Idols

I've been feeling restless lately, just short of general anxiety, and I haven't been really able to pinpoint where these feelings were coming from. Well that's true on one level, the superficial level, but scratch the surface, and I have always known. For me, I've learned the periods of restlessness, emptiness, or loneliness have two significant meanings in my life. First, these feelings are an invitation from God to reconnect, to be named again, to re-remember who I am in God. Second, it's an invitation to re-examine my daily behavior and find "Idols" that I have chosen in place of living in the NOW, the present moment, the place where God Is. Lately, my idol has been constantly turning on the radio and listening to NPR. Not that there's anything wrong with NPR, but when that or anything becomes a "fill" to avoid the present moment and what seems like the drudgery of daily life, it becomes an idol. I have not turned on NPR in two days, neither in the car nor at home, and I have discovered that I do not miss the daily news, the talk shows, the bad news of the economy. Not that informing oneself is bad, for it is essential. But when I am not free to not listen to the radio (or anything else) then I am not available to the present and I am missing the silent whispers of God. What have I discovered since turning the radio off the radio? What I have known before, have forgotten, have remembered, and will undoubtedly forget again... that there is a sweetness of living in the stillness of the NOW where ordinary tasks of the day become a means to discover God, who I am, and a joy that is abundant. Are there "Idols" in your life?

Doin' Fine in Irvine

Well it's actually Irving, but I wanted the title to rhyme... what a nerd, I know. The Bear and I are in a pretty good routine right now. What I am really excited that is that since I spend a lot of time with him, he's really catching on to the Spanish and understanding a lot. He does the same in English and although he's not saying a lot yet, he does say one very funny thing: "Help Me!!" The only TV we let the Bear watch is "Go Diego Go" and he loves it. We put it on the Spanish setting which is actually created to help Spanish speaking children learn English. They intersperse a few English words each episode, but it is very heavily accented because they must have chosen Latino actors who don't speak English. Instead of "Help Me!" It sounds like, "Epp Mi." So about three weeks ago, I was changing his diaper and he was pretty fussy. He started crying out, "Epp Mi!! Ehop Mi!!"