Friday Night Salon

Here are the Dallas Institute Salon discussion topics for February 2, 2007:

1. The Declaration of Independence states that mankind's "unalienable Rights" include "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." How should we understand the last of these--"the pursuit of Happiness"?

2. To what extent is a non-racist society possible?

3. What are the role and function of a presidential library?

What's your input?

If loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right!

I am seriously head-over-heels in love. In fact, I am willing to give up almost anything at this moment for this affair that always takes place during the same time of year, every year. This scandalous relationship is definitely inappropriate in that it is completely unhealthy and habitual. I am addicted to it. Seriously. If I could marry a food, today it would be Girl Scout Cookies. (I have to say "today" because tomorrow it might be broccoli and the next day it might be toast. In fact that sounds like a plan for the week.)

I look forward to Girl Scout cookie season. Everyone has a favorite, and therefore cookie season offers an opportunity not only for palpable pleasure, but also for casual conversation, even with people you don't know! (Which is better than telling people, especially the guy who makes your afternoon coffee beverage (not at Starbucks), that sometimes you are naked and that's why you were in the paper. You don't know why you said it other than it was funny, he was looking at you like you were his very own, special brand of Girl Scout cookie, and it startled your friend, Christine - which is always fun, but is getting harder and harder to accomplish because she is now used to your random, unintentional Rain Man impressions, your seriously manic and masochistic aversion to Gloria Estefan, and the fact that you occasionally walk directly into walls without warning. Also, you sort of take pleasure in the fact that now your coffee maker smiles at you and blushes, which is decidedly better than him gagging, I'm quite sure.) The point is that talking about your favorite Girl Scout cookie is a better conversation topic and a more appropriate one for that type of transaction.


My favorite definitely has to be the Caramel Delights - delicate vanilla cookies drenched in caramel, sprinkled with toasted coconut and laced with dark cocoa stripes.







Rich is particular to the classic Thin Mints -thin chocolate wafers dipped in a rich chocolaty coating with a burst of pure peppermint oil.






This year we tried a new cookie, Lemonades - savory shortbread slices with a refreshingly tangy lemon icing make any day feel like a sweet summer break.




Overall, this has been a very successful cookie season. Alas, we are already half-way through our boxes this year. It is a bitter sweet parting, but mostly sweet... and YUMMY!

In His Presence

From Debbie's Service - the parts that I find especially relevant no matter the name you say in reference to God:

1. Humble yourself to admit that you have personal needs and need other people. Crucify your individualism, and ask others to pray for you. This is an exercise in humility.
2. Take time deliberately to be alone with God. Let him write in the margins of your life. Follow the example of Jesus: Be in a quiet place, on a mountain, by a lake, or at the beach in order to clear the cobwebs from your brain and mute the clamor of noises that competes with God's quiet voice.
3. Don't be captive of the tyranny of the agenda of others. The need is not your call...
4. Make spending time with God a paramount commitment of your life.
5. Make prayer a priority in various time frames, looking for ways to be in continuous communion with God - early morning or evening, in the night seasons.
6. Spend time listening in prayer. It's simple: ask, then be quiet and listen!
7. Choose regular physical disciplines of exercise, good eating habits, and enough sleep. A rested, healthy body removes hindrances to hearing from God.
8. Ask for the fullness of the Holy Spirit in your life.
9. Cultivate a worshipping heart.
10. Cultivate God-centeredness, not self-centeredness.
11. Ask God to blast you out of your comfort zone. Don't settle for a life on a treadmill of activity. "Status quo is the Latin word for the rut we are in." Seek God-given vision.
12. Seek the faces of God, not systems of doctrine, man-made programs, religious enterprises etc. Don't settle for business as usual.

Sangha Renewal

I've been out of sorts and out of town for the last week because Rich and I had something really sad happen in our lives. Rich's step-mother, Debbie, passed away on Monday. She was 51 and her death was sudden and most unexpected. We got the call on Monday and headed to Amarillo on Tuesday morning. The rest of the week was a complete blur, and I think Rich very eloquently described the emotions that we are all feeling at this moment, so I'll direct you to his blog for understanding.

There are many thoughts running through my brain today, as they have been this entire week, and I wanted to share :

I'm reading a book called Going Home, Jesus and the Buddha as Brothers by Thich Nhat Hanh, the same holy man who wrote The Miracle of Mindfulness. Thay (as Thich Nhat Hanh is lovingly called by his brothers and sisters) in Going Home talks about the importance of the Sangha, the community or church, on whom we are supposed to rely for continual nourishment and spiritual growth. This should be a reciprocal, circular connection, one in which the individual has to do her part in order for the community to flourish. Thay reminds us that our job as a community is to be uplifting and cultivating. He says, "A Sangha is our refuge. Taking refuge in the Sangha is not a matter of faith, or belief; it is a matter of practice... If you have a Sangha, you are safe. You can nourish your home and protect yourself... Taking refuge in the Sangha is very important. Not a day goes by when I do not practice taking refuge several times."

