A Good Friday Thought, 2016

Today we break all barriers that come as obstacles in the beauty of our creation. We cannot be "an Easter people" without reliving the depths of divine despair. 

Cross of St. Paul's Episcopal, NOLA by Caroline Carson

Cool Artwork at St. Paul's Episcopal, NOLA

I forgot to post this last week, but check out some of the FABULOUS drawings by our St. Paul's Episcopal School children! 

I LOVE this bacon guy! He is not only thinking about bacon, but he is eating it, dancing about it, and wearing it, LOL!
                          
 
 
                     

NOLA Fog, February 1, 2016

Some lovely fog this morning on Frenchmen Street. 
I tried to catch some, but I MIST....
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
#OldestJokeEver #StillHilarious  :-)
I walked across the street to Washington Square and snapped a few photos. Then, on my drive to UNO, I decided to go a few more blocks up to Lake Pontchartrain and back through the main entrance of campus. They're just iPhone photos (and copied from my own FB post so LOW quality), but enjoy!

This Tree

This tree stopped me yesterday on my way home from St. Paul's. I drove past it and then had to turn around and drive back back a few blocks, park, get out of the car, and just enjoy its beauty. We don't have what I would call a real Autumn or Winter here in New Orleans and I personally don't see too many deciduous trees around these parts so I had to stop and appreciate it. It's found on Esplanade Avenue, quite near the CC's Coffee House.

Jan. 22 Midnight Moon

Last night / this morning around midnight, the beautiful moon peeked through a windy sky full of cloud cover. These are three of my photos from my Canon Powershot 50x zoom :-)
I love that little camera! These I've posted here are copied from my FB post so quality isn't as fabulous as the raw file on my laptop at home, but still looks decent enough.

#AdventWord #INVITE - Angelic Giggles :-)

Today's #AdventWord is #INVITE - December 16, 2015
I invite you to giggle! Check out the expression on this paper plate angel hanging on our Advent/Christmas tree at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in New Orleans! SO HILARIOUS!

#Episcopal #Anglican #SSJE #EDOLA AdventWord was created by SSJE (The Society of St. John the Evangelist) and is the Anglican Communion's Global Advent Calendar. I'm using it as a daily meditation, prayer, photo post, and a way to connect in spirit to millions during this season of light and hope. You can join me in creating your own. Just take a picture and post it with the day's AdventWord tags! Click HERE for their website and for their daily AdventWords.

#AdventWord #REPENT - Simple Ponderings for December 3, 2015

Today's #AdventWord is #REPENT - December 3, 2015
I'm beginning today with the words of Br. Robert L'Esperance because they are better than anything I can come up with! AdventWord featured them on their calendar today!

"In Advent, we are called to more clearly engage the subject of God’s judgment; we are challenged to realize that we have sinned and are in need of God’s forgiveness. God’s judgment is his love and his truth. If we would hook into God’s love, we must walk through the door of repentance and forgiveness."
– Br. Robert L’Esperance

My ponderings: Repentance is sincere remorse or regret. It involves reviewing your actions and feeling regret or sorrow at something done or left undone. In exploring further, I found that it has been connected (perhaps a bit wrongly so, as in a slanted rhyme?) with the idea of having a "change of mind" which from Greek, is metanoia and THAT word is rather loaded with meanings. Metanoia leads to a process of positive psychological rebuilding or healing and does not necessarily have the layers of heaviness, sorrow, or regret associated with the word repent. I wonder how many times, Biblically, there are instances of the word "repent" used when a state of metanoia is required. Hmmm. 

Mind. Blown.

This is going to change the way I think about repentance in general and "turning" away from bad habits. It also makes me feel differently about our Episcopal Confession of Sin found in the Book of Common Prayer. Here is that text:

Most merciful God,

we confess that we have sinned against you

in thought, word, and deed,

by what we have done,

and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart; 

we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. 

We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. 

For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, 

have mercy on us and forgive us; 

that we may delight in your will, 

and walk in your ways, 

to the glory of your Name. 

Amen.

Today, I'm also feeling this piece, the Canticle of "The Turning", an Irish tune, standing out in my thoughts so I will share it with you. It's actually not such a bad piece for Advent, although I slightly dislike both recordings. I have a unison version that I like so maybe we will sing it again soon at St. Paul's.

