spiritual journey | Reflections on the Teche

Posts Tagged ‘spiritual journey’

My Church

Posted in Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged church, spiritual journey on September 17, 2015| 5 Comments »

Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.

Church of the Epiphany, New Iberia, Louisiana

Have you ever driven someplace on auto-pilot, getting there and not remembering how you got there? On Sunday morning I turn on auto-pilot. The only decision I have to make is what to wear, because attending church is automatic for me. I just do it.

I grew up going to church every Sunday. When I went to college, I chose LSU because of the Episcopal student center. I joined the music group. We sang folk songs to guitar and piano. For the Eucharist on Sunday night, we would gather around the altar in a circle and pass the bread and wine to each other. This service was intimate and sincere.

I also love a high church service complete with smells and bells, a full four-part choir with men and women processing in robes, banners waving.

The church I attend weekly is a historical Episcopal church dating back to 1857. The sanctuary was used as a hospital in the Civil War. We still have two of the pews that were used as horse troughs. You can see the holes that were bored for drainage. I sing in the choir loft that was once a loft for slaves. If the walls and windows and pews could speak…

Why church? Not because I’ve always gone. Not because of the building or the traditions.

Church is home. Church is community.
Church is a place where God is always present.
I go to church because I would feel incomplete without it.

The words inspire me.
The people love me.
The Eucharist nourishes me.

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There is No Plan

Posted in Poetry, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged Enneagram, spiritual journey on June 25, 2015| 10 Comments »

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Yesterday I bought roses at the grocery store. I placed them in a vase. One broke off the stem. My cat is eating another one. This is not part of the plan. The roses were supposed to bring me joy. They were supposed to open up and shine like the sun in my breakfast room. But no.

I could fix this. I could rearrange them. Take out the messed up flowers. Place them away from kitty’s perch.

Mimi wants to eat my roses.

So it is with God’s plan. Roses in a vase that get messed up, fall over, die.

Why do we keep looking for a plan? There isn’t one. Sorry folks. The God that I know and love is not upstairs looking down with his clipboard checking off when I do something that is part of the plan. Nope. Not happening.

My mother gave me a set of CDs of Richard Rohr and Russ Hudson discussing the Enneagram and Grace. What they say about the human condition and God’s part in it makes sense to me. What God is about is transformation. God is already a part of each of us. His spirit is within us all. We are the ones who need to change. We have to sit quietly with God and allow his grace to transform us.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

Someone I love dearly is in terrible pain. Her illness is not in God’s plan. I cannot accept that excuse. Pain happens. Tragedy happens. A deranged boy can enter a church and kill nine beautiful souls. There is no plan.

We enter the darkness. We enter the tragedy, the sorrow, the pain. There, we find God. Then we can crawl out on the other side. Then we can shine a light. Then we can be the resurrection.

I must make myself humble, the size of a mustard seed. Plant it deep in the soil of God’s love. Then I will grow. I will spread love. I will be transformed.

Rain
with a borrowed line from Kazim Ali “The sky is a bowl of dark water, rinsing your face.”

Blue Jay sings to the rain,
“See you. See you. Come. Come.”

The sky is a bowl of dark water,
The deck covered in crystal glass.

I step outside in the rain.
Let it rinse my face.

Join the bird in a song
that turns to a sad tune.

No matter. My face is wet
with God’s tears. I am the rain.
–Margaret Simon

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When You Laugh

Posted in Spiritual Growth, tagged Laughter, On Being, Sister Simone Campbell, spiritual journey, The Servant Song on June 18, 2015| 6 Comments »

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When you laugh, I’ll laugh with you.
—The Servant Song

I drive the highway south to New Orleans fairly often. There is a bridge overpass that is quite faulty. This used to frustrate me because suddenly my car was bumping up and down jarring me out of whatever thought I was having. Once I was driving this road with my friend Cathy. We were making a day trip to New Orleans to shop for wigs and dresses for the upcoming Berry Queen ball. Already we were in the mood for fun. When the bumping started, I exclaimed my usual ugh!, but when I looked over at Cathy, she was laughing and exaggerating the up and down movement. She says with glee, “I love this bridge!”

My attitude changed totally and ever since, I look forward to the bridge. I remember the fun day we had, the laughter in Cathy’s voice, and the memory of shared joy.

Laughter is like that. Laughter can change a moment of fear and frustration into one of joy and delight. I believe God is all about transforming moments into joy.

Sunset reflection

Today I am at the lake to celebrate my mother’s birthday. My sister and her children are here. There will be lots of talking and sharing and laughing.

On my way here, I listened to a podcast called On Being. The guest was Sister Simone Campbell. You can listen to it here. One of the writing exercises I like to do is turn my notes into a poem. Here is a found poem from Sister Simone.

