Ruminations from the Temple

So, who are you grateful for this morning? Has someone smiled at you today? Has someone told you thank you? Did someone go out of their way to make something for you, or bring you something you enjoy? Did someone travel a long distance to do something for you? Or simply just to be with you? Did someone visit you when you were in the hospital, or bring a meal to you when you were ill? Has anyone ever told you they love you, that they enjoy your company, or that they care? Has anyone looked into your eyes and smiled, touched you with their understanding, or held your hand when it was serious? Has anyone ever held you when you wept, come along side you in your struggle, or given you compassion in the midst of pain? Have you ever had a friend? A real friend? A steadfast, loyal, honest friend? Are you grateful for them? Has anyone made you a  promise, and then were faithful to keep it? Were you surprised that someone would care that much? Ha...

I never thought I would, once again, hear this announcement. "Please, ladies...no leggings. They are quite, well, quite skin-tight, and reveal a little too much while we are singing before the congregation." Y'think? Alright, I know the fad. Leggings with some very cool tall boots, paired with a long shirt-dress, sweater dress or mini-skirt. Everything's covered, right? Wrong! No, everything is not covered. Well, it may be in theory, but not in the hearts and minds of all who see them being worn. No, nothing is hidden from view. That's right...just let that sink in for a minute. So, without further ranting, here are my 5 Reasons to Forego the Leggings Reason #1 - Let's talk age for a moment and consider who this style was intended, shall we? I'm really gonna go out on a limb here and say that if you remember leggings in your laundry basket when you were much younger, like when you were done killing yourself with the 20 Minute Workout ...

hero , n ., a person, typically a man, who is admired for courage or noble qualities. The chief male character in a book, play, or movie, who is typically identified with good qualities. Or heroine , female. Who would you say is your hero? Do you have one? I just read an article  talking about heroes. Addressed to leaders (more specifically, in ministry), it talks about the need for heroes in our lives, and the influence those heroes have on our success. It made me stop and ask myself the question - do I have heroes? And, if so, how quickly can I identify them and why? It brought me up short, honestly. There are four categories, so says the author of this article, that heroes can fall into; familiar (family, teacher, ancestor), famous (a celebrity, or public figure), faith-based (bible character, or religious figure) and fictional (heroic or legendary character from a movie or literature). I found these to be fascinating categories, and wondered if I could discover a hero ...

So grateful to see the sun! I'm grateful for my daughter. I'm grateful that her faith and character is strong enough to follow His leading. I'm grateful for cameras and iPods, for computers and well put together websites... and for tea. I'm grateful for tea. I'm grateful for friends that understand and love me anyway. I'm grateful Jake got home safely. I'm grateful to be able to share my knowledge with others. I'm grateful for clean clothes, a vacuumed car and worship music to sooth my soul. I'm grateful I'm not beholden to a congregation right now. I'm grateful for the teaching I have received and for the Holy Spirit that made it live in my life. I am grateful for wounds that heal...mostly. I'm grateful for my mother-in-law - I am so blessed with her friendship and love. I'm grateful for the ministry and perseverance of long-time servants. I'm grateful for recordings of things I can no longer hear any...

An interesting hint of a thought pinged it's way across my day yesterday. Ideas do that in my life. As I go about my business making contacts with those around me, keeping everything on an even keel and making sure the school work gets accomplished, ideas like to ping, like one bouncing off a trampoline errant, right across my field of vision. They are usually pretty interesting ideas - especially to one who likes to ruminate on various obscurities. Often, they ping into my mind, then ping around inside my head until I have a quiet space to capture them and beat them into submission. Anyway...this idea was a simple one. Not sure where I saw it, but it got to pingin'. What are the three most important things in your purse? I found myself thinking about what I carry around in that rather inconvenient and irritating bag called a purse. Purses are a fascinating item to me. Women carry them - it's just a given. Why? Men don't have to carry stuff with them, do they? ...

Ode To My Friend, a poem My dear friend, You humble me with your words, your spirit and your faithfulness. A simple thank you is not enough to express my gratitude  for such a gift and treasure that is our friendship. love you always, Liz

I am grateful. No matter what happens in my life, the LORD is faithful to bring me right back to that which is most important - to love Him and all those around me. The very first thing I can do to show my love for Him is to appreciate and be grateful for all that He provides. I'm grateful for emotions that remind me that I'm alive. I'm grateful that He is our Healer, in whatever form that takes. I'm grateful that He is our Comforter, coming close to us even in our most desperate hour(s). I'm grateful that He enables me to love others. I'm grateful for my three young people - I'm so proud of them. I'm grateful that my husband works hard and was rewarded for his efforts. I'm grateful for Via instant coffee when we run out of the 'real' stuff. I'm grateful for all the years of service given by Pastor Buntain ...may He be blessed by our LORD. I'm grateful for glimpses of sunshine. I'm grateful for awesome blogs. ...

