Little Kindnesses - 10 things that have brightened my week

1. My rain hat - it has a style all its own; think Ermintrude from the 'Magic Roundabout.'
2. The passing motorist on the way home from church who found my hat, stopped and handed it back to me.
3. The station staff who stowed my hat safely away on top of a ticket machine until I arrived back from London on Monday evening.  Spot a hint of  a theme here...?
4. My spiritual director who 'suggested' that during Lent  I make sure to  do one fun activity a week for myself (totally unrelated to things   churchy,  spiritual...or rain and rainhats for that matter.) At last - a Lenten practice I can keep!
5. FGW and station staff - who've lifted peak/off peak fare restrictions during the current flooding,  been generally as helpful as possible, thus making what could have been a miserable, wet and cold experience a lot less stressful than I'd expected.  On the train home on Wednesday we miserable, soaking commuters were  even offered free hot drinks. Though given the state of mind I was then in, I could have done with a stiff gin! You'll be glad to know that I exercised tremendous restraint and refused the complimentary shortbread fingers and choccy biscuits.
6. M & S cafe in Oxford who do a very nice egg, bacon and cherry tomato breakfast bloomer at a reasonable price. (Totally non-hat related.)
7. Unexpected space on Tuesday. Not for a reason I'd have wanted but at least it gave Mr GP and myself a chance to go over to the pub. (No hats were involved).
8. The elderly friend who when interviewed by the local press refused to give them the sob story they were obviously after (her block of flats is surrounded by floodwater), telling them she was managing quite well thank you very much. They didn't quote her. Have (a rather dashing pair) of blue wellies - can travel.
9. Supervision group...just because... The assistant in BHS cafe this afternoon who agreed with me that baked beans and chips count towards part of one's Five a Day. Sometimes only chips will do.
10. Hallelujah! GP Dog 2 - who at 7.05 a.m. Thursday 13 February peed in the 'proper place,' for the first time! You have to have toilet trained a dog (or a child) to appreciate just how thrilled I was!
10 1/2 - Last but not least - Mr GP who's held the (doggy) fort at home during a week when I've been more out than in.

Hallelujah Encore!

Yes, you've guessed it - our cat with cattitude hit the target aka his litter tray again!  Yes, I realise this has nothing whatsoever to do with the remit of this blog; but you'll have to indulge me - if you have to co-exist with our furry tiger, even commonplace achievements like this are a cause for letting off the party poppers.  There's nothing like rejoicing at the little things in life. I'll leave you to draw suitably spiritual  parallels. I'm sure there are many.

Oh -  and I couldn't resist linking to one of my favourite feline clips - Simon's Cat's "Double Trouble."  Enjoy!

Icons

Definition of icon Oxford dictionaries online

noun

• 1(also ikon)
  a devotional painting of Christ or another holy figure, typically executed on wood and used ceremonially in the Byzantine and other Eastern Churches.

• 2a person or thing regarded as a representative symbol or as worthy of veneration:this iron-jawed icon of American manhood
  
  

• 3 Computing a symbol or graphic representation on a screen of a program, option, or window.

• 4 Linguistics a sign which has a characteristic in common with the thing it signifies, for example the word snarl pronounced in a snarling way.

Nothing from me this morning but a link to check out: an account of the blessing and installation of Apocalypse Icon's recent pieces of work. A most wonderful blessing, as she says.

Blessed Are...

A blessing based on The Beatitudes which I used last night in prayer group. It's from the conclusion of  Margaret Silf's Landmarks: An Ignatian Journey.

I bless the poverty in your heart, which knows its own emptiness, because that gives me space to grow my Kingdom there.

I bless that in you that touches others gently, because everyone responds to gentleness, and gentleness can capture even hardened hearts.

I bless that in you that grieves and aches for all that is lost or can never be, because that is my opportunity to comfort you with my much greater love.

I bless that in you that longs and strives after your own deepest truth and after truth for the world, because even as you pray, I am constantly satisfying these deep unspoken longings.

I bless you every time you show mercy and forgiveness, because that is like a little window in your heart, setting you free from resentment and opening up a space for me to enter and to heal.

I bless the purity of your heart, because that is the elusive center where your deepest desire meets mine. That is where we meet face-to-face.

I bless the peacemaker in you, that in you that seeks the peace that passes understanding, knowing the cost of its obtaining, because that is what I sent my Son to give, and in your peacemaking you become my daughter or son.

I bless even those things in your experience of journeying with me that feel like persecution and abuse and misunderstanding, because they are the proof that your faith is no illusion.

Blessings - 100 Things that bring me life

Now what will I do with the ten extra blessings?

47. Bluebells! We have bluebells poking their heads up through the grass in  the meadow front garden.
48. ... where did that tiny clump of forget-me-nots come from?
49.  And after a long, wet, muddy sploshy walk with GP dog this morning, the GP vertebrae are back to their normal selves...almost.

Whiskers on Kittens - 110 Things that Bring Me Life...continued

At the (totally embarrassing) risk of sounding a dead ringer for Maria in The Sound of Music:

45. The blossom laden trees in the park as I walked GP dog in the park earlier. So delicate; try and grasp the blooms and you risk crushing them.

46. The arrival in my in-box of the St Beunos newsletter;  bright, springlike and bursting out all over.

I'm not so sure about our own resident 'big kitten,' pictured above. Leastways - when he plonks himself on my desk between the printers and sits there looking stern/shoves his whiskers in my face. We've not had to cope with such goings-ons since the reign of the Late Great Gothcat. Was that really three cats ago? How time flies!

