Baptism of Jesus 2014

last couple of days 5

Today's host, Karla, says "I am feeling all in the moment, or at least the past few days moment, so our random FF is focused on the last couple of days (or week, or however you want to interpret this….)

"So, without further ado…."

1. What is the best thing you have had to eat in the last couple of days?

I've been savoring a popular local specialty, Rubio's Fish Tacos.

2. What is the topic/subject of the best thing you have read in the last couple of days?

I've leisurely been grazing through a stack of Better Homes & Gardens magazines from the last three or four years to find both graphic design and home decorating inspirations.

3. Who would you like to give a shout out to that has been in your life the last couple of days?

In alphabetical order, my fabulous housemates Claire and Sarah.

4. How have you practiced self-care in the last couple of days?

Trying to sleep a little more, and since a head cold hit me for the first time in a couple of years, I used that as an excuse for even more sleep.

5. Use the following words in a sentence: couple, shutter, smile, pillow, groan, skip, baby elephant, red shoes.

After slipping into my new red shoes (I typically never wear bright red anything else, but love red shoes), I grabbed a camera, skipped out the door to the zoo, found the new baby elephant sleeping on a fancy pillow, snapped the shutter at least a couple of times; the pictures made everyone smile, with not a single groan to be heard.

Christmas 1: Psalm 148

Nativity Psalms

Bible Readeez

Legal note – "Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product for free from author, publisher, distributor, or publicist in hope that I would mention it on my blog, and was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: 'Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.'"

Bible Readeez, The Word Set to Music. According to the website, this Bible Readeez CD-DVD set brings us The Bible's Greatest Hits.

I am loving this scriptural set of "Learning Disguised as Smiling," especially because it's all-around plain, simple, and unpretentious, along with being refreshing and refreshingly low-tech. DVD images and text are formatted in basic Powerpoint/Keynote slide show style with nothing fancy, no flashing lights, no fantastic effects or transitions, just nice nature images or drawings accompanied by song and scripture text. Kids or adults can watch and learn by singing key scriptures—some in RSV, others in KJV. Bible Readeez brings us Corinthians 13:4-13, Beatitudes, Psalms 23 and 100, the Genesis 1 creation story; the First Christmas account from Luke 2. You also get a catchy Books of the Bible song (I never learned one, so maybe this is one of the standards?) and "Amazing Grace," a song I consider sorely theologically lacking, but most people like it. Besides singing along with the songs, you can listen and read along with a separate reading of each scripture. You, your kids, family, friends, neighbors, various assured significant others also can sing along with either a slower or a 90-second Book of Common Prayer – "trespasses" – Lord's Prayer.

On Amazon you can download a single MP3 of any of the songs or readings. I wish the trifold package anchored the DVD and CD discs more securely, although they stay put well enough when you close the container.

Nota bene: Readeez not only come in scriptural versions, "Readeez are a new way to learn reading, math, ESL, spelling and other useful things. A Readee is a short video, usually musical, where you see and hear every syllable at the same time. We call this SyllableSync. More than 150 Readeez have been produced so far. Readeez were created by Michael Rachap."

my amazon review: simple and refreshing

advent day 15: rejoice!

Rethink Church's daily prompt for Advent 15 is "rejoice."
Today, the Third Sunday of Advent, is Gaudete or "Rejoice!" Sunday.

advent day 08: wisdom

Rethink Church's daily prompt for Advent 2 is "wisdom." My wisdom is from one of the songs we sang this afternoon at Lessons & Carols at University of San Diego:

O come, thou Wisdom from on high,
who orderest all things mightily;
to us the path of knowledge show,
and teach us in her ways to go.

advent day 03: peace

Rethink Church's daily prompt for Tuesday of Advent 1 is "peace." My peace is a picture of palm trees along Mission Bay Drive a couple weeks ago, after some huge resolution in my life—back to the California I knew and loved!

Advent day 02: bound

Rethink Church's daily prompt for Monday of Advent 1 is "bound." My bound is "by water and the word," with this image of a baptismal font.

Reign of Christ to Advent 2013

I'm writing this on 16 March 2017 that's Thursday of Lent 2, but posting it for early December 2013. As I did some computer housekeeping a couple days ago, I discovered completely unedited photos I'd taken and at the time called the folder 2013novdec, with keywords: rubios, mexican, mission bay drive, grand ave... and others.

For blogging I'm labeling this "what I learned in..." although I hadn't started that linkup back then, and when I checked Emily P. Freeman's archives, I noticed she was posting monthly learnings but hadn't started creating a graphic for each month; you know I'd've grabbed one if she had (though it's many years later). Intro to telling my audience here's a series of eleven illustrations for the days beginning with Reign of Christ, ending with Blue Christmas on Advent 1, 2013.

• Reception Desk / Dining Room patio porch at Pacific Beach Rodeway Inn, San Diego, California.



• Breakfast supplies and dining area at the PB Rodeway Inn, Sandy Ego, Cal.



• Since this is Pacific Beach, we need surfboards and a vision of palm trees—here they are!



• Ralph Rubio's fish tacos are a true San Diego institution; here's Rubio's on Mission Bay Drive with Taco Tuesday sign in the window.



• Flower on the Fence at All Saints University City, aka "Church On the Hill."



• Surrounding the University City rowhouse where we were international and intercontinental housemates!



