Day 151: 5/31/13- Feast of the Visitation & Pastors' Pasture

Day 151: 5/31/13- Feast of the Visitation & Pastors' Pasture      
New Thing- Beginning the Summer with Our Lady & Farming      
Inspiration: The Feast of the Visitation, Frank, Matt, Howard, Mary the Queen of May  
Time: The Feasting took like 20 mins. The gardening, on the other hand, took like 5 hours.   
Bottom Line: Holy Mother of God, Pray for us. 

Reflection: Today is the Feast of the Visitation. Here is the wiki description: 

Mary visits her relative Elizabeth; they are both pregnant. Mary is pregnant with Jesus and Elizabeth is pregnant with John the Baptist. Mary left Nazareth immediately after the Annunciation and went to Hebron, south of Jerusalem, to attend her cousin Elizabeth. The journey was about 100 miles and Elizabeth was in the sixth month before Mary came (Luke 1:36), Mary stayed three months. Most scholars hold she stayed for the birth of John. Even though he was still in his mother's womb, John became aware of the presence of his Divine Savior. Elizabeth also responded and recognized the presence of Jesus. "And she spoke out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed [art] thou among women, and blessed [is] the fruit of thy womb. And whence [is] this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed [is] she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord (Luke 1:42–45)." It is also at this point, in response to Elizabeth's remark, that Mary proclaims the Magnificat (My soul doth magnify the Lord), Luke 1:46–55.

Last year, I remember reading a sermon by The Very Rev. Howard Stringfellow that talked about how summer really begins and ends with Our Lady. He was referring to the fact that the summer starts with the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and then, at the end of of the summer in August, we have the Feast of the BVM (which happens to be my priestly ordination date). This line has really stuck with me and I got to thinking about that today as I sat down on my first real day off of the summer to think about how I would like to be growing in grace and peace this summer. So, I got to thinking about Mary more as a guide for this season. 

As you may remember, the entire month of May in the Roman Catholic tradition is devoted to Mary and that is especially true on a Marian Feast Day such as today is. In fact, the Visitation has also been considered the Feast of Mary's Heavenly Queenship since the link between her and the line of David gets united in the story of the visitation and David approaching the Ark of the Convenient. Now, Mary as the Queen of Heaven is, again, outside of the way I have celebrated her in the past, but in an effort to broaden my understanding, I looked into this part of Marian Theology. One of the things that I discovered about the theology of her Queenship are, again, some of the titles and roles that she has had ascribed to her. For example, she is called the Queen of Peace because of the fact that she gave birth to the Prince of Peace: Jesus Christ. She is often shown in this role as holding a dove or a olive branch. Since the summer begins and ends with our Lady, the Queen of Peace, I spent some time in prayer about how my life can be more about peace. Now, some of these ideas have come out of the (not yet completed) Rule of Life work that I started in January, but I think that there needs to be a shift in the way I am livening to help my "soul magnify The Lord" as Mary says on as she visited he cousin. Here are some ideas for peace keeping this summer:

• - Maybe a vegan/raw and do juice fasts on Wednesday and Friday (I have found that when I am consciously eating less and making even my food choices an act of prayer, then I am much more peaceful and less likely to not like myself or lash out at others.)
• - Continuing Morning and Evening Prayer
• - Make sure that I am actually taking two days off a week if possible.
• - Transform the back porch into a peace zone for prayer and meditation
• - Make sure the space we live in is clutter/trash free (this always helps me feel more peaceful)
• - Garden (more on this later)
• - Journal and write to friends with more regularity
• - Get back to a more regular yoga practice
• - Finish my rule of life
• - Take 30 minutes a day for theological reading and 30 minutes a day reading the news to see what the Holy Spirit might be doing in the world today.
• - Pray and read the Bible with Delia and Ken every day in Family Circle time. (This will bring peace to the house--but how to do this and make time for it now that our schedules are so different is the question).

Now, the challenge  in all this is making it a way of peace and not a burden, but I have found that when I am making this kind of intentional life path, I feel much more peaceful.

