In central Pennsylvania, many farms spread out in valleys surrounded by the Appalachian mountains, are kept by Amish families. The Amish tend their fields without modern implements and technology and live simple, family and community centered lives.Horses and mules can be seen working the farms. Buggies travel the roads. Clothes made at home hang out lines, blowing in the wind. The Amish do not live modern, material lives. Their only embrace of abundance is in their large families with an average of seven children in a household. They form close knit communites where devotion and cooperation are the norm.

The Sisters of Mercy have a retirement center in another part of Pennsylvania. There we visit my cousin, Sister Rosemary Budd, who is  a remarkable woman. Being with her is pure joy. In a different way, she too lives a simple life.  Years ago, when she was living in a small corner room at the Center, she was offered a larger space and turned it down. “Why would I need it?”  All of her wordly possessions fit into her small space.  And when anyone gives her something, she passes it on. I marvel.  Compared to her, I am a “material girl” just as  surely as Madonna.This all gives me pause as I sit here at my computer with cell phone by my side enjoying the decorations that surround me along with a stereo and television set (though the TV is not working now, causing pangs of withdrawal in me that I hope will improve as time goes on.)

I am aware that many people around the world live simple lives, not as a religious heritage or choice, but because they are poor by financial standards. Some of them in central PA.

I contemplate these things and come to the conclusion that I am not called to a simple life. In all honesty, I admit that I do not desire such a life. I collect things. I am not in any sense a hoarder, nor am I wealthy. But, by this time in my life, I appreciate the “things” that remind me of the people in my life and the places I have been: the books I have read, the music I listen to, the pictures I have taken.   I enjoy them and I wish a middle class life for all who would choose it if they could.

On the other hand, I grew up with a mother who went through two Depressions, one in Germany and one in the United States. I learned not to waste things. I am one of those people who use tin foil several times and can’t stand to throw food away. In spite of my attraction to material  things, and being a “city girl” most of the year, I am  a conservationist. I love our natural world and resonate with the need to protect the environment. I believe those who raise red flags about our despoiling the earth for future generations.

We can learn much about life and values from those who embrace a simple life. We can all live more simply with more respect for one another and the good earth that sustains us. In our technological age, we can try to keep grounded in basic reality.  We are all more than thinking heads or chasers of wealth. We have finite bodies that are dependent on this planet and other co-inhabitants for survival. And, from my perspective, we have spirits that are entwined with a greater Spirit for perspective, meaning and love.

Well,  here we are in our Pennsylvania home while others live in and care of our home in Massachusetts.  The transition always takes time.  In this rural, small town setting surrounded by mountains that once produced the best anthracite coal in the country, we have a different set of experiences than in our urban setting. In addition to beautiful scenery, we spend time with relatives and friends we don’t see during the rest of the year.

To stay active, we join the YMCA where we exercise looking out of a wall of windows that faces suburban looking homes, a farm, and mountains.

On our way home from the Y yesterday, we stopped at a small vegetable stand.  An Amish boy appeared to help us buy the produce and jelly we had selected.  All of a sudden he said “excuse me” and bolted through the corn fields.  His team of horses had run away,  all eight of them attached, pulling an empty wagon behind them.  They were well ahead of him down the road and around the bend.  We were helpless to help.

Then, out of nowhere, a van pulled up and a young girl hopped out to finish helping us with the sale.  I recognized the runaway horses as those I had seen last year as I was walking on a treadmill.  I had taken a picture of them as they passed by cars and galloped up a hill, past fairly new houses to what I knew must be their farm on the other side of the development.  Now I was standing on the edge of that farm.

The young woman was as interested in us as we were in her, a car clearly identifying us as out-of-towners, and Tom standing there with  a Red Sox shirt on. I was wondering to myself about the red van that had delivered her.  I didn’t think the Amish drove cars.  Maybe they were new order. Clearly, I would not see this scene in Arlington.  I had a strong desire to belong in this place during the short time that we would be here. This too was home.

The month of June brought many celebrations in our extended family:   anniversaries, birthdays, graduations.  At one point, our three sons and their families, (minus one who couldn’t make it), plus a niece and family, and friends from Brazil, were all here at one time!  We gathered in our front yard for a simple meal and as I looked around, I was filled with gratitude for each and every one. It seemed as if sheer grace had brought us together. That night, when I went to bed, I found myself saying prayers of thanksgiving for the many roads we had traveled together and the experiences we had shared and will continue to share.

Over that same week-end, one of our daughter-in-laws was attending her family gathering in celebration of their parent’s 60th Wedding Anniversary!  Through all seasons, some really hard and some really joyous, and many in-between, families are a blessing.

