Love on the Road

I just got back home from a little trip with my kids to Asheville.  I am still overwhelmed by the love, kindness and hospitality of my friends there.   Thanks Peggy and Walt.

Asheville is such a funky, hippy town which may be the reason I feel so at home there.  Hat shopping with my girls, a hike with my son cut short by my somewhat irrational fear of bears*, Saturday morning market to buy trout pulled from a mountain stream only hours earlier…what’s not to love?  Stangely enough, my favorite thing to do in Asheville is to attend Jubilee Community Church http://www.jubileecommunity.org/  I know getting up for church on a weekend getaway sounds loony but trust me on this one.   This service never fails to make me smile and cry and celebrate and love.  It’s a place that always opens my heart. 

This Sunday the theme was love…novel idea for a church service huh?  The congregation of about 200 began with a group meditation as a musician played a didgeridoo (a seven foot wooden pipe-like Australian wind instrument).  The musician moved around the congregation showering us with tingly centering vibrations.  After reading similar scripture from the Bible, Quran, and Bhagavad Gita, the preacher spoke eloquently of ‘turning to love’ and broke out singing verses of ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ at various points in his sermon. The service ended with everyone hand-in-hand, arm-in-arm.  I have a sneaky feeling Jesus would like hanging out here. Don’t miss Jubilee if you are in the area and see if your heart isn't a little fuller when you leave. 

Peace.

*somewhat irrational only because the past few nights a mama bear and her cub had taken 'bathroom breaks' on the deck of our friend’s home.

Beginning

I taught my encaustic workshop yesterday. In the midst of making art the conversation turned to social media. One thing lead to another and here I am 20 hours later posting my first blog. I’m a visual artist, a painter currently. Writing isn’t really my thing, nor am I particularly computer savvy. From time to time I do see something interesting, paint something I’d like feedback on, or gain some insight (usually through my numerous mistakes) which may be worth sharing. 

Things of great importance to me are my creative expression, experiencing God, and my relationships with family and friends. I suppose my ramblings here will be about those things. Come to think of it, for me those things always meander over and around each other, none really existing separately from the others.

Time will tell how this goes. Peace.