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SoCS: Bookmarks, the Book of Mark, and Mark Twain

 Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “bookmark.” Use as a noun, use it as a verb, use it way you’d like. Have fun!

If I had to guess, I’d say there are at least 10 bookmarks in my house in various places. Maybe even 20. A few of them might even be in books. I think there’s one or two pined up on a bulletin board since I like the art. Some were designed for bookmarks. Others could be postcards, greeting cards, photos, pictures I liked. I like bookmarks, but don’t always use them. Sometimes, I’ve dog-eared a page, underlined, or highlighted in a book that I own. There is minimal hesitation anymore in doing this as I get further aways from the days and decades where this was frowned upon or even taboo according to librarians, which makes sense if it’s a library book, use a bookmark!

We’ve all probably used things to hold a place in a book that are not bookmarks. I’ve been known to use a tissue more than once, a pencil, pen, leaf, magazine, an emery board, a comb…. when I smoked in the 70s, I probably used a book of matches, or possibly a single match. But rarely would I put a book facedown to hold my place since the librarians said you could break the book’s spine that way. Heaven knows I would not want to do that or even step on a crack, because you know what might happen then!

I wonder if I can find a book with a bookmark in it. Surely there’s one in a Bible…. Yep. I found it on the page with the story I mentioned in a recent stream of consciousness post. The one where Jesus changes his mind in response to a woman’s persistence and saying even the dogs get crumbs from the master’s table. In The Living Bible, it says puppies instead of dogs for some reason. The bookmark of the woman washing Jesus’ feet with her tears and drying them with her hair was cut from a church bulletin.

I just noticed that this story is in the Book of Mark which is interesting considering today’s prompt. No planning here on my part, at least not consciously.

Speaking of Mark, here’s a quote I like from Mark Twain.

Mark these words, JoAnna

I know there are ways to bookmark things online and on my laptop, but I don’t use that for some reason, though I do send things to myself a lot which adds to my already overwhelming inbox. But I’m not worrying about that right now.

Oh yeah, here are some bookmarks I had printed for Trust the Timing.

Bookmarks for Trust the Timing

~~~

For more streams of consciousness

visit our host, Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.


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SoCS: Hiding in the Tapestry

 Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “hide.” Use it way you’d like. Enjoy!

There are fond memories of playing hide and seek as children in the neighborhood, maybe after dinner, before the streetlights came on…..

Sometimes, when I’m embracing my inner introvert, I like to hide from people in general, at least physically, by staying in my house. There’s a facebook page that has a lot of memes about the coziness of staying home which reinforces my tendency to want to be a homebody. The facebook page name has the word, cottage, in it. It’s all about coziness. But the little section of my brain that tries to hide secret thoughts of conspiracies wonders if this is a plot to keep all women at home with their pretty flowers, cats, and coffee mugs. There was a time, many years ago, when I disdained stay at home “housewives” as they were called. Now, I understand the loveliness and luxury of staying at home, decorating, planting flowers, tending the home…… Life can change like that.

Hide. Mine has never been naturally thick. In fact, my skin is physically thinner than when I was younger, and my psyche has always been on the sensitive side. I sometimes envy people who have thick skin… thick hide… Sort of….

There’s a song by Carole King called “Tapestry” which I used to listen to in the early 70s, with the line about the drifter passing by wearing a coat of many colors around his leathered hide. That’s some imagery there. There’s a Joseph in the Bible who was given a coat of many colors. So maybe the drifter was more than just a drifter. He must have had a colorful life. Anyway, it’s a beautiful song about life and death.

I read somewhere about how a tapestry does not make sense from the back, with lose strings and all, but from a different perspective it makes sense and seems to go together. From close up, things don’t always make sense, but in the big picture, it all works out. That’s what I’m believing today, in the stream of consciousness.

I just now found this video of the song, Tapestry with the background of a tapestry made in honor of Carole King.

And since it is Easter Saturday, I thought of this song about trusting Jesus as my hiding place, which I suppose can happen even in a crowd.

Happy Easter!

