Wintry Walk with G

At four inches and stilling falling G and I put on our layers and headed up the hill into Alms Park.




Our other labor today involves the New York Times' Sunday Magazine crossword puzzle. Two heads are better than one!

a question of "next"

A program description in a retreat brochure at Leigh's house last week has stuck with me. The presenter begins with a quote from the Wendell Berry poem "We Clasp the Hands":
...[we pass] in and out of life ... moving in a dance / to a music so subtle and vast that no ear hears it/except in fragments
and poses the question:
What changes if we begin to listen for the subtle music of the dance? Or if we dare to ask ourselves, not what will I do next, but what wants to happen?

I am having a great time with family and friends, but I am also beginning to look forward into 2009 applying for positions, creating proposals, imagining where I might be next and what I might be doing professionally. The question of "what wants to happen?" and "listening for the subtle music" put me in mind of my retreat, the process of listening for, and occasionally hearing, fragments of music that spoke to me of love, the lover and loving. It has been so easy to slip into "what do I want to do" and hard to remain in "what wants to happen next?"

In the readings for today, the psalmist says "I waited and waited and waited for God" which is what I have been practicing, but also says "You've opened my ears so I can listen." In the silence and beauty of the Ignatius Jesuit Center in Guelph, the music was a lot louder. But it hasn't disappeared. And here is where I learn again that in addition to practicing waiting, I need to practice the Examen so I can start piecing the fragments together and hear what wants to happen next: the next moment, each next moment into the future with faith, hope and love.

Obama is Moving In

Jodie sent me this great Inaguration Day song from Weekend America's interview with the pop group the "Presidents of the United States of America." We really enjoyed the coverage this morning. An amazing event in history. Happy Moving Day!

A Skiing Birthday

What a glorious day! Skiing on the Grand Mesa with my Mom, Dad and Leigh who has been visiting from Chicago. Here's some snaps of the day...
This was a snow angel, not how I spent the day : )













Here are some more snaps from Leigh's fine photography:




It was also Leigh's first time on skis. She gets an A+ and my Dad says, "She's a natural athlete!"

Space

Yesterday I got to spend the afternoon and evening with Wil, discovering the joys of the carpool traffic. We stopped by Michelle's workplace at Ball Aeropspace to drop off some dinner for her to take to her Mom in Denver and ended up with an unofficial tour of some of the labs, including donning the "bunny suits".

Michelle's most recent spacecraft for the program Kepler, is already in Florida being placed atop a rocket for a March 5th launch. If you click on this link, enter Kepler in the search bar to see photos. Kepler's NASA mission is to search for Earth-type planets around other stars. We also got to see the new Worldview 2 satellite that will provide imaging to Google Earth, among other users, and glimpsed a mirror that will be on the James Webb Telescope, the Hubble replacement.

I'm always in awe when I see these spacecraft. I think about view of the universe they provide, our human desire to find others like us, somewhere out there, and the fragile nature of our own planet. A sign in Michelle's office also makes me smile: "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see there are many women rocket scientists."

Lucy

We had a long windy walk this afternoon. Lucy loves to dig for rodents.

get happy

Happy-Go-Lucky Widget

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January 2, 2009 - A Beautiful Day in Colorado

Here's a photo courtesy of Alessandro taken at Sacred Heart Jesuit Retreat House on Friday. It was unseasonably warm (around 60F/15 C) and only a light breeze. I have made two 8-day retreats at Sacred Heart in past years and it is beautiful in every season.

Alessandro & I met on my 40-day retreat. You might think that strange on a silent retreat, but we enjoyed listening to after-dinner music in the lounge while watching the sunsets. He is a Jesuit from Italy, taking a 9-month spiritual direction program offered by Loyola House. The Colorado Jesuits lent their mountain home to the Italians studying in the US and Canada and Alessandro was able to stay a couple of extra days to tour the Denver area with me.

I am staying with Michelle, a good friend from my college days at CU, and she graciously opened her home to Alessandro as well. After our hike we met at Michelle's brother's home for a shared a wonderful Sabbath dinner with her family. It is always a gift spending time with her family and my understanding of Jesus use of 'Abba' always deepens after I hear Michelle's nephews and niece running around the house calling to their dad. Please keep Michelle and Bob's abba, Jack, in your prayers. Out of ICU today and in much better spirits, he has been in the hospital since 12/22 following complications from hip surgery. Also for their mom, Margo, who is spending lots of time at the hospital.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Michelle & Me laughing at her dog, Lucy who jumped out of the picture. And With Alex, Carla and Lucy