The Joy of Reading

I have this thing about books... I love to read!  But, how in the world have I been able to read 61 books this year!  More than any other year of my adult life.

Well, I have had a lot of down time this year.  Business was very slow at the shop (the recession has finally hit the flea markets too, which is really drastic)... so, that meant less funds to buy inventory to place in the shop.  I had to make do with what I had already or with what friends who were downsizing gave me.

Since I didn't have to deal with a lot of inventory, I had more time to read.  Because I have a bookshop as part of my space, I have a ready supply of books to choose from.  My cup runneth over!

My books come to me in different ways: I buy them, or I give a customer 1 free book for 3 of theirs, or kind and generous people leave bags of books in my shop.  Often I have no idea who have given me these books; but you can be sure that I am truly grateful for them.

I believe people appreciate a friendly vendor and keep coming back to buy from them; and think of them when they are in the process of downsizing, whether they be books or collectibles.  I am always happy when one of my customers comes by and asks, "Do you think you can use any of this stuff?"  I always say yes... and tell them that if I cannot use something, I will take it to the local Goodwill store.

Anyhow, as I was thinking about my books, I was also recalling paintings that I have seen with reading books as the focal point.  Here are some of what I found...  I hope you enjoy looking at them.  I think they are beautiful, especially the "Lady in Brown" by Chase.      

"Lady in Brown" - William Merritt Chase (1849-1916)

no title given - Helen Maria Turner (1858-1958)

"A Girl Reading Indoors" - Vanessa Bell (1879-1961)

"Girl with Book" - Bartholomeus Van der Helst (1613-1670)

"Miss Auras" - John Lavery (1856-1941)

"Alice in Wonderland" - George Dunlop Leslie (1835-1921)

"Woman Reading" - Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

"Good Book" - Laura Fatta

"Woman Reading" - Peter Worsley (1929-)

"Girl Reading" - George Cochran Lambdin (1830-1896) 

"In the Garden Reading" - Mary Cassatt (1844-1926)

Rembrandt's Mother - Gerard Dou

Advent at St. E's

For the past several years, my parish places a bare tree to the right of our sanctuary.  We call it our Jesse Tree though we do not place the normal religious symbols on the tree.  Our idea for our tree is different.  We tie leaves on the tree with the names of people we wish to pray for during Advent.  Here is how we go about it.

One of our parishioners agrees to search for an appropriate tree.  It needs to be a young tree with plenty of branches that people can reach fairly easily, but it can't be too tall or bushy so that it looks tacky.  The tree's trunk needs to fit into a bucket of rocks that hold it in place.  I've provided the rocks and bucket.

Next, someone needs to cut out leaves from construction paper, or as I did this year, buy some garlands of Fall leaves from the craft store.  I simply cut the leaves from the garland and tied ribbon through each one and then stuck a strip of adhesive tape on each leaf so that parishioners could write on it, the names of the people they were holding in prayer this Advent.

Because we are a small parish, I only prepared about 125 of these leaves.  They were placed in a basket on a table in the rear of the church so the hospitality ministers could pass them out as people came in for Mass.  In the days before the First Sunday of Advent, the family that usually decorates the church, set the tree up in the sanctuary.

Last year, we had used construction paper leaves that had the names of children in need of prayer written on them.  We had used the leaves in other ways during the past year so we were hesitant to throw them away.  So, the old leaves were placed on the highest branches of the tree so that those children could continue to be prayed for during this Advent as well.

On the First Sunday of Advent, our priest spoke about the meaning of our tree during his homily and said he had written the names of his elderly parents on his leaf and when he ended his homily, he attached his leaf to the tree.  Our parishioners then left the pews and did the same.  The basket still has unused leaves in it so that parishioners who could not attend the First Sunday will still be able to place their names on the tree when they return.

This prayer for our people has become a meaningful tradition at my parish and I hope it will continue..
   
 

~ Bare Tree II by Norman Wyatt, Jr.