~~~

For more streams of consciousness,

visit our host, Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.


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SoCS: It’s Not Always Easy to be Hard

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “easy/hard.” Use one, use both, use ’em any way you’d like. Bonus points if you get both words into your post. Enjoy!

It’s not always easy to be hard. This is especially true for those who care, for people who are empathic or compassionate. We may have a hard time setting boundaries. But sometimes boundaries keep us safe. If you’ve given a lot already, and it seems like the situation isn’t getting better, then we have to say no.

Well, we don’t have to say no. But maybe we do, because you can’t pour from an empty cup. This may have to do with money, but also it could be about energy or time. We need to set limits.

Sigh. I didn’t mean to start off so serious and general. But the song came to mind, “Easy to be Hard.” It was in the play and movie, HAIR, but I like the Three Dog Night version better, maybe because I listened to it a lot many, many years ago.

In the Bible it says, “Love your neighbor as yourself. ” It does not say, instead of yourself. It doesn’t say more than yourself. It says, “as yourself.” And it wasn’t just in the Bible. It’s something Jesus said in the Bible as the second most important commandment after loving God.

This loving our neighbors as ourselves goes along with including ourselves in our circles of compassion.

Yet there are some people who do find it easy to be hard. Right? Maybe people who are hard and tough feel secure in this habit. Like the current president of the US for example. It seems it’s easy for him to be hard, cruel, and uncaring. After all, what we practice we get good at. Some people become desensitized to the suffering of others. Maybe they always were insensitive or self-centered. I don’t know.

Dang. This is a downer of a post, but sometimes that happens, cause, life…..and mainstream news….

What can I do to turn this around?

In the music video from the HAIR movie, the guy who’s being hard turns around, because his friends convince him to turn around and go back to the mother of his child. You can see that around 3 minutes into the following video. It’s more powerful and personal than the Three Dog Night version. I had forgotten that.

It’s okay to change your mind.

Even Jesus changed his mind about helping the woman who said, even the dogs get the scraps (or crumbs?) that fall from the master’s table.

I had to look that up. It’s in Matthew 15: 21-28. At first, Jesus is hard in refusing the Canaanite woman asking Jesus to heal her daughter. Some might say he was downright rude because the woman was not part of “the children of God.” But when she said even the dogs get crumbs, Jesus changed his mind.

I love that Jesus changed his mind. I love the woman’s courage, and I love that Jesus came for everyone, not just a select group.

~~~

For more streams of consciousness,

visit our host, Linda Hill,

by clicking HERE.


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SoCS: From Buddy and Jovie’s First Date to Jesus Changing His Mind

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “crumb.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

The movie Elf is running in the background as I type this Friday evening. I think there’s a scene where Buddy takes Jovie on a date to a place that has a sign like “World’s Best Cup of Coffee.” Jovie tastes it while blindfolded (she’s pretty trusting on this first date with a weird elf) and says, “It tastes like a crummy cup of coffee.” Or something like that is what I remember from having it on in the background a lot. Yes, I watch movies over and over because familiar movies equal comfort, and I love Christmas movies. My favorites are Last Christmas, Scrooged, The Holiday, The Nativity, and It’s a Wonderful Life, just to name a few.

Well, I just watched Buddy and Jovie’s first date on Youtube and I was wrong. She says “crappy” cup of coffee. If you knew that, then you really know the movie.

There’s another story about crumbs, and I think I might be closer in remembering this, but I’ll look it up to see if I’m close in my paraphrase/recall.

So, Jesus is with his friends, and this woman comes up and asks him to heal her daughter. She’s an outsider, maybe not even Jewish, and Jesus says something like it would be wrong to take food away from the children and give it to the dogs. I think he means the children of Israel, and he’s calling the woman or her people dogs? This is very unusual for Jesus to say something so mean. He is usually unusually welcoming and kind to strangers and foreigners. Maybe he was having a bad day, or maybe he was tired. He was certainly showing his human side.

Anyway, the woman replies that even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master’s table. Aside from the fact that my dogs have always had way more than crumbs, this was a brave thing for the woman to say back in those times. She was persistent. Her daughter needed healing. And guess what! Jesus was impressed by her faith and persistence and healed her daughter.

Jesus changed his mind. Because a woman, a mom, talked back to him with humility for the sake of her daughter.

If Jesus can change his mind, maybe God can too. I like that kind of flexibility and compassion. I like that Jesus allowed himself to be influenced by this woman (at a time when women and children were like property). I don’t know the timeline in this Bible story, but maybe Jesus became more compassionate after that, more inclusive. Who knows?

That’s my take on it from memory. You can read the verses in Matthew 15:21-28.

Many things are open to interpretation, like whether it’s the world’s best cup of coffee, a crappy cup of coffee, or a crummy cup of coffee.

I love their simple sense of awe.

What are your favorite Christmas or Holiday movies?

