Swallows and Amazons (1000 Books to Read)

After reading a sad but good book (From Here to the Great Unknown) and a terrible book (Something Happened), reading a sweet, wholesome, imaginative Children's Classic that I had never heard of before was refreshing!

It reminded me of my brother and me pretending that the weird concrete island at the end of our street was a ship. It also made me think of the adorable 12, 10, 8, and 5-year-olds I did spiritual direction with from August to December! Most of them are the same age as the characters in the book. 

Sometimes a light and fun read is just what the doctor ordered!

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

James Mustich

Swallows and Amazons is the first in Arthur Ransome’s classic series of books about the children of the Walker family. In their initial appearance, the Walkers—John (the oldest, at twelve), Susan (ten), Titty (eight), and Roger (seven)—are summering with their mother in England’s Lake District, and the lakeland setting seems alive with the anticipation of a holiday. Adventure ensues when their friends' uncle's boat is burgled, but all comes right in the end, setting the stage for ten delightful sequels that similarly celebrate the resourcefulness of young people allowed to get their hands dirty as they master real skills—boating, camping, fishing, and the like—in a delightfully imagined but recognizable natural world.

Something Happened (1000 Books to Read)

I think this might be my LEAST favorite book at the end of the year. 

YUK! I did not like it. "My wife is unhappy. My daughter is unhappy. My son has difficulties. Now, my son does not talk to me." In the meantime, he is having adulterous affairs with the women in his office, paying for the abortion of one of them. It is the DUMBEST book.

Don't read it. 

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

The product of thirteen years’ gestation, Something Happened is an anatomy of middle-aged disenchantments that is both wildly funny and suffused with a desperate sorrow. Its narrator, Bob Slocum, is an office worker on the wearying escalator of a senseless though sometimes vicious corporate track; a husband whose marriage resides in a different dimension from his heart; a father terrified by the opacity, vulnerability, and willfulness of his children; an individual whose once eager innocence has been tarnished by the indefinable something that so surely happened to set him in his hopeless ways. Although Slocum’s narration embodies his banal life, Heller’s almost surreal focus on its very banality transforms it, by an astonishing act of literary sleight of hand, into something mesmerizing.

From Here to the Great Unknown.

Heartwarming and so heart-breaking too. I loved this book. I remember where I was when I heard Elvis died in 1977. (Working at the Pacifica Hotel in Culver City, CA). My boss was undone and played Elvis songs all day. The nation was in mourning. This book gives the perspective of his little girl.

I read this after seeing a great podcast interview with Riley Keough. 

It was excellent:

Or listen on Apple Podcast:

The Haunting of Hill House (1000 Books to Read)

Ok, but nothing to rave about. 

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

Shirley Jackson’s penultimate novel, The Haunting of Hill House, constitutes a masterpiece of psychosexual anxiety. Her wickedly disturbing passion play, enacted by the four (later, six) individuals gathered at the cursed mansion known as Hill House, perfectly equates the interior state of the spinsterish protagonist, Eleanor Vance, with the confusing, calamitous rooms and the surrounding acreage of the titular dwelling. Besides serving as a quietly horrifying testament to one woman’s disintegration, Jackson’s mordant 1959 book also brings a fresh sophistication to the horror genre through its characters’ recognition of what the plot will demand of them. By their conversation when they first meet, they make clear that they know they’re enacting clichéd roles from myriad films and novels. But their ultra-modern awareness fails to forestall the actual terror, and this is perhaps Jackson’s scariest assertion: The intellect is no real bulwark against the darkness. 

Stoner (1000 Books to Read)

This is the story of a life. So well-written. This line stuck out to me: 

"His life was nearly what he thought it should be." 

It is sad...and beautiful. 

