Hello!

My family and friends have long teased me about my knowing someone wherever I go. It's become quite a joke. One of my favorite encounters was on the street in the Dominican Republic. I came face-to-face with a young man who was working as a private security guard. Neither of us could break eye contact. The answer came to each of us at the same instant... he had been the bell hop at the hotel where my church group spends the last couple days of our mission trip. "Marta!" he exclaimed. "Jose!" I replied. Much laughter followed and we spent a few minutes reconnecting.

Well, last night was another of those encounters. My daughters and I went to a restaurant a few miles from home for a casual dinner before we ran some errands. As I slid into the booth, I noticed a man looking at me but I couldn't place him. About the same time I became aware of a man rounding the corner and touching my daughter on the shoulder. Startled, we looked up to discover my brother Dave, in town for a quick series of meetings. The guy staring at me was a co-worker of Dave's who I had met before and to whom Dave had said, "That's my sister and my nieces, watch this!" Ironically, the restaurant is called "Famous Dave's."

It's these kinds of events that keep me in line... you just never know who you'll run into! :-)

Phone Calls

In the last week or so I've been anxious about answering the phone. It doesn't matter that I can look at the little screen (squinting, if I don't have my glasses on!) and see what number has connected with my number. Some of the anxiety is well placed, some anxiety has no basis for existence.

It probably started in February when my friend Gena and my Aunt Amy died. That news was unexpected and hard to assimilate. Since then I've had calls about a friend's cancer diagnosis, a beloved dog's final day, several car problems and some good news/bad news calls about people moving.

Balancing all this irrational fear about what people will say after "hello," are the happy calls. The call from 16-month-old Hannah who was playing with the phone and dialed Grammy. The message from my sister Kathy, calling just to say hi! The call announcing a wedding. The dreaded 11:00 at night call that woke me from my sound on-the-couch sleep which turned out to be Dominican friends singing Happy Birthday, complete with guitar!

I will keep answering my phone. I will keep hoping that it's all good news. I know that bad news will be relayed now and again. I will keep praying in the words of Julian of Norwich that "all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."



Courtesy of Satucket Software, here is a write-up about Julian from their Lectionary Site...

Julian of Norwich
Her book is a tender meditation on God's eternal and all-embracing love, as expressed to us in the Passion of Christ.

She describes seeing God holding a tiny thing in his hand, like a small brown nut, which seemed so fragile and insignificant that she wondered why it did not crumble before her eyes. She understood that the thing was the entire created universe, which is as nothing compared to its Creator, and she was told, "God made it, God loves it, God keeps it."

She was concerned that sometimes when we are faced wiith a difficult moral decision, it seems that no matter which way we decide, we will have acted from motives that are less then completely pure, so that neither decision is defensible. She finally wrote: "It is enough to be sure of the deed. Our courteous Lord will deign to redeem the motive."

A matter that greatly troubled her was the fate of those who through no fault of their own had never heard the Gospel. She never received a direct answer to her questions about them, except to be told that whatever God does is done in Love, and therefore "that all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."

Bob and Ellen Have a Blog!

The St. Anne's mission trips to the Dominican Republic have been made possible in part by the hard work of Rev. and Mrs. Bob Snow, missioners to the Diocese of the Dominican Republic. I have been on their email list for a while now and look forward to their newsletters, appropriately titled "The Snow Scoop."

It seems that the Snows are now able to take advantage of technology (that means precious access to a computer and reliable electricity!) and have launched themselves a blog!!

Keep up with the adventures of Bob and Ellen as they shepherd short-term mission groups, support Episcopal schools on the island, befriend folks who live on the streets, encourage new priests, visit and publicize areas of particular need in the diocese and, most of all, embody the message of God's love and Christ's care to all they meet.

The Snow Scoop Blog is in my links list.

The Church Dog

Ollie.

I'm not sure how old a dog Ollie got to be. I've known him almost nine years and he wasn't a pup when we met. Today, Trinity Sunday 2008, Ollie died, peacefully, in his home. In the next days, there will be lots of Ollie memories shared amongst the St. Anne's family. Here are some of mine:

** Nails clicking on the tiled office floor as he came out of the rector's office to say hello.
** Ears flying as he rounded the corner from his usually successful search for any communion bread "returned to the earth."
** Doggie snores during a contemplative prayer session.
** Doggie farts during a meeting. (Ya just had to laugh!)
** That great Ollie smile when he recognized you.

Ollie had something special. He wasn't the prettiest dog I every met; he was a beagle/basset guy with big paws and a comic gait. He had his warts, bumps and lumps. He had a profound sense of companionship. He was quite the gentleman.

Ollie, Church Dog, rest in peace.

How We Go 'Round and 'Round

I've joined a women's fitness program offered by a local runners group each spring. Mind you, I'm in the walking category. The program meets on Mondays and we're supposed to walk, walk/run or run on our own during the week. I was trudging along yesterday when I found myself laughing at a particular circle game.