Gratitude.  As I think of each person in our family, and remember our friends, I am grateful for each one, for their strengths and gifts, for their unique imperfections, and for the ties which bring us together. What an amazing and motley crew!

My husband gave me an orchid for my birthday that is unlike the others we have. It is filled with blooms which, rather than arching nicely in a bow shape, the way most orchids do, go in all directions. There is no one neat stem.  There are three stems, each with off shoots, contributing to the beauty and richness I see in them.  And the orchids, rather than being one color and design are all different.  They are all some shade of purple, but, they each have different markings.  Somehow that plant reminds me of our family.

I know I don’t say “thank you” to each and every one as often as I mean to. In fact, when I stop to think about it, I most often may just be saying “thank you” in my head.  Its like saying “I love you.”  We feel it more than we say it.

So, right now, right here let me say, from the depth of my being, I am grateful for my family and I love them, each one. And I am grateful for good friends and appreciate them more than I ever say.

Who wouldv’e thought it!  The Bruins won the Stanley Cup and today in Boston, huge Celebration!

We watched game seven with some of our North Carolina family, which was, for us, as important as the game!  It was hard to see the sadness on the faces of the Canucks as the Bruins were elatedly, one by one, hoisting the Stanley cup aloft in a victory demonstration in Vancouver.  What joy!  And, on the other side, what pain!

One of our granddaughters, when she was young refused to play games that had winners and losers.  I saw her point. It’s hard to lose.  I remember one of my father’s friends who would upset the card table whenever he  lost a night of bridge. He was once known to upset the table when his wife and partner made a move he considered stupid. Maybe the same emotions were triggered in Vancouver after the Bruin’s win.

I am reminded by my son that in sports, winning and losing is the way it goes.  Everybody lives with it and expects it.

The day after the game I was talking with a friend about some particularly difficult life decisions she is having to make. That put the Bruins win in its place in her life.  Sports are sports and life is life.  (Unless of course you play professionally in which case sport and life meet in a big way.)

Sports for spectators is play ,though,  admittedly some take it more seriously than others. Sports provide an escape for those who love them.  They provide an occasion for bonding. Sports brings strange combination of people together in common cause.  Fans.  I love it.  But I won’t be taking losing or winning too seriously.  Oh-oh, does that disrupt fan unity?  Way to go Bruins!  Thank You!

I never expected to be watching the sixth game of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Bruins and the Canucks but I am. The Bruins are ahead and it looks as if there will be a seventh game!  The Bruins established their winning goals right away.  Before those goals, 21 seconds into the game Canuck player, Mason Raymond, sustained an injury that sent him off to the hospital.  I keep waiting for tempers to flare and play to get rougher as the end of  the game approaches.

I was getting my hair cut at the salon the other day when the woman in the chair next to me was talking about ice hockey.  She is a devoted, avid  fan of the sport. With great animation and finality, she said, ” I like the violence.  That’s part of the attraction.  The game is physical.  I love it. Of course, I don’t like dirty violence.  It has to be clean.”

Clean violence.  That has been food for thought for me all week. Now I am wondering if I am beginning to like the physicality of the game too.  In the beginning the score was 4-0 and I was feeling bad for the Canadians. Now it is 5-2 and I am worried for the Bruins.  Another brawl has broken out.  LaPierre, a Canuck has been kicked out of the game. Not for clean violence, I suspect.  I lost track of the reason.

When my sister and I first, in complete innocence, cut through the crowd in Williamstown, PA, to see the Stanley Cup in the 80s, I didn’t even know what it was. The Lightning had won that year and their manager, Jay Fiester, had brought it to his home town with much fan fare. That town is where my father grew up and we hang out summers. Now I know what the Stanley Cup is and in 2011 it is one game away from the Bruins…or the Canucks.

Game seven has been secured. Game six is over and the fans are going wild.  Now we’ll see if the Bruins can win away from home.

There are things going on in our lives besides the Stanley Cup.  Tom and I went to his sixtieth reunion of his Mount Hermon High School Class.  He was valedictorian and returned with fond memories of his time there. (Its now Northfield Mount Hermon.)  I had a good time meeting Tom’s friends and celebrating with them.  Three of us had birthdays the day of the big dinner, Chew, Hune (11th or 12th)) and me.  All with China connections.

We carefully packed summer clothes for the reunion and then the weather turned out to be cold and wet!  Boston weather is never dull.

