SoCS: High Hopes, Trinity Center, and Marley Gets Ice Cream

Today’s prompt from Linda is to think of a song from our childhood and start writing. The first song that popped into my head was, “High Hopes.” Not knowing the whole song, or even who sang it, I decided to do a little research before I started typing the stream. The song was sung and made popular by Frank Sinatra in a 1959 movie called, A Hole in the Head. The song won an Oscar, so must have been played a lot on the radio when I was a kid. I remember by older sister singing it. She was ten years older than me. Dad must have sung it, too. They both liked to sing and many years later, sang together in my sister’s church when my parents visited them in California.

Now, I find myself missing them – my parents and both sisters have passed on to the other side. I can almost hear them singing, “High Hopes,” in that faraway place, or like they are closer now, whispering the song in my ear, wanting me not to be melancholy, because they are happy and I have a lot to be thankful for.

One thing I am thankful for is my husband, David. Last weekend he led the Cursillo weekend at Trinity Center near Atlantic Beach, NC, and I joined him on Sunday for the closing ceremony and stayed overnight. I have pictures of the scenery for today’s gallery. But first, back to that song…

They sing about an ant trying to move a rubber tree plant and a ram trying to punch a hole in a dam, which are unlikely, UNLESS the ant and the ram get help. Working together and with perseverance, we can accomplish a lot and make our dreams become realities.

I have high hopes for peace and that humans will learn to cooperate and work together to heal this precious planet Earth. I have high hopes that my adult kids will find comfortable and affordable homes where they want to live. I’m thankful they have jobs and supportive partners.

What are your high hopes?

Here are some photos from after Cursillo when David began unwinding and processing. He actually went to Trinity Center on Wednesday to start preparing for the event with team members. The pilgrims arrived Thursday evening. So, by Sunday evening, there was a lot to process.

Cursillo Memories

David and Me

Trinity Center Accommodations

Trinity Center View

Tunnel under road to beach

Tunnel to beach

Rough Surf

Processing

Unwinding

Connecting

Dune

Trinity Pond at Sunset

Thursday evening, we took Marley for some ice cream. I saved him some vanilla and some cone. Dogs should NEVER have chocolate.

Vegan Blueberry and Vanilla

No chocolate for Dogs!

Marley gets vanilla

~~~

For more streams, songs, and SoCS guidelines,

visit out host, Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.

Serving at Cursillo: a Spiritual Weekend

 

My weekend was intense, busy, and very social. I knew it would be outside my comfort zone, but I was asked to be on the music team, and I wanted to give back for all the blessings I’ve received. Leaning heavily toward introversion, I’m more comfortable finding my spiritual moments alone in quiet places, but thankfully, I found God in many varied moments during my four days serving at “EC 95” (The 95th Cursillo weekend of the East Carolina Episcopal Diocese.)

Cursillo  is a three day adventure for 20 pilgrims who are there to learn about Christian leadership and to be loved and served by the team. One of the common experiences shared by pilgrims was a deeper relationship with Jesus and one another. As a team member serving the pilgrims, I felt this deepening, too. Even with the lack of sleep from late nights and early mornings, even with my occasional discomfort from being around  many people who I didn’t know well, I felt the deepening. I felt the love for people who became family.

It helped that our Cursillo weekend was held at Trinity Center, a place close to nature and close to my heart, where they build around the trees.

Trinity is an Episcopal retreat center nestled on the North Carolina coast between Bogue Sound and the Atlantic Ocean.

One of my favorite places at Trinity Center, besides the beach….  and the sound….. and the pond….

Trinity Center pond

…is the tunnel that runs under the main road and leads to the beach.

The tunnel is a great place to sing. Imagine the echo. Or is it called reverb?

…

On Friday afternoon, as I walked the wooded road to my room during a short break, I stopped to admire the light shining through the leaves ahead.

It was here that I felt the powerful and undeniable presence of my parents. They “told” me (in feelings more than words) of their joy that I was there serving with my husband, and that they are proud of us both. My parents had a long history of ministry in soup kitchens and working with veterans. This is the first time I’ve felt them both together since my father died in January. The confirmation that they are together still makes my heart sing.

I finally got me a Djembe!

And I did a lot of singing at Cursillo. As part of the music team, I sang, played my guitar, and got to experiment with the new drum I bought for this occasion.

Cursillo music is mostly folksy with some contemporary praise songs. When somebody requested “Wade In the Water,” we had to hunt for the music because it wasn’t on our song list. But it turned out to be such a big hit, we sang this powerful spiritual three times during the weekend. This article explains that “Harriet Tubman used the song “Wade in the Water” to tell escaping slaves to get off the trail and into the water to make sure the dogs slavecatchers used couldn’t sniff out their trail.” 

The following arrangement, while different than the simple version we sang, gives a feeling close to what I felt during our closing service singing with about 50 people and three guitars as I kept a strong, steady beat on my drum.

…

In spite of the intensity, I’m thankful to have served at EC 95. But some day,  I want to go to Trinity Center just to relax. I bet I’ll do some singing and wading, too.

Answering a Call

“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”  (Interpretive translation of Talmudic texts)

I’ve been called to be part of the music team for pilgrims attending Cursillio, a four day course in apostolic movement. We convene at Trinity Center, an Episcopal retreat center by the Atlantic Ocean. But I wouldn’t call Cursillio a retreat. Its intensity has been known to stretch the boundaries of this introvert’s comfort zone. Maybe that’s not a bad thing – for a few days, anyway. I’ll be taking my guitar and the new drum I bought. My goal is to have fun while serving, singing, and spending some time in nature.

Trinity Center pond

I’ll be leaving tomorrow and will have limited internet access. Don’t know if I’ll have time to dip my toe in the stream of Consciousness on Saturday, but maybe I’ll get to dip my toe in the ocean.

As they say at Cursillio,

De Colores!

I know this is a little long for a one-liner, but I’ll be gone for a few days. Go visit Linda for lots of great one-liner’s at:

https://lindaghill.com/2017/04/26/one-liner-wednesday-best-friends/

The rules, which I sometimes follow are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our very cool badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!