I just watched CS Lewis's Prince Caspian movie trailer - coming out mid May. It looks good.
I like Aslan's line - "All that you know is about to change."
December 5, 2007
Hanukkah
Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, began at sundown last night. It goes for 8 days. I pick a night for a family meal and we burn a small menorah and eat a meal with latkes (potato pancakes) served with applesause and sour cream. And we talk about it's story.It's story reminds us that miracles can still happen. It happened between the Old and New Testament around 175 BCE and is a festival the Jews have added to their calendar (from the original festivals in Lev 23). Jesus was at this festival in John 10:22-42. Hanukkah means "dedication".
The Syrian ruler Antiochus IV preferred the Greek culture over the Hebrew and eventually made life miserable for the Hebrew, forbidding everything that was their life. Besides massacring thousands of people, he offered sacrifices of pigs on their temple's altar, profaning the temple. And dedicated it to Zeus worship.
A small band of Jews lead by Judas Maccabee, who had fled to the mountains with caves, were called the Maccabees ('hammers'), and with God's help after years of battles finally drove the Syrians out of Judea. The story is in I Maccabees 4:36-59 and II Maccabees 10:1-8, still in the Old Testament of the Catholic Bible.
The Maccabees began cleaning the temple and purifying it. A totally new altar was built and consecrated. The Jews celebrated their victory and the temple re-dedication. The temple's lampstand has 7 branches and reminds them that God is with them.
In cleaning they had found only a small amount of oil, thinking it enough for just one day. To everyone's amazement, the lampstand miraculously burned for 8 days. So Hanukkah's menorah has 8 branches with a 9th taller candle for lighting the others called the shammesh or "servant" candle.
Do we live believing miracles can happen? that they are all around us? Do we have hearts and eyes to see miracles in our ordinary everyday?
December 3, 2007
Advent
Advent is the beginning of the Christian Year, and is a four week time of anticipating the coming of God in Christ in the birth of Jesus. It is our privilege to receive the gracious gift of God's presence in Christ. It is our task to prepare for his coming anew and not miss life's greatest gift.
As my lectionary prayer book says -
"We do get another chance! ... we get the opportunity to begin again. Once more the full story of God's grace is awaiting our discovery. Once more we shake off the failures and victories of the past, and we get a blank page to write the story of our companionship with God in Christ. Once more we get to listen and respond in faithfulness to the God who comes to us so humbly, intimately, and personally in the birth of Jesus ... Advent initiates once again remembering, retelling, and celebrating the whole drama of God's revelation ... Advent confronts us once again with God's unparalleled effort to communicate the message that all humankind is embraced and held close by a God of love. Jesus Christ has come, is present with us, and will come again in final victory when all darkness, pain, and evil will be no more."
Advent means "to come". It is the Feast of the Nativity called "Christ's Mass" and it goes beyond just one day of celebrating. I love the days of preparation, desiring a journey of awakening anew in a deeper way. In the remembering, rereading, and retelling the stories of 'His-story' we see that Christ was waited for and came in the past. Because the present moment is the only moment of actual living, I don't want to waste it in not being present to Christ. The past gives me strength to live well in the present. And in Christ we have the promise of a future.
A wreath is what is usually used for Advent with four candles, one to be lit each week, then a center Christ child candle (the Light of the World) is to be lit Dec 25th. I have a pottery wreath with a water reservoir to keep little evergreen boughs fresh, and it sits on the kitchen table. I heard Sunday that the wreath had started in Scandinavia as a wagon wheel - actually taken from their wagon - so they couldn't travel, and therefore wouldn't be too busy.
Week 1 is the Prophecy candle.
The prophets foretold of Jesus' coming. They waited, hoped and trusted. In the preparations for Christmas we need to prepare our hearts; make room in our hearts for Christ to be 'reborn' in some special ways this season - as in every day, all year, every year. We need to 'make space' in our busy ordinary days so we can anticipate His presence with us.
"O Come, O Come Emmanuel"
(God with us!)
