A Post About What? Liberty, Dreams and Hope.

New York Liberty’s Plenette Pierson (33) center, protects the ball as Chinese National’s Xu Nuo (16), left, defends during their WNBA basketball game on Friday, May 27, 2011, at Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Last night, Mark, Erica and I went to see the New York Liberty play the Chinese National Women’s Basketball team (no great link available) at a WNBA exhibition game at the Times Union Center here in Albany. We have seen The Conneticut Sun play at Mohegan Sun before; we like women’s basketball games.

I was struck by something as I watched the game and took note of a group of girls who sat behind the basket and cheered the game with tremendous enthusism. As a 53, almost 54 year old woman, the scene before me was something that I would have never seen as a child.

In say, 1970, when I was 13, there was no such thing as a professional women’s basketball league. Women? Professional sports? Tennis, gymnastics, swimming, figure skating were around, but not baseball, basketball, etc. Yes of course, we have all seen A League of Their Own, but that was a moment in time. An important moment and one that would have impact later, but not just yet.

In any event, I wanted to be a hockey player when I was a kid. Today I have friends who play women’s ice hockey, but at that time, I kept my dirty little pucked up secret to myself. I went skating as often as I could and each time I laced up my white figure skates, I longed for black hockey skates, a helmet and a stick. The strong desire of it – almost sexual in nature, it was that potent – would make me blush to myself and I would stuff it down as I headed off to skate nicely in circles with the other girls.

Then there was the matter of the racial integration, a matter that was (and sadly still is in many ways) working itself out in the 60′s and early 70′s. To see the NY Liberty, women, both black and white was very moving to me.

Let’s add the third thing in – playing the Chinese national team. I recall Nixon’s trip to China in 1972… It was a big deal, but when I was 10, 11, 12, 13… none of this had happened yet. China was still a monster of a country, “communists!” We had to almost hiss that word out between our teeth, lest it sound like something we might want to become. Considering the communist threat was like seeing a swarm of ants about to overtake that piece of potato chip that fell to the ground at the picnic.  Watch out! They will consume!

So here I was, watching an event that simply could not have taken place when I was a girl.  This made looking over at the 12 year old girls who are members of the AAU basketball team, Lady Dreams. all the richer.

Members of the Lady Dreams AAU basketball team for 12-year-olds cheer for the New York Liberty WNBA team as they play Chinese National on Friday, May 27, 2011, at Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

The kids were so excited and really seemed to enjoy every minute of the game. And a fine game it was, although at the start, NY seemed a bit slow and the Chinese so nimble. The Chinese women did not look muscular or toned, but they were fast, agile and made great shots. Come the second half however, and wow did things change. The Liberty took off and ended up winning 79-65.

If you have never seen a WNBA game, I do recommend one. Even if you are not a basketball fan, I can’t tell you what a joy it is to watch these women on the court. They are there with passion and I say that both in general and with specificity to each particular game. I am also keenly aware that this appears to be a truly team sport… one does not see individual superstars but the efforts of a group of women with a common goal. It is fantastic and a fresh breeze in the culture of individual mega-stars of sports and otherwise.

Today, Mark McGuire of the Times Union wrote a fine piece about last night’s event. It was entitled, Those in the stands the real story. I was sad – and was aware of it last night, that there was little press coverage. Mark (my husband) noticed Mark (the journalist) because he knows him professionally. There was a photographer from my Mark’s TV station. It was clear that this was not a big event.

(I took this with my phone; we were in the first row, not far from the NY Liberty bench.)

Yet, it was a big event for those of us who were there. The cheering was evident and the excitement of the crowd, including and most especially, the kids of the Lady Dreams.

Another fine moment was watching a little girl, all the way on the other side of the arena, dance with wild abandon, as well as real talent, during half-time. She just got her tiny self into the aisle and when the music played, she moved. Such joy, such life! That is liberty, isn’t it? 

