by Miriam | May 27, 2014 | Uncategorized
Its quoted so often that it is now a cliche' – Einstein's comment about insanity being a function of doing the same thing, yet hoping against hope for some different result.
I believe we are seriously blind to this in ourselves; yet it is SO easy to see in others. I talked with several people recently who have told me the same story dozens of times … things that happen repeatedly in their lives. There were many tears and pleas for different outcomes. But there never will be. Not until they do something, anything differently than they are doing now. The new thing does not guarantee the desired outcome, but to do the same ensures a familiar and dismal result.
If you are frustrated with something / someone … DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.
(Sorry for the shouting. Just DONE with same story, same results). I'm speaking to me too, btw.
by Miriam | May 26, 2014 | Uncategorized
So somehow we got on the topic of killer bees and as I Googled them to see the latest, there was a moving map that showed when they first were seen in the US and then to date how far North they had marched. In a relatively short time, they have spread over several states. My takeaways from the conversation:
A) Praise God we have winters that get seriously cold – too cold for the nasty bees.
B) I really, really, REALLY hate insects in general and stingy ones in specific. I killed six budding nests already this spring and there's a massive one I just found in the barn that I am screwing up my courage to deal with in the near future.
C) The Africanized bees (aka killer bees) have a relentless, pervasive expansion North. A little bit farther each year. I'm sure most people said, "They'll never get this far" – I remember as a kid thinking, well, at least they won't ever reach my state. We're too far away. However, now they have arrived in the southern edge. So it makes me ask the question: What miserable habit is steadily creeping its way further and further into my life, taking over places I don't want it to?
It's the small bit of emotional landscape that is the killer, because it's easy to rationalize or say, "I don't do it that often" – yet when you are honest, you have to realize its more than you think. Here are some I've come up with on the spot:
I'm addicted to sugar, for sure.
I'd rather passively ignore the interpersonal issue, than deal with it directly and create conflict.
I keep thinking I'll deal with those extra pounds tomorrow.
I repeatedly expect I'll finish the details from some home projects (like the molding on several walls) the next weekend (this has happened for 4 years now, with few exceptions).
Each time I give in to these things, a little more territory is given over. A little more of the me I wish to be is given over to the self-destructive me. I need to find a way to stop the oozing North and take back some of the ground.
I did recently buy a very cool chop saw (miter) to finish all the places that are molding-less. I thought it was going to be last weekend. And then I thought maybe this one.
Perhaps the next? : )
by Miriam | May 25, 2014 | Uncategorized
Most religious traditions have an equivalent of the word "sin" …
Having been a Biblical Christian for most of my life, I have been well familiar with the word, though it's meaning for me has changed over time.
When I was little, it meant doing something bad. Like breaking one of the Ten Commandments.
In college, my understanding of the definition broadened: Missing the Mark of Perfection. Either by commission or omission, disobeying God.
As I have continued to pursue God throughout my lifetime, this word means less and less to me, primarily because so many other people place such a heavy emphasis on it. They get all black and white and dogmatic - which makes me cringe and run the other direction. In addition, it just doesn't seem all that useful to get hung up on details and jump into the guilt box.
Somewhere along the way, I think I began to think of sin as not listening for the Voice of God. Or not heeding it if I did hear it. This has been a good rule of thumb for me, yet I feel it falls somewhat short.
The other day I was having a very interesting conversation with a profoundly deep friend of mine and I asked him what he considers sin to be, because I just can't believe it is doing or not doing something on The List. His answer blew me away and felt so accurate the moment he spoke it.
He said that sin is breaking the Shalom and / or failing to Believe God.
Most people know that the Hebrew word shalom is understood around the world to mean "peace." However, "peace" is only one small part of the meaning. According to Strong's Concordance Shalom means completeness, wholeness, health, peace, welfare, safety soundness, tranquility, prosperity, perfectness, fullness, rest, harmony, the absence of agitation or discord.
When the Shalom between us is disrupted, there is most likely something that should be repented of. When the Shalom between me and God is absent … yes, some grievance has occurred. And my guess is, in either and both of those instances, somewhere along the line, I have failed to Believe God.
Such good food for thought! Its like my brain went to Yoga and I feel so more flexible! : )
by Miriam | May 24, 2014 | Uncategorized
I planted a garden about five days before Camilla the chicken died. It was a very cool design – a "pizza" garden – one where each "slice" had a flower and a vegetable planted. I was interested to see how it was going to turn out. You have to have an imagination when you plant things, because you don't see any results of your labor for weeks, and even then, you have to wait months before you see the fruit of your labor, so to speak.
What I did not know is that, though I covered the garden with wire fencing, somehow, Camilla got in there and stirred everything up (and ate whatever struck her fancy, like all the corn). So, now, instead of nice, neat, ordered slices of flower and veg, I have randomness and chaos. There are sunflowers everywhere, even outside of the raised garden itself and smatterings of things cropping up here and there. It is a disaster on one hand. On the other, it is a fond reminder of my funny chicken, whom I miss.
All seeds require patience. Especially the ones of the friendship variety. Some of these sprout quickly, but are like annuals with no staying power. Others are like perennials – year after year they bloom and charm with their beauty. Still others are trees. They take years to grow and become established. They create cool shade, shelter from the elements of life. And then one year, out of no where, there is a piece of fruit. The next year there are five. And the next year 40. And then the bounty from that friendship is immesurable and irreplaceable.
When you invest with someone, it is an adventure; you never know what you will find around the corner of the next year. Yes, they are messy and costly in terms of time and energy. But those that flower create so much beauty. And those that are the trees – they become strong and steady; the winds of weather and change do not distress them. Their fruit is sweet and it blesses all - not just the original two, but all who come in contact with both of them.
by Miriam | May 23, 2014 | Uncategorized
There are ways to make history feel so dull and utterly irrelevant, and then there are the ways that pique interest and make you say: My … how far we've come. I recently ran across this, and thought you might enjoy this 3 minute tribute to the evolution of special effects in films. In my opinion, they could have used some more iconic clips, but it was still cool to watch, and a break from the more weighty topics.
How many films do you recognize?
by Miriam | May 22, 2014 | Uncategorized
"Your call is very important to us …" – no, actually, it isn't. After spending approximately FIVE hours trying to get an issue resolved with an insurance company (and still failing to do so), I am so done with the phone trees or whatever it is called when you have to push 1 for English.
I'm asked for information to "speed up the process" … so I dutifully enter myriads of numbers. Yet when I finally do get a live person, they invariably ask for the same information all over again. Four times today the system just disconnected me. Kicked me to the curb, as it were. Often I tried "0" at random intervals in the vain hope that someone who was human would come and rescue me from the cellular hell that I was trapped in. I consider myself to be super tenacious, but this thing beat me. Two Thursdays in a row. Last week I gave them two hours of my life and this one as well. There was another hour a couple of weeks ago.
Such WASTE.
If I was God …
I say / think that a lot. It's probably good that I am not, because whole segments of society (like phone menus, football, recidivistic criminals, and cilantro) would be conspicuously in abstentia.
Sigh.
Alas, I am not The Almighty. And so, for some time in the future, you too will have to continue to share in the pain and misery with the phone nonsense and insanity.
At least until God decides to do something about it.
