Sunday, June 28, 2009

Road Trippin'

Wikipedia tells me that a Road trip is a journey via automobile, sometimes unplanned or impromptu, or a journey involving sporting games away from home, thus encompassing any journey by automobile, regardless of stop en route.

Urban Dictionary states the following (printable versions.. however I love this site for its truthfulness and usage of word in a sentence!) 1. Road Trip - When a bunch of kids get in a car (most likely a VW Bus, with tons of drugs), and drive to an exotic destination (like Vegas or New Jersey). s.= "Hey dude let's go to Vegas! Hell Yeah! Road Trip!!"


Road trips are on my mind lately. Most especially since I just came off one.. I began to think on my most recent road trip about many other famous, (or infamous), fictional, (or non-fictional), road trips. There are the more famous varieties to look at.. Dorothy's road trip down the Yellow Brick Road to Oz. (although no motor vehicle was involved, nonetheless, a road trip!) Harry and Sally's drive from Chicago to NYC.( The prelude to their future road trip as man and wife.) Then there's Little Miss Sunshine.. more reminiscent of my childhood road trips, (endless driving in a VW Bus with your whole family in the 60's and 70's but instead of Beauty Pageant quests we had to sleep in Civil War campgrounds..ugh), or the sillier Dumb and Dumber.. a film I never got! And then there is the Road to Emmaus.. the Easter story road trip where 2 of the disciples are befriended by a risen Jesus, "in disguise", on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus.. a 7 mile walking journey that involves the discussion between a stranger on the road in regard to Jesus' recent cruxifiction and Resurrection. Anyway you look at it an awaking happens on the road trips of life!

Movies and songs describing road trips are fantastic. I personally dig these songs!! Sometimes they ring true of moments in our existence, and sometimes they are very imaginary. They can conjure up wild images as only Jackson Browne's "Load out-Stay" can, and as equally captivating is the Eagles can paint, "Running down the road trying to loosen my load I got seven women on my mind... Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see, there's a girl my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me!" or...they can cloud the mind in painful memories of arguments, unspoken truths, and blurted out bodily noises none of us care to remember! Human nature taking over. Point is.. no matter the truth, or the trip, the road has a way to get to the bottom of whatever is ruminating in the depths of our beings and blurt out the unspoken and the uncertain! I am convinced that Route 95 is a lay line underneath the Earth's surface.. it holds many of the world's secrets. It must... as many a traveller has unloaded their souls on the trip north or south.

Summertime for many, is the season of the road trip. Folks seem to travel as soon as school is released. They are looking for other lands. They are craving adventure and a neediness to "G'it outta Dodge." They are truly looking to get beyond the rainbow and find a place where happy little bluebirds fly and troubles melt like lemon drops.. when the body and mind.. and mostly the soul is tired of living in the Matrix. The road trip is a way to commune with your God. It allows us to see the world in ways we refuse too when stuck in suburbia. It forces us to befriend and speak to people who normally don't speak to us... or us to them.. such as a scarecrow or the boy we had a secret crush on in college whom we pretended to hate with a passion. Road trips equally make us deal with terror on the road.. flat tires, missed exits, hungry tigers, wicked witches, and traffic hold ups in the DC area! It invites us to strut our stuff in those Daisy Dukes and cowboy boots.. a Harley look perhaps.. red ruby slippers... where life is wild and showering, an option!

My recent road trip involved all those things. And it should because they are about real life. They help us tune out ordinary ho-hum and tune in to what really just happened...or what is about to happen when one lives outside of the Matrix. On this recent trip we, (my travelling partner and I), were using a device that tunes your Ipod into local stations in order to get a signal and play the music YOU want to hear. Interestingly enough, the tuning devise, (sometimes a royal pain in the...), would only pick up signal in areas that weren't congested. Places where the ho-hum of suburbia makes us go through the motions of survival each day.. those congested areas of our lives allow us to not see what is clear.. or in our/my case not HEAR what I wanted to hear! I just got static or FM. The switching of stations over and over 'til I desperately find something I like did not impress my partner.. sadly that is how we seem to roll... or even worse turning off the radio and tuning in to, "Living in quiet desperation..." , as the Floyd says.

Road trips teach us to get on the open road and explore.. find out.. research and let go of ordinary ways. Our Ipod was pre-programmed, but it was set to either play the prescribed music when wanted or set to shuffle to surprise us.. that's okay. Either way.. it was coming in clearly and it made us happy.

