The Finals!!!

E and I watched the Dancing with the Stars Season 4 Finals tonight. I was absolutely spellbound by Apolo and Julianne's freestyle performance - I was actually in tears (of relief, I think) that they had done so well. How can a breakdance make me cry? I don't know, but it's been an amazing season, and I'm counting the minutes until tomorrow night's final. We usually watch House and record Dancing's Results, but we will probably have to record House and watch the Final Results. Definitely, I think.

So we gave Apolo my five online votes, and E is going to vote also from Keith's computer. GO APOLO!!!!

Sunday after Ascension Day

Today's Collect from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer:

O God, the King of glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us unto the same place whither our Saviour Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

As we discussed the 20th chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel in Sunday School at Lake Murray this morning, I mentioned the verses from Ascension Day as a parallel to what Bill was teaching about how the disciples, as they squabbled amongst themselves as to who would sit at the right and left of the throne of Jesus, didn't comprehend that Jesus was not to be an earthly Messiah. (At least not until His Second Coming, but He explains that much later....) The disciples were looking for someone who would free Israel from the rule of Rome, and instead they heard Jesus' parables about "the kingdom of heaven," and they just couldn't wrap their brains around what He was trying to teach them about His Kingdom. In Acts 1, the reading for Ascension Day, the disciples were gathered together with Jesus just before He ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, and they asked, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" Even as Jesus was being lifted in the cloud, they were STILL looking for an earthly kingdom, an earthly Messiah, one who would free them from political oppression. What they got, but didn't necessarily understand, was a Messiah who freed them from their own sin as well as from original sin -- the sin that has been inherent in personkind since Adam and Eve ate from the apple in Eden. Christ freed them spirtually and emotionally, not politically.

Their confusion gives me hope. Why? Because if these guys who were hanging out with Jesus for three years, listening to all of His teachings, witnessing all His healings, watching Him day and night -- if these guys didn't always understand all the dimensions of Christ and His teachings, then I don't feel so bad when I can't wrap my mind around certain aspects of theology. And what do we do when we can't understand Jesus, can't understand God?

We trust. We walk in faith toward what we do comprehend. We wait for His spiritual revelation. We put it in the "mystery" category and know that as St. Paul so effectively states in his second Letter to the Church at Corinth: "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" (2 Corinthians 13:12, King James). So in heaven we'll finally know all that is "mystery" in this life, whether that be regarding God, human relationships, events in our lives -- we SHALL know it ALL. That verse from 2nd Corinthians is one that I love and look forward to. Woo-hoo!

And when Jesus left earth and rose up to heaven, He promised us a very special something: the Holy Spirit. The Comforter. We'll celebrate Pentecost next Sunday: the day when the Holy Spirit came down on the disciples in the Upper Room. And am I ever looking forward to this celebration!

Saturday's Simple Pleasure....

$1.29 worth of joy sits on my front porch, waiting for me to truck it around to the back garden and plunk it into the ground. I'll dig it a little home between two tall hollyhocks, remove it from its 4-inch pot, tickle its roots, and fold it into the earth. This little tuft of green and purple is one of my favorite plants, Mexican Heather, which I bought at Rite Aid yesterday. It will grow to be a lovely, large plant, blooming prolifically all summer long, and well into the fall.

If I carefully tuck it in with pine straw next autumn, I'm hoping it will overwinter well and be around for years of growth, bloom, and pleasure. All for the remarkable price of $1.29. Now that's a simple pleasure.

Friday's Anglican Moment

Above is the icon of Jesus that graces the front of tiny Victoria Chapel where this morning we celebrated the second day of the Ascension Octave (eight-day observance).

The Collect for Ascension Day is prayed on each day of the Octave, and we prayed it together this morning also:

Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that like as we do believe thy only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to have ascended into the heavens; so we may also in heart and mind thither ascend, and with him continually dwell, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Preface for the Octave of Ascension, which is said after the various prayers in the liturgy of Holy Communion, reads thus:

Through thy most dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who, after his most glorious Resurrection, manifestly appeared to all his Apostles, and in their sight ascended up into heaven, to prepare a place for us; that where he is, thither we might also ascend, and reign with him in glory.