As my lectionary prayer book says -
"We do get another chance! ... we get the opportunity to begin again. Once more the full story of God's grace is awaiting our discovery. Once more we shake off the failures and victories of the past, and we get a blank page to write the story of our companionship with God in Christ. Once more we get to listen and respond in faithfulness to the God who comes to us so humbly, intimately, and personally in the birth of Jesus ... Advent initiates once again remembering, retelling, and celebrating the whole drama of God's revelation ... Advent confronts us once again with God's unparalleled effort to communicate the message that all humankind is embraced and held close by a God of love. Jesus Christ has come, is present with us, and will come again in final victory when all darkness, pain, and evil will be no more."
Advent means "to come". It is the Feast of the Nativity called "Christ's Mass" and it goes beyond just one day of celebrating. I love the days of preparation, desiring a journey of awakening anew in a deeper way. In the remembering, rereading, and retelling the stories of 'His-story' we see that Christ was waited for and came in the past. Because the present moment is the only moment of actual living, I don't want to waste it in not being present to Christ. The past gives me strength to live well in the present. And in Christ we have the promise of a future.
A wreath is what is usually used for Advent with four candles, one to be lit each week, then a center Christ child candle (the Light of the World) is to be lit Dec 25th. I have a pottery wreath with a water reservoir to keep little evergreen boughs fresh, and it sits on the kitchen table. I heard Sunday that the wreath had started in Scandinavia as a wagon wheel - actually taken from their wagon - so they couldn't travel, and therefore wouldn't be too busy.
Week 1 is the Prophecy candle.
The prophets foretold of Jesus' coming. They waited, hoped and trusted. In the preparations for Christmas we need to prepare our hearts; make room in our hearts for Christ to be 'reborn' in some special ways this season - as in every day, all year, every year. We need to 'make space' in our busy ordinary days so we can anticipate His presence with us.
"O Come, O Come Emmanuel"
(God with us!)
Advent Poem
There Was A Time: An Advent Poem
There was a time when there was no time,
When darkness reigned as king,
When a formless void was all that there was
in the nothingness of eternity,
When it was night.
But over the void and over the night Love watched.
There was a time when time began.
It began when Love spoke.
Time began for light and life, for splendor and grandeur.
Time began for seas and mountains, for flowers and birds.
Time began for the valleys to ring with the songs of life,
and for the wilderness to echo with the wailing of wind
and howling of animals.
And over the earth, Love watched.
There was a time when time began to be recorded.
A time when Love breathed and a new creature came to life.
A new creature so special that it was in the image and likeness of Love
Of Love who is God.
And so human was born and the dawn of a new day shone on the world.
And over human, Love watched.
But there came a time when the new day faded.
A time when human who was like God tried to be God.
A time when the creature challenged the creator.
A time when human preferred death to life and darkness to light.
And so the new day settled into twilight.
And over the darkness, Love watched.
There was a time of waiting in the darkness.
A time when human waited in the shadows,
And all creation groaned in sadness.
There was waiting for Love to speak again--for Love to breathe again.
And kings and nations and empires rose and faded in the shadows.
And Love waited and watched.
Finally, there came a time when Love spoke again.
A Word from eternity--a Word
Spoken to a girl who belonged to a people not known by the world
Spoken to a girl who belonged to a family not known by her people
To a girl named Mary.
And all creation waited in hushed silence for the girl's answer.
And Mary spoke her yes.
And Love watched over Mary.
And so there came a time when Love breathed again
When Love breathed new life into Mary's yes.
And a new day dawned for the World
A day when light returned to darkness, when life returned to dispel death
And so a day came when Love became man--a mother bore a child.
And Love watched over Love--a Father watched His Son.
And, lastly, there came a time when you and I became a part of time.
Now is the time that you and I wait.
Now we wait to celebrate what the world waited for.
And as we wait to celebrate what was at one time, we become a part of that time
A time when a new dawn and a new dream and a new creation began for human.
And as a part of time, Love waits and Love watches over us.
Fr. Joseph Breighner
There was a time when there was no time,
When darkness reigned as king,
When a formless void was all that there was
in the nothingness of eternity,
When it was night.
But over the void and over the night Love watched.
There was a time when time began.
It began when Love spoke.
Time began for light and life, for splendor and grandeur.
Time began for seas and mountains, for flowers and birds.
Time began for the valleys to ring with the songs of life,
and for the wilderness to echo with the wailing of wind
and howling of animals.
