SoCS: Morning Has Broken, Names, and 30 Days of Thankfulness

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “morning.”

 Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

Morning has broken, but it’s not broken. It still works just fine. I however do not often see the break of day as I am not a morning person unless absolutely necessary. Or meaningful. It takes a lot to get me up at the crack of dawn or to sleep before midnight.

“Morning has Broken” was first written as a hymn in the early 1900s. Then Cat Stevens made it a pop hit in the early 70s. The hymn doesn’t have the exact same notes, but pretty close. Cat added at least two extra notes in the second mention of morning, (mo-or-or-ning) compared to what I’ve seen in the hymnal. Most of us still sing it the Cat Stevens way.

I just stepped out of the stream of consciousness, having been pulled out by the stream of curiosity, to discover from Wikipedia, that Cat Stevens was born Steven Demetre Georgiou in London. He later took the stage name, of Cat Stevens and now goes by Yusuf Islam. I’m not going to research why, though I could guess, as I am back in the stream of consciousness.

Cat Stevens, as I will always think of him, is a pretty cool dude for someone who has had three names. But maybe that’s an okay thing. Wouldn’t it be interesting if we could change our names whenever something significant prompted us to do so? A few of you know that my government name is Joanne, but I choose to be JoAnna here on my blog, because I like it better with the a the end. JoAnna of the Forest. In real life, I have a mini forest in my backyard. The neighbors might say the front yard, too, though it’s very mini.

If you could choose your name, what would it be?

Glinda is a nice name. It floats like a bubble…. I have forgotten the prompt. Must’ve lost it in the stream. Curiosity made me peek. Morning! Morning Star was one of the first veggie burgers. Now, I like Gardein vegan burgers. The Morning Star “sausages” are pretty good.

Does anyone open presents or go to church on Christmas morning anymore? Maybe people with kids. Seems like most of the Christmas stuff goes on on Christmas Eve. That’s good for a night owl. Then you can sleep in on Christmas morning. But wait! One holiday at a time! We haven’t had Thanksgiving yet!

Here’s a little thing I found on Facebook that I’m doing as the month goes along:

Let me see if I can do this in a SoC way without thinking about it. These are things I’m thankful for:

Person: David, animal: dog (Marley, and all of them!), cozy place: by the fireplace with candles or a campfire. Favorite snack: Skinny popcorn. Place: home. Shoes: Oofos! Scent: honeysuckle, pine, clove. Restaurant: vegan. Blog: hard to pick, but I visit http://derrickjknight.com/ daily. (Before that it was: Natalie Scarberry) Time of day: late afternoon. Tradition: Christmas Eve music and It’s a Wonderful Life. Gadget: blender. Something old: my old body. Something new: My compression nano socks. Experience: scuba diving a long time ago. Recipe: lentil wellington. Store: whole foods for good stuff and dollar general for convenience. Quote: Jeremiah 29:11 (God has a good plan for you.) clothing: stretchy yoga pants. Keepsake: My parents’ photo albums. Disappointment/Fear: I’m now thankful for my divorce and time alone to love me again. Book: The Bible and The Language of Letting Go. and many more. Feeling: Joy. Photo: the polaroid Caroline took of me and David in ’72 which became my book cover. Luxury: TV/movies. Charity: The ones that help animals. Song: “Let it Be.” Gift: Mother Earth. Something at Home: Toilet Paper! Most thankful for: Life.

Whew! That too longer than I thought. Thanks for reading.

Here’s a whimsical video:

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For more streams and SoCS rules,

visit our host, Linda Hill by clicking HERE.

Who But You…

Today’s prompt: “start with who/whom” Begin your post with either “who” or “whom” and go from there. Have fun!

“Who but you

could breathe and leave a trail of galaxies

and dream of me?

What kind of love

is writing my story until the end

with mercy’s pen?

That’s how the song starts that I will be singing Sunday morning in church, God willing. The song is “Alive,” as recorded by Natalie Grant. I hope I can do it some kind of justice and not get lost in the feeling, because I love this song. I love the words and the music, the rhythm and how it crescendos and softens.

