A Poem by Kay Boyle

Advice to the Old
(Including Myself)

Do not speak of yourself (for God’s sake) even when asked.
Do not dwell on other times as different from the time
Whose air we breathe; or recall books with broken spines
Whose titles died with the old dreams. Do not resort to
An alphabet of gnarled pain, but speak of the lark’s wing
Unbroken, still fluent as the tongue. Call out the names of stars
Until their metal clangs in the enormous dark. Yodel your way
Through fields where the dew weeps, but not you, not you.
Have no communion with despair; and, at the end,
Take the old fury in your empty arms, sever its veins,
And bear it fiercely, fiercely to the wild beast’s lair.


Hmmm- speak of the lark's wing... Call out the names of stars....
Something strong in these words speaks deliberately and delicately and devotedly about a vocation.
What would this mean, and how would one live it?!

A Lesson about Peace from the Snow

I left the snow of Upstate New York and moved to California:
The Golden State, the place where you are supposed to be able to wear shorts year-round. The state of sunscreen mandates, surfing safaris, and warm watery waves,
The place where you can regularly buy strawberries, mangos, and ripe & juicy oranges.

I knew what to expect. Or at least part of me, it did.

Then there was that day: The first time I took a trip up 80N.

The snow was thick and tall, and it dusted the streets with a heavy covering.

Unbelievable: I was in California and wearing snow-pants and snow-boots and all sorts of snow gear.

It was like Christmas had come to July. Except it was not July. Just something right at an unexpected time.

We talk about peace like it’s always that someday, sometime, apocalyptic—just not quite here moment.
But Vanier says that peace only happens one-heart-at-a-time. So what are we waiting for?!
Let’s get started now! Let’s open our hands to each other, risk partaking in acts of
adventurous caring, create a party and invite everyone, like Jesus would do!
Let's start acting now, with our own heart.
Why?!

Because everything in this world cannot be explained in expectations.
Because this New Yorker learned that there is in fact snow in California.
And once we stop thinking that peace can only exist in the realm of the utopian, we might recognize its possibility right before our eyes,
like the snow on I-80 that day
and the beautifully welcoming snowman that resulted!

Those familiar words: "Live the life you've always dreamed"... They are with me like a close friend now.

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace.

Hearing this song played on the bagpipes, I still get goose bumps. I remember when I first heard this particular rendition; I was about fourteen, and I loved it…

But, what is grace? I have so often been enchanted by Fredrick Buechner’s definition. It feels more all-encompassing albeit full of prose. Perhaps I like it because of its prose. Perhaps something in its story speaks a mighty truth.

"After centuries of handling and mishandling, most religious words have become so shopworn nobody's much interested anymore. Not so with grace, for some reason. Mysteriously, even derivatives like gracious and graceful still have some of the bloom left.
"Grace is something you can never get but can only be given. There's no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth.
"A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. Loving somebody is grace. Have you ever tried to love somebody?
"A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do.
"The grace of God means something like: 'Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are, because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you.'
"There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can only be yours if you'll reach out and take it.
"Maybe being to reach out and take it is a gift too.”

This grace is amazing.

On Making Plans...

I just emerged from a movie at the theater, and so I am in one of those grand states where your life seems to stretch out before your eyes, and you believe that anything is truly possible. You know, I think this isn't an illusion; this should be the way we think about life most of the time. So, as I wanted to say when I suddenly felt the propulsion to write these words, I am not a movie critic professional. I cannot tell you how this film ranks with the latest Spielberg hit or if I should rate it as a classic. But, it was beautiful. It was a story about love & and making plans. The woman.. needed a plan. She learned that she did not need plans: And she finally found something and someone precious enough not to make plans! And he... he loved her enough that he wanted to make plans with her. Making plans. I've never actually been one of those 5 year planners-- I'm pretty spontaneous, especially at the soul-level.

But I do hope, I do hope... that I will be with someone who loves me enough that he is willing to make plans with me (and visa-versa). In this sense, I think that making plans is dream-making.... It's not about whether or not the plans come true-- We never know this-- But it is about loving someone enough that you hope that the plans will come true-- In fact, isn't this what planning is all about, anyway?! Amen, in this sense, to making plans. I hope you'll come find me...

Power

Power; it is a word that has managed to wrangle up watchword level distinction in the rhetorical realm and culture of American Christianity. Upon first examination, power is a rather simple word. It is composed of two mere syllables, and we hear and us it often; of course, we imagine and even rightfully assume that we know what power implies and consequently understand its associated meaning and subtexts. And yet, as we suggested often in our class, power is a multifaceted word. For example, the website Dictionary.com, our illustrious contemporary Websters, defines power with a sum total of 32 different clauses. Herein, Dictionary.com designates that power refers to the “capability of doing or accomplishing something,” as our class likewise affirmed, and its definition also is made wider, expanding to include such notions as “political or national strength,” the “possession of control or command over others,” and even “deity or divinity” ( ). And thus, even though power has found itself forming and informing ample rally cries and analyses, it is expressed in innumerable ways, and thus the word is intricate, vast, and innocuous.
It is words like these that remind us scholars that we do in fact have important work to do. We are the celebrators of ambiguity, those who find the task of re-definition a deeply reverent one. Therefore, grappling with the word power and offering more shades of substance to our notions of power and the impact of these notions on contemporary American Christianity is one of the objectives of this paper. For ultimately, if we look into our traditional concepts of power, likewise impacted by our culture, and juxtapose these definitions with specific Gospel depictions of power, the meaning that emerges for contemporary Christians is momentous. Likewise, this re-definition of power is pertinent for the task of reconciliation. As American Christianity becomes increasingly polarized by ideologies and opposing facets strive to build up support and power for their side, we are challenged to imagine the shape of God’s power and what God would, in fact, have us do. This brings us to the second word that will largely inform this narrative; the word is grace.

Morning Theological Reflection

I have been sitting in a coffee shop for the last hour or so, proofreading, thinking deeply, and working on my own thesis around reconciliation and religion and the arts. Two men in proper clothing and loud voices have continued to discuss everything from Tiger Woods to Shaq. For a moment, I felt like I belonged to a completely different world... but it wasn't filled with judgment (I hope)... just difference. I would like to to use my intellect and imagination for a truly good purpose. I hope that this wish can inspire me to continue on, even when things are difficult. Perhaps, today, one of the greatest things I am learning is to value what I bring and to let this sense of loving value sing deeply from my heart. Someone may not understand and yet, I don't truly desire to be understood as much as I hope for mere connection, to bridge divides, and to live with the resilient power and strength that comes from peace and listening to God.