Perhaps you didn't get the memo....

Dearest Beloved Pillar,

I recall asking on several occasions that my 50th birthday (and yours) be celebrated in a quiet, non-flashy, "No-need-for-a-disco-ball" kind of way. You remember this, yes? I said (as I recall) "Don't do anything fancy for my birthday. Please. No fuss. No bother. We'll have the family over, it will be great. My sisters will stop by in the afternoon. That's all I want. Really."

So imagine my surprise when I returned home from church to a house FULL of family and friends and enough food to feed the Fifth Armoured Division! I already had the rest of a BEAUTIFUL cake from the good folks at our two churches, along with some gorgeous flowers, cards and gifts. And then - WOW.



But it gets better yet.

Awesome - our son who lives Far Far Away in the Prairies - was also here!!! He's come to town to surprise us both for our birthdays and it's just so delightful to see him. The best part was that even YOU didn't know that Awesome was coming to town. Ha!

It's been quite a day. A beautiful day filled with friends, family, and lots of love and laughter. It really doesn't get better than this. Really.

However, there is the matter of the "No Surprise Party" memo. Possibly next year, possibly at a time when you least expect it, I will return the favour. You can count on it. :)

much love,
Sue

Blessed

I'm up, the sun is shining, my head is not hurting (not even a little), and I'm off to worship with two congregations that are starting to blend more and more as the weeks of summer pass. The photo above was taken by me at BE 2.0 in Arizona just after Easter. Mompriest put it together for the event. It was so beautiful and peaceful and created a sacred space for our worship times. May all of your worship be blessed today, wherever it may be.

This will be my last sermon until I return from holidays, so I won't actually be in the pulpit again until the first weekend in September when we're back at LCotC. Have I mentioned that my "last sermon of the summer" is notoriously awful? I'm hoping this one is at least a notch above the very low bar I have set for it. Next week: Garden Tour worship, where we worship on the go and visit some beautiful gardens tended and cared for by our parishioners. Pray for a sunny warm day like this one!

I'm 50 today!

It's okay to be 50. So far I'm enjoying it quite a lot actually. When I think of where I was a year ago, and where I am now...well, I feel more than blessed.



As you were....

Counting Sheep...or maybe Sleeps...

Funny, but it seems that the busier I am, the less sleep I'm able to get. One would think that at the end of a busy day, one might just hit the pillow and sleep easily. Not so much these days. Maybe it's the "Becoming A Woman of a Certain Age" thing, I don't know. Anyway, two more weeks and then I hit Holiday Time and plan to do a few things:

1. Sleep
2. Nap
3. Read some good books
4. Nap
5. Sit on the balcony in the sun (entirely dependent upon the appearance of said sun, of course)
6. Go to one nephew's wedding
7. Nap
8. Read some more
9. See a few movies
10. Go to another nephew's wedding in a place far far away
11. Nap
12. Go to yoga three times a week
13. Soak in epsom salts after said yoga, especially after hot yoga
14. Learn to love hero pose *sigh*


15. Clean out closet in home office (maybe - so far this is only a hypothetical type of plan)

I'll probably find a few other things to do along the way, but that's pretty much the plan.

Off to run a few errands for tomorrow....

Go Ahead....

...just try not to laugh at these two sweet kittehs... just try... :)


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

A Very Good Day

The funeral went well. We had a small choir (thank you!) and easily twice as many people in attendance than the family had anticipated. There was a procession of antique cars out to the cemetery and a lovely luncheon afterward. It was as good a day as it could be for a very close family who will miss their loved one a whole lot.

Tonight, Pillar sent me out to pick up my birthday gift, even though my birthday isn't until Sunday.

So now I have one of these:



Eeeeeeeeee!!!! It's so much fun. It's not the phone, but the iPod touch. It has lots of bells and whistles I need to figure out, which could take awhile, but it's fun!!!

Also, our son came around to show off his first car tonight. It's very cool.

All in all, a good day. Very good.

Resurrection Hope times Three

I put everything I've got into funerals. The way I see it, if I really mess up a Sunday sermon, I've got a whole lot of Sundays to make up for it. I only get one opportunity to honour the dead, so it has to be right. To me that means that it not only has to celebrate and honour the life of the deceased, but it also has to raise up the hope of the life beyond this life that (in my theology at least) remains the basis upon which our faith rests.

I'm working on the third funeral I've had in five days. Last Sunday (was that only two days ago?) fell in there somewhere too. Each funeral has to fit the situation, the personality of the deceased and meet the needs of the surviving relatives. Each has to be appropriate, relevant, and real. I never pretend to know anyone I have not met. In fact, I make a point of saying "I never had the privilege of knowing X, but after meeting with his/her family, I wish I had..."

