"I arise today through the might of heaven: the rays of the sun , the beams of the moon, the glory of fire,the speed of wind,the depth of sea, the stability of earth,the hardness of rock. I arise today through the power of God: God’s strength to comfort me, God’s might to uphold me,God’s wisdom to guide me,God’s eye to look before me,God’s ear to hear me,God’s word to speak for me, God’s hand to lead me,God’s way to lie before me,God’s shield to protect me,God’s angels to save me from all that would cause me ill, both far and near, alone with others."

These words are said to appear on the Breastplate of St. Patrick, that patron saint of Ireland whose anniversary is celebrated tomorrow by the Irish and Irish "wanna-be’s". As in most celebrations, celebrating St. Patrick’s day over the years has become much more than just the marking of the life and death of a person of faith who brought his understanding of Christianity to this tiny island. For whatever you make or don’t make of St. Patrick’s Day, I offer these words assigned to his memory to you because they are words of faith, hope, and an affirmation of the all encompassing connection with the Holy.

What might our days be like if we truly did "arise" with these words on our lips? How might our days unfold if we claimed these words as we walked out our door, went about our daily commute, our joyful and challenging work, the trials and triumphs of our daily lives? What if each morning we donned the Breastplate of St. Patrick and walked out into the world with such confidence in the companionship of the Holy One?

What St. Patrick’s Day can offer us is more than an opportunity to wear green, go to a raucous parade, party with friends and sing "Danny Boy", all, well and good. Celebrating St. Patrick’s Day can also offer us an opportunity to claim the hope and confidence of St. Patrick in the God who loves us so intimately in all our comings and goings. As we dig through our drawers and closets for that perfect green sweater, we can also say as St. Patrick did: "Christ behind me and before me,Christ beneath and above me, Christ with me and in me, Christ on my left and my right, Christ when I rise in the morning, Christ when I lie down at night, Christ in each heart that thinks of me, Christ in each mouth that speaks of me, Christ in each eye that sees me, Christ in each ear that hears me. I arise today…………"

What a blessed way to walk in the world! Not only on March 17th but everyday. Have a safe and happy weekend.

What makes you laugh? I thought about this the other day when someone left what I refer to as "love notes" on my voice mail at the office. With regularity people will call and leave a little message of inspiration, a saying or a poem, that they think I will enjoy. Am I blessed or what? Someone called to say she had read some words and she thought she’d pass them along: "Laughter is carbonated holiness." The writer was Anne Lamott, one of the funniest, most irreverent yet spiritually grounded and insightful writers I  know. I recommend her books Traveling Mercies and Plan B:Further Thoughts on Faith  as spiritual memoirs that will make you laugh and cry-sometimes at the same time. Her words always provide a unique perspective on the spiritual journey.

It is easy some days to go for long stretches without laughing. But laughing is an important exercise…perhaps even a spiritual practice. We should not neglect it. Dr. Dale Anderson, a local physician and speaker wrote a book called "Laugh…for the Health of It!" Laughing not only lifts our spirits but also makes a difference in our very chemical makeup. So, just as we make time for physical exercise, making time for laughter is an important component of our well  being.

Today I met with a group of clergy that I meet with once a month. We discuss books together, the church, our work, our families, theology, politics, world affairs. In some ways we are a very "serious" group doing "serious",important work. But one of things we also do is laugh….sometimes with our whole selves, toes to belly to head. We are laughing for the health of it and for the holiness that is sent among us.

The world is often a serious place. Life is often serious business. But every day needs a little laughter. Every body needs a little laughter. Every spirit needs a little laughter. Today. Tomorrow. And always.

Last night I had the privilege to to be in the presence of the MacDonald Sisters, also known as Four Sisters for Peace. These biological and Catholic Sisters of St. Joseph travel around speaking of their peace activism, their lives on the farm and in the convent, their love of the Earth and humanity. To be in their presence is to find hope….hope in humanity, hope in God, hope in the power of laughter, having fun, doing important work, hope in the possibility of peace.  Each time I am around them I come away filled with a deep knowing of being in the presence of the Holy……..and that the Divine presence is one of open-armed,passion-filled Joy.

