hermionesviolin | Lent (35/40)

BibleGateway.com's Verse of the Day today is:

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake."- Psalm 23:1-3

Heh. Happy St. Patrick's Day.

The Lenten Labyrinth readings recently have been good and interesting -- I've just barely had time to read them, nevermind write anything up.

Fifth Saturday in Lent

The author Thomas Moore says, "The body is the soul presented in its richest and most expressive form." You and I, all of us, are the words of God made flesh. The Spirit is enfleshed in all of us.

Passion or Palm Sunday

Centuries before Christ, in ancient China, the Tao Te Ching was written. Chapter 16 reads:
Each being in the universe
returns to the common source.
Returning is the source of serenity.
When you realize where you come from,
you naturally become disinterested, amused,
kindhearted as a grandmother,
dignified as a king.
Immersed in the wonder of the Tao, the way,
you can deal with whatever life brings you.
And when death comes, you are ready.
Jesus, then, gentle-hearted as a grandmother, as dignified as a king, could ride serenely up to his death because he knew he was returning to his source. He knew he would mount not a royal throne but a rugged cross. He knew that not a crown of jewels but a crown of thorns would go on his head. That's what life had brought him, and he accepted it with serenity because he knew where he had come from and where he was going.

Monday of Holy Week

Whenever you use a noun to define yourself, like "Christian," it implies that you are a completed project instead of being in process,

"Joy Sadhana is a daily practice in the observation of joy."
-

mylittleredgirl [more info]
"Sin is necessary, but all will be well, and all will be well, and every kind of thing will be well."
-Julian of Norwich, Showings

Five good things about today:
1. There were small Dove dark chocolates at coffee this morning.
2. I forget whom I've told, but a friend recently gave me a strong recommendation for Once. I put in an ILL request, like I do, but MLN said, "122 holds on first copy returned of 62 copies," so I was seriously considering using part of my Amazon gift certificate to just buy a copy. Well, today he gave me his fresh-from-Amazon package. As a loan. (I think I'm going to incorporate it into my Saturday plan of "Sleep, for ever and ever, amen" and "laundry" -- which somehow needs to happen before a 6pm party, though I'm under no obligation to be punctual to the party.)
3. During Coffee Hour at morning church on Sunday, Rachel asked how my week was, and I said, "I've had better." We then got interrupted or something, and I wasn't especially keen to try to explain the week anyway, so it wasn't a big deal. But she called me tonight because we hadn't really had a chance to talk on Sunday. I totally wasn't expecting that.
4. She asked if this was a good time, and I said, "Shamefully, I have a tv commitment at 8:30, but that's in fifteen minutes, so I can talk until then," and she totally adored my honesty.
5. I gave her an abbreviated version of last week, and even with my attempts at couching and phrasing and such (which, btw, totally a Done Well item), I was still pleasantly surprised that she didn't react with anything along the lines of, "He's being so unfair and mean and etc.," since I feel like that's been her tendency recently. (Not that I want to invalidate anyone's reaction to my stories, it's just that the way she was criticizing was really not the response I wanted.)

BUFFY: Will, it's okay. You don't have to make him the bad guy.
WILLOW: But that's the best friend's job, vilifying and grousing.
BUFFY: Usually, yeah. But he's right. I mean, I think, maybe in the long run, that he's right.
-"The Prom" (S3)

And today was a better day than last week had been. (mjules, I was gonna e-mail you, but I've been tired/busy.)

Three things I did well today:
1. I got up promptly this morning, had breakfast and remembered to take my iron supplement.
2. I also got out of the house fairly promptly and went to the gym.
elliptical, interval program:
1mi @ 11:58min
2mi @ 24:05min
2.47mi @ 30min
I feel like I don't have the energy to really push myself on the elliptical, but I know that the fact that I'm Showing Up is huge.
3. I actually tackled the piles of papers and folders that have been overtaking my desk at work.

Saying I had work things to take care of was a little bit of a cop-out for skipping out on extra time with my houseguests, but after I actually got in to the office it turned into a more legitimate statement. (Though one of the things I had actually come in to the office to do ended up getting postponed to tomorrow.)

Two things I am looking forward to (doing [better]) tomorrow:
["anything that you're looking forward to, that means you're facing tomorrow with joy, not trepidation," as Ari says]
1. PASSIONS: a Passion Play for Skeptics, Believers, and the Third Millennium (at Andover Chapel, HDS)
2. Being more well-rested.

I read a few interesting discussions today about (U.S.) legal precedent for right to privacy etc. in situations regarding sex -- here (via InstaPundit) and then linked in the comments there: a shorter blogpost and conversation.