Jeez Louise

 Word of the day: 46! That’s how many years Dave and I have been married today. But I have been absent for over a month. I really have no excuses I could say I’ve been busy. But, making time for reflection, should be a part of every day life. Somehow, august got away from me. AUGUST: inspiring reverence or admiration!   Perhaps the last month involved so much reverence that I forgot or overlooked meditation. Or perhaps it was the smoke and the fires that rage near me in both Spokane and Diamond Lake.  And the fires have been devastating this year. As I look at it, sunrise over Lake Washington at my friend Christine’s home; I also am reminded of her loss of two homes in Lahaina. Loss, and hopefully rebirth. To start again, rebuilding a rejuvenating, and reminding ourselves of the blessings we have. Blessings of friendship and laughter and love.                Jeez, Louise!

 Word of the day: Helen, which means light! It is associated with the phrase , “The face that launched a thousand ships.”  Helen Louise Schuler Chadez, my dear Mom, would have been 95 today! An incredible woman, who is now performing her magic in heaven.            Sunrise at the farm, Homedale, Idaho                                   Jeez Louise!

 Word of the day: dichotomy: a contrast between 2 things that are opposite.  “Heaven and hell are not so much places we end up in the afterlife or places of reward and punishment, but rather, they are moments in relationship, lived experience here and in the time that follows our sojourn on this earth. On the one hand, the sense of heaven, for me, rests in the connection and interwoven sense of life that is organic to a tribal community. On the other hand, hell might be imagined as those times of severe dislocation, removal, and dis-connection to tribe and family….” These are the words of Carol Gallagher in Richard Rohr’s reflections for today.  I seek positive connections and interactions in my everyday life.   Like this beautiful butterfly alighting its sustenance! Jeez Louise! 

 Word of the day: busyness:  the condition of having a great deal to get done!   So it’s been 6 weeks since my last musing.  Since that time:  * I went to Seattle to pick up Eileen and her friends from Spain. * They explored Seattle, while I enjoyed Lake Washington. *We all went to a Seattle Storm (womenNBA) game. *The homelessness and open drug use was both appalling and incredibly sad.   *We celebrated Eileen’s 39 birthday there. We returned to Spokane for Hoopfest, Spokane’s signature 3 on 3 basketball tournament.  Eileen, with a co-Ed team including her brother, Braden, brother in law Sean, and her friend Andrea from Spain; WON 🏆 their division. But in the process, she ruptured her Achilles tendon.  So, now it’s 6 weeks of no weight bearing; followed by at least 6 weeks of PT.  She plane to return to Spain for the PT; as she can receive it on a daily basis.  Meanwhile, her plans of spending lots of fun time with her nephews and niec...

Word for the day:  rain.  “  moisture  condensed  from the atmosphere that falls  visibly  in separate drops.“ The rains fell last night at the farm, and cleansed the earth. I hope, too, that it will cleanse my soul as we near Pentecost Sunday; the coming of the Holy Spirit!!! Sun trying to shine through the clouds.  Storm still on the horizon.  And the crops begin to grow from the nourishment of water.  I am blessed to have been born on a farm.  Growing up watching plants grow and thrive when well taken care of!  Like all life should be!                       Jeez Louise!

Words for the day: in the news!   The Fig Tree is an ecumenical newspaper that has blessed Spokane for over 30 years! This month, they featured my Camino walk.   Look for it at: https://www.thefigtree.org/may23/050123chadezjvc.html Jeez Louise!

Word of the day:  statio “In the monastic tradition,  statio  is the practice of stopping one thing before beginning another. It is the acknowledgment that in the space of transition and threshold is a sacred dimension, a holy pause full of possibility. This place between is a place of stillness, where we let go of what came before and prepare ourselves to enter fully into what comes next.   Statio  calls us to a sense of reverence for slowness, for mindfulness, and for the fertile dark spaces between our goals where we can pause and center ourselves, and listen. We can open up a space within for God to work. We can become fully conscious of what we are about to do rather than mindlessly completing another task.” This is from Richard Rohr Daily Meditation:     Christine Valters Paintner,  The Soul’s Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred  (Notre Dame, IN: Sorin Books, 2018), 9, 8   In Seattle for the 2nd time since pan...