[Hmm..Who can spot the typo in the post title first?! ]

Waiting - Interim Time

If there's  one thing I've learned about myself from these last couple of year's vocational wanderings, it's that I find waiting sooo difficult. The frustrating  process of one step forward, two steps back, hopes raised, then dashed as once again a new path followed up leads to another seeming dead-end. On a good day I joke wryly about learning curves and the need for Prayer, Patience, Pro-activity and Persistence in equal measures; during the bad ones, it's all I can do to stop myself flinging myself down in the middle of said road and howling in frustration.

Then every once in a blue moon,  just as I'm on the point of giving up, as earlier this week, somebody or something happens; in this case some practical  affirmation from a friend  that they at least, see me as being on the right path which gives me renewed hope,  albeit a tiny sliver, but just enough to help me up and onto the road again.

So on I plod. The other week, I  was congratulated on my excellent (for my age) blood pressure reading; the practice nurse remarked that she could tell that I  was a walker; it's reflected in my level of physical fitness. Look on the bright side: the current trials must surely be having a similar effect on the spiritual.

Borrowed my own book back from the church Lent library today just so that I could look over this old favourite from Benedictus by the late John O'Donahue. These lines are from For the interim time.

...You are in this time of interim

          Where everything seems witheld...

           As far as you can, hold your confidence.
           Do not allow your confusion to squander
           This call which is loosening
            Your roots in false ground,
            That you might come free
             From all you had outgrown.

God in All Things - 100 things that bring me life

I've been inspired by Emma's challenge in Count Your Blessings to revisit a similar exercise which I heard about at a prayer workshop last year. The leader recalled being challenged by her spiritual guide to list 100 things which enlivened  and helped her become more aware of God's presence in her everyday life. She didn't tell us how many she clocked up but I was inspired enough to rush home and begin my own list over the next few days. It all trailed off after a while - maybe now's the time to have another go. So here, with some editing to protect the innocent and tone down the personal is what I came up with.

1. Painting garden trellis and furniture (in tasteful shades of green and buttermilk)
2. aha! moments of insight, ideas and connections
3. Helping other people make connections with God
4. My nightly bath!
5. Completing and turning in a piece of writing.
6. Watching Soap and other DVDs with Mr GP
7. Laughing and joking.
8. Admiring the garden through the kitchen window.
9. Sitting on a garden bench with a cup of tea.
10. When - and - (friends and prayer partners) come round.
11. Frame it moments
12. When all the clutter and gunk clears and prayer really takes off.
13. Just sitting and gazing.
14. Coffee with -- before work.
15. Walking GP dog in the park on a sunny day.
16. Looking outside after a snowfall.
17. Walking through soft snow.
18. art journaling
19. Singing classes
20. Spotting the first snowdrops.
21. Julian prayer group
22. Setting up for communion in a quiet church on a sunny Friday afternoon.
23. 'Revisiting' in imagination places like CSF Compton Durville or Iona where I've felt God to be so, soclose.
24. Lent library - planning and doing
25. Creativity - when I've a sudden inspiration to add an imaginative twist to a project, a finishing touch that just seems 'meant.'
26. Traveling  - by train or walking - with Mr GP; cups of tea, arriving at our destination for the day and 'setting up home,' exploring and planning for the trip.
27. Silent retreats
28. Visiting a favourite place within a place, like the font in Salisbury Cathedral.
29. Strolling through the streets on a Summer's day or in the cool of the evening and smelling the scents of the flowers, trees etc
30. Moments of 'like-minded' connection with other people, however fleeting.
31. Wearing a favourite, old, cosy garment.
32. Planning and list-making for retreat or holiday.
33. My 'Kelly,' 'Volcano' kettle!
34. Laughing with -- and --- at the stall at church over something that happened during the week.
35. Herman the Amish sourdough starter. No, I never did manage to pass him on.
36. Walking into church on a Friday afternoon; smelling the polish and saying hello to person on the cleaning rota for the week.
37. The times when I'm brave enough to be authentic and able to share where I really am spiritually.
38. Group meeting: Being able to speak up for myself and correct a point where I felt I'd been misunderstood in a polite yet firm and clear manner and having this accepted.
39. Arriving home to find Mr GP in the kitchen making the meal  and chatting together.
40. Unexpected invite to the cinema with ---.
41. Walking out of a ----meeting feeling weary yet energised at the same time.
42. Gathering conkers on the way up the hill to church of a Sunday morning and going back in my imagination to my first ever retreat at CD.
43. Gathering beechnut husks on the walk home from singing. Reminded of the Joyce Grenfell sketch: Useful and Acceptable Gifts!
44. Sitting in the sun in ------churchyard on a TSSF quiet day, art journaling and pondering over prayer when another piece of the puzzle drops quietly into place as I draw.

Phew!

To be resumed.,,

What about you, dear fellow-bloggers?

Counting Blessings

Emma at LLM Calling's been asking us to share our top ten blessings. Here goes:

1. Family
2. Our furry friends, past and present - GP dog (currently under the weather - get well soon B) and our new cat.
3. Health
4. Creativity - art journaling, singing and my ability to spin ideas around, make connections and dream dreams.
5. My sense of humour puts everything in perspective. When it begins to slip I know I'm losing it...
6. Being in a fortunate enough position to have the freedom to do what I love doing.
7. Friends
8. Wide open spaces and the freedom to explore them - like our Grand Pilgrimage last year.
9. My faith and the discovery of the contemplative path. Folk like my church and spiritual director who've  supported me in my meanderings along it.
10. No list of blessings  would be complete without my mainstay: A Nice Cup of Tea!