Gentle Blog Readers

I will still be posting here during the summer.  But I have been doing some intense Biblical ruminating  over here.

If you get bored because there aren't enough "faith in community" posts, you can always go over and take a look.

I've made sort of an insane commitment to blog the New Testament, to support a community Bible reading project.  The community includes both members of my church, and people I know on-line.

A Day at Camp

Today, after spending an hour with the gospel of John at the men's breakfast Bible Study (which means a bowl of oatmeal for me), I will be heading down to spend the day with some 8th graders at their retreat.  Tomorrow we'll be having just one gi-normous worship service to celebrate our past as a congregation.  It will be informal, and with plenty of music.  Just part of our transition process.  I'm not preaching.

Next week either. 

I love this retreat, and so, it seems, do the participants.  It is billed as a Holy Week retreat, where we lead activities that help us in our understanding and experience of Jesus Passion and Resurrection.  We try to answer the question, "what did Jesus do that led to his crucifixion?" and show that Jesus was the champion of those on the outside, or on the bottom.  We do a footwashing and discussion about Maundy Thursday.  We have a mock trial of Jesus.  We study the stories of the resurrection. 

On Wednesday, I heard one of the 9th grades say, "It was such an awesome retreat."

In the meantime, I'm getting ideas for Lent and trying to get further in implementing them.  I'm visiting people, praying, covering some of those ministry interruptions that always happen, working with a few couples planning weddings, you know all the normal things.

And thinking.  I have a lot of things on my mind, possible blog posts, which I haven't felt like I have time to fully develop.  The "Aesthetics of Orthodoxy" one is in the back of my brain somewhere, as is a Post I would like to call, "an Inconvenient Truth", about how justice in the Bible always refers to justice for the poor.  The Bible just doesn't seem to be that concerned about justice for the rich.  Also want to write, "Love your enemies, and all that jazz", and "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus", introducing our theme for Lent.  And there are others....

In the meantime, today I'll be just a little away, without internet capabilities. I have the towels, the gospel, the water, and Jesus.  Food is provided.  What else do I need.

Friday Five: Unexpected Thanks Edition

Jan over at Revgalblogpals has this Friday Five for us:

With the American holiday of Thanksgiving being less than a week away, I tried to think of some questions for Friday Five that could be connected to this, but in a new way. So here is my one try:

Name five things that were unexpected in your life that you are now grateful for.
1.  My husband.  After 41 (or so, but who's counting) years of singlehood, I got married.  Very unexpected.  But very good. 

2.  Our Dog Scout.  Before Scout, I was a cat person.  I was the kind of cat person who let my cat sleep on the bed at night.  And I had a cat who loved to curl up in my lap.  But, the first thing that happened was that my husband was allergic to cats.  The second thing that happened was that we met Scout.  Now, we are Totally Bonded.  And I am Very Grateful.

3.  Being a Pastor.  When I was a little girl, women could not be pastors.  I am surprised and grateful that women can be pastors, that God called me, and that a congregation also called me to be their pastor.

4.  New friends.  I am grateful for Fran, Terri, Lindy, Marsha, Stephanie, Jan, Amy (Dogblogger), Robin, etc. etc.  Some of you I have met.  Some of you I still hope to meet someday.  I never imagined that I could be good friends with people I have never met (or met just once).  (sorry no links right now, maybe a little later....)

5.  Knitting.   I've known how to knit since the 7th grade, but I've never made any progress - until the past year.  I'm surprised at myself, and grateful, because my progress is due to patient people willing to work backwards with a left-hander.

The Decline of Blogging

Every once in awhile, in a fit of nostalgia, I go back and read old blog posts.

I know, it's embarrassing to admit it.

I'm struck by a kind of golden era, a couple of years ago, when I was writing a lot and reading a lot of blogs, getting sometimes twenty comments on a post. I'm struck, sometimes, by the elegance of my writing (this is sort of embarrassing to admit as well), and I yearn a little for the good old days, when it seemed like I was reading everyone's blog and everyone was reading mine, and we were all on our way up.

It's times like these when I consider what people are saying about the "decline of blogging."

