REDONDOWRITER'S SACRED ORDINARY

Reviewing Your Life With Rear View Mirror Meditation

One of my plans beginning now and into the new year, is to actively stay in the moment and regain spiritual practices that I seemed to have let fall by the wayside. Because I'm so darned curious about everything, I get easily side tracked. 

I belong to Spiritual Directors International and when the monthly newsletter "Listen" recently came, I was excited for a variety of reasons. One is the annual conference which will be held in Louisville, KY in the spring with a focus on Thomas Merton. I have long been a Merton lover and actually did my M.A. thesis on Merton. The second reason was on their Field Guide page and a "Rear View Mirror Meditation." 

It reminds me of some of the exercises in the National Intensive Journal that I taught for many years, but it also seems like a perfect option for my monthly journal group that meets on Dec. 29. 

Because I have been posting at Sacred Ordinary blog more frequently lately, I'm going to try to get back to that at least once a week. 

Here is the meditation: 

Rear View Mirror Meditation (from Spiritual Direction International “Listen” newsletter, Dec. 2014 –www.sdiworld.org)

Set aside a half an hour or more, have paper and pen, or a writing device nearby.

Breathe deeply for five or more minutes. Feel into your physical self. In your body, where are you tense? Spacious? Flexible? Are there spots of bliss or resistance? Simply notice any sensations without judgment or analysis.

SHIFT

Allow your attention to travel your life timeline. Recall age five, or the youngest age you remember. What energies, sensations, or memories surface? For what are you thankful, grateful, and least grateful? Acknoweldge without judgment, and move on…

CRUISE

Recall age ten…

Recall age fifteen…

Recall age twenty…

Pause for a minute, and fast track into present time. On this present date. Acknowledge the road you’ve traveled, together with any consistencies and incongruities.

Now recall age twenty-five…

Recall age thirty…

Recall age forty…

Continue to your present age (or stop if you’ve already reached it.)

TUNE INTO YOUR BIRTHDAY AGE, THIS YEAR

Pause to idle in the present time: what reveals itself to you about here and now, the life you live, the silence you do—or don’t—cultivate, the kindness you embrace and share, and life blessings for which you give thanks.

REFLECT ON THE YEAR AHEAD

Choose one aspect of your life to tend to with care and compassion. Be willing to give permission to fine tune the necwssary actions and changes to involve all the best parts of yourself to engage and shift into gear.Who and which activities fuel your creativity, compassion, kindness? Can you create a roadmap?

STOP

In your own words, on paper or in the silence of your mind and heart, give thanks for life in all of its beauty, complexity, and simplicity. Then, park all your thoughts, and simply attend to the present moment.

KEY

The next time you meet with your spiritual guide or companion, give permission for this reflection to become part of your exploration and inquiry together. (If you don't see a spiritual director, share this with a close, trusted friend.) 

 

Twelve Days of Mary and Haiku my Heart (Day 12) - Our Lady of Christmas

Today is the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe and the final day of Loving Lupita: Twelve Days of Mary Love. It's also Friday so that means Haiku My Heart. I have had so much fun participating; my creative juices are flowing again. 

This is a Polyvore creation I called "Our Lady of Christmas." 

Advent means Mary

when I create with others

loving lupita

Thanks so much for hosting us the last twelve days at Recuerda mi Corazon, Rebecca Brooks. 

Twelve Days of Mary Love (Day 11) - SoulCollage® Black Madonna

This is a SoulCollage® card in the Council suit I call "The Black Madonna." I have been using this method created by Seena Frost since 2003 and was certified to teach the method in 2005. I facilitate only one group per month, but the collagers are girlfriends I've known since our kids were little in the mid-1960s. We raised them together and CFM (Christian Family Movement) played a huge role in that. Making SoulCollage® cards together each month and then sharing them has become a very special part of each of our lives in our older years. 

