The purpose of this post is to collect links to my all-time favorite pieces of music, which I can tap into for inspiration and to enhance private times of worship. Some songs may seem a bit less ethereal, but speak directly to some experience of my life, and I want to be able to recall it fondly.
John Lennon's "Imagine"
Enya's "Pilgrim"
"Gentle Woman, Peaceful Dove"
"Czarna Madonna"
"Barka"
"Pan Jezus Juz Sie Zbliza"
"Panie Dobry Jak Chleb"
"Dzieki O Panie"
Carrie Underwood's "Jesus, Take the Wheel"
Mercy Me's "I Can Only Imagine"
Downhere's "How Many Kings"
Tobymac's "Made To Love"
Schubert's "Ave Maria"
From the movie Sister Act, "Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above"
From the movie Sister Act, "I Will Follow Him"
One Bread, One Body
Here I am, Lord
Mary Mary "Shackles Praise You"
You are the air I breathe
Mary, did you know
Alanis Morisset "What if God was one of us?"
REM's "Losing My Religion"
Nonreligious.......
Oh jak bardzo cie kocham (comes to mind when cuddling my daughter)
Cruel Summer (from soundrack of Karate Kid, came to mind when my BFF passed on in June, just weeks before I was to visit her)
Savage Garden's "Truly, Madly, Deeply" (my ideal romantic song)
Ace of Base's "Angel Eyes" (Our song, I wrote out the lyrics in his first Valentine's Day card)
Eric Clapton's "Lady in Red" (I got married in red, always makes me think of it)
Showing posts with label celebration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label celebration. Show all posts
Saturday, January 23, 2016
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
A Year Ago - Beginning of Questioning
Below is a reflection I wrote a year ago, in June of 2014, when I first started to reflect on what my postpartum lack of spirituality may mean. I'm not sure where I am with this, but some of it still rings true.
~~~~~
Just because I am aware that the Jesus of Christianity is larger than life, the Santa Claus of religion for adults, does that mean I have any place to share this realization with those who believe I him? Would it be fruitless to try? Or maybe even damaging? Did it matter -to them, to me, to God/truth- what someone believes about Jesus/Santa Claus? They of course say yes from their perspective.
What about from my perspective? There is no room for conversion or proselytizing. Every individual must walk this path herself, discover truth for herself, be courageous in accepting what is revealed by herself. What does matter from my new perspective is what do I do with this knowledge? Do I allow it to shape my ethics and self esteem, image? Can I grow from it, truly following the teaching of the would-be Jesus? Does it change anything for me to no longer believe that Jesus is a historical person? Is there any harm in believing in Santa Claus? No. The message is more important than the vehicle by which it arrives.
~~~~~
Just because I am aware that the Jesus of Christianity is larger than life, the Santa Claus of religion for adults, does that mean I have any place to share this realization with those who believe I him? Would it be fruitless to try? Or maybe even damaging? Did it matter -to them, to me, to God/truth- what someone believes about Jesus/Santa Claus? They of course say yes from their perspective.
What about from my perspective? There is no room for conversion or proselytizing. Every individual must walk this path herself, discover truth for herself, be courageous in accepting what is revealed by herself. What does matter from my new perspective is what do I do with this knowledge? Do I allow it to shape my ethics and self esteem, image? Can I grow from it, truly following the teaching of the would-be Jesus? Does it change anything for me to no longer believe that Jesus is a historical person? Is there any harm in believing in Santa Claus? No. The message is more important than the vehicle by which it arrives.
The Santa Claus myth teaches reward for good behavior and punishment (actually, disappointment at worst) for bad behavior. It includes fun traditions, rituals, being a family together. It's a handy excuse for costume, story telling, caroling, gifts, decorations. Is the Santa myth necessary for all of this? No. But it's not harmful, so why burst the bubble of children who believe? Why take away the magic they experience thanks to the myth?
The same applies to Jesus. I can continue to keep him in my life the way a child keeps Santa in her life. Or I can try to experience all the Christmas season wonder without the myth.
As a mother, my conundrum now is to figure out how to present the story of Jesus to my daughter, so that she can benefit from his "magic" (sense of community, meaning/purpose of life) without programming her to believe something much more difficult to outgrow than the myth of Santa Claus
Monday, October 14, 2013
"Baby's Shower"
My Darling Baby,
We are in the final stretch now. Only two months remain until I hold you in my arms at long last! I have enjoyed feeling your dancing, yoga stretches, and general bouncing around, but I am ready to see those tiny feet and hands and little bum on the outside, where I can be better sure that you are safe and sound!
Daddy is equally eager to meet you face to face, as you know since he tells you this regularly. We are both so excited that you are joining our family. Yesterday, we celebrated your anticipated arrival with family and friends at a baby shower hosted by your Tia Y and Ms. Liz, baby Nick's mommy. Your prima Jael was there and a great helper. Babcia & Dziadzio were there, Abuela too, and your godmother, Auntie Courtney. Also in attendance: Ms. Lisa and Mr. Duncan, our neighbors; Ms. Yessenia and Mr. Tyler; Ms. Donna and her toddler daugher; and of course baby Nick's daddy, Mr. Mike, as well as Tia's husband, Tio S. and abuela's gentleman Mr. J.
