Tuesday Twenty-Five: Courageous Acts

Back in December I was trying to decide if I wanted to adopt a theme word again for 2010. If you followed EyeJunkie last year, you’ll barely recognize the concept since I was woefully inconsistent in posting about “harmony,” my theme word for 2009. The purpose of the theme word was to center my thoughts on a single concept I was interested in developing in my life over the course of the year. Lofty goal! And not one easily achieved for a wandering mind like mine. Before choosing something for this year, I was determined that I would commit myself to posting at least once each month on the theme. Good news! I’ve already missed January. (Such is life. What’s it to you?) Laugh with me. Please.

Tardiness aside, the chief determining factor for whether I would go live with the theme word posting pursuit again was this: if I chose a word, WHAT IN THE WORLD would it be? It took me all of five seconds to realize that the word was staring me right in the face, socking me between the eyes with the sheer craving for it in my life. November and December were filled with conversations and current events and mundane activities and life experiences urging me, cajoling me, demanding me to really live, to commit myself to moving beyond existence. To soak up the marrow of my life in all its dailiness and embrace it. Engage it. Pay attention to it. Live it. Vibrantly.

And in this day and age of slow slumber, all that living takes a rousing amount of… (wait for it)

COURAGE.

cour•age
–noun
1. the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery. (thank you dictionary.com)

Ta Da! Theme Word 2010 presented itself without so much as one tiny strain on my brain. Yes, courage is needed in abundant supply. If only I had some! So, this year I’m pursuing courage in my mind, in my writing, in my loving, in my living. And, you can hear tell of it here on occasion. I’ll follow up with the “post behind the post” soon enough, but to begin this pursuit, I give you another jumbo-sized Tuesday Ten: 25 Courageous Acts I hope to really act on in 2010. What about you?

Garnering the courage…

1. to speak

2. to feel

3. to embrace difficulty

4. to confront issues

5. to ask the question

6. to take a chance

7. to think

8. to decide

9. to be who I am

10. to stand

11. to let go

12. to hold on

13. to look closely

14. to give

15. to release

16. to befriend

17. to stay

18. to step outside myself, but not away from myself

19. to see

20. to be moved by what I’ve seen

21. to act on what I’ve seen or learned

22. to say no

23. to say yes

24. to wait

25. to live

Holy Convocation

Shabbat. To cease.

In my Bible, it’s intoduced on page two. It has been observed by millions around the globe and through the centuries both religiously and half-heartedly. I think it’s the key to something that I’m only just now beginning to glimpse–something that can only be unlocked by truly observing it with intent and discipline. Yet, the benefits are powerful and rewarding enough for even the then solitary Being, the God of the universe to partake–no, initiate.

“Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” (genesis 2:3)

The fact that the Sabbath Day is a worthwhile, relevant and necessary habit is evidenced most powerfully by God’s own action–or inaction, by definition. Shabbat is translated throughout the Bible as “rest.” However, since God has never, nor will ever require rest, the more inspiring translation I found in my google/wikipedia-supplemented pondering is this:  “to cease.” I can’t help but believe that this stopping holds key principles for maintaining a life in true harmony of spirit, harmony within and with God. In fact, there’s a deep breath rising up in my spirit while I’m only thinking and writing about Shabbat. The simple thought of a designated ceasing brings an inexplicable sense of “this is as it should be.” The Jewish tradition of Shabbat observance may have gotten somewhat legalistic and removed from purpose over the centuries since Moses’ day, but I can’t help but think they got something right in their utterly thorough preparation and observance of this holy convocation.

