Thursday, December 25, 2003
God gave his son; Jesus gave himself, but he went even further than that...after giving more than we could ask for, Jesus allowed people to take from him. take his time, take his energy, take his power, and finally even take his dignity. he let himself be stripped bare and taken advantage of. he came as a servant king. yet everytime people took from him, he conquered. as they took his time he conquered hearts, as they took his energy he conquered questioning minds, as they took his power he conquered pain and sickness...when they tried to take his dignity, he conquered death. he let himself be stripped bare that only his glory might shine through, that what was left was a pure reflection of his Father's image. as people took from him, his heart of love became more and more exposed, his graceful spirit less and less obscured. he came in silence, a babe in an inn. yet even then the angels could not keep silent and burst out in praise of his glory. his life spoke more than any words could. as we took from him, his love increased.
~~~
i am horrified by my own behavior. we had christmas dinner tonight at aunty aileen's before leaving for the airport. she invited her cousin peter and his wife, and that nearly proved my undoing. we always make fun of papa for eating terribly slowly, and joke that that's how he keeps so skinny...because by the time he's ready for more there's no food left. well, at the dinner, we all enjoyed our oversized meal and were ready to clean up except that (predictably) papa was still eating. i glanced over to look at peter and realized two things.
1) he had more food left on his plate than papa
2) he was skinner than papa
which just goes to prove our theory is right after all. but that's when i lost it. i started laughing and could not stop myself...i was shaking with laughter and the only thing that saved me was that i was laughing silently (and it was pure torture!). it took all my self-control to not burst out roaring. i caught papa's eye and he evidently knew what i was laughing about because he started chuckling silently (yes it is possible) too. i stood up to clear the dishes. any longer and i would have irreversibly disgraced myself.
~~~
"thus, the flesh of day, in its heat and light, would gradually decline; and again the golden water would be dancing on the wall" - charles dickens, dombey and son.
day passes in and out, not always as beautifully as dickens describes, but predictably, inevitably, it passes. it is one of those things we don't have to count on, because it is one of those things we can count on without a doubt. day passes in and out, but what do we make of it?
2 weeks, 14 days, 14 times the shadows of "golden water" dance their merry dance. during the intermission, though, is when life has its chance - to move, to rest, to appreciate, to reflect, to be. each day brings a different chance, chance that gradually falls back into shadow if not taken.
day passes in and out, and we move on. or do we? would be able to tell if we were simply moving in circles? we think we are making a journey, but do we always just eventually end up right where we started?
~~~
i am horrified by my own behavior. we had christmas dinner tonight at aunty aileen's before leaving for the airport. she invited her cousin peter and his wife, and that nearly proved my undoing. we always make fun of papa for eating terribly slowly, and joke that that's how he keeps so skinny...because by the time he's ready for more there's no food left. well, at the dinner, we all enjoyed our oversized meal and were ready to clean up except that (predictably) papa was still eating. i glanced over to look at peter and realized two things.
1) he had more food left on his plate than papa
2) he was skinner than papa
which just goes to prove our theory is right after all. but that's when i lost it. i started laughing and could not stop myself...i was shaking with laughter and the only thing that saved me was that i was laughing silently (and it was pure torture!). it took all my self-control to not burst out roaring. i caught papa's eye and he evidently knew what i was laughing about because he started chuckling silently (yes it is possible) too. i stood up to clear the dishes. any longer and i would have irreversibly disgraced myself.
~~~
"thus, the flesh of day, in its heat and light, would gradually decline; and again the golden water would be dancing on the wall" - charles dickens, dombey and son.
day passes in and out, not always as beautifully as dickens describes, but predictably, inevitably, it passes. it is one of those things we don't have to count on, because it is one of those things we can count on without a doubt. day passes in and out, but what do we make of it?
2 weeks, 14 days, 14 times the shadows of "golden water" dance their merry dance. during the intermission, though, is when life has its chance - to move, to rest, to appreciate, to reflect, to be. each day brings a different chance, chance that gradually falls back into shadow if not taken.
day passes in and out, and we move on. or do we? would be able to tell if we were simply moving in circles? we think we are making a journey, but do we always just eventually end up right where we started?