Some people are even more blunt. "Blogging is dead," they say. They mean, of course, that they used to get twenty comments and now they get two, or one. Or none. Or they mean that they just don't have time to "blog" much any more.

I have been feeling the same way. But I don't think that blogging is dead. (Just ask Andrew Sullivan, for one.) However, I do think a particular kind of blogging, the blog-as-journal-type-blog, is in a temporary or permanet decline.

It has to do, at least in part, with a certain popular social media which starts with "FB". There we can leave six word personal updates. I can tell you a little bit about how my dog broke her toe (something I used to do on this blog), and I can update you all on how my knitting is going. I can post a video link that I like, old pictures of my family.

So, what is my blog, "faith in community" for?

When I posted more often, it was kind of a mish-mash: I told stories about Scout, and my church (not revealing any confidentialities, of course); I posted theological and pastoral reflections, and talked about walking around the lake in the summer. Sometimes the connections to "faith in community" were apparent and obvious, other times more tangential. Sometimes (I'll be honest) I just liked putting words together in fun ways and hearing how they sounded together.

I love the title of my blog, "faith in community." I think I would like to keep it, but try to be a little more intentional about what I write about. I'd like to take more risks in what I write, do things that are a little harder for me, that will take some time.

Or, I'm thinking about starting over with a new blog. I have attempted it a couple of times. I have a pretty good title in mind, even posted a little, but found that I couldn't keep up two at one time. Especially in this era of blogging decline.

I know I'll never be a Lutheran pastor version of Andrew Sullivan, but I'd like to create something a little more cohesive. So, I'm searching for themes, ideas, what to keep, what to discard. I don't think I'll be writing about Scout, unless, of course, I can wring some sort of a theological message out of her. (that is not outside of the realm of possibility, of course.) Perhaps I'll do less posting about the books I read, unless I can give a full review.

Also, if there are any lurkers here, is there anything you would like to hear more of? Less of?

Gentle Blog Readers,

First of all, I want to apologize for being so spotty on the 'net lately. I have not been keeping up with my blog reading. I do think I've gotten in a little over my head.

But, before it gets better, it will probably get worse. We are in the midst of moving most of the furniture out of our house, in preparation for getting our hardwood floors re-done next week. If I can, I'll post some picture of the process. But we'll see.

As well, I found out that I have a computer connection problem. I need to have my laptop go into the shop because there appears to be a loose connection somewhere. I got a new cord, and that has helped some, but the connection seems to be loose in other areas as well.

The good news is: it will be covered.
The bad news is: they say it takes about two weeks.

So, this is going to be interesting.

So for the next couple of weeks, I'm not gone, I'm just more "loosely connected."

P.S. now they say they cannot find evidence of my extended service agreement. Two weeks ago they assured me I was covered.

taking a break....

Alleluia

Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!

Today, the Resurrection of our Lord, is also the 2nd Anniversary of my blog.

Last evening at Vigil I chanted the Easter Proclamation. I find it haunting and mysterious: and almost impossible. My favorite lines:

This is the night in which heaven and earth are joined -- things human and things divine.
We therefore, pray to you, O God, that this candle, burning to the honor of your name,
will continue to vanquish the darkness of night
and be mingled with the lights of heaven.

Today I am presiding at three services, but not preaching. Also not having family over, although we will go out to eat and visit my husband's father in Intensive Care. I promised him we would sing "Jesus Christ is Risen Today" if he could possibly stand to listen to us.

I hope he is better.

At long last....Blogger Meet-up!

One of the great fringe benefits of our trip to Phoenix, Arizona this year (and there were many, believe me) was the opportunity finally to meet my friend Mompriest from Seeking Authentic Voice. I believe that she was one of the two or three first bloggers to find me after I joined Revgalblogpals back in May of 2007. I loved her honest and insightful reflections on faith, life and ministry and was sure that someday we would meet. After all, we do get to visit family in Chicago occasionally.

Then she moved south. Waaaaay South. I have family there too, but not as far south as she is. Still, I thought, someday we just might meet.

Tuesday, we did. We shared tea and conversation at Tempe's Changing Hands Bookstore and Wildflower Bread Company (my sister, who has lived in Arizona for almost 30 years, recommended this place).

