Friday, April 24, 2026

Five Minute Friday :: Timing

june 2020 poppies many colors
My header poppies are from 22 June 2020 – two days after the solstice –
because the timing of the seasons always is just right.
The peaches square comes from 12 June 2022.


Five Minute Friday :: Timing Linkup

Theology blog here, right? Greek distinguishes between chronos (ordinary everyday time we usually measure on a clock or calendar, as in "chronology"), and kairos (extraordinary one of a kind time that marks a specific event we may have been awaiting or that happens unexpectedly).

It's super ironic and surprising that the Apostle Paul writes his only birth narrative about chronos and not kairos time. Given that it's one of the most poignant verses in the New Testament, who'd of thunk it?

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law. Galatians 4:4

Which of these timing renderings in English from that verse feels best?

proper time – time came to completion – fulfillment of the time – appointed time – time was right – right time – time had fully come – appropriate time – chosen time – set time had fully come – fulfilling of the time

I'm often grateful I didn't send an email or make a phone call when I'd planned it, and my lack of preparation or another circumstance delayed it. When I finally made the call or sent the email, the timing often felt providential, close to "kairos" even for something relatively small. Then there have been a few times I ended up not contacting the person or organization at all. Has that happened to you?

When I place larger events in the chronology of my life and my relationships with other people, the ways right timing makes seemingly disparate events and people come together often astonishes me. Every time it happens!

There have been times I've instinctively known other people's suggested timings were wrong. Then there were a handful of instances i refused to follow another person's suggested timing and regretted it.

This has been a somewhat abstract five minutes. Is timing an abstract concept? Not usually. Timing most often is about the important stuff and when events that move life forward just happen to happen. And timing is about joys in life that become disappointments when we don't consider the whole timeline—like Kate's hydrangeas.

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peaches june 2022
Sylvia ice cream
hydrangeas
FMF logo

Thursday, April 23, 2026

Morning Has Broken

morning has nbroken sun scene

City Resist

crayon resist city scene with green tree

Morning

morning sun agaainst grey sky

Beach Speak

beach speak yellow and blues

Street Art Tuesday

street art
For this week's Tuesday day off I happened upon a LA Street Art tour in an industrial section of the Boyle Heights East Los Angeles neighborhood. Graff Tours [Graffiti Tours Art Studio] offered it; Mala was my host for the 90 minute walkabout. Mala's website is La Mala Luna.
dumpster with  tags
street mural
I won't list all the information I got, but I'll tell you if it's not illegal, it's not graffiti. If you ask anyone casually about street art, graffiti probably would be their first response. Some of the pictures I took are graffiti (illegal because it defaces someone's property) or graffiti-style (legal because the artist has permission), some have elements of fine art, while others combine different styles.
street art
street art
Whenever I present a banner workshop, I remind participants they're doing public art that needs to contain concepts or elements most people understand. In other words, art out in public generally is not an obscure insider pursuit, although if it's specific to a particular culture – like Persian New Year or a new Egyptian restaurant on the block – people may get curious and need to ask questions to find out more.
graffiti style art
street art
LA is full of graffiti everywhere and it's a form of public art, yet it still is somewhat of an insider endeavor. I learned a tiny amount and expect to learn more as I look around and when I have a chance to collect a few people and create my own graffiti-style art in one of the workshops Graff Tours offers. Remember, it won't be graffiti because it will be legal.
portrait with cat icons
graffiti style cat
believe in rainbow colors
I hope you enjoy this collection of graffiti and other street art; I trust you'll appreciate the "Museums" tag for this blog post.
greek salad and peach lemonade
mocha frappe
For a late afternoon lunch, i had an amazing big Greek salad and a peach lemonade at the new to me Salata: The Next Generation Salad Bar in the Fig At 7th food court. (I'm finally resigned to even that section of DTLA being gruddier than it used to be.) And later a large Mocha Frappe.

Friday, April 17, 2026

Los Angeles River

eagle gate
Here are pictures of the Los Angeles River that named the city from my Tuesday 14 April day off outing, along with a handful more from 2017, 2018, and 2019. Just as you enjoy a piece of music or a culinary specialty over and over again, visuals are just as good the second, third, and multiple times. The first two groups come from Lewis MacAdams Riverfront Park in the spring. All these photos are from a soft bottom area that supports wildlife and wild plants, and not from a concrete storm drain section.

From Tuesday
LA River description
graffiti
Spoke Bibyle Shop
leafy pink flowers
leafy white flowers
river view

From Previous Years

Lewis MacAdams quote: "If it's not impossible, I'm not interested."
Heron gates
MacAdams Park river view
stones
frog impression
heron impression
river view

Around the Frog Spot in Late September 2017

frog spot sign
frog spot tables
river greens
river greens
river greens
river greens
bougainvillea
frog spot friends of los angeles river

Five Minute Friday :: Schedule

communion table bread and cup
World Communion Sunday Welcome Table Bread and Cup

Five Minute Friday :: Schedule Linkup

Whether it's skeddule or sheddule, it's an essential for staying organized and productive. Schedules help planes and trains take off and arrive on time. They let employees, suppliers, vendors, customers, and everyone else know what hours they can shop. Etc. Etc. Society necessarily runs on multiple interdependent schedules, as do families. For the tulips in Kate's FMF "schedule" illustration square, experiencing winter is a necessary part of their schedule if they're going to flower in the spring.

Then there's Kate's reminder not to get so engrossed in making a living (overscheduled) that you neglect getting a life.

Aside from daily details for home, work, school, or various appointments, have you noticed how your week eases into a schedule that includes work, play, rest, recreation, and worship? These days I work second shift 2 to 11, Wednesday through Monday, a schedule I never thought I'd like. Although I don't exactly love it, aside from being grateful for a reasonable job in this crazy economy, I've discovered my body, mind, and spirit have achieved a comfortable rhythm, at least for the medium term (if not forever).

The Sunday assembly centers the rest of my week around Word and Sacrament. You might say Word and Sacrament schedule my week with constant awareness of God with me.

There you have my reflective considerations about "schedule." Then there's the schedule I'd choose if I had the choice…

What's your current schedule? And your ideal?

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Life Sruff Flower Graphic
eucharistic bread and cup
Sylvia and ice cream
FMF schedule tulips
five minute friday logo icon