And also, "We die (spiritually) so many times a day. We lose ourselves so many times a day. And thanks to the Sangha and the practice, we also come back to life several times a day... Redemption and resurrection are neither words nor objects of belief. They are our daily practice... You are born in order to die again; this is the fact. If the Sangha, the church, and the teacher are not there, you are likely to die again. You may die for a long time before you have a chance to be reborn again. The Sangha is your chance, your opportunity; the Sangha is your life."

And finally, "[Life's] a tragedy and also a comedy. We have to let our faith grow. To help our faith grow, we have to let our love grow. And because our faith and our love continue to grow, our happiness will also grow. If you are not peaceful, and happy and strong, how can you expect to help other people to be happy, and strong, and stable? So let us sit down as a group of brothers and sisters, as a Sangha, to practice looking deeply again into our lives and how to conduct them...we know that without the Sangha, and continuous practice, we cannot grow steadily."

These words were a great comfort to me this week because for the first time in a long time, I felt some sort of renewal or rebirth of my spirit. I have always had a nourishing, uplifting community of friends, my family. Unfortunately, sometimes I get so buried by sufferings - not just my personal ones, but also those of people who surround me and the world's sufferings that I tend to harbor near my heart - that I don't allow my Sangha to help me be reborn. In fact, a lot of times, I push them away because loving people too much allows us to be vulnerable to one another, and being vulnerable is very difficult for me.

This week, I lifted my head a little bit and recognized my Sangha for the first time in a while. I held hands with them, I prayed and cried with them; I looked into their eyes. I smiled at them and I danced with them, even if they weren't physically present. Because of them, I am reborn!

Thank you to all of you who continue to be patient with me and thank you for not kicking me to the curb, especially as I've been ironically selfish in my quest for selflessness. I want to grow steadily, and I think because I want to grow, it will eventually happen thanks to you, my Sangha.

Gary Jules - Mad World (Donnie Darko version)

Donnie Darko completely messed with my head, and after I saw it, I sobbed for 5 minutes and then had to sit in silence for at least 20. I don't know why, exactly - AND yes, I am weird because of it..
Anyway, I love the remake of Mad World and it reminds me of whatever catharsis I had when I watched the movie.

Some fixing ceremony...

"after fixing herself on a huge flat-sided rock, Baby Suggs bowed her head and prayed silently. The company watched her from the trees. They knew she was ready when she put her stick down.. Then she shouted, 'Let the children come!' and they ran from the trees toward her.
'Let your mothers hear your laugh,' she told them, and the woods rang. The adults looked on and could not help smiling.
Then 'Let the grown men come,' she shouted. They stepped out one by one from among the ringing trees.
'Let your wives and your children see you dance,' she told them, and groundlife shuddered under their feet.
Finally she called the women to her. 'Cry,' she told them. ' For the living and the dead. Just cry.' And without covering their eyes the women let loose.
It started that way: laughing children, dancing men, crying women and then it got mixed up. Women stopped crying and danced; men sat down and cried; children danced , women laughed, children cried until, exhausted and riven, all and each lay about the Clearing, damp and gasping for breath. In the silence that followed, Baby Suggs, holy, offered up to them her great big heart.
She did not tell them to clean up their lives or to go and sin no more. She did not tell them that they were the blessed of the earth, its inheriting meek or its glorybound pure.
She told them that the only grace they could have was the grace they could imagine. That if they could not see it, they would not have it.
'Here,' she said, 'in this here place, we flesh; flesh that weeps, laughs; flesh that dances on bare feet in grass. Love it. Love it hard. Yonder they do not love your flesh. They despise it. They don't love your eyes; they'd just as soon pick them out. No more do they love the skin on your back. Yonder they flay it. And O my people, they do not love your hands... Love your hands! Love them! Raise them up and kiss them. Touch others with them, pat them together, stroke them on your face... You got to love it, you!... This is flesh I'm talking about here. Flesh that needs to be loved... and the beat, the beating heart, love that too. More than eyes or feet. More than lungs that have yet to draw free air...hear me now, love your heart.' Saying no more, she stood up then and danced with her twisted hip the rest of what her heart had to say while the others opened their mouths and gave her the music. Long notes held until the four-part harmony was perfect enough for their deeply loved flesh.
[She] wanted to be there now. At least to listen to the spaces that long-ago singing had left behind."

from Beloved by Toni Morrison

Mr Brightside (other version)

I've been listening to The Killers a lot lately. I like to sing/scream their songs after a bad day..especially the sarcastic ones.

Here's how you know you've had a crappy day:

1. The alarm goes off, but it doesn't matter because the cat has already alerted you (via obnoxious yowls) to the fact that your alarm is about to go off... in an hour.

2. You have to rush to get ready because, even though you were awake earlier than usual, you were pissed off and refused to get out of bed until you hit the snooze button one extra time. Because of this point that you were making to your.. uh.. alarm clock? cat? Whatever. Because of this, you have no time for proper hair teasing so you look like (or at least feel like you look like) the bride of Frankenstein, only more frizzy!

