Advent Prayer

"O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care: Come. O Sacred Lord of ancient Israel, you showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush and you gave the holy law on Mount Sinai: Come. O Flower of Jesse's stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all people; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you: Come. O Key of David, O royal Power of Israel, you [not the systems of this world] control at your will the gate of heaven: Come break down the prison walls of death. O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: Come shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death. O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart; o Keystone of the mighty arch of humankind: Come and save these creatures you fashioned from the dust. O Emmanuel, God-With-Us, king and lawgiver, desire of the nations, Savior of all people: Come and set us free.
The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." Amen. Lord Jesus, come soon! Lord Jesus, come and free us from the prisons of death. We ask for it together as his people. And we ask for it in Jesus' name. Amen. "
- Richard Rohr, from Preparing for Christmas with Richard Rohr

Men and Women Together

"St. Paul says, "There can be neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). The new humanity that we are pointed toward is not neuter, unisex or oversexed, all of which make love impossible. In Christ we are whole, one, in union, integrated. The self becomes wholly holy. That is the final product of the Spirit making all things one. It is the consummate achievement of God in Christ, who reconciles all things within himself (Colossians 1:20) and invites us into the ongoing reconciliation of all things (Ephesians 1:3–14).
Men must be converted to the feminine, women to the masculine. Maybe that is why God made sexual attraction so compelling. If we are converted to the non-self, everything changes. Thereby we approach authentic religious conversion toward the utter not-me: God. From the whole—and center—position, we see through eyes other than our own half-blinded ones. We see the other side of things and forgiveness becomes possible. We see that the enemy is not enemy but spiritual helpmate. Once we have met and accepted our inner opposite, there is nothing more to defend and nothing more to be afraid of."
- Richard Rohr, from from Radical Grace, "Masculine Spirituality"

My (big) baby and me

Who's your mommy?

The second annual Christmas Tree

It's that time again. We are done with the apples, and the pumpkins and we have come now to my VERY favorite time - the smell of evergreen when you walk into the house, tiny bright lights and sparkly ornaments, peppermint in everything edible (or potable), warm stews, hot chocolate, ribbons, bows, and (hopefully) snow! It's Christmas time! That means it was time for the Second Annual Christmas Tree-cutting Expedition.

Jon and I were going to go the Friday after Thanksgiving, but it snowed all night. This is Jon's yard.

So, instead, we went this last Sunday. We went up to the Jemez Mountains, past the community of Ponderosa, past the primitive camp site and then up the dirt road, to the very same valley I got my tree from last year. Here is Jon with the tree of choice before it was cut. Here it is in its special cutting ceremony.

Here is the valley where it began its life. The actual cutting took a lot less time than last year, so we were out of there in less than 5 minutes! The increased efficiency could have been due to the strength of the woodsman or the sharpness of the blade, or both. On Tuesday, we decorated it. Isn't it pretty?!Hanging ornaments is fun!!Ditto :)There is only one member of the "family" who really does NOT enjoy decorating the tree. In fact, he delights in knocking ornaments OFF the tree with his voluminous tail.
The finished product! My awesome christmas tree in all its blurry glory.