All that being said, I started to do at least one of those things today by working in the garden that I will be sharing with Frank and Matt this summer. Here at St. David's, we have a really large community garden which has had several gardeners abandoning their plots this year because the fence was down for months. So, Frank (who's motto is "more it more") decided to take over several of those plots and joining them together (including mine which was adjacent to his previous plot) and make one supper garden farmed by the three of us. It is called the Pastors' Pasture (clever, no?). The problem is that we are starting late and it is a HUGE amount of land to garden! But I did have a blast out there today, and I look forward to working with these two crazy guys all summer.

Day 150: 5/30/13- Romans Run Through

Day 150: 5/30/13- Romans Run Through           
New Thing- Speed study the last four chapters of Romans with the Women's Bible Study, Paul           
Inspiration: The Women's Bible Study, The Last Thursday in May          
Time: Exactly one hour. To the second.                               
Bottom Line: I think we read it as quickly as I imagine Paul dictating it. 

Reflection: For the past year, the Women's Bible Study has been making our way through Paul's Letter to the Romans. We've laughed and cried and been inspired. However, all good things must come to an end and today was the last week that we had scheduled to work on this Book before starting our summer's study of Proverbs. But we still had four chapters to go! So, I thought it would be fun to do a speed study of those chapters and divided up the different sections and assigned them time slots according to how much time I thought they would take to discuss (for example, if it was a new argument, it would get 10 mins, but a rehash would only get 5). Then we set the timer to keep us on track. It was actually pretty fun and we got through the whole thing in exactly one hour. I love this group! (Btw- if you are local, we have Bible Study every Thursday morning at 9:00 and we are starting Proverbs this week!)

Day 149: 5/29/13- Take a Solar Walk

Day 149: 5/29/13- Take a Solar Walk          
New Thing- Use the Solar Walk App          
Inspiration: Little D.         
Time: Almost an hour                              
Bottom Line: Cosmic. 

Reflection: I had read about the apple App "Solar Walk" in a parenting magazine and since D. has shone such an interest in space recently, I decided to download it. Here is the description:

Have you ever built a Solar system model? Cups, bowls, and papier-mache balls are in the past, because Solar Walk is a time-sensitive accurate information-packed interactive model of the Solar system and the Milky Way galaxy. This 3D Solar System model lets you navigate through space and time, see all the planets in close-up, learn their trajectories, inner structures, history of their exploration, points of interest and more. It even has detailed 3D models of the most interesting man-made satellites. Use 3D mode to get a more realistic experience and zoom out to view and spin the entire Galaxy!
 
 MAIN FEATURES:
• GALAXY view - absolutely magical zoom out to view the whole galaxy option.
• TIME MACHINE - set any date you want including even minutes and take a travel through space and time.
• MOVIES - explanatory movie collection about the Earth’s phenomena.
• SATELLITES - real-time trajectories of the most interesting artificial Earth's satellites.
• INFO about all planets - general info, its name, its mass, radius, distance to the sun, internal structure with the picture and science missions.
• MOONS of DIFFERENT PLANETS: select a planet like Earth, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars or Urano and observe how many moons they have and their track around the planet. Select one of the moons and learn.


It is really cool and very memorizing. But he best part was hearing D. tell me all the things that she had learned about in school about space. She knew things that I didn't even know! Warmed this mother's heart. 

Day 148: 5/28/13- Brew Kombucha Tea

Day 148: 5/28/13- Brew Kombucha Tea          
New Thing- Brew Kombucha Tea          
Inspiration: Ellyn        
Time: About half an hour                              
Bottom Line: Primal Brewing 

 

Reflection: Yesterday, we got to visit our favorite family Ellyn, Andrew, Phil, Margaret, Anna and Katheryn! On top of that, Kim and Andy came over! Yeah! While we were there, Ellyn shared with me a part of her kombucha culture (a "baby" off of her "mother" as the terms go). Here is a little bit about kombucha:

The kombucha culture is a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, comprising Acetobacter (a genus of acetic acid bacteria) and one or more yeasts. These form a zoogleal mat.The container is often covered with a closed-weave cloth to prevent contamination by dust, mold, and other bacteria, while allowing gas transfer ("breathing"). A "baby" SCOBY is produced on the liquid/gas interface during each fermentation. The surface area is the most favorable location for both aerobic bacteria on the top of the new "pancake" and anaerobic bacteria on the bottom. The surface area also has ideal concentration of oxygen for the yeast in the matrix to propagate readily. After a week or two of fermentation, the liquid is tapped. Some liquid is retained for the subsequent batch to keep the pH low to prevent contamination. This process can be repeated indefinitely. In each batch, the "mother" culture will produce a "baby", which can be directly handled, separated like two pancakes, and moved to another container. The yeast in the tapped liquid will continue to survive.