Gospel Choir 21st Anniversary Concert

The Gospel Choir of which I am a long-time member (more than 30 years actually) will hold its 21st Anniversary Concert tomorrow afternoon.  We have rehearsed long for this day.  We have learned three new gospel songs, only one of which we might be able to use again by adapting it.  Most of the music we learn for these concerts cannot be used at Mass.

We have invited several other Gospel choirs to celebrate with us:  The Gospel Voices of Glen Allen - The Maggie L. Walker Alumni Gospel Choir - The Men of Goodwill - Holy Rosary Catholic Church Choir - Redeemed Ministry - Special Guest Musicians - and a Flag Ministry.

Here is the music we have learned:

Our God is an Awesome God

My God is Awesome

Let the Church say "Amen"


I am aware that few of my readers may be interested in this music, but who knows...   At any rate, WE love the music... and are looking forward to a festive afternoon, singing in praise of our awesome God!

The Sound of Music

I was thinking about the sound of music.  How we hear it and how we listen to it can reveal a bit about our relationship with God.

We hear a favorite piece of music and become totally engrossed in it.  Each part, its tune, its words, bring us joy and delight.  Often we have to play or sing it over again.  We can't get enough of it because it has touched our heart and soul.

At other times, we try to listen to the music but because our mind wanders to concerns and issues in our lives, we forget about the music.  The sounds die away and we are no longer conscious of them.

Perhaps most times, we live our lives with background music.  We go about our lives with all our joys and struggles, aware of the lovely tune in the background.  We are comforted by its continuous presence.  The melody keeps calling us and drawing us toward it.

Lord, I think you are this melody.  The music that we love... that engrosses us... that we become immersed in.

And yet, many times we lose track of you... through sin or because we are simply overcome by the struggles of our lives.  We become distracted and thoughts of your love fade away.  That is when we need to be reconciled to you so that we can hear the melody once more.

Hopefully, most of our lives are spent with an awareness of your presence with us.  That as we go about our tasks and deal with the issues and problems in our lives, we trust in and listen to your melody that never ceases.  A melody that brings us joy and comfort.

Lord, allow us to become part of that melody so that we can sing your praises forever.



 ~ Image: Angel playing lute (1506) by Albrecht Dürer

      

It's a Puzzlement!

It's a puzzlement!  What to do... what to do...  About five or six years ago, I put together our parish's website... I am strictly an amateur at website building.  However, since we are a small parish, the site was unique and served its purpose.  I bought the name and I renew it each year as part of my contribution to my parish.

Recently, a new parishioner who is a professional web designer arrived and offered to build a new website for the parish.  All that was perfect timing for me, because of a changing family situation, I no longer have the time to devote to updating the site.  He is doing a fine job and has brought lots of interesting additions to the new site.

But here is my problem:  In addition to building the website those years ago, I was also asked to set up a blog by our priest at the time so that parishioners could write reflections on the homilies and readings we heard every Sunday.  The person writing the reflection that week would send it to me and I would find the perfect picture or image to go with what was written and then I would place the article on the blog.  I really loved doing this and people enjoyed it.  

Now, the web designer wants to incorporate the blog into the new website.  This is not a bad idea on the surface because it will bring more readers into the mix and more information into the blog.  BUT, all those five or six years worth of previous articles/photographs will probably be lost.  This is what hurts my heart!  Plus, the web designer is adding his own headers (pics) to the blog articles and wants to leave my pics out.  This also hurts my heart since I have spent a lot of time finding just the right image for the articles people write.  His issue with my pics are the low resolutions I use.

Soooo, what to do?  Actually, the reflections have changed since the original priest left.  He always had a special take on the readings and so the articles were really exemplary.  Our most recent priest had a different style altogether which made it difficult to write about what he had to say.  Our new priest's style is also not the same...  As the years have gone by, it has ended up that I am writing most of the articles since people have gotten older and less willing to write.  So, my questions are:

Should I abandon the old blog or continue to write for it and have the designer transfer the articles to the new website/blog?

