Dance of joy

The world and time are the dance of the Lord
in emptiness.
The silence of the spheres is the music of
a wedding feast.

The more we persist in misunderstanding the phenomena
of life,
the more we analyze them out into strange finalities
and complex purposes of our own,
the more we involve ourselves in sadness, absurdity and despair.

But it does not matter much,
because no despair of ours can alter the
reality of things,
or stain the joy of the cosmic dance which is always
there.

Indeed we are in the midst of it,
and it is in the midst of us,
for it beats in our very blood, whether we
want it or not.

Yet the fact remains that we are invited to forget
ourselves on purpose,
cast our awful solemnity to the winds and join in the
general dance.

Excerpt from New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton

Early on Saturday morning, our dear family friend Patrick Moser died suddenly due to complications during heart surgery. Patrick was a unique, amazing, creative person and was a wonderful friend to my husband and I when we moved away from our home town early in our married days. Pat did not have an easy road, in the last several years his health problems made it necessary to retire - even though he had still so much to give to the world.

The reason I mention Patrick in this Sleeping with Bread post is that he had the wonderful ability to make the most out of life. Even more so, he was able to make millions of memories with each person he interacted with. To tell you how much we (my husband and I) loved Pat, when our son was born - we named him Nigel Patrick - in honor of Pat.

There is bread of joy available to us each moment of each day if only we take the time to recognize or help to foster it.

Where can you find joy today?

This week, even in our sorrow and loss - we have many "joyisms" to remember and share with each other thanks to Pat.

These memories of Pat are my bread today - and this bread is rich and abundant with joy!

Thank you Patrick for being such a dear friend and always encouraging us to dance the cosmic dance of joy. We love you.
For more information on Patrick's life go to his obituary here or to his website: Grumpkins.com

Following bread crumbs

It's been and eventful week in my neck of the woods. I was in charge of organizing and getting a crew to decorate a Christmas Parade Float for our city's annual Christmas Parade, I'm continuing the work on a the large mural project and getting close to wrapping it up, and it was my son's 13th birthday.

Sleeping with bread is one way for me to look back and count the small joys or bread of life and see the bounty that I'd often time miss. If if glazed over the small joys, I'd spend most of my time recalling and retelling about the times of feeling overwhelmed, overwrought, or frustrated. There are times in this last week that I began to feel lost in the dark and creepy woods, like Hansel and Gretel from that childhood storybook. Like Hansel and Gretel, I have to get beyond the easy fix of candy houses and daydreams and move to the place of leaving a following the bread crumbs of sustenance that are scattered throughout my life.

In this last week especially, I could not have accomplished much of anything without the help and support of my friends and family...these wonderful people. G-d, who in small ways kept tugging on my sleeve to remind me of his presence wherever the day took me. Thankfully, there were lots of bread crumbs to help lead the way.

What are the joys that filled your week? What were the frustrations? Does counting the breadcrumbs of joy through each past day help to trace G-d's nudging in your own life?

I pray taking part in this examen gives you what you most need. May the bread crumb trail always lead you out of the deep woods and into the meadow of peace.

Joy in a take-away cup?

I don't know if you have a Mc Cafe' in your town, but I have one just down the street from my house. As if McDonald's didn't have the corner on the market on the drive-thru meal, they now are working on staking ground on all the sit in/take out coffee shops that many folks know and, despite the $5.00 a cup price tag, love dearly.



If you are a fan of the Starbucks Frappuccino, McCafe' is now trying to draw your business by offering their, somewhat cheaper, versions of the same coffee treats you've grown to love.

Coffee, or tea, is something that gets people moving as well as brings them together. It's warm, sometimes sweet and creamy, sometimes dark and bold. Coffee has a way of clearing away the cobwebs of the mind, while it's warmth brings comfort and sometimes I'd even say solace.

Somehow though, the warmth or comfort of a cup of coffee (wherever you get it from), only lasts as long as some remains in your cup - or you get a refill. The kind of comfort that we discuss on Mondays did originate from the giving of bread to children traumatized by the bombing and loss of WW2, but the comfort itself is not limited to the tangible things of life.

The kind of joy, comfort and contentment we search for in this weekly meme are the kinds that help us through the darkest and sometimes the most difficult of days. This comfort may start with a cup of joe, but it lasts much longer than what the largest Grande' cup could hold.

What warmth, hope and joy did you hold on to this first chilly fall week of October? Did the chill of life have a chance against the joys? How did those joys show themselves to you throughout the last seven days?

May your cup overflow with joy, comfort and hope for the days to come. Thank you for sharing your joys, for as you share them, they may be the one thing that helps someones cup slip over the edge into comfort too.

Lamont