~~~

For more streams of consciousness,

visit our host, Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.


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SoCS: Open Their Eyes, Lord (and mine, too.)

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “something that opens.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

When we wake up from sleep, we open our eyes. When we open our eyes, we can see better, unless we’re blind. But it we were blind, our other senses would take over and improve with time. Having our eyes open, we are more aware.

That’s what happened when my friend woke up. She got more information when she researched the current US president who she had supported blindly. I thought it odd that she, being trans, would support someone who is not at all supportive of the LGBTQ+ lifestyle, movement, or rights, that she would support someone and a political party that want to eliminate her rights and make her conform or hide.

A few years back, I suggested she do some research on this candidate who she supported so strongly. During his most recent campaign, she let me know she no longer supported DT. In fact, she now hates his guts and is adamantly active in posting why.

I didn’t mean to write something political. But the stream took me to thoughts about being “woke” and what it means. How can anyone think it’s wrong to open your eyes and be more aware? Getting more information can change our perspectives. Maybe that’s scary.

I read something for next week’s Good News Tuesday post about a study putting diverse people together for four days and how minds were changed by listening and getting to know people.

There’s a contemporary Christian song, a decade or so old now, that goes:

Open the eyes of my heart Lord,

Open the eyes of my heart

I want to see you…..

I pray and hope that the supporters of our current US president will not just open their eyes but also open the eyes of their hearts and realize the cruelty current republican policies inflict with harm and misery that could destroy our planet, creating a dystopia that is not at all romantic like in the movies, but a real-life hell. I don’t understand how people who call themselves “Christian” could support the passing of laws that are directly opposed to the teachings of Jesus who taught about love, peace, and caring for the poor and foreigners.

Open the eyes of their hearts Lord.

Open my eyes for what I could be missing. Help me have compassion with my boundaries. Give me the courage and strength to step out when I’d rather hide out. (You know I want to take that back right now – stay home and watch Star Trek and hope we can somehow make a better world….)

I don’t have to change the whole world as I imagined as a teenager, but I do need to make some ripples in my little pond.

“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief.

Do justice now. Love mercy now. Walk humbly now.

You are not obligated to compete the work,

But neither are you free to abandon it.”

(I stepped out of the stream to find that quote. I didn’t realize, until I found it, that it comes from the Talmud.)

I wrote the above part Friday night. This morning’s reading in in Forward Day by Day, an episcopal publication, affirmed my topic with the scripture from Acts 9:

“And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored.”

The commentary was about the difference between looking and seeing, with seeing enriching our experiences, and how God opened Saul’s eyes to a new understanding.

