i thank You God for most this amazing

                                   I THANK YOU GOD FOR MOST THIS AMAZING

City Park, NOLA in March 2015

                                        i thank You God for most this amazing

                                        day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees

                                        and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything

                                        which is natural which is infinite which is yes

                                        (i who have died am alive again today,

                                        and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth

                                        day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay

                                        great happening illimitably earth)

                                        how should tasting touching hearing seeing

                                        breathing any–lifted from the no

                                        of all nothing–human merely being

                                        doubt unimaginable You?

                                        (now the ears of my ears awake and

                                        now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

                                                                   -- e.e. cummings (1894-1962)
                                        #poetry #gratitude #thanks #Nature #nola #Episcopal

Poem found at: http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2013/10/26 
And here is a GORGEOUS choral composition written by Eric Whitacre (b. 1970) sung by The Stanford Chamber Chorale and the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, under the direction of Stephen Layton. * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMbSY7b0fuM

butterfly I saw at UNO on a pretty purple flowering bush

Thistle at NOLA City Park, March 2015

"Parade Sunday" at St. Paul's 2015

The Sunday before Mardi gras is known as Bacchus Sunday or "Parade Sunday" in NOLA. Yesterday was Samedi gras and tomorrow is Lundi gras with Tuesday being Mardi gras. I haven't heard anyone calling today Dimanche gras and it just sounds weird so I'm sticking with Parade Sunday and Bacchus Sunday. I had the idea to tell my St. Paul's Episcopal Choir to bring beads and headresses, wigs, throws, and the like to church today. 

During the final hymn, (which was #460 in the Episcopal Hymnal "Alleluia! Sing to Jesus" to get plenty of Alleluias out before Lent), we recessed and threw beads, stuffed animals, toys, and lots of things to the congregation! It seemed like they really liked it. I saw more people smiling than in a long while! Also, I made absolutely sure to do it after Fr. Rob's blessing so the Liturgy itself would be only minimally disturbed (no worse than announcements, I daresay).

I also asked Fr. Rob to wear these gigantic pink beads on the way out. One of our sopranos, Tanya, brought them and it just seemed perfect.

Here is one of our tenors, Ernell, rocking a purple wig

Here is Tory, a soprano, dancing up the aisle!

I also felt that it would be a good idea for our choir tot take a photo out by the St. Paul's Church sign and it turned out GREAT!

A super fun ending to the morning!

Easter Tidings, 2014

I wanted to post this photo that was taken by Carolina Roehner on Easter Day at St. Paul's Episcopal. Fr. Rob has this fantastic idea last year of having the whole church turn around and wave! I LOVE IT! What a terrific sense of community it conveys! It made everyone smile and came at the end of a fabulous service so what's not to like?! I like how it's informal too.

Easter Sunday, 2014. Photo by Carolina Roehner

I decided to make a collage of Holy Week photos and it came out rather well! :-)

My Collage of Holy Week 2014 :-)

 Here's my choir and here I am conducting, woohoo!

Me conducting my St. Paul's Episcopal Choir and Brass on Easter Sunday, 2014. Photo by Carolina Roehner

Out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing, there is a field

Westminster, MD, photo taken in 2009 by CPC

 

Out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing,
there is a field.

I will meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase "each other" doesn't make any sense.

 

~ Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī (1207-1273)



Life is Short - Shut Up and Smell the Roses!



Life is short, people! I am struck by this time and again as I see people ignoring beauty that surrounds them or forgetting to look up at the stars at night. I am crazy busy at certain times of the year and every day during the school year may be packed. I revel in being busy and I LOVE all the different things that I do! In contrast, periodically, I occasionally waste away a whole day doing absolutely nothing at home, inside. I love sleep, sometimes a little too much :-)

REGARDLESS of all of the above, I do take regular time to "stop and smell the roses". It's usually not announced like my concerts or travels are, but I do it and SO SHOULD YOU!

 

Newsflash: Life is short

Common Complaint: I don't have time

Another Newsflash: YES YOU DO

Order: Shut up and smell the roses!

LIVE your life for YOU
Get rid of naysayers, negative people, mean people, and criticizers - they come in all shapes and areas of life. The good news is that if you leave them to their own devices, they usually leave on their own.

GO OUTSIDE. Sit in that patch of green grass with clover. Have yourself a picnic! Take a walk or bike ride, drink your coffee in the park, park your car near the park.

LOOK UP at the stars. If you're in the city and there are too many lights, make a point to drive out to a place where you can see the stars. It will change your perspective. It will change you.

SPEND time with kids and pets, the elderly, and nature.

LAUGH and let it loose - don't let others make you feel wrong or stupid for doing it. Ignore them! They might shake their heads, roll their eyes, and even make snide comments. Let them. You go on and LAUGH :-)

Pick flowers occasionally or buy yourself some. It's so nice and you deserve it!

THINK. Take time out to sit and think. Think of people, places, stories. Sometimes you'll laugh and sometimes you'll cry, but it will be good for you.

GIVE people opportunities. In the end it is worth it. Sometimes people don't realize they've had a good opportunity until it's gone. Give everyone a chance. Give them two chances.

GIVE yourself permission. Give yourself fearlessness.

SMILE. Smiling can happen on the inside or the outside. Many of my smiles are inside :-)

ASK  Ask the question. Ask for something you want or need. Sometimes, if you don't ask, you'll never know

TELL someone you like them or love them. Go on, do it. It doesn't have to be hard to do and it doesn't have to be in the romantic sense. Sometimes, it's something someone needs to hear and sometimes it's something you need to do. We forget, busy humans that we are, to interact with each other on this level and sometimes we wake up and realize it's too late. We wonder if they knew we cared about them or liked something about them.

VISIT someone you always said you'd visit! Make it happen and if it can't be a physical visit, there's always Skype

Write your books, paint your pictures, sing your songs, dance your dances, climb that mountain, build the treehouse, learn a new language, wear what you want, eat healthy but splurge sometimes, go to that movie, buy the roller skates, ride the hot-air balloon, travel, save, spend, re-read your favorite book, connect through social media, paint your toenails, go swimming, step in the puddle, throw rocks at the lake, learn to cook...

CREATE, support, learn, encourage, partner.

RISK making a fool of yourself, risk standing up for what you believe even when it's hard

LOVE Give love, be love, love your life, love yourself. Have brotherly love, have romantic love. Treasure love, remember love, fight for love, cherish love. It's always worth it.

VOLUNTEER! Donate to a charity. It will be worth your while and make a life better

LEARN  Learn how to use some technology, learn to be nice to yourself, learn to be open, learn to dance.

BE  Be you. Be willing. Be adventuresome. Be fearless. Simply, BE.

DO NOT EVER TAKE LIFE FOR GRANTED