The Work of God

Bryan has done it again, another great Merton quote. link

Lioness

"The milk of the lioness is so precious and so powerful that if you put it in an ordinary cup, the cup breaks." (Tibetan saying)

Sometimes

Sometimes life slows. The past month has been filled with hurricanes and sadness. Several of the victims have been in my hospital. Their lives suddenly thrust into impossibilities and loss. It is a remembrance that one must be thankful for the small things.

My birthday is a week from today. I am thinking about preaching a
birthday sermon. Do you know anyone who has preached a birthday sermon?

Verizon camera phone

If you have a verizon camera phone could someone send me a picture from your phone to

Brodan at tmail.com

Thanks

Afternoon

It has been cloudy and windy today. My ham antenna broke early. So much
for emergency communications if a tornado comes. By the way we are under
a tornado watch compliments of Hurricane Rita.

After church we ate lunch at La Hacienda then a quick nap. I have spent
portions of this afternoon reading The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton.

Our Real Journey

"Our real journey in life is interior; it is a matter of growth,
deepening, and of an ever GREATER SURRENDER to the creative action of
love and grace in our hearts."

Thomas Merton

Seize the Day

This is a good read by my friend Ted Gamble.
link

Hope this is the last hurricane of the season. It is still very warm here. Yesterday it was 92 degrees, the highest I can remember this late in the season.

Have three parties to attend today. Quite an exciting and busy day.

Merton on Saints

"One of the first signs of a saint may well be the fact that other
people do not know what to make of him. In fact, they are not sure
whether he is crazy or only proud; but it must at least be pride to be
haunted by some individual ideal which nobody but God rally
comprehends. And he has inescapable difficulties in applying all the abstract norms
of 'perfection' to his own life. He cannot seem to make his life fit
in with the books."

( NEW SEEDS OF CONTEMPLATION page 103 )

What are my feelings when I cannot make life fit for myself or others?

Thanks Wayne Burns

Echos from the past

(Note: Ted Gamble was a great engineer who once successfully got Baptist Telecommunication Network to work properly on the Spacenet 1 satellite. This was in 1984. I was the first one hired to build the satellite network. Joe Denney was the boss. Ted the chief engineer. We live 25 miles apart and have not seen each other in 15 years?)

Dan,

I came across your weblog today as a result of some Google search that Iwas doing. It's been a long time since we've been in touch (maybe close to 8 or 9 years???). I saw something about you about a year or so backwhen I was doing a Google search for "four corners". I think I remember
that it was something about you starting a journey from 4 Corners. Anyway, you had an email address posted on one of your pages at that time, and I sent you an email, but you never responded. I'm guessingthat it was probably an outdated address.

So, again, God has brought you to the fore-front of my mind and I'm doing my due-diligence and letting you know that I've tracked you down (albeit purely by accident). I've been quite busy during the past 8 years, much more that I can being to explain in an email, but you can
read about at least the past year of my life at www.thegamblefamily.net.

I'm leaving town tomorrow afternoon on a 5 day journey to Oklahama (read about it on my website), so I won't be able to reply to your email immediately, but maybe in the coming weeks, we can get caught upsomewhat.

Regards,
Ted Gamble - Murfreesboro, TN

Jack Kerouac

(Note: This morning I received an email from Marc Thorman, a music composer teaching at City University of New York. His e-mail is self-explanatory, a great new way of looking at Jack Kerouac. Many of you know of Kerouac's influence on me from my San Francisco story below. Be sure to click it and read the story.)

Hello. I enjoyed reading your account of San Francisco and your encounter(s) with Kerouac on your blog pages. I thought you would be
interested in the project described below, which began as a poem on Jack
Kerouac's name, using "On the Road" as a source text. If you record
audio (video) I would be delighted to include soundfiles from your
travels, or from your home location.