I never, ever, read the obituary. It's not that it's a bad thing to do - I just don't do it. I always deliver a homily. I have a colleague who has never in all his years of ministry used a homily in a funeral service. This I find quite puzzling, but whatever...

Unfortunately, when funerals fall into that "when it rains it pours" mode like this week, the hope of the resurrection can become a bit repetitive. So I went looking through some of the hundreds of books in my office today and came across this lovely quote.

Writer Megan McKenna says:

“Resurrection is not a single event, but a loosening of God’s power and light into the earth and into history that continues to alter all things, infusing them with the grace and power of God’s own holiness. It is as though a door was opened, and what poured out will never be stopped, and the door cannot be closed.”

I wish I could remember which book I found that in, but it's at the office, it's late and I'm sleepy.

I really, really hope that tomorrow's service is everything that the family needs it to be. I've done my part. Now I need to leave it in the strong care of the Holy Spirit.

G'nite.

Precious, Fragile, Holy, Grace

I am trying to think of a word to describe the space my head and heart are occupying at the moment. I'm caring for three families this weekend who are walking the path of grief and deep, deep loss. Their pain is palpable and I do what I can by being present and offering prayer, sacrament and my certainty that none of us is alone in the journey from this world to the Great Somewhere Else.

God's promise rests on that assurance - that in life, in death, and in life beyond death, we are not alone. God is with us. Thanks be to God.

Life is all of those things in the title and so very much more. Pillar just asked what I wanted for supper and I had to shake myself out of that otherworldly place where I've spent the day - the place where time is shapeless, formless and counted by breaths as opposed to seconds, minutes, or hours. That other place is truly the holy ground on which God invites only the most privileged among us to stand. How can it all be so sad and so holy at the same time? In eleven years, I've never been able to answer that question. I suspect it is one of those things I'll know on the other side of glory.

In the meantime, if you feel so inclined, do pray for three families whose worlds are in that vacuous grip of loss, and whose memories of their loved ones are keeping them going. Those memories keep one foot moving forward, then the other. The same memories allow a deep breathe to fill the lungs while tears fill the eyes. One day God will wipe away every tear, and until then, I will stand on that holy ground and do what I can do - just be there.

I listened to this on the way home from the hospital. It seemed eerily appropriate.

Memories by Within Temptation

In this world you tried,
Not leaving me alone behind.
There's no other way,
I pray to the gods let him stay.
The memories ease the pain inside,
And now I know why.

All of my memories keep you near.
In silent moments,
Imagine you being here.
All of my memories keep you near,
In silent whispers, silent tears

Made me promise I'd try,
To find my way back in this life.
Hope there is a way,
To give me a sign you're okay.
Reminds me again it's worth it all,
So I can go home.

All of my memories keep you near.
In silent moments,
Imagine you being here.
All of my memories keep you near.
In silent whispers, silent tears.

Together in all these memories,
I see your smile.
All of the memories I hold dear.
Darling you know I'll love you,
Til the end of time.

All of my memories keep you near
In silent moments,
Imagine you being here.
All of my memories keep you near,
In silent whispers, silent tears.

Blessings....count 'em if you've got 'em

Tomorrow (well, technically, about an hour from now) Pillar will turn 50. He was diagnosed with MS at age 32, though he had had symptoms since he was 22. He was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 38 and injects insulin three times a day. He's also the most content, happy, courageous and faithful people I know. He enjoys every day and celebrates everything around him....even me despite the occasional crabby spell. He makes me laugh every day and nursed me through three years of headache/depression hell.

Honestly, sometimes I go through periods where I try to catch him in a bad mood, or feeling sorry for himself - but only because I know that if I were in his shoes, that's how I would feel. I've never caught him slip up - not once. This August we will have been married for 29 years. We've known each other since we were 16. He's just a better person than I am. I know that. I've always known that. He makes me a better person because he's not afraid to be honest with me when I'm being a jerk. And yes, sometimes I'm a jerk. He makes me a better person just by loving me as I am.

Some of our family, the ones who live in town, stopped by tonight to celebrate our 50th birthdays. Pillar's is tomorrow, mine is on the 19th. We got some wonderful gifts and had a lovely time with our family (though I did intend to make tea before everyone had to leave - sorry about that folks - too busy talking...). Tonight I just feel incredibly blessed.

I love my family and they love me - it honestly doesn't get better than that. It just doesn't. Praise be.