Category: Introspection

Moving toward the Spirit, Part 4
Beauty · Gratitude · Introspection · me · Something wonderful · Sunday lesson

Moving toward the Spirit, Part 4

AuntGem1 Comment

This is the fourth in a multi-part series on how I grew in my Christian faith. See part 1, part 2, and part 3 to catch up.

Ah, the recycling. That and the fact I was pulled in so many directions, like most American teens, had a lot to do with my falling away from the faith for quite some time. I may have attended church during the college years, but it was a faith grown “lukewarm.” Yuck.

After graduation I moved to Savannah in early 1990 for my first job. Sad to say, part of my motivation for finding a church was 1) because the president of the place I interviewed at told me about important church was to him and 2) I was looking for one of those beautiful old churches in the historic district. Not too much on the actual faith part – more of a “looking good” type churchgoer. In a happy accident I wandered across one of the most spirit-filled churches of all, which just happened to be historic, beautiful, and blessed with a magnificent 60-rank Noack organ: Wesley Monumental Church. I was determined to go to a church with glorious music just once in my life!

Wesley Monumental at Christmas – I was lucky enough to sing in that choir
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Moving toward the Spirit, part 3
Beauty · Gratitude · Introspection · me

Moving toward the Spirit, part 3

AuntGem2 Comments

Third in a multi-part series See part 1 and part 2 to catch up.

Right after the high of the Youthciple experience, I really wasn’t sure what I was supposed to “do.” So, I just kept going to church. But certain things didn’t set well with me. First, I didn’t like how so many kids my age just started dropping out. It was hard to keep going to MYF when I knew so few people, and I wasn’t the most outgoing person to boot. They were all from different middle and high schools – I didn’t know them! And I didn’t like how so many things we were taught in Sunday School didn’t seem to play out in daily life.

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Moving toward the Spirit, part 2
Gratitude · Introspection · me · Something wonderful

Moving toward the Spirit, part 2

AuntGem3 Comments

this is the second part of a series. The image above: Noah’s Ark by Edward Hicks

Believing was so simple, so pure when I was a child. God said through the Psalmist he who had clean hands and a pure heart would ascend the hill of the Lord. And I wanted that.

“…Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 18:3

I think the first scattering doubts crept in when I read a child’s version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. It had to be around fifth grade, maybe fourth. This volume was published by Disney! It had to be okay. Disney was practically patriotic in our house. Some of the only television we kids were allowed was Sunday night’s Wonderful World of Walt Disney.

There was a character in the epic named Ut-napishtim. In these stories from Mesopotamian mythology, he survived a great flood by building a ship to transport his family and some animals. Hmm….

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Moving toward the Spirit, part 1
Beauty · Gratitude · Introspection · me · Something wonderful

Moving toward the Spirit, part 1

AuntGem3 Comments

This is the first of several parts.

I was a conscientious kid who loved going to church at Virginia Wingard Memorial United Methodist Church. My favorite parts were singing in the children’s choir and looking at the beautiful stained-glass windows when the sermons got boring. The windows depicted the life of Christ. As I remember there were seven or eight on each side. His birth in a stable was shown in the first one on the right, leading to his baptism by John in the next window, and so on down the right side and around to the left, culminating in his first resurrection appearance (or was it his ascension? I think that was it. I’m having trouble remembering) on the left closest to the front. Those stained-glass windows were an education in themselves, helping little kids who couldn’t pay attention to the sermon the basics of the faith in beautiful colored pictures that shone gloriously when the sun hit them just right.

I just looked all over the web for pictures of those beautiful windows and the best I can do is an image of someone’s wedding, when they aren’t even the focus. Besides, in 1990 the church redid the interior, changing the pew alignment, the choir arrangement and the color of the walls. Those windows will have to live on in my imagination. Because I can’t find a picture of that beautiful stained glass of my childhood, the header image is something just as glorious: the stained glass at Sainte-Chappelle in Paris. Be sure to click over to the site for the tour.

Learning to sing

Back in the early 70s kids’ choirs everywhere were singing “Do You Hear What I Hear” at Christmas. We did it for a big extravaganza presentation with the combined children’s and adult choirs. Our adult choir director and director of music, for many years, was Dr. Richard Conant, RIP, a wonderful singer, professor of voice at the University of South Carolina, and founding director of Carolina Alive.

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Learning to focus
educational · Hobbies · Introspection · me · Work

Learning to focus

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How do you maximize the time you have to do the things you enjoy?

As part of this ‘work-at-home’ journey I’ve been on for the past nearly two years, I’ve had to learn more about focusing than ever before. As much as I enjoy my job (well, not all the meetings, that is) it is tempting to sometimes let my mind wander. And before I know it, 15 minutes has passed. And then I need to work later, longer hours to make up for it. And that eats into my “me” time – my time for my hobbies, the time for my stuff outside of work.