Do you have people like that in your life? Are there people who, when in their presence, you know  you are loved unconditionally, wholeheartedly, that what you have to say is really important to them? Are there people whose very presence inspires you to be your true and best self?  Are there people who make you  feel that being with you in the moment is the most important place to be for them? I believe that in these experiences the Holy holds a mirror up and says "Here I am!"

Perhaps the larger question is "Am I one of those people?" Am I truly present to my children, my spouse, my colleagues, the stranger on the bus? Do I walk out of the door each morning prepared to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world? Do I bring joy, hope, love and compassion to the world? I’d like to hope so. Certainly people like the MacDonald sisters inspire me and provide role models.

Today I give thanks for Jane,Kate,Rita and Brigid MacDonald who are God’s reminders to live my life with faith, hope, love, music, art, passion, commitment, rebellion…….and a whole lot of fun!

Hennepin’s theme for Lent this year is "The Stones Cry Out". For weeks before Lent, I had been collecting prayers,poems,writings,and songs with references to stones and rocks. I’ve found in the past that when I begin a project like this, one with a particular theme, that before I know it that theme begins to show up wherever I am, in the most odd and astounding places. For weeks now, the word stone has been showing up in television commercials, on a label my eyes fell on in the grocery store, in the newspaper, you name it.Not only have I found writings about stones, but other people are dropping them off in my mailbox, on my desk.  Certainly those words were always there…..I’m just more "awake" to them now. It is within my intention to be ready and waiting for words about stones to appear.

So I began to wonder……what if I began to set other words or messages with such an intention? What if I began to look for "peace" or "hope" or "kindness" or "joy""? Would that intention draw those words, and in turn those messages, to me?

We have so many negative or manipulative messages that come at us each day. Our culture is designed around messages that sell us on the latest thing that will bring happiness and success, that will bring us rewards of all kinds. Most of these messages are only partially true, some downright lies.

Gandhi said "You must be the peace you want to see in the world." A true statement….difficult, sometimes seemingly impossible, but true. Maybe if we go looking for peace or hope or kindness or joy, we will not only find the words. Maybe we will become the peace, or the hope, or the kindness, or the joy, that the world needs.

I think it is worth a look.

This weekend spring began to arrive. The snow, melting under the heat of the Sun, created water flowing down sloping streets, made puddles on sidewalks so big you had to walk on the boulevard, dodging mud that oozed  through the crusty snow. The sound of running water-so different from the silence of snow falling-was everywhere. The scent of soil and green permeated the air. Did you smell it?

People came out of their houses, loaded children in strollers or wagons, put dogs on leashes and took to the streets. You could sense the change,potential…..hope all around. As people walked there was a lightness of being in their steps……even the dogs seemed to be smiling. They arrived back home muddy, wet, shoes and paws full of promise.

March….Lent….Spring…..these are the in-between times. All that is beautiful and full of Creation comes out of chaos and messiness, we know this from the Genesis story, from the Easter story, from the turning of the seasons, from giving birth and living our lives.  Out of chaos, pain,fear,confusion, faith, doubt, death, comes rebirth, new life,resurrection. Paying attention in March to the melting, the re-freezing, the dirt,the sloshing and tracking, helps us arrive at Easter and Spring awake with gratitude for the fullness of the journey.

Today I am going to dig out the red, rubber gardening shoes I purchased on clearance in August. I have a feeling I’m going to need them. Today I want to be present to the melting, the mud and the messiness. "To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven."

This past week I have been reading about peace. Our congregation’s theme for the coming week is "The Stones Cry Out for Peace" and I have been helping to prepare worship and classes on the practice of peace. In so many ways it is very difficult to get your mind around…this thing called peace. And yet it rests at the base of what humans have longed for since they began to walk upright. Peace among families, peace among tribes, peace among nations,peace within the churches,  peace within our own hearts.

