Lingering

Luke 2:41-43 "His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem."  

I love that Jesus lingered.

Dreams

I recently found out about the Wycliffe Bible Translators Organization ( http://www.wycliffe.org/ ), and I'm excited to learn more about what they do.  I have a secret dream that all moneys currently put into new versions of English translations of the Bible would be re-routed to support translations of the Bible into unreached people groups' languages.    I also finished reading Brother Andrew's book, This Road, which offers a chronology of his life beginning in Holland and through his trips bringing Bibles and encouragement to the persecuted church in now mostly formerly Communist countries.   It was so enriching and struck me that it might be better to translate and publish more Bibles in more languages rather than continuing to invent new English versions.  Only a thought.

Changing Perspective on Firedancing & Soil

National Geographic Magazine's September 2008 issue brought me new depth in perspective on the world in both hilarious and troubling ways.  Hilarious first: I found this magnificent article about the cholitas, Bolivian indigenous women who fight dressed "to the nines" in artistic, dramatic fashion in El Alto, Bolivia.  The crowds go wild for their favorites, one of them being Juanita the Loving One, another Amorous Yolanda.  What a dream.  I recently found this website for training in Spanish and any of the the following activities: Yoga, firedancing, surfing etc. in Costa Rica.  Secret dream: to  combine both and firedance/wrestle/translate for a summer or two.... 

    ://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/09/wrestlers/guillermoprieto-text

The other article, Our Good Earth, was on the rapid degradation and erosion of soil in the world.

  Geographers talked about using ancient techniques like lines of stones and charcoal to stop erosion and

 enrich the soil.  But a nation who is unable to care for its soil and therefore food supply in a sustainable

 way has little hope of a future stable, supple economy as it will increasingly become dependent on imports 

for the staple foods.  Haiti is an example of this. :(.  I would really like to learn more about how the things 

that I consume affect the soil and adjust myself accordingly to be a better steward of that.  

Speaking Human

Reading Winter Soldier Iraq and Afghanistan: Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations by Iraq Veterans Against the Way and Aaron Glantz.  

"I can't speak Arabic, but I can speak human" expressed a soldier who raided the home and took captive innocent sons of an Iraqi woman in response to her pleas in Arabic. p. 56

Knowing one's self

This song strikes me in remembering that to know where I'm going, we're going, answer these questions, know where our loyalty is and to whom we're committed is to be really living, really facing and embracing reality.  

OneRepublic - Say (All I Need)

Do you know where your heart is?

Do you think you can find it?

Or did you trade it for something

Somewhere better just to have it?

Do you know where your love is?

Do you think that you lost it?

You felt it so strong, but

Nothing's turned out how you wanted

 

Well, bless my soul

You're a lonely soul

Cause you won't let go

Of anything you hold

 

Well, all I need

Is the air I breathe

And a place to rest

My head

 

Do you know what your fate is?

And are you trying to shake it?

You're doing your best and

Your best look

You're praying that you make it

 

Well, bless my soul

You're a lonely soul

Cause you won't let go

Of anything you hold

 

Well, all I need

Is the air I breathe

And a place to rest

My head

 

I said I all I need

Is the air I breathe

And a place to rest

My head

 

Do you think you can find it?

Do you think you can find it?

Do you think you can find it?

Better than you had it

Do you think you can find it?

Do you think you can find it?

Do you think you can find it?

Yeah, better than you had it (Better than you had it)

 

I said I all I need

Is the air I breathe

And a place to rest

My head

 

I said I all I need

Is the air I breathe

And a place to rest

My head

 

Whenever the end is

Do you think you can see it?

Well, until you get there

Go on, go ahead and scream it

Just say it

Loyalty and Commitment

I've been reading through 2 Chronicles, and one of the strongest things that I won't let go of is the how each king's reign's success is determined by where he commits himself, to whom or what he is loyal.  Kings are described in terms of their wholeheartedness, whether they are or are not to the Lord.  I want to be wholehearted, loyal, committed.  I want to be a woman who leaves no doubt among those she touches, to whom she is dedicated.  To God, to her friends and family, to humanity, to stewarding beauty, nature and resources well. 

Rob Thomas's Ever the Same and Nickelback's Never Gonna Be Alone reflect my ache for this loyalty, although they are in the context of romance, in which I am only with Jesus so far.

