day 22, lent 2009

good evening...

i started celebrating my 50th tonight with nancy and matt at the green iguana on the strip in ybor city...

i love ybor -- my favorite place in tampa...

i love the little joints like the green iguana that are right on 7th avenue...

i love florida in the evening in march...

perfect temp...

refreshing breeze...

great food...

great company...

one of the best places in the world to eat and people-watch [and car-watch and bike-watch and you get the idea]...

tonight is another red wine chill night -- but, pandora's internet radio is blasting lynyrd skynyrd instead of jimmy buffet...

what is it about skynyrd?

guess they will always be my favorite...

can't wait to see them in june at the ford amphitheater here in tampa...

anybody wanna join me besides matt g and matt r???

i am off from work tomorrow...

have a great friend coming in to spend the weekend with us -- see ya tomorrow night glenn...

got a great gift in the mail today from my soul friend in tennessee -- thanks donald!

matt gave me a cool card -- i am so proud to be your dad -- love you son!

on to nouwen: "the great mystery of the divine revelation is that God entered into intimacy with us not only by Christ's coming, but also by his leaving. indeed, it is in Christ's absence that our intimacy with him is so profound that we can say he dwells in us, call him our food and drink, and experience him as the center of our being...that this is far from a theoretical idea becomes clear in the lives of people like Dietrich Bonhoeffer who, while in a nazi prison awaiting death, experienced Christ's presence in the midst of his absence. bonhoeffer writes: 'the God who is with us is the God who forsakes us [mark 15.34]...before God and with God we live without God.' thus the memory of Jesus Christ is much more than the bringing to mind of past redemptive events. it is a life-giving memory, a memory which sustains and nurtures us here and now and so gives us a real sense of being rooted amid the many crises of daily life..."

Jesus told his followers -- then and now -- that it was for their / our benefit that he go away...

the blessing is that the Holy Spirit then breathes on us in a fresh new way...

maybe the Holy Spirit is the spirit of remembrance?

maybe one of the intimate works of God's very breath within us is to make Jesus present and contemporary -- REAL -- birthing sustaining and empowering memories within us...

possibly even archetypal memories from eternity past?

i love communion [maybe not as much as henri, but i do love breaking the bread and sharing the cup] -- maybe it is the Spirit [Paraclete] who helps us to remember Jesus' life, death and resurrection until he comes again...

i'm going to ask the Spirit to do this spiritual memory work in me this sunday when brian invites the underground to the table of remembrance...

Jesus will always be alive and well within our lives through Spirit memories!

maybe this breath becomes even more profound when we find ourselves gasping for spiritual air because of persecution, busyness, the choking cares of this life, the clutter of stuff, stubborn rebellion, spiritual amnesia, etc.

the Spirit brings Jesus to us even more intimately when we are most spiritually lucid because of pain -- instead of running away, Jesus runs to us...

like the lost son in the pigpen we come to our senses...

remembering Jesus often happens when we are out of other options...

at these moments -- sacramental moments -- there is grace...

wonder how different my life could be IF i breathed more frequently and deeply of the Spirit of remembrance?

bet this would be worth the time invested to experience...

i am going to close my day -- my last day of being 49 years old -- with 10 minutes of silence asking the Spirit to remind me of Jesus...

"Holy Spirit, fill my whole being with memories of Jesus!"

bet i will have sweet dreams -- hope you do as well...

shalom...

guy