"Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset." Saint Francis De Sales

Saturday, June 2, 2012

My Slow Takes (vol. 51)


1. Another great drawing from “iron mitten.” Finding Spartacus should be simple for the Romans. He looks like Kirk Douglas and has a dimple on his chin. (This brings back memories for me as my Dad took me to see this movie when I was younger.)


2. This weekend is Fair Trade weekend at our church, The Church of Epiphany. I have been the facilitator for this ministry for the last three years. It is rewarding, fun and I love the coffee. The team runs by itself making my job more paperwork than physical selling. We offer coffee, tea, chocolate candy and occasionally cooking cocoa and hot chocolate mix. Once a year we have a bazaar and add jewelry, clothing and crafts.
Everything we sell benefits farmers and artisans from all over the world. Please take a moment and read about Equal Exchange and SERRV.

3. We started the landscape work this week, sort of, as it really wasn’t supposed to start until next week. Our landscape artist John, an interesting Italian man likes to do business the “old way.” Discuss what needs to be done and shake hands. He has been mowing and trimming our lawn this year and we are pleased with his work. Unfortunately Dee’s explanation of what we wanted completed and when did not match John’s. When he worked on the mulch beds earlier in the week a couple of her plants were removed in error. John apologized and told her to go out and get new ones, he would cover the cost. We are now on track.
4. This morning in USA Today there was a full page add from the “Freedom From Religion Foundation.” The heading was, “It’s Time To Quit The Catholic Church.” I was not pleased with the ad and took offense to it. The statements, “You’re better than your church, so why stay? Why put up with an institution that discriminates against half of humanity?” clearly shows that they do not understand Jesus and His teachings. So, I am reminded by Melanie Rigney’s post in “Your Daily Tripod” to pray for them and forgive them.
“(Jesus said:) “Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours. When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance, so that your heavenly Father may in turn forgive you your transgressions.” (Mark 11: 24-25)”

5. Jennifer Fulwiler wrote an inspiring article on the word “authority.” This morning I read “Authority Is a Virtue” by Sr. Macrina Wiederkehr, O.S.B, from the Living Faith devotional for today. She suggests that the word authority contains the word “author” suggesting “a creator, an originator, one who draws forth truths from the Source of Life, perhaps one who can help us learn or inspire us.” Jennifer was inspired and shared her thoughts on daily prayer and trust in God. Both women with the same word from different perspectives have blessed my week. Thank you. 
Sr. Wiederkehr offers the following prayer. “O Author of Life, give me the gift of drawing from the deep well of my life, words that will nourish, heal, encourage and bless. Help me to teach with authority.” 

1 comment:

  1. #4: That ad has appeared in a number of publications and shows the strain of atheism that is militantly opposed to being polite. Ignore them.

    ReplyDelete