“Girls Have Talent,” an eclectic showcase of young female musicians from Redmond, will be the attraction at the free Arts in the Parks Teen Night at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20 outside Redmond City Hall, 15670 NE 85th St.
Dr. Aditi Agarwal has opened Avondale Smiles at 11523 Avondale Rd. NE, Suite 115 in Redmond. A ribbon-cutting ceremony, featuring Redmond Mayor John Marchione and the Greater Redmond Chamber of Commerce, is set for 4:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 23.
If you drove by the Redmond Target store at 17700 NE 76th St. on the morning of Aug. 10 and spotted a fleet of Redmond Police and Fire vehicles, rest assured it wasn’t due to a crisis.
The officers and firefighters, joined by other employees from the Cities of Redmond and Kirkland, were happy chaperones for young back-to-school shoppers at a special outreach event.
Community members are invited to an Active Prayer Workshop from 4-7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 15 at St. Jude Catholic Church, 10526 166th Ave. NE in Redmond. The workshop is free, although donations are welcome.
Sybil MacBeth, author of “Praying in Color: Drawing a New Path to God” and “Praying in Color Kids’ Edition,” as well as “Blessed Movements” founder Roy DeLeon, who wrote “Praying with the Body: Bringing the Psalms to Life,” will demonstrate how visual art and gentle movement for all mobilities can be used for spiritual expression.
The workshop was inspired by the theory of multiple intelligences, proposed by Dr. Howard Gardner, a psychologist from Harvard University.
“People don’t all learn the same way — we have multiple intelligences or learning styles such as linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, spatial and kinesthetic,” said Mary Kellison, pastoral assistant and director of adult faith formation programs at St. Jude, www.st-jude-redmond.org/AdultFF/AFTOC.htm.
“Just as we have a natural preference toward particular learning styles, we also have a natural preference for particular prayer styles,” Kellison explained.
PRAYING IN COLOR
MacBeth, a former math teacher, said the idea for “Praying in Color” came to her eight years ago when several friends and family members were battling cancer.
“When I tried to pray for them, I lost my words,” said MacBeth. “I kept saying the same things over and over and over again — “Heal them, Lord,’ “Let them feel your love,’ ‘Please let Sue live to see her children graduate from high school.’ My words felt like mush in my mouth.”
Although she wasn’t an artist, MacBeth loved to doodle with colored markers and pens.
“One day when I was doodling on my back porch, I drew a shape and added lines, dots, squiggles and color,” said MacBeth. “Then I unconsciously wrote the name ‘Sue’ in the middle of the doodle. I continued to draw and focus on my sister-in-law Sue’s name. After five or 10 minutes, I realized I was praying for her. I wasn’t using words but I was spending time with her and releasing her into God’s care. It felt like God, Sue and I were sitting together, holding each other.”
She realized she didn’t need just words to pray, MacBeth noted: “Creating the drawing and taking time was the prayer.”
She added more doodles with the names of other people who needed help.
“The drawing came back to my mind throughout the day and when it did, I could pray for each person again — either with words or just by offering them into God’s care.”
When she’s drawing, said MacBeth, “my mind wanders less and I stay focused. It also helps me to settle down so I might actually be able to listen to God rather than just talk.”
Children love this way of praying, but so do adults, said MacBeth.
“The adults who come to my workshops are very open to a new way to pray — especially those who are fidgety and world-weary. … Their minds wandered less than when they were trying to come up with words.”
To learn more about “Praying in Color,” visit http://www.prayingincolor.com/
PRAYING WITH THE BODY
DeLeon is a certified yoga teacher who has learned to combine body movement and prayer.
In 2005, as an Oblate of St. Benedict, he represented his monastery, St. Placid Priory in Lacey, Wash., at the first World Congress of Oblates of St. Benedict in Rome.
“That’s where I saw the statue of St. Benedict dying, with two monks helping him raise his arms as he prayed his last. … When I saw St. Benedict included the body in his prayer as he was dying … Blessed Movements was conceived,” said DeLeon.
“It’s become my ministry then to spread the joy of praying with the whole being, body, mind, heart and soul,” DeLeon continued.
Could this type of prayer be useful for people who don’t feel close to God or creation in church, but by being outdoors, perhaps engaging in sports or recreation?
“Big question,” DeLeon replied. “I read somewhere that one reason people quit going to church is that they don’t find God — read: love, peace, joy, patience, goodness, beauty, truthfulness in church.”
DeLeon added that some people feel more connected to their neighbors at sporting events, festivals or a shopping mall.
“We all want to feel happiness and contentment,” said DeLeon. “Some people feel God’s presence while being still and quiet. Some by singing, by painting, by knitting, by reading, by dancing. God is in all of these activities if — big IF — we acknowledge and we are aware of that presence,” said DeLeon. “The activeness of praying with the body is a way to gather ourselves to the center. We tend to spread ourselves thin, wear many different hats, assume many roles in our daily activities, torn apart by the demands of the marketplace we call the world.”