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

A summary of what happens in Stoner might well prompt even the most devoted book lover to consider a movie instead. A young farm boy named William Stoner goes off to an agricultural college where he develops a passion for poetry. He embarks on an undistinguished career as an assistant professor of English; his colleagues hold him in no particular esteem. He marries and has a daughter, but his home life becomes a long estrangement from his wife, and fatherhood is fraught with hesitations and mistakes. The hope he discovers in an affair with a colleague is scuttled by university politics. Stoner is “about work, the hard unyielding work of the farms; the work of living within a destructive marriage and bringing up a daughter with patient mutability in a poisoned household; the work of teaching literature to mostly unresponsive students,” writes Irish novelist John McGahern in an introduction to its 2006 reissue. On the face of it, this doesn’t sound inviting. The unexpected power of this unassuming tale is rooted in the way in which the author depicts the concentration of Stoner’s inner being despite the diffusion of his outer life. The cumulative effect of Williams’s unflinching attention to Stoner’s ordinary life is strangely exhilarating—breathtaking, really—in its recognition that our inward selves embrace so much more than our outward lives appear to hold. 

Friday Freewrite Fifteen

I have not had a Freewrite in quite a while. So I am going for it and not lifting my fingers from the keyboard. 

I went to the Pastors Prayer Summit. It is for pastors and leaders in the Mid-Willamette Valley. It was lovely. It is hard to believe that I have not been there for 10 years (I worked on MW for TTH from 2015-2022 and couldn't go in 23 or 24). I don't think I would have gone had it not been for Kai who wanted someone to go with.

I don't fit into a nice neat "position" for the Church of the Valley, but I told people I "freelance for Jesus" and invest in leaders locally, but most of my ministry is with people outside the walls of the church.

I liked it. Even though I do not fit in neatly, I felt really comfortable there, and Mel (who organizes the rooms) gave me a HUGE room on the other side of the street. I didn't get an ocean view, but I loved how big it was and how I could dance in it because it was so big. I got up at 2 am the first morning and 4 am the second morning. It was so fun to read through my journal from the Pastor's Prayer Summit 10 years earlier!

In fact, I read what I wrote at a prayer time I had at the Trappist Monastery in LaFayette, and I soaked in Mark 6:31 about "coming apart" to a lonely place to pray, and then the meditation for the whole group was Mark 6! I loved it and realized how relaxed I was there at the Summit and how much less effort I put into everything these days. I put less effort into relating to people at the OSU Women's Basketball Alumni Reunion and being nervous about speaking and getting up in front of the crowd the weekend before the Summit, and I wasn't stressed at all driving to and from the Summit in the SNOW!

What has happened to me? I was in a Triad with sweet Jennifer, who I remember from the Summit 10 years ago, and Kai asked me to be in the same one. I felt so comfortable sharing, and it was lovely. I think that was my favorite part of the Summit too. 

The women are lovely. Three of the leaders are women who I did two years of a meditation group with. They are entrenched in this Church of the Valley life, and it is good. I was able to see them 10 years later and know that was when I was still trying to find out the best place for me, and it is definitely Spiritual Direction.

I had a great time with Kai on the way home and almost was overwhelmed with an avalanche of snow in the passing lane that had not been plowed, but I did well. It was nice. She is a good listener too. I pray she becomes a spiritual director someday.

So, I came home to the lovely BELOVED CHARTERS of the three people I am leading through the 19th Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius. It is such a life-giving group. I love them and know that is where I belong.

Finally, I met Bonnie, who is looking for a spiritual direction supervisor, and Pam, who has been through the Exercises of Ignatius! WOW! I sat right between them and thought, "This is a God thing!"

So, I think it has been fifteen minutes, but I will keep on typing until the alarm goes off. 

I also loved interviewing a new directee who is going through the Order of the Mustard Seed Year of Preparation. This is how I will give to the OMS this year. I have three people in the Year of Preparation. 

I also start the 18th Annotation with three people. It is unknown how that will turn out. I pray it goes well. Our first meeting is Feb 20. That is in 13 days. I am praying.

Oh, one more person I met along the way was a woman who had been through a similar spiritual abuse situation that I went through 19 years ago. It is so hard to believe that that was in 2006, and here I am - so healed and whole and thankful for what God taught me through the situation. She is only seven years out and still healing from it. 