click here

~~~

For more streams and rules,

visit out host, Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.


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Alive! (in the Stream of Consciousness)

This seed landed in the cactus like this all by itself!

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “exclamation.’” Add an exclamation mark to your title or the first word/sentence of your post and just keep writing. Have fun!

Well, that’s different! Hey! What if I added an exclamation point at the end of every sentence?! Would I think of things that excite me?! Stop asking questions, JoAnna! Just write!

Harley, the bulldog at the shelter where I volunteer has been exciting to watch come out of her shell! Maybe I’ll post a video of her later!

Flowers can be like exclamation points!

But I don’t know if I’m going to keep this up.

What?! Why not?!

Maybe I don’t want to! Maybe I’m not an exclamation point kind of person! Except when I am!

But I get tired of being “up!” after a while. I do like questions and question marks, though. Sigh. I’ve run out of exclamation point gas. What now?

“He is risen!” comes to mind. When Mary Magdalene saw Jesus alive after he had died on the cross and ran to tell her friends, that was an exclamation point moment followed by lots of exclamation points! Imagine the adrenaline as she ran!

“He’s alive!” she shouted. Maybe she had tears of joy in her eyes. I would. It’s cool that the first person to see Jesus alive after the crucifixion was a woman. A woman delivered the news. Good news!

I’m sure I’ve shared this song, “Alive,” by Natalie Grant before, but it came up in the stream, and this video gave me chills just now.

Okay, how about some flowers…

tulip poplar blossom
tulip poplar close up
Little star flowers
butterfly on azaleas

The wind blew the tulip poplar blossom into my path.

Next up are Harley and some other new friends from the shelter. When I first met her a few weeks ago, Harley was constantly shaking in fear. Now, she’s so alive! But she’ll need an adopter who will be patient and nurturing with her as she adjusts to a new home. When dogs have been at the shelter for a long time, they think it’s home. It takes time for them to adjust to new routines, people, and environments.

Harley in play yard tunnel
Meenie is the opposite of mean
Miney approaching tunnel

(A group of puppies were named Eenie, Meenie, Miney, and Moe)

It’s horrible how many homeless dogs and cats are euthanized!

If you’re looking for a pet, please rescue from a shelter!

Here’s Harley:

Harley playing with a ball

***
For more exclamatory streams of consciousness,

run on over to Linda’s blog

by clicking HERE.


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SoCS: Waiting In Line

Your prompt for #JusJoJan the 25th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “in line.” Use it any way you’d like! Enjoy!

Waiting in line could become a lost art. That seems to be the direction online registrations are taking us. We can even order our groceries online and avoid the checkout line, though I haven’t done that yet.

In the late 70s, we used to stand in a long line for hours to register for classes at the community college. There were no personal computers for registration and no phones to look at, though there were books to read in line. The longer you wait in line, the more chance you have of striking up a conversation with a stranger and potential friend.

After a quarter or two (instead of semesters) and making more friends, we made plans get to the registration building before dawn to be first in line. It became an adventure with friends. If we were not first in line, we made jokes about anyone trying to cut in line and calling “cutter patrol.” I don’t remember if anyone of us actually served as cutter patrol, but just saying “cutter patrol,” became a game. It’s funny the things we remember.

There was the same feeling of camaraderie waiting in line for the opening of The Empire Strikes Back a few years later in 1980. I was with my first husband, though he might have been my fiancé at that time. Science fiction was an interest we had in common. It was more than an interest. We were sci-fi nerds. I remember sitting on the sidewalk that wrapped around the movie theatre probably in the morning, waiting for the first matinee with a couple of friends. We had a good time being nerds, anticipating the movie and stayed to see it again. Could Darth Vader really be Luke’s father? We were such kids.

Here’s one of my favorite scenes where Leia rescues Luke.

While David is not a sci-fi nerd, he does appreciate Star Wars. I’m thankful for that, and for his abundance of practical skills.

Thursday was my yearly eye exam. After getting the dilation drops (ugh) I waited in an inner waiting room and got into a conversation with a woman who had lived in Wilmington (were I just moved from) much of her life before moving to Mount Airy. We learned a lot about each other in a short amount of time. It was easy. It’s good that there are magazines (and cell phones) for other times. Maybe next time I’m waiting in line at the grocery store line, I’ll see if I can say something nice to someone. In line conversations are opportunities with relatively low risk.

For the gallery, I’m going to look for photos of things in line and see what pops up.

Pelicans in lne
Marley and his brothers
Birds in line on Cafe
Neighbor took this of our roof. The bird feeder was empty.

And speaking of lines, this popped up:

…and this…

Trees in line watching the sunset

~~~

For more streams of consciousness,

the rules, visit our host, Linda Hill,

by clicking HERE.