And over the earth, Love watched.
There was a time when time began to be recorded.
A time when Love breathed and a new creature came to life.
A new creature so special that it was in the image and likeness of Love
Of Love who is God.
And so human was born and the dawn of a new day shone on the world.
And over human, Love watched.
But there came a time when the new day faded.
A time when human who was like God tried to be God.
A time when the creature challenged the creator.
A time when human preferred death to life and darkness to light.
And so the new day settled into twilight.
And over the darkness, Love watched.
There was a time of waiting in the darkness.
A time when human waited in the shadows,
And all creation groaned in sadness.
There was waiting for Love to speak again--for Love to breathe again.
And kings and nations and empires rose and faded in the shadows.
And Love waited and watched.
Finally, there came a time when Love spoke again.
A Word from eternity--a Word
Spoken to a girl who belonged to a people not known by the world
Spoken to a girl who belonged to a family not known by her people
To a girl named Mary.
And all creation waited in hushed silence for the girl's answer.
And Mary spoke her yes.
And Love watched over Mary.
And so there came a time when Love breathed again
When Love breathed new life into Mary's yes.
And a new day dawned for the World
A day when light returned to darkness, when life returned to dispel death
And so a day came when Love became man--a mother bore a child.
And Love watched over Love--a Father watched His Son.
And, lastly, there came a time when you and I became a part of time.
Now is the time that you and I wait.
Now we wait to celebrate what the world waited for.
And as we wait to celebrate what was at one time, we become a part of that time
A time when a new dawn and a new dream and a new creation began for human.
And as a part of time, Love waits and Love watches over us.
Fr. Joseph Breighner
December 1, 2007
November 29, 2007
quote
There was a statement made in a geology article years ago that we've used for everything in life, not just science -
"Science has become islands of conformity surrounded by interdisciplinary oceans of ignorance."
"Science has become islands of conformity surrounded by interdisciplinary oceans of ignorance."
November 27, 2007
Orthorexia
As I prepared supper, I thought about statistics I've read, and not long ago heard on the radio (and had to call Monte on my cell phone immediately!). I think it's like 6% of American's money goes to food, while Europe and Japan spend 15-20+%. We Americans gladly fork over money for satellite TV, cell phones and other electronics, but we try to buy our food as cheaply as possible.
It's kinda weird, considering the fact that we can live without our TV. But shouldn't we be more willing to spend more on food, since we actually put it into our bodies?
For years I have been interested in nutrition, reading tons, since the 60's and Mr Rodale started us down this path of health and wholeness. So much food was beginning to be processed, boxed and shipped long distances. Shelf life became most important and convenience.
The more I know...understanding where the food around me is coming from and how it's grown and made, makes it almost impossible to eat.
There's a word for this: orthorexia. It means having an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy.
Our grocery expenses are higher than they used to be. Monte was questioning, since I've visually got it laid out on excel spread sheets. But we're wanting to buy wild fish, pesticide free fruits and vegetables, hormone and antibiotic-free meat and dairy. And did you know there's now organic Twinkies!? It turns out that eating with a conscience takes money.
That's what we've told ourselves, as we try and buy as fresh and local as possible.
I know we can buy cheaper, probably half the cost. But here's the thing about orthorexia--unlike most afflictions, the worse it gets, the better you feel.
Some friends roll their eyes, as I pick up everything and read labels. Are we becoming elitists? But you know what? We feel great!
It's kinda weird, considering the fact that we can live without our TV. But shouldn't we be more willing to spend more on food, since we actually put it into our bodies?
For years I have been interested in nutrition, reading tons, since the 60's and Mr Rodale started us down this path of health and wholeness. So much food was beginning to be processed, boxed and shipped long distances. Shelf life became most important and convenience.
The more I know...understanding where the food around me is coming from and how it's grown and made, makes it almost impossible to eat.
There's a word for this: orthorexia. It means having an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy.
Our grocery expenses are higher than they used to be. Monte was questioning, since I've visually got it laid out on excel spread sheets. But we're wanting to buy wild fish, pesticide free fruits and vegetables, hormone and antibiotic-free meat and dairy. And did you know there's now organic Twinkies!? It turns out that eating with a conscience takes money.