With Ellyn's baby, I started my own brew today and I am looking forward to starting to drink a glass a day for the health benefits. Andrew said, "there is something weirdly primal about that thing" and I have to agree, but I still love this stuff. Thanks, Ellyn!!

Day 147: 5/27/13- Give the Benediction at the Radnor Memorial Day Parade

Day 147: 5/27/13- Give the Benediction at the Radnor Memorial Day Parade         
New Thing- Give the Benediction at the Radnor Memorial Day Parade         
Inspiration: The brave men and women who gave their lives for our country       
Time: A few hours                             
Bottom Line: Beautiful day of memorial 

Reflection: I was blessed to be asked by the Radnor Memorial Day Parade committee to give the benediction at the Memorial Day celebration. It was such a joy to be a part of honoring our veterans and those who have given their lives for our freedoms. As a bonus, we got to sit on the grandstand for the parade. Thank you all who give so much for this great country! 

Day 146: 5/26/13- It's Arrested Development!

Day 146: 5/26/13- It's Arrested Development!        
New Thing- Start watching the fourth season of Arrested Development!          
Inspiration: Years of waiting.      
Time: I lost track of time.                            
Bottom Line: "There's always money in the banana stand." "Really? Her?" "I've made a huge mistake." "Has anyone in this family ever even seen a chicken?" I can't stop doing this!!

Reflection: Finally. FINALLY!!!! It. Is. Here. Arrested Development Season 4. This is my favorite comedy of all time. I don't have anymore time to write. Shows on.

Day 145: 5/25/13- The Devon Horse Show

Day 145: 5/25/13- The Devon Horse Show       
New Thing- Attend the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair         
Inspiration: Devon     
Time: A few hours                           
Bottom Line: Whoa. 

Reflection: Today, we attended the Devon Horse Shoe and Country Fair. Here is the write up from their website (read the whole history here):

In the 1890′s there was a new migration into the rolling rich farmlands and small towns of the Philadelphia western suburbs. The railroad lines were bringing wealthy business men and their families to visit, then to build their estates along the “Mainline”. Although they came by train, once here they depended on horses to pull their buggies and coaches and carts. In April of 1896 a dozen local gentlemen discussed the need of better horses for their vehicles. May 22 a meeting was called by the gentlemen inviting their friends and neighbors to “effect an organization for the purpose of holding a Horse Show at Devon”. Less than two months later the first Devon Horse Show was held!

From a one day Show of 28 classes, Devon grew quickly. By 1914 Devon Horse Show was the largest outdoor horse show in the country, a reputation it still holds today. There was already a grandstand for the comfort of the spectators, and also a new status symbol, forty-six boxes with canvas awnings for the elite.

By the 1950′s The Devon Horse Show and Country Fair realized that the increasingly dwindling group of socially elite could no longer financially support a week long exhibition. So they started to actively entice the public. The Country Fair Village was no longer solely volunteer run; many merchants rented the tiny shops and brought the newest fashions, jewelry and home goods to the fairgoers. Toy Shops and Midways, Antique Stores, Dairy Bars, Flea Markets, a Midway with Ferris wheel, and many pre-events made Devon Country Fair a year-long undertaking. At the same time the Horse Show started a public relations campaign that invited local and national celebrities. Before long a portion of the attendees came for the rides and the games, for the shopping and the dining and were barely aware of the horses in the rings. For the aficionados however the Show kept improving with the quality of the exhibitors and the variety of the classes. The rings and courses had several reincarnations always looking towards the safety of the spectators, the competitors and their horses. The grandstands and barns had also been rebuilt and enlarged.

The Devon Horse Show and Country Fair continues its remarkable success and growth. Over 2000 volunteers sell and serve and plan and work for the Show and its beneficiary the Bryn Mawr Hospital. They are what keep Devon so vibrant with energy yet rich in history. 

