Mary van Balen

PAINTING ON CANVASS BAG: RICHARD DURATE BROWN
Is this the manner of fasiting I wish,
of keeping a day of penance:
That one bow his head like a reed,
and lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
This, rather, is the fasting that I wish:
realeasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking every yoke;
Sharing your bread with the hungry,
sheltering the oppressed and the homeless;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own.
Is 58, 5-7

Fasting desired by the Holy One is more demanding than giving up chocolate, texting, or movies. While the author of this section of Isaiah carries on the theme of social justice central to the earlier chapters of the book, he goes further, challenging us to expand our vision of just WHO is "our own."  Read More 

IMAGE FROM Rhodes Jewish Museum



Blessed is the one who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers.
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on God's law day and night
Psalm 1, 1-2




What comes to mind when you hear the word "law?" Traffic regulations? Tomes of legal statutes? Rules that you cannot break without suffering consequences? Laws, unless changed by legislation or edict, are static and guide individual and societal behavior.

Such definitions come quickly to a modern, western mind, but not to an ancient Hebrew one. To them, law (or Torah) was given by God not only to regulate their behavior, but also to help them become a wise people. (see Dictionary of Biblical Theology by Xavier Leon Dufour)

The Law was not static, but developed as Hebrew history unfolded. By the time the Israelites had returned from Exile and the Psalms were written, "law" was equated with "Wisdom," and to love the Law was to love God. Read More 

PHOTO: MARY VAN BALEN




"...Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being;
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Fill me with joy and gladness...
Psalm 51, 6-8a



Today begins the ancient season of Lent. While it is often connected with "giving up something," the next forty days are more than a time to lose weight by not eating sugar. It is a time to deepen one's relationship with God by reflecting on what separates us from intimacy with the Holy One.

I love Psalm 51 and it's statement of the Divine desire for Truth to fill our inmost being. To be filled with God's Truth is to be filled with Compassionate Love, for ourselves and for all. How can this happen? How does one grow in the ability to hold God's Presence within?

While giving up candy or too much television may be good things, they are good not because candy or television is innately "bad," but because they can give us the illusion of filling up the emptiness placed in our deepest center, the emptiness that can be filled only by the Holy One.

What speaks to me in this section of Psalm 51 are the words: "Therefore, teach me wisdom in my secret heart."

In order to receive this gift of Wisdom, my heart must be receptive. I must be aware of existing in the Holy Embrace, undistracted, present to the moment where God and I both reside.

That is the challenge of Lent for me: To spend time with this greatest Lover, time to repent of habits and preoccupations that keep me from opening my heart and receiving the Gift so faithfully given.
© 2010 Mary van Balen Read More 

PHOTOS: MARY VAN BALEN
After the third snowstorm in as many weeks, I am receiving emails from friends who say, "Enough is enough!" One, who knows how much I love snowy winters, suggested I go around town, gather up the white stuff and haul it to Minnesota where I happily spent last year.

When Vancouver is getting rain while children in the usually slushy midwest are building their third or fourth snow man, I am sure climate change is at work. But for those who would will winter away, I have but one thing to say: Savor the gifts of the season.  Read More 

LINKS: Ted Kooser Home Page
NPR Ted Kooser Shares the Poetry of Valentine's Day

One afternoon, I heard a story on NPR about a small town post office in Valentine, Nebraska where a kind-hearted and patient woman hand-stamped their unique postmark on thousands of envelopes filled with the holiday greeting. I listened, heartened to know that such things still happen in a modern world filled with people in a hurry. The woman interviewed said she enjoyed her job and had time to add the arrow-pierced heart to anyone's valentine who took the trouble to get it to her office. Apparently, people from all over the country did just that. I went about my work that day with a smile.

Months later, I attended a writers' conference where poet Ted Kooser delivered the keynote address which, much to his audience's delight, he embellished with readings of his poetry. He read one written for Valentine's Day and then shared his tradition of sending out valentines to people all over the country. The project began simply as writing a poem for his wife, and then later, sharing it with other friends. At readings, including ours, he offered those attending the opportunity to sign up for the special cards.

