Mary DeTurris Poust's Blog, page 38

My long love affair with Lucinda Williams

When I moved to Austin, Texas, the first time… (I actually moved there twice, first in 1988 and again in 1995. Almost moved there a third time. It’s that kind of city.) Anyway, when I moved to Austin, Texas, in 1988, I took only what could fit in my un-airconditioned Chevy Chevette, which wasn’t much. Some clothes, a typewriter (Yes, a typewriter, not a computer!), a rotary dial phone (goodness I’m old), my favorite books and some pots and pans. Left behind were both of my beloved guitars (the beat up $3 find my grandfather bought at a garage sale and the shiny 12-string I used to play in the folk group at the 9:30 a.m. Mass at St. Aedan’s in Pearl River.) I simply couldn’t fit them in the car, and I guess on some level I figured I was starting a new life and maybe my guitar-playing wasn’t going to figure into it.

My first apartment in South Austin had little more than a futon, a borrowed kitchen table, and a borrowed turntable sitting on a milk crate, but I loved it. And one of the first purchases I made was a new album that was big news in Austin at the time, Lucinda Williams’ self-titled album. One listen and I was hooked, blown away, obsessed. I still didn’t have a full-time job at that point (eventually I went to work for the Austin American-Statesman), but I knew I had to have a guitar. So I headed up to Guitar Resurrection on The Drag and plunked down too much cash for a beautiful Alvarez guitar and case, which you can see right here. Not only did I start playing songs again — Lucinda songs, this time — I started writing songs again.

And that was the beginning of my beautiful love affair with Lucinda, who is not just a singer-songerwriter but a poet, which makes sense given that her dad is a poet. (He read a poem at President Clinton’s 1997 inauguration.) And she sings her songs like a poet, with roughness and rawness and feeling, which is why I love Lucinda’s original version of Passionate Kisses and have no patience for the smoothed out, more upbeat version that Mary Chapin-Carpenter turned into a hit.

Lucinda was a fixture at our home in Austin, so much so that when Noah was only about 3 years old, he asked for his own copy of the Car Wheels on a Gravel Road CD so he didn’t need to borrow our copy. I think that was the same year he asked for a guitar and sleeping bag. Lucinda does that to people, brings out the poet and seeker in all of us.

I’ve had the good fortune of seeing Lucinda perform live many times, but my favorites have to be Austin City Limits (when I lived in Austin the first time), Cactus Cafe at UT (such a small venue that you can’t help but be right on top of the stage), Town Hall in Manhattan (when Dennis and I had just started dating) and a singer-songwriter session at the Bottom Line (which Dennis and I happened upon by accident and bought tickets on the spot even though it was a work night and we lived in the Bronx, oh to be young). But I haven’t seen her since 1996, when Dennis and I saw her at a club in Austin. I can’t even remember the name of that place, which wasn’t much more than a hole in the wall (And, no, it was not THE Hole in the Wall, although I’ve seen lots of other great music there.) All I remember is that Lucinda came on more than two hours late and, of course, it was worth the wait.

But tonight, TONIGHT I get to make up for the long Lucinda dry spell. Dennis and I will be seeing her perform at The Egg. I cannot wait.

Here’s a little Lucinda music to start your day. One of my favorite songs, “Side of the Road,” from the Austin City Limits show I was at back in 1989. (I actually performed this one at the Perfect Blend in Delmar one fine day when there was an open mic session and I grabbed some guy’s guitar, with his permission, of course.)

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Giving a soul to the internet

My June Life Lines column, running in the current issue of Catholic New York:

When you sign onto Facebook to check out your friend’s latest vacation photos or post a status update, you probably don’t think of it as an evangelization opportunity, but social media is fast becoming one of the most effective ways for Catholics to share their beliefs in unintimidating and powerful ways.

By providing a virtual witness through things we say, the links we post, the community we build, we draw people toward us and, by extension, the faith that sustains us.

Although I’ve been preaching the spiritual benefits of social media for a while, it was exciting to hear Archbishop Claudio Celli, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Social Communications, say that it is “absolutely necessary that the Church should seek to establish a presence in the digital world.”

Archbishop Celli (in the photo above) made the comments May 22, when he was in Brooklyn to deliver the keynote address at World Communications Day and to receive the St. Francis de Sales Distinguished Communicator Award. Speaking to professionals in the communications field as well as representatives from parishes, schools and Catholic organizations, the archbishop said the Church’s mission is to “help every human being in the search for truth” and to help people, especially the young, discern which of the many messages circulating on social media and elsewhere might have meaning for their lives.