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Snowflakes and Seeds of Love

Little things add up into big things in time. Like snowflakes. Still, we can appreciate the little things themselves. Aren’t snowflakes wonderful! Unique and symmetrical. Delicate and delightful.

Little wisps of hope combine over time to manifest our heart’s desire, or something even better. Trust the timing. Seeds planted long ago may grow when the time is right. I manifested reconnecting with my high school sweetheart. It took 39 years for us to be ready to meet again. I looked for a house in the mountains for a few years until I found one that was a good fit. We don’t have a mountain view unless you go upstairs and look through the trees, or walk up the hill to the back of the property. So, yes, we do have a little mountain view… and an awesome workshop for David.

Sunday, we had our first snowfall at the new house.

Our first snowfall at the new house

It’s Friday afternoon and our second snowfall has started. The first one came on Sunday on our way home from church. We saw a couple of cars on the side of the road. I don’t think anyone was hurt. Loving big fat snowflakes, I texted my daughter who lives 20 miles away, and asked her, “Do you have big fat snowflakes?”

She texted back: “I’m okay.”

What does that mean? I wondered. Then she texted me a photo of her truck on the side of the road next to a rocky slope. The front bumper was halfway off with one headlight hanging from a wire. After leaving work at the state park, Ayla had hit a patch of ice and spun around and hit the rocky hillside bordering the road. She was shaken and had to walk a bit to get cell phone reception, but she was okay.

A day or two later, I saw my daughter had posted this on Facebook:

“I’d also like to thank my truck, and the spirit of my grandfather, James Otto Macco (whom it originally belonged to) for guiding me to the rocks on the left, rather than the ravine on the right side, because I’d probably be dead.”

Her words moved me deeply. My father who died in 2017, was always strong in spirit. He had been a marine for 20 years and later became a devout Christian. My daughter and son do not consider themselves to be Christians. It’s okay with me if they don’t call themselves “Christians.” (I don’t even like to call myself that anymore since the label has developed a negative feel being used by people who do not follow the teachings of Jesus, particularly when “Christians” act and speak the opposite of Jesus’ teachings of love and compassion for outcasts and the poor.) But I have hoped and prayed that my adult children will leave room in their hearts for Jesus and his forever love.

When I read my daughter’s words of gratitude for her grandfather, I felt a wave of gratitude that she recognized and honored my father’s spiritual strength, his power to protect and guide her.

Ayla’s truck had belonged to my father until he died in 2017. I gave it to her when she moved up here, because I wanted her to be safe driving on mountain roads. I know that my father’s spiritual energy is still somehow in that truck, maybe reinforced by the Semper Fi stickers. I feel his presence and hear his voice often.

Thanks, Daddy. I love you.

Mom, too.

Mom is there, beside him nodding her head with a knowing smile. I feel their love. My parents planted a lot of seeds, seeds of love, that took a while to grow in me. I know they were worried about my rebellious agnosticism in the late 1970s and early 80s. But their seeds of love continue to sprout and grow. Who knows what may blossom?

These photos are from the first snowfall:

