Holy Thursday

 "Coming to God: First Days"

Lord, what shall I do that I
can't quiet myself?
Here is the bread, and
here is the cup, and
I can't quiet myself.

To enter the language of transformation!
To learn the importance of stillness with one's hands folded.

When will my eyes of rejoicing turn peaceful?
When will my joyful feet grow still?
When will my heart stop its prancing as over the summer grass?

Lord, I would run for you, loving the miles for your sake.
I would climb the highest tree
to be that much closer.

Lord, I would learn also to kneel down
into the world of the invisible, the inscrutable and the everlasting.
Then I will move no more than the leaves of a tree on a day of no wind,
bathed in light,
like the wanderer who has come home at last
and kneels in peace, done with all unnecessary things;
every motion; even words.

Mary Oliver

Palm Sunday

 "The Poet Thinks about the Donkey"

On the outskirts of Jerusalem
the donkey waited.
Not especially brave, or filled with understanding,
he stood and waited.

How horses, turned out into the meadow,
leap with delight!
How doves, released from their cages,
clatter away, splashed with sunlight!

But the donkey, tied to a tree as usual, waited.
Then he let himself be led away.
Then he let the stranger mount.

Never had he seen such crowds!
And I wonder if he at all imagined what was to happen.
Still, he was what he had always been: small, dark, obedient.

I hope, finally, he felt brave.
I hope, finally, he loved the man who rode so lightly upon him,
as he lifted one dusty hoof and stepped, as he had to, forward.

Mary Oliver

Euphoria

New record highs for the date are coming in all the time over the last couple of weeks. We are thrilled--as spring seems to be really here. This bunch of crocuses popped out today. The only sadness is that we are preparing for the second Holy Week/ Easter in a row without guests, family and friends.

My own goldensnowglobe for Erie/Harborcreek:

                        2019-2020        2020-2021

November            7.9"                    1.1"

December            15.1"                   25.9"

January                16.6"                    14.4"

February               26.7"                   22.2"

March                    0.0"                       0.0"

April                       1.1"                    TBD

                                67.4"                    63.6" (so far)   

Spring has come to Erie---Alleluia!

I rose this morning early as usual, and went to my desk.

But it's spring,

and the thrush is in the woods,

somewhere in the twirled branches, and he is singing.

And so, now, I am standing by the open door.

And now I am stepping down onto the grass.

I am touching a few leaves.

I am noticing the way the yellow butterflies

move together, in a twinkling cloud, over the field.

And I am thinking: maybe just looking and listening

is the real work.

Maybe the world, without us,

is the real poem.

Mary Oliver

Mid-March--getting there!

 This week brings the very middle of March, the first day of spring and, surprisingly for our Lake Plain living, warmer winds and early higher temps. Here are some of the scenes that are also creeping forward.

A ride around our Presque Isle State park brought this sighting of a beaver dam! 

Like icebergs, the larger section is below the water's surface.

One day these weren't there, the next day (it seemed) they were 6" tall.

Those lumpy pods are---yes, daffodils getting ready!

Our primroses....always the first to appear.

What's special about this? See that large vertical piece of last year's mulch 

left of center? I love how it was lifted up and nearly overturned by those 4-5 leaves.

The plants are relentless--no amount of soil covering will stop their "eruption"!

St. Patrick's--our first (vaccinated) celebration

 Our ice fishing season was quite short this year and is all over now. "Regular fishing" was going on everywhere this weekend as the creeks, bay and lake are wide open. 

Also this week we will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day with the first party/gathering we've had at our ministry--the offices of Emmaus Ministries, AIM USA, Benetvision and Sister Joan's writing/speaking--in a year. In fact it was exactly a year ago that we were decorated and set up for a St. Patrick's/March birthday party when everything closed and stayed that way for quite a while. In fact, I remember coming into the office in May or June to pick up more things to work on at home, and finding all the decorations and birthday cards for two of our staff, right where they were left in mid-March. It was an eerie feeling to just see everything as if we had just walked out the door--which in essence, I guess, is what we did.

One year later we're going to try it again--the same two staffers are having another birthday and St. Patrick's is on a Wednesday now, the same decorations pulled out and put up--let's hope this one can come off without a (COVID) hitch.

A groupie

I am an unabashedly, crazy groupie of Barbara Brown Taylor! I have actually been to hear her--twice, and would travel a couple hundreds miles to hear her, anytime, any place. I suspect many of you are the same.

I am reading one of her books I hadn't read yet, the 2014 book, Learning to Walk in the Dark.

Of course, I'm only on the Introduction, as I read it super slowly because I don't want to ever get to the end...really. Here's my favorite line, some of my favorite lines, from her introduction:

"Step 1 of learning to walk in the dark is to give up running the show. Next you sign a waiver that allows you to bump into some things that may frighten you at first. Finally you ask darkness to teach you what you need to know....There is some good news you can use: even when light fades and darkness falls--as it does every single day in every single life--God does not turn the world over to some other deity. Even when you cannot see where you are going and no one answers when you call, this is not sufficient proof that you are alone...Here is the testimony of faith: darkness is not dark to God; the night is as bright as day."

 P.S.  The last one I read of hers was: Always a Guest.  It was a collection of about 40 homilies she gave in various venues, churches, gathering--in the last 15 years or so--including two from our summer Chautauqua Institution events. Marvelous, just marvelous. 

Negativity

When it comes to COVID-19 testing, being negative is a good thing, not a bad thing! The community has tested negative numerous times now, along with receiving two doses of the vaccine "into our arms," as Dr. Anthony Fauci and the other experts say. All of that has led to a resumption of some normal activities over the past week. One of them is the re-assembling of the chapel, along with a return to our regular chapel seats. This has enhanced our prayer--both chanting the psalms and our singing--greatly. Another much-appreciated easing up is our ability to gather together in the common rooms of the Mount for fun, meals, snacks, projects and anything else that brings a number of us together. 

To that end I have been waiting for weeks to share one of my Christmas gifts--a unique jigsaw puzzle. Here it is in its box as well as with an accompanying picture of what it's suppose to look like when finished. What's unique about it? It's not rectangular. The owl has its natural borders!

We have a designated table in the community room for such activities. It will be going there this week. I hope it brings a lot of fun to the solvers.

Still winter in March--only softer.

 A red-tailed hawk landing on the fire escape one morning.

And, the latest goldensnowglobe.com charting of the 100 snowiest cities 

with populations of 100,000 or more.

Thank God we are not #1--

not exactly what we want used on our 

Chamber of Commerce marketing material !

Fourth column from the left=current inches of snowfall

Fifth column=average total inches for this date.

1-1	Buffalo, New York	261,310	71.8	79.9
2-2	Worcester, Mass	181,045	70.7	50.8
3-3	Syracuse, New York	145,170	65.7	103.6
4-4 Last Seasons Champs	Rochester, New York	210,565	64.6	80.3
5-5	Erie, Pennsylvania	101,786	59.9	85.1