Mindful

I was listening to a podcast last week about Mindfulness. The guest speaker was arguing that to minimize stress we need to address where we have our attention rather than our thinking. Now, for a girl who's big into the power of thinking about thinking, that caught my attention!

He suggested that our stress can be relieved by being fully present, with every sense, in every moment. After all, this present breath is the only one we have.

Imagine, being totally present in every moment, paying full attention so we miss nathing (as the Northern Irish would say). Every sense, fully engaged, taking it all in. I started to wonder, how much more would we hear from God if we lived like that? How much more of humanity would we marvel at? How much more would we know about ourselves?

The day after hearing the podcast I got my daily scripture text from a pastor friend in Florida. It was Psalm 8v4 - "What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?" Now there's a revelation!

The Lord is 'mindful' of us.

It's not that God's over there somewhere and we need to catch His eye; rather His full attention is on us. With every sense He is fully present in every moment, with our every breath. He misses nothing. He is not distracted or tired, apathetic or stressed.

It also means He's not just looking out for us, keeping a wee eye on us. Rather He is 100% rooting for us, paying attention to each uttered cry and plea, each thankful shout and joyful smile.

Be mindful this week and know that you are minded!!

The Force

Sunday night was another American Cultural experience - the Superbowl....
Church had to be four hours earlier, Trader Joes sold out of crisps/chips, and grown women decided that football was really important. Thankfully I was at the house of lovely Laura and marvelous Molly who are not only fabulous cooks, but they were also very happy for me and my dear friend Northern Irish friend Lesley to only get excited by the adverts. BIG deal to get airtime advertising space during the Superbowl - watched by 111 million viewers!

My favourite ad was for the new VW Passat. A little boy dressed as Darth Vadar tries to use The Force on his dog, the drier, a doll and his lunch. Then Dad arrives home in the new Passat. As the boy zaps the parked car with The Force his Dad locks the car with the keyfob from the kitchen - brilliant! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN41zcXJjmk).

How like me can you get? I try to use my force to shift people, inanimate objects, weight, circumstances. Yet, when Father gets involved - bam! Surprise! With all the resources of Father's storehouse and the company of heaven at His command it's a no-brainer really. Less of me and more of Him.

May His Force be with you .......

Intentions

My friend Moyra told me that this New Year she had arrived at some new intentions for 2011 rather than resolutions. Now that was an idea I could buy. Resolutions are so, well, resolute. There's no give; no space to err - which I hear is human. To intend to do something allows you to drop the ball and pick it back up and start again. You know, I intended to go to the gym in January but forgot, so I'll go in February. But if you break a resolution, well it sounds so serious and final. It makes you feel weakwilled and out of control.

Anyway, I've been thinking about my intentions for 2011. I've come up with two - both of which have been molded by experiences at the end of 2010. First, for about the first 5 weeks after our move to Washington DC I was terribly homesick. I grieved my family and friends, my home and my village. When I did things which were great fun I felt guilty, like I was somehow betraying home. Then Richard extolled the reality that we were released to come here by our friends and family, that although they missed us, they wanted us to experience everything God has for us in this place. So, intention number one is to grasp each opportunity with both hands and enjoy the adventure of a lifetime, whatever that looks like.

Since we arrived in America we have been overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers. Our little flock are amazing to us - they have welcomed us into their lives without hesitation and shown us Jesus. So intention number two is to be kind. I know we're called to love everyone, but some days I struggle with that; so maybe simply being kind is a good start. A kind word, a thoughtful note, and freely given smile , might just give someone hope in 2011.

So what are your intentions for 2011? Go on, I dare you.......

Anticipation

Advent - the season of waiting. We've been waiting for our shipping boxes for the whole of Advent. As each Lindt Lindor chocolate ball disappeared from our Sainsbury's Santa advent calender, our boxes endured weather delays, lost paperwork (thanks Virgin!) and an eventually transatlantic flight to experience 3 days in US customs. But at last, today's the day our boxes are to be delivered.

Thing is I can't really remember what's in them! I do know there are mugs and our favourite blanket, but we spent hours debating what to ship and how to pack it and how to weigh and seal the boxes and we've lasted the past month without them. I guess the reality is that there's nothing in there imperative to survival - more about memories and comfort, and expectations of
'need'.

We're all waiting for something - that life-changing opportunity at work; the relationship that will make us whole; for the angst to stop and the joy to move in. Holding on in expectation that tomorrow will be better than today - that our failures, demons, sadness and dislocations will be redeemed, removed, replaced and restored. The time when we move from Advent to Christmas.

Christmas - no longer waiting, the fufilment is here. Emmanuel. God come to earth as flesh to fully embrace our weakness.