Walk willing.
Open hands
for the treasure
to hold, not grasp,
willing to share.
Open heart
ready to be broken
by his story,
forever changed.
Make me one part
of the one body
that Paul speaks of.
Wake me up
to do the thing
I am able to do.

One of my favorite folk hymns is The Servant Song. This song expresses the community of Christ and helps me to remember how to be fully present for others on this spiritual journey.

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Be Still and Know

Posted in Poetry, Spiritual Growth, tagged #DigiPoetry, poem movie, spiritual journey, stillness on April 30, 2015| 3 Comments »

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When you take the time to be truly still, how do you feel? Do you keep multiple tabs open so if one website is taking its time loading, you can be reading another one? Do you multi-task? While you are eating, do you read or watch TV?

More and more our society demands our constant activity. When I work out at the gym, I can plug my headphones in and watch TV or listen to my iPod. When I am driving, the radio plays. I have a little notebook in the console of my car to make lists on. I am rarely without my cell phone.

I crave quiet and stillness but in all honesty, rarely do I allow myself this luxury. What I need to understand is that God will not come in when it’s noisy. The Spirit wants my quiet time. The Holy One begs me to slow down and listen.

“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

Writing poetry also requires my silence, my listening, my opened and uncluttered mind. I love to take a walk in the park and absorb the colors, the scents, the fresh air, and make it poetry. In the spirit of stillness, spring, and digital poetry, here is an original poem movie entitled, “Come Out, Green.”

Use this button created by Leigh Anne Eck to post your Digital Poetry this month.

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Family

Posted in Poetry, Spiritual Growth, tagged digital poetry, family, spiritual journey on April 23, 2015| 2 Comments »

Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.

Use this button created by Leigh Anne Eck to post your Digital Poetry this month.

Holly Mueller leads us to spiritual reflection each week. This week the theme is family. I didn’t think I could write a poem about family without being trite or cliché. Sometimes cliché just happens, and this is one of those times.

Family is a full cup
overflowing
with nourishing water
a twist of lemon.

Family is a dog,
four cats,
an occasional frog.

Family is photo albums
in the antique armoire
saving the years.

Family is a favorite restaurant
where they know your name.

Family is a daily text,
Facetime, calling Bluetooth,
feeling close together
while far apart
knowing there is no place like home
and no friend like family.

–Margaret Simon

Last night I happened upon a Twitter chat for #TCRWP. Someone mentioned using PicLit, so in the spirit of digital poetry, I tried it out. The first picture that came up was the Bean in Chicago where we have posed a few family pictures. The word family was not listed, so I used people instead.

See the full PicLit at PicLits.com

And here a family Bean photo with haiku using Picmonkey.

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Love Poem

Posted in Poetry, Spiritual Growth, tagged Kwame Alexander, spiritual journey, Spiritual poetry, vocabulary poems on April 16, 2015| 10 Comments »

Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.

Use this button created by Leigh Anne Eck to post your Digital Poetry this month.

The theme for today’s Spiritual Thursday round-up is love. At first I thought, “This is easy.” However, the more I thought about it, writing about love is hard. What do I have to say that is new and refreshing or inspiring? When I have a difficult writing assignment, I often turn to form. Today I turn to Kwame Alexander and his amazing 2015 Newbery Award book in verse, The Crossover. In The Crossover, the character writes definitions in a particular form. My blogging friends, Michelle and Holly, each used the form (vocabulary poems) this month. I haven’t tried it with my students yet, but I usually like to practice before presenting them with an idea. Here’s my definition of love.

love

/ləv/

a person or thing that one loves.

as in: the curl of an infant’s
new fingers around your thumb.

as in: looking through the open window
of our arms as we dance
the Lover’s Waltz.

as in: let the soft body
of your heart love
what it loves.*

as in: He gave his only
begotten son so that
you and I have eternal life.

© Bratishka | Dreamstime.com - Baby Hand Photo

* variation of a line from Mary Oliver’s Wild Geese, my all time favorite poem.

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Exercise Faith

Posted in Poetry, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged Anne Frank, spiritual journey, Spiritual poetry on March 26, 2015| 8 Comments »

SOL #26

Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.

I want to go on living even after my death! And therefore I am grateful to God for giving me this gift, this possibility of developing myself and of writing, of expressing all that is in me. I can shake off everything if I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.– ANNE FRANK

Exercise Faith, a poem reflection using words of Anne Frank

A grandiose idea
life after death
your own life continuing on
and on, like the cycle of nature,
seed, seedling, sprout, grow, die, rebirth.

This gift of words
life after death
your own life continuing on
and on, with words on paper
floating in clouds like rain
coming down, going up, coming down again.