Mutiny on the Bounty (1000 Books to Read)

Maybe this year will be reading books about high-seas voyages! With Kon-Tiki earlier this month and Mutiny on the Bounty now, it would seem that way.

I loved this book! I had read the book Bounty in 2005. This is what I wrote about it on this blog:

8. The Bounty: The True Story Behind Mutiny on the Bounty by (Book Club) 7

Four hundred ten pages of LOTS of detail about the true story behind what happened on The Bounty. Mutiny on the Bounty didn’t get it right. So, it was fascinating to read how the story got all twisted. Got on the internet and looked up Pitcarin Island, and I had a blast. I even emailed a descendant of one of the mutineers! I love it when books become history lessons.

I have no memory of the email with the descendant of the mutineer! I wonder if I can find it in my emails. 2005 was a LONG time ago.

Well, even if this book "got it wrong," it was a good read! 

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

James Mustich

Aug 1, 2018

The daunting open sea voyage of Captain William Bligh and his men aboard the HMS Bounty, and the ultimate disposition of the case in the British courts, have captivated writers, filmmakers, and audiences for generations. Of the numerous accounts—documentary, historical, speculative, and fictional—that have been written, the best and most popular is the novelization by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall. Published in 1932, Mutiny on the Bounty imagines the voyage out, the months in Tahiti, and the eventual uprising. Although this telling may not be the most historically accurate, it is the perfect introduction to an endless shelf of reading about a historical event. One of the great seafaring tales of all time, the story, like Shackleton’s Endurance voyage, has assumed the aura of a modern myth.

The Narrow Path by Rich Villodas (Renovare Book Club)

I finished this last month, but I forgot to put it in my 2024 books. Since it is the Winter 2025 read for Renovare Book Club, I will just put it on my list for this year. I will lead a discussion with it on February 24th. 

I love Rich Villodas, but this book did not take me deeper. It is a very general look at the Sermon on the Mount. 

Zoom Away and Zoom Upstream (1000 Books to Read)

Mustich has the whole Zoom Trilogy on the list, but my library only bought the first book (at my request) back in 2019. I didn't want to invest the money, but I certainly wanted to FINISH all the children's books on the 1000 Books to Read Before You Die List. The other day, I got this bright idea: why not see if it is read on YouTube, and it was!

So, I have closure! It is a sweet trilogy. 

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

Tucked away deep in the folds of a reader’s earliest memories, the imaginative magic of beloved picture books can shape and color all that he or she will come to learn—especially when the books in question are as wonderful as the three Zoom tales of Tim Wynne-Jones and Eric Beddows, which relate the adventures of a cat in search of his mysterious, seafaring Uncle Roy. Zoom’s search leads him to his uncle’s friend Maria, a woman whose house holds not only the ocean (as we discover in Zoom at Sea), but also—up near the attic—the North Pole (Zoom Away), and—behind the books in the library—Egypt and the Nile (Zoom Upstream). With a gentle mix of wisdom and whimsy, the author and the illustrator take us by the hand and lead us, easily and gracefully, into the heady atmosphere of imagination’s chamber. If you ever find better picture books to share— and share again, and again—with your children, you’re a lucky family indeed.

Kon-Tiki (1000 Books to Read)

What an adventure. I found this story so engaging and fascinating. I ended up watching the documentary on the expedition and a movie made about it. The movie changed quite a few things, but it was still interesting. 

Here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

Part of this book’s immediate and enduring appeal, no doubt, can be traced to its romantic portrayal of scientific investigation: A maverick thinker conceives a theory at odds with accepted wisdom and sets out on a task demanding enormous courage to prove it. Was Polynesia in fact settled by voyagers from the east, as Heyerdahl contended? Heyerdahl himself was always careful to claim no proof for his larger theory in the wake of the Kon-Tiki expedition; what his journey across the Pacific sought to establish, rather, was the possibility that balsa rafts constructed by Stone Age seafarers could have weathered the trip. In dramatizing that possibility through 101 days of difficult, dangerous, and exhilarating journeying, the author and his colleagues won the hearts and minds of countless readers.