I hope she enjoyed the opportunity as much as I did. Now, I am plotting to find a way to the Big Event 2 in Scottsdale this spring. We'll see....

Psst! It's not about the shoes....

I started blogging in April of 2007, just about the same time I turned 50 (give or take a couple of days). I started blogging for a variety of reasons: I wanted to write; I wanted people to read what I write; I heard it was an emerging technology; my stepson blogged; I read the article in the Christian Century.

I thought blogging was about writing, about getting my message out there, about not hiding my light under a bushel.

Turns out I was only about 1/2 right, maybe a little less than that.

In the course of the last almost-two years, I've connected with people from a lot of places: Texas, New York, South Dakota, Corpus Christi and Austin, Texas, Washington, Lousiana, Jackson, Minnesota -- New Mexico, Nebraska. Unlike Hank Snow, I haven't been everywhere, but I feel like I've been more places than I could have imagined, because of you, my dear bloggy friends. I feel that my life, my faith, my perspectives have become enlarged and enriched by the conversations and exchanges that have gone on here.

I've even gotten to meet a few of my blogging friends, starting with RevDrKate of Prairie Light. I now count Jan, Fran, HotCup, Pastor Eric, Auntie Knickers, and Jodi among my friends, as well as quite a few Revgals I met in Minneapolis last May (for example, Singing Owl and Juniper).

Last Friday I got to meet my friend Jennifer from An Orientation of Heart. Turns out she serves a congregation about five minutes away from some of my relatives. We got together over coffee at a local (and quite busy) coffee shop. It was delightful meeting her, and sharing some ministry and music stories (turns out her children are quite musical; so is my husband), dog stories (Scout has an open invitation to visit) and just-plain-life stories.

I would never have guessed that the communion of saints could be glimpsed through a computer screen, shared with coffee, and verified with a picture of shoes.

But it can.

A Good Story from "Funky Grandpa"

Recently I discovered this blog by a retired pastor. He tells stories about his family, his grandchildren, etc. He's new to blogging, and I really enjoyed his last story.

Go over and read it for yourself.

And encourage him to keep it up!

His blog is called Wandering Toward My Shifting Self.

Of course, his is not the only blog I've just discovered. More on that later. Happy reading today, everyone!

Pre-emptive Sleeping

Isn't this a nice phrase? A co-worker of my at the church said it: "pre-emptive sleeping." It took an hour to get home from work yesterday, 1 and 1/2 miles, but I kid you not. It took (okay) really 45 minutes. Still. I was getting a migraine by the time I got home. And I needed to go back to church for a leadership board meeting. But I decided to go home early. I had the early-morning matins service this morning. And my co-worker, who was also still at the church, called my action "pre-emptive sleeping."

I had another headache today, more the tension variety, while driving in traffic after taking my mom to a doctor' appointment. My body may be trying to tell me something. I am trying to listen.

I have been praying and trying to imagine the unimaginable suffering in places like Myanmar and in China. It is almost too vast. It is overwhelming.

And then there are the little things that keep me thinking, and praying: a wayward neice, a suffering co-worker, the gruesome road repairs right here in my neighborhood, and the times when it seems that all the roads that lead forward are closed.

"Pre-emptive sleeping" -- not a retreat from the world, but a way to be refreshed to work and to hope another day.

P.S. I would like to recommend to you that you visit two "new" (or perhaps, relocated) blogs: Dog and God, where the Typist is finding a renewed voice, and Still Fruity, where Rowan's guardian now shares her unique slants on life, and God. Have some fun. But, also, get some sleep. Tomorrow, again, we have good work to do.

The Ratings...

Just for your information.... I don't know where they came from. I don't know how they got there. Does anyone else?

Or, am I the only one who sees them?

My Blog Anniversary

Today is the first anniversary of my blog. Last night I celebrated by meeting Jan at Yearning for God. She's here in my town for the very first time. She's at the Episcopal Relief and Development Conference, and is in meetings most of the time. So we wanted to show her a little bit of the city, but we couldn't see so much in the dark. We went to a nice restaurant, Dakota Restaurant and Jazz Club, and drove her to the Mississippi River and also to Lake of the Isles and Lake Calhoun. With the light dusting of snow, it looked a little like Christmas Eve, but without the pretty lights. (sigh) I hope she got a good impression of our city.