I'll put it this way: it was not the Wyoming County Fair. Lobster, tea, no mud bog. Anthropology even had a stand! Whoa.

Day 144: 5/24/13- Hike with Dad!

Day 144: 5/24/13- Hike with Dad!       
New Thing- Hike with Dad on a new part of the Horseshoe Trail and use gaiters        
Inspiration: Dad     
Time: All day                          
Bottom Line: We hiked to quickly 

Cold, wet and having a blast!

Reflection: As you may remember from the first year of 365 alive, Dad and I love to hike. We have been hiking ever since I was a little girl. Well, today we were heading out to do a different part of the Horse Shoe trail that we had never been on before, and as you can tell from the full pack that you see on my back in the picture above, we were planning on being out for a few days. However, we ended up hiking like 11 miles in 6 hours and hiked ourselves out of the whole trip we had planed. Since we couldn't find a place to set up camp, it was just as well, but I was bummed to be done so soon. I did try out hiking with gaiters for the first time which worked like gangbusters with the wet underbrush. Love you, Dad!

Day 143: 5/23/13- Using an old Bottle as a Plant Feeder

Day 143: 5/23/13- Using an old Bottle as a Plant Feeder      
New Thing- Using an old bottle as a plant feeder       
Inspiration: Dad     
Time: About a second                          
Bottom Line: very cool!

Reflection: My Dad came over today to get ready to go on our hike tomorrow and worked a little of his gardening magic by taking an old bottle and using it as an automatic flower box feeder. Just fill it with water, stick it in the dirt and it will water for a week. Thanks, Dad!

Day 142: 5/22/13- The Feast of the First Book of Common Prayer

Day 142: 5/22/13- The Feast of the First Book of Common Prayer      
New Thing- Evensong from the First Book of Common Prayer      
Inspiration: The Feast of the First Book of Common Prayer     
Time: About a half an hour                         
Bottom Line: My soule doth magnifie the lorde. And my spirite hath rejoyced in God my savioure.

Reflection: Today is the Feast of the First Book of Common Prayer. Here is the description from James Kiefer: 

In 1549, under the reign of Edward VI, successor to Henry VIII, the primary language of public worship in England and other areas ruled by Edward was changed from Latin to English, and the first Book of Common Prayer came into use. It was first used on Pentecost Sunday, 9 June 1549, and the occasion is now commemorated "on the first convenient day following Pentecost." The Book was the work of a commission of scholars, but primarily of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. It was based primarily upon the Latin worship tradition of the Use of Sarum (similar to, but not identical with, the Roman rite used by most Roman Catholic between 1600 and 1950), with some elements taken from the Greek liturgies of the Eastern Church, from ancient Gallican (French) rites, from the new Lutheran order of service, and from the Latin rite of Cologne.  

So, today, I used the form for Evensong (as found here) for Evening Prayer. It didn't exactly flow off the tongue, but it was beautiful. 

Almighty and everliving God, whose servant Thomas Cranmer, with others, did restore the language of the people in the prayers of thy Church: Make us always thankful for this heritage; and help us so to pray in the Spirit and with the understanding, that we may worthily magnify thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. 

Day 141: 5/21/13- Buckeye Ice Cream

Day 141: 5/21/13- Buckeye Ice Cream     
New Thing- Eat Buckeye Ice Cream     
Inspiration: Little D.     
Time: A few mins.                         
Bottom Line: Love it. 

Reflection: D. and I headed over to Handel's today for a treat and I tried buckeye ice cream for the first time. Awesome!

Day 140: 5/20/13- Watch "Top of the Lake"

Day 140: 5/20/13- Watch Top of the Lake     
New Thing- Watch Top of the Lake    
Inspiration: Ken    
Time: An hour                        
Bottom Line: Depressing. But good. 

Reflection: Tonight, Ken and I started watching the drama Top of the Lake. Here is the wiki synopsis: "Top of the Lake is a 2013 television drama miniseries. Filmed on location in New Zealand, the series follows a detective investigating the disappearance of a 12-year-old pregnant girl." It was really depressing, but very good.

