Leaves from the Notebook of an Untamed Cynic

Voice still and small

2006-10-05T09:03:00.000-05:00

A tid bit of irony.

I am preaching at Soulful Sundown this Friday
on vocation...vocare (voice, calling)
and I lost my voice on Tuesday night.

My spin: Finding one's voice through the
multiplicity of voices that cloud and confuse
and pose as our own takes slowing down,
becoming still, becoming
quiet...listening.

Off to the ear, nose, and throat doc today.
The holy two-by-four strikes again ;)

We're live and podcasting!

2006-09-27T13:11:00.000-05:00

You can listen to my Coming Home sermon
on podcast
or from the website.

The reading was Luke 15:11-32.

Enjoy!

Miniature Earth

2006-09-25T18:56:00.000-05:00

Follow the link and click on English.

In Preparation...

2006-09-17T21:40:00.000-05:00

Sept 18th is Talk Like a Pirate Day

Get Ready!

My intense childhood study has prepared me for this day in adulthood.

Compare for yourself :)

Not a good sign

2006-09-12T21:04:00.000-05:00

Read the article here.

A wise wombat once said

2006-09-11T17:23:00.000-05:00

This

Kinda cute.

Thanks Janet.

Russell Bennett

2006-09-10T08:08:00.000-05:00

One of the Thirty-Six

Tireless advocate never gave up
The Rev. Russell L. Bennett, a
progressive and religious leader
whose influence and message
touched countless people, died
Sunday at the age of 69 after a
lengthy battle with cancer.

While Bennett was not wellknown
to all Tulsans, his tireless
work and dependable advocacy on
numerous fronts were strong forces
in many aspects of life in Tulsa.
He was among the founders and
served as president of the Tulsa
Interfaith Alliance, and also was
active in Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry
and many other causes.

After receiving degrees from
Occidental College in Los Angeles,
Harvard Divinity School and
McCormick Theological Seminary
in Chicago, Bennett set out on a
varied career, teaching and serving
in schools and churches in the
Philippines, Southern California,
and the Mojave Desert. In 1968,
he became pastor at Fellowship
Congregational Church in Tulsa,
where he stayed for 36 years, retiring
in 2004.

He was fearless about expressing
and defending his views about
Christianity, though he must have
known how controversial some of
those views were in such a conservative
part of the country. His
church was the first mainline
church in northeastern Oklahoma
to openly welcome gay men and
lesbians. He was a frequent speaker
and contributor to the letters-tothe-
editor column, expressing
views on a wide range of social
topics, from abortion to war to homosexuality
to creationism to separation
of church and state.

His comments at a 2004 postelection
conference were typical of
his courageous eloquence. “It
amazes me that the war is not
(viewed as) a moral issue,” he
said. “War in the Christian tradition
is always a last resort. That’s
not the case with the invasion and
occupation of Iraq.”
Accolades for Bennett’s leadership
were plentiful and appropriate.

“In many ways, he was the
conscience of our community,”
said Rabbi Charles Sherman of
Temple Israel. “No one cared
more for those who were hurting
or isolated or poor.”

“Bennett was a man who provided
quiet, courageous leadership in
Tulsa,” said Jim Mishler, executive
director of Tulsa Metropolitan
Ministry.

He is survived by his wife, Nancy
Bennett, son David Bennett of Korea,
daughter Sarah Bennett of
Tulsa, and two grandchildren.
Whether they know it or not,
Tulsans will miss Russell Bennett.
Few leaders have displayed, or
will display, the kind of courage
and compassion that came naturally
to him.

On Fire!

2006-09-08T10:06:00.000-05:00

Please don't try this at home.

The Trick

2006-08-30T08:32:00.000-05:00

Update

2006-08-29T07:56:00.000-05:00

Some things that have happened since my last post....

I turned 34.
I became the owner of my very own sewing machine.
(and bought the material for my first solo skirt project)
I was on the chancel with Carlton Pearson.
I listened to Rev. James Garrison speak.
I participated in a mini-rehearsal of an 8 part song with the Young Adult
Choir. (Incredible!)
I celebrated my birthday in person with my mother for the
first time since I was 15.
I co-lead a workshop on mission and vision at a Leadership Conference
at the church.
I spent some time with my brother.
I staffed a Tulsa University Campus Ministry Table.
I have eaten tapas, Cajun, and at a fish market.

For those of you who are fretting, this week is at less than
half of that pace.

I love my job.
I am so lucky.

On Wings of Eagles

2006-08-17T08:17:00.000-05:00

Not too long ago, I heard Rabbi Yechiel Z. Eckstein speak at a
fairly large and really conservative church here in Tulsa.
He was compassionate and doing work that he believes in very deeply.