So today I’m going to share with you one of the tried-and-true methods I’ve found for making it easier to stick to the task at hand…

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Goals Set, Goals Missed, Goals Set Again
blogging · Hobbies · Introspection · me

Goals Set, Goals Missed, Goals Set Again

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I’m only two weeks into restarting my blog and I’ve already missed my first goal: publish at least twice a week. I even have 16 different blog topics started in various drafts. And I set up thrice-weekly reminders on my phone to post. Yet still – offline for a week!

I’m going to treat this blog the way I’m treating my successful (so far) diet: a slip doesn’t mean it’s all over. I just get back up and get back to the goal.

To paraphrase fictional heroine Bridget Jones: if it is true that success is the progressive realization of a worthwhile dream, then that is the definition of a diet. I don’t have the energy to shoehorn that into a blogging metaphor as I’ve been up since before 5, but I like the quote.

(At 9 p.m. my eyelids are falling shut in spite of me. Yes, I need to re-arrange my writing schedule and write when I am fresh, in the morning. I’ll start that Wednesday.)

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to get the last of my “personal” topics out of the way – nine of my 16 remaining drafts are related to personal thoughts. And then, after that’s out of the way (in four and a half weeks if I stick to my twice-a-week schedule, less if I post more) then I’m going to turn this blog to what I really want to focus on: in-depth look at the hobbies that I’ve come to love over the pandemic, and two that’s been with me all my life. I’ll be focusing first on three areas: Books, Gardening, and Writing. I’ve been a bookworm all my life. Growing up, if I loved a book, you could usually tell because either a) the book covers were read to pieces, b) it had a tomato stain on a page from a pizza slice I munched as a read, or c) I read it so much I had it memorized and was quoting parts to you. (Ask my dad about how I recited parts of Erma Bombeck’s “At Wit’s End” from memory.) I’ve loved writing ever since third grade, when our teacher had us write short stories every week. Part of my career was working in journalism, and I’ve saved a few clips from along the way. And thanks to COVID, and the big backyard I have now, I’ve been doing more gardening than ever.

Come along with me for a look at my favorite books, what I’m planting in my gardens and my latest writing. (That’s after I finish emoting in those nine personal posts!) As I’ve learned from my latest diet – you need to bundle a reward with a chore to increase your chances of success. Once I can sustain my regular posting schedule for four weeks, I’m going to treat myself to a new logo for the blog.

Streaming church
Beauty · Gratitude · Introspection · Sunday lesson

Streaming church

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Watch church from home?

If it weren’t for the COVID emergency, I’ve have never done such a thing as watch church over the computer. For the first 8-10 weeks of the “new normal” though it was the only option for going to my church, Church of the Apostles.

In the last month though, I have to admit laziness and the unusual cold weather has kept me home two Sundays out of the past four. And while at home I manufactured even better excuses to stay home. To wit: the first Sunday I stayed home due to “cold” was January 16. The Gospel of the day was John 2: 1-11, the story of Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee.

Dean Barr used an experience he had in the Louvre Museum to illustrate his homily. He said that after he had viewed the Mona Lisa, he turned around and was confronted with a 30-foot-wide masterpiece: the Wedding Feast at Cana by Veronese.

The Wedding Feast at Cana by Paolo Veronese

Father Barr gave such beautiful descriptions of the magnificence of this work that I thought – I need to see this. I opened a new browser window and started searching. While he preached on the miracle, I was absorbed in the picture. It reminded me of my childhood, staring at the stained-glass windows of my home church during the sermon.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre Credo
Introspection · politics

Credo

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From a speech I gave to my local Toastmasters club this morning, Friday, Feb. 5.

Credo – the word is Latin, and means “I believe.” It’s the first word of the traditional Latin version of the Nicene Creed. It’s the basis for our word “Creed” in English.


Ever since I joined an Anglican church I’ve said the Nicene Creed each Sunday. The creed we repeat distills the essence of Christian belief into just a few sentences. By saying it each Sunday, we remind ourselves of the faith we profess.


The tumultuous year just past made me think about all my beliefs. We’ve been through such a time of uncertainty – and we’re still going through that today. Between a pandemic, riots, uprisings, and a troubled election, we’ve been through the wringer! Our new national leadership started off by asking for unity. I thought I’d explain to everyone some of the things I believe. Then you can decide – would you like to be unified with me?