He said most movements in his workshop are “yoga-like” but he asks participants to “listen to their body and their heart and move according to what that still, small voice says. … Ultimately, it needs to come from the heart in order for the prayer to be authentic and real.”
To learn more about Blessed Movements and “Praying with the Body,” visit http://blessedmovements.com/default.aspx
Community members are invited to an Active Prayer Workshop from 4-7 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 15 at St. Jude Catholic Church, 10526 166th Ave. NE in Redmond. The workshop is free, although donations are welcome.
Heartfelt and generous fundraising efforts continue for Chanel Cogan, a recent Redmond High School (RHS) graduate who suffered numerous severe injuries after falling 100 feet from a cliff during a camping trip on July 31.
Swedish Medical Center hosted a luncheon at Redmond’s Hotel Sierra Aug. 5, highlighting the new Swedish Redmond campus, including an emergency room (ER), which will open in December 2010 at 18100 NE Union Hill Rd.
A hearty breakfast might just be the ultimate comfort food.
For three years in a row, Redmond Reporter readers have chosen the Village Square Cafe, 16150 NE 85th St., as Redmond’s “Best Breakfast” destination.
In a tough economy, entertaining at home takes on new luster, especially if you can incorporate the great outdoors.
Redmond-based Interior Woodworking Specialists (IWS) has introduced My Patio Cabinets, a line of weather-proof, modular patio cabinets for your Pacific Northwest “backyard kitchen.”
A home run derby and car wash are planned to help pay medical expenses for Chanel Cogan, a recent Redmond High School graduate who was seriously injured when she fell 100 feet off a cliff in Kittitas County on the morning of Saturday, July 31.
Two young women from Redmond, Randi Cloud and Christina Graylee, are enthusiastic enrollees in a unusual associate’s degree program at Lake Washington Technical College (LWTC) in Kirkland. LWTC is the only school in the state of Washington and one of few on the West Coast offering a funeral service education curriculum.
Look for a denim clothesline across Center Street Plaza when Redmond Town Center (RTC) launches a “Great Denim Days” promotion on Monday, July 26. Running through the end of August, the promotion includes an “Enter to Win $10,000” contest as well as savings guides and coupons pointing shoppers to deals on jeans and other back-to-school apparel.
The words “summer school” can cause teens to flinch. But not if you’re a high school girl with a chance to spend five days studying fashion and beauty with some of the region’s top hair and makeup artists and clothing designers.
Waste Management’s Clean Cart Challenge Prize Patrol paid a visit to Keeney’s Office Supply on July 15, bearing gifts of $150 and a plaque lauding the company as one of Redmond’s most exemplary recyclers.
“Ask and you shall receive” has become somewhat of a motto for the Redmond Youth Partnership Advisory Committee (RYPAC), a City of Redmond board that gives local youth a voice in government and provides opportunities of interest to those constituents.
This year, two AmeriCorps volunteers, Kayla Bergquist and Megan Unden, have been working with RYPAC advisor Nancy Chang to organize and implement programs such as the “After-Hours” homework help and activities at Redmond Junior High and Rose Hill Junior High, the RYPAC Youth Summit and a Teen Job Shadow program that’s now in session for the first time.
Aerojet employees and alumni cooled off with ice cream and basked in their success — as well as the hot sun — at its Redmond campus July 8, as former astronaut Mike McCulley and other representatives of the United Space Alliance (USA) presented the company with the prestigious Space Flight Awareness Supplier Award.
Imagine finding a quaint, European-style chocolate shop tucked away in a strip mall in downtown Redmond. While it seems incongruous, Brugge Chocolates opened in February at 15946 Redmond Way, across from Trader Joe’s. And without any formal marketing push, the store has been so busy that owner Susan Walukiewicz has scarcely been able to catch her breath.
Sarah Oates, a Redmond High School (RHS) senior and Running Start student at Bellevue College will perform in the ensemble of “All Shook Up,” July 17-24 at Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N in Issaquah. Tickets are $15 general admission, $13 for youth or seniors; call (425) 392-2202 or visit www.villagetheatre.org.
The Greater Redmond Chamber of Commerce is introducing a new Web site which brings businesses an affordable opportunity to subscribe to an enhanced, online membership directory.
U.S. Congressman Jay Inslee, who represents District 1 in Washington, hosted an informal discussion about the new health care reform law and tax credit opportunities available to small businesses on July 7 at the Redmond Regional Library.
Redmond is a great place to live, work and play — summertime or anytime. But it wouldn’t be summer without a road trip or two.
If a tight budget or crammed calendar has you stuck in your same old surroundings, travel experts at Redmond’s AAA Service Center can provide tips and discounts to ease the pain, even for a brief change-of-scenery.
