Lessons learned in raquetball...so far.

Ok, so....my brother talked me into taking a raquetball class at the athletic club...haha. Said no at first, but he said he'd pay for it - so what was there to argue with except my own pride? I've never been much of an athlete - too slow on my feet, and my eyes don't get along well with my hands - so I went into it rather....hesitantly. The first class was Tuesday. And again today. It's a challenge, and normally I'd have backed off or not even tried at all. But there's a smidgen of newfound courage in me these days, and I'm actually having fun!
After these first two classes - and with my new MSFL class ("Disciplines of the Spirit"), there are a few things worth noting....

1 - I'm not expected to play like a pro! I'm a beginner...and that's okay. My trainer does not expect immediate greatness -but a good effort and lots of fun. God's the same way, I think. He knows what I am....he knows what I am currently capable of. He also knows what I have the potential to become.
2 - Change comes incrementally. As I practice serving, my trainer helps me tweak the little things I'm doing that prevent me from really doing it well. As I practice receiving, he shows me how to adjust the way I stand, how I hold the racquet. This is similar to what happens when we engage in spiritual disciplines - little (sometimes big!) tweakings. These add up....to major change and total restructuring of how we "play the game."
3 - This desired change in how I play racquetball comes as I spend time with my trainer and with the other students in the class. On the first day of class, we were given printouts of the court layout, rules, etc. Our trainer told us very plainly, "Read 'em if you want, but the only way to really learn it is to get out there and play." The same goes for learning the Jesus Way. There's a place for study and structure...but real change comes when we spend time in relationship with God and others traveling the Way.
4 - Little victories are celebrated. I made a shot this morning that really wasn't all that great - but I did make the shot, and our trainer yelled, "Alright! Great shot, Barbara!!!" It wouldn't be helpful for him to scold me or for me to berate myself for the (many) times I flub things - and it would take a lot of the fun away. So too, as we move into life with the disciplines, small victories are celebrated. Self-condemnation is harmful to the process and sucks the joy completely out of the Journey.
5 - I don't return serves very well....and noticed that often I don't really expect to hit the ball! I figure I'm that bad! :) But because I'm not really thinking I'll hit it, when I do...my grip on the racquet is bad and thus the return is bad. Times that I expect and really intend to hit the ball...the return (sometimes - lol) kicks butt! As we engage in spiritual disciplines, do we really expect change? Do we really believe God will work in us to make the necessary changes?
6 - (there are more points in this than I thought there'd be!) My skills do not improve by comparing myself to others in the class. Our trainer's been playing for years - he's GOOD. My brother's already taken the class before - so he's pretty good. Two other guys in the class are, like, natural athletic types (grrr...). Comparing my skills to theirs gets discouraging pretty quickly! And the same is true of our Journey with God. Others' experiences of the disciplines, God's Precence, etc., are not the standard. There is no standard. There is dynamic, unique relationship (I'll have to follow up on this with another post.....).

Freely, lightly, full of joy......taking baby steps!

Ok....my friend is just too sweet.

A friend on Facebook posted a note:

"Leave your name in my note comments.Once you do that, this is what I'll do ... (I will respond to you here on my notes page)
1. I'll respond with something random about you.
2. I'll tell you which song or movie you remind me of.
3. I'll say something that only makes sense to you and me.
4. I'll tell you my first memory of you.
5. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of.
6. I'll ask you something I've always wondered about you.
7. If you play, you MUST post this on your blog.
I'll tag you when I've written my responses."

And I will now do my part. :) Her response....

"1. Your laugh is so infectious. When I hear you laugh I can't help but laugh too!
2. This is a toughie...hmm...I think...XD You're gonna kill me. The Laughing Song!!!!
3. AMOEBA!
4. When Zannie took me to puppet practice and you were so tall...then we did the show together with the frogs and I was the fly you ate. :)
5. You remind me so much of a puppy...you're eager and happy and fun to be around.
6. When are we going to have our movie night? XDD Just kidding, just kidding...how and when did you learn how to play guitar so well?"

See what I mean? Too sweet.

Blank slate

We must never presume that we see. We must always be ready to see anew. But it's so hard to go back, to be vulnerable, and to say to your soul, "I don't know anything."
Try to say that: "I don't know anything."
Maybe you could think of yourself as an erased blackboard, ready to be written on. For by and large, what blocks spiritual teaching is the assumption that we already know, or that we don't need to know.
We have to pray for the grace of beginner's mind. We need to say with the blind man, "I want to see." ~Richard Rohr

Got this in an email from CAC recently. I've had trouble really absorbing so much of what we're reading and discussing in class. True, it's a lot of information to hold - and the focus isn't really on amassing knowledge. But, I think there's a tendency to kinda "Yeah, yeah"-read a lot. having been raised in church (where, unfortunately, know-it-all attitudes abound), I can read on two different levels. The easiest is to brush over the words...looking at the text as familiar stuff I've heard before. Sometimes I have to very intentionally slow my reading pace and keep in mind - "No, this is fresh and new. God's here reading with me, just waiting to renew my vision for formation, for church, for life."
Reading with the grace of a beginner's mind.

What's in a name?

Growing up I was never really crazy about my name(s). It seemed like my friends had "cool" names....like Nicole or Alexis or Brittany. I've done some research....and rather changed my mind about my name.
First name is Hebrew, meaning: foreign/stranger, traveler from a foreign land
Middle name #1 is German, meaning: famous warrior (hmm...)
Middle name #2 is English, the fem. form of "John", meaning: God/Jehovah has been gracious
Last name is English, meaning: from the long meadow (path/roadway)

What about you? God likes names. He bestows them...he changes them - they mean something. They represent who we are.

Here's a random bit of silliness (I'm tired, it's been a long day, I could use some silliness:o).....other name options:
Bramblerose Bunce of Brockenborings (from a Hobbit name generator)
Slick Tony Moretti (pirate name generator)
Ingrid Ze Insightful (Harry Potter name generator)

Hmm...*grin* G'nite.