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Kathleen Schmidt's avatar

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=BNMKGYiJpvg&si=aUN48StQ8UlRY6Ds

Almut, when I read your inspirational offering today, Nina Simone’s, Feeling Good came to mind. Thought I should share.

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Chuck Huff's avatar

We played this in the car while driving along the Mississippi yesterday. A perfect accompaniment to a Spring drive. It made me think of a liturgy into which the song might fit.

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Kathleen Schmidt's avatar

I’m curious what liturgy you have in mind.

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Chuck Huff's avatar

Kathleen, I have been pondering this on and off. I am remembering Jennifer Koenig, a beloved pastor at St. Olaf College and friend of Almut & I (she seemed to be everyone's friend). Jennifer was a dancer and brought liturgical dance into the college chapel regularly. I remember one Spring, we had a chapel service that began with a procession (with dancing, of course) and after a hymn and explanation, processed outside to various spots on the campus green. In each one we celebrated and prayed for the place and its people. And it ended in song and dance as people dispersed across the campus. I could Imagine this song as the end of the celebration, as people danced across campus.

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Kathleen Schmidt's avatar

Chuck, what a splendid image and yes, that song would be such a finishing song. I can see it in my mind’s eye. Thank you for sharing this with me.

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Almut | The Weary Pilgrim's avatar

Lovely image and reminder, thank you.

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Almut | The Weary Pilgrim's avatar

bless you, Kathleen, I love Nina Simone! Thank you for sharing!

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Hans Jorgensen's avatar

So wonderful to read, and to consider greening in this context. Thank you!

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Chuck Huff's avatar

Hans, Yes. Greening asks us to participate in it, to garden it where we see it, whether we find it in our yard or in the lives of our neighbors.

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Hans Jorgensen's avatar

I like that - new life and invitation/connection all thrown together.

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Chuck Huff's avatar

It is the thing that most struck me about the Hildegard quote.

The phrase that most struck me was “We are to work WITH it.” Not “wait for it,” or “hope for it,” as if our work did not matter. But “work with it.” We are to SEE the greening in our family and friends and work with it. See the greening in our neighbors and work with it. See the greening in our town or city, in our culture or organization, in our own small life. And work with it.

It is a call to action. First, to seeing, in humility and truth, the greening around and within us. And second to work WITH it, welcoming, directing, encouraging, even weeding.

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Almut | The Weary Pilgrim's avatar

Thank you, Chuck, this is what I like about her term “cosmic partnership,” it is a living “with” which makes the difference.

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Almut | The Weary Pilgrim's avatar

…thrown together, indeed. Thank you, Hans.

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Chuck Huff's avatar

There is a depth to the word "thrown" that calls to us. The existentialists Sartre & Heidegger both talk about our being "thrown into the world." Free to choose how we respond, but nevertheless thrown. And it sometimes feels like that: thrown, dumped, tossed.

But Almut/Hildegard show us a better way to respond: cosmic partnership, working with it, being a part of it. There is hope here.

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Almut | The Weary Pilgrim's avatar

wow, I did not associate the existential “thrown-ness” with it but makes sense.

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Chuck Huff's avatar

Yes. And here comes an insight. We are "thrown together." Not alone.

The existential take or conclusion (it feels more like an assumption to me) is that we are alone. But if we are "thrown together" then we are not alone.

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Almut | The Weary Pilgrim's avatar

Thank you, Hans 🙏

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Ce's avatar

Almut, your reading reflects much of my sentiment this spring. Each morning, I walk my dog through my little seaside town in the Mid-Atlantic part of the States. I smile at the tiniest blossoms of “forget-me-nots” in random places, and the blooming tulips of different colors, shapes, and sizes. It gives my pained heart momentary comfort as I too am a weary pilgrim, and pray for those whose grounds are barren of spring colors. ❤️🙏

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Almut | The Weary Pilgrim's avatar

Aren't those tulips beautiful? I wish I would have planted some. So I go and watch them in the neighborhood :-) Thank you for your kind words, dear Ce, and for being part of our weary pilgrim communion.

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Kathleen Estes's avatar

"Gardening is sacred". I never thought if that, even though I was brought up gardening with my Mom and aunt. I continue to garden, but am now seeing it in a new light.

Thank you, Almut, enjoy the blessings of Spring in your garden.

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Almut | The Weary Pilgrim's avatar

Thank you, Kathleen, the monastic motto is to sanctify the ordinary, which means it is always about our spiritual attitude towards things which make them sacred. I am excited to hear about your experiences with gardening this way 😇

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