Tomorrow will be the first time since Christmas that we’ve been inside the church for a regular service. We’ll be wearing masks and keeping safe distance, though I will not be wearing a mask when I sing. I’ve tried, and it’s too hard to get enough air on the inhale. But I’ll be tucked away in a corner behind the altar, at least 10 to 20 feet from anyone, I hope. All the rest of our music will be instrumental on the organ. I am honored, but mostly I hope people can feel the song.

Imagine the deep sadness, the agony Mary Magdalene felt watching Jesus die. Whether you believe Jesus was and is the divine son of God, or just a man who lived and was killed for his revolutionary ideas about love and equality, it was painful for those who loved him to watch him die. Imagine Mary Magdalene going to take care of his body in the tomb, wanting so badly to see him, but knowing he his dead since that dark day, the darkest day she has ever known.

Then, she sees him, and he is alive! I love how this video with the song shows her joy and the awe of the men she goes to tell about this miracle, that Jesus is alive!

I’m sure I’ve shared this song before, but this is where the stream has taken me today. May you feel joy and awe at this story and being alive!

Death has lost and love has won.

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For more streams of consciousness and SoCS rules, visit our host, Linda Hill at:

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS April 3, 2021 | (lindaghill.com)

SoCS: Joint Efforts/Getting Ready to Say Goodbye

Today’s SoCS prompt is “joint.” We can use it as a noun, an adjective, or a verb– or any way we like. And of course, Linda says we are to “Enjoy!”

My husband and I are finally getting back to having a backyard garden. It’s a joint effort. So far we have zucchini, pepper, and cherry tomato plants. We’ve planted butternut squash seeds and sunflower seeds. We cleared out some small trees and dead vines to let more light in our jungly backyard. I hope it will be enough light. We plan to also have basil and sweet potatoes. I planted a basil plant that I got from Dollar General for a dollar in the fall which made it through the winter inside. It’s a little puny, but it’s alive!

Another joint effort has been taking care of Mary Moo who is still with us. She’s the oldest dog I’ve ever had coming up on 18 years. We’ve been close to saying goodbye, but since Benadryl has been helping us all sleep through the night, and since she was wagging her tail today (Friday), we’ve decided to save our goodbyes for another day. Mary and I are the ones taking the Benadryl. David doesn’t really need it, though he does take daytime allergy medicine.

Joint efforts are what our country and planet need to fight off COVID 19 and evolve into a healthier human race. We need to find out common grounds. Not coffee grounds, though maybe that would help. Just meet for coffee and get to know each other. But wait, we’d have do to that virtually or on Zoom or something.

I finally Zoomed for church Sunday and Maundy Thursday. We’ll zoom for Good Friday service and Easter. Zooming is a joint effort to maintain meetings and church while social distancing. It’s strange, but it was nice to see these familiar faces on the screen. It’s hard to do music or sing as a group because of the delay, but I did sing and play guitar yesterday for our zoom church and today by myself in my living room. Maybe I’ll see if David can record me for an Easter song. Now that I’ve typed that, I have to try it. That will be a joint effort. I’ve been trying to get him to play a drum while I play guitar. We’ll see……

Here’s an update on my amaryllis:

I don’t even fertilize them or anything! It must be the earth worms.

The above was written on Friday night. It’s Saturday morning now at 8:30. The Benadryl didn’t work for Mary Moo last night. She woke up crying at 2am because she had to poop. She’s gotten to the point where she can’t poop without me holding her back legs or she falls down, so it’s time. We have an appointment with the vet at 9:30 to say goodbye. Except we have to say goodbye outside the vet office because they’re not letting any people clients in the building because of #—%–@ COVID 19. Good thing I trust our vet. We’ve been loving on Mary Moo a lot in the past few days. Here’s a picture of her and my Golden Boy Jesse years ago running at a dog park on vacation in the mountains. Mary Moo will be with Jesse soon. Running like the wind.

Sorry it’s blurry, but you get the idea. 