2024 Reading Wrap Up

I have participated in reading 52 Books in 52 Weeks again. Here are answers to the Wrap Up questions:

How was your reading year? 

I liked it. I didn't like some of the 1000 Books to Read List books. Mustich is scraping the bottom of the barrel on some of these books. Why did he include them on the list?

I read 8,000 fewer pages than last year! I was busy. I finished some certifications: Restorative Pilates, EMDR, and Spiritual Accompaniment of Children. There was a lot of online reading with all three, but those don't count as "books"!

Did you follow a plan or go with the flow?

I am continuing to work through the 1000 Books to Read Before You Die List (read 21, about 1/2 of last year). I also had Renovare Book Club Books, and spiritual direction books that I am reading to decide if I would include them in the curriculum I am writing for the training I am starting in the fall of 2025.

Did you stick to tried and true authors or genres or explore outside your comfort zone?

Many books on the 1000 Book to Read List are outside of my comfort zone. So, I tend to read new authors all the time! I read one Science Fiction this year. It still isn't my favorite, but it is on the list. 

Where did your adventure take you? Outside of time and into space? 

I went to England (The French Lieutenant's Woman, Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman),  India (Midnight's Children), Michigan (The Virgin Suicides), Birmingham (Why We Can't Wait), the Sahara desert (The Sheltering Sky) Swiss Alps (The Magic Mountain), New York (The Bell Jar), Chicago (Sister Carrie),  France (The Day of the Jackal, Germinal), Space (Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journey), 

There are more places, but that is enough.

Which stories made your heart sing or cry or laugh or fly. Do you want to hug the author or country or city or state?

CRY:  

A Well-Trained Wife

I know the author, and I have hugged her. To read all the details was devasting for me. I was a wreck for a week. I highly recommend the reading of this book. 

I loved Why We Can't Wait by Martin Luther King, Jr. I think everyone should read this book. It shows how far Black Lives Matter has strayed from this man's amazing vision. 

I liked every single memoir/autobiography I read. It is one of my favorite genres (because I am a people person and love to see what makes people tick). 

I also loved the books I read on "neurotheology" and the influence of brain science on spirituality: Practice the Pause. 

Which stories made you want to throw it across the room in disgust?

I didn't have any ones that disgusted me this year. Some I couldn't wait to finish, but none that disgusted. 

Which authors did you add to your "I want to read more or again pile"?

Practice the Pause (I learned so much from it.) 

This was my favorite cover:

Next year, I plan to read Jean-Pierre de Caussade's Abandonment to Divine Providence, the last Renovare Book Club book, and continue on my journey with the 1000 Books to Read Before You Die List (I am 35 books away from first on the List Challenge List and 43 away from 500 books. I will stop after that because I do not like the remaining books and sometimes really question why they are on the list in the first place. Sometimes, I find a gem on the list though.)

3 - Freewrite: FACE

So much for thinking I would freewrite here every day in 2025. I have been doing it in my Kindle Scribe though. 

Here is my FACE Report:

My report for the Week of January January 5-11

F: Future/Flying - I completed the Certified Journal Therapy Coach course. It was easy to get through, and I enjoyed it. I will incorporate it into my Spiritual Direction practice (I am not a coach). I had a good "flying" time with my directees, especially my 19th Annotation Group of the Spiritual Exercises. One directee is new and awkward about sharing. All the rest love to talk. I also updated my spiritual direction training overview and sent it to S. We will see who comes.

A: Avocations (used to be "Academic" but this means: " An activity taken up in addition to one's regular work or profession, usually for enjoyment; a hobby.") I did a bit of reading of Wicked and Kon-Tiki, but I primarily finished my certification.

C: Centering - Two sits a couple of time and one sit about four times. Wanting to be consistent with two sits of twenty minutes a day.