I'm a composer teaching at City University of NY. I am directing a
project described at my site, http://www.TheRoadOnline.net.
I am currently collecting recordings of sounds at locations mentioned
in Kerouac's "On the Road". Visitors can upload and listen to soundfiles
from across the country, read a description of the project, and my bio. The
title of his website is On the Road: A Kerouac Circus.

Sounds from all locations will be mixed and played as part of a
performance that will include live jazz and folk musicians, a DJ
chopping bop classics and vintage movie clips, swing dancers, and
others. We want a wide range of people from across the country to have
the opportunity to contribute local sounds.

This project is based on a set of musical instructions formulated by
the late composer John Cage.

Yours,
Marc

Thomas Merton on Mercy

From Arlen Hansom's blog about Mercy by Merton.

Happiness in North Carolina

Happiness in North Carolina
Originally uploaded by brotherdan44.

My brother took this picture of Janet and me while we were hiking to a

waterfall.

Home

Drove 250 miles today. Rained much of the way. Nice to be home again.

Thursday Night - September 15

We spent the last two nights in Highlands, N.C. A nice, clean,
well-developed, costly center for the well to do. Most meals began at
$30 and included an exta $10 fee for sharing with one's mate.

We have plenty of time for walking, reading and reflection, and rest.
One morning we even slept until 8:15 a.m., a new record for us.

This morning we drove to Pigeon Forge where we are spending the night.

At a discount Christian bookstore I bought Walking the Bible, A journey
by land through the books of Moses. I am reading it in oue hotel room.

RE: Sunday Morning Thoughts in North Carolina

Dan, thanks for sharing your thoughts. Much to contemplate and according to
Ignatius, you are asking very good questions and struggling with answers. I
tend to believe the more mature we are in our faith, the less certain we are
of the answers. Dr. Hinson reminds our class that sometimes the best prayer
we can pray is to go into our closet and cuss! I appreciated your
observation about the movie theme song. I am taking a class on Music in the
church and it is incredible all I am learning. Most importantly, it is an
affirmation that "singing is twice praying!"
Hang in there. I think you are in a good hands always. Laura

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Phillips [mailto:brodan@tmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2005 9:39 AM
To: Dan Phillips; Landra Lewis; Laura Babbage; Wayne Burns
Subject: Sunday Morning Thoughts in North Carolina

I brought one book to read while on vacation, The Return of the Prodigal Son
by Henri Nouwen.

It is a quite Sunday morning. Ronald and Jimmi went to church. Janet and I
slept in. After coffee, cereal, and cantelope, I am reading Nouwen and
listening to Diane Krall. What a "spiritual combination."

How I have struggle with the Prodigal Son in recent days and particularly
the surrender to God in one's entirety.

Today is 9/11. I try not to think about it. Five years ago yesterday we
celebrated our anniversary in New York City. It was a year before the event.
We went to Broadway plays, saw the Mets play, rode the subway, ate some
tremendous meals, rode around Manhattan on a boat, and walked ourselves to
death. Time goes fast.

Surrender is the "place where I have to let go of all I most want to hold on
to," says Nouwen.
The place of surrender and complete trust.

I have reached an odd point. I have found it difficult reading the Bible
lately. Reading Job might have caused that, plus the many losses of late.

I am listening to the theme from the movie "the Bad and the Beautiful."
I have never seen the movie, but Mike Rapchak use to play it on WGN in
Chicago on Sunday Mornings. I love the music. Maybe someday I will see the
movie.

"The way to God reaches far beyond the boundary of death. While it is a long
and very demanding journey, it is also one full of wondeeful surprises,
often offering us a taste of the ultimate goal." (Nouwen)

Week Plans

Planning on going to Highlands, N.C. tomorrow. I am not sure I will have
any internet access from there, so I might be silent for a few days.

Moore's Cove Falls

Moore's Cove Falls
Originally uploaded by brotherdan44.

Visited this waterfall. A pretty good hike.up.and.back.

Sliding Rock

Sliding Rock
Originally uploaded by brotherdan44.