Day 139: 5/19/13- Pentecost Protest

Day 139: 5/19/13- Pentecost Protest     
New Thing- Protest Abercrombie & Fitch    
Inspiration: Pentecost    
Time: All morning                       
Bottom Line: Don't shop at A&F

Reflection: Today is Pentecost!!! The Feast that celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus, (Acts of the Apostles 2:1–31.) For this reason, Pentecost is sometimes described by some Christians today as the "Birthday of the Church." At church today, I preached a sermon that talked about the work of the Holy Spirit as being counter to the culture that seeks to make a name only for itself and not for Jesus. (you can listen to it here in the audio section) I used the recent comments from Abercrombie & Fitche's CEO (about them not wanting women who are over a size 10 and therefor "fat" to wear there closes since they are ugly) as an example of anti-Holy Spirit behavior. So, I thought that I would do something that I never did before and protest a company by sending them a copy of the sermon. Causing trouble.   

Day 138: 5/18/13- Neti Pot

Day 138: 5/18/13- Neti Pot   
New Thing- Neti Pot    
Inspiration: Priscilla   
Time: A few minuets                      
Bottom Line: Hard to get the hang of this, but I did breath more freely. 

Reflection: A few weeks ago, I had a pretty bad sinus infection and was pretty out of it. So, this week, Priscilla brought me a neti pot to try and keep my sinus open and clear. I have tried to use one of these a few times before and have almost drown, but I do think that the concept is a good one. Well, I am happy to report that the design on this one must have been much better for me because I was able to use this! It was not without a few gags, but much more successful than before. Thanks, Priscilla!   

Day 137: 5/17/13- Philly's Game For Andy's Surprise Birthday Party

Day 137: 5/17/13- Philly's Game For Andy's Surprise Birthday Party   
New Thing- Philly's Game For Andy's Surprise Birthday Party    
Inspiration: Andy's 30th surprise birthday celebration, Kim  
Time: A few hours                     
Bottom Line: Happy Birthday Andy!

Reflection: Today is my brother-in-law, Andy's, 30th birthday and his wife, Kim, had the awesome idea to get a bunch of his friends and family to come to a Philly's game as a surprise. He had no idea, we all had a blast and the Philly's won. Great time had by all, good job Kim!  

Typical ;)

 

Day 136: 5/16/13- Wear Purple for Peace Day

Day 136: 5/16/13- Wear Purple for Peace Day   
New Thing- Wear Purple for Peace Day   
Inspiration: Wear Purple for Peace Day  
Time: All day                    
Bottom Line: Peace be with you! 

Reflection: May 16th is "Wear Purple for Peace Day." On this day, people wear purple to promote peace and unity. I don't really know how, but who wouldn't like to think that a simple action like wearing the color purple could help bring about peace. As it turned out, it did help me to remember to be more peaceful all day including talking about peace with the Women's Bible study. So, perhaps, it really did help to spread peace after all. 

Day 135: 5/15/13- Watch "The Great Gatsby"

Day 135: 5/15/13- Watch The Great Gatsby  
New Thing- Watch The Great Gatsby  
Inspiration: The need to clear my head  
Time: Over an hour                   
Bottom Line: Not as bad as I feared in the hands of this director

Reflection: The Great Gatsby is one of my all time favorite books. I find Gatsby's love of Daisy and the lengths that he is willing to go to win her heart (despite her vapid and destructive ways) to be both sympathetic and pathetic. It is a subitle study of human nature set against uproarious backdrop of the 1920's in a fantastic contrast of spirit and tone. So, I was very nervous when I saw that Baz Lurhmann (of Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge! fame) was going to be putting his stamp on this American literary classic. To my mind, his version of story telling is all flash and very little substance to the point that the story gets lost in all the showy visual and musical effects. You end up losing the story in a sea of glitz (which, granted, may not be a bad fit for the roaring 20's). After seeing the film, I still think that he uses to grand a gesture for the story, but it wasn't as bad as I feared. It started out louder than it ended. I though Leonardo DiCaprio was a great Gatsby and made up for a lot of the rest of it. Also, the costumes were excellent. 

Day 134: 5/14/13- New Vampire Weekend Album

Day 134: 5/14/13- New Vampire Weekend Album  
New Thing- Listen to the New Vampire Weekend Album  
Inspiration: Mother's Day  
Time: Over an hour                   
Bottom Line: Good. I don't think it is their best though

Reflection: My Mother's Day gift came today and it is Vampire Week's new album which is good--but not their best ever. I think there second one is more grand in its instrumentation. But it still rocks.   