Listening to a panel of students speak and inhaling the atmosphere, there is no doubt that Northfield Mount Hermon offers an excellent education and has a talented, creative, motivated student body.  I found myself wrestling again with feelings about Private and Public education. The tuition there for a boarding student (80% of the student body) is over $40,000.  While there are scholarships, the number of students paying ful tuition has increased. I clearly have issues around class.  Of course there is room for all kinds of education.  The students we met did not seem spoiled or entitled.  They were open, kind, and welcoming. But who are the people who can afford that much money for a High School education?

For Tom, Mount Hermon was a godsend. His parents returned from China just before his Junior year and with his mother sick, the school was a perfect place for him as he made the transition back to the States.  On a scholarship.

We are having family celebrations for both Alana and my Birthdays this coming week.  I am looking forward to being together!

As I wrap this up, the evening news in on. There is nothing on the news tonight but the Bruins.  Such excitement in Boston!

Tomorrow will be another day.

In my last blog I said I might not be able to watch the Canucks and Bruins battle it out for the Stanley Cup.  Here I am watching game four and I saw part of game three. As it turn out.  Tom and I were eating dinner out at a restaurant with TVs and saw Horton of the Bruins go down with what turned out to be a serious concussion.. He had been slammed into and virtually yanked down, a scene which they kept replaying. Everyone in the place  was stunned an, needless to say, glued to the screen. It was scary to see someone really hurt. And then, what a win by the Boston Bruins, 7-1!

Passions were hot on the ice. Tempers flared and violent encounters ensued.  Fortunately, there ae referees and rules! Its a game!  I hate to think of life situations where there is no one to call fouls or sent people to penalty boxes. Penalty boxes, sounds like the “time outs” the Nanny of TV fame uses to help parents keep unrulky children in line.

I better get back to the game.  So far, the Bruins are ahead by four!  The refs are reviewing the last goal. IT WAS GOOD. The announcers certainly do get excited

There are times when being ignored and disliked is a definite advantage.  For instance,  I would be really happy to not be so enjoyed by black flies and mosquitoes.  This Memorial Day we had a great visit with family in Maine…with one exception, the black flies love me!  I become a blood sacrifice!  I can still feel the lumps all over me though the itch is mostly gone. The flies leave my husband alone.

Next time I am worried about what people think of me I will remember the black flies.There are times when its okay to be ignored and not liked. Its fine to be on the sidelines and watch others being the center of attention.  I’m not equating people and flies, of course.   Just saying that some lessons can be learned in unexpected ways.

As I write this we are watching the Bruins and Canucks in the playoffs. I don’t know much abut ice hockey. It is sure a fast paced game! And for me, nerve wracking to watch and yet, intriguing. The announcers get very excited and without them, I wouldn’t know what is going on though I am getting better at following the puck. Unfortunately, the Canucks just won their second game in overtime. The crowd is going wild in Vancouver!  This is one of those times when being loved is good.  That is, by the Canucks’ fans. We aren’t too happy in Boston. But we still have another chance when they play in Boston.  I am not sure I can stand to watch. Boston TV says the Bruins are resilient.  I hope so.

Finally!  The Presbyterian Church (USA) after years of debate, study, struggle, and prayer has opened its doors for the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy by removing all constitutional barriers to their ordination.  We are now the inclusive church for which we have longed and worked.

Clergy are to be examined for ordination, not based on externals such as race, ethnic origin, gender, and now, sexual orientation. They will be examined and approved for ordination based on the following criteria set forth in of Book of Order:
“The governing body responsible for ordination and or installation shall examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability for the responsibilities of office. The examination shall include, but not be limited to. a determination of the candidate’s ability and commitment to fulfill all requirements as expressed int eh constitutional questions for ordination and installation. Governing bodies shall be guided by Scriptire and the confessions in applying standard to individual candidates.”

One of the miracles is that a good number of Presbyteries changed their minds since the first attempt was made to open church doors for homosexual clergy. This represents a sea change in both church and culture, a maturing of faith and ethics, from my perspective. It is also a clear demonstration of the fact that belief is not static. We are open to the movement of the Spirit.

One amusing short report from the Associated Press stated that Presbyterians have done away with “Fidelity in marriage” and “Chastity” as requirements for ordination. The fact is, we do not now singled these things out as THE moral requirements for ordination.  We have allowed them to slip into place with other ethical expectations of clergy.  Of course, fidelity in covenant relationships is still part of our ethical norm.