The barn is David’s Workshop
Snow pocket in tree
David working hard

~~~

ps: we had a lot of snow yesterday and last night, so this is this morning:

Saturday Morning

***
Today’s prompt for #JusJoJan the 11th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “it’s the little things.” Take whatever the phrase “it’s the little things” brings to mind and use it in your post. Have fun!

For more on Stream of Consciousness Saturday,

visit our host, Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.


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SoCS: Plane Ramblings, Jesus Christ Superstar, and Sanctuary Friends

David piloted with me as passenger.

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “plain/plane.” Use one, use ’em both, bonus points if you get ’em both in your post. Have fun!

I haven’t flown with my husband David as pilot since that first flight a while back when I felt so sick I almost threw up in spite of Dramamine. Now, I have a new Rx waiting and ginger candy, but I’m waiting for the right time with perfect weather and scheduling. I like keeping my feet on the ground and can’t think too much about being way up high in a tiny plane. It’s the kind of thing that makes me pray hard for safety.

Is praying a form of reaching out to another plane of existence? Or is God right here with us? It’s another plane with connections, I think. I’m thinking right this minute of Jesus praying for God to take the cup of torturous pain away from him and then turning his will over to God, trusting. Letting go. Letting God take care of him.

I was nudged to add this clip of Ted Neeley (at about 80 years old) singing the Gethsemane song from Jesus Christ Superstar. The movie playing in the background is the 1973 version that planted seeds in my agnostic brain many years ago.

Letting go has never been easy for me. It’s never been plain and simple. Most things I let go of have claw marks. Let it go, but not quite. Take it back again. Worry about it some more, then let it go again.

But I don’t think I’ll ever jump out of a plane. Unless it’s on fire and we’re over water. But who wants to think about that? Not me! I’d rather think of glimpses of another plane of existence we sometimes get where the veil is thin. That happens in the mountains or at the ocean – places where we can see and feel the vastness of creation.

I’m hoping we’ll go to the beach tomorrow which is Saturday when you’re reading this. It’s so weird to live 15 or 30 minutes from the beach and rarely go. Part of that is that we take it for granted. But we’re coming up on the season when it will be crowded, especially the beach that’s 15 minutes away. I’m looking forward to going to the mountains in a few weeks. Looking for those places where the veil is thin. But then, we can also create those places of connection with intention…. or just live in the moment and enjoy this side of the veil. Lots to enjoy as long as we don’t watch much bad news. But then maybe Nature is medicine for that.

Well, enough rambling with words. A picture is worth a thousand words.

The gallery starts with some of my friends from Blueberry Lane Farm Animal Sanctuary who help me be grounded. Then we have nature photos from the neighborhood. Click each photo to see the entire image.

Winnie the Pig
Delilah
Amos
Delilah and Esther
Sarah
Jack and Padre
Spilling from Neighbor’s Yard
March Moon
Dogwood blossoms

~~~

To learn more about Stream of Consciousness Saturday…

…and to read more streams, visit out host, Linda Hill

by clicking HERE.


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SoCS: Jesus was a Gentle Man (Most of the Time)

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “starts with gen.” Find a word that starts with “gen” and use it in your post. Have fun!

Jesus was a gentle man most of the time. There was that incident where he turned over some tables in the temple, because people had turned the temple into a den of thieves. He’d had enough. Everybody gets to that point now and then. When you are generally gentle and calm, people take notice when you lose it a little.

The movie Jesus Christ Superstar planted some seeds in my rebellious, agnostic brain during the 70s and early 80s. I even bought the vinyl soundtrack album. Maybe I’ll play it today. The Temple scene below includes some exotic and suggestive dancing. (That was your only warning.)

Jesus was ahead of his time in treating women and children as precious beings to be respected, not just property as was the general thinking of the time. Some people probably thought he was strange. Some appreciated him, like Mary Madelene who washed his feet with her tears and dried them with her hair and brought him expensive perfume which Judas wasn’t happy about. I can understand Judas saying they could sell that perfume and feed the poor. But everybody deserves to splurge now and then.

Well, these clips don’t show Jesus’ gentle side very well. There are many examples in the actions and words of this healer, the Good Shepherd, like this passage from Matthew 28-30:

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden,

and I will give you rest.  

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, 

for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls. 

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

I love that it was a woman, Mary Magdalene, who first saw Jesus risen on Easter morning.

Here’s one of my favorite fortune cookie fortunes:

Gentle shaking could be like rocking.

Rock on, rock of ages, rock me in your arms….

“Close your eyes, close your eyes and relax think of nothing tonight.”

It’s sort of a lullaby….

Here are some residents of Blueberry Lane Farm Animal Sanctuary who are gentle most of the time:

Sweet Esther
Old Lady Goats
Winnefred

Happy Easter!

~~~

Stream of consciousness Saturday is brought to us by our host, Linda G. Hill

For more streams and more info

visit Linda’s blog by clicking HERE.