Sunday - the beginning of the week in which I move to Bishop's Ranch, outside Healdsburg. In this countryside diocesan headquarters, my home will be a studio overlooking the oaks and quail and golden hills of Sonoma County. That's out the back. The front overlooks the courtyard fountain and beyond that the chapel. A gorgeous place for healing, for writing, for contemplation, for prayer, for play, for coming to terms with life at 51 - a far different life than I ever imagined.
Coming back from the City this evening, after dinner with a friend - across from the Giants ball park, after they lost their last game of the season, to the Dodgers, 4 - 3 .... I listened to an NPR show on Gospel music. It moves me so deeply. So profoundly. It doesn't surprise me to hear the singers say that yes, they feel Jesus every time they sing. Every time, they are filled with the Spirit when they sing. They sing to help them through hard times, to lift up their hearts, and those who hear them. We begin the Eucharistic prayer, Lift up your hearts / We lift them to the Lord. Gospel does this - for real. Lifts up my heart. And like the Eucharist - the structure of Gospel is to sing out your troubles, but always in the presence of the community - and the community echoes back - we hear you, we're with you, we carry your burdens with you.... this is Christian community at it's best. It is what I have found with so many friends, Christian and non, and it has kept me going. Kept me uplifted. yes jesus!
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