Kissing Juno Goodbye! (The Final Photos)

It all culminates in a sweet kind of solvency, closure, and then ultimate continuance...
Towards more love, more creation, more questions and relationship-building...

What follows are the final images from 1188 Juno days: the final party and fire, the move, and signing the papers to hand over the keys! Yes! Onward! Mad love! Woohoo!

Saturday's Final Soire: the Early Crew

Pops holds down the "alter" or "shrine space" as it gets built...

I love circles of friends...

Matt thinks he will convert my father back to the Democratic party...ha-larious!

The final shrine for Juno: including Kenyan Wedding candles; South African Art; The Buddha/ Mary/ Jesus/ Faith markers; Spiral embryo mug and champagne cork; Medicine Wheel stone, and fire kindling from snow-day transformations...

North High Colleague, Dear Friend, and Mom-to-be: Julie!

My love and appreciation for ritual possibly was born here: With April, Colleen, and Matt

Former student, dear friend, daughter-woman: Joy Chaney and my own mom, Beth.

Fire on fire

Zac, Jody and Michael stand back...

Toasting

Talking

Memories, tales, more talking

I love this shot...how things blur but are still illuminated...(not unlike my whole life)

Cheers!

I am so happy!

Former house-mate, key friend in faith and this journey: Zac Willette

Ms. Ann, the anointing one...

New Loves: Em and JP!

Sunday, post-mass the moving begins with my new pastor, Fr. Jules, from the Church of St. Philips, coming to collect the green leather couch!

John Michaels and Trevon Money: Goofballs!

Let the heavy lifting begin!

Wooho0! Church People permeate all parts of this journey.
Here: Melissa, Fr. Jules, Trevon, Mary Michaels

Monday and the Moving van arrives

Such a glorious motley crew!

JP arrives with the food!

Em serving things up..

We have worked for 3 hours moving by this time and are HUNGRY!

Willette and B'Mo are professional organizers!

Pretty much my entire life is in here...

Cleaning essentials: includes bottles of wine?!

God, I love these people!


To my new neighborhood!

"Be the bridge, be the water..."

With Second shift mover and my new neighbor: Kirsten Jamsen!

We are packed in, but all is good!

Again, where would I be without my CSP crew?

The blessed new owners of Juno!

I have a feeling this payoff will come in many forms...

LOVE!

An Elizabeth Bishop Poem: On Waking up Together, Love.

Amen!
-M

It is Marvellous to Wake Up Together
by Elizabeth Bishop

It is marvellous to wake up together
At the same minute; marvellous to hear
The rain begin suddenly all over the roof,
To feel the air suddenly clear
As if electricity had passed through it
From a black mesh of wires in the sky.
All over the roof the rain hisses,
And below, the light falling of kisses.

An electrical storm is coming or moving away;
It is the prickling air that wakes us up.
If lighting struck the house now, it would run
From the four blue china balls on top
Down the roof and down the rods all around us,
And we imagine dreamily
How the whole house caught in a bird-cage of lightning
Would be quite delightful rather than frightening;

And from the same simplified point of view
Of night and lying flat on one's back
All things might change equally easily,
Since always to warn us there must be these black
Electrical wires dangling. Without surprise
The world might change to something quite different,
As the air changes or the lightning comes without our blinking,
Change as our kisses are changing without our thinking.

"It Is Marvellous to Wake Up Together" by Elizabeth Bishop from Poems, Prose, and Letters. © The Library of America, 2008. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)

Cherokee Rite of Passage Legend

I like this. As forwarded email from Writer/ Poet/ Friend,  Julia Dinsmore. As Cherokee Legend. As inspiration. Yes. 

Cherokee Legend

 

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of Passage?

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone.  He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it.  He cannot cry out for help to anyone.  Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.  He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.  The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he s at stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!  Finally , after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold.  It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him.  He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

We, too, are never alone.  Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us.  When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.

Moral of the story:

Just because you can't see God,

Doesn't mean He is not there.

'For we walk by faith, not by sight.' – 2 Corinthians 5:7

 

 ***

"Start by doing what's necessary, then do what's possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible." - Francis of Assisi

Thanks to Blogger Peajay for the image. 

 

"Night" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Repeating a Poem from May

I posted the following blog on May 6, inspired by Garrison Keillor's reading of it that week on NPR. Today's broadcast of The Writer's Almanac includes a reading of the poem again. The repetition of his broadcast of Longfellow's poem,  inspires my re-posting of the original meditation, and the following questions: 

 

I wonder how this repetition evokes the palimpsest of our hearts? What is written there? And written over? What do we uncover in hearing such poems again? 

Enjoy!

***

Poem: "Night" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Public Domain.

Night

Into the darkness and the hush of night
Slowly the landscape sinks, and fades away,
And with it fade the phantoms of the day,
The ghosts of men and things, that haunt the
light.
The crowd, the clamor, the pursuit, the flight,
The unprofitable splendor and display,
The agitations, and the cares that prey
Upon our hearts, all vanish out of sight.
The better life begins; the world no more
Molests us; all its records we erase
From the dull common-place book of our lives,
That like a palimpsest is written o'er
With trivial incidents of time and place,
And lo! the ideal, hidden beneath, revives.