3. You get to your job and you're met with immediate jackholery (thanks for the word, Lisa). In my case, here's how it went:

I walked into the schoolhouse. I saw a cluster of students. They were all wearing hats which is against the school dress code.
Me: Good morning, guys. Please take off your hats.
Them: (look around like they hear something, but can't tell where from): What? Did someone say something?
Me: Just please take off your hats. You're inside of a building; it's polite to take off your hats. Plus it's the rule. Please take them off.
Them: (dig their fingers around in their ears as if something is obstructing their hearing - a move that had clearly been planned and implemented before): Did someone say something?
Me: Are you serious? I asked nicely. OK. STOP. BEING. JERKS. Take your hats off.
Them: She did not just say that.. We're going to get her fired. She called us jerks.
Me: Do it now!
Them: (Barely lift their hats a quarter inch off of their heads and hold them there (as a statement of what they think of me and my mother) so that when I turn the corner, they can put them back on).

4. You're still walking to your room/floor/cubicle/space etc. and you are met with further insult. Here's my version:

I'm hurrying around the corner and nearly bump into one of my favorite kids.
Me: (brushing off the incident that happened two seconds ago because, as a teacher, that's what you do.) Good Morning!
Him: Ewww!!
Me: ( apparent sad face)
Him: (yelling from down the hall) Sorry, Mrs. Haag! (while laughing)

5. 30% of those to whom you are speaking go to sleep while you are talking, even though you've studied for days, have practiced your presentation AND it is over something you love on a profound level. Also, you are working so hard - enthusiastically gesturing and changing the tone of your voice, doing everything you can possibly think of short of lighting yourself on fire - to entertain your audience. They can't be bothered to look at you.

This happens every other hour, all day.

6. You are supposed to set up a meeting with someone but can't find a place in your calendar because it is so full of meetings that there are NO open spaces.

7. That being said, you honestly can't remember the last time you got to use your time at work to actually do your job.

8. You go to the eye doctor and you hear words/phrases like "glaucoma", "you're too young", "medication," and "your insurance won't cover it".

9. You're called a soccer mom, though you have no kids, you don't drive a minivan, and your hair is not soccer-mom-ish. Frankenstein-ish, yes. Actually, by now it's more wet-cat-ish. But not soccer-mom-ish! You think, "Honestly! When did I become old enough to look like I have a kid who is old enough to play soccer? Wait. I could be a soccer mom! Biological clock IS BROKEN!"

10. You get home and all you can think about is a TALL glass of wine, a hot bubble bath, and a vacation...

(AND you feel like an ass because, though you've had a seriously CRAPPY day, you recognize that you still have it good: 100+ people died in Iraq today - none of whom were your family... and you're at least grateful for that.)

Here you'll watch my clumsy dance..

A few days ago, I posted "Sonnet 17" by Pablo Neruda. Fougs mentioned in her comment the fact that this amazing poet is a Nobel Prize winner in literature (1971). Upon receiving this award, Neruda said something beautiful, relevant, and profound. He said,

"All paths lead to the same goal: to convey to others what we are. And we must pass through solitude and difficulty, isolation and silence, in order to reach forth to the enchanted place where we can dance our clumsy dance and sing our sorrowful song."

This very much spoke to me today.

What do you think about this?

I feel all Big Brother-y and unsettled by this because I think that it is another way that the government can spoon-feed fear to us. Also, ironically, I chuckled -which is sort of a male, pot-bellied word... so instead I'll say giggled - no that's no good either... um. I found it to be a bit humorous in a sarcastic way - when I read it. Go figure.

What are your thoughts, and will you be signing-up?

FBI Sends Citizens Terrorism Alerts by E-Mail
By Chitra Ragavan Fri Jan 19, 7:02 PM ET

The FBI has sent out 600,000 E-mail alerts to a base of 14,000 subscribers, the bureau tells U.S. News.

The E-mail alert program was launched in October to provide the public, businesses, and law enforcement agencies with timely information on everything from terrorists to fugitives, scammers, and crooks, as well as updated information on terrorist threats. John Miller, FBI chief spokesman, said the system can also be used for crisis communication during a disaster or terrorist attack.
To sign up, one clicks on red envelope icons on the FBI's main website or its 56 field office websites and provides an E-mail address. No personal information is required.
"The new FBI E-mail alert system lets us do several things," Miller says. "It becomes a high-speed information portal for anyone from local law enforcement to the media to the public. As you sign up for it, you can tailor what you want to be notified on based on your interests. It also can be used as a crisis communication tool in the event of a disaster or even a terrorist attack. By letting people know when our website is updated, we can tell them about developments in missing children investigations or most wanted suspects as well."
Miller said the FBI expects the alert system will also help them catch criminals.
"It's a fast, effective way of keeping our partners and the public informed," he said.

( article lifted from the US News and World Report, posted on Yahoo News)