A Moment of Peace

 

My first car was a 1992 Honda accord.

My dad bought it as a family car, but I quickly adopted it as my own.

I loved that car, Hon, and I drove him for over 220,000 miles.

 

In high school,

On my way to and from band practice in the late fall or early winter, 

I would turn the heat all the way up in Hon but roll the window down

To create a lovely juxtaposition of temperature that

To this day, I find refreshing.

 

Just last night, in fact,

I found myself riding with my windows down in my current car, the heat on, and a toboggan on my head. 

I had a lovely moment of nostalgia,

And I also felt a brief moment of peace. 

 

In the midst of what can be a crazy holiday season, 

Finding brief moments of peace is important.

Maybe those moments come through nostalgia. 

Maybe they come through air on skin. 

Maybe they come through a sunrise or sunset. 

Maybe they come through a burst of laughter or a release of tears. 

Maybe they come through giving or receiving a gift. 

Maybe they come through music.

 

However the moments of peace come to you this holiday season,

May they surround you with God‘s love and mercy

And may they put your heart at rest 

If but just for a moment.

Because it’s little by little,

Moment by moment,

Mile by mile,

That we are changed. 

 

Amen. 

Shauna the Nurse

 

Two years ago, she was teaching art. 

Little did we know that there was a restlessness inside her that wanted a change. 

 

Career wise, teaching is a dead-end job. 

Unless you want to be in administration, there is no ladder to climb. 

The work can be rewarding but 

The obstacles to making a difference can be large. 

The job is steady but the pay is terrible. 

It’s hard to make ends meet, 

Much less to have extra to indulge in life. 

And it’s the same thing year after year, 

Different faces, 

Same behaviors,

(Though they’re getting worse)

And same learning concepts,

Though delivery is different over the years. 

 

So she wanted a change. 

And she has a heart for serving others,

And she’s worked as an EMT for years, 

And so she chose to pursue a degree in nursing. 

From Duke! 

And she excelled. 

 

The day she told us that she was leaving was hard. 

The team was what she didn’t want to leave. 

But the team understood. 

How could we not? 

When you love someone, 

You want to see them grow and succeed and be happy. 

And that’s exactly what she’s done. 

 

Shauna the Art Teacher 

is now 

Shauna the Nurse, 

And I couldn’t be more proud. 

 

Sometimes loving someone means letting them go. 

Sometimes loving someone means fighting for them to stay. 

May we be a people who know what to do when. 

And may we each,

Like Shauna the Nurse, 

Go after what makes sense for our lives, 

Now and in the days to come. 

 

Amen. 

 

Haiku Inspired Day

 

Enjoy this haiku

Inspired, oh so normal

glimpse into my day.

 

745am

 

It’s Thursday. Note day.

But my mind is truly blank.

What is on your mind?

 

845am, 5th grade update

 

Farting on purpose

After awhile, dear students

Is not that funny

 

945am, 2nd grade update

 

Why nine days and nights?

“To celebrate God because

He was a good guy.”

 

1030am, Kindergarten update

 

Please stop twerking now.

It is not appropriate

For school music class.

 

1115am, 4th grade update

 

Beethoven was deaf.

I have an ear infection.

Not being able to hear

Is quite frustrating.

 

1215pm, 1st grade update

 

“Look Ms. Deaton, look

I found some fake fingernails.”

Throw them away please

 

2pm, 3rd grade update

 

Listen to this song

It is NOT a dancing song

“Can we dance to this?”

I Love You

 

“I love you.”

Three simple words. 

Said too much. 

Said too little. 

Full of rote promise. 

Full of meaning and power. 

Said through tears of planned passion. 

Confessed in momentary desperation. 

Wicked 2. 

Zootopia 2. 

Two completely different movies. 

Both tied together with the words 

I love you 

At their emotional peak. 

 

I like movies. 

I do. 

Yet I rarely slow down long enough to see them.

But I had the opportunity to officiate an out of town wedding this weekend 

And I found myself with some time on my hands. 

So I went to the theater and saw both movies mentioned above. 

I had heard good things about them both

And so I wanted to see what the hype was all about.

Neither movie disappointed. 

And both movies surprised me with their utterances of I love you. 

 

I will be honest. 

I did not like the first Wicked movie.

I had trouble separating it from the stage show 

And could not see it as a completely different experience.

But the second one was different. 

It had more depth. 

More meaning. 

More backstory. 