The spiritual/archetypal suit in SoulCollage® is where I keep most of the madonnas that I have created using this process. I made this card several years ago and she reminded me of Joseph and his coat of many colors.

To see other participants work in the Loving Lupita: Twelve Day of Mary Love, go to Rebecca Brooks Recuerda mi Corazon. There is only one official day left of our twelve days. 

 

Twelve Days of Mary Love (Day 10) - Red Madonna by Tamara Adams

When I was shopping on Etsy today, I found this beautiful red madonna. The print is for sale at Tamara Adams Etsy shop. I always say I can't draw so therefore I can't technically be a painter, but the more I stare at this beautiful madonna, I think I could do something like this. I send blessings today to all the artists over the years who have given me inspiration or information on how to create. 

To see other participants work in the Loving Lupita: Twelve Day of Mary Love, go to Rebecca Brooks Recuera mi Corazon blog. 

Celebrating the life of local artist and art teacher Beverly Metcalf

This is a long post but one I am compelled for many reasons to share. Today our friend Beverly Metcalf passed away after a courageous battle with lung and brain cancer. I met Bev at Christ Episcopal Church eight years ago and have really enjoyed knowing her--and also sharing our love of art. Bev was a well-known artist and long-time art teacher in local schools. On November 7, 2014, Christ Church hosted a one woman art show for Bev and this photo shows Bev with her son Glenn and Christ Church Rector the Rev. Bob Cornner. Several of us got to know her even better as we visited her house and sorted and catalogued her inventory of paintings for the show. It was a blessed time for us and for the people who honored her at the show.

Below is the content of an e-mail he sent to the parish this afternoon. For those of you who knew her, her services are at 11 a.m. on Sat., Dec. 20, at Christ Episcopal Church, 408 S. Broadway, Redondo Beach, CA.

In Thanksgiving for the Life of Beverly Metcalf

O God of grace and glory, we remember before you this day our sister, Beverly. Thank you for giving her to us, her family and friends, to know and to love as a companion on our earthly pilgrimage. In your boundless compassion, console us who mourn. Give us faith to see in death the gate of eternal life, so that in quiet confidence we may continue our course on earth, until, by your call, we are reunited with those who have gone before; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our dear friend and sister in Christ, Beverly Metcalf died this morning, December 9th at her home with her son, Glenn, by her side. We give thanks for Beverly's life and for the beautiful art work that she created in her life and that we celebrated last month. Fran Pullara wrote a wonderful piece about Beverly for me to read at the Art Show and I would like to share it with the whole Christ Church family. 

ABOUT BEVERLY METCALF

Born in Los Angeles 88 years ago, Bev has had a full and rich life and admits that since early childhood, she knew she wanted to be an artist and art teacher. She is grateful to all the people who encouraged and mentored her beginning at age five and into adulthood.

The "Time and Styles of Artist Beverly Metcalf" show of her work over the years honored her lifetime of work as an artist. It was a real joy to see so many of the people whose lives have been touched by Bev show up to thank her and to purchase some of her excellent paintings. The Show was a tremendous success and Bev was obviously moved to see everyone who turned out to honor her. 

As a young woman, Bev had a summer scholarship at Chouinard Art Institute and after high school, she went to art school at the University of Southern California where she graduated with a B.A. in Fine Arts. She studied another year to receive her secondary teaching credential.

Along the way she met and married the late Bob Metcalf, a local elementary school teacher; they were married 62 years when he passed away in 2012. Her first teaching job was at John Muir Junior High. In an interview for The Journal of Occupational Science, Bev admits she was torn all those years ago "because I was in love with a wonderful man and I wanted to get married and have a family, too." They raised two sons, Glenn and Bruce in their North Torrance home they bought in 1953 and Bev still lives there today. When the boys grew older, Bev began teaching art again, as many as four classes per week for the City of Torrance, the City of Manhattan Beach, and the Palos Verdes Art Center.

