The Pulse of God

A portion of Rumi's poem, "Okay, I'll Do It."

How can you look so needy - 

God is growing in fields you own.

He hangs from trees you pass

every day. He is disguised as

that peach and pine cone.

Every sound I hear - He made it.

This is so easy to see and hear in the majesticness of New Mexico, and seemingly harder in the developed world of Silicon Valley, California. And yet, this pulse of God is rhythmically vibrating beneath the asphalt under our feet and hanging from the carefully planted trees that line the sidewalks.

and again!

Welp, I've moved again.

Geez. Unless you've only got one pack on your back, there is no way that moving won't be a pain in the butt. Alas, once it's all done, there is a flood of relief.

Now it's time to find some favorite activities and hang outs in my area. And with out a car - no less!

Wish me luck.

Christ in the Desert Monastery

This has been my first super busy weeks at Ghost Ranch. I was working with a youth group that came in, preparing their reflections and themes for the week, in addition to my normal chaplain worship responsibilities. It has been great!

I had a wonderful break through experience this morning. I lead a small group in Contemplative Worship and found out that not only can I lead myself in contemplative meditation, but can lead others as well. A 7am service is certainly out of my "normal life" comfort zone, but it was pretty darn comfortable!

Perhaps it was because I was so tired that I was able to do this.  Kind of like how they say being relaxed when you're in a car accident can save your life. Maybe?

After that we took the youth group on a three mile pilgrimage to Christ in the Desert Monastery. The experience was wonderful. We spent some time talking about what a pilgrimage is and can represent, and spent the last mile in silence as we approached the monastery.

Brother Andre (from Connecticut originally) gave us a tour. He has been there for 30 years and has a down to earth and humorous personality. I would love to get to spend some more time in conversation with him, but alas, the monastery has a pretty strict schedule to their Benedictine days!

The brothers there brew their own beer and I plan to pick it up when I go to Santa Fe this Sunday. Shout out to Cameron Highsmith and Jeff Ferguson, the SFTS Brewers.

At the Ranch

Well, I'm here at Ghost Ranch in NM. It's been two days, and has felt like a week! The days are packed so full I can barely remember what I did this morning.

Things to know: I have very limited cell service so texts are easiest! I only have internet in one building on the Ranch so I will try to update about once a week.
My address here is:
Marissa Danney
Ghost Ranch
HC 77 Box 11
Abiquiu, NM
87510

I would love to receive notes from you, I will save them and make a mosaic of mail on my wall! This helps me to feel connected to you. :)

Now... for the landscape!

Ghost Ranch is pretty high up in terms of altitude, so at this point I'm still getting acclimated. Lots of water and I'm jonesing for some Vitamin C!

More to come as I discover what my chaplain's life is like.

You know you're homesick when...

... you're planning a little overnight adventure somewhere that you've never been before. You start making a list of things that you'd like to experience... a small town, removed from where you currently are, nice restaurants, nature, live music, water. Suddenly you realize.... you're describing your hometown of Nyack, NY. Oh dear.

Ok, we're not talking about you, we're talking about me.
I did this.

The good news is that there are other awesome places besides Nyack, and one of them is Jenner, CA. It may not have had all of the things listed above, but it had some things that Nyack does not have. Like the Jenner Inn. Or, the russian river meeting the ocean... swallows and humming birds all over the place... crazy looking flowers... I'll just tell the story in pictures:

 And in the end, it was all A-OK.

Balance This.

Well, hello! It's been a while!

Perhaps the next few thoughts will explain why.

I (fairly) recently had the opportunity to see Children of Uganda during their Tour of Light.
Their dancing was amazing, the natural harmonies of their singing was amazing, their costumes were beautifully-amazing! Everyone was blown away and reverent for these children and their rich culture.
Then... the show stopping moment came when they didn't just put one ceramic pot on their head and dance, but they continued to dance as pot was stacked onto pot and a tall totem poll was amazingly resting on their head as they swayed and stomped to the music. AMAZING.

Ok, so this truly is amazing. It is a talent! But, I began to wonder if the reason we Americans are SO blown away by this is because we speed everywhere. We are constantly on a schedule, on a time crunch. America, the land of Get-Everything-Done-As-Fast-As-You-Can. Produce! Produce! Produce!
We have cars, each of us has a laptop, we have cell phones, we have express lanes. The bigger the better, the faster the better!

I remember my first day at Maria Luisa. I was 13. I couldn't believe I had landed this awesome (not to mention first ever) job.
I got to work. It was explained to me that I could help another employee to check in some sweaters that had arrived. This involved checking each sweater for any imperfections or damages.
MISSION ACCEPTED.
I checked each one of those sweaters so thoroughly, yet so quickly. It was my job (or I thought I'd lose it) to do the most work, as well and as quickly as possible or my eighth grade butt would be kicked to the curb.

Now, back to the pots on your head. I'm convinced that we find this balancing act (literally) so mind blowing because we subconsciously picture ourselves trying to balance pots while we run to the car, search for our keys and speed out of the driveway. Yes. Having a pot on your head at this pace would be quite impossible. Not to say that it's easy, but when you are walking somewhere instead of speed-wobbling, it's potentially learn-able.

I also remember a year (or is it now 2?) ago when I was managing Maria Luisa Gifts and Accessories version. Every day I had a list of around 10 things to do. I always felt like it was impossible to complete the list, because 5 more things would be added every time I completed two.
You may think that because of this, I would have been brain to the list and un-interruptable. Yet, there was one thing that I permitted to be interrupted by and that was interactions with other people. Relationships. This could have been my employer, employees, and definitely was customers.

So, I ask myself now: In this very busy seminary life, when I (yet again) constantly have a list of things to do and can't seem to get rid of the list, what do I allow to interrupt me?
Not much. But that means I can't learn how to balance pots on my head.

Outdated and No Where to Go (Or: Now I Know)

Last night I looked at my mac and thought "Mac, you can do anything" and inserted a mini disc into the disc drive.
When my mac didn't make any groans of enjoyment, I realized my mistake.
I quickly made an appointment at the genius bar of the local Apple store.
First thing this morning, I rushed to the mall.
Waited 15 minutes for my appointment.
The genius took my computer and jumped up and down.
The mini disc fell out.
Pure genius.