It wasn’t just the stage show set to screen. 

It was more.

And it was good. 

And it explored what it means to be truly good. 

And what we learned is that it’s not just appearance and pretense. 

It’s deep sacrifice and, well, love. 

 

I’ll be honest again.

I did not see the first Zootopia.

And even after seeing the second one,

I can’t remember the main character’s names.

I just remember laughing and being captivated by the story 

And exploring what a true partnership is. 

And it’s not being exactly alike,

Rather it is accepting differences and building on those differences and being willing to sacrifice yourself physically and emotionally 

For, well, love. 

 

And here’s the kicker. 

The love about which I speak in both of these movies wasn’t romantic love. 

Rather, it was 

True, deep, friendship love. 

 

I think sometimes we reserve the words

I love you

For romantic or familial love. 

But maybe we should normalize saying

I love you

To our friends.

 

“I love you.”

Three simple words

But the three most powerful words of all. 

 

Tell someone you love them today. 

You’ll be glad you did. 

 

On Shows

 

Sometimes they get it wrong.

In 2004, for instance, they awarded Avenue Q the award for best musical.

The other option was Wicked. 

20 years later, very few people have heard of Avenue Q,

But Wicked has become somewhat of a global phenomenon.

 

I think they got it right in 2024, though. 

The Outsiders won the Tony for best musical of 2024. 

And it is an outstanding show. 

 

I had the privilege of seeing The Outsiders on Tuesday night.

I went in blind.

I had no idea what I was going to see.

By the end of the show,

I had laughed and cried and been drawn into the world of Tulsa in 1967. 

I had pondered the poignant themes of love and friendship and family and grief and

violence and sacrifice and overcoming stereotype and more.

The music was excellent with strong melodies and harmonies. 

I could understand the lyrics. 

And I was left feeling that I would willingly see the show again and be able to find even more meaning the second time. 

All of those things together, 

For me, 

Make a good show. 

 

What about you? 

What makes something a good show?

What show is your favorite? 

What show would you not see again? 

What show do you think deserves awards? 

What show received accolades that you don’t understand? 

 

And when I say show, I use the term jn the broadest sense possible. 

TV show, box office movie, Broadway musical, stage play—

Whatever is on your mind at the moment. 

 

And…go! 

 

Quest For A Turkey Sandwich

 

The good thing about not cooking Thanksgiving dinner at home is not having to clean up. 

The bad thing about not cooking Thanksgiving dinner at home is not having leftovers. 

 

I ate a little bit of turkey on Thursday, 

And it was good. 

But I really wanted a leftover turkey sandwich on Thursday night 

Yet there was none to be had. 

 

I had a busy day on Friday, 

But I thought about a turkey sandwich all day

So I finally went on a turkey hunt. 

 

On Friday night,

I located some thawed turkeys at my local Food Lion but 

The only ones they had were huge and I wasn’t sure Mom, Dad, and I needed the whole thing 

So I looked for a frozen turkey breast like one that we had last year. 

I remembered they it could be cooked from frozen. 

I found one, but it was Cajun flavored, and we’re not spicy folk 

So I didn’t buy it. 

I figured I would be able to find a different flavor at a different grocery store.

 

I was wrong.

 

After searching both other town grocery stores on Saturday morning 

And debating whether I should buy a fresh turkey breast

But deciding that the frozen one would be easier,

I ended up back at the original store,

Buying the frozen Cajun spiced turkey breast,

And taking it home to cook.

 

I struggled to get the plastic off.

Then I struggled to get the gravy pack away from the turkey because they were frozen together. 

Then I struggled to get the net off of the cooked turkey

That took three hours to cook.

But in the end,

I had a turkey sandwich

And it was delicious!

 

My parents commended me for my perseverance 

And we all laughed together at how determined I was to have a turkey sandwich :-). 

 

Sometimes, 

We do crazy things to get what we want. 

And sometimes, 

We do even crazier things for the people we want

To love 

To please 

To make smile 

To make happy 

To make life a little better than before we came. 

 

So may you do something crazy today. 

Within the law, of course. 

Not to hurt anyone. 

Something out of the ordinary 

For something 

Or someone 

You really like. 

 

Search for that treasure. 

But that random gift. 

Call that long lost friend. 

Prepare that long forgotten recipe. 

 

Life is too short not to be crazy sometimes. 

So take this as your permission to go on that turkey hunt. 

 

You won’t be sorry that you did.