Saw people sliding down rocks into 8 foot deep water.

Napoleon Dynamite

Napoleon Dynamite
Originally uploaded by brotherdan44.

My brother. Ronald, and his wife, Jimmi, went to church this morning. My

brother thought my recommendation concerning Napoleon Dynamite was of

poor taste. "It was a terrible movie." He thought. Today in church was

this announcement about a Youth Bible Study:



"Come join the Youth for Bible Study according to Napoleon Dynamite, a

llo at how simple people can make a difference in complex world.

"Napoleon Dynamite," a movie detailing the boring life of a nerdy high

school kid, exemplifies many important Biblical truths: faithful

friendships, compassion for others and the ability to stay true to

oneself. Join us for tater tots, steak throwing contests, and dynamite

dancing - this is one Bible Study you will not want to miss."

Sunday Morning Thoughts in North Carolina

I brought one book to read while on vacation, The Return of the Prodigal
Son by Henri Nouwen.

It is a quite Sunday morning. Ronald and Jimmi went to church. Janet and
I slept in. After coffee, cereal, and cantelope, I am reading Nouwen and
listening to Diane Krall. What a "spiritual combination."

How I have struggle with the Prodigal Son in recent days and
particularly the surrender to God in one's entirety.

Today is 9/11. I try not to think about it. Five years ago yesterday we
celebrated our anniversary in New York City. It was a year before the
event. We went to Broadway plays, saw the Mets play, rode the subway,
ate some tremendous meals, rode around Manhattan on a boat, and walked
ourselves to death. Time goes fast.

Surrender is the "place where I have to let go of all I most want to
hold on to," says Nouwen.
The place of surrender and complete trust.

I have reached an odd point. I have found it difficult reading the Bible
lately. Reading Job might have caused that, plus the many losses of
late.

I am listening to the theme from the movie "the Bad and the Beautiful."
I have never seen the movie, but Mike Rapchak use to play it on WGN in
Chicago on Sunday Mornings. I love the music. Maybe someday I will see
the movie.

"The way to God reaches far beyond the boundary of death. While it is a
long and very demanding journey, it is also one full of wondeeful
surprises, often offering us a taste of the ultimate goal." (Nouwen)

God's Heartbeat

To hear God "I have to kneel before the Father, put my ear against his
chest and listen without interruption, to the heartbeat of God."
(Nouwen)

Supper at the Black Forest

Supper at the Black Forest
Originally uploaded by brotherdan44.

This is what I ate at the Black Forest Restaurant. It was good.

Apology

Well, this blog may soon be over. Someone follows all of my post with
unnecessary profanities and I have no control over it with my sidekick
far away from home. Frustrating.

38th Anniversary

38th Anniversary
Originally uploaded by brotherdan44.

Ate at Black Forest Restaurant in Asheville, TN.

Homeplace

Homeplace
Originally uploaded by brotherdan44.

This is Janet's homeplace. We spent last night there. We are on

vacation, the first real one in a couple of years. Plans are to spend

the week in North Carolina.

Humility

I was with an 87 year old evacutee this morning. She told me, "I lost
everything." The only thing she had was a walking cane and her well
marked Bible.

"I had never ridden an airplane before," she said.

"Were you scared," I asked.

"A little," she said.

I read from her Bible and prayed with her. She blessed my life.

Prissy

We had Prissy, our loveable doggie for 18 years, put to sleep today. It
has been a sad day.

Joke

Humor

The couple had been debating the purchase of a new auto for weeks. He
wanted a new truck. She wanted a fast little sports-like car so she
could zip through traffic around town.

He would probably have settled on any beat up old truck, but everything
she seemed to like was way out of their price range.

"Look !" she said. I want something that goes from 0 to 200 in 4 seconds
or less. "And my birthday is coming up. You could surprise me."

For her birthday, he bought her a brand new bathroom scale.

Services are pending.