So what is the point of all this? In my own slow-moving and long winded way I am writing about liberty, dreams and hope.

In 1970 none of what I watched in 2011 would have been possible, yet here I was enjoying it all. It reminded me that there is no worse enemy than my own discouragement.

Pay attention, (you knew that there had to be a religious point in here somewhere, right?) signs of the resurrection are everywhere. Even at the TU Center when the NY Liberty plays China.

We Have Nothing

I was reading Claire’s blog this morning and she quoted Jessica Powers. Powers was a Carmelite nun and poet; you can read more about her at this link.

Reading Powers’ words suddenly drew me back to another chapter of my life; one early in my return to Church. A then-priest then-friend of mine gave me a book of Jessica Powers’ poetry and this helped me to find my way when I felt lost.

Then I went looking around and found this gem.

If You Have Nothing

The gesture of a gift is adequate.

If you have nothing: laurel leaf or bay

no flower, no seed, no apple gathered late,

do not in desperation lay

the beauty of your tears upon the clay.

No gift is proper to a Deity;

no fruit is worthy for such power to bless.

If you have nothing, gather back your sigh,

and with your hands held high, your heart held high,

lift up your emptiness!

-Jessica Powers, OCD

We have nothing, that is for certain. All is gift, all is from God. And no gift is proper for such a generous God.

So today, I will simply do as Powers’ suggests; I will gather my sigh, hold my hands and my heart up and reveal that great emptiness to this great God that brings us from nothing to everything.

Thanks be to God.

A Sunday Reflection

Today is the Fifth Sunday of Easter; we had 18 children making First Eucharist at the 4pm Mass on Saturday here at St. Edward the Confessor, Clifton Park. It was really beautiful to behold!

A number of things came to me as I read and studied the readings for today. In the First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we hear this:

As the number of disciples continued to grow,
the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews
because their widows
were being neglected in the daily distribution.

What a reminder that the Acts of the Apostles is such a rich treasure of church history. It is so easy to get lost in imagining a church like our own – well except for electricity and all! No – in all seriousness, we must constantly remind ourselves that the early church was so very different from what we live today. 

First of all, this reading is clear in reminding us that this early church was not separate, but part of Judaism! Do we really allow ourselves to consider that fully?  And as the followers of Jesus spread, the Hellenists, or those of Greek culture, became part of this new movement that was becoming a church.

Another thing that comes to mind is that the ministry of deacon, which is addressed in the reading, is a ministry of outward facing service.

In the second reading, a most beautiful one from St. Peter, we hear these beautiful words…

Beloved:
Come to him, a living stone, rejected by human beings
but chosen and precious in the sight of God,
and, like living stones,
let yourselves be built into a spiritual house
to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

We are the living stones… the church is not a building but a people. This people – that would be us – become church, we are church. We are living stones! We are also reminded that the stone that was rejected, that would be Jesus Christ, became the cornerstone.

Then our Gospel, our beautiful Gospel from John:

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God; have faith also in me.
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places.
If there were not,
would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?

I don’t know about you, but when I read and heard this I thought about the news that dominated the world for days… The prediction that said that the world would end on May 21, 2011 at 6pm.

Oh I could write page upon page about this sad event. The original prediction by Harold Camping, which said the world would end in 1994, only impacted a small number of his followers. When it did not come, he recalculated and came up with May 21. Only this time, he had the power of the internet and all other media that had this thing going and going.

If you watched WNYT Newschannel 13 on Friday, you may have seen reporter Abigail Bleck presenting this apocalypse story. (In full disclosure, my husband Mark Szpylczyn works at Newschannel 13, but he did not work on this story.) Abigail interviewed Fr. Bob Longobucco, pastor of St. Helen’s in Niskayuna. Father Bob said, among other things:

Like Harold Camping, all Christians are waiting for the second coming of Jesus. But “Father Bob” suggests it won’t happen like Camping predicts.