I’ll try to check back in later. Sorry for the bummer ending, but that’s the circle of life. Mary Moo had a good one.

 

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For more streams of consciousness and details, see our host, Linda at:

https://lindaghill.com/2020/04/10/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-april-11-2020/

#WATWB: Homeless Dogs Find Love and Safety in this Brazilian Church

Father João Paulo Araujo Gomes of Brazil shelters stray dogs “in his rectory away from the dangers of the streets.” They come to church on Sundays to give and receive love and in hopes of finding a forever home.

Dogs have a way of mirroring the unconditional love of God. So is it any wonder that GOD spelled backwards is DOG? Dogs teach us about a very special kind of love.

Here’s an excerpt from the article in Bored Panda (link below) :

“Dogs provide us with unconditional love, laughter, and precious memories and it’s nothing less than fair to pay them back. Whether you are a faithful believer in God or not, as long as you believe in kindness and compassion, we can slowly make the world a better place.”

 

Click here for the story and sweet photos.

 

“We are the World” Blogfest” aims to spread the message of light, hope and love in today’s world. We are challenging all participants to share the positive side of humanity. This month’s co-hosts, Sylvia McGrath, Lizbeth Hartz, Shilpa Garg, Mary Giese, and Belinda Witzenhausen welcome participants and encourage all to join in during future months. #WATWB comes on the last Friday of every month. Click HERE for more information. You are always welcome to join in!

You can find more stories of hope, light, and love on the WATWB Facebook Page.

Click HERE to be part of the Light.

Good News Tuesday: Sibling Adoption, Marathon Sanctuary, & a Special Donation

I hope you’re all having a lovely holiday. I didn’t completely forget about Good News Tuesday. I had most of this post done a few days ago, back when I remembered that Christmas was on Tuesday. After this morning’s hike and some veggie lasagna, I was just settling in for a nap when I realized, it’s Tuesday! The good news doesn’t stop! So here we go….

 

Seven Siblings are adopted After 1,035 days in Foster Care.

Michael and Terri Hawthorn’s four biological children were mostly grown up. In April they adopted toddler twins. On December 3rd, they adopted seven siblings. I think you’ll enjoy their story:

 

 

 

On-Going Marathon Mass Provides Sanctuary for One Family

A Church in The Netherlands has been holding a 24/7 around the clock church service for over 6 weeks to provide sanctuary for an Armenian family.  It was a special treat for me to hear them singing some of my favorite Taize chants.  I love how volunteers from many denominations are helping.

 

 

…

Donating instead of Shipping

This couple is moving from California to North Carolina. But instead of shipping their stuff across the country, they’re donating  almost all their possessions to California Firefighters.

 

 

May the Holy Days bring and Abundance of

Peace and Joy

to You and Your Loved Ones.

Merry Christmas!

Signed Up for Spaghetti Night

Today’s Stream of Consciousness prompt is “ink.”

I signed my name in ink. There were these spaces open for Friday, Dec. 1 and Dec. 8, to cook dinner. For about 50 to 100 people, but more like 50, realistically, at the meeting we go to. I asked my husband after the meeting was over, and I saw the blank spaces for next week. He said, okay. So I signed us up for Dec. 1 with the plan to ask if people from our church will help like they did last year.

On the way home, my husband asked, “Do you know what date you signed up for?”

“December 1st.”

“Do you know what date that is?”

I thought for a second. Then I mentally hit my hand on my forehead. “Our anniversary!” How could I have forgotten? “Well, you could have said, no.”

“I didn’t realize it until just now.”

“Maybe God wants us to serve on our anniversary. Then we can go out to dinner Saturday night….  Are you mad?”

“No.” Or maybe he said, “Nah.”