Pema Chodron, the American Buddhist nun whose face carries beautiful,deep laugh lines that surround her dancing eyes says this: "If we want there to be peace in the world, we have to be brave enough to soften what is rigid in our hearts, to find the soft spot and stay with it. We have to have that kind of courage and take that kind of responsibility. That is the true practice of peace."

As Jesus was preparing his followers for the time he would no longer be with them he said:"Peace I leave with you;my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."

We live in a world that urges us toward fear, war and revenge. From the daily newspapers to the nightly newscast, the messages of fear and despair can paralyze. And yet the voice of the Holy calls throughout the ages offering messages of peace, with a longing deeper than our own.  Our very lives and those of our children and children’s children depend upon our heeding this call.

Soft hearts, courage, responsibility,compassion,justice,love,faith,hope……these are what make for peace. Across faith traditions, across no faith tradition, across national and political lines,across ethnic and economic boundaries, in our schools, our homes, our neighborhoods, our cities…..the call is deafening. The very stones are crying out!

Peace begins not with treaties signed but with hearts changed. Let us take a deep breath…..and commit to peace in our hearts, in our thoughts, in relationships, in prayer, in daily practice…..for the hope of the world.

Have a lovely weekend…..and don’t forget to spring ahead.

Last night I was a part of a Mindfulness workshop. One of the exercises involved two raisins, craisins actually, which I was thankful for since I’m not fond of raisins but love craisins. I know……weird. The exercise asked that we take one raisin and look at it, study it, then spend time smelling it. After we had considered its scent, we were invited to put the raisin in our mouths, just on the tip of our tongues, and study how it felt, how the juices flowed from it. Then we let the raisin roll around in our mouths, the ridges of the dried raisin, still jagged and rough, slowly became saturated and the juices that lived inside the tiny morsel began to become more pronounced, flavor poured forth into my mouth. Finally, we could chew. It was an amazing experience of taste, touch, smell, sight, even hearing as our teeth and jaws seemed to create such a sound for so small an object.

This practice of mindful eating runs so counter to my normal experience of my meals. I often fill the space of my mealtime with reading, listening to the radio, even driving!  Sometimes I’ve eaten and can’t even remember doing it. Do you ever have that experience?

We followed the first raisin with another, repeating the practice. Eating two raisins took more than 10 minutes!

This practice of mindfulness offered me many things…..a sense of being present in the moment….gratitude for delicious flavors…..the blessing of silence…..and most of all a feeling of satisfaction. Two raisins, eaten with intention, had satisfied my hungry stomach.

Today I want to taste with intention and give thanks with a joyful heart. Join me?

One of my favorite places in the world is Koinonia, our church’s retreat center near Annandale. I have spent rich, rewarding and very fun times there with people of all ages. There is so much I love about Koinonia…the beauty of the woods, Lake Sylvia, the quiet of the chapel, the labyrinth in the upper field…and the coffee cups. Some time ago the staff asked for donations of coffee cups that people no longer wanted at home. Hanging on the wall behind the coffee pots are hooks with a wide array of cups…some plain, some with logos of churches, another that says"I Love Teachers" displaying a bright,red apple, another created for the Olson family reunion 2001, countless others received as thank you gifts from donations to various organizations.

I love watching people choose their coffee cup. First, they stand and take them all in. Some choose by color, others by shape. Some even take a cup down, hold it in both hands, maybe even lift it toward their mouth to check out the "feel" of drinking from this cup. When given the opportunity, I always choose a pottery cup, one that is made of earth tones….brown,gold,green…..one heavy and not glossy. My coffee cup has to feel firm in my hands, hold the heat of the coffee so I can warm my hands, and in turn my body as I drink.

