Pastor Annette's Blog
"OF ALL THE THINGS GOD HAS SHOWN ME, I CAN SPEAK BUT A LITTLE WORD NOT MORE THAN A HONEYBEE CAN CARRY AWAY ON ITS FOOT FROM AN OVERFLOWING JAR."
~ MECHTHILD OF MAGDEBURG, 13TH CENTURY MYSTIC |
"OF ALL THE THINGS GOD HAS SHOWN ME, I CAN SPEAK BUT A LITTLE WORD NOT MORE THAN A HONEYBEE CAN CARRY AWAY ON ITS FOOT FROM AN OVERFLOWING JAR."
~ MECHTHILD OF MAGDEBURG, 13TH CENTURY MYSTIC |
Beloved:
With the bluest skies and perfect air, autumn has officially fallen. I pulled up my cucumber vines yesterday, harvested the good ones and fed the rest to the chickens, vines and all. My tomatoes have slowed considerably, the ones worth picking are much smaller. The deer invaded my front beds, eating both fruit and leaves so that they hardly seem like tomato plants now. The purple zinnias carry on, their stems have turned woody and sometimes tip over with their own weight. My neighbor traded me 10 pumpkins for two dozen eggs and we both felt like winners. I play at farming, putting up tomatoes, peppers and beans for winter; knowing full well the goal is flavor, not survival. I quilt and knit for fun, not warmth. We’ve no physical needs money cannot meet. And yet, the work feels like something other than a hobby, as though my body and spirit need it to be right in the world. I come from people who lived and thrived by farming. None were rich. How poor they were depended on the weather and the price of corn any given year. My grandmother paid for things with eggs. Can the need to repeat the tasks, even in the smallest form, pass through generations, like being left-handed? Frost is a few weeks off yet.. Before then I will cut and hang herb bunches on a string in the basement. It’s for fun of course since I’ll actually use hardly any.. But it pleases me to look at them in winter, and remember them growing by the steps, full of scent and alive with the sound of honey bees. I pray the Autumn is full of life for you and yours, that you have work that gives you pleasure and history that gives you strength. ~peace & prayers, pastor annette
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![]() God bless those who suffer from the common cold. Nature has entered into them; Has led them aside and gently lain them low To contemplate life from the wayside; To consider human frailty; To receive the deep and dreamy messages of fever. We give thanks for the insights of this humble perspective. We give thanks for blessing in disguise. Amen - Leunig Beloved: The doctor asked the age old question about productive coughing and gave me a prescription with only five pills and said, “Let’s try to keep this out of your lungs. Go home and stay there until you’ve taken at least three. Then see how you feel.” The thing is, I’m no good at seeing how I feel. My mom sent us to school unless we were throwing up or had a fever. I never get fevers so my brain says I’m not that sick. The doctor said stay home but not until I slept thirteen hours straight was my brain convinced, “Wow, I must really be sick!” So here I am and here I shall be for the time being, sipping tea, sucking cough drops and watching the dogs watch me. ~peace & prayers, pastor annette My taste buds are working great, but these two things are nice. Beloved:
Dreaming that Simba was in our woods fighting with another cat, I woke to find the high pitched whining was neither the cat nor outside. Rosie the golden retriever was asleep right next to me and her belly was growling. I laughed, and then the radio clicked on ~ Syria, Syria, Syria. And so the day began. I decided to read deeply, to seek an informed opinion. The more wonks and scholars I read the less opinionated I become. Anne Lamott has a piece that's helpful, particularly this sentence, "No one knows, our wisest thinkers can't figure this out. It's okay that the rest of us are torn up and confused. Some will go to churches, temples, mosques tomorrow and we will pray with our communities for truth, justice and peace to prevail. I have to believe that will help." Me too - praying and hoping that all the prayers and hopes of people who can't see how additional strikes and bombs are going to help stop the violence will win the day. Turns out I have an opinion after all. "Don't do it. Please don't do it," is what I'd tell him if the president asked for my thoughts. "I think they are all daring you to do it," I'd say, if he asked. President Obama, "Who?" Pastor Annette, "Every Syrian with a gun in his hands." President Obama: "We have compelling evidence." Pastor Annette: "I'm sure you do." President Obama: "I assume you have a suggestion?" Pastor Annette: "I thought you'd never ask . . . . . . " I wrote lots more dialogue, none that was quip or clear. I've no idea how our president ought to proceed ~ only my hope and prayer for him . . . that as the one with the most power, he will execute the most life sustaining option. I've turned off the radio for now. I need to listen for another kind of word and breathe a different kind of air ~ the Word and air of the Life giving, Life sustaining Spirit ~ clear and unpolluted by ego or vested interests . . . . spoken exclusively in the language of peace, justice and truth. Pray today, please do not fail to pray today. ~peace & prayers, pastor annette Beloved:
Wow, September! I can hear the hens clucking their morning songs. The kitchen windows are open and I'm working at home long enough to get my laundry on the line so quilts and sheets will smell like this delightfully cool air. Carl was glad to go to work this morning "so I don't have to work so hard," he said. In fact he was a very good sport as we spent Labor Day weekend sorting, cleaning and organizing our basement and kitchen. Every shelf, cabinet, bin and drawer got dumped, purged, cleaned and reorganized. I tried hard to keep the only that which is useful or beautiful to me rule but as usual there were problems. To be useful, Tupperware needs lids. I have lids but no containers for several of my big pieces. Alas, two were in Carl's shop coated in dried plaster of Paris, victim of last spring's AP Chemistry project. But what about the others and my Tupperware cupcake carrier that is missing altogether? I did find a $200 check I wrote for the lunch money accounts in November of 2012 - did they eat cupcakes for lunch? Parenting is full of little losses, kids take things for the projects and needs of their own lives, leaving holes and gaps in ours. We either get used to it or go crazy. We regard the things as disposable community property or hide them. A friend told me she hides her favorite food treats in the vegetable drawer since her husband and kids never look there for anything. Not just kids of course - life if full of losses small and large. Our best efforts at staying organized bump up against the needs of others and the demands of time. Then our spirits choose how to carry the chaos; accept it and move on or go crazy. Yesterday, I was a little crazy but this morning I am missing my two older kids more than I miss my Tupperware so I've decided they are worth the trade. (Yes Mariah - I know you didn't take the Tupperware!) Because crazy steals the day and this one is too beautiful to miss. ~ peace & prayers, pastor annette |
I write a Tuesday morning devotional to members and friends of UBC. It is also posted here.
Enjoy! Pastor Annette Copyright
Everything on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons license, which gives you permission to copy freely, provided that you attribute the work to me, that you use the work for non-commercial purposes, and that you do not produce derivative works. Archives
February 2025
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