Piece of Cake

So, I led a cake walk last weekend and let me tell you it was no 'cake walk'. Which got me thinking, where do idioms like that come from? How did we begin to associate things that are easy with being a cake walk? Now the concept of a cake walk is very simple. Take chalk, draw a donut on the ground, divide into x number of sections and number, place matching numbers in container, walk in circle, draw a number, win cake. Cake Walk. A contraire! There are often more then twelve folks who want to participate, so you have to keep them in a waiting line, people just step into the moving circle so you end up with more then you began with, or you don't sart with enough and people start hopping numbers when there are empty sections. Then you have the slow times when the same kids keep playing and winning and playing and winning but there are others that haven't won and you don't want to 'leave a bad taste in their mouth' (especially when we're talking cake). You spend two hours yelling, guarding a table of cakes from hundreds of rascal children and 'bending over backwards' to make a fun experience. Ahh!! I'm 'dog tired' just thinking about it.So, where do these phrases come from? I'm most aware of our sayings when I'm around folks for whom English is a second language. Some of them are explainable, others 'throw me for a loop'  and 'boggle my mind'. 

Just as I'm sitting here writing this blog the other two folks in the room have used barrel of laughs and beating a dead horse in their conversation completely oblivious to the content of this post. 

This post may end up clear as mud, but toss it around a bit, mull it over and get back to me.

As I walk through the valley

***SPOILER ALERT***If you have not seen the season's end of Grey's Anatomy and want to without knowing what happens stop reading now***SPOILER ALERT***

In the midst of a very insane week, I managed to give myself two hours to watch the one show I seriously follow and have since it began, Grey's Anatomy. Through watching it with my roommate in Austin, to Friday afternoons with Abby, to large watching parties in the dorms and homes of PSR, to catching up on episodes online, to a little bit of me time with a glass of wine - I've watched the lives of these people of similar age progress through life. Just as my circles have moved and changed so have the lives of Seattle Grace. Folks have married, babies born, people moved, people died.
It is this last moment which has me pondering still today. I don't deal with death much. I've only lost one grandparent and I was not yet 6 then. I've lost one dear friend, but we were already separated by distance. I've lost a couple pets, namely Cricket and Duke. I've been to other funerals, but those are the four deaths that I can recall being closest to. My biggest fear is the death of someone close to me.
I was fully prepared for one of the deaths on last nights show (and that was still hard), but completely blind-sided by the other. I knew we knew John Doe, but I just couldn't figure it out. I kept running old characters through my brain and came up with nothing. Was I blinded by my want for O'Malley to change heart and stay on the show? Was the set-up that good? If he goes to the Army he can come back, if he dies that's it (no more Denny ghost type come-backs please) And what happens now? I've seen these people marry, divorce, mourn, pass exams, grow as individuals, marry, save lives and now die. I'm sure I'll get to process through these deaths with the characters that return in the fall, but what about my own experiences with them? {Artistic note to the director: nice picture made with the final scene. I will remember that last time I saw Izzy and George standing so handsomely at those elevator doors for a long time}
I realize that this is 'just a tv show' and I'm taking it very personally at this point, but I think it is worth looking at, especially for those of us who serve others. How affected are we by our television communities? I've spent my whole life witnessing families who know its not a good idea to tell mom/dad/sibling bad news after their team lost the game. Watched co-workers blog and go over and over the latest episode of LOST or Heroes. Listen to the hope ignited by a Susan Boyle or the rejection felt when our person gets voted out. We're involved in these lives. One statistic claims:
"According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube."
It would be very difficult to convince me that we're not involved and affected by something we devote at least 9 years of our cumulative life to. So, today I mourn. I mourn the loss, of not my favorite two characters, but still two people that have been a part of my life for at least one hour a week for 30 weeks of the year for 5 years. That is more then I've seen a lot of my dearest friends or most anyone reading this blog.

