This little light of mine

I love watching fireworks; the bit where they cascade into colour in the night sky! They light up the darkness, each demonstrating their unique splendour spread abroad for all to see; anyone who would look up and take notice.

If a firework, fails to light or fizzles out before it has time to shoot skywards or perhaps goes off course, we are disappointed and a low murmur is heard throughout the crowd of spectators. However the opposite is true when colour and light and energy and life explodes in front of us; we stand amazed, some of us exclaim, others stand in silent wonder. for just a few seconds we are captivated.

Light overcoming Darkness

A spark becomes a trajectory which leads to a crescendo of colour: its full potential is realised.

Can we cheer that for each other?

And when the darkness is overcome with many colours and shapes and sounds and cascades of light all adding their vibrance and voice....

Can we look to the Light and see a smile?

Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink!

How I long for one of these!

My water's been turned off and I forgot to fill the kettle! Can't face making coffee with milk, so I will hang on and be patient whilst S, who is redesigning the bathroom, demolishes the contents with gusto, banging and hammering and force feeding the skip with the contents of  his handiwork! I am longing  to peep in the room, which is directly above where I am sitting....but instead I will try and think caffeine-free thoughts and plan a little mind diversion. This is no easy task when the ceiling sounds as if it will come down around my ears!  

Even my chickens have water.....(sound like the prodigal son and the pigs....) 

Thoughts lead to gratitude, what is an hour or so? It is so easy to take water for granted isn't it?  I sit here thinking of all the jobs I could do whilst the water is off, but look at the list that came into my mind:

Washing up....
Handwash some tops...
Clean a camping table which has been in our garage for about 15 years and needs to find a new home.
Go to the loo!
Make some more gooseberry jam, nope needs water at the start....

No brainers....

So instead I practise thankfulness and enjoy watching the thrush, from my armchair, eating the amelanchier berries.  The strains of Radio 2 filter down the stairs whilst S whistles and sings along to the songs. 

I smile to myself, the coffee can wait.

O Love that will not let me go

Never heard of the Gaither Band from the 1980s  but certainly appreciate this version of an old hymn they sang at a reunion.

http://youtu.be/CAH1HuUqLZo 
 

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be. 

O light that foll’west all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be. 

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be. 

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be. 

Thanks Mavis, for inspiring me to search this out!

I am home!

I am home, begs the question how do you define home?  Is it "where the heart is"?  Is it a place? Can it also be a space..."feeling at home"? So, being "at home" can also mean being content within yourself? Being content is an area I am turning over in my thoughts lately.  If I analyse it like that, I suppose I could say that "being content in all circumstances" means that I know that I am "at home" inside myself even if the outer circumstances chop and change around me.

 So my thoughts lead on to think about being content. How does the dictionary define it?

Content: satisfied
Content with: Not wishing to have more or other than

(Interestingly the following two words in the list are contention: strife, dispute, rivalry. Contentious: quarrelsome)

So questions need to be asked and disciplined to become part of natural thought processes:

• Which areas of daily living and contentment walk together well? Can these be taken to a deeper level ie incorporating simplicity and minimalism (subjects that may be saved for another occasion!) Oh the thoughts that whirl around!

• Imagine having a conversation witha contented/satisfied person. What do we talk about? How do I feel? Are the outcomes familiar or am I left feeling challenged?

• When does contentment become selfish and/or lazy?  What can be the signs?

• How does injustice fit into "being content"?

Interesting exercise....

So returning to the Dawn Chorus which provoked these thoughts this morning, the early morning mist prevents me from seeing beyond my garden, but I wonder, what will today bring?

It is easy just to take the photo or the film, become a spectator of the unfolding day.....I want to get out there and partake of the adventure, take time to listen, to watch and immerse myself in the moments.  Anyone care to join me?  Breathe deeply, the day stretches out before us!

"We making a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give"

Apparently someone called Norman MacEwan said those words!

