MID-WINTER MOMENTS, PART II

Four friends had lunch today at a cafe where we ordered lovely food and drink, a lunch that stretched two hours because we had so much to say.  That's a mid-winter moment.  We were willing to go out in the cold and make time for talk and each other.  Isn't one of your winter goals, or even a life goal, to be analog I've heard it called--i.e. spend time with people not technology?   

Although we didn't discuss this, I bet each of us will have a simple supper tonight.  I love eggs or pasta.  Tonight I have spaghetti in mind, olive oil, lemon, a few shrimp or scallops, spinach and white wine, all on hand in fridge or cupboard.

 

Before that, time with my collage journal. Here's a page from a few years ago.  I am finishing my 5th year of collage journalling, keeping track of my life with pictures, poems by me and others, cutting and pasting and layering and texturing and glittering, enjoying those endeavors a working person almost never has time for.  

Here's another bit, cut out and framed. Tea is a favorite solace of mine, gets me up each morning, but welcome anytime.  My husband makes me a cup when I ask, perfectly sweetened and milked. 

Today's conversation, as is often the case when women get together, was full of affirmation. Maybe because we share a faith but probably not just that.  Women have this knack. Here is how I would summarize the gift given:  My dear, nothing is missing, you are already whole. 

 

I would add to that, for each of us and for everyone I know or wish I knew. 

Believe in yourself.  Treat yourself as you would a friend. 

These are my winter moments from this ordinary winter day.  Tonight a fire with my pasta, feet up and a movie. Knitting on my simple cowl.

We can do this, you know.  We can take care of ourselves and also take care of our community.  We can use winter moments to keep ourselves healthy without losing sight of our goals for our country. We're heading into a winter storm.  After a good night's sleep we may wake up to snow, not as common here in the North Carolina Piedmont as on the rest of the East Coast.  Snow silences commotion and soothes the soul.  With that respite we will continue to resist those who wish to divide and conquer even though they are our own government. 

 

 

For all this we say, thanks be to God.  

Nina Naomi 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

PRAYER FOR MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY

 

 

I am writing this on Martin Luther King Day. I intentionally did not read the news this morning so as not to begin the day with anything that would soil the work and memory of Dr. King, peacemaker and Civil Rights icon.  If the day cannot be a Day of Peace in our country or the world, at least I wanted a day of peace in my mind. Perhaps you feel the same.  So instead I set my memory on last Sunday's service, the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany, January 18, 2026, with our church's bulletin in hand.  The first hymn was the great hymn of Christian unity, "In Christ there is no east or west, in Him no south or north, but one community of love throughout the whole wide earth." 

Matthew:12:46 "In Christ there is no east or west, in him no pride of birth; the chosen family God has blessed now spans the whole wide earth. For God in Christ has made us one from every land and race; has reconciled us through the Son, and met us all with grace. ..."

 

The prayer springing out of these words might be, "Lord, let us set our hearts and minds on actions that bring this goal to fruition, that all are equal, none is condemned for birth or color or creed.  Let us turn to leaders who follow this Christian principle: no pride in one's birth or wealth, no shunning of any land or race.  Let us act according to our faith. Let us not waver. What we need to do, make us brave to do. This is our prayer."

 

Next I was caught by the words of the day's Psalm 40:1-11, specifically the statement "Happy are they who trust in the Lord!  they do not turn to enemies or to those who follow lies."  So we can add to our prayer, "The Lord excludes those who follow lies.  They may be legion.  It is our duty as Christians to confront lies and continue to work for the safety of our planet, our community and our neighbors."  

 

Then our pastor's sermon listed ways to be unhappy.  I didn't take notes, but some of them were, in essence,  the Seven Deadly Sins. We might call these greed, narcissism, megalomania, or just list the sins of Pride, Greed, Envy, Wrath.  We could then add to our prayer, "Lord let us see when we are motivated by pride or greed.  Let us see when others are motivated by pride or greed and take all actions so that those sins do not flourish or harm the community. Give us the strength and commitment to do this. Give us the freedom to speak."  

 

Next in our service we sang the great hymn "We Shall Overcome," the anthem of the American Civil Rights Movement, symbolizing the struggle against injustice, prejudice, and hate with the belief that collective action will lead to freedom and equality. It's a powerful message of resilience, rooted in spirituals and work songs, assuring people that they can overcome oppression together, hand in hand, even when facing fear. Now we add to our prayer, "Lord, our collective action must counter injustice, prejudice and hate if we are to achieve or preserve freedom and equality. When we see injustice, we must respond.  When we see prejudice, we must respond.  When we see hate, we must peacefully respond, never wavering from your commands. Keep us mindful of this mission."  

 

Finally, extrapolating from the prayers of intercession, "Just God you desire respect and equality for everyone. Raise us each up to speak the truth. Embolden us to take action for people in need, for people transgressed even unto death, for cities and counties under siege so that we show no fear.  Merciful God, receive our prayer."

