, rest, study, and play are refreshed in order to transform the churches they lead. I am passionate about supporting women clergy in their ministries and so this has been good work. 

Tonight after Eucharist, Evening Praise, and supper with the sisters, I took a walk to the newly created peace garden. The sisters, with generous help from the community, are returning three acres of the monastery grounds back to the prairie. They’ve planted native plants, and welcome the insects, birds, and animals that are thriving in what is their natural habitat.  

One of the sisters joined me in my walk around the peace garden and told me stories about the variety of plants that are beginning to return home. 

One plant was called, I believe, a cup plant, because the leaves form a kind of cup that catches water that can supply drink for birds and insects. Enough. 

I sat and prayed for the people I carry in my heart. A bench. A breeze. Beauty. Stillness. Enough. 

Amidst home and work, prayer and beauty. Enough. 


Back Home at the Monastery

After a full morning at St. Mary’s, I caught an afternoon flight to Indiana and then traveled onto Our Lady Of Grace Monastery. I’m here for a two day conference with five other Women Touched by Grace, two Benedictine sisters, and a facilitator to vision how we can fund future Women Touched by Grace retreats. 

There have been three WTBG retreats so far, underwritten by the Lilly Foundation, but now we have to find fresh opportunities for stewardship in order that other women clergy can have this time apart in Benedictine Community. 
Meanwhile, tonight, before the work begins, weary from work and travel, I feel home. 
I’ve walked the labyrinth, and now it’s time to rest.