Day 133: 5/13/13- May Queen Week Finale- Our Lady of Fatima Prayers

Day 133: 5/13/13- May Queen Week Finale- Our Lady of Fatima Prayers   
New Thing- Our Lady of Fatima Prayer   
Inspiration: Our Lady of Fatima Day  
Time: A few minuets                  
Bottom Line: No eschatological visions for me. 

The Fatima Children

Reflection: Since there were one or two new things form last week that may not have exactly fit in with the Marian May Queen Theme, I decided to do one more (at least) this month. Today is "Our Lady of Fatima Day" and here is the wiki scoop:

Our Lady of Fátima is a title for the Virgin Mary due to her reputed apparitions to three shepherd children at Fátima, Portugal on the thirteenth day of six consecutive months in 1917, beginning on May 13. The three children were Lúcia Santos and her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto. The events at Fátima gained particular fame due to their elements of prophecy and eschatology particularly with regard to possible world war and the conversion of Soviet Russia. The reported apparitions at Fátima were officially declared "worthy of belief" by the Catholic Church. 

Visions of Mary and the traditions that are formed around them, are outside the Episcopalian view point that I have experienced. Yet, they are a part of the Roman Catholic faith that is rich in popular piety can hardly be said to unmoving or unimportant. Countless Christians have found comfort in the belief that Mary has come to guide people back to her Son and the vision in Fatima is just such a miraculous event. So, I decided to put my unknowing aside and use a meditation that is associated with this Marian event and added one of the Fatima prayers to my Daily Office.

I found this one here and since it is Monday, I used the prayer appropriate for the day:

The Seven Fatima Prayers
During the course of the apparitions at Fatima, the three child seers were taught five unique and powerful prayers, two by the Angel of Peace and three by the Mother of God. Later, appearing to Sister Lucy at Rianjo, Spain, Our Lord Jesus Christ dictated two further prayers. For millions of people, these prayers are today a living embodiment of the Message of hope and peace which Our Lady gave the world at Fatima. In the past few years, through the efforts of Our Lady's Apostolate, a pious practice has developed of reciting one (or more) of these prayers on a daily basis. The following schedule of prayers is a suggestion only; please feel free to recite them in any order which you find most comforting and appropriate.

Monday

My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You! I ask pardon of You for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love You!

Day 132: 5/12/13- Mother's Day

Day 132: 5/12/13- Mother's Day  
New Thing- Yianni's Taverna in Bethlehem 
Inspiration: D., Connie, Andy, Kim
Time: Several Hours                  
Bottom Line: Family Love
 

Little D. and Mommy on Mother's Day

Reflection: Mother's Day!! Today we celebrate all things family with Ken's side celebrating Little D., Connie, Andy's birthday and Kim's graduation (yeah, we are a bust family) at Yianni's Greek restaurant in Bethlehem which was so delicious and totally new to me! Love you all and could not be more blessed by being a mother to little D.

Day 131: 5/11/13- May Queen Week- Dance Recital

Day 131: 5/11/13- May Queen Week- Dance Recital 
New Thing- Little D.'s First Ever Dance Recital 
Inspiration: Little Ballerina
Time: Over an hour                  
Bottom Line: Bippity-Boopity-Boo 

Reflection: Ok-This one might also be outside of the BVM theme (except in a mothering way), but don't worry, it is so cute, you wont mind. Also, I planning two more Mary things for the next week. D. has been taking tap and ballet all year and today was her first ever recital and it was SO sweet to watch her preform. I was the proudest mother ever. 

 

Day 130: 5/10/13- May Queen Week- Blessed Fruit!

Day 130: 5/10/13- May Queen Week- Blessed Fruit!  
New Thing- Make a Mary Reusable Fruit Tote      
Inspiration: BVM, May                                             
Time: About 5 mins.                  
Bottom Line: I think Mary would approve of being green. 