Rethink Church

I went to an event yesterday that was our conference's participation in a new campaign of the umc. The event happened in the eastern portion of my neighborhood, Oak Cliff. This part of the neighborhood is a predominately Spanish speaking population. It was noted by one of the organizers that the only English speaking folks at the event were clergy and other 'church professionals.' But, all the written materials I saw were in English, the speaking that I heard was in English. We obviously need to Rethink Church. Was it that the expected crowd of English speakers didn't turn out? Scared by the humidity or the drive into 'the hood'? I've often had to explain my living in a quite nice and quaint Oak Cliff neighborhood rather than the rough and tumble reputation my dear OC can have.
After this I went to church - to pull carpet. Lots of folks showed up to help and we had the room cleared in 30 minutes. So, I followed this with a stop at the Praise Band rehearsal. This was the moment of the day that unexpectedly rejuvenated me. I do love being at their rehearsals, but last night I was particularly uplifted by the camaraderie and music.
I want to Rethink Church, but there is still some of church now that I'd like to hang onto. Nights like yesterday for one. But, then again even last night could be better. What if rehearsal was open? What if other people got to experience the fellowship and music making processes that I get to when I sit in on a rehearsal. What happens when we open the doors and no one comes in? What happens when we move outside and people walk by or come after the event is over? How do we find the balance in being the church when and where folks need us to be and still be true to our own needs? When do we stop waiting for a committee on interpretation and simply go and be the body of Christ?

Women Build

Here is a "daily diary" entry I was asked to write for National Women Build Week.

Fact. Women Build. Just yesterday I was one of two people working on a Habitat for Humanity house in a West Dallas neighborhood, both of us women. Several of the neighborhood men stopped long enough to ask us if we knew what we were doin' up there on that roof. Yes, we're not up here fixin' our nails or baking cupcakes but doing actual work. We're the house leaders, yes we are women who know how to build a house. We're not alone either. Women Build.
Today I had the opportunity to work on a home as part of National Women Build Week. It was a paint day which is an unfortunate representation of the work women do for Habitat. Painting is often deemed "women's work." But, this is not so often the case in my experiences with Habitat. If it wasn't for women, who account for half our Construction Supervisor staff and 70% of the Assistant Construction staff at Dallas Area Habitat, our homes wouldn't get built. I have personally worked on several homes that will end up in the hands of single mother's and it is one of my greatest joys to empower these women in the actual building of their homes. I don't hand them brooms or nail magnets, but hammers and saws. Women Build. Women build and own their own homes. Women teach and lead others in all aspects of building homes. Women carry 80 pound stacks of shingles up ladders and install 4x8 pieces of OSB on a 6 pitch roof. So, the next time you're out on a construction site and a bunch of women come around, don't count them out, but step up to the plate.
There isn't a National Women Build Week because its the only 7 days a year that women are in the construction world. For many of us it is just another week. Women Build. This week only highlights the enormous contribution women have to the home building industry, especially in the non-profit sector. Women Build. Why not have a woman build your next home?

flu and floods

It's been quite the week in Texas with schools closing and people washing their hands in mass hysteria. OK, I'm a little cynical about this whole H1N1 not quite but may be pandemic. I wish someone would test a theory. If we reported on cases of Cancer for one week that were diagnosed AND that people actually died of. If we reported for one week on the cases of HIV/AIDS that were diagnosed and those that died. How much more striking would the statistics be? How advanced would the conversations on cures and vaccines become in just one week. I don't mean to strike unrealistic comparisons, I realize that neither Cancer nor HIV/AIDS are air-borne highly contagious diseases, but they are taking huge amounts of life away from really wonderful people in this world. Even in these cases, panic is not the answer. My brother really said it best in his post on this subject.
Panic was not the answer at my church this morning when congregants arrived to half the building (including the room that the service I coordinate worship in) closed. We combined services as fans and wet-vacs howled at the other end of the building, unbeknown to some until it was announced in church. The church is a wonderful body of people not a building. Today was just another day of proof. As we live lives in ministry that often includes building campaigns, sharing space and change may we always remember that building or not, the church is the church because of the people.