Wednesday, December 24, 2003
it's 20 minutes to christmas. i feel like this year there's been no "build up" to christmas. i've been isolated from the world during the period i'm usually busy buying, distributing and wrapping christmas gifts to overplayed christmas carols. maybe it's a good thing, this retreat from the big circus that christmas has become. even so, thank you Lord Jesus for coming.
my fingers are numb. the last two days have been heavily occupied with crocheting. inconceivable! i who am allergic to needles (the sewing kind) have been entertained largely by them. the depths of desperation boredom can drive you to. but i'll concede that crocheting is fun...sore fingers aside. when i close my eyes i see twirl, loop, twirl...pull through, twirl, loop...
tomorrow's our last day here. despite my numerous gripes, i have enjoyed myself. it's certainly a lifestyle that departs from my usual one. i wouldn't trade it for my own, but for two weeks of my life it was worth experiencing what it would be like if life wasn't such a blur.
my fingers are numb. the last two days have been heavily occupied with crocheting. inconceivable! i who am allergic to needles (the sewing kind) have been entertained largely by them. the depths of desperation boredom can drive you to. but i'll concede that crocheting is fun...sore fingers aside. when i close my eyes i see twirl, loop, twirl...pull through, twirl, loop...
tomorrow's our last day here. despite my numerous gripes, i have enjoyed myself. it's certainly a lifestyle that departs from my usual one. i wouldn't trade it for my own, but for two weeks of my life it was worth experiencing what it would be like if life wasn't such a blur.
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
"praise the Lord
how good it is to sing praise to our God
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!" - psalm 147:1
o Lord, great and holy is your name, and i praise you that your glory reaches over the earth, whether in australia, singapore, california and even parts of the world my puny mind cannot conceive.
the lazy part of the holiday has started; i have even more time than before for quiet reflection.
how good it is to sing praise to our God
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!" - psalm 147:1
o Lord, great and holy is your name, and i praise you that your glory reaches over the earth, whether in australia, singapore, california and even parts of the world my puny mind cannot conceive.
the lazy part of the holiday has started; i have even more time than before for quiet reflection.
Monday, December 22, 2003
"the cup filled with the wine of fury of his wrath" - revelation 16:19
isn't "wine of fury" a beautiful phrase? it expresses precisely the mix of potency and something still festering that makes up fury, even while there is something romantically lethal about it. no deep insight here, that phrase just caught my fancy while i was reading the Bible today.
isn't "wine of fury" a beautiful phrase? it expresses precisely the mix of potency and something still festering that makes up fury, even while there is something romantically lethal about it. no deep insight here, that phrase just caught my fancy while i was reading the Bible today.
Sunday, December 21, 2003
visited the lake caves at margaret river today, it was a more than 200 step descend into the cave. i can only imagine when the first explorers entered the cave, what it must have been like. they had to abseil down a really tall tree into total darkness. there were artificial lights that make the cave both bearable and beautiful, but for a brief moment the tour guide turned off all the lights and it was pitch black save for a very very faint hint of light towards the entrance of the cave. there were some muslim men on the tour with us, and one of them remarked, "i wonder if this is what it is like when a man dies and is buried". the tour guide said how peaceful that would be, to which the muslim man said, "no...not peaceful at all". how terrible to have to live in apprehension of death's approach.
"where o death is thy victory?
where o death is thy sting?" - 1 corinthians 15:55
as an aside, the caves reminded me of moria...return of the king is now showing and i still have a week to wait!
"where o death is thy victory?
where o death is thy sting?" - 1 corinthians 15:55
as an aside, the caves reminded me of moria...return of the king is now showing and i still have a week to wait!
Saturday, December 20, 2003
"the sovereign Lord is my strength
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer
he enables me to go on the heights" - habakkuk 3:19
i climbed a 61m tall tree today (that's almost 20 stories high)...it was scary, that goes without saying. i was climbing without any wire harness or safety net, so it was really just me against the wind, and that's obviously not a very fair match. the view at the top was simply gorgeous, though, i could see for miles around and the land just kept on going and going, to think that's only a dot in the expanse of God's kingdom. coming down the tree was more of an ordeal than going up, i just kept thinking...the fast way down is to jump...but not being suicidal, i took the long way down and it was a relief to see my family waiting below grow larger as they drew nearer. it was certainly an experience, now i can say i've climbed a tree that's 40 times my height!
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer
he enables me to go on the heights" - habakkuk 3:19
i climbed a 61m tall tree today (that's almost 20 stories high)...it was scary, that goes without saying. i was climbing without any wire harness or safety net, so it was really just me against the wind, and that's obviously not a very fair match. the view at the top was simply gorgeous, though, i could see for miles around and the land just kept on going and going, to think that's only a dot in the expanse of God's kingdom. coming down the tree was more of an ordeal than going up, i just kept thinking...the fast way down is to jump...but not being suicidal, i took the long way down and it was a relief to see my family waiting below grow larger as they drew nearer. it was certainly an experience, now i can say i've climbed a tree that's 40 times my height!