That's the magic of Christmas for me - Christ's birth brings us completion of redemption and restoration while at the same time we live continually looking to be redeemed and restored. Advent and Christmas happening together every day of the year.

Preparation

Although I was never a Girl Scout, I have an almost obsessive desire to be prepared. Considering the multiple possibilities of every outing means I carry a very heavy handbag. There's water, in case I dry out; US and UK mobiles in case a very important call comes; hand santizer to ward off those pesky metro germs; lipstick in case I get discovered; plus the usual purse, tissues and keys. One should never be caught off guard!

Yet, day after day, I'm taken by surprise. Just when you think you're getting your head around the hows and the whats of this little trip called life, out comes a shot from the left field. What the heck...?????? I was having a lovely day today - the morning spent with Wendy (born in the year of the best vintage '73) and Lydia (ripe old age of one and three quarters) eating hot cinnamon rolls and squeaking little noses. Yes, home was still a long way away, but you know, life wasn't bad! Then I came home to a Christmas card from our God-Daughter's family. Inside was a mini card, handmade by Martha, wishing her Godparents a Merry Christmas and telling us she loved us. And there went the carpet ........ I'd come undone all over again.

I don't know about you, but I get buffeted by the wind. I imagined that by the this age my steely determination and highly trained critical brain would override my heart, but alas...

At the weekend Richard and I were marveling at how God had used the past 10 years to prepare us for this time in DC. Our personal and professional experiences and relationships have given us insight, understanding and empathy for our new community. But we could never have imagined this would be how He would reveal some of the purposes of our past. It seems God knows what He's doing - weaving it all together into finest linen.

So in the spirit of a good Girl Scout - I'm going to try to accept the surprises as part of the process of being prepared.....

Tomatoes

Well it's official ... there's a lot of food in America. In the vast food aisles you experience an overwhelming amount of choice - just how many different varieties of chopped tomatoes/tamateoes do you need?

Consumerism is the norm here - no bacon on your burger - no problem! You want grilled chicken with our vegetarian pasta? No problem! What about extra fries with our Weight Watchers special - no problem! As long as you can pay, you can have whatever you want. I wonder what that does to a nation, being able to get whatever you want when you want it? Maybe its a good thing - everyone's individual desires are accounted for, so each person is validated and accepted. You can be whoever you want to be here and nobody bats an eyelid.

Yet today America's political representatives are wrestling on the Hill - they're trying to balance the American way of life with the American reality of a huge deficit. It turns out you can't have it all - that's hard to swallow.

Maybe life lived only for our desires with little consideration of their impact or the needs of fellow human beings isn't that fruitful after all. In the bountiful tinned tomato aisle the crushing question buds - how much of this food never fulfills its God-given nature to nourish and strength a human being? How much of it cloggs up the creaking earth as land-fill held captive in an tin?
I wonder what would happen if we all made some different choices? Like, if all the people in DC agreed to only buy one variety of tinned tomatoes? Or if for every tin they bought for their family, they bought a second tin for someone less fortunate?

What culture challenging choices can we make that would produce tables of kindness, generosity and love where we can feast together?

Dislocation

Parting is such sweet sorrow ... and taking off from Belfast International involved tears and relief that someone had had the wit to take down the Harp sign from the terminal building. I watched the Welcome to Belfast sign for as long as possible, holding on to the lasting impressions from the hugs of my family and friends.

The 7 hours at 35,000 feet went quite quickly and immigration was smoothly aided by a generous and warm Officer. It's weird to have November 2013 as the date by which I have to leave the new frontier but something familiar is afoot when the baggage staff in Newark welcome you home!

I thought I'd settle myself into the new life with a manicure in Newark airport - well a girl has to look the part. However, I was confronted in my chillaxing with the wall reminder that:

'Every single one of us, at various times, finds ourselves forced to endure
a situation we probably wouldn't choose'

What a leveler. It's easy to be so fixated on our own journeys that we become numb to the travels of our fellow passengers. How many people have been displaced since Richard and I accepted the opportunity to move to Washington? Have I considered those still without shelter in Haiti who are trying to outrun Cholera? What about the woman who loses her home as she escapes domestic violence? Or the minorities who are oppressed and decried because they're different from the 'norm' - whatever that means...? Or my 94 year old granny who faces displacement from her home because her physical form needs more care despite what her mind says?

I've been thinking a lot about dislocation - the process or result of things not being where they should be; life not being the way it was supposed to be. Or the reality that at various points in all our lives God uproots us - physically, emotionally, spiritually - and sets us somewhere else. Sometimes He is gentle with us, wooing and cajoling us along; other times he sends a whirlwind because He's maybe struggling to get our attention or maybe just because....

I'm hoping that my dislocation breeds compassion for my fellow travellers who are all in varying stages of being picked up and set-down somewhere else.