I don’t think he’s mad. He will make spaghetti sauce Thursday night with meat. On Friday, I’ll make vegetarian sauce. I’ll take the sauce to the church where the meeting is and make the spaghetti at the church. Maybe garlic bread. Hopefully, I’ll get some help. My husband will join me when he gets off work. I don’t really regret signing up, though I might not have if I had remembered it was our 5 year anniversary. But maybe I would have. You can celebrate by serving. I must have been feeling energetic. And blessed. Wanting to give back. But there’s another, less generous reason too. I’m a vegetarian, and there has been little for me to eat at these meetings lately that does not contain meat. So, I’ll make a vegetarian sauce option.

Last time we did this, it was fun, but tiring. So I’m going to rest up Friday morning and take it easy in the early afternoon. Maybe we’ll go out for Frozen Yogurt afterward. Why did I capitalize Frozen Yogurt? I like the kind made with almond milk, and lots of nuts. And dark chocolate chips. Or maybe we’ll wait til Saturday night or Sunday, or a day when we go hiking. I miss hiking. And I need to go hiking with all the holiday eating coming up. Sigh. But I am thankful to have so many options for eating, serving, hiking…..

Feeling blessed.

Chocolate Almond compliments of TCBY

The Saturday Stream of Consciousness is brought to you by Linda G. Hill. You can follow more inky streams at:

https://lindaghill.com/2017/11/24/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-25-17/

Here are the SoCS rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

A Meditative Prayer

 

 

On Sunday, having spent the night with my friend who helped with the estate sale, I visited her little church which is much like my own. Next to the hymn book, I discovered this meditative prayer. It’s helping me deal with something, someone, beyond my control. I hope you find it helpful, too.

 

AN INVITATION TO PRAY

 

Enjoy three deep breaths.

The first breath will help you be fully aware of your body.

The second breath is to clear your mind so you may be fully present.

The third breath is to open your heart and welcome the holy spirit.

 

Notice a question that draws you in.

 

Are you bringing someone with you in your heart today?

See that person in your mind’s eye.

Picture that person whole, healthy, restored, reconciled.

God is at work in the person’s life.

Ask God to show you the role you may play.

Are you counting your blessings today?

For what and for whom are you feeling thankful today?

As you get in touch with gratitude, express it to God.

 

Are you anxious today?

Whatever this is, God cares about you, and all those for whom you care.

 

Are you in need of laying down a burden today?

Hear Christ, the burden-bearer:

“Come to me all who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Be ready to lay down your burden at the foot of the cross.

Open your hands. Close your eyes.

Breathe deeply and slowly.

Empty your mind. Let sounds pass you by.

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patience and the Kindness of Strangers

Moses is a feral cat who’s been hanging around our church for at least three years. I don’t know who started feeding him first. It could have been me, or it could have been Mary, or it might have even been our music director, Chris, who still says he doesn’t like Moses, but who feeds him the most, and who worries about him the most.

For the first year we fed Moses, he wouldn’t let us get within a few feet of him. If we came too close, he’d take off. During a ridiculously cold spell, Mary and her husband, BW, put a styrofoam cooler lined with a blanket out for him, and Chris found Moses sleeping there the next morning. The following winter, they built Moses a wooden house lined with styrofoam.

Over the past couple years, a few of us at church worked to gain his trust by gradually moving closer. In time, he got to the point of letting us be as close as we wanted as long as we didn’t try to touch him. If we reached toward him, he’d bolt. But in recent weeks, Moses has accepted pieces food from our hands, and Mary has been able to pet him ever so gently while he eats.

Moses has always looked scraggly and has been losing weight in spite of a good appetite. This past Sunday, he seemed lethargic and let Mary pet him more than usual, even without food as an incentive. Mary made a decision to try to wrap him in a towel to take him to the vet. He wasn’t too happy at first, but Mary held him firmly and was able to bring him into the parish hall. She sat down in a chair, holding Moses firmly in the towel which did little to block the moisture that seeped through as Moses peed on her.  It’s a good thing Mary is patient and loves cats.

We found out the animal clinic connected to a large pet store was open on Sunday and decided to take our chances that they’d see us as a walk in. I drove Mary’s car while Mary held Moses. Even though the vet was dealing with an emergency patient, they agreed to work us in. We waited for quite a while and chatted with others in the waiting room who asked about our snugly wrapped feral cat.