"Just find me and give me a copy of your address," he said. I wrote down my address and that of one of my daughters, a poet herself, and handed the small piece of paper to Mr. Kooser at lunch. He smiled and graciously promised a Valentine when February came around.

I watched him slide the paper into his sport jacket pocket and hoped it would not get lost in his travels. Months went by and as Valentine's Dap approached, I wondered if my two addresses had found their way onto his mailing list. If not, I would understand, I thought, preparing for disappointment.

Then, on February 14, a small white postcard appeared in my mailbox. A big, red postmark grabbed my attention: Valentine Nebraska! Of course. Ted Kooser lives in Nebraska. I remembered the NPR story and the sweet woman in the little Nebraska post office. My postcard was one of thousands she stamped that year, and Ted Kooser made sure his valentines landed on her desk before one of them sailed into my mailbox.


THIS PAPER BOAT

Carefully placed upon the future,
it tips from the breeze and skims away,
frail thing of words, this valentine,
so far to sail. And if you find it
caught in the reeds, its message blurred,
the thought that you are holding it
a moment is enough for me.

Number 22, and the last of the series.
Ted Kooser, Valentine’s Day, 2007
© 2010 Mary van Balen
 Read More 

LINKS: "Delights and Shadows" by Ted Kooser Home Page Ted Kooser's Official Website "I'm In Charge of Celebrations"

PHOTOS: MARY VAN BALEN
“He has a fish house on the lake behind the Abbey and goes out there, drinks tea and reads poetry. He welcomes visitors. Once he invited the Queen of England when she was in the States, but she sent her regrets, saying she was “devastated” that she could not come.”

My heart beat faster, and as Byrd Baylor says in her book, “I’m in Charge of Celebrations,” I knew tea in this monk’s fish house would be an experience worthy of anniversary remembrances.

The comment was part of general conversation at my daughter’s college graduation party. Friends gathered to mark the occasion, and while discussing unique aspects of studying at a university connected with community of Benedictine monks in rural Minnesota, a professor mentioned the fish house.

I plied the speaker with questions, hungry for more details. First, there was the matter of learning what a fish house looked like. I had visions of an old oriental carpet laid directly on the ice. What about the hole for fishing? Would that be there? Did he plumb the waters as well as verse? And how did he make tea on a frozen lake without melting something important, like the floor? Read More 

PHOTO: MARY VAN BALEN
My world is more chaotic than usual. I am still looking for a job, throwing my net wide. The move from one home to another is not complete, and early this week, my father was taken to the hospital. Along with my brothers and sisters, I have been spending time there, talking with doctors, holding dad's hand, and keeping other family informed. This morning I woke at 5am, overwhelmed with thoughts of preparations to bring dad home and writing tasks left undone. My agitated spirit reminded me that I had not spent time with Lectio for the past few days either.

I dressed and settled at the dining room table. The empty house was quiet and as I began to sing "Come Holy Ghost," tension began to ebb away. I opened my small black Bible and began reading slowly to find my "Word."

The Spirit hovered over the chaos.
© 2010 Mary van Balen Read More 

LINK: Text of President Obama's State of the Union Address

PHOTO: CHARLES DHARAPAK/ ASSOCIATED PRESS
Two phrases from President Obama’s State of the Union address remain with me this morning. One is “a deficit of trust.” He was talking about American’s lack of trust in their government and the lack of trust between our political parties. It makes working together impossible. No compromise, no legislation, no progress. The status quo reigns when those responsible for leadership and change don’t believe that others share their vision and genuinely want what is best not for their re-election but for the country.

The second phrase came early in the speech when Mr. Obama recalled times of uncertainty of the very existence of the United States. It was not predetermined or destined to be. “We chose to move forward as one people,” Mr. Obama said. As a people we must chose to move into the future, but there is no movement without trust.

