How Do You See God?

On my way to Newport News this morning I saw a sign saying there were wind restrictions on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.  Not a problem for me since I wasn't going that far, but it was an indication of weather conditions in the area.  50 degrees with 15-20 mile an hour winds makes for very chilly outdoor sitting.  Brrr...  When I first arrived at CNU I considered sitting inside, but I ran into one of the staff who booed me when I said I thought it was too cold to be outside.  So I decided to give it a try.  I was bundled up in a base layer, clergy shirt and CNU sweatshirt with my down coat, scarf, gloves, and a prayer shawl for a lap blanket.  The blanket made all the difference in keeping my legs warm. 

Breathe in peace.  Breathe out love.  I started the new breathing exercise that my therapist has taught me.  Breathe in peace.  Breathe out love.  As I began praying for the campus, a young woman walked up to me with two beverages in her hand.  "Would you like a hot chocolate?" she said and held out one of the cups.  "Yes, I would," I told her.  "Thank you."  Gratefully I wrapped my gloved hands around the warm drink.  "I heard you say you were cold," she said as she headed off to class.  Wow.  These students are so thoughtful and generous.  I wonder if they are on all campuses, or if there's something special here at CNU.  I certainly wasn't that thoughtful when I was in college.

One of the Canterbury students brought her lunch out to eat with me, and we had a good conversation.  Tonight the group is having dinner together at Scott Baker's house.  When he's not busy priesting, he loves to cook.  I've heard rumors of tortellini soup and lasagna, and I made pumpkin and pecan pies.  It should be a fun evening, and 8 students are coming with me!  We're fortifying them for their exams next week.

One of the students from another campus ministry came over and brought me some more hot chocolate.  The CRU (Campus Crusade) students had a hot chocolate station in the Plaza today, while they were doing an evangelism experience.  My young friend invited me to go over so he could introduce me to the CRU team.  As people sipped hot chocolate, they were invited into conversation about some images that had been attached to a posterboard.  I understand that the images came from mysoularium.com.  The CRU students asked a series of questions about the images including:
Which three images would you choose to describe your life right now?
Which three images describe what you wish were in your life right now?
Which image would you choose to describe God?
and a few more. 
We had a fun time picking our images and saying why we had chosen them.  It was a great way to get conversation going, and I may use it with the Canterbury students or at SpiritWorks.  I talked for awhile with the student who asked me the questions and ended up saying a prayer with him, too.  He and his girlfriend want to be medical missionaries one day.  When I was in college I just wanted to get through exams!

Later on another student I know came up, clearly feeling the stress of the end of the semester.  He didn't have time to linger, so I offered him a hug.  Someone who I think is a professor rode by on a bicycle and asked for prayers for a person suffering with cancer.  For awhile I watched some men in a cherry-picker lift thingy putting up the big Christmas tree in the middle of the Great Lawn and fixing a giant star on the top - it will be lit Sunday night.  I had to keep shifting the station to stay in the sun but the shade rapidly overtook me, and finally I gave up and retreated to the campus coffee shop.  I had made it my full time, though, with a brief break inside for a pit stop and my usual visit to the OSA office.  The student aid there will be studying abroad in London next semester, so I was glad to get a chance to say good-bye to her and offer blessings for her next adventure. 

It may have been chilly and windy at the prayer station today, but the warmth of the students more than made up for it.  Whatever else it may be, Advent is the Season of Hope.  Spending time with the CNU students fills me with hope.

The Wind Wins

It was windy Thursday at the Plaza Prayer Station.  15-20 mph said my weather channel app.  After days of sweating in the sun, I had a foretaste of the chilly days to come.  A couple of students and a couple of staff people dropped by to talk.  One staff person who had visited a few times last year was part of a singing group that was preparing a CD to send off to the Grammy's that night.  He was so excited to share the news.  Another staff person wanted to talk about the big Plaza drama that happened last week when a street preacher came to CNU - that's another post.  The staff person
kept saying, "I think God loves all of us."  Yes, I agree.

My great disappointment Thursday was when I went in to visit the folks in the Office of Student Activities.  Visiting them was great, but when I returned, the wind had knocked over my sign.  The "How May I Pray for You?" part broke - not just the frame this time, but one of the little dowels that allows it to sit on top of the other sign broke right off. :(  Scott thinks the sexton at St. Stephen's may be able to fix it - I hope so!

Thursday was also a CNU Farmer's Market day.  Vendors come out from 3-6 on Thursday afternoons in good weather and offer their wares to the CNU community.  Pizzas, breads, fresh vegetables, tacos from the food truck, kettle corn, baked goods, jewelry, and someone brings the biggest bunny you've ever seen.  It gives the campus a festive feel.  I had wanted to have one of the pizzas for dinner, but they left before I got there.  It's fun to stroll around looking at the offerings and listening to the music provided by students.  Next week - I'm getting a pizza!

We had two new students at the group Thursday night - seems like we're growing just a bit.  Grateful...

View from the Plaza Prayer Station: When the Wind Blows

The wind is not my friend.  At least not at CNU.  And it is always windy at CNU!  At least twice now it has been so windy that the incredibly heavy prayer station sign has blown over as it sat in front of the chapel.  The wind off the nearby river combined with the way the buildings are situated creates quite a wind tunnel in areas of campus.  Unfortunately the knocking down of the sign has caused the top portion where it says, "How may I pray for you?" to become separated from its frame.  As I carried it to the Plaza yesterday, the top part came off in my hand while the rest slid out to the ground.  I can no longer put the small part of the sign on top of the large part.  So, yesterday I just leaned it up against the sandwich board part of the sign.  I'm hoping I can glue it all back together, good as new, but I guess on windy days I need to take that top part off anyway so that it doesn't act as a sail.

The sun was warm and the temp was near 50, but the wind made it brutal at times.  Still, I wanted to be outside, and daylight savings means that the sunlight stays on the Plaza the whole time I'm there now.  More students were outside, and I was amazed at the shorts and sleeveless dresses.  I had on long johns under my layers plus coat, scarf and gloves!  I wouldn't have needed all that if I'd been moving around, but just sitting made me a prime target for the cold wind.  There was a career day on campus, so many of the students were dressed up - but I think they had gotten their seasons confused!  A few skateboard dudes zoomed around, but not the ones I know.  I received a couple of prayer requests and spent time with a few of the Canterbury students and exchanged hellos and smiles with many passing by.  Apparently it was Appreciation of Women Day at CNU because at one point a young man came over and handed me a red carnation.  When I asked someone later what it meant, she told me it was for appreciation of women.  I had noticed women walking around with flowers.  Nice!  I put mine on top of the sign.

I have to admit that I wasn't thinking very kindly of the wind much of the day.  And yet, I don't always dislike wind.  In the summer I love how it helps keep things cooler, and when I'm warm enough in other seasons, I enjoy how the wind feels against my face.  Often I think of the wind as being the breath of God.  Ruah in Hebrew:  breath, spirit, wind.  I imagined my prayers on the breath of God, and asked God to carry blessings of love, peace, comfort, and strength on the wind as it blew through campus.  I have written about my desire to start a blessing ministry here, and yesterday I decided I wanted to try it out.  So when a student I know made a prayer request, I said a prayer, and then I offered a blessing as well.  I hope I have more opportunities to do that.  Of course, with the constant wind, I can always imagine blessings blowing out from the Plaza and swirling about the campus.

In other news, the new Admin building is nearing completion.  It will be known as Christopher Newport Hall.