“When He came the first time He came in love and generosity. I can’t believe He’s coming differently the second time.”

Jesus came in love and generosity. Amen! And why would that be different this time? Amen! 

So, getting back to the Gospel, isn’t that what Jesus is talking about now? Look at what Jesus said – do not be troubled or afraid! There are many dwelling places!

Jesus speaks to us with love, in hope and filled with generosity and mercy.

As I look back over these readings and consider the message of this Sunday I am heartened and grateful. Serve others. Be Church. Have hope.

And what could be better than all of that? 

***A serious prayer request** Please do pray for the followers of Harold Camping. Many, many people took him seriously and stopped working, spent money to help spread the word about 5/22, and more. They must be crushed and if not, they are still potentially financially ruined. Just read about the Carson family chronicled, among others, in this article. 

I did a lot of online joking about this event, but when I read that, I realized that it is not always funny. My friend Michael Dresbach, an Episcopal priest living in Panama also had some very worthwhile reflections to read along these lines. He blogs as Padre Mickey and you can read him here.

Signs of Life

We do not exist for ourselves alone, and it is only when we are fully convinced of this fact that we begin to love ourselves properly and thus also love others. What do I mean by loving ourselves properly? I mean, first of all, desiring to live, accepting life as a very great gift and a great good, not because of what it gives us, but because of what it enables us to give to others. Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island

(It does not take long after the earth is scorched for green to reappear.)

Yes, I am still alive. I have really and truly neglected this little bloggy piece of real estate and I am so sorry. Is anyone even out there anymore? Yoo hoo!

I can’t blame anyone for leaving, I have essentially ignored you. But not on purpose! If you are still here – thank you, thank you!

What a strange year this has been… One full of grace, yet one full of – well full of all the things that make grace. The gifts have been many, but the road to get there has not been smooth.

One year ago I was generally feeling unwell and in early July I entered the hospital, via that oh-so-fun-at-2am ER route. Good Lord, what was I thinking? Not in going to the ER, what was I thinking in ignoring my health and the pain I had been in?

That ate up most of the summer and then poof- it was fall and I was taking two grad school classes. Let’s file that under the “mistakes were made” file because it really kicked my you know what and I was not really recovered yet. Add to that other activities, the women’s retreat group at St. Edward’s, general life matters and so forth.

It’s ok, I’m cool – that is what I was thinking anyway.

Then the holidays zoomed by and I really felt sad about not fully enjoying them as I might have. It’s ok, I’m cool. Did I really think that?

I did.

Fine, now it is January and I’m going to get it together! I have somehow (foolishly) registered for two classes again. After class #1 of the first class, I knew I would not do well in it, so I dropped it. (I was not, as the saying goes, “feelin’ it.”) The very next day I drop the class… awesomeness!

Two weeks later my sister-in-law, Mark’s sister Olga, has surgery.

Then everything changes… she is going to die.

It is at this point that I really began to abandon the blog, which is understandable. What I also abandoned however, was my writing. What’s wrong with me? One needs nutrition, sleep and exercise. In my life, I also need writing.

As some of you know, Olga died in March. We have continued to deal with this, an event which has had enormous reverberations, practical, spiritual, emotional, financial reverberations, in an on-going way. We do so clinging tightly to one another. Remember that grace part I mentioned at the beginning.

So here we are, slightly out of step calendar-wise but totally in step with otherwise, the Easter journey. Life, death, resurrection, new life. Lather, rinse, repeat.

About that Thomas Merton quote at the top. Isn’t that what life is? If I have learned anything in this past year it is this – life is more about what we give to others. That sounds pretty simplistic. It is anything but.

So I am going to try to work my way back here. I am still over-committed, but working on whittling that down. Priorities must be re-established. I need to try to remember to breath. I can do this.

But I can’t do it without you. I hope you are still there. Signs of life from here… are you there? I’m still here, I know someone is there. Thanks be to God!