Meeting Diana
Diana Trautwein can stand flat-footed and look me in the eye.
(Not many can claim such a thing.)
In turn (defying some unwritten law of physics, or perhaps botany — science is not my subject), I tilt back my head and look up to her.
I still remember the day I first spoke to Diana — in a comment box, of course. It’s how we make do out here in the Internet community. I’d seen her around; we traveled in the same circles. One can’t help but eavesdrop a bit out here, and I noticed Diana’s conversation to be consistently wise, funny and marked with love for the person she was speaking to.
When she responded to a writer who was working out some hurt and frustration in a blog post, her words struck me as true and necessary, firm and unapologetic, but wrapped up in what I’ve now come to see as a deep and penetrating Diana-love.
I couldn’t just stand back and watch Diana any more. I had to meet her.
You who know me, know this is not my way.
Diana influences me without even trying.
I got myself over to her place and introduced myself.
She describes herself this way: “a late . . . middle-aged, female, retired-part-time-pastor-learning-to-be-a-spiritual-director with a family she adores.” My only regret from the writer’s retreat at Laity Lodge last year was not spending enough time face-to-face with such a remarkable friend.
It seems every where I go, Diana is already there, sharing her love and her wisdom and a lot of laughing. Watching the way Diana naturally relates to and gently guides so many of us has me thinking of her as almost an “internet chaplain.” (It’s not a term I made up. Some of you know Jon Swanson, who bears the title “social media chaplain.”)
You can find Diana at Just Wondering most days. This week, you can find her at Sarah Bessey’s Emerging Mummy, where she’s being all internet chaplain-like and pointing folks to an amazing list of women, many of whom I’ve come to know and love, who are blogging life and faith over 50. (If you see me over there, I think that’s only because some days I get around like I’m in my 80s and they thought I should get an honorary inclusion.) She says this, just like Diana would:
In this collection, you will find poets, photographers, married women, widows, divorcees. You will find a priest, several published authors, schoolteachers, pastors’ wives, businesswomen, a hospice worker, some stay-at-home moms, a cancer survivor, a claims adjuster, a spiritual director, a former nurse, a couple of short-term missionaries, and a whole lot of heart.
All are women who have walked through suffering and loss, joy and laughter, gratefully experiencing and celebrating life, in all its wacky, messy, gorgeous reality.
Each one of them loves Jesus and longs to live more fully into her faith.
Stop over and take a look at Diana’s recommendations. But even more, stop by Diana’s house on the web (by the ocean), where the coffee is on, the fire is crackling, and Diana’s company is unmatched. At least, I hope she’s got coffee.
———————-
[Update]
While I’ve long thought of Diana as the chaplain of our interwebs, Nancy Franson and I have not had this conversation before. Even so, she posted this on Facebook last evening:
This comment incited a rash of Amens and various other affirmations with respect to Pastor Diana’s heart.
I added this to that stream:
Oh my goodness. This tribute has my eyes filled and my heart overflowing with love and gratitude, for you, for Diana and Nancy and Deidra. And for Jon too. What a cool God we serve, who uses the Internet to weave Divine Connections and nurture one another through obedient women (and men).
My first impression of Diana was incredibly accurate. Beauty and grace, outside and all the more inside.
2012/04/19 at 6:52 AM
Cheryl, it is an amazing thing. And yes, beauty and grace. What a wonderful gift she is.
And when I saw Nancy’s Facebook post, knowing I was putting this up today, I bruised my chin when my jaw hit the floor.
(And yes, Jon too!)
2012/04/19 at 6:56 AM
Great minds, great minds…
2012/04/19 at 10:40 AM
I am going to have to get to know this Diana of yours….
2012/04/19 at 7:00 AM
Yes, Kim, you are. Waste no time.
2012/04/19 at 7:15 AM
This is very God-Incidence-y. Love it. Love you. Love Diana. And she’s right about that group of women:
“Each one of them loves Jesus and longs to live more fully into her faith.” Another amen in the chorus here!
2012/04/19 at 7:08 AM
Love you too, my friend.
2012/04/19 at 7:16 AM
Perfect title for Diana, Internet Chaplain. Because after I found my name on that list and realized how much this aging process is making me feel like I am running a race before I become irrelevant to the world (my crazy thinking), I felt like I wanted to sit down and talk to Diana because I knew she would put it all in perspective for me. That’s when God showed me what a gift it is to even be mentioned on the list among so many heroes of the faith. period. And I love those sacred echoes, and the way we know God’s presence through social media, like your interaction with Nancy and Deidra. Wondering how you copied those status updates and comments and got them on your post. That is awesome. Lovely tribute Lyla.
