This is Thursday

So, dear ones, i'm confused...Pres. Obama is being criticized by some in Congress because his energy policy is being seen as wanting to bring down our use of petroleum...and this is bad because...??? I thought the national goal was to lessen our dependence on oil, period, not just foreign oil. Do the oil companies still have so much clout that alternative energies are being made to seem out of reach? And have we become an economy so dependent on travel & tourism to keep us afloat that the prospect of using less gas horrifies us and causes us to demand more gasoline at cheaper prices, whatever the cost environmentally? And is this just one more political football to be tossed around in Congress to keep our attention- and theirs- away from more vital issues like campaign finance reform, just & compassionate immigration reform, the condition of our educational system? I don't know...I'm just asking.

My kvetch for today...if i stepped on your political toes, i apologize, but some things seem too important to keep to myself. I've been frustrated for some weeks now about the fact that i have yet to hear any of our politicians speak out about our need to USE LESS...just doesn't seem to be part of our national ethos, does it? It's always about more, while so much of the world is having to has been having to, get by on less of everything.Whoops...slipped into yet another kvetch, didn't i?

So on a very different note, Ash Wednesday worship last evening was lovely. Our worshiping community was small but "wherever two or three are gathered..." I'm sure the rain and dampness kept many away, especially those up in years. I know my own night vision is not what it once was...the headlights of approaching cars are especially difficult to handle and i find it harder and harder to see the lines on the road. Anyway, that mark of ashes on my forehead was a good reminder to be fully present now and in each momet, an attitude of attention which can so easily slip away in the everyday demands of life. Always looking ahead, always thinking and planning, while the beauty and wonder of the NOW is frittered away.

Spring draws ever closer, i think, as the trees outside my windows are budding in preparation to leaf in the coming weeks...and the lovely yellow forsythia are clouds of yellow amidst the dreariness of the day. More rain...we're having our April showers in March...the usual way of things here in Carolina. Wherever you are, i wish for you a beautiful day, whatever befalls. May it be filled with precious moments, with people to hold you, with food to feed you, with music to lift your soul. And most of all, in all of these moments, may you know that you are loved. love, linda

Ash Wednesday
Remember that you are dust...
Ash Wednesday words
of truth and mortality
the cross of ashes
traced on each forehead
marking the spot
of memory, a reminder
that life begins and ends
in darkness, in mystery

To dust you will return...
Ash Wednesday words
of reality and promise,
a reminder that
life is in the NOW, that
living is in each momet,
and that life's ending is a
new beginning we do
not begin to understand.