Religious whiplash:
From a lofty and inspiring synagogue worship service on
Friday night, at which we formally installed our new rabbi, to a nitty-gritty
and inspiring day-long strategic planning retreat at church on Saturday.
Spiritual whiplash:
From reading The New
Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, about utter
injustice, violence, and racism, to reading Love
burning in the soul : the story of the Christian mystics, from Saint Paul to
Thomas Merton, about heavenly love, mercy, and peace.
Familial whiplash:
From having all three kids around at all hours, which was
wonderful and challenging, to no kids around at all during the day, which is
wonderful and challenging.
Seasonal whiplash:
From the scurry and bustle of baking-planning-buying-wrapping-eating-traveling
for Christmas, to the gloom and drear of taking down the lights, putting the
paper chain away in the attic, and needing to get rid of the effect of all those cookies and pies.
Result:
I’m fine, but I might have my head on backwards for a
while. Also, I will sit on the couch wrapped in a blanket for a while. Call me when it warms up.
And you? How is the
year proceeding for you so far?
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| Not just snow, but colder than cold. Must keep in mind that the arrival of this wintry stuff does not negate the arrival depicted in the scenes below. |
(The four photos above are of my sister-in-law's
nativity scenes made in Central America.)
7 comments:
Possibly the biggest change for me is that I came on Session at my church, just yesterday. And at a most exciting time! We are selling our huge beautiful church with the fancy sanctuary and historic organ and "right-sizing" to . . . we don't know where yet. But the buyers want to set up shop soon, so we have to figure it out. Lots of meetings in my near future!
I don't know what the weather is like today where you are, but where I live today, we are getting the coldest,iciest, most miserable rain. I'm looking forward to getting back into bed tonight.
Today is the first day of classes at the college, which always comes with its own minor anxieties. However, I did finish knitting scarf over Christmas and was able to use it today: it's my second scarf, for deployment when the temps go down into single digits. It wraps around my head above my first scarf. Today was its first official use for walking from the parking lot to my building. Campuses always seem to have 50 mph winds, even when it's totally calm at home!
I hope you survive the cold, and your head will eventually settle into its normal position :-)
I'm afraid whiplash might be my new normal. I'd prefer to sit and read/contemplate Love burning in the soul while occasionally looking up to enjoy those sweet nativity sets.
Church business vs. worship time is a balancing act I have yet to perfect, mostly because everyone expects me to be available to answer questions on Sundays.
I tend to have a mild feeling of anxiety burning in my stomach throughout most days this time of year, like there's not enough time, not enough energy, not enough of me to get all the unreasonable things done on my unreasonable list. The problem is I have not yet given up. Give me time, and I will; I always do.
I'm trying to focus on decluttering.
Since the end of August I've been walking around in a whacked-out daze. Christmas break was somewhat restorative, but I'm back in the grind again so I'm focused on just surviving until summer now. Next year will be better. I just keep repeating that over and over... I like that whiplash image so much.
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