So after the Octave of Ascension is over, Pentecost (or Whitsunday, as the Church of England cals it) will be just two days hence! It's also one of my favorite Holy Days, another one that I wish the evangelical churches took more notice of. The Church Calendar is such a cool thing, especially as it points continually to the life and death and resurrection of Jesus! The Sunday after Pentecost, Trinity Sunday is observed. Then we'll return to the days of Ordinary Time which round out the Church Calendar, until Advent arrives in late November. Oh, there will be saints' days to remember and observe, but the Holy Days will be done once Trinity is past.

The 1928 Book of Common Prayer numbers Ordinary Time by how many Sundays each week is after Trinity ... 15th Sunday after Trinity, etc. It gets a bit confusing for a newbie like myself to keep track of which Sunday is which, but at least this year Father Acker gave me an Anglican calendar with the Sundays in Trinity clearly numbered; last year I numbered them myself on a secular calendar so I wouldn't get too lost.

But I don't want to get ahead of myself; we are celebrating Ascension now and Pentecost and Trinity soon!

So a Blessed Ascension to you all, and for six more days....

What is Today?

It's Ascension Day. Yep, forty days after Easter, according to the first chapter of the Book of Acts, Jesus ascended up into the clouds after telling His disciples:

But ye shall receive power,, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. (From the Epistle reading for Ascension Day, 1928 Book of Common Prayer)

Another cool thing about Ascension Day, besides the promise of the Holy Spirit, is that two men in white appeared to the disciples and said to them:

Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (1928 BCP again)

So that's how Our Lord is returning. From the clouds. In glory.

I would love to see Ascension Day celebrated in more evangelical churches. It's such a wonderful image of the power and might of Christ, ascending "to the right hand of the Father. And He shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the death, Whose kingdom shall have no end..." (Nicene Creed, 1928 BCP).

So imagine it. Envision it. And celebrate the power and glory of the Lord our God.

Semi-Finals of "Dancing"....

So here are the Season 4 Finalists in "Dancing with the Stars," with photos placed in the order in which I'd like to see them win:



Apolo and Julianne -- what a wonderful couple! I disagree with Len's assessment of their cha-cha-cha; I thought it far better than Leila's Egyptian quickstep and Ian's Elvis jive. It was technically perfect and to grade it down on taste alone seemed a bit shabby to me. However, 59 out of 60 possible is nothing to sneeze at, and we're really pulling for this young couple to walk away with another (albeit ugly) trophy for Apolo's collection. They received all five of my online votes.



Joey and Kym did a bang-up job on both their dances. Their showmanship is hard to equal, and their creativity seems to have no end. But I don't think they have the fan-base that Apolo and Juli have; we'll see. They are great -- this competition is truly anyone's to win.



As much as I love the Bangle's "Walk Like an Egyptian," I didn't care at all for Leila and Max's actual quick step. I much preferred their sexy cha-cha-cha which showcased Leila at her very, very best. She does the Latin dances so well; she moves smoothly across the floor with confidence and ease.

So I'm hoping for Apolo and Julianne to win, but any of these three dancing pairs are worthy of the title and the ugly trophy. It was a truly amazing Week 9 semi-finals, with only three scores out of twenty-four not being a perfect "10." Watch the semi-finals on abc.com if you haven't already; it could be the most enjoyable 90 minutes you've ever spent.

One.org

Today I added a One.org banner to the blog here; I saw it on a friend's photo blog and stole the idea. One.org has been dear to my heart for several years; Bono of U2 is behind the organization which is explained below, in a blurb from the One.org site:

The ONE Campaign is an effort by Americans to rally Americans – one by one – to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty. ONE is students and ministers, punk rockers and NASCAR moms, Americans of all beliefs and every walk of life, united to help make poverty history.

The ONE Campaign derives its name from the belief that allocating an additional one percent of the U.S. budget toward providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the world's poorest countries. We also call for debt cancellation, trade reform and anti–corruption measures in a comprehensive package to help Africa and the poorest nations beat AIDS and extreme poverty.

