Mary Kay's blog

By Mary Kay Totty

Tatting.

I love to tat.

Tatting brings me joy and delight.

Tatting centers and grounds me.

And by tatting, I mean lace-making, not anything to do with tattoos.

Tatting is a form of lace-making using one basic double stitch to create patterns of rings and chain for edgings, doilies, jewelry. The world needs more lace.

This gentle art may seem archaic and unnecessary, but I believe that it is important for today. We live in a world where most of our leisure time is devoted to consumption and observation. We shop. We watch television. We go to movies. We watch sports. We surf the web. We post on Facebook. We tweet. We check in. We hurry past great art and grand views as we mark yet another item off the bucket list.

I give thanks for C, who chose to be a stay at home mom, volunteer, and party planner extraordinaire.

I give thanks for couple Z, two moms, who chose each other, chose their careers, and created a life of meaning amidst juggling carpools and business trips.

I give thanks for T, who chose not to have children and delights in her chosen career.

A strange, unpleasant dynamic is permeating much of modern culture -- a sense that the good that one person experiences equates to a loss for everyone else.

Once again we cry out in distress. Once again our hearts are broken. Once again fear grasps us and panic surges. Once again our world is forever changed because of an act of unspeakable violence in Aurora, Colorado.

                             By Mary Kay Totty

 OK, so I am going to wade into the whole Santa  Claus conundrum with my two cents worth even though I am not a parent.

Time and again, I hear parents concerned about how to talk or not talk to their children about Santa Claus. Maybe many parents have already figured out a good way to approach this discussion.

I wonder about the possibility of telling the story of St. Nicholas. From there say that even to this day there are grownups who like to pretend to be St. Nick or Santa Claus because they want to make children happy.

Once upon a time, I was a local election judge for the town of New Windsor, Maryland. In my first election, New Windsor was choosing three town council members out of six people running. The town bylaws stated that the three persons receiving the most votes would fill the council member seats. There was a tie for the third seat. The mayor jumped in and declared that the seat in contention would be treated in the same way as a seat vacated between elections -- thus the mayor and council members would appoint a person to fill the seat in contention.

Fireworks started because a buddy of the mayor was one of those in the tied position and the other one pretty much disagreed with the mayor on everything. It made the news. Lawyers were brought in. Things got a bit heated. The town bylaws have since been amended to address the issue of tie votes. The whole issue could have been avoided if one more person had turned out to vote.

It brought home so clearly to me that every vote does count, that everyone does make a difference.

What do Robert Frost, the Heavy Metal band "Detestation", Howard Thurman, and a song from the musical "Paint Your Wagon", all have in common?

All of the above are sources of inspiration for this Advent Season at Dumbarton UMC. Naturally, scripture lessons are also sources of inspiration and foundational to our faith. In addition, God continues to be persuasively active in the world here and now. Thus, many writings and images and metaphors have the possibility of pointing beyond themselves toward God, having the possibility of being revelatory.

Certainly many could point to the music of the church as being important in shaping one's understanding of God -- how many of us love the words and sound of "Amazing Grace" and "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee"? It may be more of a challenge to hear echoes of faith in more secular music.