Today is going to be a busy day, with much of a sermon to prepare, and other worship and pastoral care items to attend to. So for your entertainment, I offer you the following video. Before Scout got her own blog, she was one of the main characters here, and still makes an occasional appearance. She just prefers to speak for herself now.

But, she gives her full approval to this one:

April Milestones

April has always been a big month in my family. There are several April birthdays on both sides of my family. I want to shout "Hey!" to my cousins Cheryl, Brian, Karen and Rick, who share this birthday month with me. One of my grandmothers had an April birthday, as well as several aunts and uncles. My brother-in-law also claims an April birthday. As Wayne and Garth would say, "Party on!" That's what we did, all during April!

Like the picture? My mom made the dress. And it was a combined Easter/birthday party that year. My cousin, as you can see, is not thrilled with my display of cousinly affection.

Other April milestones:

1. My car is paid for as of TODAY. The Camry is all mine now, and I hope will be for years to come. It is the first car I bought new (had only 15 miles on it).

2. April 12 is my one year blogging anniversary. Yes, at 4:45 p.m. on April 12, I logged into blogger for the first time, and posted the forgettable entry Saving Newspapers. At the time I didn't know how to do hyperlinks, blogrolls, images, videos: pretty much anything! There is still a lot I don't know (I would now call my computer knowledge "uneven").

3. I get get to meet up with fellow-blogger Jan sometime this week. I think this will be my 4th blogger meet-up. I have met fellow-bloggers RevDrKate, HotCup Lutheran and HubHC, and Fran, and Pastor Eric! (Just last week.) I hope to meet some fellow-bloggers also at the Festival of Homiletics in May here in My Town.

4. April 15 is not only tax day for us. It is the anniversary of the day we brought Scout home, three years ago. I picked her up at the nursing home, and listened to her howl all the way home in the car.

The next day I went to a church assembly the whole day. It also rained all day. My poor husband had to deal with a six-week-old puppy that didn't want to go out in the rain.

But, she did enjoy meeting the mailman, as you can see.

We studied a lot before we got Scout. We thought we knew a lot. But, as with blogging, there was a Very High Learning Curve.

(Partial) Year in Review

I saw this at Jan's place and then also at Mimi's and MoreCows, so I thought I would try to do the same, even though I haven't been blogging for a whole year. These are the first sentences of each blog post for each month, starting on April 12, 2007, my first day of blogging. Also, I include something about a couple of my favorite posts of the year:

April
In the first throes of spring, I opened a file drawer to sort and toss and shred the other day.

May
Monday we took a short trip to Owatonna, stopped again at "Uncle Tom's Antique Mall" so that I could get a copy of an old book: "How to Take care of your Puppy" written in the 1940's. (It cost $1.00.)

After confirmation, my story of the confirmation of my group of ninth graders, and my own memories.

June
One of my first Friday fives, courtesy of Sally:
1. Think back to the time you left High School, what were your hopes visions and dreams for your life/ for the world?My dreams and visions for my life were simple: go to college (mine was the first generation in my family to attend college and I felt so proud and excited to go, no matter what I studied (and I studied English literature).

July
My husband thought I should post this:He was having a problem with some phone conversations regarding business matters (felt that he just wasn't getting anywhere with getting his requests understood or acted upon).

Women in Ministry, a post about vocation.

August
Please keep the people of my community in your prayers this evening and over the next days as the 35W Bridge collapsed over the Mississippi River at about 6:00 p.m. tonight.

September
Praying, by Mary Oliver

My Last Day in South Dakota

October
There's a small cat (maybe a kitten) who lives part-time in our garage.

November
I only ever knew one person named Beatta.

December
It's snowing like crazy outside, has been since mid-morning.

Redeeming the Mittens, about my habit of losing mittens every year.

Well, there you have it! It's a random sample of my blogs, very random, but it was fun to go back.

