A photo taken down the center of a street in a small town. The sky is covered in an expanse of fluffy white clouds that are illuminated by the rising sun.

A tiny little mud pot that is stuck to the side of the cement step.

Here are some things I noticed today:
1. The sky on my drive to work
2. A potter wasp's nest on the front stairs outside of my work.
The beauty of creation in its expansiveness and intricacy.

So pro-life means jailing women who miscarry but shrugging when the deranged president says “a whole civilization will die tonight.” Do I have that right?

If you see this, I implore you to post a picture from whatever device you’re using with no explanation.

I mostly just want to learn how to play The Muppets theme (we learned how to play that in 5th grade) and Concerning Hobbits.

I think I'm going to buy a recorder and relearn how to play it. I loved playing it in 5th grade, but my family didn't necessarily feel the same way. I live by myself now, so I'm gonna get one, and my family can go kick rocks.

Spotify offered to make me a playlist of "My Taste in Another Era" and then proceeded to make a list consisting of solely songs from the 90's. Which, technically, is a different era but one for which I was very alive and present and it makes me feel old which is just mean two days after my birthday.

I was sitting at lunch with one of the Sisters here at the monastery and it's her birthday today. We sang happy birthday, and she smiled and waved at everyone in the dining room then someone added, "And many moooore!" Sister turned back the table and said under her breath, "Can't be too many more."

I can only imagine how a parent feels, as I am not one, but after meeting my great niece for the first time today, nothing really prepares you for seeing your niece holding her baby and remembering when she was that age. I think if I were a parent it would fill my heart & break it at the same time.

Does anybody else regularly ask people to fill out evaluations at your job? Does anybody else think that they're basically a joke? I need to find an evaluation that measures useful and useable data and encourages retreatants to leave meaningful and helpful responses. Is that even a thing?

It's hard to stay centered and prayerful when you can't stop giggling.

In the middle of my centering prayer sit today, my brain decided to remind me of a woman who worked at L'Arche named Sharon Sans but, because she was married to a Mexican and she farted in front of him once, a guy with IDD that we worked with constantly referred to her as "Tootie Sanchez."

I can remember every phone number we had while I was growing up. I can remember the addresses of my grandparents' houses we'd visit when I was younger (I haven't been in ages). But ask me my current boss's 4-digit extension and I have to look at my cheat sheet. One of my jobs is answering the phone.

That is one of my favorite songs and I think it would be 🔥 for a communion anthem.

No cheating: your last saved pic of a celebrity is your therapist

Mr Rogers, a Caucasian man with dark straight hair with a side part in a light blue button up shirt and a gray blue cardigan sweater. He's looking at the camera with a slight smile on his lips. On his hand is his Daniel Tiger puppet, with light brown fur and yellow eyes.

Mr Rogers is cooling his feet in a kiddie pool with Officer Clemens, played by a black man (who also happened to be gay, which Mr Rogers knew but wasn't public knowledge). This was in May of 1969 during a time of great racial turmoil in the United States. Legal segregation had just recently ended. White racists were still angry about having to share pools and water fountains and other things with black people. They would do things like put acid in public swimming pools to avoid having to share them with black people. So, the fact that Mr Rogers was willing and wanted to do this showed that he was an amazing ally, friend, and neighbor to the black community.

Mr Rogers is engaging in a conversation with Jeff Erlanger, a boy with a disability who used a wheelchair. He spoke with Jeff and let him answer questions and share his thoughts and feelings. He showed everyone watching that people with disabilities are people, too, and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and compassion. This was in 1981 and the Americans with Disabilities Act didn't pass until 1990, which prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas of public life.

On this day, in 1968, the world got to visit Mister Rogers' Neighborhood for the first time. And for 33 years, until 2001, he provided a safe place where young people were invited and encouraged to be kind, ask questions, be creative, use their imaginations, and be good neighbors.

What's a line delivery you'll never forget?

Has anyone watched the entire series of Search Party? I just finished the second season & am giving it a chance but at this point, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to like any of the characters. Except for maybe Julian who is a reporter & the main character's ex-boyfriend. I think I like him so far.

These "Don't Tread On Me" people sure do love treading on a lot of other people.

Seems fitting to me that a team with a logo inspired by Native American art should beat a team called the Patriots while a halftime show headlined by a Puerto Rican blows the "All-American" alternative out of the water.

Together we are America.

Some of the very best people I know are Lutherans.

This spring will be 20th anniversary of my seminary graduation. My vocational journey has had a few twists & turns since then, but I'm still very grateful for the learning, formation, community, & friends that I encountered while I was a student there. Still one of the best decisions of my life.

I really miss the days of Saturday morning cartoons and sitcom theme songs.

I've read that AI's water use doesn't even really compare to the amount of water that the livestock industry uses. So, are we all going to become vegetarians, too?

I know Sister Hannah! She's a lot of fun. Blessings on this journey for you!

What community are you making your oblation to?

A white background with blue words that say "The World is Better with You in it, Buddy." Underneath that, in the center is a red heart, on either side are two blue birds with their wings spread, facing the heart. Behind each one is a small rainbow, and then behind each rainbow is a red flower with a blue center and a green stem with two leaves. Surrounding all of these are small blue, red, and green stars and asterisks. The illustrations are symmetrical and span the width of the bumper sticker.

I got this bumper sticker a while back. I didn't immediately put it on my car because I had an idea I would be getting a new one soon.

Well, I got a new car. But I'm still hesitant to put it on because I'm not sure how comfortable I am saying this about everyone these days.

Apparently, Ayds was a weight loss candy that started in the 1940s but ended up being discontinued in the 80s for obvious reasons. I did not know this, though, and thought the commercial was saying that AIDS was now peanut butter flavored and I didn't know how that could work.

I'm still traumatized by this one time in 5th grade (ca 1989, so the middle of the AIDS crisis) and we were watching an older show that my teacher recorded off of TV, and she tried to cut out the commercials, but she missed the beginning of one and it said "NEW PEANUT BUTTER FLAVORED AYDS!"

I'm not saying one is better than the other, but I certainly remember trudging to school through the snow and having to bring snow pants so I could play outside for recess. Now it seems like we get a little snow and everything shuts down.

Hope you are taking Care of yourself. It is a scary time to be in the Twin Cities!