Random Musings

Zipper cream peas, Paco's cantaloupes and Parker County peaches!! Summer's bounty! Purple hulled peas, fresh tomatoes, watermelon. Crowder peas, fresh figs, Bing cherries, plums, zucchini, yellow squash, sweet potatoes. Ah the sweet taste of them all makes up for the oppressive heat of summer.

Why, in a state that the pundits have already ceded to John McCain in November and still has numerous vehicles with "W '04" plastered on them, do I see only "Obama 08" bumper stickers and nary a McCain one in sight? Is it because I live in an ethnically diverse neighborhood and work at a large university or is this phenomena more wide-spread?

Recently the Pentagon announced that by 2018 they would stop using the current style of cluster bombs and using only ones that went inert if they didn't explode on impact. Why wait 10 years? Or even better, why not just stop using bombs--cluster or otherwise--right now?

One in 50 homes in North Texas is in foreclosure. How sad. I'm reminded daily of this because a house across the street from me is one of them.

Starbucks has finally reached the point of saturation and is having to close stores. I wondered how they could have a storefront on every corner. I guess they couldn't.

Do buildings suffer from delusions of grandeur? There is a nice sturdy two-storey building that I pass by daily. It is barely taller than the apartment complex next door yet it calls itself the Alta Mesa Tower. It makes me smile when I see it. On second thought, perhaps it's not suffering from delusions but has a healthy self-image and is gently poking fun at itself with it's name.

Wonderful posting on Theolog using the story of Jesus' feeding of the 5000 to remind us--i.e. me!--not to fall into the earthly trap of believing that scarcity is the norm but to live believing and knowing God's abundance. How different life would be if I lived like I believed that.

Green is the color of Grace

Today with the help of my wonderful friend Pamela, I painted my living room a beautiful green. Green--the color of the current liturgical season Ordinary Time. A color that symbolizes growth. And what an appropriate color for me to start with in my new life of growth. Growing in the willingness to take a chance (and putting green on the walls of the biggest room in my house was a little scary for me.) Growing in the willingness to take help from a friend (and getting to know her much better by doing so). Growing in the willingness to try new things (and now I know how to paint or at least am not afraid to try it again.) Thanks so much Pamela!

Then tonight my "group" discussed grace. My body was full of feelings but I couldn't find the words to express them at that time. How do I experience God's grace? I experience it in feeling accepted by God and others (like my wonderful "group".) That acceptance that let's me be me. It is more than just tolerating me but actually liking and loving me for who I am and not asking me to change--to be a different person. Instead they encourage me to grow and to become a fulfillment of God's creative intent. And out of that acceptance and love from God and others acting for God, I've been free to change my life in dramatic ways. I experience God's grace in the peace that I feel as I face the unknown. And there are many unknowns in my life right now. Just a year ago, I would be paralyzed with fear and anxiety in facing these unknowns. But now although I have those moments of concern wondering what the future holds, mostly I feel a deep assurance that things will be fine--because of God's grace. I experience God's grace in my new zest for living, in the hope of the future, in the beauty of nature, in the love of friends, in the laughter of my child, in the wonderfulness of creation and -- in the color green!