Next on the docket:
New Year In Japan (a few very old memories)
7 Lies About Me

Scout Has Her Own Blog

Scout has been begging me for some time to get her own blog, so for Christmas, I got her one (also, two tennis balls that squeak.) (Don't know which she likes best)

It is a work in progress, but I'm sure she would like you to visit her sometime.

She's at Scout's Food For Thought, and she's working hard (when she has time in her busy schedule) to learn her new software.

She promises everyone that she will reveal the many secrets of her life!

Rite of Passage

Well, it has finally happened! On Monday, actually, although I waited until today to post about it. YES. I had my first ever RevGal Meet-Up, with RevDrKate of Prairie Light. (The obligatory picture should be posted on her site if not now, soon.)

She came up to my big city for some work and play over the weekend and into this week. (Hope it was fun!) We got in touch on Saturday and Sunday nights by phone, to work out our plans for how we would cross paths.

On Monday I drove to Suburb That Is Almost In Wisconsin to pick her up, and we had a fine brunch together at Edina's Original Pancake House. We both had Swedish Pancakes with lingonberries and talked "shop" and "blogging" (maybe a little too much for Husband).

While waiting for tall Husband to enter the restaurant, I looked up and saw a face that looked somewhat familiar. When Husband sat down with us, he informed us that yes, it was true: Twins center fielder Torii Hunter had just entered the restaurant.

After the picture, when Husband and I were both back at home, he said, "You know, if I had known there was a camera involved, I would have gotten your picture with Torii."

Oh, well. Just missed true greatness by such a little bit.

And for those who don't like baseball, Torii is well known for his community work (especially in the schools) as well.

But as for me, it was enough to meet the famous RevDrKate.

P.S. Please let me know how this rates on the "coincidence scale": at her workshop, RevDrKate met (and had lunch with) a member of my congregation who is a diaconal minister.

Getting Ready for Another Vacation (100th post!)

We took Scout over to a new place to stay while we are gone from Monday to Friday on vacation this week. I'm anxious: we have always taken her to stay at her trainer's house before, which didn't seem like a "kennel" or anything like that. Once or twice, one of Husband's terrific sons has stayed here and looked after her. So yesterday and today I cooked rice and ground turkey, and packed up the other things she eats into daily portions, and worried about whether she would get sick (sometimes before, she has gotten sick in our absence). I miss her already. The place is called "Dog Days" and it's in kind of a warehouse district (actually, it is a warehouse, of sorts), but when we got inside they had it all fixed up with big areas for dogs to play in, and an evening "relax" area. She started playing with other dogs right away, so that made me feel a little less anxious. But, as I said, the house is quiet -- I'm looking for a head to scratch, and it's just not there.

We are only going to be gone a few days, but we're "Leaving on a Jet Plane" tomorrow morning, so I'm packing -- mostly shorts, this time -- not so many books either, because we'll be doing some sightseeing. I have been to this place before, but basically just driving through. So I'm excited to be getting a better view. Husband has never been there before.

This is my 100th post. At one point, I thought when I reached 100, I would explain the origin of the cartoon of me on my blog, or go on and on about why I chose "faith in community" for my blog title, or some serious and weighty thing like that. But it just turned out that 100 coincided with getting ready for vacation again, and missing Scout, the wonder dog, whose tale will continue, I promise. (4 Biblical Marys WILL be back, as well... I'll do some jotting on vacation.)

In honor of my 100th post, though, I wonder if anyone can identify the place where I am headed. Whoever guesses, or guesses first, will get some sort of prize (a postcard?). How about that?

And have a glass of wine, or a margarita, or a cosmopolitan, or something, in honor of making it to 100.

Cheers!

anonymity

I am not anonymous. When I started to "blog," I used "pastor diane" for a few days, then I dropped "pastor", but used my whole name in the "about me" section of my blog. When I first blogged, I even told people in my congregation about it, thinking they might read what I write. I think a few of them do, but I don't know for sure. I didn't really think about being "anonymous" then.