When she officially retired in September from the City of Torrance Cultural Arts Department after more than 42 years working with students, it was with a heavy heart. In the same Occupational Science Journal article mentioned earlier she said, "I don't know what I'd do without my students and the discipline of always planning for however many classes a week I teach. When I've had family problems and other things that intervened, it's always a relief to get to class and put my mind on the artwork." Over the years, Bev's personal work has won numerous prizes in juried art shows. She also received the City of Torrance Fine Arts Award in 1991 and the City of Torrance Cultural Arts Commission's Dr. Tom Rische Arts Education Award in 2013.

A long-time member of Christ Episcopal Church, Bev, will be greatly missed. A celebration of her life will be conducted at Christ Church on Saturday, December 20th at 11:00 AM.

Twelve Days of Mary Love (Day 9) - Mary, Our Lady of Blue

 

 

Mary, Our Lady of Blue, created on Polyvore. To see the creations of others during this 12 day meme, go to Rebecca Brooks Recuerda mi Corazon blog.

Twelve Days of Mary (Day 8) - Queen of Heaven

 

"Queen of Heaven" is a Polyvore set made more than a year ago. 

To see what others have posted who are participating in Loving Lupita: Twelve Days of Mary Love, go to Rebecca Brooks Recuerda mi Corazon blog. At her site today she has a beautiful photo of Mary prayer flags.

Loving Lupita: Twelve Days of Mary Love (Day 7), Jianulla's Theotokos

This is a painting of the Vladimir madonna my friend Jianulla Zimmerman created after taking a class in iconography a few years ago. She donated it to Christ Episcopal Church, the church I attend, and it hangs in the nave. In orthodox Christianity, the mother of God is called theotokos. Its literal English translations include "God-bearer", "Birth-Giver of God" and "the one who gives birth to God." Less literal translations include "Mother of God."

I purchased another of Jianulla's madonnas, which I'll share another time, and it hangs in my bedroom with others I've created or collected.

At Recuerda mi Corazon today, Rebecca Brooks shares a poem about the sacred ordinary by the late John O'Donohue. If you would like to see the work of others in our 12 days of Mary, click Rebecca's link. My own blog's title is Sacred Ordinary. 

 

 

Loving Lupita: Twelve Days of Mary Love (Day 6) - Our Lady of Sitka

A few days ago I shared a photo of a three-handed virgin icon I saw in Sitka, Alaska when I was traveling there this summer. It was there I also saw the icon of Our Lady of Sitka, which you see above. The story goes like this: 

From the Antiochian Website, some perspective: The Sitka Icon of the Mother of God in Sitka, Alaska is one of the most revered Icons in North America.

This icon has been attributed to a famous Iconographer, Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky, and a protégé of Russian Empress Catherine II who was instructed at the Academy of Arts in St Petersburg, Russia. …

The Cathedral received the Icon as a gift from the workers at the Russian American Company in 1850, two years after the Cathedral was completed. Even with their meager wages, the men generously made contributions to the Church.

I bought a beautiful photograph of her in a religious articles store near the Cathedral and I hope to frame her. The Internet abounds with stories about her and she periodically travels to Orthodox churches around the world for veneration. 

If you would like to see more virgin variations in our twelve days of Mary, visit Rebecca Brooks site Recuerda mi Corazon. 

 

Loving Lupita: Twelve Days of Mary Love (Day 5) and Haiku My Heart

Rebecca of Recuerda mi Corazon is currently hosting Loving Lupita: Twelve Days of Mary, but on her blog every Friday she always hosts Haiku My Heart. She is combining the two on this Friday. I hope you have time to visit and perhaps participate yourselves. 

In 17 syllables we write what we feel in our hearts and today this SoulCollage® card, another art process that I use, presented itself to me. I created it in 2011.

Always inspiring

Eternally maternal

Divine feminine.

I purchased a vintage sepia photograph of the focal image at a garage sale several years ago and I use it in many forms in my art.