2012/04/19 at 8:01 AM
Lyla, I have no words here. Thank you for your oh-so-kind ones. The single biggest joy about immersing myself in blogging this past year or so has been meeting up with people like you. People who think deeply, who look at the world uniquely – and yet share a common ‘filter,’ if you will, named Jesus. I have found my life-fatigue lifted, my hope restored, my need for connection validated, and lots and lots of laughter. You have surely been a huge part of that, dear friend. You and this ever-growing circle of light glowing out from under the door at The High Calling and Tweetspeak and Bibledude. All of it, a gift. I thank you for this salute, though it feels quite undeserved. I know what a messed up person I am – how many insecurities and weaknesses abound! Yet God sees fit to work through those very things. I am humbled and deeply grateful.
2012/04/19 at 8:37 AM
Well I, too, can look Diana in the eye, and I can read your thoughts, Lyla, so there’s that.
So glad you wrote this, and I want to affirm everything you said. But clearly, I can’t just leave things there. I need to add this: I think the internet needs a few good chaplains, because people like me shouldn’t always be allowed to play around on it unsupervised.
2012/04/19 at 10:39 AM
Diana is a very special lady, indeed. Thanks for giving words to my admiration, Lyla. Internet chaplain, indeed.
2012/04/19 at 12:30 PM
I couldn’t agree more Lyla. I am so happy to have found her – we ladies of a “certain age” are rather few and far between here in this internet circle
2012/04/19 at 1:41 PM
I’m so glad you wrote this. It’s true. Whenever I visit a place and find Diana there in the comments, I pay close attention. She does not waste a word, and each one she chooses is filled with grace – like that whole thing she said about the “ever growing circle of light glowing out from under the door… How can you read that and not feel utterly blessed by her? Diana, Goddess of the Hunt, Internet Chaplain, thank you.
2012/04/19 at 5:28 PM
Thanks, friends, for your words of affirmation. I’ll shoot those words right back atcha, because each of you has been a source of inspiration, encouragement and insight to me. And Nancy? If chaplain-ing has anything to do with supervising – count me OUT. Not my gift. And I happen to like a bit of raucous laughter, even a crazy double entendre or two. And I am also a fan of mirror balls and disco music…occasionally. :>)
2012/04/19 at 5:36 PM
A lovely tribute to a lovely lady who blesses us all in many ways.
2012/04/19 at 11:23 PM
I’m pretty sure it’s not moving as if you’re 80 that gained your honorary inclusion!
Grace causes ripples like a stone tossed in water. You description of Diana Trautwein’s comments led me to delete a couple questionable comments I had just tweeted to a friend. Thanks.
Finally, I really like the picture at the top of this post. Its label confirmed suspicions raised by a familiarity in it. I appreciate that.
2012/04/19 at 11:32 PM
I remember the first time I met Diana in my comment box. She has been my internet chaplain ever since.
Diana, I hope you know that God is not near done with you yet. I’m 41, and I need you.
2012/04/20 at 11:41 AM
Thank you, Megan. Yours is a voice I need out here – a real, true, seeking one. Not filled with answers – in fact, often many more questions. That’s how God wired us, I think. We find the answers as we live into them, as Rilke once wrote so beautifully. And the people I resonate with out here are the ones that ask the hard questions and are willing to sit in the empty, quiet space where the answers wait to be found. Thankfully, God gave us to one another in this weird and wonderful thing called the Body. And this internet tribe – it’s just the latest incarnation (maybe with a capital “I”?) of that organic, mysterious creation of God. Funny thing about God – seems that God shows up everywhere human beings put their imprint. Even out here in the wilds.
2012/04/20 at 11:50 AM
Love, love this beautiful and true post about Diana.
{and love, love you, too, Lyla, for writing it!}
2012/04/21 at 8:43 AM
Oh, how cool is this, Lyla? Edifying the body, lifting each other up, helping each other when we’re down, understanding with grace and space. I echo the words spoken here and remember the very first meal I had at Laity Lodge… who did I sit across from? Yep, Diana and her wonderful husband =) I think we were all a little nervous on the inside. Diana was just as easy to talk to as she is on line… but it was more fun in real life. What a blessing.
Coming into this community and meeting you all has been a bit like coming home… or maybe the way coming home is supposed to be…
reminds me of a little song….
You know how your heart and soul feels when you hear that sound of laughter and joy that your children make when they’re all getting along? I think Jesus is feeling that way right now. =) Love and hugs to all of you.
2012/04/21 at 8:34 PM