That's what we've told ourselves, as we try and buy as fresh and local as possible.
I know we can buy cheaper, probably half the cost. But here's the thing about orthorexia--unlike most afflictions, the worse it gets, the better you feel.
Some friends roll their eyes, as I pick up everything and read labels. Are we becoming elitists? But you know what? We feel great!
Differing smells
Two fragrances from two activities today seemed contrary. We're in the Colorado mountains and it's almost December and there's still some snow on the ground.
I had some extra poblano chilies. I bought some to sliver and saute with green beans and onions and garlic for Thanksgiving this year. It was very good and we will do it more often. But I crave grilled stuffed poblanos.
It was a beautiful day today--another 'calm before the storm', since it's supposed to snow tomorrow. And since the sun is setting earlier, I grilled our supper after lunch. As they cooked, the wood chips I used to smoke them was mesquite.
So I shed my shirt down to my camisole and soaked up the sun's vitamin D, enjoying the warmth. The sun energizes me. I would get depressed without it for many days! So I can't live places where there's days of gray.
I heard the sound of chopping and then sawing. I walked around to the front porch and Dawson had cut down a tree for Christmas, and brought it in.
So I was smelling both mesquite smoke and fresh cut pine, and I smiled.
I had some extra poblano chilies. I bought some to sliver and saute with green beans and onions and garlic for Thanksgiving this year. It was very good and we will do it more often. But I crave grilled stuffed poblanos.
It was a beautiful day today--another 'calm before the storm', since it's supposed to snow tomorrow. And since the sun is setting earlier, I grilled our supper after lunch. As they cooked, the wood chips I used to smoke them was mesquite.
So I shed my shirt down to my camisole and soaked up the sun's vitamin D, enjoying the warmth. The sun energizes me. I would get depressed without it for many days! So I can't live places where there's days of gray.
I heard the sound of chopping and then sawing. I walked around to the front porch and Dawson had cut down a tree for Christmas, and brought it in.
So I was smelling both mesquite smoke and fresh cut pine, and I smiled.
November 24, 2007
Thanksgiving
I should say some things about Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful day. I cooked a 22 lb. turkey full of yummy stuffing in my new range. There were 14 of us. Great food and conversation.
My old Jenn Air of 23 years was down to one burner working consistently. Though we've been looking for a great deal for a couple months, it was finally urgent. I did not want to do another Thanksgiving meal with that stove! Our custom built home always seems to need some adjustments for what should be conventional sizing. We had to do some tile chipping, and a saw hitting metal bits occasionally. But thank God for Shop Vacs!
So I did some preliminary baking the day before to get used to the oven. My Mystery Pecan pies turned out better than ever. And I baked another batch of cinnamon rolls, for the company sleeping over, for Friday's breakfast, and a couple oval loaves with the extra dough. I made that bread totally out of fresh ground Kamut grain. It came out great! And I'm loving the ceramic smooth cooktop.
We needed extra sleeping space. So the vacated laundry room is turning out to be handy. Travis and Sarah slept in there on a blow up mattress. They shared the room with their new LITTLE puppy named Bea. She's a Boston Terrier. Sarah's parents had the guest room. And the Johnson family were the other guests for Thanksgiving.
It was a sunny day, though cold, since it had snowed the day before. So the atmosphere with the wood cookstove going, and window views of snow and pine trees and very blue sky, makes for a great day inside with friends and family.
My old Jenn Air of 23 years was down to one burner working consistently. Though we've been looking for a great deal for a couple months, it was finally urgent. I did not want to do another Thanksgiving meal with that stove! Our custom built home always seems to need some adjustments for what should be conventional sizing. We had to do some tile chipping, and a saw hitting metal bits occasionally. But thank God for Shop Vacs!
So I did some preliminary baking the day before to get used to the oven. My Mystery Pecan pies turned out better than ever. And I baked another batch of cinnamon rolls, for the company sleeping over, for Friday's breakfast, and a couple oval loaves with the extra dough. I made that bread totally out of fresh ground Kamut grain. It came out great! And I'm loving the ceramic smooth cooktop.
We needed extra sleeping space. So the vacated laundry room is turning out to be handy. Travis and Sarah slept in there on a blow up mattress. They shared the room with their new LITTLE puppy named Bea. She's a Boston Terrier. Sarah's parents had the guest room. And the Johnson family were the other guests for Thanksgiving.