Reflection: For today's new thing, I took my Marian inspiration from the Ava Maria. The classic Angelic Salutation states, "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen" Since there is no way to center on Mary for a week and not think about the "Hail Mary," these lines have been going through my head for days. I started thinking about the way Mary shows us how to truly love God and be open to caring for and participating in his creation--even the creation of his Son in Mary's case. So, I thought it would be appropriate to give honor to this Mother of God by thinking of a way to give thanks to the fruit of Mary's womb--Jesus. Thus, I made reusable bags that can be used at the store to put produce in. I really detest those countless plastic bags that are used to only put fruit in. Very pointless and not creation friendly. I decorated these with creation symbols and am planning on never using plastic produce bags for my blessed fruit again. Thanks, Mary!    

Day 129: 5/9/13- May Queen Week- Make A Mary May Ascension Day Altar

Day 129: 5/9/13- May Queen Week- Make A Mary May Ascension Day Altar     
New Thing- Make a Mary May Ascension Day Altar    
Inspiration: BVM, Ascension Day, May                                           
Time: About an hour                   
Bottom Line: Homemade Hyperdulia II!

Reflection: One of the many Marian May Queen traditions is to set up a home Lady Chapel. Here is the wiki explanation of this practice:   

One particular family practice characteristic of Mary devotions is the May altar, whether in a church or as a "house altar" in the home. The custom of the May altar stems from southern European countries. With the development of May altars in churches, the custom spread to set up this type of "altar" also in the home.

Devotes of 365 Alive may remember D. and I making one for the first time two years ago (seen here--definitely check it out. It's a cute one!). This year, we went up to the upstairs altar to re-decorate it and to change the color to blue (Mary's color). Since today is the Feast of the Ascension (the Day Jesus ascended into heaven after the Resurrection) it seemed like the perfect day to do this. After it was all set up, we did our family prayers by candle light and D. and I sang hymns. It was pretty much perfect. 

Book Nook- place to read and pray.

The Marian Altar

Little Lady Chapel

 

Day 128: 5/8/13- May Queen Week- Julian of Norwich Vision Board

Day 128: 5/8/13- May Queen Week- Julian of Norwich Vision Board    
New Thing- Start a vision board   
Inspiration: Julian, BVM, Kara                                         
Time: About an hour                 
Bottom Line: All shall be well. 

Reflection: Today is the Feast Day of Julian of Norwhich! She was an anchoress ("one who has retired from the world", someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, and—circumstances permitting—Eucharist-focused life."-wiki) who was totally devoted to the Son of Mary, Jesus. In fact, in her several visions of Jesus, she saw him as a mother himself. Here is a bit of her theological views as explained on wiki:

Julian of Norwich (ca. 8 November 1342 – ca. 1416) was an English anchoress who is regarded as one of the most important Christian mystics. She is venerated in the Anglican and Lutheran churches, but has never been canonized, or officially beatified, by the Roman Catholic Church, probably because so little is known of her life, aside from her writings. Julian's belief in God as mother was controversial. Some scholars think this is a metaphor, rather than a literal belief or dogma. In her fourteenth revelation, Julian writes of the Trinity in domestic terms, comparing Jesus to a mother who is wise, loving and merciful. Julian's revelation revealed that God is our mother as much as He is our father. F. Beer asserted that Julian believed that the maternal aspect of Christ was literal and not metaphoric: Christ is not like a mother, He is literally the mother. Julian believed that the mother's role was the truest of all jobs on earth. She emphasized this by explaining how the bond between mother and child is the only earthly relationship that comes close to the relationship one can have with Jesus. She also connected God with motherhood in terms of "the foundation of our nature's creation, "the taking of our nature, where the motherhood of grace begins" and "the motherhood at work". She wrote metaphorically of Jesus in connection with conception, nursing, labor and upbringing, but saw him as our brother as well.

At the beginning of the year, Kara suggested that I start a "vision board." A vision board is a collage of images, pictures and affirmations of your dreams and desires. My original plan of the day was to lock myself in my chapel for the day to live like an anchorite, but the day had other work obligations. Don't worry, I will be taking up that challenge another day. In lieu of living as an extreme hermit, I decided to take up the vision board idea since Julian spent so much of her life writing about her visions of Jesus. I haven't finished it yet, but it is full of ideas of holistic living, further education that is centered on the mind (book writing?), body (yoga instructor?) and soul (spiritual director training?), family hopes and dreams and a prayers for Christ to increases in and through me. I plan on putting it in my chapel to pray with every day.