I live in a planned community where straight streets are the thoroughfares and houses are arranged on curvy streets. Near my house is a street that's actually a circle and is used as the neighborhood exercise track, that's where I was walking. On my second lap around the circle I noticed a family. Mom, dad, and toddler were walking the opposite direction from me. Mom held the boy's hand, dad pushed a stroller in case someone's short legs gave out. Then, a teenager whisked elegantly toward me. She sprinted lightly past the young family. I saw her again as we all made our way around the circle. That's when it hit me... we were three stages of life playing our circle game. The teenager, the young family and the grandma.

Laughing, I trudged more easily around the last circuit before heading for the house, the house where I had been the young mother, and from whose door a teenage runner had sprinted out to lap a grandma on the circle road.

More Church - Youth Sunday 2008

Today the acolytes were very short, the lay readers stood on a platform to reach the microphone, the bulletins were handed out by more short people and the sermon was preached by two handsome young men who I remember clearly being short not too long ago! Youth Sunday had made its annual appearance.

The confirmation class is charged with writing the Prayers of the People. It takes me a long time to convince the kids that they can pray for just about anything. They keep trying to use the standard churchy words and I keep saying, "This needs to sound like YOU are talking, I want to hear YOUR voices, your concerns." It's a highlight of the annual church cycle for me.

So, for your reading pleasure...

Prayers of the People
written by
St. Anne's Confirmation Class of 2008

We pray for the Church in the world:
for our diocese, Shrine Mont and the people who help there, for Hope and Resurrection School in Sudan, for all St. Anne’s members and other church members, and for resolution of any big problems in the church.

We pray for our country and all in authority:
for our president, vice-president and the upcoming president and for all elections; for those who must make big decisions - that they make the right choices and not stupid decisions; for the troops and all people fighting for our safety.

We pray for the welfare of the world:
for conservation efforts that give us a better understanding of global warming and pollution in water like the Potomac and the Chesapeake, for an end to world hunger, AIDS, malaria and poverty and for the hope of world peace.

We pray for our local community:
especially for the animal shelter in Ashburn that’s having trouble getting money, for soup kitchens and other places that help the poor people of our community, especially the children; for the Embry Rucker Shelter and for all community members who help others.

We pray for all who suffer and for those in any trouble:
for the families of the troops, those who are homeless, those affected by the Virginia Tech shootings, for people who worry about sick friends and family members and for children in Africa.

We pray for our friends who have cancer including Amy B. and Allie, Paul and Ethan, Hailey and Emily, a musician friend and Ali C. whose cancer is in remission; and we pray for those who are disabled, sick, sad or just not feeling well and that they may feel better.

We pray for all who have died, including those who died in the Virginia Tech incident, soldiers who died in Iraq and Vietnam, Amy Schram, Alice Bond, Cecilia Gillen, Jeffrey V., Marla, David, grandparents, and people who died in the name of God; that they will all shine in Your presence and that their family members can be happy.

And we want to thank you, Lord, for birthdays and anniversaries, for a safe community, a strong future, healing, hope, graduation, the end of the school year, summer and pools opening, Relay for Life, love, and the opportunity to continue our faith journey.

Amen.

... I swear, these are their words. I took out references to specific political candidates but the rest of it is all kid. Congratulations to their parents. And, watch out world, these kids have plans! (To see last year's prayers - click.)

Off to the Weiner Dog Races!

I guess it's been about two years since I started reading a blog called The Roller Skate Jams. I clicked on the blog title because it was under a heading of "Fun People" and I was trying to figure out just what jam had to do with roller skates. (Yes, it's true!) The fun person is Rene Gutel and if you look closely at her little profile picture, you'll see a girl wearing pajamas with roller skates on them... oh, duh!!!

I returned to the blog because Rene's little dachshund puppy Rigatoni had broken her leg. Oh, the pain. I don't think Rigatoni hurt nearly as much as Rene did! And, like any good soap opera, the chapters kept coming and I kept reading. Rigatoni made a full recovery, so well-recovered in fact, that Rene entered her in the Phoenix area WeinerNational Dog Race.

If you were to ask me why "weiner dogs" are burdened with raising money for the Adopt-A-Greyhound organization, I might respond that weiner dogs were born to run... but that would be the greyhounds, wouldn't it? Or, I might respond that weiner dogs are philanthropists at heart. To give Rigatoni a chance to show off both her legs and her heart in the annual event to support her long-legged cousins, you can click and scroll past Milo D, Jessie, Squirt, Izzie, Mia, Roxie, Oliver, Max, Sprocket, The Dude, Twinky and Goofy to RIGATONI wearing her #6 jersey. Click on the link to get to the donations page and remember to specify Rigatoni. You'll get an email receipt for your tax-deductible donation and the pleasure of sending Rigatoni back to the WeinerNational!

Donate soon! The top 20 fundraisers will automatically be entered in the qualifying heats. The race to donate closes May 4. The dogs will race on May 17. Let's hope Rigatoni is one of them!