Picked up a book in Oxfam recently. You know when you hesitate over a book and put it back on the shelf, then reach for it again, flick through a few more pages...return it to the shelf...wander off..but you can't quite put it out of your mind? This was the scenario and I knew it was a book I needed to learn from, so I listened to the inner voice amd paid the £2.49 knowing that it was an investment in understanding a subject that held important challenges right across every area of life. The title?

"The Power of Generosity" by Dave Toycen (President and CEO of World Vision, Canada)

Such Chapter headings as:

Generosity: What is it?
Who are the Generous?
The Power of Generosity to overcome obstacles
  "          "           "     stimulate Personal Growth
  "            "         "  Does it make a Difference?
"          "            "       on the Road to Justice
"           "         "    to make Peace
"            "            "    What Lies Behind?
"              "         "    : Money
Failure:    A Personal Testimony
The Power of Generosity: How to get it
"              "        "   in a World of Change

Challenging and timely stuff indeed! I've just finished the Peace chapter and the poem below is quoted from there. Just thought to start the day with it!

"He drew a circle that shut me out-
Heretic , rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle and took him In !

From the poem " Outwitted"
— Edwin Markham

Two minutes silence

On Radio 2 this morning, General Sir Richard Dannatt read part of a poem by Major Malcolm (Sammy) Boyle, from the 7th Green Howards who went to Normandy in June 1944 for the D-Day landings.

Life and Eternity

If I should never see the moon again
Rising, red gold across the harvest field,
Or feel the stinging of soft April rain,
As the brown earth, her hidden treasures yield.

If I should never taste the salt sea spray
As the ship beats her course against the breeze,
Or smell the dog rose and the new mown hay,
Or moss and primrose beneath the trees.

If I should never hear the thrushes wake
Long before sunrise in the glimmering down;
Or watch the huge Atlantic rollers break
Against the rugged cliffs in battling scorn.

If I have said goodbye to stream and wood
To the wide ocean and the green clad hill,
I know that he who made this world so good
Has somewhere made a heaven better still.

This bear I witness with my latest breath
Knowing the love of God, I fear not death.

Major Boyle never returned from Normandy. He was killed in action on 16th June 1944.


Nothing to add.....

Behold the Man, behold the similarities.

Been reading Zechariah this week and came across these verses this morning which led to much flicking backwards and forwards and cross referencing.  Thanks Vicki for the idea of those narrow little "post it" tabs for the tops of pages, haven't got it quite as organised as you yet!

I had just finished the first 8 verses of chapter 6, thinking "God, what the heck, what are you saying here....divine judgements etc"  It was a little early in the morning to get my head around. Another sip of tea followed, the page was turned over and I continue to read on from verse 9....when, helloooo this is sounding familiar:

I read it in the New International version, but actually I think I prefer it in the NKJ below:

Zechariah 6:9-13 (New King James Version)

⁹ Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: ¹⁰ “Receive the gift from the captives—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have come from Babylon—and go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah. ¹¹ Take the silver and gold, make an elaborate crown, and set it on the head of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. ¹² Then speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, saying:

      “ Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH!
      From His place He shall branch out,
      And He shall build the temple of the LORD;
       ¹³ Yes, He shall build the temple of the LORD.
      He shall bear the glory,
      And shall sit and rule on His throne;
      So He shall be a priest on His throne,
      And the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’

Apparently the Jews regarded verse 12 as referring to the coming Messiah, The verses above describing the crowning and reign of the Messianic King-Priest.

Isaiah 11

The Branch From Jesse
 ¹ A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
       from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.  ² The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
       the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
       the Spirit of counsel and of power,
       the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -
 ³ and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
       He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
       or decide by what he hears with his ears;



The words "Behold the Man" stood out to me. I turned to this New Testament passage where I remembered reading that phrase before:

John 19 (New King James Version)

John 19

 ¹ So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. ² And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. ³ Then they said,^[a] “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands.
⁴ Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”
⁵ Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”
⁶ Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”

A different crown, a purple robe, "Behold the Man".