Since I love to write these reflections, should I just place them on this blog and concentrate on this one and let the new parish blog exist on its own?

I can't seem to think clearly about this issue, so I would love to have some input from my readers...



Image from wallpapers shop

Plantings

One of the joys of Springtime for me is to go to one of the box stores like Home Depot and buy bedding plants for my hanging baskets and pots.

Notice I said nothing about buying seed packets or fertilizer...  Long ago I gave up on flower beds and starting plants from seed.  I am much too lazy and impatient to spend time with sowing, weeding, planting and so on.

The instant results of seeing the plants blooming in the baskets and pots are what I look forward to and take joy in.

This reminds me of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians where he speaks about faith in Chapter 3, verse 6:  "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it but God made it grow."  I am like Apollos who takes over after the seed is planted.

Probably most things in life are accomplished by a group effort.  And over time...  Our part may be small but each part is important to the whole.  And then it must be left to God to be completed.

Paul planted the seed of faith in Corinth, but in time Paul had to leave because he was needed elsewhere.  The nurturing of that faith was left to Apollos, but in the end, it took God's grace to make the people's faith grow.

We are reminded that we are a community of believers who take joy in seeing our faith flower.  We thank God for the gift He has given us.  The seed may have been planted long ago, but it required the example and nurturing of others to help it come to fruition.



 Image Source Saunders Brothers

    

For my Reading Pleasure

I love to read!  Always have and hope to continue for many years to come.  My sons are readers also and for many years some of us have kept track of the books we've read through the year.  I'm not a speed reader or a skimmer... I just plod along page by page...

At this point in my life I read only for the momentary enjoyment of it.  I don't read to retain what I have read.  My brain is suffering from information overload already, so if I tried to remember everything I read, my brain would collapse!  Consequently, since I don't have to take a test on what I have read, I can read many more books!  I usually have several books going at one time; one to read at my flea market shop, and generally a couple at home.  One of my spaces at the flea market is a book shop.  I have about 3000 books, so I have an endless supply of reading material!

I read fiction for the most part.  I enjoy murder and mayhem; spy novels, adventure, some historical fiction.  Favorite authors include James Patterson, Patricia Cornwell, James Grisham, Robert Ludlum, David Baldacci and others.  I have also read many of the classic novels that are on that type of reading list, including the classic sci-fi novels.

So far this year, I have read about 28 books.  Because business has been slow at my flea market shop, it has given me more time to read.  Here is a listing of the books I have read so far this year:

1. The Borgia Bride ~ jeanne kalogridis
2. An Occasion of Sin ~ andrew m. greeley
3. The Little Black Cat Book ~ david taylor
4. A Good Woman ~ danielle steel
5. The Dome ~ stephen king
6. Mother of Pearl ~ melinda haynes
7. Step on a Crack ~ james patterson
8. Another City, Not My Own ~ dominick dunne
9. Scarpetta ~ patricia cornwell
10. True Blue ~ david baldacci
11. Paradise ~ toni morrison
12. Forever ~ pete hamill
13. The Hot Zone ~ richard preston
14. The Prometheus Deception ~ robert ludlum
15. Fire and Ice ~ j. a. jance
16. The Priest's Graveyard ~ ted dekker
17. The Scarpetta Factor ~ patricia cornwell
18. The Gunslinger/The Tower ~ stephen king
19. Broken Wings ~ john douglas and mark olshaker
20. Five People You Meet in Heaven ~ mitch albom
21. White Smoke ~ andrew m. greeley
22. The Venetian Betrayal ~ steve berry
23. Captains Courageous ~ rudyard kipling
24. Digital Fortress ~ dan brown
25. Tick Tock ~ james patterson and michael ledwidge
26. Islands ~ anne rivers siddons
27. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter ~ carson mccullers
28. Book of the Dead ~ patricia cornwell

The best book I have read all year is "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter"... an oldie but goodie!  Don't miss out on that one, if you have a chance to read it.  And be sure to read, "Cry, the Beloved Country" by alan paton which I read last year.