• Blue Christmas at Clairemont ELCA, aka "Church Around the Corner."

advent day 01: go

Rethink Church has a daily prompt for Advent; for Advent 1, Ad te levavi, the word is "go."
My go is "into the darkness," with this image from the Blue Christmas service on the evening of Advent 1.

Thanksgiving Day Food 5

Deb hosts Thanksgiving Day Food 5 on the revgals site

1. Turkey: love it? hate it? self-basted? fry it or roast it? Tofu-turkey? Tell me more. (I’ve only had one roasted turkey come out totally delish so I’m fishing for your tips!)

Neither love nor hate, but I enjoy turkey: oven-roasted (not deep-fried), and on my plate a little light, a little dark, some nicely browned skin, lots of gravy.

2. Stuffing: bagged? homemade? sage? sausage? cornbread? oysters? nuts? Got any inspiration for me?

"Stuffing inside the turkey," "dressing outside in a separate dish." Half corn-meal intensive cornbread, half white bread. Onions, celery, maybe mushrooms. Not too heavy on sage or other seasonings.

3. Cranberries: When we celebrated Thanksgiving in Europe one year, our French friends thought we were nuts to choose a very sour berry and then load it with sugar. (Let alone the stuff that comes out of a can in a blob of gelatinous ooze!) What do you do with cranberries?

Either one of those cans dumped wholesale into a dish, or cranberries and oranges ground up with sugar added.

4. Potatoes: (Boil ‘em, mash ‘em, stick ‘em in a stew…) What’s your pleasure?

On T-Day, mashed with some lumps, and lots of gravy. Any other day, I'll l take my taters any old way. I love them!

5. Pie: I’m married to the Pie Man. Anything but coconut pie floats his boat. What do you make? (or buy?) Pumpkin? Pecan? Apple?

I enjoy most pies (especially love graham cracker crust), but for Thanksgiving, pumpkin / squash pie is best.

BONUS: A recipe that you’ve tried out and will make it to your table this year.

I've long enjoyed Bisquick Pumpkin Pie Squares and have taken them to countless Thanksgiving Feasts.

random 5 again

Karla hosts again for another ultra-random 5.

1. What's up? How are you?

Today I'm full of hope for the future.

2.If you were a Panda Bear that could speak O.k., even that is too random for me. You are moving to a new office. You can only take five books with you (pretend there is no thing such as kindle, nook, etc.). What would they be BESIDES teh Bible, which is already written on your hearts, yes?

1. Random pick of almost anything by Walter Brueggemann.
2. Dawn Without Darkness. I noticed there's now an amazon review (which I intend to do soon) by the photographer. Way back in the day I borrowed Dawn Without Darkness multiple times from the church library, and the pastor finally told me I could keep it.
3. Since it's best to play these fives quickly to keep them fun, would it be too too too theology geeky to include Book of Confessions and Book of Concord? This is my blog so that's my call, and I'll say it would be fine.
4. I'm also a big fan of Jürgen Moltmann, eternally, endlessly hoping for realized eschatology in our lifetime. I'll include one of his classics, The Church in the Power of the Spirit
5. I used to love the poetry and wisdom of Markings by Dag Hammarskjold, and need to reacquaint myself with it. I have a hardcover copy the head librarian let me take when the library where I worked way back in HS was "condemning" books.

3. If you had a superpower that could give you a five hour retreat, and you could go anywhere in the world to spend those five hours on retreat (because you have superpowers, ya’ know?), where would you go?

To an uncrowded beach on either coast of the USA, any island (Bali?) or any country anywhere, to luxuriate in the sand, ankle-splash in the water, dream underneath the sky, enjoy a picnic lunch. I love the desert, I heal and thrive in the desert, but my retreat needs to include water.

4. What piece of music, song, hymn, etc. are you diggin’ right now?

My blog about What is this Place?

5. Use the following words in a sentence (or two): Tangle, dribble, hook, Panda, shark, smile, worry, island.

With a loud smile, the Panda watched the polar bear dribble a ball (did you see that polar bear on YT or on TV?). Meanwhile, on the island pier, I tried to un-tangle my fishing line, but without real worry, as I had zero desire to hook a shark.

The Prophetic Imagination

The Prophetic Imagination on amazon

We need to quit imagining prophets as only foretellers or social / political protesters, because "Most of all, [prophets] understood the distinctive power of language, the capacity to speak in ways that evoke newness 'fresh from the word.'" Newness that springs from trustfully covenanting rather than frantically consuming. An alternative way of being that emerges from being satisfied with relative scarcity that's actually shalom-full "enough" for everyone in the community.

If this easily readable, "slim volume" has an ongoing theme, it's that only when we acknowledge people, possibilities, and opportunities are forever gone, and begin grieving their loss, will the paradoxical possibility of new life from death arise. In fact, in Yahweh's terms, history – newness that marks the end of uninterrupted forevers in the manner any imperial (political, economic, educational, religious) establishment measures and regulates time [chronos] – always begins with barrenness and bereavement. Read and trust the scriptural witness!

This is radical stuff about newness from the ground up, "life in the shape of death" in the final no to sin, exploitation, empire, consumerism from the Calvary cross that at dawn on the day of resurrection becomes yes to life! Just as in his later writings, in this vintage book Brueggemann reminds us we experience that newness in baptism, then relive it in the eucharist. The Prophetic Imagination is vintage Brueggemann, and it still doesn't get any better than this.

my amazon review: Classic Brueggemann