Snow in the Pac NW

We woke up this morning to a light dusting of snow on the ground. Yep, it was enough to do this:


cartoon from here

21!

Offspring #1 is turning 21 this weekend (can you believe it?!), so we're heading up to Bellingham to help her celebrate. We're planning on taking her (and Offspring #2) out to dinner. As you can see, she's always been partial to... sole.

Rimshot.

Groan.


Back to blogging in a couple of days...

Nutty McSquirrel

Remember that post I did back in October about a tree at our local lake that had a big hollow filled with acorns?

Yeah, didn't think so.

Anyway, I went on a bike ride Sunday afternoon and happened to see a squirrel poking his head out of the hollow! I have a new empathy for people trying to photograph Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. By the time you fumble for your camera you've almost missed the action -- and what you do capture is blurry!

In any event, Nutty McSquirrel has obviously been eating lots of the acorns. Here's a comparison between the number in October and the number in January:


Come to think of it, Nutty McSquirrel better go easy. There are still a couple of months of winter left to go.

when you come to the fork in the road... take it

As predicted, with Offsprings #1 and #2 back at college, the Empty Nest Hiking Club resumed their travels. Hubby & I went to Lacamas Lake (in SW Washington) yesterday.

The good news: In spite of threatening rain clouds, we did not get rained on.
The bad news: We got lost. And more than once!

It was the weirdest thing. We'd be hiking along and suddenly come to multiple forks in the trail -- with none of them marked. Which path should we choose?! (Oooh, now there's a metaphor for life!) Luckily there finally was one sign we encountered where it was abundantly clear that we needed to reverse course:



OK, I made that up.

Anyway, we eventually figured things out. And all in all it was a pretty good hike with nice woods, a lake, and even a couple of waterfalls thrown in for good measure. It was quite overcast, so I really didn't get any decent pictures. Here's a shot of one of the waterfalls though...

juno and possible look-alikes

We went to see Juno last night, a funny and poignant film about a teen confronting an unplanned pregnancy. NYT review here. Actually it was one of the best films I've seen in awhile so go see it if you get a chance.

Some people think Offspring #2 looks like Michael Cera (who plays Juno's friend Paulie Bleeker in the film). I only sort of see it. What do you think?

Friday Five: Read Any Good Books Lately?

Here is this week's Friday Five from revhrod over at RevGals:

1. What book have you read in the last six months that has really stayed with you? Why?
One of the books I am currently reading is Suzuki and Dressel's Good News For a Change: How Everyday People are Helping the Planet. After reading so much ecological bad news, it's nice to read some upbeat stories about people who are making positive environmental contributions to our world.




2. What is one of your favorite childhood books?
Going waaaaaay back, I loved Put Me in the Zoo by Robert Lopshire. The things that animal could do with his spots were amazing. Really.




3. Do you have a favorite book of the Bible? Do tell!
Presbyterian Gal asked me this a while back when she "interviewed" me, so I'll stick with that answer... I said Mark since it is (as far as I know) the oldest gospel and therefore probably the most accurate portrayal of Jesus' life.

4. What is one book you could read again and again?
I almost never read the same book more than once. (So many books, so little time!) But, I did re-read Jack Finney's Time and Again because I love books about time travel.

5. Is there a book you would suggest for Lenten reading? What is it and why?
No, but I'm open to suggestions.

And because we all love bonus questions, if you were going to publish a book what would it be? Who would you want to write the jacket cover blurb expounding on your talent?
Hmmm... My grandmother was pretty darn cool, so I'd probably write about her life, times, wit, and wisdom. It would be a quirky book, so I'd have Garrison Keillor write the blurb for me.

post 201: jesus

Well, here it is -- the Jesus post. Aaack! Obviously this is impossible to cover in one blog entry, but I'll throw out a few thoughts...

I must admit I've generally been fine with God as Creator and Ground of Being. And as long as you say Holy Spirit instead of Holy Ghost (which for some reason makes me think of Casper the Friendly), I'm fine with that too. But over the years Jesus has given me a whole lot of trouble. In fact my last pastor will corroborate the fact that I confessed to her with some exasperation: "I really just don't 'get' Jesus." And it's not like I was a newbie to the whole church scene. But I think that was a big part of the problem. Jesus was buried beneath so many layers of STUFF. Just to point out the words of one hymn from childhood (and beyond):

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

I mean, what does one make of all that?!

Enter Marcus Borg. His book, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time was very helpful in terms of stripping off the layers to get to a new understanding of Jesus.

Borg talks about the distinction between the historical Jesus (pre-Easter Jesus) and the Jesus of Christian tradition and experience (post-Easter Jesus). Borg develops the point that the historical Jesus is different than the 'popular' image of Jesus. Borg writes:

His own self-understanding did not include thinking and speaking of himself as the Son of God whose historical intention or purpose was to die for the sins of the world, and his message was not about believing in him. Rather, he was a spirit person, subversive sage, social prophet, and movement founder who invited his followers and hearers into a transforming relationship with the same Spirit that he himself knew, and into a community whose social vision was shaped by the core value of compassion.

Reading about this Jesus is compelling -- e.g. his alternative vision of community, his challenging the social order of the day, etc. There was obviously something exceptional about him, and I would say that God was somehow uniquely present in him.

Borg states that at Easter, "the early movement continued to experience Jesus as a living reality after his death, but in a radically new way. After Easter, his followers experienced him as a spiritual reality, no longer as a person of flesh and blood, limited in time and space, as Jesus of Nazareth had been."

So, I think all of the layers began as people reflected on who Jesus was -- and also as more and more people "experienced" him. However, I don't have the "personal Jesus relationship" people talk about. (He's not helping me bat as in the above picture.) But that's fine. I'm ok with just having the confusing layers stripped.

Yep, it's a journey, and this is my present view from the road...