Ruach--the Spirit of God

Today, at the 5:30 mass that my family regularly attends and at which I play electric bass in the worship band, our priest talked about the Ruach--or the creative spirit of God.  I hope that this is a correct use of the term as it is Hebrew and from the Old Testament, so I can't vouch for the interpretation other than what I heard and other than how it was interpreted in turn by a Catholic priest.

In any case, he talked about it with respect to Genesis.  And since today the Catholic church celebrates the baptism of Jesus, he also talked about it with respect to the conception of Jesus.

What was interesting to me was his reminder to each of us that God's creative spirit is in each of us.  And that in this broken world (perhaps more broken these days but adrift from God's plan ever since Adam and Eve), each of us is called upon to help to fix the world.  And each of us is called upon to figure out how to put to work the gifts that we have been given through God's creative spirit in order to help the world.

I thought about all the opportunities I have had to date and all the opportunities that may come my way in the near future.  Some of them are about creativity.  Some of them are about persistence.  Some of them are about intensity.  All of these are gifts that the creative spirit of God has given to me.    Even the tattoo I have is a sign (in my mind) of a creative spirit.  My creative spirit of things I wanted to pull together.  The artist's creative spirit in what she brought to the design.  And the story of a saint and the person who rescued him who each used the gifts given by God.  

As I continue with my contemplative prayer life, I will continue to try to connect the dots of what I hear each Sunday with my actions, my life, and my future.

The Luxury of Thinking About New Things

Many days at work I am so busy that all I can do is take care of making sure that things that have already been initiated get finished.  Maybe at one point there was something new.  Maybe my new idea.  Maybe someone else’s new idea.  But on a particular day there is nothing to initiate.  Nothing to dream about.  I am just moving things ahead along a pre-defined path or bringing things to an end.  

But today was different.  Today included a number of meetings that were all about brainstorming and thinking up new ideas.  New contexts.  New opportunities.  New projects.  New people. 

Days like today are pretty exciting.  And a luxury.  A blessing.  And for that I am thankful.

I miss my family at home but am looking forward to seeing them tomorrow for a visit with extended family.  Not necessarily anything new there but always good.  

Living Life to It's Fullest

Someone observed on my Facebook page this morning that I had done almost a whole day's worth of activity before most people started their day.  Well, I suppose that baking a few more than two dozen buttermilk biscuits with cinnamon and sugar and running 7.5 miles and putting up a few Facebook posts all before 6:50 AM does represent a lot.  What does it mean?

Well, recently, a few colleagues have commented on how they think I need more sleep.  I probably do.  Certainly while I have been recovering from my cold, I have tried to get an extra hour of sleep each night.  It has helped me to recover and I have felt much better.  But I like to try to get by on just the minimum amount of sleep because the key to my life is to live life to its fullest.  Enjoying every moment.  Making the most of every moment.

But as I reflect a bit, I have to decide what "making the most" and "fullest" mean.  Not just what they mean but what they mean when I ask different people. I have my own sense of priorities.  But I try not to be completely self-centered.  My priorities are guided by my family.  How I incorporate my family's priorities is guided by my love for my family.  My love for my family is guided by my spirituality.

But when all is said and done, I have to make sure that I balance my priorities with my family because the family (not always necessarily by blood) is the most important unit for society.

Every once in a while I just need to check back in to make sure that what I have prioritized as living my life to its fullest contributes to my family being able to live all their lives to their fullest.  I know I miss every once in a while, but I try to get it right.  

A Day in the Life

This is not a Beatles song.  This is a short entry about a day in my life.

Tried to wake up early.
Went back to sleep.
Got up close to regular time.
Decided that after being awake an extra hour last night hacking that I should sleep more.
Still up early enough to make cornbread before work.
Ate breakfast and packed lunch and packed some cornbread for dinner.
Walked the dog.
Worked on a project to do a cost-benefit analysis tying post-jail services to health.
Talked to colleagues at our School of Business.
Talked to my department chair.
Prepared for a meeting in Philly Friday and Saturday.
Prepared for a meeting that will include the university President tomorrow.
Worked on some old grading.
Evaluated some work a student had done.
Went to see perspective drawing done by my seventh grader and his class.
Noticed that one child had mimicked a St. Sebastian picture when they visited the local art museum and showed off my tattoo.
Read to my eight year old.
Snoozed a bit.
Washed dishes
Pondered a colleague's recent loss.

Such varied activities.
Such an interesting mix.
Not perfect, but a very rewarding way to live.
I count myself lucky!

I Should Just Compare Myself with Myself

A friend posted on Facebook today the top ten ways to feel miserable as an artist.  The first was constantly comparing oneself to other artists.  The same thing can be said for runners.

