Monday, November 11, 2024

How can I keep from singing?

This morning while the kettle heated for tea, I was thinking about this week's challenge, and the Midweek Meeting came back to me, when we gathered during the regularly scheduled Religious Education time and discussed the Query of "where is Spirit?" and "what is Spirit asking of us right now?" 

There was a lot of Silent Worship during that meeting, and several of the Friends used chants as part of their Speaking, and this seemed powerful then, and came back to me this morning as I thought about song. There's an old Quaker chant (like, sixteen hundreds) that got shared around and eventually written down by someone in the 1800s. It has been passed around and the lyrics modified to fit various faith groups. 

The line from that chant that came to me was:
"When Friends rejoice both far and near, how can I keep from singing?"

Folk singers have used this so often it has now entered the public domain and become something of a folk standard, but the version you might be most familiar with is the one by Enya, and that's the one I listened to this morning. I have carried it with me in my heart and am glad of this.

Rejoice, Friends.
We are together, come what may.

My personal favorite version, Pete Seeger in the 70s:


24.8.4

24.8.4:

[reflection]

Monday

  • Belles & Chimes
Tuesday
  • Kim
  • Notes on Freire, Chapter 2
Wednesday
  • Philosophy with James
Thursday
  • Video call
  • Farm Share
  • Read Freire, Chapter 3
  • Pack for dogsitting
Friday
  • Housekeeping
  • Feed the Fiend
  • Therapy
  • Dogsitting relocation
  • Acupuncture
  • Walk the dog
Saturday
  • Dogsitting
  • Georgia
Sunday
  • Dogsitting
  • Georgia
  • Dogsitting, relocate back to the Loft
  • Notes on Freire Chapter 3

Monday, November 4, 2024

2024.8.3

24.8.3:

I'm not sure if it's the election anxiety or the chronic fatigue episode, but I'm moving slowly, only able to focus on the small work that is right in front of me. I am glad that I have the morning walk, the steam room, and the sauna. This gentle easing into my day is making all the difference. I'm easily worn out enough that I am back to needing maps of the week, cheat sheets for each day, and if that's true, then so be it. Fridays continue to be overbooked for my energy reserves, something that is not going to be solved this week.

Monday

  • Read Freire p. 35-42
Tuesday
  • Vote
  • Haircut at lunch
  • Dinner with Kathryn after work
  • Read Freire p. 43-70
Wednesday
  • Philosophy with James
Thursday
  • Grid Iron Performance
  • Read Freire p. 71-86
  • Pack for dogsitting
Friday
  • Housekeeping
  • Feed the Fiend
  • Therapy
  • Dogsitting relocation
  • Acupuncture
  • Walk the dog
  • Football Home Game
Saturday
  • Dogsitting
  • Recouperate
Sunday
  • Dogsitting, relocate back to the Loft
  • Read Freire p. 71-86, again

Thursday, October 31, 2024

Prime

Slowly, I am regaining my mornings, now, welcoming the hour of Prime.

This seems just right as the earth tips into Autumn, a gentle easing through the predawn dark.
The darkness holds me as I check news and texts, lends a sense of ritual to making tea and putting on gym clothes. My trainers feel like a uniform as I secure the laces and walk out of the building with the first rays of light. 

This is my favorite time of year.

The air is a perfect chill, inviting me to walk around one block, then another, before going up the steps to the gym, the glass doors sliding open to spill cool light onto the concrete steps. Inside, the October greetings are quieter than summer greetings, but no less welcoming. Good morning, good morning, hi girl, good morning, good to see you our convocation litany invoking the new day and tolling the canonical hour. The laps around the track are walking meditations -- jogging seems reserved for brighter hours. The sun comes up fully as I leave the track and head to the steam room, the sauna, this restoration before I face the day's toils. 

There is reading, and then there is writing, but before either, there is tea, comfort in a cup as I kick off the trainers and shed the gym clothes, molting into my awake self, dropping the clothes into the washer. 

Reading.
Then writing.
Then, with a second cup of tea, the day begins. 

Sunday, October 27, 2024

Slow Sunday

Another Slow Sunday, and Lord, how I needed it.


Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Arcanaloth

Arcanaloths are sly, jackal-headed beings with humanoid bodies, but they can employ magic to take any humanoid form. They do so to gain the trust of creatures with whom they negotiate, replacing jackal snarls with winsome smiles.

Regardless of its chosen form, an arcanaloth appears well groomed, clothing itself in fine robes. Highly intelligent spellcasters who hunger for knowledge and power, arcanaloths command units of lesser yugoloths and maintain the contracts, records, and accounts of their kind.

Arcanaloths speak and write all languages, making them cunning diplomats and negotiators. An arcanaloth properly paid can broker treaties or alliances with subtlety and finesse, just as an arcanaloth who changes sides can easily turn the best-laid peace talks into all-out war. What the fiend demands in exchange for its time and talent is information, as well as powerful magic items that it can trade for even more information.