At the start, Jael and you and I danced a little bit of the Macarena, but mommy got quite tired quite quickly! We had yummy food that Ms. Liz and Tia Y prepared, as we enjoyed the festive decorations they put up everywhere in Ms. Liz's home. Our first activity was a onesie art project. Many folks decorated a onsie for you to wear, and then daddy and I had the difficult job of choosing our favorite. We played a little trick on everyone and made our own onsie, and then said that was the winner! But then we revealed the real winner, who turned out to be Ms. Yessenia. The onsie has a nice little nature scene of a tree and sun, and the words "Vida + Amor".
The next game was a MadLibs. Once everyone was done filling out their sheet, I read each silly version out loud, and then daddy and I deliberated on which one was the funniest. The winner turned out to be Auntie Courtney.
Then everyone took a length of measuring tape to guesstimate how big around I am while you're living in your little mommy casita. Then I stood up and daddy tried all the different measuring tapes to see who came the closest without underestimating. It was very close between Babcia and Mr. Mike and baby Nick. Babcia's strategy was to stand up and measure her own belly, leaving extra room for how big she thought you were. Mr. Mike measured himself with baby Nick included.
The final activity was while we were opening gifts, and Tia Y set the timer and when it went off, whose ever gift we were opening at the time got a gift bag! Ms. Lisa won that game. By the way, every game/activity's winner got a gift bag!
We also had beautiful cupcakes for dessert before heading home with all the awesome gifts we got to help us prepare for your arrival, and great memories to boot.
In your usual style, you kept quiet and still when Abuela, Ms. Yessenia, and Tia Y tried to feel your bouncing. You finally loosened up when daddy, Auntie Courtney, and I went to church that evening to listen to a talk. Daddy joked that you were really into his message, and you were bouncing around to say "preach on, brother!" and "Amen!" Auntie Courtney got to feel you moving a bit then.
As you know, we have been working on preparing for your big day of arrival by attending classes and doing various activities at home. This is a join effort, and I trust that you will be a good little baby and get into the correct position in time for us to have a wonderful, peaceful, joyful birthing time together!
Love you, pookie.
Mamusia
We are in the final stretch now. Only two months remain until I hold you in my arms at long last! I have enjoyed feeling your dancing, yoga stretches, and general bouncing around, but I am ready to see those tiny feet and hands and little bum on the outside, where I can be better sure that you are safe and sound!
Daddy is equally eager to meet you face to face, as you know since he tells you this regularly. We are both so excited that you are joining our family. Yesterday, we celebrated your anticipated arrival with family and friends at a baby shower hosted by your Tia Y and Ms. Liz, baby Nick's mommy. Your prima Jael was there and a great helper. Babcia & Dziadzio were there, Abuela too, and your godmother, Auntie Courtney. Also in attendance: Ms. Lisa and Mr. Duncan, our neighbors; Ms. Yessenia and Mr. Tyler; Ms. Donna and her toddler daugher; and of course baby Nick's daddy, Mr. Mike, as well as Tia's husband, Tio S. and abuela's gentleman Mr. J.
At the start, Jael and you and I danced a little bit of the Macarena, but mommy got quite tired quite quickly! We had yummy food that Ms. Liz and Tia Y prepared, as we enjoyed the festive decorations they put up everywhere in Ms. Liz's home. Our first activity was a onesie art project. Many folks decorated a onsie for you to wear, and then daddy and I had the difficult job of choosing our favorite. We played a little trick on everyone and made our own onsie, and then said that was the winner! But then we revealed the real winner, who turned out to be Ms. Yessenia. The onsie has a nice little nature scene of a tree and sun, and the words "Vida + Amor".
The next game was a MadLibs. Once everyone was done filling out their sheet, I read each silly version out loud, and then daddy and I deliberated on which one was the funniest. The winner turned out to be Auntie Courtney.
Then everyone took a length of measuring tape to guesstimate how big around I am while you're living in your little mommy casita. Then I stood up and daddy tried all the different measuring tapes to see who came the closest without underestimating. It was very close between Babcia and Mr. Mike and baby Nick. Babcia's strategy was to stand up and measure her own belly, leaving extra room for how big she thought you were. Mr. Mike measured himself with baby Nick included.
The final activity was while we were opening gifts, and Tia Y set the timer and when it went off, whose ever gift we were opening at the time got a gift bag! Ms. Lisa won that game. By the way, every game/activity's winner got a gift bag!
We also had beautiful cupcakes for dessert before heading home with all the awesome gifts we got to help us prepare for your arrival, and great memories to boot.
In your usual style, you kept quiet and still when Abuela, Ms. Yessenia, and Tia Y tried to feel your bouncing. You finally loosened up when daddy, Auntie Courtney, and I went to church that evening to listen to a talk. Daddy joked that you were really into his message, and you were bouncing around to say "preach on, brother!" and "Amen!" Auntie Courtney got to feel you moving a bit then.
As you know, we have been working on preparing for your big day of arrival by attending classes and doing various activities at home. This is a join effort, and I trust that you will be a good little baby and get into the correct position in time for us to have a wonderful, peaceful, joyful birthing time together!
Love you, pookie.
Mamusia
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