you can't do it all alone

don't push so hard against the world, no,
you can't do it all alone
and if you could, would you really want to?
even though you're a big strong girl,
come on, come on, lay it down
the best made plans
come on, come on, lay it down
are your open hands
are your open hands

-- deb talan

a good day.

Afternoon on a Hill
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

I will be the gladdest thing
Under the sun!
I will touch a hundred flowers
And not pick one.

I will look at cliffs and clouds
With quiet eyes,
Watch the wind bow down the grass,
And the grass rise.

And when lights begin to show
Up from the town,
I will mark which must be mine,
And then start down!

you've got to be kidding me.

My dear friend and brotha-from-anotha-motha', whom I affectionately refer to as Hencky-Pencky, has a current facebook status that reads, "Andrew Henck: apparently is the newest heretic in town."

and then he has this link in his status:

http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/index.php?p=1438&more=1&c=1

oh.my.word.

Who runs this blog? I'm stunned and amazed. Who seriously spends their time and energy with this? Everything they bemoan has largely informed who I am... all of the authors and the practices -- especially brother Roger and Taize. whew. big frustrated sigh. Why do we so quickly point fingers within the Body of Christ and make accusations and live in fear when perfect love drives out and has already driven out fear...?

This article just makes me sad. They're missing the point of all of these authors and the friends mentioned in it who have been shaped by these authors.

...love.

And so too I'm challenged to love even (and especially) those I disagree with here... but I gotta' say I'm still frustrated about it.... I mean come on.

you can dance if you want to

So my mom just sent me the link to this video, and I immediately knew it was worthy of posting on here. We've all seen the group-choreographed vids' on youtube, but this one has found a special place in my heart. It's especially pertinent because:

1. I'm becoming more and more convinced that my one constant these days is a train station. I live in them. I even stopped at the very station that this video takes place in while passing through Belgium last summer. Euro train stations are always a-buzz, always a-flutter, and this video does the atmosphere, my seemingly one true constant, justice.

2. I'd say the number-one reason why people knock musicals is because they argue that "it's just not realistic to have people spontaneously breaking-out in song and dance". Oh contraire. After watching this video, you'll see why the ol' "realistic" argument is just rubbish. Rubbish, I tell you. It's obvious that song and dance, whether choreographed or spontaneous, is simply a normal part of life. I know it is for me.

3. Um, hello -- this is the Sound of Music! Do.rey.mi.fa.so.la.tee.do in Europa! And to top it all off I'm going to Austria this weekend! I'll be in Vienna and then Salzburg... I'll be standing (and of course dancing) in the very places that made this song so beloved, so treasured. Life-long dream being fulfilled here... after having the line about 'my birthday being on Tuesday and wanting a pink paracel' and all that jazz quoted to me too many times to count, it's about time I explored Salzburg first-hand.

Here I come!

all around us

there is so much i want to share on here. so much to say. and so much to catch up on. but for now, this will have to suffice:

more and more, i am seeing the truth that there are saints all around us... everywhere you go. living in a million and one different contexts. but living such real and full and bold lives. i was able to see and simply be with such people this past week.

there's the two sisters in lisbon, portugal, age 50 and 60, who decided last fall that they wanted to open their home up to the kids in their neighborhood... teaching them in creative ways and loving on them by simply sharing life. these kids probably wouldn't be inclined to step into a church building, but they're experiencing community through the intentionality of these two sisters.

then there's the volunteers i met in madrid, spain; one from tijuana, mexico (we know the same people from there!) and one from nicaragua. both women, in their mid-20's, moved to madrid for a two-year commitment to build relationships in a totally new place by partnering with a local church and various community groups in the city. yes, they both were spanish speakers, but they entered a totally new cultural context in spain and have learned and loved with such openness and humility and grace. they both just love people. period. in word and in deed. they refer to their work as, "the gospel of friendship." amen and amen.

and then there's my new family member; my sister francine. francine opened up her home to my friend jenna and i while we spent time in montpellier, france. what rich hospitality. it's difficult to formulate into words how much her life and her creativity sparked something in me. francine shows me what i want 60 to look like: sanding a table and then repainting it eggplant purple, picking up fresh bread from the nearby bakery for guests, an ever-eagerness to hear someone's story, long walks in the cool of evening, allowing myself the grace to still take risks... francine is planning a solo backpacking trip in the states for the late summer - i reeeeeeally hope we get to see each other in colorado! francine loves. that was a complete thought there. she loves. loves being alive. loves tapping into creative energy through her artwork. loves her church. loves sharing her story. loves listening to other people's stories. loves helping. loves sharing. loves the creator, the sustainer, the giver of all life.

i realize now that the three examples that came spilling out were all from women; of course i don't espouse that one gender has more to offer the church than the other, but i guess for me, i seem to connect most quickly with women who are living lives of risk and purpose and even adventure in their local context. i love seeing that age is no issue for them; there's no thought of, 'oh, i'm too young to be doing this,' or 'i'm too old to be doing this.'

they just live life. and love life. and love people. deeply and truly and beautifully. if you look, really look, the saints are all around us.

knie: deutsch for 'knee', except this is a circus

An afternoon with the Swiss National Circus in Schaffhausen = sehr fantastisch!

After a semi-traumatic experience at the Wringley Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus in San Diego a few years ago (all of the PLNU RA's were required, yes required to go), I swore I would never go to a cirucs again. But then I heard from some Swiss locals how incredible their National cirucs was, and they were right! Amy and I scored tickets in the cheapest seats, and it was totally worth it. The acrobats were absolutely phenomenal... like blow-your-mind unbelievably good.

I think my jaw remained dropped through most of the show. It was pretty unreal. And the poster advertisting this year's show is a pretty sweet design too, no...?

piece o' couch will do.

It's official.

I'm a real couch-surfer now. My new travel friend from work, Amy, and I joined the couch surfing community a few weeks ago in hopes of scoring a place to stay when we flew up to Berlin for Bob Dylan. And after a lot of searching and what felt like endless requests (Berlin has more users on couchsurfing.com than any other city in the world!), we found a place to stay -- and just in the knick of time. The place we found was not your standard house/apartment but really more of an intentional community; intentional in the sense that they want to practice real hospitality. And they really do.

At 'Project Volunteering', it was more like your typical hostel experience where you're sharing living quarters with strangers (but soon strangers turn to friends -- well that's the hope anyway); I think we had about 12 people crammed into every imaginable space on the floor/mattresses/couches in the living room of a Euro-style flat. The photo above is what the living room looks like without anyone in it. So you can use your imagination to creatively fit 12 travelers into that space. : )

As soon as we arrived, we were welcomed in by our contact and literally told to "make ourselves at home". So we tried our best to do just that... The permanent members of the home are friends from various countries who wanted to create a shared space that would always be open to travelers by offering the true gift of hospitality... like 365 days a year. Read all about their efforts and their dreams by going to the Project Volunteering web-site; you'll definitely want to peek at their ideas and practices described on each page. This is a real community of hospitality... I've never seen nor experienced anything quite like it.

Word to Berlin. Word to experiencing hospitality from strangers. And word to couch-surfing (look into it yourself -- no matter what corner of the globe you may find yourself in; of course be wise and be safe, but be adventurous too!)

I can't wait to keep this up in my travels... no hostel fees and new friends in new places... why didn't I use this site before now?!