Thank you Henry Wordsworth Longfellow, Garrison Keillor and the Writer's Almanac, for bringing this forward. I'm struck by sinking landscapes and fading phantoms, vanishing clamorous pursuits, splendor. Yes! I'm excited by this notion of the better life beginning, a cessation of things that molest our spirits our hearts. (How about that for a word, "molest"? Yikes!)
And this image of a palimpsest! That a sheath, a record could possess the mutual stories (truths?) of the past, with inscribed new tales, details over the top. Oh, the discovery of the original underneath is like this dawning of a new day. Sunrise! Light! Fresh eyes! Revived Spirits! Longfellow gives this poem the title of 'Night" - but the Hope rests in the imminent rising of what seems to have been hidden. Yes! The sun will appear. It just does. As will any written-over-record of truth. Behind clouds now, this light, this ideal radiance is: ready to emerge.

Are you ready?

Peace, Happy Contemplating!
Melissa

--
Posted By Queen Mab to QueenMab Contemplates... at 5/06/2008 10:48:00 AM

Juxtaposing Catholic and Muslim Writers: Rohr and Hafiz

Friends, Family,

I found this timely to receive. My friend Daniel Kerkoff sent the following words in an email this morning. I'm not sure if Daniel placed them together, or if he heard them in succession as he was listening to some contemplative prayer CD's by Fr. Rohr.

Regardless, there's much to reflect on here in the questions of the Franciscan and the poetry of the Muslim mystic.

Amen!

***

From Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer
by Fr. Richard Rohr, OSF.

Inherent Unmarketability

How do you make attractive that which is not?

How do you sell emptiness, vulnerability, and nonsuccess?

How do you talk descent when everything is about ascent?

How can you possibly market letting-go in a capitalist culture?

How do you present Jesus to a Promethean mind?

How do you talk about dying to a church trying to appear perfect?

This is not going to work

(admitting this might be my first step).

--Richard Rohr

***

Pulling out the chair

Beneath your mind

And watching you fall upon God--

There is nothing else for Hafiz to do

That is any fun in this world!

--Shams-ud-din Mohammed Hafiz,

Muslim mystic (1320-1388)

Dancing Across the Universe: Matt Harding Video

As prayer for World Peace, as celebratory images and movement and music - underscoring how I feel about selling Juno, and stepping into this next phase of life....



Enjoy!
Love!
Melissa

Political Cartoons on Zimbabwe/ SA/ UN/ US....

Friends,

These political cartoons arrived this morning from a friend in South Africa, with the following comments:

In case you wonder what the world thinks of Mugabe and our beloved president Mbeki, check this out......

I'd love to hear people's responses...especially as I hold space for returning to the continent and map out my journey, where I'm called to learn, listen, be...

Peace, Melissa

Solstice Art, Spirit, and Babies....

Friends,

Just a few notes from my weekend of Celebrating the Summer Solstice in and through the Arts. What follows are tid bits from three days of inspired cross-cultural experiences, relationships, and things coming forward with such life-potential!

1. Friday. After work at Ecolab, I had the great privilege of
attending "Hayayo Bibimma" - the Drumming and Dancing ensemble lead by Ghanaian Artist, Francis Kofi. It was amazing to witness the diversity of people and rhythms present. This was also where I encountered a small child I have come to think of as the "Dalai Lama of Dance" - Francis Kofi's son. This 4 or 5 year old was the exclamation point on each performance, moving in the most uninhibited and spirited manner conceivable. Lovely! Thanks to Pam Plagge for the invite and for her commitment to the group!

2. Prior to my Friday evening excursion, I took note of a robin's
nest being constructed atop the electric meter on the back wall of my
house. Right underneath the clamatis vine running up the wall, this
little nest was tucked. When I returned Friday night from the dance
and good post-show conversation, I noticed that one blue egg had been
laid. And one energetic and protective momma bird was busy flapping
and singing about my arrival home and her baby.

3. Saturday. Matt Peiken hooked me up with a free pass to the Walker Art Center's "Rock the Garden" music festival. Whoohoo! I scored a free parking spot 1/2 block from the entrance, and joined my friend, along with 7,500 other folks there for the collaborative production with Public Radio's 89.9 "The Currrent." The bands rocked. Running into a former pretty fellow that I dated was sweet. Better yet, was encountering the Martin Sisters of North Minneapolis Community Organizing days. (Peace Foundation and Folwell Center for Urban Initiative Work props go to both Michelle and Lauren.) It's good times to connect with such ensembles of heart-and-work-and-vision-anchored peeps! Amen! This was part one of my Saturday Solstice
Celebration.

4. Part Two: Later Saturday. At the King and I, I met up with my friends Reggie Prim and Usry Alleyne. I'm telling you, a woman doesn't get much luckier than to hold space with her guy friends as they crack open their dreams, their work-wishes, and talk about next steps. We are all so connected in our journeys, you know?