Some years I get beyond fiction and read biographies and history and some religious books.  They take more effort since one can't read those mindlessly as one can with fiction.  Anyhow, I enjoy what I read... and that's what counts!


 ~ "Reading" by Alverto Pisa (1854-1936)          

     

The Driving Wind ~ A Pentecost Reflection

Pentecost

Acts 2:1-11
Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34
Gal 5:16-26
Jn 15:26-27; 16:12-15

The driving wind brought change to the lives of the Apostles and those others gathered in the upper room.  It was the first sign that no longer would they live in fear of the future.  As tongues like fire rested on each of them, the Holy Spirit filled them with the zeal and desire to spread the word of Jesus' Resurrection and the good news about the Kingdom of God to all the world.

How wonderful it must have been for the disciples to realize that their words could be understood by all the peoples gathered in Jerusalem that day.  There was no need for a translator...  The Lord was making it possible for everyone to hear and understand the their words.  These Words were for everyone... for the multitudes to hear and believe.  Many must have received those Words with joy that day.  It was a beginning.

The importance of the arrival of the Holy Spirit cannot be underestimated.  In John's Gospel, Jesus realized that the apostles could not bear to hear all that he wanted to tell them.  Probably they were still overwhelmed that Jesus could appear to them as a real and truly alive person and not as a ghost.  And then, of a sudden,  Jesus ascends to his Father and leaves behind frightened disciples who could not yet understand what they must do.

But Jesus had not abandoned them.  He had promised to send "the Spirit of truth" who would guide the disciples and declare to them all that comes from the Father and the Son.  In his letter, Paul tells the Christians of Galatia that they are to "live by the Spirit"...  To be guided by the Spirit and to put away the things of the flesh because the Spirit and the flesh are not compatible.  To live in the Spirit allows one to cultivate the fruits of the Spirit; that is, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  These are the signs of a Christian life... and this is how we also are to live.

Christianity has spread to the ends of the earth, just as Jesus promised and it began with the example of those foreigners in Jerusalem who heard what the Apostles spoke and marveled that they could understand them in their own language.

The joy and hope expressed in Psalm 104 has surely been fulfilled:  "Lord, send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth."


 ~ Pentecost (Detail) by El Greco, 1610, at the Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain

Oh no! Not MORE cemetery art!!??

Have you noticed? Hard to miss that I've used several cemetery art images recently. Somehow, this art has caught my imagination. It all started a year or so ago when one of my plurky friends started photographing these lovely statues at a cemetery she went to. One of the photos that stayed in my memory had an added attraction: she placed a live rose in the photograph. It made the image even more sad and melancholy. But nonetheless, even more beautiful.

I really don't consider this art morbid. I think it expresses the sadness at the loss of the loved one that the family is experiencing. It also expresses to future generations that this dead person was once alive just like we are... with similar joys and sorrows... and that someone was mourned just as we will be when we leave this earth...

This week is Holy Week. We will be remembering that our God allowed His Son to die so that we might live. There was mourning at the tomb... But sunrise brought the joy of Resurrection!


~ Image from a Paris cemetery

Don't say "Goodbye"...

The priest and I again visited Minnie who had just been moved to another hospice care facility. She was getting much weaker but she purposely forced herself to sit up in the bed because she wanted to be anointed again and to receive Communion.

Because Minnie was so weak, I suggested that the priest do only what was necessary for the rite, rather than every prescribed prayer. She was able to receive Communion and, I know, she was grateful that we had come.

As we were getting ready to leave and were saying our goodbyes, Minnie spoke up and in no uncertain terms, reminded us: "Don't say goodbye... say, See you later!"

Minnie died two days later...

See you later, my precious friend... when we all meet at the throne of mercy... May you rest in peace in the arms of our loving Father.

Thinking outside of the box...

When you get as old as I am, you are generally pretty set in your ways, as far as thinking is concerned. It's really hard to look at a problem and not approach it in a similar way you have approached it for most of your adult life. It's hard to think outside the box!