We were drawn from the weeds

We were brave like soldiers

Falling down under the pale moonlight

You were holding to me

Like a someone broken

And I couldn't tell you but I'm telling you now

 

Just let me hold you while you're falling apart

Just let me hold you and we'll both fall down

 

Fall on me

Tell me everything you want me to be

Forever with you forever in me

Ever the same

 

We would stand in the wind

We were free like water

Flowing down

Under the warmth of the sun

Now it's cold and we're scared

And we've both been shaken

Hey, look at us

Man, this doesn't need to be the end

 

Just let me hold you while you're falling apart

Just let me hold you and we'll both fall down

 

Fall on me tell me everything you want me to be

Forever with you

Forever in me

Ever the same

Call on me

I'll be there for you and you'll be there for me

Forever it's you

Forever in me

Ever the same

 

You may need me there

To carry all your weight

But you're no burden I assure

You tide me over

With a warmth I'll not forget

But I can only give you love

 

Fall on me tell me everything you want me to be

Forever with you

Forever in me

Ever the same

Call on me

I'll be there for you and you'll be there for me

Forever it's you

Forever in me

Ever the same

Nickelback Never Gonna Be Alone 

Time, is going by, so much faster than I,

And I'm starting to regret not spending all of it with you.

Now I'm, wondering why, I've kept this bottled inside,

So I'm starting to regret not selling all of it to you.

So if I haven't yet, I've gotta let you know...

 

(Chorus)

Your never gonna be alone!

From this moment on, if you ever feel like letting go,

I won't let you fall...

Your never gonna be alone!

I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone.

 

(Verse 2)

And now, as long as I can, I'm holding on with both hands,

'Cuz forever I believe that there's nothing I could need but you,

So if I haven't yet, I've gotta let you know...

 

(Chorus)

Your never gonna be alone!

From this moment on, if you ever feel like letting go,

I won't let you fall.

When all hope is gone, I know that you can carry on.

We're gonna see the world out,

I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone.

 

(Verse 3)

Ooooh!

You've gotta live every single day,

Like it's the only one, what if tomorrow never comes?

Don't let it slip away,

Could be our only one, you know it's only just begun.

Every single day,

May be our only one, what if tomorrow never comes?

Tomorrow never comes...

 

(Verse 4)

Time, is going by, so much faster than I,

And I'm starting to regret not telling all of this to you.

 

(Chorus)

Your never gonna be alone!

From this moment on, if you ever feel like letting go,

I won't let you fall.

When all hope is gone, I know that you can carry on.

We're gonna see the world out,

I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone.

 

I'm gonna be there always,

I won't be missing one more day,

I'm gonna be there always,

I won't be missing one more day.

Impacted by Music

Certain songs have meant so much to me over the last semester.  I know they are connected to what I am learning from God, my friends, family, strangers, nature, all of it in this journey right now.  I don’t want to forget.  One such song is The Fray’s You Found Me.  My roommates unofficially banned me from playing it over and over…so I got my headphones J.  Parts of the song hit me deeply, and I just couldn’t get enough.

 

 

The Fray - You Found Me


I found God


On the corner of first and Amistad


Where the West was all but won


All alone, smoking his last cigarette


I said where you been,

He said ask anything


 

Where were you?


When everything was falling apart


All my days were spent by the telephone


It never rang


And all I needed was a call


That never came


To the corner of first and Amistad

Lost and insecure


You found me, you found me


Lying on the floor


Surrounded, surrounded


Why’d you have to wait?


Where were you? Where were you?


Just a little late


You found me, you found me

In the end everyone ends up alone


Losing her, the only one who’s ever known

Who I am, who I’m not, who I want to be


No way to know how long she will be next to me

Lost and insecure


You found me, you found me


Lying on the floor


Surrounded, surrounded


Why’d you have to wait?


Where were you, where were you?


Just a little late


You found me, you found me

Early morning, City breaks


I’ve been calling for years and years and years and years


 

And you never left me no messages

You never send me no letters

You got some kind of nerve, taking all I want

Lost and insecure


You found me, you found me


Lying on the floor

Where were you where were you

Lost and insecure


You found me, you found me


Lying on the floor


Surrounded, surrounded


Why’d you have to wait?


Where were you, where were you?

Just a little late


You found me, you found me

Why’d you have to wait?


To find me, to find me.

Realizing and Changing

The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long Is tood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the underfrowth;

 

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

 

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

 

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

 

This poem touches me in realizing that I was wrong about a lot of things in my view of relationships and myself before I lost a few of the closest people in my life to the changing contexts of our lives over the last year.  Thank God the road is not finished yet.