This year has been a series of lessons in faith for me. I've grappled with both giving - and receiving. In many ways, it's much easier for me, like many, to be the giver rather than the recipient and certainly much easier to be seen as a giver than someone who receives. Those who give are seen as heroes, as rescuers.
But there exists for some a grace about giving - and receiving - that can remind us that many of the miracles of love that happen here on earth can only be realized when we are open to both giving and receiving. It is often our limited human vision - and ego- that prevents us from seeing the worth of the whole, the joy of being a part of what is taking place, no matter whether we give or receive.
I hope this selection from Jars of Clay, some of which I've paraphrased because the clip is only 30 seconds, has meaning for you in some way. I wish everyone a Happy New Year
If you'd like to watch a livestream of Times Square 2010 Happy New Year's Eve, go here.
Since I'm cable-challenged due to budgetary considerations, I'm still looking for a way to use my TV set without a monthly fee - and I believe I have a lot of company.
Over the holiday weekend, I ran into a new program called Zinc (which can be downloaded here). Like Boxee, it aggregates various sources of TV shows and news, among other things and allows the viewer to watch videos and even add favorites of their own (like local weather) to it.
Zinc ran well and has a very colorful appearance. There were no crashes on my laptop-with-specs-fron-a-few-years-ago, nor did I run into annoying little delays with a swirling ball. As a result, it really did feel as if I was watching TV once I chose my program or movie. By the way, Zinc allows Netflix users with a subscription to view movies. It has a nice interface for that. It also includes Hulu, as well as ABC, NBC, Fox, WB, and many more.
And did I say it's free?
This video will give you an idea of what Zinc is like.
There's apparently also a box to allow viewing in multiple rooms. Or you can just watch on your computer or hook your computer up to your TV set, like I do.
The Virtual Abbey offers insights and resources for living as a modern monastic in the Benedictine tradition.
The greeting from the Abbess states:
We're a community of modern-day monastics united by our practice of praying the Daily Office online. We are young and old, male and female, laity and ordained. We live and work in different places around the world.
We do not belong to one single Christian denomination; more than a few of us are practicing members of more than one faith tradition; some are active in the emergent church movement. You could say that we're ecumenical in the extreme. All are truly welcome to pray with us.
No worries about access at the Virtual Abbey. So come join us in prayer on Twitter @Virtual_Abbey, check out the Facebook page or the blog. We look forward to meeting you.
Mark Baker, a quadriplegic who was shot last year, wanted to go home, but he and his family couldn't afford the equipment he needed to make that happen, nor does our system provide for that kind of assistance- even though being cared for at home is much less expensive. TV viewers stepped up to help him get home in time for Christmas.
As we grow in our faith, we learn that praying isn't like a Christmas list where we tell God what we want or demand a certain result by a certain deadline. But when times are tough, as it's been for some of the folks who read this blog, it's pretty difficult not to have solutions in mind when you pray or to remember that it's about God's will and not our own.
Yet the truth is, if you prayed and suddenly an angel appeared out of nowhere offering to solve all your problems, you'd find that pretty unsettling.
This has been a tough year for some folks. Some face health issues or financial problems. Others may feel as if their faith is being tested. It's important to remember that the swelling music that heralds the arrival of instant help is just a Hollywood trick and that if you don't hear it, it doesn't mean you're not a "good man" (or woman). It doesn't mean that all is lost or that your prayer hasn't been heard. It also doesn't mean that you "prayed the wrong way" or you don't have enough faith.
Christmas is a time when we are reminded how much God loves us, yet we forget that and often place expectations upon ourselves and others that are impossible to meet. Those lists we make of things to do, things to buy, people to write cards to or call or visit can and do distract us from the real meaning of Christmas. Celebrating Christmas can and does include being in prayer with God as we mark this holiest of times. No matter what your circumstances, you can celebrate Christmas, knowing that its most precious gift is the gift of love, freely given to all of us equally.
"Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world - stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death - and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love? Then you can keep Christmas." -- Henry Van Dyke
There's always so much going on around the blogosphere, that even though I receive emails, twitter messages and subscribe to lots of blogs, I miss some of them. So I thought I'd put up a few of the posts I've seen instead of just sharing them on my sidebar as usual. I read disability blogs (of course), faith blogs, film blogs, and anything else that strikes my fancy, so strap yourself in for a ride. Maybe you'll find a new blog you like.
Kenny over at The Traveling Wheelchair, who does accessibility reviews, has posted up a video about his transition from institutional to community living.
You can find his post about this video, including a narrative, over at his blog.
Dave is hosting a holiday tea - with cheese (wish I was there!)
Over at Disability Studies, Temple U, Penny Richards blogs about Virginia McKinney, a figure from disability history, who founded and ran the Center for Communicative Development in Koreatown. You might want to check out this blog for information on the Disability blog carnival as well and other important announcements.
Peter over at the Digital Awakening writes about a road trip and the fine food he had. Ever been traveling, need an accessible room because you have a disability and hesitate? Well you may not after you see what Katja's blog has to say about how an AB uses accessible rooms.
And over at More Meredith Gould, the Magi meet the Cardinals. Not the baseball team. Well, here's the picture. (The birds! The birds!)
That's it for now. The management reserves the right to update. The management also points out that these fine bloggers have many other fine posts on almost a daily basis and wishes to thank them for all their blogging which keeps this blogger blogging. The management invites you, the reader, to add your own links, blog name, favorite blog links, etc . in the comments. If you have a new blog, you're especially encouraged to speak up, since that's a great way to get on blogrolls.
Over the years, I've generally grown to dislike large snowstorms and blizzards because it's meant a disruption in visits from aides for personal care. That means I go without assistance for things such as - eating. Being hungry is no fun, no matter how pretty the snow might look. I start fantasizing about putting some syrup on it and making a snow cone. Snow mounds look like marshmallows. S'mores! Mmmm.
Luckily, Meredith has always been great about coming over when it snows and I'm very grateful to her for that. Having lived in Rochester, NY, she considers most of the snowfalls around here too small to even count. "This is snow?" she scoffs, shaking something white off her shoes and throwing open the front door. "People around here don't know what snow is!"
However, yesterday, although Meredith was willing to come over after the blizzard (which she was still saying was "just some white stuff"), I was plowed in. There was nowhere for her to put her car. The landscapers who dig us out came around 9pm . I greeted the guys with the snow blowers and shovels with "Hey, can you open this for me?" and handed them a few pieces of wrapped cheese to unwrap so I could eat something. They offered to take the smelly garbage out too.
More importantly, they plowed - which is great. I could eat a- snowdrift.
