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.

How to be Alone

Have you seen this short film? It's been floating around the internet for a couple weeks now.
It's a lovely piece with a lot of wisdom, not just for those of us who are single but also for those in relationships who find themselves lonely when they're alone.

Being alone doesn't have to be synonymous with lonely...
...."'cause if you're happy in your head, then solitude is blest and alone is okay."

Poem written and perfromed by Tanya Davis.
Filmed in Halifax.

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.

Delighting in a good read

This is the view I enjoyed for a long afternoon at the cottage. And these were the sounds - a light breeze and the rippling lake against the wharf:

One of the delights of the cottage is the luxury to sit down with a good book and not have to get up for anything. It's a perfect place to shut out the world and immerse yourself in the world of your book. In my case, the book I was reading took me back to pre-American Civil War times in Kentucky. I finally finished reading Uncle Tom's Cabin, and I have to say this book shot way up to the top of my favourites. First of all I was completely caught off guard by the underlying themes. Yes, I knew the book was an indictment against the injustices of slavery and was very forward-thinking of its female author. In fact, Harriet Beecher Stowe has become a sort of hero to me now. The text, the language, is very pointed to particular social groups and at the time it was written in 1851 it had to have been very shocking to its readers. HBS was very counter-cultural and I dig that! But what I didn't expect was the message of hope and forgiveness in the midst of some of the worst kinds of treatment a human could endure by the hands of another. Uncle Tom's heartfelt desire was not really for his own earthy freedom, because he knew he would receive freedom in Heaven one day. No, his heartfelt desire was for his Master's freedom - freedom from that which has separated him from God, and freedom that comes from being released in forgiveness.

This is a long post, but I have to share these passages from the book with you. I hope they give you as much food for thought as they did for me. AND, if you haven't read Uncle Tom's Cabin - do!

On the abuses of slavery, the author writes to the reader:

"Patience! Patience! ye whose hearts swell indignant at wrongs like these. Not one throb of anguish, not one tear of the oppressed is forgotten by the Man of Sorrows, the Lord of Glory. In his patient, generous bosom he bears the anguish of a world. Bear thou, like him, in patience, and labour in love; for sure is he is God, "the year of his redeemed shall come." (Ch.12)

And when George, a slave who doubts the presence of God, finds refuge in a Quaker home:

"This, indeed, was a home, -- home, -- a word that George had never yet known the meaning for; and a belief in God and trust in His providence, began to encircle his heart, as with a golden cloud of protection and confidence, dark, misanthropic, pining, atheistic doubts and fierce despair melted away before the light of a living Gospel, breathed in living faces, preached by a thousand unconscious acts of love and good-will, which, like a cup of cold water given in the name of a disciple shall never lose their reward. (Ch.13)

And from St. Clare, on the hypocrisy of the church's support and justification of slavery:

"Religion! Is that what you hear at church religion? Is that which can bend and turn, and descend and ascend, to fit every crooked phase of selfish, worldly society, religion? Is that religion that is less scrupulous, less generous,less just, less considerate for man, than even my own ungodly, worldly, blinded nature? No! When I look for a religion, I must look for something above me, not for something beneath."