i'm out!

hey.
I forgot to tell ALL the readers here (that's a joke :) ...
I'm in England, Scotland, and Ireland for the next two weeks (well, it's already been 3 days!)

We're posting pics of the trip and such over at ohome. (look to the "o'reilly home" link on the right).

jolly good.
good night from London.

-s.o

intersection revelation

the intersection near our current residence has been under construction for a couple of weeks.
the intersection is still in use, and everybody can turn every which way - it's just somewhat tougher and a little confusing. actually, the more I drive through it I realize it can be quite confusing. drivers don't know how to pull into the middle "waiting" area as they attempt to turn left through the intersection. the construction has actually widened the area to "wait" in, and it's causing all different people to approach the situation differently! all the normal intersection-etiquette moves are up in the air, apparently. and it can be annoying.

today I went through the intersection, and scoffed at three different peoples' "workings" of the drive space. they all made unique moves in and out of the space. one moved caused me to utter, "come on, what'r you doing?!" then I looked in my rearview mirror at the nissan truck behind me. he was not lined up in the same position I was and I wondered if he was thinking of me, "come on, what'r you doing?!" I wondered if he was growing impatient with me, as I was growing with others. I wondered who was lined up in the best intersection position. then it hit me ...

wait everybody! none of us knows what we are doing! we are all thrown off by this dissected intersection! we don't know what to do & THAT'S OKAY! let's just smile at this fun predicament and get through it in our different ways! let's laugh at how varied our driving patterns are through this place, and let's offer each other grace!

I want to go stand in that intersection with a sign that describes my intersection revelation. my first inclination was annoyance and impatience, but I came around to something I think is beautiful about life and people and such. I want others to get that too!
sadly, I probably can't find a way to communicate this revelation on a sign that a driver could read while also trying to cross this unique intersection safely... & I don't really have the time to go stand there ... & it's way too hot to stand out there for long! but, maybe they'll notice something special going on when I celebrate the driving that goes on there.
I'll be the guy hanging a hard left, pumping my fist in the air, celebrating the maneuver of the driver ahead of me, and smiling at the simple reality that it can be beautiful to NOT have everything figured out and possible to find a way to enjoy life's disruptions - at the intersection and beyond.

-s.o

a prayer to Adam

I meant to post this a while back.
It's a poem printed in the May/June issue of _Orion_ magazine (an incredible read).
I'll not go into how moving this poem is... I'll just post:

_A Prayer to Adam_
by Robert Cording

Muse of names,
Help us to know
What we cannot name.

Gardener of paradise,
Help us grow upright
With the modesty

Of plants that find
Freedom in their lack
Of choices, and thrive.

Father of death,
Help us to live
With our dying

So that we may find
Ourselves walking back
Down a path we forgot,

Toward a field
Here on Earth where
The sun is so bright

And clear that even
The dullest sparrow
Is seen in the richness

Of its browns and grays,
The streaks on its breast
Numbered in our sight.

today's rain, thoughts

I am thoroughly enjoying the weather today! I really think that, every once in a while, we need a good, long rainy day - like today. It has certain affects.
In many ways it slows us down, brings a kind of slower-paced calmness to the day. But, I've been watching some of the Tour de France lately, and I've seen guys take sharp turns, their bikes going over 30 mph, and the pavement glistening wet. (some have wrecked, but most have survived those turns). And, I like both pictures; whether we relax in rain, or swiftly ride over wet pavement with haste, our eye on the Champs-Elysees, the rain has imprinted the day. And I see God there.

-s.o

other words about the Last Word

I finally got to talk to a friend about McLaren's _The Last Word_, although it was just a brief conversation so far.
still, I felt like we fleshed out something that I'd been thinking and feeling, but not exactly finding a way to express. he said, "I thought the book was great, and I might agree, but I'm just not there right now. I'm not even thinking about those kinds of things right now."
and, yes, that's me too. the book is so fresh and challenging, yet ... I think people are thinking about it in the context of MANY other things. there are so many new and challenging faith thoughts right now, that the "ultimate" questions, or maybe some of them, are hard to address in the midst of it all.
I don't feel discouraged or worried about that. I think it's fine.

But, I think there will be a day when it's time to get the book back out and get-to-the bottom of Hell!

-s.o

stopping for the texas stop sign

I've been in Colorado this week - reading, playing music, hiking, and relaxing. Truly NICE!!!
On the drive up, we passed many-a "Texas Stop Sign" - aka, Dairy Queen. We stopped at one just outside Amarillo to use the facilities and maybe grab a nice ice cream cone. Well, the guy ordering at the counter in front of us asked for a simple blizzard, but was met with the response - "We are out of ice cream."
"what?" asked the hungry gentleman.
"we don't have any ice cream right now. we're out," responded the all too easy-going texas country counter lady.

And, the now perturbed gentleman (truck driver, as I learned by watching him walk to the big truck that he apparently drives) simply walked out with a gentle mumble, "imagine that. the dairy queen, out of ice cream, on a hot summer's day."

and, yes, it was true. we couldn't order anything delicious either.
those of us in our vehicle are still trying to fathom, to come to grips with the state of the Queen that day...
we leave for home tomorrow, and I imagine that we will pull up to this "type" of stop sign, and I wonder what we'll find.
I hope there's frozen dairy inside.

-s.o