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Welcome to the Benedictine Cyber Toolbox |
Post-Power Outage Message
Hello everyone! On September 28th I had planned to set up the already written September-October issue of The Cyber Toolbox into Constant Contact and send it to you, but Hurricane Sandy intervened. The winds were incredible. I recall clinging to a door jamb in the dark as one fierce gust blew and blew. My husband and I were very fortunate, losing only a few shingles from the roof and a large tree limb, the latter of which fell on ground and not on anyone's house. We were without power for seven days and ended up driving to Pennsylvania to get gas to avoid the endless lines in our area. Randy my cat told me how puzzled he was with the darkness but that he did enjoy the candlelight dinners! He is concerned about the animals impacted by Sandy.
Our prayers are with those so devastated by Sandy, losing home and even loved ones. Let us continue to pray for them, for the people who are extending desperately needed help (my church is serving three meals a day to those without power in Summit, NJ), for those working to restore power and other utilities, and for the government and other agencies seeking to help people at this time.
I have chosen not to redo the newsletter I had written earlier in October, but send it out to you as I had written it. And as I write this message the snow is falling in huge flakes and the winds are picking up as Winter Storm Athena (Oh no. We now have names for winter storms??) picks up speed.
May God's peace be with you.
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A Newsletter for Benedictine Living Today
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September-October, 2012
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Upcoming Program
An Advent Quiet Day for Women
For details, click here
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Greetings!

Welcome to the
Benedictine Cyber Toolbox!
I'm so glad you're here to share in the quest for learning about and practicing the wisdom found in the Rule of St. Benedict.
Included in the newsletter is a testimonial of my own need to de-clutter, complete with pictures. I am counting on the admission of my clutter and efforts to remove it will inspire you to do the same. In checking his article, it seems as if my cat Randy and I have focused on the same topic in our personal articles - to live in the present moment. We can always use reminders to do this as it's easy to let ourselves live with heads turned backwards and one foot in the future, not very aerobically healthy! Hope you find the thoughts and suggestions helpful.
Be sure to visit my website at www.stbenedictstoolbox.org.
Enjoy the newsletter and God bless you!
Jane
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Visit Jane's New Website
Please take a moment or more to check out my new website.
Here are some quick links:
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Featured Article
MOMENTS OF GLORY
"What is more delightful that this voice of the Holy One calling to us?
See how God's life shows us the way of life." Prologue 19-20
ence. Who are your most important customers, clients or prospects, and why? Know what is important to the
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In her book The Cup of Our Life Joyce Rupp tells the story of author Jean Houston who, as a youth, went to hear a presentation by Helen Keller. After Keller, who is both blind and deaf, finished speaking, Houston got up and presented her face to Miss Keller. She described her experience this way: "She read my whole face and I blurted out: 'Miss Keller, why are you so happy?' and she laughed and laughed, saying: 'My child, it is because I live each day as if it were my last, and life, with all its moments, is so full of glory.'"[i] How stunning is THAT! Here is a woman who can nether see nor hear, yet she lives with a profound appreciation for life and with deep attention to the present moment, seeing the supreme grace held within those moments.
The truth is, I think, we so easily are blind to these moments of life so "full of glory." Perhaps we think that we'll look for them later before bed when we've done all our work, or tomorrow when we have more time or next summer when we go on vacation. In The Way of Our Passion: A Celebration of Rumi, Andrew Harvey writes that if we were really looking at this world, we would be moved a hundred times a day by the flowers at the side of the road, by the people we meet, and by all that brings us messages of our own goodness and the goodness of all things. I don't know about you, but I sure would like to live that way, noticing and embracing the goodness around me.