No wonder they were furious, I bet they saw the similarities...or perhaps I am reading too much into it! So what was the charge?

 Matthew 26

⁵⁹ Now the chief priests, the elders,^[g] and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, ⁶⁰ but found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none.^[h] But at last two false witnesses^[i] came forward ⁶¹ and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’”
⁶² And the high priest arose and said to Him, “Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?” ⁶³ But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”
⁶⁴ Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Interesting comparison to the Zechariah verses re: the temple (build or destroy?) and the throne.

Finally I remembered the angel's visit to Mary:

 Luke 1 30-33

But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. ³¹You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. ³²He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, ³³and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

I get excited when these phrases pop up and get me thinking and questioning....

So anyway, I finished my cuppa and let the chickens out!

Here endeth the first lesson!

Words....sacred or secular...

RAOUL
No more talk
of darkness,
Forget these
wide-eyed fears.
I'm here,
nothing can harm you -
my words will
warm and calm you.

Let me be
your freedom,
let daylight
dry -your tears.
I'm here,
with you, beside you,
to guard you
and to guide you . . .

CHRISTINE
Say you love me
every
waking moment,
turn my head
with talk of summertime . . .

Say you need me
with you,
now and always . . .
promise me that all
you say is true -
that's all I ask
of you . . .

RAOUL
Let me be
your shelter,
let me
be your light.
You're safe:
No-one will find you
your fears are
far behind you . . .

CHRISTINE
All I want
is freedom,
a world with
no more night . . .
and you
always beside me
to hold me
and to hide me . . .

RAOUL
Then say you'll share with
me one
love, one lifetime . . .
Iet me lead you
from your solitude . . .

Say you need me
with you
here, beside you . . .
anywhere you go,
let me go too -
Christine,
that's all I ask
of you . . .

CHRISTINE
Say you'll share with
me one
love, one lifetime . . .
say the word
and I will follow you . . .

BOTH
Share each day with
me, each
night, each morning . . .

CHRISTINE
Say you love me . . .

RAOUL
You know I do . . .

BOTH
Love me -
that's all I ask
of you . .

Anywhere you go
let me go too . . .
Love me -
that's all I ask
of you . .

To buy or not to buy, that is the question......

Oh the shopping dilemmas I find myself in... Perhaps I need to explain the background first:

• Clothes shopping has never been that much fun for me.
• I want to wear ethical fashion.
• I like hippy/scruffy/chill out sort of clothing that won't look ridiculous on a 50year old.
  

You can see the hurdles I face and why I have procrastinated for so long. However, at some point the issue has to be addressed as clothes need replacing and preferences change...as does size (but that's a different matter!) So what do I do?

Well I have started with baby steps by emailing a few clothing retailers and asking about their ethical policies re workers rights, living wages and such. I have had replies which means that someone, at least has read my concerns.

I always try and remember to lift the label now to see where something has been made and if I end up emailing the retailer, having bought the garment, I try and say something positive first before I launch in with the questions!

I am beginning to read up more on the fashion industry, which retailers are starting to be more proactive. I found these articles today which I will attempt to read at some point. I have scan read them.

http://www.labourbehindthelabel.org/images/pdf/letscleanupfashion2009.pdf

http://fashioninganethicalindustry.org/context/aglobalindustry/

I even wondered about making more of my own clothes again, which I probably shall, but there is still the question of Fairtrade, cotton pickers working conditions, how stuff is dyed etc with both fabric and wool....

I don't want to become all legalistic and boring, but the justice drum beat, grows louder and is becoming much more the rhythm I want to live by now.

Just found this whilst looking for an image to download, interesting sounding companies! Perhaps all is not yet lost!

http://www.tooashop.com/

http://www.ascensiononline.com