man·tra , noun 1. Hinduism; a word or formula, chanted or sung as an incantation or prayer. 2. an often repeated word, formula, or phrase, often a truism: If I hear the “less is more” mantra one more time, I'll scream. Origin: 1800–10; Sanskrit I'm not much into mantras, mainly because I'm not Hindu. Even further, I would not wish to participate in any sort of incantation, or anything that appeared as such. Although, prayer is good, depending upon who you are praying to, I suppose. In the definition above, the second option is much more palatable, as it has stripped the  spiritual connotation altogether, which is, in fact, the way I have heard it used most often. OK, so I'm guilty of a catchy title. I have several mantras, it's true. I've even made up my own mantras - phrases I say often enough that close friends can cite them by rote. However, the most used in my vocabulary is the 'everything mantra'. It really cuts to the bottom line like not...

I love blogging. I love writing. I love reading blogs, seeing others create blogs and I especially think it's cool if people can make money on their efforts blogging. I started out with this blog, affectionately called the Temple blog. It was my baby and had everything; photographs, travel journals, spiritual opinions, letterboxing adventures, and of course, stories of my Star Wars costuming hobby. I have ruminated on many things, not least of which has been my faith, my experiences walking in that faith and where that journey is taking me. Truly, all those diverse topics together was too much, and as it grew, it got more and more unfocused.  So, I created a crafting/letterboxing blog - My H'Art in Rubber - to be home for everything crafty and pertaining to the fascinating and fun hobby of letterboxing . It has been a successful blog even though I haven't been posting much as of late. (I'm hoping my desire to craft will return eventually.) Second, I created a phot...

As the grayness of the weather dripped off the corner of the building, two hoodie-clad teens ducked under cover of the front entrance to the doctor's office. They were probably taking the same cover that every other bus rider did at this stop when the weather was nasty. And it could be nasty a lot. On the other side of the glass, I sat and observed. They laughed and talked without even noticing me in the deafeningly quiet waiting room. I shifted in my chosen chair and crossed my legs to the other side. I hate waiting. I took out my phone, sent a message to a couple of caring friends who knew my whereabouts, then just sat staring at my phone for a bit. After unsuccessfully trying to busy my mind with an inane game on my pod, I resigned myself to staring out the window at the dismal weather. Traffic splashing by. People trying to get wherever they were going. Across the street, an older woman dressed in a heavy winter coat and a scarf over her head was hunched but determined agai...

The LORD always provides... I'm grateful for fat robins hoppin' around in the wet grass. I'm grateful for the sunshine kissing brand-new buds on my lilac bush. There is only one happiness in life—to love and be loved. I'm grateful for no more snow and for the smell of spring in the air. I'm grateful for a good conversation with my beloved MIL, Josie. I'm grateful for happy thoughts. “Who is the happiest of men?  He who values the merits of others,  and in their pleasure takes joy ,  even as though t'were his own.” ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe I'm grateful to have gotten to see Star Wars The Phantom Menace two times. I'm grateful for things working out well. I'm grateful for the staff at my doctor's office. I'm grateful for my besties. “If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another.” ~Tenzin Gyatso I'm grateful for Snapography . I'm grateful for the festival of Purim and that we all had ...

My experience is my experience. You can take it or leave it, but it did happen to me personally. I watched it happen to others before my experience, and I'm watching it happen to good people after, as well. What am I talking about? Spiritual abuse. This issue is usually tied with negative cult groups. Consider the following explanation from wiki: Spiritual abuse is a serious form of abuse which occurs when a person in a cult-religious authority or a person with a unique spiritual practice misleads and maltreats another person in the name of a deity or church or in the mystery of any spiritual concept. Spiritual abuse often refers to an abuser using spiritual or cult-religious rank in taking advantage of the victim's spirituality (mentality and passion on spiritual matters) by putting the victim in a state of unquestioning obedience to an abusive authority. Spiritual abuse refers to the use of spiritual knowledge to deprive, torture, degrade, isolate, control, or even ...

Well, here it is Friday afternoon, and I still haven't posted my weekly Gratefuls. Aahh! Alright, so here it goes: I'm grateful for the help of friends! Once again they pulled my shebs out of the fire and came up with a wonderful list of things for which they are grateful...I can't even begin to say how blessed I am to have such beautiful, loving friends. I'm grateful for reminders - darn good reminders. I'm grateful for our time in Yachats, Oregon. (me, too!) I'm grateful that G-d made a way to get away for some much needed rest and that He kept us safe - Praise the LORD! I'm grateful for our one day of sunshine. (Y'know, the pharmacist was talking to me about that...he was encouraging me, and himself, to just hang on - summer is coming!) I'm grateful that the days are getting longer! I'm grateful for a long talk with a dear friend. “Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebod...