Ten Month Tune In

So I realized this weekend that I've been back in the Pacific Northwest for ten months ... and it's been almost 9 months since my first profession of vows! Wow! Where does the time go? As a wise friend said to me the other day, it's a sign that I'm where I'm supposed to be if the time passes by so quickly - and enjoyably.

I don't really have any unbloggables, but I thought I'd return to my old "tuning in" exercise. To recap, I set my iPod to random and see what songs play ... and if a message emerges.

Song # 1 "The Book I'm not Reading" by Patty Larkin (watch/listen)

The book I'm not reading is riveting

The book I'm not reading keeps me up at night

The book I'm not reading i better than tv giving me insight.

The book I'm not reading is history

The book I'm not reading is by some paperback writer

The book I'm not reading is a mystery

Who dunnit don't matter

Well, the book I'm not reading at the moment is Harry Potter 6. I'm planning to see the movie when I'm on vacation later this month with my old roommate Kathy. We have a tradition of rereading the movie to catch up! But I'm also not really reading any deep spiritual reading right now either. It' summer. I'm busy. I'm not reading much.

Song #2 "So Many Ways" by Mates of State (watch/listen)

There are only so many ways to earn your own surprise

I think what surprises me most is how filled my days and life are. And I don't mean filled with busyness - although that is true most days as well - but just how filled with life they are. I recently had my evaluation at work and in reflecting back, I realized that I'm not stressed out. I go to work, I'm busy all day long doing things I love, and then come back the next day. I guess I'm learning a difference between ministry and just a "job." I'm busy, but not stressed. I'm doing what I think I am meant to do at this point - peace and justice education and advocacy. I guess I'm just surprised that I found a way to spend my time doing what makes me happy, what I'm meant to do!

Song # 3 "Lord You Have Come" (watch/listen)

O Lord with your eyes set upon me,

gently smiling, you have spoken my name

all I longed for I have found by the water,

at your side I will seek other shores

Well said. I know there is a lifetime ahead of me, but at this point I feel like I have found all I longed for. With Jesus at my side. Simple but true.

Song # 4 "Purple Prose" by the Mystery Jets (watch/listen)

I'm a tourist

World at my feet

Across hither and dither

and hither and dither

and hither and dither

won't fall off my seat.

A tourist. Well, I do have abit of travelling ahead this summer. Going to the Bay Area for vacation with my friend Kathy (the aforemention HP6 viewing will occur). Then on retreat - also in the Bay Area. Then a trip back to my old stomping grounds in NJ for a CSJP committee meeting. But more than actual travelling, I guess I do feel a bit like the world is at my feet. In the sense that I'm at a place where I feel I can both make a difference and have my heart changed at the same time. But hopefully won't fall off my seat!