It was a sunny day, though cold, since it had snowed the day before. So the atmosphere with the wood cookstove going, and window views of snow and pine trees and very blue sky, makes for a great day inside with friends and family.
I'm Sad
Monte says I should go ahead and post that I'm sad.
I'm not sure what to write and maybe writing this will help. I love to write, and when in the process, it's like I start writing things I never thought to write...I don't know if it's conscious or my subconscious, but differing thought processes just take off. And sometimes things crystallize. It's why I regularly journal. Though some may think it sounds wacko, but I often feel God's hands taking over my hands.
Today was my first day to breath, with no commitments - like needing to get coffee going for someone (no one else in this house knows how to make coffee)(and these days I'm drinking more loose black tea brewed in a tea pot). I don't need to make lunches for kids going skiing, which Dawson did with friends today, because they're doing things for themselves.
I woke with sadness. I've had some strange dreams for several nights (I don't remember them) that have left me in a void. We went to church tonight instead of tomorrow morning. It was the first service following a major decision made this week by the session and elders.
Our senior pastor Peter, of 15 years, has been let go. I don't know the actual church body numbers of people starting to complain of his sermon directions, but most of us I know really appreciate how he challenges us. But the Evangelical Presbytery (EPC) has been 'holding trial' with him for several months now, though the process probably began more than a year ago. And there's probably some other things most of us don't really know.
I'm just at a place of trust in the leadership, who do know more. Church tonight was a reminder of the body of Christ that's alive, and the value of community. This place for now is where we feel God wants us and is home.
Though there's pain and a feeling like a death, maybe it's more of the pain often involved in new birth. We want to see what God might want to do. We don't want to miss God in all this. We could be standing on holy ground. And like Peter starting to get out of the boat, I don't want to take my eyes off of Jesus!
Monte's Pollyanna perspective is that we ought to feel blessed having had so many years of great messages, drawing us closer to God. And too, Peter's message is so where the culture is, that God may be wanting him ministering elsewhere. With this being the week of Thanksgiving, I was so full of gratitude for God's leading of us, in seeing the world from His eyes and His heart. And that it's overflowed in desiring to be His mouth, feet and hands.
I'm not sure what to write and maybe writing this will help. I love to write, and when in the process, it's like I start writing things I never thought to write...I don't know if it's conscious or my subconscious, but differing thought processes just take off. And sometimes things crystallize. It's why I regularly journal. Though some may think it sounds wacko, but I often feel God's hands taking over my hands.
Today was my first day to breath, with no commitments - like needing to get coffee going for someone (no one else in this house knows how to make coffee)(and these days I'm drinking more loose black tea brewed in a tea pot). I don't need to make lunches for kids going skiing, which Dawson did with friends today, because they're doing things for themselves.
I woke with sadness. I've had some strange dreams for several nights (I don't remember them) that have left me in a void. We went to church tonight instead of tomorrow morning. It was the first service following a major decision made this week by the session and elders.
Our senior pastor Peter, of 15 years, has been let go. I don't know the actual church body numbers of people starting to complain of his sermon directions, but most of us I know really appreciate how he challenges us. But the Evangelical Presbytery (EPC) has been 'holding trial' with him for several months now, though the process probably began more than a year ago. And there's probably some other things most of us don't really know.
I'm just at a place of trust in the leadership, who do know more. Church tonight was a reminder of the body of Christ that's alive, and the value of community. This place for now is where we feel God wants us and is home.
Though there's pain and a feeling like a death, maybe it's more of the pain often involved in new birth. We want to see what God might want to do. We don't want to miss God in all this. We could be standing on holy ground. And like Peter starting to get out of the boat, I don't want to take my eyes off of Jesus!
Monte's Pollyanna perspective is that we ought to feel blessed having had so many years of great messages, drawing us closer to God. And too, Peter's message is so where the culture is, that God may be wanting him ministering elsewhere. With this being the week of Thanksgiving, I was so full of gratitude for God's leading of us, in seeing the world from His eyes and His heart. And that it's overflowed in desiring to be His mouth, feet and hands.
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