Recording 1.

Recording 2. 

AdventWord was created by SSJE (The Society of St. John the Evangelist) and is the Anglican Communion's Global Advent Calendar. I'm using it as a daily meditation, prayer, photo post, and a way to connect in spirit to millions during this season of light and hope. You can join me in creating your own. Just take a picture and post it with the day's AdventWord tags! Click HERE for their website and for their daily AdventWords.

#AdventWord #SSJE

#AdventWord #FORGIVE

Today's #AdventWord is #FORGIVE - December 2, 2015
I believe that just as we sometimes need to practice gratitude, we must learn to practice forgiveness. What does it mean to practice forgiveness? How can you do that? What must one experience to warrant the need for forgiveness and why on Earth would anyone create situations just to practice it? How about we use "we" as a personally connecting word, so that if we see something that concerns us, we can consider forgiveness. I don't have superb answers...these are just a few of my elementary thoughts on the words forgive and forgiveness. I have MUCH to read and learn....and practice.
What comes to my mind is the June, 2015 incident in my beloved hometown of Charleston, SC - the shooting at Emanuel A.M.E. Church. As I was driving from Charleston to Columbia to visit friends after visiting my mother, I was struck with profound sadness and tears at hearing accounts from folks all over the area calling into a local radio station. I actually had to pull over and take a few moments to cry and to listen. I cannot imagine what the victims' families were experiencing and I haven't lived in Charleston for several years, but it still greatly affected me. In discussing the shooting which had occurred the evening before, there were many tears and many angry statements. What hit me even more than this was the absolute and deeply connecting love from Charlestonians who had woven themselves together as a tapestry after hurricane Hugo in 1989. All backgrounds, all statuses, etc. coming together. This was coming across from the callers. It was an unspoken bond, yet with their support and love for Emanuel and the city itself, the bond was louder than anything else. I was so proud of my city. It would not become, as some news sources seemed to try and manufacture, a breeding ground for a racial debate or any another battle. Charleston is a unified city. I'm in a unique position having experienced this and then seeing it these past ten years here in New Orleans after Katrina. Both places, very dear to my heart, have become wells of hope for the true meaning of the word community and all the positive trappings that come with that.

The Battery Palmettos, Charleston, SC. Photo: Caroline Carson, 

Love to the victims, love to Emanuel, love of God, love for Charleston, and knowing that LOVE will save us. Later that week, I watched on TV as the victims' families publicly stated their forgiveness of the shooter. I did not even know what to make of it. I mean, HOW IN THE WORLD does one forgive so quickly?! 

The timing seemed almost as unfathomable as the shooting itself. 

Realizing that they forgave, out loud and to all, this shooter - who had infiltrated and betrayed the very heart of their church's hospitable and open environment, well.......wow. It was probably the most powerful statement of modern forgiveness that I have ever really personally felt. This forgiveness needed the first step to be a leap of blind faith. It needed to be said, regardless of whether or not it would be immediately felt. It would come. 

Forgiveness does come. It is both unnerving and comforting. Do we deserve forgiveness? I think we do and maybe we should begin with allowing ourselves to forgive, even blindly at first.

I offer this quote from C.S. Lewis "To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you."

AdventWord was created by SSJE (The Society of St. John the Evangelist) and is the Anglican Communion's Global Advent Calendar. I'm using it as a daily meditation, prayer, and a way to connect in spirit to millions during this season of light and hope. You can join me in creating your own. Just take a picture and post it with the day's AdventWord tags! Click HERE for their website and for their daily AdventWords.
#AdventWord #SSJE 

#AdventWord #GIVE

December 1, 2015 - Today's #AdventWord is #GIVE
Give someone joy! Smile, jump, hug, listen, love, ask, blow bubbles! In all of the giving OF yourself, remember to give TO yourself: health, time, love. BE the goodness of God to all.I believe that one of the most precious things one can give is his/her time. As for me, I am forever grateful to my friends, especially my closest, who have given me their time and taken moments to catch up with me, to laugh, to share an adventure, to listen, or to share their own lives. One of my goals each day is to see how I can be more giving and more loving. Think of how valuable time is. Think of how short our lives are and how we occasionally seem to have so little time. I think of all that God continues to give to us and my mind is blown! This Advent, I hope you will join me in an effort to occasionally slow down and reflect and to give of yourself and to yourself.
- Blow big bubbles......more JOY!