I encourage interfaith dialogue and cooperation. I believe
that our liberal religious tradition calls us to do that work and I am
looking forward to working with organizations in Tulsa that promote cooperation and dialogue. It is the motivation of Rabbi Eckstein and the his supporters that make me nervous.

During his speech, and following an offering that raised $100,000,
Rabbi Eckstein said, "The Bible belt is the safety belt of Israel."

Rabbi Eckstein alluded to the fact that prophecy, Biblical prophecy,
is being fullfilled because Christians are funding the return of
Jews from all over the world to Israel. He even claims that the
lost tribes have been located and are being sent home.

The Rapture Index is going through the roof. It seems as though the modus operendi is to hurry up the second coming by assisting to fullfill the Christian fundamentalist interpretation of scripture. I know that many Jews are benefiting on an individual level and I am glad. I wonder though how they feel about of being pawns in a Fundamentalist Christian game of chess?

Gay Marriage: Broken or Blessed

2006-08-08T08:43:00.000-05:00

Have you heard this?

If not check it out here.

Makes you go hmmmm...

2006-08-07T22:05:00.000-05:00

Today in the Doctor's office
looking at an Xray...

Me: I don't have much of a curve in my neck.
Very Nice X-Ray Tech: No. You don't...It's almost a reverse curve.
Me: That's terrible. I'm too young to have a neck that looks like that.
VNXRT: Yes.... How old are you?
Me: Going to be 34.
VNXRT: Well, I've seen a man in his twenties with a neck like yours.
Me: Oh...Wow.
VNXRT: (PAUSE) Although he was run over by a semi.
me: Great...

It Felt Love

2006-08-07T08:54:00.000-05:00

How
Did the Rose
Ever Open its heart

And give to this world
All its Beauty?

It felt the encouragement of light
Against its
Being,

Otherwise,
We all remain

Too

Frightened.

~Hafiz

Naming Names

2006-08-06T07:16:00.000-05:00

NAMING NAMES
by Robert King

I love the words of the name red winged black bird
though my philosopher daughter tells me descriptions
are not real names. And oh I know how the words fail,
turning bright blue prairie blossoms to Spiderwort
a farmer calls Cow Slobber. And I know how lazy
and local we get, talking of buffalo berry, buffalo bird

and grass, Indian grass or fig. Someone called it
Indian bean, the broad catalpa, a tree I met in Kansas
as a child, that place that means the wind, wind people,
south-wind people, a tree whose sound meant flowers,

"head with wings," in the round mouths of the Creek,
a tree which is Bignonia, imagine, in New Latin, when

we wanted to be neutral as science and hence named
a tree for the Abbe Bignon, New Latin librarian
to Louis XIV, hence honoring air again. "Te amo"

my 8th grade girlfriend's friends dared Jayne to say
which didn't mean she loved me, since it was
another language. Later, I took Latin and by now

Miss Hixon's joined Marcus Aurelius who joined,
as he knew he would, three men he names
as learning from and of whom, a footnote says,

"nothing is known" and who, anyway, wrote in Greek
or, for all we know, water. Or the air. Might as well
be air, I've thought, language only a shape of lips.

In Mabel Hixon's Latin class, Gene sat heavily
beside me in his stained work-clothes, his face
a laborious puzzle over the text, the rest of us

wondering why he read, why he was even there.
At our 40th reunion, he turned out to own
the county's biggest truck farm, thank you,

planting food in Latin — a union of onions,
the radical roots of the radish — and other tongues,
tomat, batata, the ancient bha-bha of the bean,

the grains of corn gardeners first called maize,
and the people ate the names and they were good.
It doesn't matter we give every wind a name

that dies, Mabel and Marcus other people now.
This breathing sound is how we call, our only ways
to say te amo to the air and bring it back again,

te amo to the black bird with its red spot wing,
te amo tomato and rosy wort, and green grass grown
and Gene and Jayne and all the, all the names.

Native America Ad

2006-08-05T08:31:00.000-05:00

Selling Oklahoma and Tulsa to Surrounding States

Oklahoma's got soul...

Truelove

2006-08-01T08:29:00.000-05:00

I was given this poem yesterday by a
friend. It is so beautiful I wanted to share.

Oh and P.S. (for those who are keeping track)
TP woke this morning singing me a wonderous rendition
of "IT IS YOUR.....Birthday month...It is your Birthday month...
la, la, la, la, la la..It is your Birth-Day-MONTH."

****
The Truelove

There is a faith in loving fiercely
the one who is rightfully yours,
especially if you have
waited years and especially
if part of you never believed
you could deserve this
loved and beckoning hand
held out to you this way.

I am thinking of faith now
and the testaments of loneliness
and what we feel we are
worthy of in this world.