5. I return late in the eve/ early morning to find Momma Robin has laid egg numero dos!

6. Sunday. The Morning includes church - AMEN! (St. Phillip's gospel / homiletic theme: "BE NOT AFRAID!") My girl Antoinette Bennaars and I share a pew, while girlfriend Ann Shallbetter leads us in song, after her two -week absence and back surgery recovery. GOOD
STUFF!

7. I return home to egg numero TRES being laid in the nest!

8. Sunday Evening is the April Seller's Dance Collective Event, "Cherries." And here, atop latin-music-industry-host Jessica's condo roof top in Uptown Minneapolis, (where there is a flowing water fountain anchoring the space), are DJ Kool Hanz spinning songs, and a
mic system set up for more vocal performances. I take note of several things at this event, as a way to honor the power of the energy, the women, the art, the voices, the cultures, converging and inspiring all cells in my body:

-April Seller's gives voice to her Vision, shares her vulnerability
on the heels of being injured, and what life and making art has
entailed since last piece "V" was performed. Whew. I note the
choreography to the reggae music. I note Pam Plagge's beauty as
dancer, her beating heart, her exposed breast, and the Frida-Kahlo-esque-inspired inking on her body. It's all SO BREATHTAKING! I hear the Tanya Stephens soundtrack about war and no more war...and I cry. And we move into the Spanish/ English song and hip hop reggaetone performance of Maria Isa, and my heart feels like it might burst.

That such a revolution of love, of converging cultures, of art, of communities, of experiences, could be experienced in such a space? In one weekend?! It's amazing. Awesome. Abundance!

9. I return home, and discover Momma Robin has laid a fourth egg.

Abundance. Birth. Life potential, creation is everywhere.

I am thankful for it all.

LOVE!
Melissa

From Jonathan Kozol: Public Policy, Education, War

In doing some research for possible places I might submit work, I came across a favorite writer of mine whose words never fail to inspire and challenge me: Jonathan Kozol. Are you familiar with him?

As devoted, non-ordained-nun; as teacher; as lover; as Catholic; as Buddhist; as Citizen; as Critical Thinker; as Agent-of-change; as deep questioner and examiner of my own experience in and around generational poverty; as traveler to places of wealth and poverty; as woman whose own modeling of Parental Love I recognize as rare gift, of God; as woman who knows deep privilege - I am drawn to Kozol's work.

These two articles from Mr. Kozol might equally inspire you, or provide you with fodder for more reflective and compassionate inquiry as you examine the marketplace, the voting public, our place in global society, and as we navigate or discern a just course of action in places like Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Darfur, China, Haiti, Somalia, Zimbabwe.

http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2005/American-Apartheid-Education1sep05.htm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-kozol/why-i-am-fasting-an-expl_b_63622.html

I invite you all to read these pieces and ask yourselves:

What is going on right here in our own United States? How are Kozol's depictions of everyday classrooms a kind of First Front where Militaristic dollars might easily and just as effectively be spent?

What is the difference between an Iraqi regime of terror and an American regime of terror?

How are our urban and rural classrooms the same breeding grounds for "al-qaeda" equivalents?

What does good teaching look like?

Where are the exemplars of emancipated living? Of love?

Have you ever personally encountered terror? Been traumatized? What did that look like? Feel like? How did you respond? What was the result?

Where does liberation from terror, from fears begin?

Who are we? What are our responsibilities? As individuals? Citizens? Followers of God? Of Christ?

Kozol is the Author of "Savage Inequalities," "Amazing Grace" and "Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America." He rocks. But check him out for yourself.

Peace, Love,

Melissa

Poetry And Storytelling: Northside Artist Residence Event Recap

Hey Friends,

What follows are a few images from last night's "Storytelling and Poetry" event, held at St. Jane's House in North Minneapolis. Host Brian Mogren assembled a crew of Artist Activists/Educators/ Agents-of-Change who are in residence at the 16th and Bryant 4-plex, known as the "Northside Artist Residence."


The evening brought together a beautiful ensemble of people from around the Twin Cities - for an opportunity to hear spoken word and stories and have meaningful discussion. Rodney "October" Dixon was the emcee, leading the gathering in a Critical Response conversation, breaking open the work that was being shared.

Among the evening's performers were:

Berato Wilson
Amoke Kubat
Caitlin Hill
Gayle Smaller, Jr.
Rodney "October" Dixon

As well as a younger mentee of Mr. Dixon's, and another elder from the community.

All were inspiring.

The facilitated discussion brought forward the poets' and storytellers' themes around poverty, survival, hope, incarceration, change, missing mothers, and having faith. To have the opportunity to hear community and audience members' voices come forward - is one of the greatest joys and privileges for me. As a former North High teacher, and person committed to the questions and actions around emancipation, peace and justice for ALL -- this kind of activity is a key for my participation and engagement.

I am in awe as I watch these former students move and grow and make change.

I am humbled and find resonance in their struggle -- and am inspired by their work and words. I am reminded time and time again of the necessity of relationship-building that is occurring in North Minneapolis and beyond, that draws seeming opposites together. I reflect on how such encounters are gift and invite mutuality.

I recognize how my liberation is deeply aligned with and dependent on the liberation of all others.

Enjoy the pictures.

Stay tuned for more events inviting such participation!

Peace,
Melissa