Daily Walk Archives - Page 5 of 6 - The Rev. Kenneth Allen

End of the Road Interrupted

August 10, 2011

I hate to interrupt the highly interesting and relevant photo journey I had started just the other day but, you see, I must. I’m visiting family in Birmingham and had a highly interesting day. Cousin Pat helped bring great clarity to my family’s assorted photo albums, for starters.

A highlight today was the Who Shot Rock and Roll exhibit at the Birmingham Museum of Art. Loved it. Here’s a review.

Also, we saw The Help. Loved it. Review to follow.

Had some awesome bar-b-q, and a great dinner.

The strangest point of the day was seeing someone get gunned down by an auto, seemingly on purpose. It was a strange, and traumatizing affair; I get the feeling I’ll be revisiting that.

All in all a full day, a great day.

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never
come to an end; they are new every morning. . .”
Lamentations 3:22-23

“The fruit of the spirit is love, joy and peace.
Galatians 5:22

iScrabble

July 30, 2011

Hi, my name is Kenneth, and I’m a Scrabblaholic.

About a year ago I got an iPhone. Then, I discovered the Scrabble ap.

And I’ve played the computer 718 times since then. It’s been very enjoyable.

This is a typical game. It always called to me and beckoned before sleep arrived. I would force it away and stick to my prayers.

Ridiculously, I kept Norm1 set to ‘Moderate’ skill level, so I would be assured of a win while I practiced.

Isn’t that ridiculous? I also headed over to wineverygame.com where I learned lots of new words. That’s completely not ridiculous.

Here is another one. There’s nothing more frustrating than having a seven letter word and no place to play it!

Except maybe when you cleverly play an actual two letter word like ‘oe’, and quickly learn that you’re play is completely invalid. (Zito.) Complete deflation.

Still, there had to be more of a challenge aside from bumping Norm1’s skill level to difficult. (And when he’s difficult, he’s very difficult.)

So a week or so ago I took the plunge and started playing actual people. Norm1 took it very well. I’ve blocked out the other player’s name here; anonymity is key for Scrabblaholics.

Although to be fair, the person I was playing is hardly a Scrabblaholic.

Here you get actual sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat type action at the drop of a hat. This game was a tie down to the last two letters. I had a measly ‘i’ and was concerned. I was totally caught up in the rush of it all and was completely not counting letters, so had no clue what my opponent had. Though obviously he didn’t have the ‘z’ or the ‘q’. Or the ‘x’.

Teacher is grinning from ear to ear over the word ‘in’, which I had made with my second to last letter, also an ‘i’. Things are bad when that’s enough to elicit such a reaction from Teacher.

He passed! Couldn’t play at all.

So I played my ‘i’ in the lower left hand corner and squeaked in to the victor’s circle.

Poor sap had the ‘k’. And I got gold stars and twinkles.

Loser!

I mean… excuse me, I mean… winning or losing isn’t everything, it’s how you play the game.

Isn’t it? Every word’s a winner?

I’m bumping up Norm1’s skill level to difficult, just in case. And resetting the game stats. My recent games have been unbelievably fortunate when it comes to letter picks. The other player there is brilliant.

All in all, the brightness of the interface is a bit too bright for me late at night, so I’ve calmed down and taken to reading again before sleep arrives. Although, surely just one game before bed wouldn’t hurt…

Liesure, a spiritual need, is always enhanced by a good game of Scrabble. But not by too many.

An Examen from Daily Prayer

July 22, 2011

I often pray the prayers from the Daily Missal, which I’ve mentioned here, one of which is ‘An Act of Adoration’.

Here is a part of that prayer:

Adorable Jesus! divine Pattern of that perfection to which we should all aspire, I will endeavor this day to follow Thine example: to be mild, humble, chaste, zealous, patient, charitable and resigned. … I am resolved to watch over myself with the greatest diligence, and to live soberly, justly and piously, for the time to come. I will take care of my words, that I may not offend with my toungue. I will turn away eyes, that they may not see vanity; and I will be particularly, attentive not to relapse this day into my accustomed failings, but to struggle against them with my heart, … Amen.

I would write the whole thing down, but I’d hate to break copyright laws.

From that beautiful prayer though, we can gather a list of things to bring to mind either before Confession, or even as a simply nightly examen.

Have I been:

Mild? Or have I been wild?
Humble? Or Proud?
Chaste? Or given to lascivious thoughts?
Zealous? Or stiff necked and tepid in my fervor for wholeness of spirit?
Patient? Or an ass?
Charitable? Or merciless?
Resigned? Or filled with thoughts of avoidance when it comes to prayer, and doing Thy Holy Will?
Have I watched over myself with the greatest diligence? Or sacked out in front of the TV like a rutabaga?
Have I lived soberly? Or have I given my thoughts and emotions free reign with no temperance or wisdom?
Have I lived justly?
Have I lived piously?
Have I taken care of my words? Or offended with my toungue?
Have I turned away my eyes from what is evil, or have I looked upon vanity?
Have I relapsed this day into my accustomed failings, or struggled against them with my all my heart?

…

And this begs the question, what are my accustomed failings?

Have I hurt anyone in thought, word or deed, or through neglect?

If I have truly loved the Lord my God, with all my heart and with all my mind, then my actions will have demonstrated that throughout the day. Is that the reality of things?

Have I loved my neighbor as myself?

Examens: it’s the simple things in life which can often make life seem so difficult.

Monday's a Blessing

February 21, 2011

I’ve been helping out from time to time by playing the organ at a Church downtown when I’m able and when they’re in need.

Buried amidst the windows in the loft, as is the case in most Church lofts, are windows that no one ever sees, but which tell some type of story which begs for more answers.

Like this window, picturing a Church engulfed in flames.

It’s not the kind of window you really want to put on the fourth floor, when this is the only way down.

Of course there are also the lengthy galleries, which occasion much walking to and fro between sets of stairs. That’s the cantor way over there, who’s walking upstairs to talk over music before I walk down stairs to discuss improvements to my cardio vascular health.

It’s a beautiful place, with small gardens here and there.

Later that night, this is hardly a great picture. But my shadow in the left, it’s looking like a tall version of Jabba the Hut with a camera. That also occasions discussions of my cardio-vascular health.

Monday ~~~ an awesome day for reflection to begin the week.