Benedict writes of this path to living deeply and fully in the chapter on "The Tools for Good Works" saying, "Day by day remind yourself that you are going to die. Hour by hour keep careful watch over all you do." 4.47-48 This is not a call to a morbid attitude towards life but
 | My husband John walking gratefully at Muir Woods near San Francisco. |
a reminder to both create and embrace what is good and holy, to make choices that are life-giving in who we are and in what we do. It's an urgent task. "Run while you have the light of life," Benedict calls out, "that the darkness of death may not overtake you." Prologue 13
To live fully in God's glory here and now doesn't require more time in the day or traveling somewhere else. Benedict declares that "the divine presence is everywhere." 19.1 No matter where we look, who we are with or what we are doing, the mystery of God-Ever-Present is there. We just need to "Open our eyes to the light that comes from God." (Prologue 8)
Take a moment to think about this: What if today was to be your last day on this good earth? How might you look, listen, touch, smell, taste? What would be different? Would you and I not be 1,000 times more alert, more observant, more caring, more open?
Rupp offers us a way to open our eyes to the glory saturating all of life, a way we can live today and be truly present to it and in it. The way is through thankfulness and gratitude. She explains that when she finds her thankfulness asleep she uses a special practice that helps reawaken her gratitude. She takes one of her five external senses each day and is attentive to it. She explains:
"One day I notice all the sounds that I hear; another day I pay close attention to everything I see, etc. Doing this helps me to move out of my tired approach to life. I restore my alertness to my daily gifts and begin again to see the universe as one vast blessing."[ii]
Sounds like a wonderful idea to me! It's not that we are ungrateful; we just get caught up in the rush of life and/or can just take everything for granted. Each of our senses can remind us that God's gifts are everywhere and call us back to the present moment that if "full of glory."
So look, sniff, listen, touch and taste...and be grateful! Check out the tool for this issue. Let your sense help you be present to the moments full of glory!
Jane
[i] Joyce Rupp, The Cup of Our Life,145.
© October 2012 The Rev. Dr. Jane A. Tomaine
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A Tool for Awakening Gratitude
Purpose of the Tool: To be present to the moment through the senses.
Background on the Tool: We need ways that we can open to the glory that is saturating all of life, especially when we are worried, tired, distracted or discouraged. Gratitude moves us out of the sometimes narrow confines of ourselves into a deep appreciation of all that has been given to us and to our connection with all that is around us.
The Tool: Here are several ways to open your heart and mind to gratitude.
The First Way - Use the approach offered by Joyce Rupp in the article of this newsletter. To reach the article if you are on the website, click on the link below this tool.
A Second Way - Set aside one hour today in full attentiveness as if you were about to leave this life and enter another. Then reflect on your experience.
And a Third Way - Take a Thanksgiving Walk This is a prayer of the senses where we pray using our senses as a vehicle of prayer.
Begin with your eyes. As you walk, look at and notice your surroundings. Let your eye really take in what you see. Notice what's around you in as much detail as you are drawn to - things that are close up, things that are far away, trees, flowers, the views, and so forth. As you walk and look, give God thanks for what you see. Give God thanks for the gift of sight. Pray for those who cannot see.
Then move through your senses-hearing, smell, touch-using the same format of noticing, giving thanks and praying for those who do not have hearing, smell, etc. (And...if you want to snack, you can add taste!!)
What did you notice?
A SPECIAL NOTE: This last prayer with physical activity can be especially useful next month after the big T'day dinner!
October, 2012
© October 2012 The Rev. Dr. Jane A. Tomaine
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The Rule According to Randy
Mewsings
Have you ever seen a wild turkey? Jane said that she once saw seven wild turkeys clustered around her bird bath drinking the foul stuff like patrons around a bar. Yuck! After several minutes of liquid refreshment, a couple two lazily wandered off to forage in the pachysandra. One by one companions followed suit until all had meandered across the street and up the hill. I hope no one ended up on a Thanksgiving dinner platter! What struck me in this little account was the disparaging way Jane described turkey behavior-"They lazily meandered away." I pointed this out and mewed, "What's wrong with meandering?" I don't think she heard me because in the middle of my mewing she sprinted off to get back to work. Always in a hurry, I guess.
Unlike the wild turkeys who just come upon what will satisfy them, humans like Jane plot, plan and organize to get somewhere or to achieve something or to do or to have. It doesn't always satisfy, though, because humans can still be thirsty inside. I think they've lost the art of "meandering." i.e., the art of slowing down and being open to what presents itself.
