Sunday Reflection: Empty hands

Today's reflection is brought to you by
James 5:1-6 and Mark 9:38-48.

O Christ,
you invite us all
to be your presence in our world.

You ask us
to encourage
everyone who emulates
your goodness and mercy --
no matter their race or creed --
and to show gratitude
to all who embody your kindness.

And though we've been
carefully socialized
to crave luxury
and collect treasures for ourselves,
we know that you call us
to build peace and justice
by sharing what we have
with those in need.

Clearly, it is better for us
to enter your presence
with clean hands --
empty of malice and greed --
than with millstones around our necks.

Simply because we know you
and the love that you have for all,
your abundant Spirit lives in us.

We thank you,
and ask you
to make our hearts free
to share the abundance you give us
without counting the cost.

Let us come to you
with empty hands.

+Amen.

Simple Suggestion #203... Share your knowledge

Sometimes I think it would be neat if we all walked around with intangible, transparent bubbles (or something) floating around us that let others know about interesting things that we know. Sort of like this:

Since that stick person represents me, I could add more bubbles, like, mother of adolescent/adult daughters, administrative assistant for L'Arche, composer, photographer, volunteer, Voluntary Simplicity practitioner, etc. If everyone had bubbles like this it would be easy for us to find people who know things that we would like to learn, or for other people to ask us about our knowledge.

I'm moodling about this today because I spent Tuesday evening with an inspiring group of people who are most anxious to share their new area of expertise, the City of Edmonton's newest crop of Master Composter/Recyclers. They've been through an intensive course and have knowledge to share about our city's incredible waste reduction efforts as well as being able to help with questions about composting and recycling in our region. And they're most willing to help their neighbours and friends by offering what they know, encouraging others in their efforts to reduce the load that our planet bears because of human consumption.

My MCR class of 2014 colleagues and I (class of 2007) took the course so that we can help others learn about the benefits of composting (turning kitchen scraps into black gold to enrich the earth's soil) and vermi-composting (the same thing using red wiggler worms). We can assist people to understand the benefits of grass-cycling (leaving grass clippings on your lawn as a wonderful natural fertilizer and mulch rather than creating more fossil fuel emissions when they're hauled to the dump), and we can teach them what to do with other household waste, directing them to ecostations for hazardous materials that don't belong in the landfill, or larger appliances that can be dismantled and recycled, or to the Reuse & Recycle Directory to aid charities in need of gently used housewares and furniture. And we can tell folks about the City's wonderful Reuse Centre, a place where we can take various household items for reuse, and can purchase items as well. Have any wicker baskets languishing around your place? Buttons? Bubblewrap? Bookmarks? Unused craft supplies? Take my word for it --it's a crafter's paradise!

There are now over 700 of us MCRs who have made reducing waste one of our areas of expertise. Just the other day, my friend from university days and Edmonton's King of Compost, Markster Composter (a clever combo of his first name and his work) was on Tuesday morning's Breakfast Television explaining how to "wake up" a compost pile. It was a great little clip (no longer available, sorry) and I'm so glad the Breakfast TV people are sharing Mark's expertise with their viewers, because the more compost we make, the better our soil and the less we send to the dump.

But sharing knowledge can be done a lot more simply than going to a TV studio and shooting a segment like Mark's... a five minute conversation during coffee break, a chat with a neighbour over a fence, or a question answered in the course of another activity or event. I suspect my new MCR friends will use Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and other social media methods I barely know to share their knowledge! And it's all good.

So... my thanks to the Class of 2014 Master Composter/Recyclers for inspiring today's moodling, and today's challenge: Consider your areas of knowledge/expertise... And how can you share them with others?

Sharing our gifts

These last two weeks, I've been reading In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1983, ISBN 015-144525-7), an old book of collected works by Alice Walker. She also wrote The Color Purple, one of the few books I had to buy for myself after seeing the movie, and I loved the book even more. In this collection of her older works, she writes about everything from the women writers who inspired her, to her involvement with the Civil Rights movement in the States, to what it means to be an artist. She's also given me the names of a few other books I've put on hold at the library; authors I've never heard of, but now want to read.

The part of the book that has given me the most food for thought is the essay from which the book gets its title. In it, Alice writes about the connection between spirituality and creativity, and reflects upon the generations of black women whose creativity died within them during years of slavery and serfdom... but whose sacrifices have led her to her own creative spirit. It's a beautiful piece of writing, and it has me thinking about the creative impulse that lives in each of us.

It dawns on me that I live a pretty privileged life... to have the ability and the time to exercise my creativity for my own happiness' sake has not been something that women have always enjoyed. I would guess there are many women in my own city that don't have time or place to be creative. And yet, most of us, no matter how busy, find some way to flex our creative muscles... we cook, we quilt, we decorate our homes, we sing, we do something that helps the spirit within us to express itself.

I've always been a somewhat artsy person, thanks to parents who encouraged creativity. As a child, I dreamed of being an artist one day. In grade six, I learned to make sunsets with pencil crayons, and figured I'd go far. Then I ended up in a school play... and dreamed of being an actor, singing on stage and wowing the crowds. But all too soon, those dreams faded as I came up against the reality of making a living and being a self-supporting adult. The bonus was that I could take my guitar to school and teach my students through music... so my spirit wasn't completely stifled. Underlying all of these efforts at self-expression, though, was a creative outlet that I didn't even recognize.

I was writing. All the time. Letters, journals, poetry, stories, my own historical records. I have two boxes of scribblers, stuffed duotangs, photo diaries and journals, boxes crammed to the limit on a shelf in my basement. So is it any wonder that I'm moodling now? It's just what I do.

Alice Walker's essay underlined for me the fact that we all have something to say, and we find many, many different ways to say whatever it is, whether with quilts or photos or curry dishes or moodlings. These things are our gift to the world, whether anyone notices or not. It's easy to tell ourselves that what we have to say isn't important, that it doesn't matter, that it's not necessary, but that's the oldest cop out in the book. It is necessary to our mental health, and besides, gifts are meant to be shared, maybe not on a large scale, but with those who care for us at the very least.

Alice Walker expresses this beautifully when she writes about her mother:

"Because of her creativity with flowers, even my memories of poverty are seen through a screen of blooms.... And I remember people coming to my mother's yard to be given cuttings from her flowers; I hear again the praise showered on her because whatever rocky soil she landed on, she turned into a garden.... I notice that it is only when my mother is working in her flowers that she is radiant, almost to the point of being invisible -- except as Creator: hand and eye. She is involved in the work her soul must have. Ordering the universe in the image of her personal conception of Beauty." (p. 241)

We all do this ordering of the universe in various ways, because the creative spirit exists in each of us. If we don't find ways to express it, something within us, and in the world, is that much less healthy.

Gifts are meant to be shared. How are you sharing yours?

***

Even before I got into moodling online, I found the work of this Southern Alberta watercolour artist to be quite inspiring. Gena LaCoste's sharing of her art, especially the landscapes and horses, makes me so happy... check out http://genalacoste.blogspot.com/