E: Eating/Exercise - SO GOOD! I lost three pounds. We went out to eat with a staff candidate for Suburban and our head pastor and his wife, (so life-giving), but I ordered a cheap thing and rode my bike, taught Pilates and walked. So, I didn't go over even eating sourdough and soup with Sydney! LOL!

GOOD WEEK all the way around. Next week I want to...

F: Send Overviews to more people considering the Body and Soul Companion Spiritual Direction Training.

A: Read Kon-Tiki, Something Happened, 1000 books reading list that I cannot remember.

C: Two Twenty Minute Sits EVERY DAY!

E: 1300 calories a day. Pilates 3x. Bike 2x. Walk 5x. 

2 - Freewrite

I was going have a freewrite last night, but I fell asleep. So even though I am posting this on January 3rd, it is about January 2nd.

Yesterday went really well. We had Retreat 2 of the 2nd Half Collaborative, and it was unusual this time because it is the first time I was not able to bring an issue for discernment to the group because one of our members was gone. So, there were not enough of us to make two groups of three. So, my partner and I were just there to observe. It worked out well, but I do have an issue, and I have seen such fruit from "Listening in Community." Thankfully, I have a community here to do it with.  My issue for discernment is:

Should I commit myself to a year of training spiritual directors from September 2025-October 2026 through another organization?

I am already going to be doing a local training and possibly an online one from September 2025-May 2026 and September 2026-May 2027 out of Body and Soul Companion. And I would like to have another 19th Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius group too. 

I will doing "Discernment through Remembering" and "Discernment through the Body" today and another one tomorrow. 

I will be sad to leave doing these retreats, but if I am going to start training directors, I don't think I can fit this in, and I would love to have more input about who is in my group in the future. 

Back to yesterday, after the time at the Retreat, I put on all my rain gear and went for a long walk. I rested the remainder of the day. I am always tired after these Retreat times. They start very early. 

Sydney gave us ticket to the basketball game, and it was so great to see them win! (See picture above.) They are improving little by little. I wasn't that nervous even though it was a close game. 

Then I came back and watched some news. I am tired of Netflix. I get it for a month every year to watch over vacation, but I really only need two weeks to do that. Gone are the times when Netflix would send you DVDs of rare movies that you couldn't find anywhere else. It is mostly their content. I was going to watch about the Menendez brothers, but I didn't want to watch something so gruesome during Advent and Christmas!

Oh yes, I was going to talk about the song "Defying Gravity," but I forgot to do it. I will postpone it until Day 3 Freewrite because my time is almost up. 

(Just as I typed "up," my 15 minute timer rang!)

1 - Freewrite

This is the actual field that RS Thomas was talking about. Click on this to get full size.

I am doing Freewrites for 2025 and taking a journaling course that will give me certification as a journaling coach. I am only on Module 2 of 7 modules, but I already like it. 

One thing that is said is that for people who journal every day for 15-20 minutes, there is an improvement in mental health. Since this is a freewrite, I will not give the reference for the study.

I have been freewriting off and on since about 1998 or so. I have been journaling since I was about 10. Well, it was called "keeping a diary." So it was a little bit different. 

All that to say, I did the "Morning Pages" by Julia Cameron for a good part of last year. I think I stopped when I started doing the Spiritual Exercises with the wonderful group of A, J, L, and T. I enjoy them so much. 

The certification course mentions "Morning Pages," but it is six notebook-sized pages, and it is required to do it FIRST THING in the morning before you do anything else, and sometimes it would take me up to 40 minutes, and I really love to spend time in the word and prayer with my morning cuppa' Chai. So, it was a little too laborious for me. 

Julia also makes a big deal about writing. I agree that there is something about the physical act of writing letters (in cursive) that is really wonderful, but it means a LOT of pages to store after you are done. I did shift over to my Kindle Scribe which allowed me to write. 

I am modifying it and typing instead (sorry Julia) and doing it after my time with God. Sometimes, I love to write a bit about what my time with God was about. Thus the poem at the top of the page (that I will add after my freewrite) because it captures something we hit upon when we were talking last night with our small New Year's Eve dinner group.