People can move in a "straight line" towards something-that's good-but without deviation-that may not be so good. As humans "go for it," they can wear themselves out trying to keep a straight path or they can miss opportunities along the way. We cats meander. Heading to the cat beds we might see a little bug on the floor. Check it out first. Checking out things like this can be fun and important. I'm not saying that we shouldn't "stay the course" for then I'd be ignoring the Benedictine promise of stability. Benedict is clear about the goal of the Rule-we live in community and in a way that makes God the center and goal, right? But the course to even this and maybe especially to this, needs to allow for some turns here and there, some stepping off the path to attend to what presents itself in the moment. This is a really important benefit of meandering. When we meander we're going somewhere, like to the cat beds, but we're not sprinting
 | Photo Credit: Henry Zeman/ National Wild Turkey Federation |
in a straight line to get there as fast as we can. We're flexible, open to what presents itself and enjoying the journey without thinking that it's only the destination counts. There's some detachment to where we are on the path.
At first glance, meandering doesn't seem to be a part of the Rule. My cat friend and Benedictine enthusiast Ricky and I found some directives in the Rule to support life in a meandering fashion rather than the usual human "straight line" approach. We decided that meandering is part of the promise of obedience. We're obedient to what's here right now which may not be something on our "to do" list but which may be something our Loving Creator would like us to see or to do, like give up a favorite chair to a tired cat. Listening and looking, we are attentive and responsive to what presents itself. Then, in Chapter 5 - Obedience, Ricky found that if we're occupied with a task and are asked to do something else we should drop our own task then and there and do what is asked of us. (RB 5.7-8) Ricky explained that the porter at the door of the monastery and even the abbot or prioress leave whatever they're doing to greet and tend to the needs of monastery guests. (RB 53 and 66)
Benedict also believes in the importance of doing what needs to be done calmly and without distress so he makes sure people have the help they need (31.7, 35.3). I think calmness is a part of meandering. It's like those little creeks you see out in the country that bend this way and that. They get the water to where it's supposed to go but do it in a gentle way. Benedict wants us to have a calm heart while we do what we need to do, even when we're busy. I think a calm heart is also a part of meandering as we know and trust God to help us "get the water to wherever it needs to go" even if we step off our programmed path.
I hope this encourages you to slow down and to dabble in a little meandering. I really think you'll feel better about life. And if you forget, I bet you one can of turkey and giblets that you'll remember when the turkey appears at your Thanksgiving table next month. Jane probably won't remember, though-she'll be eating tofu turkey. Yuck!!
Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day.
Your friend,

P.S. For those of you who read my article in the last issue, we didn't have to go to the animal hotel in September. John found a really nice young woman who came to the house twice a day to give us food, water and brushes. She really liked us and I was SO HAPPY that the trauma of try to catch my friend Ricky didn't happen.
P.P.S. I had promised a special email from me to your animal friends in the fall! I'll still try to do this soon. In the meantime, please visit my very own web page, Randy's Corner
© October, 2012 Randy the Cat
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The Continuing Quest for SImplicity
On a recent trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin I lead two programs on decluttering, both reminders to practice what I preach! So the day after returning home I went up into the attic and got busy. Seven boxes of paper were recycled with the oldest being some notes from an early church history class in 1991 (Eeek! - that's 21 years ago!!) A mega-supply of the remaining emptied binders made their way to the school supply section at the Community Food Bank.
The next week I took seven boxes of books to the theological school I attended for the students to take. Last week three grocery bags of mostly needlework books from a "former lifetime" were deposited at the local library for their book sale. As my life coach David reminded me this week, simplicity is a work in progress! Good and hope-filled advice.
Here are some before and after pictures of the progress and the work in progress.
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My boxes on left - John's on right
Joint stuff in foreground. YIKES!
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 | Jane's 22 boxes of paper, files and books. Urk! |
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After decluttering - 10 boxes! Yea!!!
I'll look in these again in a year or so.
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A Prayer Interlude
"Make me aware, O God,
of the eye that beholds me the hand that holds me the heart that loves me the Presence that enfolds me."