Joyce Rupp, an author who has inspired me over the years, uses the simplicity of the coffee cup as a metaphor for our inner spiritual journey. She uses the coffee cup to design prayer practices that we can  use in our everyday lives. She writes:Whatever the coffee cup holds has to eventually be emptied out so that something more can be put into it. I have learned that I cannot always expect my life to be full. There has to be some emptying, some pouring out, if I am to make room for the new. The spiritual journey is like that-a constant process of emptying and filling, of giving and receiving, of accepting and letting go.

Lent can be an  "emptying out time". Lent can be a time to choose your coffee cup with intention and allow it to be a vessel to be filled and emptied, filled and emptied, as a practice of prayer, to hold your life, to warm you from the inside out, to make room for something new. I offer this practice to you.

Blessings on your choosing, blessings on the cup you choose, blessings on its fullness and emptying,blessings on the journey.

I admitted in January that I am a daily reader of my horoscope. This daily dose can offer me "lucky" numbers, tips on romance and parenting, things to avoid saying, advice on work,night life, money….you name it. It is always interesting to see what the stars hold. But every now and then there are words that stop me in my tracks. Saturday’s horoscope provided just such words.

"Keep a list of empowering beliefs you’d like to adopt, and take it out and look at it whenever you have a spare moment." Wow! What would those be? What list of empowering beliefs do I want to adopt? I’ve been walking around thinking about it ever since. I can think of lots of things I’d like to do, change,stop, or even add to my daily life. But the implication of "empowering beliefs" is that carrying them around, looking at them whenever I have a spare moment, would actually create change within me.

Here are some that came to me. From a favorite song – "You are God’s Work of Art"….an empowering belief. "Nothing can separate me from God’s love"….an empowering belief. "Walk humbly with God"….an empowering belief. "Love much, laugh often"…an empowering belief. "Kindness and gentleness in all things."….an empowering belief. What I found is that my list could go on and on. I found I had many more empowering beliefs than those that could drag me down. Perhaps it is time to claim them.

What are the empowering beliefs that would make a difference in your day, your life? Gemini’s are known as "twins", having multiple ways of seeing the world, being in the world. I invite you to share my horoscope today-be a Gemini- and make that list, take it out and look at it whenever you have a spare moment, and see what happens within.

"Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, it there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."    Philippians 4:8

At 6:00 p.m. Saturday night my husband and I got in the car and headed to the High Bridge connecting St. Paul with West St. Paul. It is a route I travel several times a day but this trip was different…we were in pursuit of the Moon. The Total Eclipse of the Moon to be exact. Many times as I make this trip, I am often privy to the incredible sight of the Moon as it shines over the Mississippi River, appearing so close you could reach up and touch the pearl, white globe that has guided our night since the beginning of Creation.

I am not sure what we expected. But we soon realized we were part of a pilgrimage. We saw cars pulling over along the frontage street that marks the bluffs, occupants with their faces reaching forward toward the windshield, looking skyward. We saw others walking along the sidewalk, stopping every now and then to crane their necks around the condos and houses that line the street, waiting for the first glimpse of the Moon and our shadow upon it. Still others walked to the middle of the bridge, where we joined them. Standing. Watching. Waiting.

The Moon at first seemed to be merely the sight of a quarter moon. But as we stood there, the cold wind whipping around our bodies, we began to see the full roundness and the shadow of the Earth that fell upon it. People stood quietly watching as more and more of its glow began to appear. Over the evening our Earth shadow came to be less and less until the full Moon appeared, bright, bold and beautiful as it reflected off the mounds of new snow.

As I stood there I had the overwhelming sense, no, more than a sense, a deep knowing, of the magnitude of this Universe of which we are all a part. I felt my insignificance, how small I am in the really big picture. But I also had the full  knowledge of how important we humans are….for it is we-the human ones-who have the intelligence, the sense of presence,the language, to stop and pay homage to such a magnificent display of Creation and Creator. It is an awesome responsibility. May I never take it for granted.

Early Sunday morning as I drove to church, I was blessed by the fullness of the Moon as it made its way out of view in the West. I offered a prayer of gratitude for its beauty, its loyalty, its brilliance.