Signs of Hope, Signs of Spring Friday 5

Over at RevGalBlogPals, Sally writes:
It has been a difficult week here in Dowham Market, and yet in the sadness there have been signs of real hope, young people, often criticised have shown us how caring and amazing they are. It has also been a strange week; it snowed for almost the first time this winter, and yet many of the spring bulbs are blooming, and the trees are blossoming!

I believe that if we look carefully we can see signs of hope all around us.... as for signs of spring... well you tell me....

Bluebells in my garden, before the snow!

What have you seen/ heard this week that was a :
1. Sign of hope?

The top of my desk! It's the first time I've seen it in awhile. And, lo and behold, as soon as I got the desk cleared off, the building manager arrived to tell me that my office will be re-painted by the end of the week. The first coat is on, and it feels like a new place to work.


2. An unexpected word of light in a dark place?

"Yes, I'll help with that." I've heard this all week long. On Monday morning, I groaned to Garden Girl, "I have so much to do that I'm going to implode!" She wisely suggested that perhaps I could actually ask for help. Well, duh. I have a pretty high IQ, but not much common sense sometimes. I made a list of everything that needs to be done and then started doing two things -- asking for help and asking to be let off the hook. I still have a list of projects on a pile of index cards an inch high, but it all feels more manageable.

3. A sign of spring?

Garden Girl's garden, of course. We're on the Garden Tour in May and there are lots of projects going on even during the cold and rainy winter, but the mud is beginning to yield to grass and the bulbs are sending out shoots that will bloom as the season changes.

And graduation plans! In May, Nashy graduates from college and Shiny graduates from high school. Lots of celebrations are in my future.

4. Challenging/ surprising?

I'm on the Search and Discernment Committee in our parish and we will call a new rector in a few weeks. The quality of the candidates is outstanding, and the process has been a surprising renewal for me as we visit other churches and listen to candidates speak thoughtfully about ministry.

The 2008 Trying New Things Challenge is also in full gear. I'll post an update on my first acting experience in the Vagina Monologues and will fill you in on the Next New Thing very soon.

5. Share a hope for the coming week/month/year....

I'm hoping for peace. There is so much suffering in the world, much of it institutionalized by our government -- the war, the U.S. prison system, Guantanamo. Every day, I pray for peace in the world, for wisdom for our leaders, for energetic action by our citizens.


Bonus play... a piece of music/ poem guaranteed to cheer you?

All the music I'll hear over the next few days. In January, I took a solemn oath that my world would be filled with live music this year, and so far it's happening. Tonight, the whole family, even the eight-year-old, will see the Little Blue State Symphony performance, where my son's chorale will perform, singing Mozart's Requiem. Tomorrow, Wonderful Local Music School for Kids will have a fund-raiser featuring a performance in a beautiful and intimate venue by a local jazz/blues/folk musician who was nominated for a Grammy this year. Sunday, after a visit to one of our candidates for Rector, and therefore a chance to hear an unfamiliar choir, I'll attend a salon where a friend who is a playwright is staging a partial reading of his latest work, performed and written in collaboration with his wife, a concert pianist. Then later in the week, I get to see k.d. lang in concert. And stay tuned here for news of the drumming circle at our house!

Spring is in the air!