Our celebration is deeply felt by those of us who see God’s justice at work in this action. We deliberately do not gloat and proclaim loudly.  There are still those who, believing that homosexuality is a sin, weep over this decision. No religious institution is ever in total agreement and unity on all matters of faith and morals. We are, as Presbyterians, committed to a democratic form of government. Like our nation, we abide by decisions made by the majority and try to maintain our unity. If our conscience requires it, we express disagreement.

Having lived and worked through the days after the ordination of women was approved by the Presbyterian Church, USA, I know that new issues lie ahead.  Every Presbytery will deal with individual candidates differently. However, if a church calls someone who is gay or lesbian, they cannot simply be rejected for ordination or installation on the basis of sexual orientation. Finally!  Praises be!

This year, I experienced the media as more focused on Mother’s Day than in past years. My antenna go up. Whenever women are honored as mothers, there is a tendency to down play us as employees and to draw a much too clear distinction between motherhood and fatherhood.  Back to traditional gender roles. That having been said,  I had a great Mother’s Day.

Our oldest son was here on business and he cooked breakfast for us on Sunday morning…an he cleaned up too!  Later in the day, he was joined by his wife, daughter, and her boy friend and we were all joined by our youngest son and his family. We had chinese food and a great time together.

I got an impatience plant that looked a little weathered, but by this morning it was looking fresh and beautiful. Our other son had to stay home to do some parenting with his oldest son who has a bad ankle sprain and needed to take his SATS. He spent time with his ex-mother-in-law.  I’m sure she appreciated that.

Today I am back to mother worrying responsibility.  Now that our children are hugrown and on their own with grown and growing children of thier own, I have no day-to-day parent tasks.  So I see that caring about them and loving them as much as I do needs, at times, to be expressed by desiring their happiness with my whole heart, and the fulfillment of their potential.  This, of course, entails warding off the dragons with the power of my mind.  Thus, worry.

As a human being, I have been engaged in motherhood and employment all of my adult life. Warding off dragons was never part of my professional job. In all of the positions I held, I contended with dragons. Warding them off was not part of the package. So, my grown children now contend with challenges as I have and still do, though to a much lessor degree.  And I am the dragon slayer. I am sure that they, in their own parenting, carry the burden of worry on their shoulders too.

In my own parenting life, I have not made much of the difference between women and men’s relationships with their children. I have noticed though, that I seem to worry more than my husband does.

The day after the day after Easter.  I woke up feeling tired from Easter celebrations, and grateful for the love of family and friends, those gathered with us and those far away.  And I woke up thinking that Easter would be a good time to mark the beginning of a new year. Celebrating Jesus’ resurrection seems like a good time to embrace the possibilities that come with leaving “the folded grave clothes” behind and stepping out into the light.

Spring is a good time to begin a new year as we wake up from a long winter night, to move and stretch and smell the flowers.  Living in Boston means watching spring come in fits and starts.  That is often how new life comes. In some parts of the country spring came this year with wild fires, floods, and tornadoes, while in some areas of the country spring came softly, and it was hard to tell the difference between spring and other seasons. Our internal landscape, like the weather has all of that going on too. Through whatever spring brings to us personally, we all need hope to surprise us. We need to find ourselves in the presence of love having the final word…for us and within us. It has happened and keeps happening.

Christians say in baptism , as water washes over us, that we die and rise again with Jesus. The words sound good but discovering what they mean takes a lifetime. I think they speak a universal truth. We have already died to death when we begin our journey on earth.   Life is ultimately triumphant.

Jews observing Passover,. celebrating a Seder meal and the passing over from slavery to freedom of  the ancient Hebrew people, also speak a universal truth. In that particular celebration is a recognition of our human longing for freedom and desiring to trust in a Divine force that wills and acts for freedom for all of us.  A good time for a new year, that new beginning when those things or those people or systems who enslave us lose their power over us and we walk the liberation walk.

Of course, Christians imagine themselves on the side of Jesus and not on the side of the evil forces that killed him.  And Jews imagine themselves on the side of their God and not the enslaving Egyptians.  We all have a shadow side  so we might as well recognize ourselves in those who caused Jesus’ death or held the Hebrews captive. Freedom from slavery and resurrection life is really meant for us in our complexity and complicity with good and evil. That is real good news.

Goodness, this seems like much too serious a reflection for spring and my imagined New Year.  Its  a time to celebrate life. I have a two new grand nephews and a grand niece and another on the way. And a friend has given birth to a baby boy.Children are being born all over the world. Two other dear ones have passed from this life to the mystery and grace beyond as they are doing all over the world. And we who live between birth and death are blessed to be able to continue to pursue our daily lives, our relationships, and our dreams with all of humanity. We are celebrating our spring.  Giving thanks!