“We are always fishing in the aquarium. We forget the majority of fish are outside the aquarium,” he said, reminding all Catholics that social media offers us a unique opportunity to go beyond the walls of the “aquarium” and bring the Gospel to people who might not otherwise hear it.

Archbishop Celli stressed that we should not be “presumptors imposing our truth” on others via social media but rather friends encouraging dialogue and questions. “If we allow people to probe further, we help give a soul to the Internet,” he said, adding that “convergence” must be our hallmark—creating bonds, and speaking the truth with love.

I addressed this same topic from a different vantage point during a breakout session following the archbishop’s address. “Stealth Evangelization: How to Subtly Use Social Media to Spread the Good News” was my take on this important aspect of our universal mission. Would St. Paul have ignored 1.3 billion people on Facebook or 255 million people on Twitter? Not by a long shot. We need to see ourselves as modern-day St. Pauls, and social media as our Corinth.

As I told the men and women attending my session, avoiding social media as a Church is no longer an option. We have to meet people where they are. Social media is now part of the fabric of our everyday lives, especially the lives of young people. If it is not also part of the fabric of our faith lives, we stand to cut off many people from the beauty and power of Christ’s message.

So what would evangelization like that look like in your Facebook or Twitter world? Maybe just the occasional “share”of something Pope Francis said that day or a request for prayers for a special intention or a beautiful photo with a line from Scripture, not all the time, just now and then, and always with gentleness and warmth, openness and love.

“If the Church is not present (on social media)…we risk becoming marginal to the lives of many,” Archbishop Celli said, “and we fail in our mission to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth.”

Pope Francis recently tweeted this message to his 14 million Twitter followers: “What does ‘evangelize’ mean? To give witness with joy and simplicity to what we are and what we believe in.”

I think that’s at the heart of this subtle style of evangelization, whether we do it virtually or face to face. People are searching, but we have to be present to be found.

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Wisdom Wednesday: The ‘mental picture’ of your life

Last week, after our date-night dinner, Dennis and I stood on the Albany side of the Hudson looking out and, as I usually do, I pointed to a beautiful steeple on the Rensselaer side of the river and wondered what church it might be.

On this particular night, Dennis decided to solve the mystery and drove across the bridge to the church you see there on the left, St. John the Evangelist-St. Joseph, just down the street from the train station. We caught a beautiful sunset from that spot and found a lovely little garden dedicated to St. Padre Pio. And so I thought I’d share some Wednesday Wisdom from that beloved Italian saint: 

“Any mental picture of your life that focuses on past sins is a lie and thus comes from the devil. Jesus loves you and has forgiven you your sins, so there is no room for having a downcast spirit. Whatever persuades you otherwise is truly a waste of time. It is also something that offends the heart of your very tender Lover. On the other hand, if the mental picture of your life consists in what you could be, then it comes from God.” ~Padre Pio’s Spiritual Direction For Every Day

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Manic Monday: And now, a break in the insanity

After back-to-back, wall-to-wall dance dress rehearsals and recitals this past week, we have reached a place of calm. At least for the time being. I keep checking the calendar, sure I must be missing something because it’s eerily quiet, too much white space in what is otherwise a totally full schedule. But I think it’s for real, even if it’s only a temporary reprieve.

Despite being incredibly busy, it’s been a good couple of weeks. (I’m realizing I’ve been too busy to even post Manic Monday, so I’m a bit behind.) Here’s the scoop…

Bookshelf: Amazon just delivered my copy of The Mountain of Silence: A Search for Orthodox Spirituality by Kyriacos C. Markides. (Yes, I still like to hold a real book in my hands when I’m reading.) I bought this book on the spot after reading this blog post by Brandon Vogt. Sounded too good to pass up. I’m hoping those wide open spaces on our evening calendar will allow for some reading time.

Menu: Dennis and I are continuing our quest to visit every brew pub in the Capital Region. So far so good. Let’s see..Where have we been since I last left you? Ah, yes, last week it was The Hollow on North Pearl in Albany. More craft beer, this time American-style instead of Belgian-style. And great food and decor to boot. I loved the mason jar light fixtures throughout:

I opted for the eggplant stack with a side of homemade gnocchi — because I couldn’t decide which dinner to choose. In the words of St. Therese of Lisieux, “I choose all!” Here they are. In the second one you can see the layers of seasonal vegetables, which in this case included tons of asparagus. Yum.