Life however still happens on the road trip.. as did mine. Car wrecks and constipation (sorry).. miles of bottomless promises to see this great thing called "South of the Border"... billboard signs along the road telling us we're in trouble with God, (No. Carolina) or, inviting us to a topless lunch with live music, (that would've been my choice of fun!).. also ironically in No. Carolina! Mixed messages abound one might say... nonetheless.. life. On this trip, I wasn't the driver most of the way.. and that was good.. My job.. was that I needed to makes sure on this adventure that we weren't receiving static, buying into misguided road stops, staying on course, and having fun! WOW.. isn't that what we are supposed to do every day??

I once began to write a book about traveling down life's road. It was to be called "The Rules of the Road". I still possess the draft of it. Recently, this year I believe, some other budding author published a book and came up with the same concept.. and title.. ironically.. which was proof that if you don't pick up and do it yourself someone else will! The road trip teaches us to embrace the moment... live in it,, instead of waiting for it.. but do it with a plan of some kind... or as my friend Jon always asks me, "Dawn.. what's your end game?" Road trips start somewhere and need to end somewhere.. they can't last forever... (life on the road can get overwhelmingly at times). Road trips take place somewhere over the rainbow looking for the great and powerful Oz.. but even Dottie knew that Kansas was her last stop. She had her eyes on her fries.. without one single McDonalds or Starbucks along the Yellow Brick Road. The Disciples eyes were opened to the realization that indeed the stranger was Jesus on the road to Emmaus.. a little girl traveling with people she adores on a VW bus realized her dream of being somebody, and Harry and Sally get married.. all due to a road trip!

My trip ends well. It ends up back home.. the nightmare being over..
with the realization that I have awoken from a dream and everyone was there. The road trip took me away and brought me back safely. Mishaps, some .. laughs.. more than I can mention.. and truly the return produced a rainbow in the sky in the company of friends! The promise of brighter days ahead, no static, that home is wherever life takes and makes you happy inside...

Safe Travels, Miss Dawn

Monday, June 15, 2009

"He got up rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, "Quiet. Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm." (Mark 4:39).

As I meditate on this week's coming Gospel message two things happen for me... I think that my former students know this passage SOOO very well. (As they could teach it themselves, they've heard me quote it so many times!). And, that it happens to fall into contemplative alignment of where my life is heading at the moment. A storm being quieted down by Jesus himself.

Let's open this story a bit. We have the Disciples and Jesus out on the Galilee on a small fishing vessel. They are crossing one side of the lake to another.. quite a journey in a small boat. A normal day to be sure. It was probably very warm and fishing was good. Jesus sitting in the stern of the boat nods off for 40 winks. Then, as things are seemingly good and uneventful in life, a storm comes out of nowhere. Jesus is sleeping and the Disciples are scrambling around doing what sailors do when a storm kicks up suddenly. I am sure they are bringing down the mainsail, (probably just one anyway on this little boat), bailing the water that is rising to their kneecaps, protecting each other from thunder and lightening..perhaps protecting the fish, if any, that they caught..or thinking they can catch while a storm is present! All the while Jesus is sleeping on the stern cushion..I love it. The minute the sky turned black did they turn to Jesus? No. When the water was rushing in like crazy did they wake Jesus? No. No, in fact the Disciples wait until they can't fix the problem themselves do they "invite Jesus" to help them solve this one! Typical of human nature.. when our boats are sinking, we call out to Jesus in panic.

At this critical moment the questions toward Jesus begin surfacing from our needy friends and from Jesus.. (I need to laugh thinking.. "These guys are fishermen.. imagine their language and line of questioning?" ) Anyhow, like any of us, in a time of crisis we turn to God and fire away.

"Lord, wake up! Don't you care that we drown?" Well, what an interesting question. One I have asked more than once in my lifetime when things seem impossible. Don't we all. "Well of course I care you silly men.." Jesus is thinking.. not saying a word.. He arises in the boat reaches out his arms over the raging sea and says, "Be Still. Be quiet. Quit". Basically a big ol' "SHUT UP" to these thrashing waves. And it stops. "Peace, be still." As Mark tells us, it is replaced by calmness. Like when we wish Peace unto another in church, the way Jesus always did when he entered a room, no matter the conditions. However, the squall of this nature may have ended but another type is just being introduced. Jesus' reaction to the Disciples...