David Adam. Power Lines: Celtic Prayers About Work.
Harrisburg: Morehouse, 1992.
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The Book Corner
A Recommended Read
Cave, Refectory, Road:
monastic rhythms for contemporary living
by Ian Adams
This beautifully written, thought-provoking book presents core ideas from monastic living and offers ways to embody these practices in daily life not just for our own spiritual well-being but for the good of the world. Author Ian Adams gives unpacks three images for three key aspects of the Rule of St. Benedict in the firm belief that the monastic rhythm of life can be "reinterpreted and embraced by people in the 'regular world'" to help focus on what truly matter. Cave is the metaphor for the devotion that characterizes the search for God, refectory expresses the call to community, and road calls us beyond to bring change for good to the wider society. Each chapter begins with a selection of his own poetry which presents the core theme of that section. Each chapter closes with a creative spiritual practice related to the content of that chapter.
Within the book you'll encounter vivid images for the journey and a balanced presentation of analysis, metaphor and personal experience. I really appreciated his observation on contemporary life: "Oddly enough for a society so high on the immediate, we rarely seem content to focus on the moment." Drawing on George Guiver's the image of "stream prayer" for the daily monastic office, where the stream wears stones away and leaves deposits along the bank, Adams writes, "It may be worth wondering which streams we choose to allow to wear away our rough edges and build up their deposits within us." Describing the daily rhythms of a prayerful life lived in community, Adams encourages each of us to "seek to give balance and attention to what is truly important" in our own life. He asks us to allow the monastic stream to help us become still, to be in community and to offer our presence to others as we take our part in bringing about change in the world as we engage with others.
Details on the Book:
CAVE REFECTORY ROAD: monastic rhythms for contemporary living by Ian Adams. The Liturgical Press: Collegeville, MN, 2010. ISBN: 978-0-8146-344-8.
 | Ian Adams |
To order this book from Amazon.com, click here.
Ian Adams is an Anglican priest, writer, port and teacher of spirituality. He is founder of mayBe, a new monastic community in Oxford. From the maybe website: "mayBe is a group of people working at becoming a community exploring creative, simple, engaged and playful living in the way of Jesus Christ through weekly community meal, a rhythm of prayer, looking out for our neighbour, weekend Eucharist, and creative acts...[and]..."to become a community following in the way of Jesus by prayer, action and blessing for a better world now."
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Upcoming Programs
**An Advent Quiet Day for Women"
Place: St. Mary's Episcopal Church
10 Fox Hill Road, Tuxedo, NY 10987
Date: Saturday, December 8, 2012 Time: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm Program Charge: No charge, but please bring a bag lunch. Beverages provided.
Step away from the hectic pace of daily life into the peace, hope and quiet offered by the season of Advent. Jane will present Advent themes through a day of scripture, music, spiritual writings and art. Be in the company of faith-filled women as you pause for reflection, silence and conversation.
For more information on this program or to register contact
Lynne Nelson at lynnenelson@verizon.net
908-351-6707 or
Georgine Sargent at georginesargent@aol.com
845-351-2906
For information about The Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross, click here.
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Bring Jane to Your Church, Monastery or Organization!
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Oblates at St. Benedict's in St. Joseph, Minnesota pondering ways to declutter
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Plan a Retreat or Program
Jane is available to do retreats and programs in the Benedictine Tradition and Spirituality. Content is personalized. Programs will bring the ideas to life in a practical and down-to-earth way.
Retreats are modeled by Benedictine balance-time alone and time together, and time for rest, study and prayer.
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Getting unfrazzled with Benedict in Atlanta
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Contact Jane at 908-233-0134,
cell-908-463-3252
or via email at
janetomaine@stbenedictstoolbox.org
For ideas and possibilities you may wish to view a list of retreat programs and participating groups on the web site by clicking here.
Jane's Scheduled Retreats and Programs are frequently updated and published here.
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Contact Information
Jane Tomaine 908-463-3252 janetomaine@stbenedictstoolbox.org Please email Jane with comments and suggestions about the newsletter! Thank you! |
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