No way should I be writing this right now. I have homework like I can only imagine. But it's going on a week,and my dear little bloggie has no idea about actual life events! Just snippets of thoughts, and, let's be honest, that's nothing to chew on!
Last Wednesday, Daniel, Todd, Wayne and I headed to the train station to catch the 9:30 train to 30th Street Station. Todd brought biscotti. Todd wins.
Daniel gave a brief (and enlightening, as always, Dan, (no sarcasm here, I promise!)) music-genre study on our ride. Shortly thereafter I fell asleep. I dreamed of homework. Then we were in Philly! Todd brought a map. Another win for Todd.
The day was beautiful and breezy. We walked in the historical district on our way to find cheesesteaks (one word, Google, don't you give me that red underline!) in South Street. Gianna's Grill is a hole-in-the-wall spot known for its vegan cheese steaks. Daniel's opinion: vegetarians should stick to creating their own menu instead of imitating meat--nasty.
Later, the Franklin Institute, where they are featuring Body Worlds 2. That was crazy weird. Real bodies, preserved through plastination. Instead of calling them people, the placards called them "plastinates." It was interesting to me in a morbid way. I was pretty disturbed when we got to the fetuses. The human body is miraculous, certainly. I saw an eight-week old embryo already identifiable as a human, but the size of a dime. Dude. But those little humans did not sign up to be put on display in the Franklin Institute.
We walked through the heart. I saw a brain shriveled by Alzheimer's disease. We played with airflow and inertia and camera angles and got hungry again.
Dinner was Reading Terminal Market, formerly the inner city train station before 30th Street was built. I ate sushi which I thought to be fish-free until I found an auspicious tentacle in the maki roll that fell apart. Also, Bassett's ice cream is everything Bill said it would be.
Back to the Franklin Institute for the IMAX showing of Avatar. We had to switch seats to keep everyone from straining their necks and/or throwing up. The screen fills one's field of vision to the point of certain nausea. Avatar is a wonderful movie, a powerful message about the environment, imperialism, selfishness, [loss of] culture... go see it.
Then the late train back to Lancaster. I slept again. This time I dreamed of Avatar.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Oh, to know!
My small group just returned from visiting a man in the hospital. He's well known around here, but I had never met him before tonight.
His wife is lit up from inside. She rubbed his back as she stood beside him, a smile on her face. The room was full with ten people, sitting and standing, all more or less at ease. Clearly, this was not everyone's first visit to a hospital. But even more apparent, they were visiting their close friend.
We tossed a balloon around, then a football. His motor skills were improving, though his speech was mostly garbled. His wife spoke to him directly when she failed to understand his meanings, "I'm sorry, sometimes I don't understand still. But I want to. You're making such a good effort!"
We prayed before leaving. An hour with ten people is long enough to exhaust some healthy people. We first prayed for him. Then for her. As we prayed for her, I noticed him nod his head, his heart in full agreement with the blessings we spoke over his wife: strength, peace. I don't know if anyone else saw, but I was honored to see what he couldn't say in words right now: how he loves loves loves the hands that held his foot, lighting rubbing his sock as we stood around him.
She told us that the last time he was speaking with fluency, the doctor had asked him how he was. "I'm praising the Lord," he said.
It must take a lot of time to become so lovely. It's a stretch for me to realize right now, that God loves me, this man, and his wife with the same love. I had a rare glimpse into the precious heart of suffering.
His wife is lit up from inside. She rubbed his back as she stood beside him, a smile on her face. The room was full with ten people, sitting and standing, all more or less at ease. Clearly, this was not everyone's first visit to a hospital. But even more apparent, they were visiting their close friend.
We tossed a balloon around, then a football. His motor skills were improving, though his speech was mostly garbled. His wife spoke to him directly when she failed to understand his meanings, "I'm sorry, sometimes I don't understand still. But I want to. You're making such a good effort!"
We prayed before leaving. An hour with ten people is long enough to exhaust some healthy people. We first prayed for him. Then for her. As we prayed for her, I noticed him nod his head, his heart in full agreement with the blessings we spoke over his wife: strength, peace. I don't know if anyone else saw, but I was honored to see what he couldn't say in words right now: how he loves loves loves the hands that held his foot, lighting rubbing his sock as we stood around him.
She told us that the last time he was speaking with fluency, the doctor had asked him how he was. "I'm praising the Lord," he said.
It must take a lot of time to become so lovely. It's a stretch for me to realize right now, that God loves me, this man, and his wife with the same love. I had a rare glimpse into the precious heart of suffering.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Just Right Now
A soft breeze rustles my blinds. Everyone is quiet. My soul is awake. I carry dreams with my fingers. With so much to do do do, is it possible that it is time to be? And to be. and to be...
It smells like rain. Shut down, oh mind, and retire to the place where worries won't plague you and no one will argue. In the morning grace is brand new, you can get it while it's fresh.
It smells like rain. Shut down, oh mind, and retire to the place where worries won't plague you and no one will argue. In the morning grace is brand new, you can get it while it's fresh.
Monday, March 22, 2010
A Little More About Love
A prayer to the Father about my father:
It is no use.
I will go on loving you.
I am not only okay with the pain these affections cause
as they cut to the quick of my soul,
I am absolutely convinced
that they are the love itself,
Growing upward, toward light,
straining with every last ounce of breath,
Each fiber pushing caution away
and reaching up to touch the
particles of hope that must be above!