 

Dennis had the “surf and turf burger.” Looked awesome. A big fat burger topped with shrimp. Take a look:

And we washed it all down with some brews. I went for Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale. Dennis went for the Ithaca Flower Power IPA. Both were great.

Sideshow: I love to sit outside on my deck at dusk and watch the bats fly overhead. I do NOT love coming downstairs in the morning to find a dead bat in our entryway. Yeah, that happened. First time in our 14 years here. I’m really, really hoping it was just a rogue bat that decided to venture into new territory and was not just one of many tenants living in our attic. Since the bat was obviously flying around our house at night and Chiara’s door was open, we were pretty concerned. Dennis whisked it off to the lab that morning for testing and by mid-afternoon we knew that it was not rabid. We believe we can thank our trusty house cats for making the kill, finally getting a chance to put those claws to good use on something other than my favorite chair. (You know we were stunned by this discovery since we didn’t bother to document it with a photo, as we do with everything else in our lives.)

GPS: A new category this week! Where have we been (besides hanging out in pubs). How about the State Capitol? I never get down there, at least not inside. So, one lunch hour, when Dennis needed to drop something off at the press office, I tagged along. Here are a few shots from around this beautiful building. Stop by for a visit if you’re in town.

Here’s the famed “Million Dollar Staircase.” Photo doesn’t do it justice.

Here is a tiny glimpse of the interesting but sort of creepy heads that are carved into the walls surrounding the staircase, and another detail of a dragon:

This is the hallway in the Senate lobby:

And a really beautiful staircase just around the corner from the hall of governors:

Quotable: This week’s quote comes to you courtesy of my my ever-so-funny Chiara…

Chiara: Can you believe Dad didn’t buy any salami? That’s terrible.

Me: Salami’s not good for you.

Chiara: But it’s a special occasion! It’s Pentecost!

From now on we will have salami on every Pentecost. I think this is how family traditions are born.

Soundtrack: My sweetie emailed this video clip to me last week, and I just love it. One of my most favorite Austin artists, Darden Smith.

 

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What do Jenna Jameson and I have in common?

They say imitation is the highest form of flattery. I will not, however, be returning the favor.

See what you think. Jenna’s book came out a year after my book Cravings was published. The similarities are uncanny, no? Oh, and, for the record, all the credit for that cover — perhaps for both covers (wink, wink) — goes to the amazing folks at Ave Maria Press.

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Like riding a bike…

Isn’t it amazing how riding a bike is like…well…riding a bike? You really don’t forget. After not owning a bike for decades, not doing any serious riding save for a quick jaunt around the ‘hood on Dennis’ bike maybe once or twice in about 20 years, I find it simply incredible that I can hop on my new set of wheels (over there on the left) and set off on an 18-mile ride as if I’ve been doing it every day of my life. Sure my legs were a little wobbly when I dismounted, but come on, what else in life has such staying power as those bike-riding skills?

I can tell you that rollerskating is not at all like riding a bike. Although I used to skate the three miles around Rockland Lake nightly when I was in college, I found myself clinging to the sidewall when I rolled out onto the rink for the first time in many years. And don’t even get me started on ice skating. So not like riding a bike.

So what is it about bike riding that makes it something we simply don’t forget how to do? Why does our muscle memory hold tight when it comes to that one activity? How I wish I could recall the Spanish I could speak almost fluently in college or the American Sign Language I took while living in Texas with the same speed and ease. Heck, I’d even settle for just being able to recall why I walked down to the basement. (Pssst…It was for a roll of Scotch tape, but don’t forget the eggs boiling on the stove upstairs!)

The fact that there is anything at all, even this one single thing that I can remember without effort is a gift. As I peddled and coasted from Malta to Halfmoon last week, wind in my hair, beautiful scenery all around me, Dennis riding quite a few paces ahead (show off), I felt giddy, like I did when I was a little girl and would ride down the hill near my home on Champ Avenue in Pearl River. Not so giddy coming back up, but life would be very dull – and dangerous – if it was all downhill.

My renewed love of bike riding got me thinking, and it occurred to me that, yes, there are some things in my life that are like riding a bike, spiritual things. Of course. You knew we’d get here eventually. I took the scenic route today, the bike path, if you will. There is no Catholic – or former Catholic – anywhere for whom childhood prayers aren’t second nature. It’s like saying your own name, like riding a bike. A little turbulence on a flight and suddenly the words of the Hail Mary tumble out of my mouth without the slightest bit of effort, or even any forethought. A request to join together in prayer at the spur of the moment, and the Our Father is on everyone’s lips, whether they are regular pray-ers or not. The Sign of the Cross, grace before meals, the Glory Be — they are part of Catholic DNA, a spiritual fingerprint we just can’t erase.