For instance, today, a friend posted something in relation to the Boston marathon joking that the three of us who will room together in Boston were added to the elite group.  I know I am not an elite runner.  It is interesting to think about what they run and what I run, but there is no point in comparing myself with the elites.  There is really no point in comparing myself even with any sub-3 hour marathoner at the moment.  It serves no purpose.  The second member of the group said "maybe in another life".  I said, "If I get a personal best then I'll be elite for myself and that is all that matters."

Still, I know I compare myself to at least some others.  Comparing myself with a small number of others gives me something to aim for.  Comparing myself to the people who are 5-10 seconds per mile ahead of me is a good thing, if I can't stick with the healthiest thing which is just to focus on comparing myself to my goals and what I have been able to do in the past.

There are other ways in which sticking with comparisons with myself is helpful.  For example, today's theme was pain.

When someone asked how I am feeling, I could say pretty good.  Yes, I had an occasional awful dry hack.  But that is much better than I was two days ago.  No more sore throat and voice is back to normal.  Only comparing myself to myself was helpful.

Another example from today was feeling irritated when I had to take a bandage off a big scrape on my elbow from running this morning.  But I thought to myself "I run for 3+ hours and I spent 7+ hours getting a tattoo.  What is a little irritation when removing a bandage?" I got the bandage off quickly.  And life goes on.

Comparing myself with myself keeps like simple and straightforward and very real. It does not promote jealousy.  It promotes (for me) a way of staying focused only on whether I have what I need and being satisfied with life as it is.  

Thinking about Humanity in Baltimore

Just a short thought.  Tonight on The Marc Steiner Show co-hosts Marc Steiner and Anthony McCarthy were discussing homicides in Baltimore City.  I missed the show recently when Marc read the names of all 217 people who were homicide victims in Baltimore City last year.  They commented on how important it was to get the names out as each one was a life lost--even if the person had a criminal record and died in gang violence.  Each person was human.  And saying "it's just gang violence" sort of dehumanizes the individuals involved.

That got me thinking.  When I speak with people who might move to Baltimore, I describe it as a basically safe city--if you avoid the drug trade and know what neighborhoods to stay out of.  I tell people that the whole city is not like The Wire.  I make such comments off-handedly.

What struck me is the following.  It is good to encourage people to move to Baltimore.  And I do think Baltimore is generally a safe city for most of the residents and most visitors.  What I realized though is that when I "write off" neighborhoods with off-handed comments about just avoiding them to be safe, it ignores something important.  It dehumanizes the people of those neighborhoods.  Avoiding the fact that there is a problem does not help to solve the problem.  And while there may not be much that I, as an individual, necessarily can do to solving the problem, writing it off is definitely not the right answer.

In the future, I'll still tell people the city is relatively safe.  However, I'll tell people that being safe involves having some street smarts.  And, I'll admit that there are areas of the city that are less safe.  But I won't say, "But you can just ignore that."  Instead, since most people I talk to about moving to the city are thinking about moving here to study or teach a a university, if I finish with anything, I'll try to finish with, "I hope you can come here and help be part of the solution."  

The Healing Power of Music

Today was the first time I had played my bass in nearly two weeks (having been away for the one Sunday mass between Christmas Eve and now).  After mass today (at mass was where I played bass), I was speaking with my 13 year old who commented that I sounded a lot better than I did earlier in the day.  I commented in return that while my voice/throat was feeling somewhat better, just playing my bass during mass (particularly for a couple of the more upbeat songs), I felt better.  At that point, he threw in a comment about "the healing power of music".

It was a fascinating comment because the Maryland State Boychoir (with which he sings) has a concert each year with a local hospital called the healing power of music.  

It was a fascinating comment because I truly believe that music has healing, uplifting, energizing power.  Whether my son was just joking because of the annual concert or he really belies it.  

Finally, it was a fascinating comment because I remember back to a first conversation I had with a student I was mentoring who was interested in health and music, and I commented that she should consider music therapy.  (Now, she remains interested in a career that will involve making people's lives better and she remains interested in music, but I don't see music therapy in her future.)

And throughout life, music has always had a healing power.  It can be a focal point to focus on something other than what you need healing from.  It can be something that helps you think through an issue.  Sometimes it is the words.  Sometimes it is the melody or harmony.  Regardless, music can very often have healing powers.  

I won't deny that there is some music that can have destructive power as well given some lyrics, but where I have looked, I have always been able to find healing.  As I try to shake the last bit of a cold I have, perhaps something about music alongside my family and my running will help me to heal and be ready to take on another busy week at work.