Developing my most inner self
reflecting on events, ideas,
life after death
continuing on and on,
like monks in meditation, singing Om
breathing in, breathing out, breath of life.

Expressing all that is me
honors God in me
knowing life after death
continues on and on,
like a rainbow rising over the storm
shining its promise, eternally.

I shake it all off,
dust from the shelves,
throw compost on earth,
spread life after death
on and on, shaking off sorrows,
leaving only good soil, good growth,
good courage…reborn.

–Margaret Simon

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Discover

Posted in Poetry, Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, tagged Chere' Coen, Eknath Easwaran, haiku, spiritual journey on March 12, 2015| 11 Comments »

SOL #12

On Thursdays I join Holly Mueller’s round up of Spiritual Journey posts. We are all writing around a theme. This week we explore Jaana’s one little word, Discover.

I have an offering of a beautiful photograph taken by my friend, journalist, Chere’ Coen and a small poem based on these words of wisdom from Eknath Easwaran:

This prayer (Seek ye first the kingdom of God) is not addressed to someone outside us, but to our deepest Self, the Lord of Love, who dwells in the hearts of us all. When we repeat it, we are not asking for anything in particular, like good health or solutions to our problems or richer personal relationships. We are simply asking to get closer to the source of all strength and all joy and all love. Eknath Easwaran

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Spiritual Thursday Dive

Posted in Spiritual Growth, tagged Ash Wednesday, dive, publishing, spiritual journey on February 19, 2015| 7 Comments »

Holly Mueller is the hostess of this beautiful blog journey. Be sure to visit her site to read more inspirational posts.

We have been exploring different words chosen by our blogging community. Greg’s one little word is Dive.

I am a wimp. I don’t take risks easily. Diving off the high diving board when I was a swimmer was the ultimate test of bravery, and I didn’t pass. I think I have gotten braver, but I am still one who tests the waters with her big toe and slips in gradually. Diving is very scary to me.

Blogging is entering into the publishing waters gradually. I feel safe here in this space with only a few people reading my musings. I guess you could say I dove in with Blessen, my first middle grade novel. But it took me three years to write. The diving came about when I decided to go the route of self-publishing. Now I am about to finish the sequel (another 3 years in the making), and I want to dive in to the traditional publishing world. This is so scary.

First I renewed my membership in SCBWI. That was easy enough. Then I registered for the Houston conference in April. While registering, I signed up for a manuscript critique with an editor. Hold on, what did you say? I looked at the requirements for the submission. I froze at the cover letter. That’s when I opened up my safe Reflections on the Teche tab and started writing about the word Dive. Am I ready to dive in? What’s the worst that can happen, really? I need to hold my nose and jump in. I’m not sure what will be waiting in the water. Was it Eleanor Roosevelt who said, “Do one thing that scares you every day?”

That is why I need God. I know that I am always loved, no matter what. There is no failure in God’s eyes. There is only courage and hope wrapped up in love.

I enter the church on Ash Wednesday, and I walk to the alter for ashes. I hear the words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” The smudge of dust is placed on my forehead. I return to my work with a renewed heart, ready to dive, ready to pursue a dream, ready to be made new.

A Valentine’s Day gift from a student.

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Looking for Reflections

Posted in Spiritual Growth, tagged Holy Eucharist, spiritual journey on February 12, 2015| 5 Comments »

Click here to read more #spiritualjourney posts. Thanks Holly for hosting this roundup!

Reflection of the rose window at St. Marks Cathedral in Seattle, WA.

There is no doubt that I love reflections hence the name of this blog. I look out on the bayou each day to see the reflection of the trees, standing tall like floating towers on the water. Once a Catholic friend (I am an Episcopalian) told me that she saw the reflection of Christ in the communion cup during a Eucharist we were attending together at the National Cathedral. She was surprised to find Jesus in our cup as she was always told Jesus only blesses the Catholic Eucharist. I know this sounds ludicrous, but that is what she thought before her vision. The actual very confusing rule is explained here.

Ever since my friend’s vision in the chalice, I look when I take the wine. I used to close my eyes. And when the swine flu was going around, and our priest advised us to dip rather than drink, I drank anyway. I look. I always see a reflection. The reflection is not always ethereal, but it is always beautiful.

On Monday, I attended a memorial service for a friend’s husband. The service was in an Episcopal church, and a full communion was served.

I kept my eyes open.

I was delighted by the many lights I saw in the wine reflection, red, green, yellow, sparkling lights. A sign to me that resurrection is real.

When we open our eyes in the presence of the Holy Spirit, we will see miracles.
We will see love.
We will see.
And believe.

I plan to keep my eyes open.

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