Those childhood prayers are the Catholic version of coasting downhill in a sense. No heavy lifting or pumping is required. But when we inevitably have to come back up the other side, it’s not always so easy or rewarding. Our lips may be moving but we can feel like we’re standing still, like our spiritual chain has slipped from the gears and left us stranded in the middle of nowhere. We don’t feel God’s presence, and the familiar words of childhood don’t seem to be helping. So what do we do?

Well, what would you do if you were on a bike and lost your chain or fell and broke arm or popped an inner tube and could no longer ride? You’d call for help – a family member, a friend, someone who could meet you where you are and carry you and your bike back home. And so it is with spiritual life. When we get stuck, when we feel lost, we need to call for help, not only from those people in our actual lives who can pray for us and with us and walk with us during the difficult part of our journey, but also those companions in the spiritual realm who will pull us along from the other side – saints and angels, Mary our Mother, and, of course, Father, Son, and Spirit.

It also helps to pay attention to your equipment, whether it’s a bike that needs tuning up or a prayer life that needs tending. If we don’t put in some time on a regular basis, our prayer life begins to stiffen up like a bicycle left out in the rain to rust. When that happens — and it happens to all of us at one point or another — we need to fall back on our spiritual muscle memory and just keep saying those familiar prayers of childhood until we are strong enough to attempt the big hills we’ve been avoiding.

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You make beautiful things…

I’m sitting in my sunporch, sipping coffee and writing a prayer for a client on this gray day, with twinkling lights in my windows and an electric “fire” in my stove. I looked around at my “office” and at the lush green yard beyond the windows and thought, “How lucky am I?” Answer: Very lucky and incredibly blessed. Then I started humming this song…

“You make beautiful things. You make beautiful things out of the dust.  You make beautiful things. You make beautiful things out of us.”

Such a pretty song. Listen for yourself, and then look around at your world — whatever it is at this moment — and see the beauty and the blessings there.

 

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Pope Francis: “If we destroy creation, creation will destroy us.”

It’s not easy being green. Today Pope Francis used his General Audience to talk about our stewardship of God’s creation. Preach it: 

“Creation is not a property, which we can rule over at will; or, even less, is the property of only a few: Creation is a gift, it is a wonderful gift that God has given us, so that we care for it and we use it for the benefit of all, always with great respect and gratitude.“The second incorrect attitude is the temptation to limit ourselves to creatures, as if they can provide the answer to all our expectations. With the gift of knowledge, the Holy Spirit helps us not to give in to all of this…but I would like to return to the first wrong path…Custodians Creation, not Masters of Creation it is a gift that the Lord has given us, to us! We are Custodians of Creation. But when we exploit Creation we destroy the sign of God’s love for us, in destroying Creation we are saying to God: ‘I don’t like it!. This is not good!’ ‘So what do you like?’ ‘I like myself!’ – Here, this is sin! Do you see? Custody of Creation is custody of God’s gift to us and it is also a way of saying thank you to God. I am the master of Creation but to carry it forward I will never destroy your gift. And this should be our attitude towards Creation. Safeguard Creation. Because if we destroy Creation, Creation will destroy us! Never forget this!

“Once I was in the countryside and I heard a saying from a simple person who loved flowers and he nurtured these flowers and he said we must nurture these beautiful things that God has given us. Creation is for us to use well, not exploit to nurture…because do you know father, God always forgives – Yes it is true God always forgives…We men, women, we forgive sometimes – Yes sometimes we forgive, not always …But father Creation never forgives! And if you don’t custody Creation it will never forgive you.” — Pope Francis, May 21, 2014

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Manic Monday: A pope, a robin’s nest and Pearl Jam

I thought today’s headline should appropriately reflect just how manic this Monday will be, or how manic this past week has been. A little a bit of everything — and then some. Which is exactly the point of Manic Monday. Lots going on lately, and this week will be no different. We wrapped up our week with a first-of-season visit to Jim’s Tastee Freez here in Delmar, which you can see the girls enjoying in that photo on the left. Here’s what the rest of our Manic Monday looks like:

Words to Live By: Pope Francis has been talking about prayer a lot lately (no surprise there), but something he said recently really struck a chord with me because it sounded so much like what I wrote about in my book Everyday Divine: A Catholic Guide to Active Spirituality.  I had actually hoped to do a whole blog post on that, but sometimes life gets in the way of blog posting. Speaking about prayer, the pope reminded us that we don’t have to stick to the words of childhood prayers but can speak to God from our hearts:

“Prayer is very important,” he said, and “never forget to pray, never!”