So if you feel so led, click on the banner and check out the site. I believe that we as Christians need to have a global vision to spread the Gospel not only via missionaries but also through service to our brothers and sisters throughout the world. As St. Francis of Assisi said, "Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." Our actions as followers of Christ say far more than our words do. Let's preach the gospel by serving those who are suffering across the globe.

From U2's song "One":

One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we're not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other

One...
One...

Mother's Day

At church I was presented with a bag of Dove chocolates and a refrigerator magnet, gifts from our church to all the mothers. We also experienced a sermon on "Mary, Mother of the Perfect Child." After chatting with friends, we ate our usual post-church Taco Bell lunch, then stopped at two fabric stores and the pet store on errands. I asked if we could also stop at Summers Past Farms on the way home, so we strolled the gardens, listening to hymns played live on guitar and meeting up with friends from church. It was far too crowded to take photos there today, so these are from Friday.

When I got home, I watered the garden and planted the three six-packs of flowers (cosmos, dianthus, and salvia) I had purchased at Summers Past on Friday. Then I sat out in my beach chair on the lawn, reading about Dorothy Day in My Life with the Saints and sunning myself. Keith made homemade gluten-free pizza tonight for dinner and dark chocolate mousse for dessert, which we enjoyed while watching the Survivor Fiji finale. E gave me some lavender bath salts, bath beads, and lotion, and T made me earrings at church. On Friday I spent my birthday gift certificate from my Secret Sister at Aubrey Rose Tea Room where I bought a small "green Betty" teapot for every day use and a warmer (put a tea light underneath to keep the tea hot in the pot). So I was assured of receiving at least one gift on Mother's Day.

My own mother spent the day sitting on the beach in Waikiki, so she had a lovely Mother's Day; before my parents left, we had given her Plumeria products from Bath and Body Works, her favorite. Besides, one can't get better than a Mother's Day on a Hawaiian beach!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers I know who inspire me with their love and care and wisdom as we love and serve and teach and encourage our children, whatever their ages!

SURVIVOR!

We've been rooting for Yau-Man in this season's Survivor Fiji. He has impressed us greatly with his humor, intellect, grace under pressure, kindness, and skills with both people and the games. Yau's joy when finding the immunity idol, his aid in helping Earl find one as well, and his weakness being his strength all endeared him to us. He has always played to his full potential, and to see Dreamz go back on his word so completely tonight angered us beyond words. Keith and E were sure Dreamz would keep his word and give Yau-Man the immunity idol he promised to give in exchange for the brand-new truck Yau-Man gave him, but I was sure Dreamz would renege. Even though I expected Dreamz to go back on his word, I was still exceedingly angry when he did so. Here's Dreamz, who works with children and claims to be a Christian and says he wants to teach integrity to his own son and other kids, and then he not only keeps the immunity idol he promised Yau-Man for himself but also keeps the truck Yau Man gave him! How unbelievably crass.

All the way through while we were rooting for Yau, we said Earl was our second favorite. When Earl also voted for Yau, we were extremely disappointed, but Yau would have won against Earl, according to a poll during the Reunion Show, so Earl did win the game by his ploy. Earl is an okay guy, but Yau was our MAN! He definitely should have won; he played the game SMART, despite age and size and lack of strength; his only mistake was trusting where he shouldn't have, which was a common downfall as Dreamz pretty much double-crossed everyone at one time or another this season.

We love Yau, MAN!

Saturday's Simple Pleasure

As E and I ran into the library briefly yesterday to pick up a book, Sherry our head librarian told us about a new event in our small town library: a monthly "Chick Flick." And the very first one was to be that very night, with Music & Lyrics with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore being the featured presentation. And the fee to attend: a snack to share.

E and I loved the film when it first came out; we'd seen it in the theatre for my birthday in March. So, armed with a bag of baby carrots as our snack contribution, we ventured out "on the town" on a Friday night to find the library's community room full of women who had brought serious snacks: strawberries to dip in melted chocolate, white-chocolate macadamia-nut cookies, M&Ms, popcorn, lemonade, trail mix, etc.

All the women agreed that we MUST do this twice a month, at the very least. Next on the dock: The Holiday with Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz.

So my Simple Pleasure of this week: watching a movie with my neighbors, laughing and eating chocolate together, and Hugh Grant's corny, bootie-shaking, 80s-era music video....