"Why are you so afraid?" "Do you still not trust?" Two great questions. It can be so overwhelmingly difficult in times of trial to really trust in God. Jesus asks these questions almost in disgust. Who can blame him? When I relate this story to the children.. their mouths hang open at Jesus making the wind and water cease.. why not? It's a wonderfully dramatic story. A thriller, cliff-hanger. Then when I get into character, playing the part of the worried and faithless Disciples.."Well.. Jesus where were you? We were drowning? Why and how could you have slept through that storm?" The children laugh at me! They laugh because I'm pretty good at playing that role at times.. and they also laugh because they have the faith of God. The are believers naturally. They must be. They are reliant on their "other" parents for everything in life... Protection, shelter, food, love, and comfort. They don't doubt where their next meal(s) or snacks come from. They believe it will happen. They don't worry about how to get to school tomorrow.. they never worry about being comforted when injured or distressed.. or what clothing will be available to them on that special occasion. BECAUSE... they TRUST these people called mother and father! Just like we need to trust our Father in heaven.

This week I was recently tested in a crisis. It was awful. I lost my car keys. I was moving some things and left my keys accidentally in a place where they weren't safe. I was overwhelmed by other thoughts and details.. and did something careless. I was, indeed horrified though, because I had locked in my wheels my purse..(my wallet, personal things, etc), and my cell phone. Yikes! The most horrifying moment however.. to make matters even more compelling was that sometime between last summer and now, I have searched for the spare key for that "just in case" moment. I am not a pack rat and usually know exactly where things are. I knew for a long time where that spare was and then one day in September I could not locate it.. kept thinking it will turn up when I need it. WELL.. I NEEDED IT! These new electronic keys are very expensive to replace. (Of course a warranty doesn't pay for your own stupidity). SO I went on a pilgrimage to find the lost set. I trekked to places so dangerous.. I care not repeat it here. In the midst of this journey, I began telling God as I walked and hunted.. that I wasn't thinking I could handle one more thing right now. I was truly at my wits end...my faith tested and belief in a higher order now compromised. I was panicked and in tears. (Obviously more going on here than just the loss of the keys).. But had I cried out to God yet before this moment?..not really. I thought I could bail the water of that boat myself.. waiting and careful not to "disturb" Jesus while He slept..hmm.
The pilgrimage turned up empty. I was out of options except to go the dealership and pay out a couple of hundred bucks to replace my keys. Ugh. I thought, well maybe I'll see if AAA should come first.. a moment of desperation. The AAA man arrives and pops my car door. The alarm goes off and ceases. He then asks.. "where are your keys?" I sheepishly tell him that I haven't any. I begin to explain my story and sit down in the passenger seat..I'm out of faith virtually. I sit and put my forward on the steering wheel..in tears. He's telling me he can disarm the alarm system.. and blah, blah blah.. Then the alarm quieted almost immediately as my tears flowed .."Be quiet. Be still" was Jesus' voice echoing. And for no other reason I can justify or know I looked under my driver's seat. WHY? I just cleaned and vacuumed my car a week ago.. and sitting in the mechanics of the chair on the floor... WAS THE SPARE!

I took a double take and reached in for it. I pulled it out like I had just plucked the Holy Grail out of The Temple of Doom! I smiled so hard .. beaming actually! And popped out of the seat..shouting, "I don't believe this .. I don't believe this!" The tow truck driver just looked at me as this instantaneous act of God happened, and said, "Hey lady, you keep your spare under the seat?" I said.. " There is a God!!!" And he replied, (looking at me like I was nuts and writing on his clipboard), "Shit yeah there is a God!" I laughed so hard.. into tears. This guy was not phased not one bit by any of my actions or expressions. I told him the story.. and he looked at me and said, "Those keys are expensive!"

I was amazed. Truly amazed. God found my key. Maybe not the original set (which was lighter these days anyhow having just got rid of 2 keys I no longer needed that same afternoon!) But, I had the key to get me what I needed in more ways than one. My father (not God..), then attached a brand new key to home on that keyring. Rather symbolic one might say. (I also got the disgusted grumblings of fatherly wisdom.."You're damn lucky!")

Luck. no.. Tested in faith? yes.

So our final question brings me to the Disciples last line of questioning to their teacher, "What kind of man is this that even the winds and the waves listen to him?" Prior to Friday morning I would've said, ask the AAA Roadside Assistance guy.. but I today I say, "No man at all, but God himself."

Peace be with you,
Miss Dawn

Friday, June 12, 2009

Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da...

"Desmond has a barrow in the marketplace, Molly is a singer in a band. Desmond says to Molly, girl I like your face. And Molly says this as she takes him by the hand...Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da..Life goes on bra, La la how the life goes on!"

Welcome to Miss Dawn's Blog! Here you can read about progress about where I am heading and adventures that I will be taking in these months ahead. I will be posting my spiritual musings still and offering new and progressive educational avenues to walk for the young child and his family.

I hope you all stay tuned as I walk out into new life.

Sincerely, Miss Dawn