All things bright and beautiful

You know how the song goes, right? 

All things bright and beautiful.... 

Did you see the full moon a couple weeks ago? It was the largest moon in about 20 years and was quite the spectacle. I tried taking a picture, knowing full well it wouldn't do it justice, but who cares. The photograph will remind me of that spectacular moon and the lovely (albeit slightly comical) evening that was had, and that's what a photo is supposed to do, right? 

Sunny Sunday afternoons at the beach also fall into the "bright and beautiful" category. Spring is here, my friends, and warm weather is sure to follow.  There's nothing better than spending time with friends listening to the waves.       

All creatures great and small...

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know I'm supposed to be appreciative of all creatures great and small, but right now I'm not lovin' one of God's littlest creatures...the mouse.
I've been having a mouse problem since Christmas. Actually, the problem started about in the Fall 2009 when I started hearing mice in my walls and found droppings behind my fridge. I plugged up the holes I could find with steel wool and duct tape and went on my merry way. Well, since Christmas the mice have been making appearances. Unwelcome appearances. Millie has been earning her keep - catching about 4 of them, and probably startling and letting even more get away. I've caught one in a snap-trap (ugh!), and tonight I caught another in a plastic container. This last one was particularly stupid. I found it in my bedroom beside my bed, being eyed by Millie (but not bothered); it just sat there dumbfounded while I went to retrieve a plastic container to put it in. When I came back it was in the same spot, quivering but clearly still quite alive.  So now it's in a plastic container until I can figure out what to do with the poor little creature. I must admit, it's sooooo tiny and I'm feeling rather sorry for it. But what am I to do? 

I've done all I can to deter these little creatures - plugged holes, put down mouse traps, praised the cat for her valiant efforts at keeping the mice at bay. I even have those ultrasonic thingys that plug into your wall and emit a frequency that is supposed to keep mice away (thank-you B!). All to no avail. 
I've been hesitant to put down poison because of Millie, but I'm getting closer and closer to calling pest-control and seeing if they can do anything. Ahh the joys of living in apartments!   

All things wise and wonderful...

I had a lovely visit with my Grandparents on the weekend, during which my grandfather informed me that he keeps an eye on my blog. And all of a sudden I was reminded that I'm way overdue for a blog-post. Sigh. Despite my best of intentions, I'm doing no better this year than last at posting. In fact, I'm getting this post in under the wire. No posts in February and almost no posts in March....

Anyway, back to "wise and wonderful". You know who's wise and wonderful? My grandparents, that's who. I do enjoy the time I get to spend with them and the conversations we have. I have a lot of respect and admiration for these two people, and know without a doubt that they are truly a gift from God! 

The only pictures I have from this last visit are photos of some of the loot my grandmother sent home with me, which I wanted to post anyway. In her wisdom, Gram saved these glass mayonnaise jars knowing that they would come in handy later on. These jars are great - their mouths are wide and standard size to large mason jars (so large mason jar lids fit them). Gram sent me home with nearly 10, plus 1 extra large bottle (at the end), plus an old (vintage/antique) "malted milk" bottle, plus a beautiful wooden "fly paper" crate. 
I spent a lovely day filling the bottles and find them new homes. It was nice to transfer dried goods into the bottles and get rid of the plastic packaging. 
I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with the crate. It's quite lovely and rustic, but doesn't really have a home yet. Any suggestions?  

...The Lord God made them all.

A few thoughts on studying the Bible.

I had an occasion, recently, to enter into a theological discussion about a "hot topic" in some of the more conservative churches. I have no intention in getting into the meat of the matter here, but I did come to some interesting conclusions.

First of all, we make a lot of assumptions. We assume the translations are accurate. We assume that what we are taught is right. And we assume we understand everything. We tend to let things we're taught go without challenging them, or without finding out for ourselves. We get confortable with what we understand and resist being unsettled.

So this discussion I mentioned before, it unsettled me. It challenged a my understanding of the Bible in a way I'd never been challenged before. My reaction? Find out the truth for myself by going back to the source, in it's original form in as much as I can. The problem is, the original form of the New Testament is Ancient Greek, which I've never studied. HOWEVER, I just discovered a fantastic resource available online, that does just that - it takes each and every word from the Bible back to it's original Greek or Hebrew origins. Not only that but each word is linked to its reference in Strong's Concordance; AND it also shows the passage in comparison with the various English translations. In case you're wondering, the website I'm referring to is: bible.cc. If you're the Bible-studying type, you'll want to check it out!