The question in our Hygge Game time was something about describing the perfect day. Someone (I think it might have been Phil) was talking about living in the moment, and it made me think of this poem that I was given during the We Hope Advent Retreat with Pray as You Go. You can read it and decide.

Anywho, I realized I am 320 posts away from 3000 posts on this blog. So, I am going to try to freewrite more. I might do it every day in 2025. I will set my timer and promise to stop at 15 minutes of continuous writing. That is what freewrites are all about. I did them with my kids (one still does freewrites as a 30-year-old), and I have Julie Bogart of Bravewriter to thank for that. 

Another thing that I wanted to write about is the song "Defying Gravity." We saw Wicked yesterday, and I had heard the song, but I didn't know the story and where it landed in the musical. I don't know how it ends (the movie is only Part One), but there were words in the song that made me cry and related to my word of the year:

FLY.

My time is running out, so I will post the lyrics here tomorrow and discuss them for my Day 2 freewrite.

Flying with this freewrite. 

Signing off for today,

Carol Ann 

The French Lieutenant's Woman

I am just getting to this review of this book. I read it in October but forgot to review it. I have very little memory of it! So, here is why James Mustich thinks it should be one of the 1000 Books You Read Before You Die:

James Mustich

The story John Fowles tells in his third novel begins on the English seaside at Lyme Regis, Dorset, in 1867. Yet it is told by a wry, erudite narrator who lets readers know he is writing exactly one hundred years later. In a tour de force of storytelling that is transporting, intriguing, and breathtaking in its shifting perspectives, Fowles combines suspense, romance, and invention into an emotionally satisfying and intellectually engaging whole. A master of a storytelling resourcefulness that always has us asking, “What happens next?,” Fowles here recasts the pleasures of the Victorian novel into modern literary dress in a way that only enhances their allure. To cap it off, he offers two endings, challenging the reader’s own ideas of romance, of the rights and wrongs of society’s whims, even of the nature of fiction itself. 

Friday Freewrite Fifteen

My timer is set for fifteen minutes. It is actually a Friday. When I first started doing these freewrites (too many years ago to remember), I would always do them on Fridays. For a while, my Fridays were full with the Jesuits in Scotland meditation and leading the Order of the Mustard Seed Watch, but I have cleared my Fridays until I lead my class at OSU. It is about self-care and reflection. I still lead my class on Friday, but it has been moved from 11 to noon, and I consider that self-care because I do not spend as much time at the computer as I did when I led Physical Activity Courses (PAC). I just led the Faculty and Staff in 50 minutes of Pilates. I ride my bike there and back, and it is great. Then I come home and rest.

This week was a full week. Both of the groups of four that I lead were this week. Usually, they are staggered and not on the same week, but one was moved back a week into December because of Thanksgiving. They are both precious groups. This will be the last year I will lead one of them because I want to lead more of the 19th Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius. I will say goodbye to the groups I have led for the last four cycles. This will free me up to have a much more free Summer and Winter break. I will miss it.

This week was full. I sat in on some appointments with a friend in the hospital, and I also helped that person out of the hospital and back home yesterday. I had to cancel one of my spiritual direction sessions to do that, but it was the right thing to do. I was able to minister to two more people who are also helping with this friend. I pray it all works out. 

So, today is me and the Lord in the morning and teaching the class in the afternoon. Then, it is family time at the OSU-Corvallis Symphony Christmas Concert. Tomorrow we will get our tree. 

The highlight of my week was taking a break from all the stuff with this friend in the hospital to host the three girls I have been doing spiritual direction with to complete the requirements for my Spiritual Accompaniment with Children certification course. The class I attended on Tuesday night made me eligible for certification. I had to have at least 8 hours of sessions with the kids. I ended up having 11 hours and 40 minutes of delightful time. I listened to them describe times when they saw beauty, did prayer doodling, noticed nature (especially the clouds), walked the labyrinth. and blessed them with "Blessing Balm." It was delightful. 