JOY in San Francisco, photo by Caroline Carson

AdventWord was created by SSJE (The Society of St. John the Evangelist) and is the Anglican Communion's Global Advent Calendar. I'm using it as a daily meditation, prayer, and a way to connect in spirit to millions during this season of light and hope. You can join me in creating your own. Click HERE for their website and for their daily AdventWords. Also, HERE is a link to the entire calendar of words. #SSJE 

#AdventWord #PROCLAIM

"Proclaim his glory among the nations and his wonders to all peoples!"
AdventWord was created by SSJE (The Society of St. John the Evangelist) and is the Anglican Communion's Global Advent Calendar. I'm using it as a daily meditation, prayer, and a way to connect in spirit to millions during this season of light and hope.
Click HERE for their website and for their daily AdventWords.

#AdventWord #PROCLAIM #SSJE

#AdventWord #WakeUp

Good morning and happy first day of ‪#‎Advent‬ (Sunday, November 29th, 2015) Today's ‪#‎AdventWord‬ word is ‪#‎Wakeup‬! I am going to be posting post the daily AdventWord, started by the SSJE (Society of St. John the Evangelist). It's an Anglican Communion Global Advent Calendar. I'll be posting these via myself and the St. Paul's Episcopal Church in New Orleans' page (as well as Twitter & Instagram & this blog if I remember!) and I'll be using my own photographs. I hope you like them and maybe some of you will participate with your own AdventWord creations! 
Love, peace, and blessings to you all this season of hope and light! 
[Photo: Carson, "Frenchmen St. Sunrise"] ‪#‎Episcopal‬ ‪#‎Anglican‬ ‪#‎EDOLA‬

Photo by Caroline Carson

Choir of St. Paul's Episcopal, New Orleans Sings for St. Bernard Project Event: Nun's Build

My wonderful, sweet choir at St. Paul's Episcopal did SUCH A FANTASTIC JOB last night singing at a St. Bernard Project community event held at the Knights of Columbus Hall. The event was a thank you dinner for Nun's Build for their week of disaster recovery construction work in New Orleans. Nuns Build is comprised of dedicated sisters and non-Nun friends from across the US. I'm so proud of this wonderful, dedicated, and super-talented choir! GREAT WORK, ALL! Thanks to a former choir member, working for the St. Bernard Project, for inviting us!

We sang: I'm Gonna Rise by Paul Marsena, Away in a Manger (both the William Kirkpatrick and Norman traditional tunes), and Andrae Crouch's Soon and Very Soon - all some of our "lighter" repertoire :-)

i thank You God for most this amazing day

I THANK YOU GOD FOR MOST THIS AMAZING

Photo I took in 2013 at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

     
                                          i thank You God for most this amazing

                                          day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees

                                          and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything

                                          which is natural which is infinite which is yes

                                          (i who have died am alive again today,

                                          and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth

                                          day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay

                                          great happening illimitably earth)

                                          how should tasting touching hearing seeing

                                          breathing any–lifted from the no

                                          of all nothing–human merely being

                                          doubt unimaginable You?

                                          (now the ears of my ears awake and

                                           now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

-- e.e. cummings (1894-1962)
#poetry #gratitude #thanks #Nature #nola #Episcopal

Poem found at: http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2013/10/26

And here is a GORGEOUS choral composition written by Eric Whitacre (b. 1970) sung by The Stanford Chamber Chorale and the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, under the direction of Stephen Layton. * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMbSY7b0fuM

Louisiana ACDA Fall Vocal Conference 2015

I'm having that weird, yet awesome butterfly-filled feeling of the calm (sort of....ok not really calm, LOL) before a joyful & exciting storm of choral goodness! Our state ACDA convention begins tomorrow! Everyone has worked so hard to prepare and there will be TONS of energized students in the honor choirs who will have an absolute blast working with our marvelous clinicians! I'm really looking forward to a fantastic time for everybody and I am so proud of what the students, teachers, chairs, coordinators, and executive board are all doing in our state! LET'S DO THIS!!!!! ‪#‎ACDA‬‪#‎LAACDA‬ ‪#‎NOLA‬ ‪#‎Louisiana‬ ‪#‎Music‬ ‪#‎Choirs‬

http://laacda.info/

OUR FABULOUS CLINICIANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahhhhh, Fall :-)

Ahhhh, Fall.......