While I realise it's incredibly geeky to confess that I've spent hours doing this kind of study lately, I'm not ashamed to admit that it's been incredibly rewarding. If there's ambiguity in the translation, the original text can provide some clarity. This kind of study is really much richer and deepr than I had ever expected. I've learned so much! For example, in many cases, the gender-neutral pronoun used in the original text is replaced by masculine pronouns by Bible translators. Or, when a pronoun could have more than one meaning (gender-neutral or masculine), masculine becomes the default for translators. Interesting, eh? Ha. Or maybe it's not interesting at all. But it certainly has been enlightening for me.

The resources we have at our disposal in these post-modern times is unfathomable. And it's all at our finger-tips! We should consider ouselves privleged not only to have access to these reources, but also to have the freedom to use them.
...And that will be the final conclusion I leave you with tonight.

Be still and know that I am God.

You know how there times when you crave to hear certain kinds of music? It could be the season or the mood, the need for energy or relaxation, but whatever the reason there's just the right kind of music for that particular moment in time.

Lately, for me, it's been the songs of Taize.

Taize is actually a very modern ecumenical monastic order in Taize, France (founded in the 1960s). But what is distinctive about this Christian community is its meditative style of worship that combines silence with sacred choral music and short readings that are intended to calm the soul so that you can experience a moment with God. It is prayer without words. And yet it is also not prayer in solitude or isolation. The Taize experience is actually built around the community, a shared experience, even in silence.

My church in Toronto practiced Taize once and awhile, as the part of the worship during our Sunday services. It was incredibly refreshing, albeit often much too short. We'd sing a Taize song, read a prayer, and sit in silence for a while. But then the service would continue on and the busy-ness of life would pick up again.

I guess right now I crave silence and meditation because life has gotten pretty hectic for me and I've had a lot on my mind. While I like being busy and having things to do, checklists to cross off and tasks to accomplish, I also enjoy quiet times. Unfortunately, when life gets busy like this, my quiet times often turn into wasted down time, either in front of the TV or puttering about while listening to the radio or to music. I don't actually take time to be silent. I guess this is why Taize has been on my mind lately. Silence is a very hard discipline to practice. You have to be intentional about it, and set aside time and energy (because sleeping doesn't count) to practice silence. And you have to stop talking.

I really like what the Taize website says about the value of silence:

Sometimes we are apparently silent, and yet we have great discussions within, struggling with imaginary partners or with ourselves. Calming our souls requires a kind of simplicity: "I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me." Silence means recognising that my worries can’t do much. Silence means leaving to God what is beyond my reach and capacity. A moment of silence, even very short, is like a holy stop, a sabbatical rest, a truce of worries.

Read the whole article here.

I know that a lot of my friends who may follow my blog aren't the churchy type, and that's fine. I still think there is a lot of value in taking time to be silent and for meditation in whatever form you may see fit (introspective, retrospective, or maybe even extrospective).

I close with this last thought, again from the Taize website:
When words and thoughts come to an end, God is praised in silent wonder and admiration.

Each new day is a blank page...

"Be still and know that I am God...." Psalm 46:10

Quiet time for reflection and meditation is my comforting habit...and has been, though not always daily (or even monthly for that matter) for 13 years.

Here is 13 years worth of thoughts, stories, insights, joys and sorrows, hopes and dreams:

Check out what other people are saying about their comforting habits.

Preparing for Lent

Last night I celebrated Shrove Tuesday by making crepes. This tradition goes way back, though typically it's pancakes, not crepes, that are made. The idea is to use up rich foods like eggs, milk and sugar before Lenten fasting. Crepes are made from the same ingredients as pancakes, just thinner, and I had been craving them since being served delicious crepes on my last morning in Toronto! I had a few ingredients that I figured would work nicely for savory crepes - tomatoes, parsley, mushrooms and cheese.

But you know, in the end, I preferred the delicious crepes with lemon and sugar. The crepes are lighter and zingy and taste so good!
And so Lenten fasting begins. Though this year I'm not actually giving up any tasty treats; I've decided to give up facebook instead. Facebook a huge time-sucker for me, and honestly I know I can be doing other things. So, I'm refocussing the time spent on Facebook on more quality things, like giving my time to my community (more on this later), getting involved in a church community, and other things.

Lent is supposed to be a time of sacrifice, remembrance, reflection and devotion. It's because of the significance behind the act of sacrifice (giving up something you enjoy, and giving up of yourself) that I choose to practice Lent, and not because of church tradition. This may be obvious to those who know that I grew up in the Baptist church, a denomination that doesn't practice Lent.

I'm not sure if I should admit this or not but so far giving up Facebook hasn't been that hard. It's really just been about breaking the habit, and not wasting my time being nosy ;).