Friday, December 19, 2003
i stand in the rain
cold air on my face
i look at blue upon blue
of ocean
and wonder
if i stand long enough
if i listen hard enough
maybe the waves will
answer me
~~~
"the Lord is near to all who call on him
to all who call on him in truth...
my mouth will speak in praise of the Lord
let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever" - psalm 145:18,21
i think the word's beauty is proportionately related to how much we can appreciate the beauty of God's creation around us.
cold air on my face
i look at blue upon blue
of ocean
and wonder
if i stand long enough
if i listen hard enough
maybe the waves will
answer me
~~~
"the Lord is near to all who call on him
to all who call on him in truth...
my mouth will speak in praise of the Lord
let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever" - psalm 145:18,21
i think the word's beauty is proportionately related to how much we can appreciate the beauty of God's creation around us.
Thursday, December 18, 2003
"sweep me away
with your great love
carry me in your holy name"
visited cape le grande today. the ocean was three shades of blue, the sky added yet another shade. it was simply breathtaking and left me once more in awe of God's creation. the wind was crazily strong, if i let my body become totally relaxed it was strong enough to move me. it was equally strong later on when we walked out on the esplanade jetty in esperance. it was so much more work walking out on the jetty than walking back because than we were walking against the wind. when the wind was blowing us along, it hardly took effort to move at all...if only we allow God to be the "wind beneath our wings", how smooth and effortless our journeys would be.
with your great love
carry me in your holy name"
visited cape le grande today. the ocean was three shades of blue, the sky added yet another shade. it was simply breathtaking and left me once more in awe of God's creation. the wind was crazily strong, if i let my body become totally relaxed it was strong enough to move me. it was equally strong later on when we walked out on the esplanade jetty in esperance. it was so much more work walking out on the jetty than walking back because than we were walking against the wind. when the wind was blowing us along, it hardly took effort to move at all...if only we allow God to be the "wind beneath our wings", how smooth and effortless our journeys would be.
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
i should be watching return of the king today, but it doesn't open in australia till the 26th of december...after all these days of counting down to december 17th!
flies everywhere, it's driving me mad. if there are any insects that annoy me, it's those that buzz, and the flies here just fly into your ear and buzz.
ok, i should stop complaining because it makes it sound like i'm having a horrible time. i'm not. i am a little bored, but it's beautiful here in its own fashion. went to wave rock today to see...well...a rock shaped like a wave. it was pretty amazing except they fed us some rubbish about how the rock took 23 million years to form.
we drove through a town that had population 312, and that was supposed to be a large town. ever heard of the rural outback? i think i'm here.
flies everywhere, it's driving me mad. if there are any insects that annoy me, it's those that buzz, and the flies here just fly into your ear and buzz.
ok, i should stop complaining because it makes it sound like i'm having a horrible time. i'm not. i am a little bored, but it's beautiful here in its own fashion. went to wave rock today to see...well...a rock shaped like a wave. it was pretty amazing except they fed us some rubbish about how the rock took 23 million years to form.
we drove through a town that had population 312, and that was supposed to be a large town. ever heard of the rural outback? i think i'm here.
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
i have been downgraded from blogging to microsoft word to an old-fashioned notepad. well, actually...writing things out is supposed to be good for getting in touch with one's spirit. i haven't had it so slow for as long as i can remember. i keep asking "so what are we going to do next?" and no one seems to have an answer. how can people live like this? just one day in this slow-paced world and i'm bored, having to put up with this every day would simply drive me crazy. it is nice out here though, the calm and quiet provide perfect conditions for spending time with God and sorting myself out.
"we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us" - 1 Corinthians 2:12...and evidently i have time to work on tms.
i have God's spirit, i think...now where's the understanding? i guess there's no better time than the next 10 days to work on cultivating more of it. it's 8 pm, and everyone's preparing to go to bed. i feel like i've entered an alternate world...one that is completely unreal.
"we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us" - 1 Corinthians 2:12...and evidently i have time to work on tms.
i have God's spirit, i think...now where's the understanding? i guess there's no better time than the next 10 days to work on cultivating more of it. it's 8 pm, and everyone's preparing to go to bed. i feel like i've entered an alternate world...one that is completely unreal.