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, New Orleans, Louisiana, EDOLA                       

My NOLA at #K10

My few words on this day where many are having indescribable feelings and experiences are surely of little comfort and even simple bearing on any, save myself, but I do feel moved to share some of my observations.
I was not here during hurricane Katrina. I was in Milledgeville, GA, watching with great stress what was about to happen and what did happen. Though I'll never understand exactly what NOLA went through, I did understand some and it hurt because, being from Charleston and having experienced our massive devastation of hurricane Hugo in 1989, I understood what many in land-locked places had never experienced. I felt, as many "outsiders" did, helpless to do or say anything that would or could make any positive difference. That year, I had my Central HS choirs give performance benefits to raise money for Ben Franklin HS, not knowing that 9 months after this day, I would have signed a contract at UNO and be making three trips to New Orleans to search for scarce housing. There were boats and refrigerators and half of some houses in the streets. Charleston had prepared me for this. What it couldn't prepare me for was having students who returned throughout the year, some of whom came home in September to find to skeletons of "lost" family members dead in their own houses. It couldn't prepare me for the anger that so many felt and (and feel) and shared quite openly at the drop of a hat. It could not prepare me for the blank eyes of shock and the thread of hopelessness that was still here. Many thought I was crazy to move here after what you were going through and the full aftermath of wrongs that befell the city's residents (insurance, dislocation, despair, U.S. FAILS, etc.) and wondered if I'd be here long. I wondered too.
I came.
I stayed.
I learned.
I watched. I watched as you picked up your feet and began walking again. I watched and participated as the city stumbled and grabbed hold of its spirit again. It may sound silly, but I feel like I saw a haze in your eyes lifted after about six years. I've seen you smile again (especially on the streets after the Superbowl win!). You rose from it all into a resurrected and thriving city full of returned and vibrant communities. There is much work still to be done, but we do it together. One of the things I appreciated seeing around facebookland this week was that while "Katrina was big, God is bigger."
New Orleans is home to me.
I was welcomed and accepted (even my puns) smile emoticon
I absolutely love living here and it was the best move I've ever made! It is a noble, crazy, cultured, inclusive, and exciting city. It has been broken and yet it stands the test of time with grace. I hope to do that too! (Photo taken on my first drive through the ninth ward the first week I got here) ‪#‎Katrina10‬‪ #K10 #Katrina

#GC78 - An Alternate View: 'Twas the Night Before Synod

'Twas the night before Synod and all through the house....
Was an air of excitement and actually some Strauss (Richard, not kidding)
As I laid out my jammies in my carry-on bag
I thought to myself, it's starting to sag...

Would there be room? I hoped it'd be so
For to Synod without it, I could not dare go
My GC ring binder, yes that big ole thing
It has to come with me, this new kind of bling.

So I made room and stuffed it, thank goodness it fits
And now, all checked in, on my sofa I sits.
Pondering GC, psyched for all things new
I plan on sharing An Alternate View :-) 

(and a-plenty of deplorably-written poetry)

It is indeed the evening before I head to my very first Province IV Synod meeting as I type this. I'm excited! Being from South Carolina and familiar with the North Carolina mountains and areas such as, Hendersonville, Asheville, Highlands, Cashiers, etc. it is amazing to be that I've never been to Kanuga. I decided to go up a day before the Province IV Synod meeting begins and have a look around, take some photos, and just chill out in the rainy mountain air. I'm very honored and excited to have the wonderful opportunity to be a first alternate for the Diocese of Louisiana (EDOLA) for the Episcopal General Convention 2015 ( #GC78 ) For the past three years, I've been involved at the diocesan level, representing St. Paul's Episcopal, New Orleans as a delegate for our diocesan convention. For two of those years, I've helped with the music and have been a member of the convention planning committee. I also had the great fortune to help out with photography and enjoyed tweeting the conventions. I have LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT! 
This year, we had an ordination at the opening convention Eucharist - wonderful!