When we got into an exam room, we were told it would still be a while, as the vet was still busy with the emergency. Mary let Moses go and he found a cool hiding place on the floor and drank some water from a bowl. We noticed he had a bad place on his mouth we hadn’t seen before. It looked like some tissue was missing from his upper lip.

After about 30 minutes, the vet came in. She listened to what history we had about Moses, and we warned her that he would not be cooperative. The young, confident woman got down on the floor and introduced herself to Moses, then she calmly caught him by the scuff of his neck, like a mama cat would, (not recommended for amateurs) and put him on the exam table.

Then, Moses let her pet him. He settled down and didn’t struggle. He even purred and “made biscuits” kneading a blanket on the exam table. We were amazed and dubbed her a cat whisperer.

Holding the back of his neck, the vet used a tongue depressor to open his mouth. (Also, not recommended for amateurs.) She said it looked like ulcers, but it could be cancer, and his teeth were not in good shape.

Thank you, Dr. Wallis!

The vet recommended blood work, IV antibiotics, and sub-cutaneous fluids. (In spite of his water bowl at church, he was dehydrated.) The blood work ruled out diabetes and some other problems but did not test for feline leukemia. There was only so much to be done in one unscheduled visit on a Sunday afternoon. But it was a start.

When we went to check out, we were informed that a woman we had talked to earlier in the waiting room had anonymously paid $40 toward our bill! How awesome is that?!

Mary and I each having multiple pets, and wanting to honor Moses, took him back to our church courtyard which he knows as home. When we let him go, he took off for the bushes. I checked on him the next day, and he let me pet him ever so gently while he ate his cat food.

 

 

Dad told me a new and enlightening story today at IHOP about my Mom who passed away a few years ago:

Just one week after my 16 year old sister was killed by a drunk driver on her birthday, Dad’s minister told him they needed someone to take the church youth group on a scheduled camping trip because the regular youth group leader was pregnant and having some physical challenges. Dad wasn’t sure, but when he asked Mom, she said, “when do we leave?”

After a couple days the youth group kids were bored and ready to go back home because they’d already learned everything about camping.  Mom convinced them to stay so they could teach their skills to other kids. Against advice that they were asking for trouble, Mom got Dad to drive the church bus to the infamous Hay Street in Fayetteville, NC and gathered kids from a church and a two kids from a bar who wanted to go camping. No permission forms or anything, but it was the mid 70’s and my parents were middle aged church youth group leaders. The youth group kids spent the next three days teaching the kids from  the Hay Street area to pitch tents, paddle a canoe, build a fire and four kids even learned how to swim.

Dad said going camping with the youth group was the best thing they could have done during this time of unbearable grief.

I was 18 and clueless  at the time about what awesome people my parents were. I knew my Dad had to be pretty brave since he fought in  Korea and Vietnam and had a couple purple hearts. But I had no idea what a brave Mom I had. I think my next book is going to be about them.

God is Great

 

waiting for the stars

Last night, my husband and I watched the meteor shower at the beach and talked about how big God is when we allow God to expand beyond the box some people try to put God in. We don’t want to get rid of the box. We just want to let it expand to be as big as God really is. God is beyond male or female. God is beyond age or race. God is bigger than any church or any one religion. That’s why there are so many churches and so many religions.  We, with our limited understanding, cannot contain all of God, but pieces of God can be in us and shine through us.

That reminds me of the story of the blind men and the elephant. Each blind man encountered a different part of the elephant, and each of them thought what he experienced was the elephant. They were each partly correct, but none of them got the whole “picture.”

I will still practice my religion and go to my church where I see and feel God’s love through the teachings and image of Jesus. Yet, I also know God through creation: through the dynamic sunsets, the powerful ocean, the wisdom of the trees  and the twinkling of distant stars that seem close enough to touch. God is the creator of this beautiful, magnificent planet we have all been given to live on and to take care of.

God is awesome love. God is great. God  is good. Thank you, God.