So to sum up the time, I had them over to make "Christmas Morning Scones" and homemade chai with some egg nog flavor. Then we had a mini-examen prayer time, went through the first five days of the Jesse Tree, and practiced Centering Prayer in a circle full of God's presence. Then I took them home and sang Christmas Carols with them. 

It was the highlight of my week.

The Third Gilmore Girl

I read this in a day. It was a delightful read. If you are a Gilmore Girls fan, you will love it. 

Sunday Morning Freewrite

I have my online timer on for 20 minutes. Hey, the freewrites are usually 15. What was I thinking?  Oh well, I don't mind.

I just had a holy moment. It was one of those nods from God times. "Carol, this is a good thing you are doing right now. I am right there with you."

I am writing the "Sacred Listening" to our "Sacred Histories" part of the spiritual direction training I am leading starting September 19, 2025. I love it. This is part of everyone telling their stories, and what it is and is not about.

It is about truly listening and not thinking about what you are going to say at the end. What advice you are going to give. It is about listening and at the end saying, "I noticed" this thread of meaning, that particular phrase, about saying, "Tell me more about that part of your story." It is about empathy and compassion and not about denying emotions or saying, "I had the exact thing happen to me." No, you did not - each person's story is so unique and wonderful. I love hearing people's stories and asking questions that help a person find meaning in their experiences. So it is a fun thing to write, although time-consuming. I spent from 5 am to 5:45 pm yesterday writing the syllabus and the supporting documents that go along with the training for the first module that is 10 months away! 

The good news is that I loved every single minute of the writing. Also, the good news is I completed the application, the letter to a potential directee, the questionnaire for the person they want to be their director, instructions for their "Sacred Collage," overview of the two years, final book list, Excel sheet for keeping a record of all their submissions, and the Contemplative Reflection Form and Dialogue. Whew! It was a big day, but when I love what I am doing, it is not work. 

The only part of the syllabus I have left is about giving our Sacred Histories, listening to each other's histories, "finding" directees, their first meetings with their two directees and their director, and how to fill out the Contemplative Reflection Form. 

I am not even nervous about this. I am just praying for the right three to six people to come along. I say three to six because we need one to two sets of triad listening groups. We will do this for all five modules of the first year. I was so nervous about doing this when I was in my "Protestant" training (I had already been mentored by a Catholic nun before joining this one.) But I loved the triads by the end. I just had a memory of one of the guys who asked such good questions, but he did not continue with the training for the second year. He had a lot of stuff going on in his life and many health problems. Poor guy. He had such potential. 

All that said, I also had such a good time in my meditation in the Exercises yesterday too. I did the "Call of the King" Contemplation and so good. God continues to confirm my calling, and I even put the picture I drew from the second time I went through the Call of the King Contemplation in 2018. 

I wonder how God spoke during the first time. I typed all of that online, and I downloaded the notes from that time, but I don't know where it is on my computer. I will have to search. I also learned that the Review of Prayer I put in my manual is NOT from Jeremiah in the OMS but I found my notes from that second time, and it said, "The Ignatian Adventure, p. 159." The exact same questions are in there, and at one time, I knew that. So I corrected the credit I gave in my manual to Jeremiah and gave it to Kevin O'Brien, SJ instead! LOL!

Well, I think my time is almost up. I am going to walk around (maybe even walk in the dark outside because it is supposed to rain once the sun comes up) and finish up this syllabus! 

Ta Ta for Now. I think the timer is almost going to go off in 50 seconds. 

Fullfilled Freewrite Fifteen

Deep down, I have peace and will write for a fifteen-minute freewrite. I have been doing them on this blog for several years. Freewrites were introduced to me by my good friend, Julie Bogart, who is the head of Bravewriter. You can write or type non-stop for fifteen minutes with anything that is in your head. It is helpful for me.