 

This is my prayer.  We do not need to cite transgressors. Everyday brings more.  Only the Lord knows them all and the depth of their sin.  We pray and do not shirk.  Thanks be to God.  AMEN 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MID-WINTER MOMENTS, PART I

"Winter reminds us that everyone and everything needs some quiet time," says Katrina Mayer. We agree.  Winter air freshens everything. 

Bear Lake, Rocky Mt. National Park

As soon as the sun goes down, or when we get home from work, let's fill our homes with light, candles, twinkle lights, firelight.  Or later, if it's not too frosty, light the outdoor pit and bring out the marshmallows.  

On the weekend, we could have friends over for potluck, casseroles or finger food: deviled eggs, veggies and dip, prosciutto, cheese and pita bread, pickles and olives, a festive cake. . . . I love that kind of party; and as the poster says, we should "savor it." 

We could fill our plates and watch sports together in front of the TV, or eat by the fire. An easy night with friends. 

 

  

Remember that Winter is a lingering season. No one rushes in winter. We trudge in the snow. We stir the crock pot.  We take our time. Only on sleds, skates and skis do we go fast.  Otherwise we snuggle. 

 

More comfort:  we take a long, warm bath at close of day. Use bath oil or bubbles.  Light candles.  

 

Or a steamy shower followed by fluffy towels or robe and soft pajamas. Children love this too, a supervised bath by candlelight (not too much splashing!), then lifted out and wrapped up. We did that for years, made a nest of pillows on the bed for the clean, happy little one.  Then an early night for all.  

Next day, have a friend for morning or afternoon tea or coffee.  Or meet at a cafe.  

We can use our best cup just for ourself.  Before everyone is up?  After everyone is in bed?  Mid-day?  It's always time for tea. 
  

If it's raining, watch the rain from a window, cuddled with your pet or child, toes under a blanket. Just sit for awhile.  Remember, winter doesn't hurry and neither should we. Kettle on again?  Or glass of something else.  A rainy day is as lovely as any other day.  It's the same nourishing gift as sunshine. See the skeletal trees waving their arms?  A tree is a great friend we couldn't do without.  Boulders too.  I have favorites in my woods.

Maybe read a book.  Don't you have a stack waiting for you to find the time to live in their world? The Fountain of Age is one of my favorites.  I've read it more than once.  What a fine, encouraging writer she is, thoroughly researched and scientific.

 

If there's time for a mini-break, or if you already live near the water, take a walk on the windy shore and look for shells.  Where we stay, the shells are sparse in January unless after a storm.  Yet I found three lovely pieces of sea glass yesterday, one aqua, two green. Or take out the shells you have collected and admire your display.  I have mountains of calico scallops, but only broken sand dollars.  I have not found a whole one yet!

 

 

 

THROUGH IT ALL,  PRESENT, PAST AND FUTURE, USE MID-WINTER TO BE GOOD TO YOURSELF!

 

 

 

These are my winter moments.  Lovely, like yours.  For all of us, it's only mid-winter.  More to come!   Nina Naomi 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

NORTH CAROLINA'S CRYSTAL COAST

 

                                                            Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium

Today is a strange day.  On the North Carolina coast, not only can we not see the horizon, we cannot even see the shore line.  All is foggy, dense and dripping.  I planted pansies yesterday outside my door--yellow, purple and russet--because they survive a winter freeze, and I can't see them from the upstairs deck. The fog comes right up to our windows, misty, translucent with shadows of outdoor furniture.  I poured a glass of wine; it's that kind of day.  If we still had our wonderful maltipoo, he would bark at the fog I am sure.  "What is this," his bark would say.  "I can't see."

Sitting high in a cottage on pilings, upside-down with entry on the ground floor, bedrooms up one floor and living area on top--the ordinary way of all Southern beach houses--is a lovely way to live, or vacation.  I'm an advocate for the Crystal Coast.  The sands are wide and uncrowded, the seafood fresh and the fishing good.  Nature trails abound.  

 There's a wonderful aquarium just down the road.  Pine Knoll Shores is a small coastal town on Bogue Banks, covering only 2.5 square miles with 1400 year-round residents.  The aquarium is open every day because, after all, the animals do need to be fed 24/7.  At 306,000 gallons of water, its ocean habitat is the largest in our state.  I go often when we're here to see the river otters, the sea turtles, jelly fish and sharks.  We have a niece who arrives in a day or two to spend the semester with the Center for Marine Sciences and Technology: CMAST.  What a great way to learn!

So today is a good day.  We need those.  I am missing the pop-up demonstrations at home in Durham, against ICE for the murder of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis.  I am sorry about that.  But I forwarded the details to thirty friends and many let me know they were going.   

It's always a good day at the beach.  Not living here full time, I don't know if that would be true if I did.  Maybe you live in a beach town, or on a lake or river or near the sea.   Maybe your homestead is in a woodland.  Or maybe you are urban, near museums and theaters and zoos, near farmers' markets and art shows. Maybe we can always find or make a good day when we need one.  I hope so.   

If we stumble into one, or intentionally set our sights on one, let us give thanks.  I am happy for today.  If your day was not so good, I hope tomorrow will be.  Or the day after.  