“For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not do any work; it is a sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings.” (leviticus 23:3)

Shabbat is God’s own divine and perfect project management system, His omniscient, omnipotent scheduling method. It is a command he demonstrated in His own “work” of creating all that exists. The sentiment, and yes, the words are clear. Shabbat, the holy convocation, should be complete. It summons all my spirit, all my desires, all my actions, all my loves, all my hates, all the places where I truly dwell into the same assembled stop. The same assembled deep inhale and slow exhale that was God’s choice. To cease on the Sabbath was God’s choice to release Himself from the constraints of doing. The joy of Shabbat is to bring my spirit into harmony with His example by choosing to stop, to put down the schedule, to put down the constant pull to do something on my ever-increasing list. Even things that I love to do. Even things that I’m excited about or things that bring me joy. Shabbat is not just about stopping the mundane things or the things that tire me out or the things that distract me. It calls me to put down the need to do something, to put down the need to move along to the next. It forces me to bring everything into focus for this moment–not what needs to happen in the next one or what should have happened in the last one. What freedom!

“You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” (deuteronomy 5:15)

At it’s core, Shabbat boils down to freedom. God commanded the people to use Shabbat to remember how He brought them out of slavery in Egypt. Their liberation brought the freedom to stop, to rest. They were no longer beholden to task-masters to toil at the whim of another. Thus, the freedom of Shabbat is demonstrated, the freedom to allow the moment to take me where it wants, or the Spirit to take me where He wants. The freedom from ought tos, from should haves, from need tos. The freedom to fully, without reservation or guilt or sacrifice or multitasking, make a conscious choice about what I will do (or cease doing) in this moment.

“For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.” (exodus 20:11)

Shabbat is a ceasing God, Himself, infused with meaning.  Although it is most often used for “church” in modern Christianity, Shabbat was not set aside for worship in its origin. It was set apart for ceasing. A fast from working, from doing. Shabbat is a God-given holy day in every week where time set apart for stopping is elevated to celebration status. A time to cease. It was the first holy day mentioned in the Bible, and God, Himself, was the first to observe it by example. If God can set aside His work, can’t I? If God saw value in incorporating the holy into the daily grind, shouldn’t I?

Yet, what is the inevitable outcome of this holy convocation? Yes, it is worship. It is delight. In the Lord. It is freedom, riding on heights. It is satisfaction, fed with God’s heritage.

“If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the LORD honorable, and honor it, desisting from your ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word,then you will take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (isaiah 58:13-14)

May you feed on the heritage of ceasing this Shabbat.

MIPOTW: Temperamental Ideology

Shock. My last Most Interesting Phrase of the Week was posted on March 23. I’d say I’m a little behind. It’s not that I haven’t seen anything interesting–quite the opposite.  More accurately, I’ve been so interested in so many things that my mind’s been a little muddled.  You’ve heard it before. It’s a chronic problem that sometimes results in fruit rotting on the vine, creatively speaking.  But, MIPOTW is back with a thought-provoking vengeance–so much so that this one is showing up in the big wide column in addition to its typical spot in the wander zone to your right.  Why the special treatment, you ask?  Well, it’s because this one relates to my 2009 theme word concept, harmony.

The phrase: “It’s not about ideology.  It’s about temperament.”

I heard it while watching a recent segment of Charlie Rose on PBS.  It’s a quote from Joe Scarborough, co-host of Morning Joe on MSNBC.  His subject was the Republican Party in “crisis”, and I agree. But, the statement prompted my thinking on wider issues of temperamental ideology.

Ideology is temperamental.  Try as we might, we can’t always fit it neatly into every situation and make it come out all pretty please with sugar on top. Ideology is a tough nut.  Sometimes it’s the life of the party. Sometimes it’s a loner. Sometimes it doesn’t play well with others. Sometimes it walks softly. Sometimes it carries a big ‘ol stick and doesn’t mind whomping somebody’s noggin with it. Ideology is a squirly beast.

My handy dictionary.com tells me that ideology is “the body of doctrine, myth, belief, etc., that guides an individual, social movement, institution, class, or large group.”  And, I suppose the large group status there gives ideology its particular tendencies toward watering down, blind leading the blind, or zealot crusading as individual iterations emerge.