I believe in absolute truth. I believe there is truth, and it is knowable. I cannot believe in relative truth, “my own truth,” “true for you or not for me” or whatever the current catchphrase is. I believe that God is God and Jesus is His son, the way, the truth and the life. That’s about as definite and exclusive a truth statement as you can get. I also believe that people who don’t believe that can be some of the best people in the world, and I’m honored to have some as my friends.

I believe in free speech. Period. Free speech is any speech. Especially speech you don’t like. Hate speech. Lies. Everything! It all needs to be said, and uncensored. Because once you shut someone up – you don’t make their thoughts go away. You make them go underground, breeding resentment. Bad ideas can only be conquered by good ideas – and the free exchange of ideas is necessary for a self-governing society.


I believe in diversity. I believe God made our world – and He made it varied. From all the different types of plants, to the many animals and the different races of man – I think God loves diversity. It’s His handiwork, after all.


Most especially, I believe in diversity of thought. If everyone in a group thinks alike, what’s the need for most of ‘em? That’s kinda boring. One of the reasons I love my TNT Toastmasters club is because there I meet many people who don’t believe the same things I believe. Who don’t share my opinions. I learn from them. I learn to test the strength of my beliefs. Together we learn empathy.


I believe in capitalism. Willing buyer, willing seller. Beautiful! The invisible hand of the market, as Adam Smith has written, does more to provide the needs and wants of the populace than any top-down plan.


I believe in the unborn’s right to life. (Oh, I think I might step on some toes here.) I believe that abortion is the taking of that life. It is a tragedy – and one that should only be a last resort in the most EXTREME of circumstances. And I believe that the overwhelming majority of abortions today are not performed in extreme circumstances.


I believe Western Civilization, from the Renaissance, Enlightenment, Industrial Revolution through now, has done more to lift more humans out of poverty – both financially and culturally – than any other civilization extant. Our scientists have done everything from define the law of gravity to go to the moon and beyond. It was the British navy which enforced the abolition of the international slave trade. We have a priceless inheritance and we squander it when we denigrate our culture. Any civilization that can give us Bach, Newton and Shakespeare is worth respect.


I believe that the United States is special. And no, it’s not just because I was born here. The term “American Exceptionalism” is thrown around and misunderstood. Here’s what it means: that it is indeed exceptional for a group of people to devise a means to govern themselves, and then keep to it for over two centuries. That we from our founding have a Bill of Rights. That in our system, the leaders are supposed to serve us, the people – not the other way around. That America is a hope, a dream, of making your own way, unfettered by remnants of feudalism alive elsewhere in the world. That indeed makes our country – EXCEPTIONAL.


Here, in short form, are just a few more of my beliefs. I believe:

That adults have the common sense to know what is best for their own children’s education
That each person has the right to self defense by owning a firearm.
That no one has the right to sail through life “unoffended.” Buck up, buttercup.
That bias is evident in any source of news – and it is responsibility to consume news carefully and critically.

Those are just a few of my beliefs. You may not agree with each one. And that’s okay! But I do request – no, require you respect my right to my beliefs, and not think I deserve cancellation for holding any of them. If you can do that, then yes, we share unity.

Introspection · me

Ah, that thief of time…stealing hours from my CBAP prep

AuntGem1 Comment

I’ve written before on procrastination.  It’s still a challenge. When I wrote my most recent post I had it all planned out: I would journal each night in my lovely “Keep Calm and Write On” journal a friend gave me for Christmas. Then I’d post regularly each Sunday. Maybe I’d slip a random cat picture in on Saturdays. (“That’s Caturday” says Pickles.) Then both the reality of my new exercise schedule (6:30 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday, 8 a.m. Saturday), and my inherent sloth kept that from happening. So here we are. On Thursday, writing a post I meant to publish last Sunday.

It’s also making hash of my study schedule for the Certified Business Analysis Practitioner exam. Actually, I should reword that – I’m allowing distractions to make a hash of my schedule. “Procrastination” isn’t something that happens to me – I’m doing it. And I’m doing it to avoid dealing with the dry-as-dirt text of the review manual I must cover. I’ve never read anything so boring. I’ve taken economics and accounting classes in college that had more pep and dramatic interest. It amazes me that the IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis) could wick the life out of my job and drain it of all interest. My day-to-day job – helping to build or add on to web sites for a large company – is fascinating. You’d never know that if all you knew of business analysis was this Business Analysis Book of Knowledge and the review text. After a month I am still on chapter five of a nine-chapter book.

So here’s the plan to conquer procrastination and get this over with: Get up a little earlier on Mondays and Wednesdays, head to work early, and study for one hour before starting work. Tuesday nights – study from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday nights – study from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays – do at least one hour of catch-up review.

Will I do it? I can’t let this drag on forever. Readers, keep me honest and cheer me on!