Years ago in the Hebrides
I remember an old man
who walked every morning
on the grey stones
to the shore of the baying seals,

who would press his hat
to his chest in the blustering
salt wind and say his prayer
to the turbulent Jesus
hidden in the water,

and I think of the story
of the storm and everyone
waking and seeing
the distant
yet familiar figure
far across the water
calling to them,

and how we are all
preparing for that
abrupt waking,
and that calling,
and that moment
we have to say yes,
except it will
not come so grandly,
so Biblically,
but more subtly
and intimately in the face
of the one you know
you have to love,

so that when we finally step out of the boat
toward them, we find
everything holds
us, and confirms
our courage, and if you wanted
to drown you could,
but you don’t

because finally
after all the struggle
and all the years,
you don’t want to any more,
you’ve simply had enough
of drowning
and you want to live and you
want to love and you will
walk across any territory
and any darkness,
however fluid and however
dangerous, to take the
one hand you know
belongs in yours.

~ David Whyte ~

(House of Belonging)

More on the Mental Boardroom

2006-07-31T07:43:00.000-05:00

Crooked Deals- Hafiz

There is
A madman inside of you
Who is always running for office-
Why vote him in,
For he never keeps the accounts straight.
he gets all kinds of crooked deals
Happening all over town
That will just give you a big headache
And glue to your kisser
A gigantic
Confused
Frown.

Bats and Fireflies

2006-07-29T21:46:00.000-05:00

Our Tulsa neighborhood is full
of bats and fireflies. The fireflies
are familiar old friends from my childhood.

The bats are something new for me.
The only bats I've ever seen are in Austin.

They were small and in pairs mostly and followed us on the
first half of our walk around dusk. They were small and beautiful
in flight.

Evidently bats in China are seen as symbols of happiness and
long life and the Mayans believed them to be symbols of
rebirth. Bats play a valuable role in nature.
They feed in insects and are essential to the pollination
of many plants. Even their waste is used as valuable fertilizer.
Bats are the only flying mammals. Bats serve as a symbol of promise
amidst the chaotic energies of change. It reflects the ability to move
to new heights with the transitions. Bats are social and live in flocks.
Seeing flocks of bats may reflect an increased opportunity for sociability.
Bats are experts at navigating through the dark. Bat medicine can assist
you in hearing the hidden meaning and implications in other's words.*

I embrace the many bats in our presence.
_
-
* excerpted from Animal Speak- Ted Andrews

Overheard in Oklahoma City

2006-07-28T20:11:00.000-05:00

At the end of the gas relief aisle in the pharmacy
section of a large grocery store chain...

Woman likely in her 40's looking more like 65
leaning over her basket like a walker:
"Well, it just don't get no better."

Man in an employee vest in his 30's who seems to know
the woman..."Yup."

Woman: "Arlene moved in. (long pause to emphasize the
disdain)

She's 7 months pregnant and she ain't never
gonna get no job....

Mark got a job but it don't pay squat.
(pause and a sigh)

I'm goin to be a drunk by the end of the month fer sure."

****
Makes me sad, tired, re-enforces my desire to speak out on
truth based sexual education, and causes the English teacher
member of my mental board room to twitch.

Morning Practice

2006-07-27T08:51:00.000-05:00

I hit the pool yesterday for the first time in a
very long time at 7 a.m. I had a fantastic
workout.

Afterwards, during my Qigong in the backyard
I kept hearing this weird grinding noise.
Turns out we have a very relaxed squirrel
who found something of substance to gnaw.

A Close Up:

My morning reading this morning was beautiful and
from Hafiz:

How do I listen?

How
Do I
Listen to others?
As if everyone
were my Master
Speaking to me
His
Cherished
Last
Words.

Southern Accent

2006-07-26T17:14:00.000-05:00

Consider me impacted by the land and my lineage.

Listen

Everything is bigger

2006-07-26T11:10:00.000-05:00

So, I was looking for a vet to
work with Angelou's Diabetes.

As I am waiting to make an appointment,
I read that the vet I have called only
works with small animals.

The receptionist comes back to the phone;

"Ok, so how about Monday?"

"That will work fine. I noticed on your
website that it says that you only serve
small animals. Do you work with dogs or are
you primarily a cat, hamster, bird kind of place?"

silence

"Ummm...yes we work with dogs."

"Oh, great..I just didn't know what you condsidered to
be large."

"Ummm...Cattle."

Large is so relative.

Oklahoma in July

2006-07-21T12:03:00.000-05:00

We are moved in.

I am greeted in the morning by birds singing
to the rhythm of a symphony of cicadas.

It is good to be home.

****

The heat is heavy.
The Cranberry Limeades are gud.
The church is welcoming.
The staff is amazing.
The house is coming together.
The Wild Oats is down the street.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder???

2006-07-16T20:31:00.000-05:00

We will have our internet up on the 20th.

Bare with me and check back. I miss this connection to
the world.