“Nobody can tell when we are praying on the bus, on the road, we pray in silence, with the heart, so let’s take advantage of these opportunities to pray.”

Don’t just recite the prayers “that we all know from childhood, but also pray with our own words, pray to the Lord: ‘Lord, help me, advise me, help me right now, let me know what we should do.’”  – CNS

In the introduction to Everyday Divine, I wrote:

By weaving prayer into the actions of daily life — showering, cooking, cleaning, driving, working, eating, jogging, and more — you can bring a sense of the divine to everything you do. Suddenly life isn’t the chore you might imagine it to be; it’s a joy, because everyday prayer makes you grateful, shows you where God enters into your busy life, helps you traverse the highs and lows with equal calmness.

The whole book is dedicated to the kind of prayer the pope is talking about. So Pope Francis and I are on the same page. Yeah, I’m smiling right now.

Bookshelf: I FINALLY finished Halfway to Each Other. Nice little book about a couple who moves to Italy with their two children for a year and saves their marriage in the process. I started it for the glimpse into Italian life but found myself intrigued by the way the dramatic change in daily routine transformed this family for better forever.

Menu: Dennis and I made a return trip to The Merry Monk. Dennis for the repeat on BOGO pounds of mussels and me for the Bacon Cheddar Ale Burger that had been calling my name since my first visit there (when I went for the fish and chips instead). The place was packed when we arrived, so we decided to while away the time with flights of beers. I decided on a spiritual flight, choosing four craft beers with spiritual roots or names: Chimay from the Trappists, Namaste from Dog Head, Weyerbacher from the Merry Monks of Easton, and Abbey from Ommegang. First and last were the best. Yes, how annoying am I? Even my beer flights need a spiritual twist. And here’s a photo of the burger, which was as delicious as it looks. That’s a side of cucumber-wasabi dipping sauce for my fries. Yum.

Datebook: Last week I was in Wilmington, talking about being “Broken, Beautiful and Beloved.” This week I’m in Brooklyn, talking about “Stealth Evangelization: Using Social Media to Subtly Spread the Good News.” It’s a free event for World Communications Day. Thursday, May 22, starting at 12:30 p.m. at the Brooklyn Marriott. Check it out HERE, if you’d like to join us.

Viewfinder: I have been spending a lot of time on my deck this week. Love my deck. This year we have an added bonus, a robin’s nest in the weeping mulberry just off the stairs. Earlier this week, you could have spotted me running out onto the deck in the rain waving my arms and yelling at the giant black crow that was sitting on top of the mulberry, no doubt hoping to fly off with an egg while mama bird was out getting lunch. I am acting as our robin’s own personal scarecrow these days. Here’s a shot of those beautiful blue eggs and one of mama bird keeping them warm. She is surprisingly unruffled by all the activity out on the deck. Even when she flies off, she hangs out in the dogwood tree chirping at us and keeping watch with her mate.

Soundtrack: This is where Pearl Jam comes in, in case you were wondering. I love, love, love this song. Just beautiful. Eddie Vedder is a favorite of mine, especially some of his more recent stuff. Enjoy.

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The beautiful face of Sister Moon

For the past two nights the moon has been spectacular. Well, truth be told, I always think the moon is spectacular, and most of my regular readers probably know that. Three different friends told me they saw the moon and thought of me last night. Music to my ears. I love that my friends think of me when they see a big fat moon hanging in the sky. 

The first moon shot over there on the left was taken as I was leaving a speaking event for the Wilmington, Delaware, chapter of Legatus. It was hanging over the country club as I headed back to the hotel. Great evening with the Legatus folks — Rosary, Mass, great dinner. My topic was “Broken, Beautiful, and Beloved: Learning to See Ourselves Through God’s Eyes,” one of my favorite speaking topics.

Last night, the moon pictured below jumped out at me as Dennis and I were driving home from a date night at The Merry Monk pub in Albany. Two-for-one mussels night at the Monk, so it was hard to pass up for Dennis. As we rounded the bend on the highway, I gasped at the giant moon peaking out between the flyovers. Dennis pulled the car into the parking lot of the Solid Rock Church, just about a half-mile from our house, so I could get a better view of my beloved moon. And this was the shot. I love the cross glowing alongside the moon. You can click on the photo to see it slightly larger.

As St. Francis would say: “Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in the heavens You have made them bright, precious and beautiful…”

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