California Dreamin 7

Carpe Diem, is the fine science or art of siezing the opportunities that come to you. It is when we very spontaneously realize that if we don't jump at the opportunity, we will lose it, possibly never to return again, and we say, "You bet, let's go!"

It happened one crisp Christmas eve night following our Christmas eve service at the church I was serving as an Assoc. Pastor. A friend of mine from the congregation who had just gone through a messy divorce told me what he had just done. This friend happens to be a real bonafide Rocket scientist. He has a t-shirt that says, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I AM a rocket scientist!" He told me he had just wired his wedding ring into the rocket and it was shot into space, just before Christmas. It seemed like such an awesome idea, and being a divorced person myself, I could totally understand the principal of catharsis that might happen in watching a rocket blast into space knowing that a particular piece of round gold was going with it. All the anger from our hearts could be removed in a matter of seconds just watching the force of the rocket!

It was one of those moments for me, a Carpe Diem moment, just in listening to him. So I posed what I thought was a very appropriate question: "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME? WE COULD HAVE HAD A DOUBLE RING CEREMONY!" He then informed me of the launch date of the next rocket and promised me passage of my cheap, white gold band, purchased at JC Penney approximately 7 years prior to that evening.

In the wonderful month of February, the month of love and romance, chocolate, and. . . rockets?, I was given a special pass to go watch the launch. It was a clear evening, cool, but the skies were clear for miles. It was wonderful! We stood in the sand and looked over a few hundred yards at the launch pad. We had a radio turned to a particular station so we could hear all the communication from the command center. And then suddenly, we could hear the roar of the engines igniting, and the force was felt through the ground all the way over to where we were standing, and then WOW! There it went!

It was the smile that came over my face that was so special to me. It would always be this wonderful little secret that I would hold every time I looked at my ex! I could smile at him knowing that the cheap band of white gold that he bought at that exclusive jeweler, Jacque Penne', was rotating the earth even at that very moment! He would just think I was smiling because I had come to my senses and thought he was a nice guy. But, I would know the truth, that I was smiling because I had a achieved an act beyond even his imagination, and sent his ring into space, and thus brought a type of healing to myself that I really couldn't explain. I am not really sure that I can even now.

Well, I needed to understand some more about this particular rocket, and the contents within. So, I asked my friend about which section of the rocket my ring was held in. Whether it was in the part that dropped into the deepest depths of the ocean, or the part that circulated the earth until it re-entered the atmosphere and disintegrated, really didn't matter to me. Afterall, they both held equally appealing aspects of their final end of the journey. But somehow it was a special answer I received. My cheap little white gold band, would circulate the earth for 50 years, and then re-enter the atmosphere and disintegrate.

My exclamation of praise lifted to the heavens as I said, "HOT DAMN! I WILL HAVE A GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY AFTERALL!

A lenten devotional by Sister Joan Chittister, entitled,"In the Light of the Messengers," discusses the Lenten journey in a new way that I love. She says,

"Lent is not a 'penetential season.' It is a growing season. It requires us to determine what is worth dying for in our own lives and what it may be necessary for us to become if we really want to live." She goes on to say, "Lent brings to mind the range of our own roaming, it makes us assess the heights to which we've climbed, the risks we've taken, the expense of the journey in energy and gain, and the value of growth for which we have expended ourselves."

I love thinking about Lent as a 'growing season' as opposed to a 'penetential season.' It changes the focus from a need to suffer, to a desire to grow closer to God, which always means leaving behind the parts of ourselves that stand in the way. It means moving towards God, and letting go of the harmful things in our lives. It means moving towards life and away from the things that might harm us.

Thank you, Sister Joan Chittister.

Since we just moved into a home where another cat already existed, we have learned the fine art of territorialism. At first the cats were closed off in their respective rooms. Then they moved into following each other around the house, and the best we can describe it, they were on hissing, spitting and growling terms. However, the younger of the two, the invader of territory was also rather presumptuous. She would lay on the ground and roll over and taunt her enemy as if to say, " Ha Ha Ha, I'm in your territory." She even did her job in her enemies kitty box! Now if that isn't presumptuous, I don't know what is!

But it seems, there was a communication beyond our understanding. Because it seems that their growling, hissing and spitting terms has been transformed into playing. They are now chasing one another around the house, first the younger chasing the older, and then they come back with the older chasing the younger. It's brought a certain new life, and more relaxed attitude to the older cat, whose nick name I gave as "bitch kitty." She now seems to have a newer spring in her step, a playfulness that we haven't seen before.

If only this could happen in the world's international struggles. That somehow the territorialism can be transformed into a playfulness, instead of guns, wars, etc. Maybe there is something we can learn from the catworld. I wonder what their secret truly is. I wonder what was said that changed them from hissing, growling and spitting to playing with each other. If we could know, it would be a true treasure.

My son has a new friend at school and on his baseball team. We all went to see the movie Pacifier last night and in talking with his mom, we talked about church. I invited her to our church this morning because she is new to the community. She was so grateful to be invited, and was there this morning. After the service she was asking questions, so confused about all the different churches and wondering why. Since the whole theme of the service was forgiveness this morning, we talked about how so many churches developed because of differences of opinion on various aspects of the faith. Whether it was how the church is run, or how we believe about baptism or communion, etc. Formal or informal worship, etc. She just wants to go to church somewhere where her children can have lots of opportunities for spiritual growth. That is what it is about. To love and worship God, to grow in faith, and to hopefully love each other in the process, no matter what our differences may be.

I was struck though at how easy it was to talk to her about faith, and how graciously she responded. And I wonder how many people are just waiting for an invitation.

I'm a blogger! Or at least I think I am. We will see. I tried once and was a different number for California Dreamin. Now, I am California Dreamin 7 which is a complete number. We will see how complete of a blogger I am in a few minutes!!


A few days ago, I went on a silent Lenten retreat. It was a great day of silence in community, in t he foothills of Southern California; the part not sliding down the hill! We used a model called Lectio Divina, and then went into a 4 hour time of silence for prayer, meditation, journaling, and reflection on the passage for the day.

It just reminded me of the importance for me personally, but I would say all of us, to take that time out to be quiet, even in the midst of a very busy, loud and chaotic world that we all live in. It helps give us perspective. It helps us to be clear on decisions we need to make, and to be true to ourselves and who we are called to be by God.