I thought about "blogging" for a long time before I started actually to do it. I started thinking about it because a) my step-son, who is a writer and journalism major, started talking about his blog, 2) I read about the "revgals", women in ministry who started a webring, 3) I read about "blogging" in a book called Writing to Change the World, by Mary Pipher, 4) I wanted a venue to get me writing again, 5) I wanted to "get out there" in some way. I didn't do it because 1) I didn't have any idea how to start a blog. I thought I needed special software and would be creating my own web-site. 2) I am not awfully computer literate. I know how to do word-processing. I don't know from hyper-links.

I bugged Journalism step-son for a long time, "teach me how to start a blog." Finally he gave me http://www.blogger.com/ I kept it on my desk for about 6 months, before one afternoon, I started. I started with an article I had submitted to our local newspaper. I had never done anything like that before, and of course, they didn't print it.

After blogging for oh, about 5 days, I discovered that many bloggers are anonymous. Maybe most are. So why didn't I think of that? Sometimes I kick myself now. There are things perhaps that I could write about if I were anonymous. It really would then be an on-line journal, and I could get advice from my new virtual friends. And I am enjoying the "virtual community" of bloggers I have discovered who read and encourage one another.

I tell myself that I chose to use my name because I think of this as a public venture. When you go pubic, you always have to choose -- what is safe to reveal (for yourself and for others) and what you need to hide. Those of us who use our names are still anonymous, in some ways. My secret desire has always been to write a book, and get it published. And of course, I would never use a pseudonym if I published a book. There's a part of me who wants to be famous -- maybe not with my picture on the book jacket, but at least with my name on the cover.

But RealLivePreacher went public too, but without his real name. His desire was purer, perhaps. His writing is strong, and poignant. I could have done that. I could have written for the pure desire of it, just put it out there without a name, and seen what happened.

But I didn't.

I think that all of us, whether we are "anonymous" or not, are always choosing: what will we share, and what will we hide? This is of course based both on considerations about ourselves and others. At a blog I discovered recently, the author pointed out that in order to remain anonymous, she needs to make sure she doesn't share certain things about herself. I had never thought of that before.

I still blog because I want to write, to go public with my thoughts, ideas, opinions. I fancy that others will find them edifying, maddening, enlightening. I hope so, anyway. And I remind myself that this task, done well, takes a certain amount of courage: whether I am anonymous or not. It takes courage to be honest, really honest about ourselves and about the world.

And I want to remind myself that there are people who are anonymous because nobody knows them or cares about their fate, because they don't have a voice in the world. They don't choose to be anonymous, and anonymity isn't safe for them. Think Darfur. There are times when it is safe to be anonymous (fleeing domestic violence). And there are times when it is dangerous. Help me to remember that.

journaling

I bought a new journal today. Hot pink, very cool looking. I'm not sure why... my journaling has fluctuated wildly since I started in my teens. And now that I'm blogging, I'm really not sure about the future of journaling.

I started journaling in high school, with spiral notebooks. They were, then, part diary and part interior dialogue, a place to write bad poetry and test story ideas. I had a diary once in grade school, but was very bad at it. I never could think of anything interesting to write. But journals were another story. I even named the high school ones, and pasted pictures on the front of them sometimes. (Especially liked my second journal, entitled "The Return of the Journal" and the fifth, "Journal No. 5" (as in chanel). Okay, so maybe you had to be there.

In the years since, my journaling discipline has waxed and waned. I was especially prolific in the months preceding my stay in Japan: trying to figure out what God wanted me to do (this was many years prior to "The Purpose Driven Life"). Sadly, I inexplicably stopped writing about halfway through my stay there. I'd love to be able to go back now and retrieve some experiences and memories. I think I got so busy doing things I didn't think I had time to write.

Lately, I have found that it has been difficult to maintain a consistent journaling discipline. Could it really be that I have run out of things to say? I would sit down with a pen and not be able to think of a thing that was interesting to say. I would write sentences that I was sure were among the most boring in the English language. Or I would simply do "pre-sermon" pondering -- all right, but sermons shouldn't be the sum total of my life, or all that I write about.

So blogging has (so far) been a fascinating experience for me. I've written more in the last two weeks than I have in months. I think some of it might even be interesting. And it's not the same old same old.

But I miss the pen and ink. I hope I don't stop writing things down, at least occasionally. I like the idea of filling a book, with faces and conversations, with thoughts and opinions.