I started reading a book this weekend called The Signature of Jesus by Brennan Manning. The introduction began a dialogue on the challenge of why beliefs don’t always play out in actions. It highlighted the difference between belief and faith (half-baked for now, but more to come), and reminded me of the harmony (and sometimes disharmony) found in temperamental ideology.

I’ve been pondering beliefs quite a bit of late–in particular, maintaining harmony in beliefs across a variety of situations and social issues. “It’s about temperament.” Trusty dictionary.com tells me that in addition to “the combination of mental, physical, and emotional traits of a person,” temperament also refers to the musical “tuning of a keyboard instrument… so that the instrument may be played in all keys without further tuning.” It’s early meanings include “to mix properly” like in tempera paint. [music and paint--two things I can easily get behind] Ideology in harmony with living–where the rubber meets the road–requires some fine-tuning in order to be played equally across any musical key.  It requires proper mixing. Apt combinations. Stretching out the tiniest variations from the pure tone of truth. The smallest additions and subtractions.

Don’t misunderstand me.  I’m not searching for an all-inclusive amalgamation of beliefs where anything and everything goes and where to be is to be true. That doesn’t work for me.  I’m talking about defying situational ethics and beliefs in favor of standing behind true God-defined realities that stem from the heart of an all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-now, ever-loving righteous Creator.  Tall order.  But, I’m more convinced each day that if it’s true at all and true for me, it’s true for everyone. If it was ever relevant, it’s still relevant. If it can be mine, it can be anyone’s. If it works here, it will work there.  And if it doesn’t, likely it’s my own temperament about the issue that needs to be brought into harmony with the Flesh-clothed Word’s intent.

MIPOTW: Spam?

The Most Interesting Phrase of the Week 031409 was reprinted in this blog post from some top-secret [kidding] Google documents that were “leaked” and have been floating around the internets.  It’s a handy little Google definition of SPAM.

When trying to decide if a page is Spam, it is helpful to ask yourself this question: if I remove the scraped (copied) content, the ads, and the links to other pages, is there anything of value left? if the answer is no, the page is probably Spam.

Hmmm…
Is there anything of value left?  Tough call.  Rifling through a mental list of posts, I’m thinking one man’s mystery meat is another man’s…

[BTW, that Spam Upside Down Pie recipe is for free]

Widget Storm

Warning. Obsessive tendency alert.  A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about some updates and posts I’ve been thinking about for eyeJunkie — sweeping out the ol’ cobweb.  I’m toying around with a few changes and additions to my sidebars, wanting to update some widgets, add photo galleries and generally reorganize.  And, I’m unsettled.  Yes, my irrational, this-is-my-site-and-therefore-a-picture-of-me-as-a-person mentality and my obsessive all-must-follow-the-clever-concept creative process have joined forces with my little compulsive, cluttered-space-breeds-a-cluttered-mind and there-are-too-many-letters-flying-around streak.  Uh-oh.  The result is total brain chaos and the ensuing indecision.  It’s no big deal, really.  I’m used to it.  I do it every time I have a design (or otherwise creative) problem to resolve.  It’s just part of my process–the insomniac phase where I can’t rest until I get at least a couple of fingers around which direction I want to head.  Then, I’m a creativity flowing fool.

I apologize in advance for making you a part of the process, but sometimes a sheet of paper with words and lists and doodles all over it just needs a different venue.  So, here’s my widget ‘storm–a partial brainstormed list of words and phrases related to my sight and vision concept.  I’m thinking at least some of these will find their way into my sidebar revamps, et al.

attention span
needs attention
starved for attention
attention getter
eyesight
insight 
sneak peek
private eye
looking glass
sight line
eye openers
eyelet
eye shadow
bird’s eye view
share the view
view
sight
see
look
have a look-see
hindsight
foresight
viewfinder
re-view
room with a view
eyes wide open
eye candy
eye wash
view point
eye opening
over-view
peek a boo
seen
be seen
see and be seen
sight words