Implications of the national deficit of trust are clear: No movement. No change. The poor, uninsured, and unemployed will continue to live in fear of illness or accident. They will wake up worried about basic food and shelter. Jobs that do not provide living wages will continue to look better than no job at all, a reality many stare in the face everyday.

This morning I am thinking also of effects of a “trust deficit” in situations other than the current impasse in the US government. Lack of trust effects relationships between countries making fear mongering easier and isolation attractive. Combating ignorance and the fear that fuels prejudice and violence is impossible when one feels threatened by the other.

Employees generally are not as productive as they might be when suspicious supervisors and managers monitor their every move expecting the worst. When enthusiasm for the company’s work is lost and everyone looks out for personal advancement at the expense of others, morale plummets.

Relationships crumble without trust. Marriages fail when the partners no longer believe that the other has the best interest of both at heart, but focuses on himself or herself instead. Friendships wither when not watered by trust.

And what of the most personal form of trust: trust in God-With-Us? In the wake of Haiti’s devastating earthquake, I have heard people question the existence of God: “It makes belief in a benevolent God hard to hold on to,” one person said. The age-old question of God and suffering resurfaces whenever a natural disaster occurs. Tragedies in our personal lives can elicit similar responses: serious illness or death of a loved one, loss of job, betrayal, or shattered relationships.

How does one continue to trust when the evidence seems to indicate otherwise?  Read More 

LINKS: America.gov: Engaging the World , Food Not Bombs Website

On January 7, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the Obama administration was working with the Afghan government and its agricultural framework to stabilize the country by providing its people with means to grow food for local consumption as well as export and with profitable alternatives to growing poppies. Another goal of this project is to remove some of the Taliban's recruitment tools: People who are able to feed themselves, earn a living for their families, and who receive help attaining those goals from their government are less likely to be convinced to join the Taliban whose goals and ideology they do not share.

A Jan. 8 article on "America.gov" written by staff writer Stephen Kaufman, quotes Vilsack: "To develop a relationship of trust with the Afghan government and farmers, concrete results are needed, he said. For that reason, 'we’re spending a lot of time … trying to listen to precisely what the Afghans need of us.'

A good idea: listening to those we want to help.  Read More 

LINKS:
QUOTES: Martin Luther King
I HAVE A DREAM SPEECH AND VIDEO
WE SHALL OVERCOME: Historic places of the Civil Rights Movement
ROBERT GRAETZ'S BOOK: A White Preacher's Message on Race and Reconcilliation

Years ago, I sat in Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery Alabama and watched a young service woman speaking with an elderly gentleman in the front pew: One was white; the other was black. Fifty-five years ago that encounter most likely would not have taken place. I imagined the space filled with voices of Martin Luther King Jr. and crowds gathered in prayer supporting the Montgomery bus boycott.

It began with Jo Ann Robinson, head of the Women's Political Council, who along with other women mimeographed thousands of flyers asking Montgomery Blacks to boycott buses on the day Rosa Park's case was heard in court. The boycott's success encouraged the black community, and the following day many gathered in Dexter Avenue Church, formed the Montgomery Improvement Association, and spurred on by its newly elected leader, Martin Luther King, Jr., called for a citywide bus boycott.

When we visited the museum at Dexter Ave. Baptist Church and watched historic newscasts, my young adult children expressed horror at scenes of protesters being attacked by dogs and thrown to the ground by water blasts from fire hoses. For many adults today, the early Civil Rights movement in this country is ancient history.

That reality prompted me to invite Rev. Robert and Jeannie Graetz to speak in my adult Even Start Class. He had accepted his first assignment as a Lutheran minister in Montgomery Alabama the same year Martin Luther King Jr. became pastor at Dexter Ave. The only white minister to publicly and actively support the bus boycott along with Jeannie, his family's home were fire bombed and his life threatened. Their neighbor, Rosa Parks, helped clean up the mess left by the bombs and took a neighborhood collection to replace tableware smashed in the attack.  Read More