Books Shelves Boxes

[reflection after packing books (Denise M. & Anne T.) in Bill’s office 9/26/2015]

Alphabet covered words bound paper

Breathing caressed balanced wood head toe spine

Squared cardboard flaps shelter comfort

Floor Level - Eye Level

[Reflection from sitting on the floor at a crowded airport terminal eating lunch. A view that a child may see? Or homeless person?]

Floor level sightline knee height
Direct moving upright torsos foot colored styles
Look up down eye level

Blocks of Faith

[reflection of Santa Barbara Mission founded by Fr. Juniper Serra]

Boxed castle Lego blocks stacked

Doors’ heaviness support columns hinged tightly

God peeks through human blindness

Zen Stone

[Image from Mt. Calvary Retreat Center, outside my room]

Hewed brown stone nut shell

Worn image surfaces contrasting roughness smoothness sacredness

Emerging folded Lotus hands

Empty Thinking Space

[Reflection upon final "office" day at Trinity Cathedral on July 3]

Empty Thinking Space

Finally emptied the office,

• Paper stuff gone!
• Desk drawers empty!
• Personal pictures down!
• Dust balls are fewer!

But,

• Walls still exist!
• Windows still have the same view!
• Door enters and exists into the same hallway!
• Wood on desk and floor more visible!

Now,

• Empty - Yes!
• Sacred - Always!

Open Floor Plan

Tiny House – Open Floor Plan

A wall opens to the sky as the sun rises.

A wall opens to the travel of life as the sun sets.

A wall tells a story on a colorful mural.

A slab of cool cement comforts feet as a floor.

A sleeping bed of flatten cardboard.

A bright red grocery cart filled with worldly processions.

A home of less-ness proportion.

[The residence of a "homeless" person under the SR51 overpass at McDowell and 20th street]

Maundy Thursday 2015

[Regenerating this blog by sharing Maundy Thursday reflection of 2015]

Threads for a New Commandment

The marketing slogan for the cotton industry is “the fabric of our lives.” It’s an image of threads intertwined to create softness, comfort and security. This is an image that is often overlooked in the Triduum of Holy Week. Over these next few days our senses will be inundated with the harshness of a crown of thorns, the hardness of the wood of the Cross, and the roughness of a large stone covering the tomb; all full of sorrow and pain. But yet, there is comfort and security on this Holy Week journey. Through the threads of fabric found in an outer robe and a towel in today’s Gospel, to the linen wrappings within the empty tomb on Easter Day.

The questions for us today, are:  How do we carry comfort and security in these harsh global times? How do we be bearers of thread(s) for “the fabric of our [other] lives”, and live the “new commandment?”

I am reminded of the spiritual impact of threads and fabric from last December’s display of quilts within the Trinity Cathedral complex.  There were panels of the “Names Project - AIDS Memorial” quilts, and prayer quilts done by the Cathedral’s Quilter’s guild. These quilts had common threads that represented the act of comfort, security and healing in remembrance of the human needs and longings for God’s love.

Our “Teacher and Lord” teaches us to love one another as He has loved us. And, that we should embody the love that is about justice, peace, and the dignity of every human beings (BCP 305). The journey to the tomb does not start today with the Triduum because it’s been in action for centuries. And, it does not end on Easter Day because it continues at every twist and turn of the journey’s road. We are the carriers of threads for life and love!