Monday, August 27, 2012

What's Happening

Hello Friends!

It's been a while since my last post I realize... I don't really have a good excuse!

I am still cat-sitting Earl and Mable, two of the sweetest cats I've ever met. Mable's existence is purely to just be cute and Earl is kind of a goofy cat. He and Jasper still get into it occasionally but a brief separation seems to calm things down.

Education for Ministry classes began last week and I am so glad to be back in that group. It is bigger than ever!! That is an excellent problem to have. I am giving my spiritual autobiography tonight and I'm a little nervous. It was fun looking through old photographs with my parents in preparation for it though. I'm excited to begin lessons and community and growing in love with this amazing group.

This last week I have come down with some kind of upper respiratory.. crud... I was very ill Thursday and Friday. Migraine was making me nauseous and I ended up tossing my cookies (so to speak) at Walgreens. (Thankfully I made it to the restroom in time...) It was not a fun experience. I did, however, make it to my meeting with Fr. Polk that morning and he was kind enough to lay hands and pray for me.

The meeting was a discussion about my committee for discernment. It is coming together!! Hopefully we will begin meeting in October. Please keep this in your prayers as it moves forward!

The other morning I had a bit of a shocking wake up call. Not an actual phone call, but I definitely sat up and took notice. I stood on the scales at my parents house and noted that my weight has gotten out of hand. Like, in a really unhealthy range. The very next day I signed up for a gym membership and have been going almost every day. I met with a personal trainer this morning and am hoping to get healthier. As motivation I signed up for the Ragnar Relay here in Tennessee. It is basically a half marathon broken up into sets that you run with other people--from Chattanooga to Nashville. A group from St. B's was kind to invite me to join their team and I'm looking forward to running with them. It is a tough run but I'm hoping to make it happen!

In October I will attend the re-entry retreat for YASC as well as hopefully meet up with some friends that I met in Hong Kong. It will be so lovely to see some of those friends again. Maybe they will make it down my way sometime too! I'd love to show them around Nashville.

And finally, we've been reading through Ephesians in the lectionary and I wanted to leave you with this prayer:

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:16-19)

Amen!

Kathleen


Saturday, August 11, 2012

Mosque opens in Murfreesboro

Read news articles here and here and here, and also here.

After overcoming legal hurdles and threats and vandalism, the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro opened yesterday for Friday prayers during the holiest month in Islam, Ramadan.

Insha'Allah, it will be open for a long, long time.

My interactions with Muslims here in Murfreesboro have always been pleasant. When I worked for an all-female doctor's office, a large number of patients were Muslim. In fact I saw one of them yesterday at Dillard's, although I didn't speak to her (wasn't sure if she would remember me... my hair has grown quite a bit and it was like two years ago) I did say hello to her sweet mother who helps look after her children. She sat with the young ones while her daughter was shopping around in the kid's dept.--she's had at least one more since the last time I saw them! My church has held a few events with them also, although I wasn't able to attend.

Around the world in Hong Kong I lived down the street from the Kowloon mosque. I walked by it every day, even went inside during one of our interfaith group meetings. We got some strange looks but did our best to stand in the back and observe respectfully. What I saw were people dedicated to their faith, worshiping God with their voices and their bodies. Kneeling, standing, saying prayers... The workers from Indonesia who were Muslim always welcomed me with open arms and showed me great hospitality anytime I was in Victoria Park.

It saddens me that otherwise rational and loving people get riled up with fear and anger due to misinformation or ignorance. I wish they would go and visit with their neighbors and see that they are not a threat, they are peaceful people who just want to worship in their own space and have a place for their community to gather.

Hopefully I will be able to attend the open house when it occurs. I would really like to see the new mosque and visit with my fellow citizens.

And to the guy in the "I Love Jesus" hat who said he was there in protest to "represent the Christians" -- no sir. You do not represent me. I am a Christian and I support my Muslim brothers and sisters in their faith and their right as Americans to practice the religion of their choice.

Salaam alaikum!

Kathleen

Friday, August 10, 2012

Houseguests and Opportunities

Well things have certainly gotten interesting at my house!

I’ve taken in a few house guests in the last week, my friend Suzanne’s son Will needed a couch to crash on until his apartment (which is incidentally up the street from me) becomes available and my friend Alyssa’s two cats needed a place to stay until she moves into her new place. Will has been very helpful with the cats, being a fellow cat lover, but Jasper and the male cat Earl have had a few tussles here and there. They are both very vocal cats, suffice it to say. Hopefully they can make peace with each other...

Work has been chugging along. We have been a little short this week due to one girl being on vacation and another ending up in the hospital with a bad illness. She’s recovered, but we were all very worried about her! It has been a bit slow since last weekend was tax free weekend.

Two of my friends, Steven and Charlie, and I are working on a Taize service for the 19th. I’m excited about this since I love music and liturgy and hanging out with them for rehearsal. We have another project we’re working on that I’m also excited about but we’re still in the early stages so I’ll wait til we get further along with it before I say much more.

I had an interesting experience at work the other day. Two teenage girls came up to my counter and asked to be matched for foundation, so I sat them down in my chairs and set to work. I ended up doing full face on them (which was nice because it killed a lot of time) and during the course of our conversation I mentioned that I had spent 10 months in Hong Kong. They asked what I had been doing so I tried to be vague but it’s hard to avoid mentioning that it was through my church. Then they asked what church I go to and I cringed at having to say it. Not because I am embarrassed or ashamed of my church (far from it!) but because people do not know anything about it. I live in a place heavily populated with Baptists, Presbyterians, Churches of Christ, Methodist, Non-Denominational Churches and so forth, and not many know anything about the Episcopal Church. I remember in Hong Kong being glad that the most I ever had to say was that the Episcopal Church is the same thing as the Church of England. (Basically…)

So I ended up trying to explain it, at work, to these young girls. I was glad for their interest, I told them that their curiosity is a healthy sign of growth and to keep asking questions. One girl mentioned going with one of her friends to their church and she said, “It was so weird, the guy was wearing this black dress thing and we just read from this thing… and it’s like the same thing every time! At my church the pastor preaches and gets really into it.” Different strokes for different folks… I reassured her that we all believe in God’s love and that living a good life and showing that love to others is a good thing. … Then steered the conversation back to skin care and make up. I didn’t want to really get too deep with it at work but who knows, maybe she will get curious and google it later.

Sometimes it can be a little frustrating living in a place where the majority of people don’t quite know what my church is all about. Blank stares. “Episco-whuh?” Questions about what Episcopalians believe (how much time do you have? I can tell you what *I* believe but that might be different from another Episcopalian)… When I try to explain I am going through a discernment process the stares get even weirder. But, it’s an opportunity to share my passion with others and educate, and I can’t pass that up.

I am Episcopalian.

Grace & Peace,

Kathleen