Tuning In Tuesday

When I was in the novitiate, I often found it easier to blog about the deeper stuff using a little trick I call tuning in. Simply put, I set my itunes/ipod to shuffle and see what songs (and possibly message) emerge. I've been super busy of late and not terribly good about blogging about my life. Thought I'd try this old trick and see what happens. So, ipod set to shuffle and we have ....

Song # 1 Chicago by Sufjan Stevens (listen/watch here)

you came to take us
all things go, all things go
to recreate us
all things grow, all things grow

I turned 37 this summer, and the longer I live the truer it seems that all thing go. Things that once seemed so important, not so much. And at the same time, all things grow. Things that seemed somewhat unimportant, that's where it's at. What am I talking about? Nothing in particular really. Just the perspective that comes with age. I of course have spent the past 10 months living with wisdom women - Sisters who have celebrated 60 or even 70 years in religious life. Which makes them in their 80's and 90's. They really seem to have the proper perspective on life, which I hope to remember in the years to come.

Song # 2 Two of Us by Aimee Mann & Sean Penn (watch/listen)

You and I have memories
Longer than the road
That stretches out ahead

Next week I get to spend time with one of my best and oldest (as in I've know her a long time) friends at the lake. Just me and her family - her 8 year old son is my godson and her 10 year old is just a great kid. I'm really looking forward to family time with my non-family family. That is, I'm not related to them but it's just like family. We've been friends since the first day of college. There's something about hanging out with people who've known you forever ... you have memories, you have common ground, you don't have to try. Plus, did I mention she's super fun? And a great mom. With great kids. And a great husband. We're going to be staying at our vacation house on the lake. I always go to their house to hang out, this way it's like they can come to my house!

Song # 3 Song for Sunshine by Belle & Sebastian (watch/listen)

Sunshine, we all see the same sky
Looking,learning, asking the same 'why?

It's summer again here in the Northwest after a little rainy period. And the sun is shining! A few years ago I had one of those moments where you realize an obvious truth you've never noticed before .... everyone on earth, since there were people on earth, have seen the same sun. That means my grandparents basked in this sun. Jesus walked underneath this sun. You name it, the sun's rays at one point shined in their eyes. Another thought I had recently was that so many - if not all - of our human caused problems on earth would be solved if we just realized the simple truth that we are all brothers and sisters and acted that way. Simple perhaps, but if it were so simple wouldn't we have figured that out by now?

Song #4 "Many and Great" by Ricky Manalo

The Wheat grows from spring time to fall
the wine flows; in Christ we
recall the sharing of our
lives with one and all

I first new Ricky when he was a Deacon at my parish in Portland. As a priest, he baptized my godson mentioned under Song #2. He's a great guy, and a fabulous composer!

I've had some more "simple" thoughts lately during mass, along the same lines as #3 above. How amazing is it that Christians have shared the body and blood of Jesus in pretty much the same way and with the same meaning for the past 2,000+ years??? Granted, there are changes in rubrics and of course the various Christian traditions have different practices and understandings. But even if you just take the Catholic Eucharist, broken and shared all across the globe each and every day. What if we lived as if we "shared our lives with one and all" in Christ? What if I did? The idea of communion - with the Church - is pretty powerful when you stop and think about it. For me, it's not about rules or even ritual or symbol. It's about Jesus. Broken and shared for us.

Have you every had a "eucharist" moment that wasn't in the context of the mass? I have. I'll never forget my 31st birthday. Visiting my mom in the hospital. Sharing a muffin instead of birthday cake. THAT was Eucharist. The deepest kind of sharing of heart and soul.

Song #5 Stand by REM (watch/listen)

Stand in the place where you live
Now face North
Think about direction
Wonder why you haven't before
Now stand in the place where you work
Now face West
Think about the place where you live
Wonder why you haven't before

These are all deep (if disconnected) thoughts. And yet, my reality is where I am now. And where I am going. In song #1 I mentioned the amazing wisdom women I've been living with the past year. I'm getting ready to move across the lake to one of our smaller houses. And ready as I am in some ways (all figurative since the majority of packing has STILL not occured), I also leave this sacred space with a bit of sadness. Isn't it funny how much you appreciate something when it's gone? Of course, I won't really be gone. I'll just be across the lake. I'm planning to come over for mass and lunch on my days off, so that I'll still be able to connect and visit regularly. But for now, even in the busyness of life and chaotic mess of moving, it's important to stand where I am. Be present in the now.

So, my friends, those are my random disconnected "deep thoughts." Congrats if you made it through them all! :)