Photo by Caroline Carson

Here's a link to a few of my EDOLA 2015 photos on Flickr
Here are some from EDOLA 2014

So how am I going to #GC78? Last year, at the last minute, my name was put in for an election of lay alternates to GC78. I wasn't elected, but I did get something like 16 votes, which was AMAZING. Rock on. The following day, there was some sort of run-off and I was not present, but my name ended up in the mix and I was elected to be a second alternate! This past January, a change in deputation allowed for me to move up to first alternate so I am ELATED to be able to go and work, officially! The money I had saved up last year to "go no matter what" is now being used to return to India on mission in Mungeli so I am truly TRULY blessed beyond belief in many ways!
The areas I chose to examine are Liturgy & Music and Communications. Because our diocesan communications officer is not able to go in person, she has media credentials off site and will be doing the bulk of the work from New Orleans. I am honored to help in anyway that I can, gathering "human interest" stories, tweeting, and taking tons of photographs. I'll also be blogging some of my photographs and moments from GC here.
I made sure to attend the Episcopal Communicators conference at The Claggett Center this April. It was truly fabulous and everyone I met has been both helpful and super friendly! I have a few interviews set up and will be interviewing our Bishop Morris K. Thompson while in NC at the Synod meeting! See? IT'S ALL EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!
Stay tuned...

Send Out Your Light and Your Truth

“Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill 
and to your dwelling.” Psalm 43:3

#Episcopal #BCP #EDOLA #Psalms #light #sanctuary

Riding in the Krewe of Cleopatra!

Retro-post: A look back at Mardi gras 2015! (from Feb.) For three years now, I have had the great pleasure of riding in the New Orleans Mardi gras Krewe of Cleopatra. The first time was when I turned 40 and many of my friends here got together and paid for my membership in the group! How FANTASTIC! Two of my friends also just happened to have a garage full of boxes of beads which they wanted get rid of....so I could actually buy some things like stuffed animals and other items to throw from the float. The krewe was extremely friendly and I got to have a spot next to three of my friends. The ride was AMAZING! I felt like a rock star!

video - I can't find my video, but will keep looking!

I skipped a year and then the Cleopatra parade last year (2014) became an Uptown parade instead of rolling on the West Bank of NOLA. Wow, what a change! This year, we were still an Uptown parade route and it was my third time riding! SO. MUCH. FUN.

Our party at Generations Hall began around noon on Friday, Feb. 6 and we didn't begin to load the floats until 4/4:30. By then, many of us had been eating, dancing, and enjoying refreshing beverages since 12/1:00! :-) Wheeeeeee!

We got to Tchoupitoulas Street and halfway down it when our float, 8-A had a flat tire. The policemen circled our float on their motorcycles (a bit like sharks, LOL). Soon after it wa sfixed, we continued our route down Tchoup, up Jefferson, over Magazine, up Napoleon, and finally to St. Charles. 

This year, it was a bit cold and I didn't see more than a few of my students and friends out, but it was still insanely fun! 

When you're on the ground attending a parade and actually trying to catch some of the "throws", you want to avoid ladders and children, but when you're on the float, there is nothing you can do to lessen the cute attack and you cannot help but give your stuffed animals and spears or hearts or flowers to the kids! It's adorable! I try to look for folks standing off by themselves, perhaps thinking they can't find a spot up at the front or maybe just watching and taking it all in. I try to throw them something that lights up or a cool signature throw.

If you've never done this sort of thing, I highly recommend it - its a TON of fun and the Mardi gras ball the Krewe throws is FANTASTIC! A fancy night of being social, seeing the lieutenants and captains and other "officers" being introduced, excellent food, open bar, and lots of dancing!

The Random Hand in the Street

The other day, while driving, I stopped at the intersection of Elysian Fields Ave and Claiborne Ave in NOLA. It was the sunny part of the day and a bit windy, but not too much. Suddenly, a blue hand came rolling across the intersection and was soon heading toward my car. It was bouncing along like it had a purpose and it struck me as SO HILARIOUS! It looked like it had something in it so as not to let it become picked up by the wind and carried far away or float like a balloon, but it wasn't completely filled with liquid. I could tell by the way it was bouncing. LOL! Such a random and strange occurrence and in a short blip of time, the light turned green and I was on my way, the blue hand only in my memory to ponder the nature of its journey and existence.