Wednesday Medley and Bits of Life Wednesday

 Neighborhood barn


I'm joining Terri
for

Wednesday Medley

Click on the link

and join in!

First of all, THANK YOU to Terri 
for bringing us Wednesday Medley!
 

1. If you didn’t have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time?

Pray, read, blog, journal. Freeze more apples for apple crisp.

2. What’s your favorite piece of clothing you own/owned?

I don't know that I remember every favorite item of clothing, but one favorite was a drab green (like olive but drabber) corduroy coat with a fake fur collar, my favorite winter coat - that was stolen a couple months after my mom had bought it for me. My other favorite item of clothing was a dark rust colored dress with a hood - corduroy again - that buttoned all the way from top to bottom, kinda mid calf, and I wore it with tall brown lace-up leather boots. Wow, that was back in the day. And I could lace up those tall boots fast, with ONE HAND. It was quite the skill.

 Mr. C's sunset photo at Barron High School with the Barron Bears mascot. I thought it was a pretty cool photo.

3. What hobby would you get into if time and money weren’t an issue?

Well, it wouldn't be fishing, that's for sure, but I thought this was a cute pic of a couple of kids on the Wisconsin River, I think it was. Ever hopeful fishermen of Wisconsin. Well, if time AND money weren't an issue, my hobby would be travel. There are a lot of places I'd like to visit, and besides, I love the planning of a trip.  And I like to see how lightweight I can keep my carry on. I think it's becoming a pride issue.

4. What would your perfect room look like? (You can post a picture.)

 

 My perfect room looks like this (above) and has a ceiling like this  (below) and I can be there any time day or night, praying and contemplating the awesomeness of God.

Right, you don't have to have a cathedral to do that, but it sure doesn't hurt. 
(York Minster, by the way)

5. When was the last time you climbed a tree?

That would have been some time before my first hip replacement, like a long time before. But I did love climbing trees when I was a kid. Our youngest just turned 30 years old this year, is married, etc. etc. But just this spring Mr. C. noticed high up in the 90' tall spruce at the top of our driveway (where eagles like to perch, actually) there was a 2 x 4 across a couple branches. Then we found out that our youngest had, at one point in his storied childhood, carried that 2 x 4 up near the top of the tree so he could sit up there and enjoy the view. If I'd known that, I would have killed him! (which is why I didn't know that until this spring). :-) 

 But I did climb the observation tower at Rib Mountain

when we were in Wausau last weekend. That oughta count for something!

 

Our daughter, whose birthday it is TODAY -  and kids - 

whom we visited last weekend. It's always fun.

Happy Birthday, Honey!

6. Tell us something you will do/did today.

Something I did do today was make a batch of Lemon Verbena soap, and compare various backpacks at the outfitters store.  AND, I picked up and held my Tommy who thought he just wasn't getting enough attention, apparently!

 It's been pretty cool out.

High of 55 and low of 39.

Tommy and Smokey enjoy snuggling on that squishy blanket in the screen porch.

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Have a great Wednesday, everyone!

Join me on Instagram: @cranberrymorning

Liturgy of the Ordinary

"The passing of peace is placed where it is in the liturgy for theological reasons. Before we come to the Eucharist, before we take the body and blood of Christ, we actively extend peace to the members of the body of Christ right around us. It's a liturgical enactment of the reality that we cannot approach the table of the Prince of Peace if we aren't at peace with our neighbor. This practice of passing the peace has been part of the Christian worship since the dawn of the church...

"'Passing the peace' in every way we can, in the place and sphere to which God has called us, is neither a 'radical' practice nor an 'ordinary' practice; it is merely a Christian practice, one that each of us must inhabit daily.

"Because we are broken people in a broken world, seeking shalom always involves forgiveness and reconciliation. Paul tells the Corinthians that 'Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.' This is not easy.

"In the Anglican liturgy the passing of the peace comes after confession and absolution, on the heels of our reminder that we are forgiven. This too is no coincidence. Our forgiveness and reconciliation flow from Christ's forgiveness of us. Out of gratitude over the enormous debt our king has forgiven, we forgive our debtors. Receiving God's gift of reconciliation enables us to give and receive reconciliation with those around us.

"In the end, God is the peacemaker. It is not simply 'peace' that we pass to each other. It is the peace of Christ, the peace of our peacemaker."

***

Excerpts from Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life, by Tish Harrison Warren.

***

"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." 

John 14:27

Have a blessed Lord's Day,

Photo: One of my favorites from York Minster Cathedral
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Celebration and Healing

The photos above are from a couple different visits to York Minster Cathedral, probably my favorite place on earth. One time, as you can see from the photos above, we were on the rooftop, taking photos of the swirling snowflakes.

Although the photos are of York Minster (because I've not yet visited Lichfield), the following excerpt is from the book, For All God's Worth, by N.T. Wright. Writing about Lichfield Cathedral, where he was dean at the time, he said,

"...let's get hold of one thing: St. Chad did not come to Lichfield to tell people that if they were already good enough God would be happy to have them on his side. The eighth-century Lichfield Gospels, which we treasure in the cathedral, were not lovingly illuminated because they said that if the people of God were without blemish then God would bring in his kingdom. No. The reason why Chad came to Lichfield, and the reason why an ancient scribe lavished such craftsmanship on those priceless pages, is quite simply that the message in those Gospels is even more priceless: the message, that is, that the true God takes our brokenness and in Christ makes us new; that he picks up the pieces of our life, yes, even of our muddled attempts to follow him, and sticks them together again in a new way; that he heals those who are broken in heart, and gives the medicine to heal their sickness; that he promises new life, resurrection life, beyond all our sickness and death. To celebrate precisely here is to celebrate not the wonderful achievements of the church but the healing power of God to build his church with battered and broken building-blocks, including people like you and me. Celebration and healing; it is all God's work.:"

Have a blessed Lord's Day.