100 "Ordinary" Posts
Sunday, April 15, 2007 at 8:37 PM 
"Good Grief, Charlie Brown! It's a contest to celebrate our 100th post." Many readers and fellow bloggers have commented on my ability to take ordinary yet not so ordinary bits of life and connect them with faith and the presence of God. Others have said much the same about my husband's photography. What I would pose, however, is how can anything in life truly be seen as ordinary or simple, especially when considered within the context of God and creation?
Here I turn to one of my favorite authors, Anne Lamott, who says, "I knew that if you had eyes to see, there was beauty everywhere, even when nature was barren or sloppy, and not just when God had tarted things up for spring."
There truly is beauty everywhere whether it is flying in the sky, sipping a cup of instant decaf, playing with the dolphins, waiting in the darkness or meeting a stranger on the bus. To mark this 100th post, I would love to have you share your favorite "ordinary" things from this site. You can choose either a post, photograph or sidebar. Everyone who participates will be eligible for a small set of notecards from H3 Images (i.e. my favorite photographer).
Entries will be accepted now through April 30 and the winner announced on May 1. So, leave your comment today!
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Reader Comments (8)
The man on the bus. That was your post that most moved me.
Congrats Lucy! I'm sure glad you are here.
Lucy, congrats on 100 posts! I always love a good contest. :-) You have lots of lovely posts, I did love the man on the bus and the protection you felt toward him, I loved the exhiliration of dolphin synchronicity, and I was always delighted to see you post the poems you wrote in our Awakening program. Blessings! Christine
PS--I would love to have the specific page abnd book reference for the Anne Lamott book, I am doing some writing on beauty for an editor.
"The Woman on the Bus" post spoke deeply to me. You were able to take an uncomfortable situation and look deeper and ask the deeper questions, thus inviting your readers to do the same. Thank you! And congrats on your 100th post!!
The Chinese man - so willing to really, or even kiddingly, offer you a drink from a "common cup" - I, too, reach for the spiritual presence of God in each meeting. Are we more likely to share the "common cup" with a stranger than a person we "think" we know? Does the other person drink often from a "common cup" - making him eager to share the experience of communion with others? Yes, the bus is full of human and Godly experience. Thanks for sharing!
Love you, SS
Wow, 100! Congratulations, as you know, I'm reaching for a real number 2:) SS
Too much wonderful writing to choose from, so I choose the cartoon Lucy in the psychiatric booth. These blogs make us all each others' healers.
My favorite post so far has been "Mystery and Mastery" posted on Saturday, December 23, 2006.
The whole concept of waiting is one I can relate to.
It makes me think of a million things at once.
++ as a dancer I know the powerful energy that can be (should be) present in a time of "waiting" or during a time of stillness in a dance. I have always thought it a mataphor, of sorts, for many moments of our life.
++ as a Mom and teacher I hear kids sometimes say, "I'm bored!" They don't want to wait.
One of my favotite sayings is, "Those who are bored are boring." I say it with a smile and always go on to explain this mini philosophy to my kids.... you choose to let yourself be "bored".
Enjoy the wait - take it as the gift it can be. Choose, instead, to engage and pay attention to life. Or, go inward and use your imagination, pray, plan. Or,look at things from a different perspective, play mental math, choreograph a dance, list the blessings in your life. Or, take the time to just
. . . b r e a t h e. . . .
You get the idea :-)
++ as a person who found herself waiting for her spouse for over 3 years because of an unexpected and very dangerous imprisonment, I know that kind of waiting is only possible with God. I know I could have grown bitter and distrustful, but through the grace of God our family clung to Him. I witnessed a resolve and goodness in my husband I would not have known the depth of otherwise.
++ as a daughter who watched her mother die, slowly, of cancer I learned that waiting for death can carry more pain than I had ever imagined in the face of the physical torment of one you love more that yourself. I learned that suffering can be offered up to God (but I wish I had learned that while she was dying and not later)
++ our time on earth is but a wait for the time we can be with our heavenly Father forever. The journey embraces waiting.. . all of it pregnant with possibilities, lessons, joy, tears and changes.
thank you all for weighing in here. i loved hearing from some constant voices and especially a couple of new ones--redbarn and soutenus.
soutenus--your reflections are beautiful. i love the metaphor of dance and stillness. i, too, have a hard time imagining boredom! and then there is, of course, death both the physical death and the dying to an old self. yes, the journey is "pregnant with possibilities, lessons, joy, tears and changes."
blessings to all--