It is helpful especially as I am coming off two very FULLfilling days of training FOURTEEN soon-to-be spiritual directors. I am shadowing my trainers who are with Sustainable Faith. Although I will be Sustainable Faith trained, I will launch out on my own with a whole new curriculum that combines what I have learned from over 40 years of contemplative practices, influences from spiritual formation with Renovare Spiritual Formation Groups (that I started here in the early 90s and grew from there), Renovare Institute, and also my newer learnings on Attachment theory through Curt Thompson and Life Model Works (2 classes and numerous books). I will also teach from my training in the Enneagram (different from how Sustainable Faith covers it). I will also include the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius using the manual I wrote.  Oh, and there will be more on Belovedness and hearing God from Jamie and Donna. :) 

I love creating this curriculum, and God is speaking to me about letting go of some things I wanted to be included in, but as Marie says in The Sound of Music, "Reverend Mother always says, 'When the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window.'" And my window is outside what has been done before. God is doing a new thing, and I am so excited to fly out that window into the wide-open blue and beautiful skies! YAY!

I also want to empower people worldwide to train spiritual directors. They can do it under my umbrella so they can be recognized by ESDA, but I would love to see training in third-world countries for people who cannot afford the steep (and getting steeper) prices of spiritual direction training. 

Back to the training, I feel like I failed in one supervision session. Not failed, but I ran out of time to supervise, but that was partly because of the person I was supervising. I wanted to get to other things, but many questions caused me not to wrap things up. I also was not in charge of moving things along because my computer froze. So the person I was supervising had to show it on their screen. It went OK though.

I am a bit peopled out though. Really and truly. I have a doctor's appointment at 1:45. Then, I will rest until 6 pm when one of my directees comes over. Tomorrow, I just have to teach one class, maybe meet with a friend from out of town on campus, and the 40th FSF Banquet. 

Then, it will be time for a well-deserved Sabbath for me. I really want to rest. But I also want to put together this curriculum. This is going to be so much fun. 

Lord, help me and lead me to be creative with all of this. I have 1 1/2 minutes left. Then, I will do some writing until I go to the doctor. I am so excited Lord. I am pretty fulfilled! 

YAY for FLYING FREE. 

Fifteen Minute Freewrite

It is time for a freewrite. It is Tuesday. Today is a light day. I'm meeting with someone at 8 am. Then I have my Spiritual Accompaniment of Children Class at 5-7. I am looking at the schedule for this week, I met with a 30-something yesterday afternoon, and I have three 30-somethings as my next three directees. I love it. There is something vibrant and wonderful about this age. They are in such change in their lives. One is a young mom, another is a single who just returned from overseas, another single has just made a decision to go to a specific place to join specific people (our friends, in fact), and another is a young married who is just starting the process of moving overseas. 

This excites me.

And I am facilitating my twice monthly 19th Annotation of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius group. They are one 30-something, two 40-somethings, and a 60-something. I love the meditations this week, and I kept singing a John Thurlow song called "Mighty Hand" that combines words and concepts from three of the passages we are meditating on this week in Luke 15 ("You put the ring upon my finger. You put the robe upon my back. You throw your arms around me and say, "You are My son, My daughter, don't forget"), Psalm 136 ("With a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm"), and John 8 ("Where are your accusers now?". It throws in Romans 8 (a passage that has a history for me) that we meditated on in Week 3 ("There is therefore now condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"). The second song combines Romans 8 and Ephesians 3 which we meditated on last week! I love this.

So, I have been listening to the worship set above and loving it. I love how God leads me down little roads every morning. While I have a plan about what I am meditating on, God takes it from there. I love my mornings with Him, and I have until 8 am this morning. 

Yesterday morning, I had an earlier start, leading an Order of the Mustard Seed Prayer Watch at 5:30 am. There were 10 people there, and I subbed for Ciara, and she had a PowerPoint all made up for me. It was a visio divina, and I had looked at that picture for days, and I wondered what people would get out of it, especially me, and I got so much out of it! 

I will write about that someday because I think my Freewrite Fifteen Minutes is almost done. Yep. 55 seconds, and I am moving on.

Yesterday, I also spent time writing out a job description for my Spiritual Direction Training Intern. I want an intern every time! B in South Asia is discerning whether it would be a good thing for her. 

BYE!