But one sometimes has to do just that in order to grow in your relationship with God. What??!!

Okay, so I had an appointment with my SD this week and I was bringing a problem of mine that I haven't been able to work out. It concerns a parish situation that is really frustrating to me... and to many others... When I get frustrated, I also become angry about the situation... because what I want to happen, doesn't... and I know others feel the same way and they are frustrated and angry too.

I am well aware that my frustration and anger has as its basis, my nemesis, PRIDE! Yikes! Lord, I need help! I'm not doing too well on my own.

Without going into details about the parish situation, I asked my SD for help in changing something in this equation of frustration, anger and pride... I wanted to break the cycle of how I was looking at the situation. I couldn't do it myself because I didn't know how to think out of the box that I had created because of my approach to other situations in the past...

My SD apparently understood something I didn't... or couldn't see... Something very simple that has now been a great help in how I look at the parish situation and my response to it...

"Have you ever thought that maybe by not allowing the situation to be resolved, that God is trying to teach you something?"

Do you see the light bulb that just came on? Habits of how one responds to things are so deeply ingrained they are very hard to break. My SD showed me there are other ways of looking at a problem. Of course, I know that... BUT I couldn't apply it to myself until he made the connection!

Lord, you send me your graces in so many ways...

The end of days...

I am very very tired tonight... I have had a busy day.

This afternoon, I received an email from our parish secretary alerting us that Minnie was back in the hospital and not doing well. Also, that one of our elderly parishioners had had a stroke and was in the local VA hospital in the hospice unit.

Minnie is my friend who has recently been diagnosed with metastatic cancer... I had been bringing Communion to her since an earlier hospitalization. I had not been able to get in touch with her for the last week and didn't know what was going on. Minnie is one of our Wednesday evening Mass participants and has been the one to set up for the Mass ever since I realized how much she wanted to do this herself. So I stepped aside and set up the lectionary instead...

After I read the email, I called the parish office to speak to our priest. I asked if he was planning to visit these two parishioners this afternoon because family members had asked for him. I wanted to go with him. So we agreed on a time. Our priest is one of our foreign priests and is happy to have someone accompany him on these visits.

The hospital where Minnie had been admitted is a large complex of hospitals and requires a lot of walking and directions on how to go from one place to another. There are even slips of paper with directions to help people find their way. When we arrived at her room, Minnie was awake but a little confused in talking to us... She has had many tests and lots of bad news.

Our priest anointed her and gave her Communion... Because she is dear to me, I asked to say a short prayer too. Her son had just come in to be with her and he eventually walked us through the maze of corridors on our way out. He told us how serious her cancer is. I hope she will eventually be able to return home... but only God know if that will be possible.

Our next visit was to our elderly gentleman parishioner who had been admitted to the local VA hospital with a stroke. This hospital is garden style and it felt like we had to walk a mile through another maze of corridors before we arrived in the hospice section. Fortunately, a volunteer led us to our destination. Our parishioner was alone and either asleep or in a coma... the nurses could not give us any information about him since no family members were present. One of the nurses tried to arouse him but was not able. He may have been sedated... Anyway, our priest also tried to rouse him but I suggested that he simply anoint him and I left a note to his family that we had visited and that the priest had anointed him.

We finally returned to the rectory in time for our Wednesday evening Mass and I took over once again, the setting up that Minnie had always loved to do. I wonder if she will ever be able to return...

Heavenly Father, if it is your will, bring healing of mind, body and spirit to your daughter, Minnie and to your son, George.

It's been that kind of a week...

Yes, it's been that kind of week. You know how it goes: where you have a long list of things you want to accomplish and at the end of the week, the list hasn't gotten much shorter. In fact, as the week goes on, you remember even more things that belong there, so the list gets added to several times.

One very heartening thing happened at Mass this morning. One of the choir members turned around to me and said very quietly, "Boo said to tell you that you can bring him Communion any time." Boo is her husband and a former long time member of the choir. He had to retire from the choir a couple years ago because of severe emphysema and he is on oxygen. He very seldom can come to Mass anymore because it is too much of a hardship for him.

