I'm just thinkin'.

"We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it." - Gandhi


How do I let violence slip into my daily life? What would it mean to be non-violent in thought and word as well as deed?

Song of the Day

Through the corridors of sleep
Past the shadows dark and deep
My mind dances and leaps in confusion.
I don't know what is real,
I can't touch what I feel
And I hide behind the shield of my illusion.

So I'll continue to continue
to pretend
My life will never end,
And flowers never bend
With the rainfall.

The mirror on my wall
Casts an image dark and small
But I'm not sure at all it's my reflection.
I am blinded by the light
Of God and truth and right
And I wander in the night without direction.

So I'll continue to continue
to pretend
My life will never end,
And flowers never bend
With the rainfall.

It's no matter if you're born
To play the King or pawn
For the line is thinly drawn
'tween joy and sorrow,
So my fantasy
Becomes reality,
And I must be what I must be
and face tomorrow.

So I'll continue to continue
to pretend
My life will never end,
And flowers never bend
With the rainfall.

(Flowers never Bend with the Rainfall, Paul Simon)

Lenten sacrifice report

Since Easter has passed, all self-imposed Lenten restrictions are off. In other words - I CAN BUY BOOKS AGAIN!!!!! I can't tell you how many of my friends assumed that I ran straight to a bookstore after church on Sunday to binge. But I didn't feel like it. And I haven't felt the urge to buy an armful of books. But I did need to get a copy of my book club's next selection. So I went to the bookstore today, found the book I needed, and did a little browsing. And only bought one book.

Yes. One.

I realized that one was enough. And that there is a used book sale coming up that I want to go to. And that while many of the books looked good, none looked like ones I really wanted to read. And so while my hands felt strangely light leaving with only one book, my spirit felt lighter still.

All this beauty

For the beauty of the earth,

For the beauty of the skies,

For the love which from our birth

Over and around us lies,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our grateful hymn of praise.

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For the beauty of each hour

Of the day and of the night,

Hill and vale, and tree and flower,

Sun and moon and stars of light,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our grateful hymn of praise.

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For the joy of human love,

Brother, sister, parent, child,

Friends on earth, and friends above,

Pleasures pure and undefiled,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our grateful hymn of praise.

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For each perfect gift of thine,

To our race so freely given,

Graces human and divine,

Flowers of earth and buds of heaven,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our grateful hymn of praise.

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For thyself, best Gift Divine,

to the world so freely given,

for that great, great love of thine,

peace on earth, and joy in heaven:

Lord of all, to thee we raise

this our hymn of grateful praise.

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(Traditional Christian hymn. Text: Folliot S. Pierpoint)

Happy Easter.

Tenebrae

(Latin for shadows, darkness)

Today is Good Friday. In many Christian churches, this day brings a tenebrae service to commemorate the crucifixion of Christ and the day of darkness following his death.

It's also a reminder to me of how things don't stay static: grief precedes enlightenment, death precedes life, winter precedes spring, and life itself is cyclical in nature.

See you on the other side.