Nina Naomi 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIFE LESSONS FROM NATURE

 

 Do you spend too much time on the news?  I do.  And yet, we cannot ignore what's happening.  Certainly as a lawyer, I cannot.  Or as a grandmother.  This week was January 6, the day Trump supporters stormed the Capitol trying to overturn the 2020 election.  Trump has now pardoned those criminals and the White House website this year claims that they were peaceful  patriots.  But we all watched it.

This week in Minneapolis an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good through her windshield as she was turning her car around.  Dead at 37 and her children left motherless.   The administration says the killing was in self-defense.  But it's on video. 

Let's all believe lies instead of our own eyes.  Let's just fall victim to false memory syndrome.  

Or let's not.  Let's do otherwise.  Let's take a wintry walk, play with the children, love each other and still remember that shameful, violent January 6 day.  Let's pray for the children of Renee Nicole Good.  Let's learn lessons from nature during this dreadful time when we're being gaslit by the regime.  I'm trying to learn some.  

We are at the winter beach this week enjoying wide empty stretches of sand, early sunsets over the ocean, and crisp lung-filling morning air.  Oh if only the state of our country were half as good as most of our daily lives with those we love. 

One lesson we can learn is that nature never rushes.  More applicable to us, it doesn't panic.  Even fires, floods and hurricanes don't panic nature.  It heals and re-germinates. It has a job and continues to do it.  I see that all the time in my neighborhood when forests are clear-cut for timber and in two seasons are lush with small pines.  Many of us may have felt like panicking when without Congressional approval the regime kidnapped the President of Venezuela (not a good man) for the country's oil.  Something more, or worse, may have happened by tomorrow.  So how do we cope? 

Nature helps there too.  It never gives up.  Never.  That is our natural course too.  If our child is sick, we do not give up.  If our leadership is sick, the same.  The way a family rallies round, so do communities and states.  If we are grieving our country or something more personal, we can take solace in nature.   Time spent walking the beach, following a trail, or building a snow fort whisks away mental fatigue.  Whatever the problem, we can now face it more efficiently.  

The only thing that is not natural is perfection.   That is something for which we do not need to strive.  The opposition to this administration is not perfect.  It doesn't have to be.  Our own involvement is not perfect.  No guilt there.  We are living our lives now under a shadow.  But so did our parents:  perhaps it was WWII and the Holocaust; the Vietnam War and the protests against it;  the Civil Rights movement of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bull Conner hosing black activists; the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Dr. King and Robert Kennedy; or the Watergate hearings.  The only sins might be apathy, resignation or acquiescence.  

So, yes, live our lives. That's important.  While we protest, vote, donate, educate and play in the snow with our children and grandchildren.   In North Carolina we have a beloved coach, Jim Valvano who died of cancer, whose words ring true here:  "Never give up.  Don't ever give up."  

Nina Naomi 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The outside world feels divisive, pitching us against one another, pulling us away from nature and towards greed.  

"LET ALL MORTAL FLESH KEEP SILENT"

 

The world begins in a humble bed

Love is given, a baby conceived, a baby born

We nurse it, tickle it, count its toes

So it has always been

 

Maybe a manger, maybe a bed

Maybe a child of God, maybe God Himself

 

Women become mothers in their beds

Men become fathers

Both touching and touched

A time of heightened vigilance

 

A bed is where we cry or hide under the covers

We gossip in bed:  sleepovers, lovers, marriages

We read

We drink our tea and watch TV

I kissed my mother goodby in her bed

My father too

And you? 

And even my son

Whom I cannot write about without being there

In the room at the bed 

With God at the bed, kneeling, yes He too

 

In our beds we wake with sorrow some days or years

I may dream of the train I hear 

Whose wheels could save me from despair

(Or wake with joy, a grandchild near)

 

Let my world end while I sleep, we pray

In a soft warm bed where body on body we were conceived  

Let our souls outlive our mortal flesh as is promised 

And enter heaven from this bed 

Let all mortal flesh keep silence

As the darkness clears away 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHRISTMAS WAS PERFECT

 CHRISTMAS was perfect.  How can that be?  Did everyone get what they wanted?  Maybe not, but we sang carols.  Was everyone on time for supper?  Maybe not, but we prayed for those with less than we, for those without shelter or a home country, for those incarcerated for a crime or not.  

Did everyone refrain from arguing?  Yes, in fact, we did.  We love each other, we love our communities, we love our country.  We had nothing to argue about.  Did we find sustenance from our churches?  Yes we did.  My husband and I attended the local Catholic church with family.  The priest prayed for the safety of immigrants, for food security, for freedom to speak our hearts in this time of great crisis.  He prayed for our country and our democracy.  He was bold.

So yes, Christmas was perfect.  The Christ child was born again.  We too, if we cared to, were born again with him.  He was born in a manger because Mary and Joseph were going to be registered so that all the world could be taxed.   Caesar Augustus wanted money. 

Christmas was perfect because it always is.  Whether we are sick or confused or under siege, whether a baby is born again with Herod at the helm, with only shepherds to follow the star, whether we're not sure what year it is:  1968, 1973, 200l, 2021--Christmas says, "Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels."

AMEN