Boo is a person who wants only the priest to come to bring him Communion. Our previous priest apparently visited him from time to time. Unfortunately, our present priest is not cut from the same cloth. But since Boo wishes to receive Communion more regularly, he has now asked his wife to tell me that I can do this for him. This is a big step for Boo and I was taken by surprise at his wife's request because I know his preference for the priest. It's a pity, isn't it? But I am grateful for this opportunity... God is good...

Dear readers, come to my bookshop!

No, that's not my pile of books! But this is a good representation of what I am doing at my shop! Trying to separate my freebie books that a vendor gave me, price them and then place them on shelves.

I love books!!! And with my bookshop, I have been in seventh heaven, selecting books that I want to read. I have a pile of books crammed into a small bookcase behind my desk where I keep the "important stuff" for my shop. They are the books I have picked out to read from the piles I go through.

I would never have believed that I would ever have a bookshop of my own. This just didn't seem possible... and then it all fell into place with our flea market shop. God works in some interesting ways!

Tax time is coming up soon... that means I will have to take an inventory of my books. Takes about a week... My guess is that I have around 3000 books!

In the meantime, let me enjoy what I'm surrounded with!

The Cat came back!

A vendor friend of mine told me this remarkable story about her sister's cat. During the first week of December, the cat failed to return home from one of her excursions outside. The sister searched for several days without finding the cat and finally concluded that it had been run over or that some other accident had befallen it.

The sister is a manager of a mobile home park and often has business with one or another of the folks who rent spaces in the park. One day last week, she visited one of the families in the park. As she approached the mobile home, she thought she heard a cat mewing from underneath the home. Mobile homes are usually required to have a "skirt" around the bottom of the home for aesthetic reasons and the sound was coming from behind the skirt.

Anyhow, she spoke with the owners and told them there was a cat under their home and that they would have to open the skirt and remove it. Apparently, the homeowners had not heard the cat or had not paid any attention to it.

The homeowners opened the skirt and a cat bounded out from underneath the home like a bat out of hell! The cat was nothing but skin and bones but before it fled down the street and out of sight, the sister noticed the collar around the cat's neck and realized that this was HER CAT!!! The cat who had been missing for a month!

The sister went home and prepared to search the neighborhood to see if she could find her cat. She wasn't sure the cat would be able to find its way home because of its emaciated condition. After having no food or water for a month, it might be in too bad a shape to remember where she belonged.

But as the woman opened her door to begin the search, THERE STOOD HER CAT WAITING TO COME INTO THE HOUSE! She opened the door and the cat darted in and went directly to where her food and water bowls had stood.

You can imagine the joy in that household. Because the cat came back!


~ Drawing - My Skinny Cat by Keith Mills

What's in store for the New Year?

It has been a long time since I have blogged here. I have good intentions but we all know what the road to hell is paved with! I have responsibility for my parish blog as well as a couple of other blogs... The parish blog is the only one that is flourishing.

I really want to be more active on this one... maybe use it as a journal. I hesitate to say a "daily" journal but more often than I have been using it. I like to write when there is something to write about... I lead a busy life but not an exciting one, which is one reason I haven't written more.

One thing I like about writing is that it keeps my mind active. Here I am, a 75 year old gramma, who hopes to keep my mind from turning to rust for a few years longer. I read all the time. Last year I read 54 books! I also have a flea market shop where I sell books (this is where I feed my hunger for reading), costume jewelry and other flea market treasures. I make very little money doing this. In fact, since the economy has tanked, I am usually going into the hole every week. However, I like the flea market atmosphere. Flea market vendors are an interesting lot...some real characters... I may write about them sometime...

I also am very involved in parish life. That might be something to write about in the future also... I'm getting some ideas even as I send these words into cyberspace....

Well, I guess I have gotten started...

Image Source: Playing with the Universe