One Day

Sometimes I lay under the moon and thank God I'm breathing;

Then I pray, "Don't take me soon, 'cause I am here for a reason."

Sometimes, in my tears I drown, but I never let it get me down.

So when negativity surrounds, I know some day it'll all turn around, because...

All my life I've been waiting for, I've been praying for, for the people to say

That we don't wanna fight no more; there'll be no more wars and our children will play.

One day, one day, one day...

It's not about win or lose, because we all lose when they feed on the souls of the innocent,

Blood-drenched pavement; keep on moving through, the waters stay raging...

In this maze you can lose your way; it might drive you crazy, but don't let it faze you, no way...

Sometimes, in my tears I drown, but I never let it get me down.

So when negativity surrounds, I know some day it'll all turn around, because...

All my life I've been waiting for, I've been praying for, for the people to say

That we don't wanna fight no more; there'll be no more wars and our children will play.

One day, one day, one day...

One day this all will change; treat people the same, stop with the violence, down with the hate.

One day we'll all be free and proud to be under the same sun,

Singing songs of freedom like...

All my life I've been waiting for, I've been praying for, for the people to say

That we don't wanna fight no more; there'll be no more wars and our children will play.

One day, one day, one day...

Funeral

Just attended a memorial service for a 21 year-old girl.  Funerals are always awful and heartbreaking, but when they're for young people, they just feel so much worse.  What a loss.  How many years of life she would have had.  It's absolutely sorrowful when you have to lay a parent or grandparent to rest, when they're full of years; but when a young life is cut short, it just feels ...wrong.

She is in God's House now, though.  In the spectrum of eternity, we'll all be with her There soon.

Smokey

Smokey:  a great companion, friendly, playful, lazy and cuddly.

As soon as our plane hit the ground, the phone rang.

We had just landed - still donned in t-shirts, shorts, tanned skin - at the Philadelphia airport.  We were home from our Dominican honeymoon.

The call informed us that the family cat had died.  We waited for our luggage, hopped a tram to the hotel where our car was parked, held in tears until we merged onto I-95 to get back to West Chester.

When we arrived, little, black Midnight mewed, alarmed, at us.  She could not understand why Smokey wasn't moving.  His little body was still curled into his cat-bed.  He lay face-down.

Sitting on the sofa, we held Midnight for as long as she'd let us, feeling the need to console her.

The whole timber-framed house creaked and groaned constantly, all night long.  One might blame it on the arriving cold front and falling snow.... but, perhaps, the house was exhaling a breath, a soul that night.

The following morning, three brothers dug a hole beneath the snow.

Photo by Mark

day

today at work i met a german lady whose name is Hildegard  [how old skool].

this evening i hung out with grandmotherly types, as i won't have my own for much longer.

i will learn how to purl.  

A bad potluck dish

Hello! I know that everyone loves potlucks/pot blessings/covered dish/bring-food-to-share dinners, so of course everyone must be familiar with the one dish on the table that looks a little funky and slightly untouched for that reason. Before you take another sympathy scoop from that particular dish at your next potluck, read the story of the original icky potluck entree:

Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, "Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these men."

One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine. He gathered some of its gourds and filled the fold of his cloak. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, "O man of God, there is death in the pot!" And they could not eat it.

Elisha said, "Get some flour." He put it into the pot and said, "Serve it to the people to eat." and there was noting harmful in the pot."

(2 Kings 4:38-41)

Jell-O/marshmallow salad, anyone?

This Break

This has been quite clearly the most busy and stressful and demanding semester of my life.

I am ecstatic about this five day break from it all, even though I will spend a good chunk of that time revising my history paper, catching up on readings, and putting together my portfolio for my Islamic art class. I also want to be able to catch up with friends a bit, but maybe some 'me time' [and by me I mean JESUS and me] would be more beneficial. The busyness of the past two months has completely drained me spiritually; time for reading God's Word and praying has been snatched out of my sight; and on the way home listening to songs that cry out to Him I could feel wholeness begin to emerge once more. Perhaps I'll spend tomorrow hidden away in my room regaining my ability to worship the Lord.

It's tricky, having to spend soooo much time in the ceramics studio. I do enjoy doing ceramics, but more than 5 hours in the same room can be mind-numbing. I miss being able to play outside all the time like I did in the summer.

The school lifestyle really drags me down physically, too. I get no physical exercise, I become malnourished consuming crappy cafeteria food [since I have no time to go grocery shopping or cook for myself, hah] so spiritually, mentally, physically, I am pretty much in a state of decay.

I know it sounds like I am complaining, but I just want to reiterate my situation before saying again how wonderful this break will be for me. I am so sick of this hardened heart that has developed within me. I'm looking forward to being able to care, to love, and to worship again.