I am convinced that that is the shape of my love.
It is no use.
I will go on loving you.
I am not only okay with the pain these affections cause
as they cut to the quick of my soul,
I am absolutely convinced
that they are the love itself,
Growing upward, toward light,
straining with every last ounce of breath,
Each fiber pushing caution away
and reaching up to touch the
particles of hope that must be above!
I am convinced that that is the shape of my love.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Love Advice from Mom
A paraphrase of a longer conversation:
When you meet that special person, you'll know it, because you'll just be so comfortable. You'll think, "this makes sense." You'll be glad when they arrive, and sad when they leave.
When you meet that special person, you'll know it, because you'll just be so comfortable. You'll think, "this makes sense." You'll be glad when they arrive, and sad when they leave.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Hebrews 10:39
"But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved."
So persevere. It's a matter of identity. We are the kind of people who believe and are saved. Just like runners first have to think of themselves as runners before completing a marathon, or an artist must call herself an artist before completing a masterpiece. We are perseverers. Holding out and fighting through is what we do.
So persevere. It's a matter of identity. We are the kind of people who believe and are saved. Just like runners first have to think of themselves as runners before completing a marathon, or an artist must call herself an artist before completing a masterpiece. We are perseverers. Holding out and fighting through is what we do.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Visiting Spirits
Some people, and they are a rare breed, know just what you're thinking when you look at them.
Two such friends, Erin and Christine, came all the way from Houghton to Lancaster late on a Wednesday night a week and a half ago! They went to Sears every day that they were here. They went first on Thursday to make an optical appointment, then Friday to buy a plunger--thanks, Don--then to attend said appointment on Saturday, then Sunday to make it an even four times.
Also eventful during their visit: on Saturday night we sought to attend the Wolf Explosion's performance at New Holland Coffee Co. Unfortunately, we found ourselves lost. Not just any lost: a half an hour in the wrong direction kind of lost. Don't worry, it's possible. When we finally arrived, we were really glad. And we ended up at Prince Street Cafe (where else, Lancastrians?) playing a game of double Dutch Blitz (what else, Mennonites?) and having a grand time of it, too!
It was surreal and wonderful to have a small Houghton community sitting in my very own Prince Street Cafe. It was good. I wonder how many times in my life I have had the privilege to be around so many kindred spirits. It happens more often than I could have hoped.
Two such friends, Erin and Christine, came all the way from Houghton to Lancaster late on a Wednesday night a week and a half ago! They went to Sears every day that they were here. They went first on Thursday to make an optical appointment, then Friday to buy a plunger--thanks, Don--then to attend said appointment on Saturday, then Sunday to make it an even four times.
Also eventful during their visit: on Saturday night we sought to attend the Wolf Explosion's performance at New Holland Coffee Co. Unfortunately, we found ourselves lost. Not just any lost: a half an hour in the wrong direction kind of lost. Don't worry, it's possible. When we finally arrived, we were really glad. And we ended up at Prince Street Cafe (where else, Lancastrians?) playing a game of double Dutch Blitz (what else, Mennonites?) and having a grand time of it, too!
It was surreal and wonderful to have a small Houghton community sitting in my very own Prince Street Cafe. It was good. I wonder how many times in my life I have had the privilege to be around so many kindred spirits. It happens more often than I could have hoped.
Monday, March 1, 2010
The New Woman a la Disney
I am watching Mulan. I can never get enough of this movie. My favorite song is “I'll Make a Man Out of You” because the montage is so inspiring! The montage moves from a hopeless bunch of unfit men (and woman) to a trained corps of incredible acumen. In true Disney fashion, they each entirely master the skills needed to complete the rigors of training. They all make rapid, unbelievable progress, though Mulan leads the group as they run. The only thing the fellows in the army are lacking is brains. They cannot figure out how to use the weights to climb the pole to reach the arrow.
The scope of masculinity is very broad—from the effeminate adviser, to the noble blockhead Yao, to the handsome and capable Li Shang. Mulan proves she cannot fit into her prescribed position in society in the meeting with the matchmaker. She is too full of personality... so we see another ideal of femininity as Mulan develops as a soldier. She fits well. She has more than physical stamina, for she is a problem-solver. She has emotional equanimity when the army passes through the razed village. She commemorates the dead, tries to comfort Li Shang, despite her own despair.
All told, she is no typical Disney leading lady. For example, Cinderella's claims to fame include a lovely singing voice, a fondness for animals, and extraordinary forbearance when treated poorly by relatives (not to mention a knack at scrubbing, sweeping, and sewing). Snow White is primarily maternal, exhibiting a keen household sensibility, a fabulous cook, a fondness for woodland creatures, her “fatal” flaw though, is being a tad too trusting when it comes to strange, old women. Sleeping Beauty, er...uh, Briarrose, is it?... a nice singing voice, dancing skills, a fondness for woodland creatures... Jasmine and Belle have a few more traits to recommend themselves: an independent spirit and a deep love of learning, respectively. But Mulan is the new woman: strong, smart, sensitive, beautiful—though her physical beauty is downplayed when she is dressed as a man. But she is not entirely new-fashioned: she follows in the rags-to-riches economic expectation, and she still talks to animals, though their responses are limited to typical animal-talk, excluding Mushu the dragon.
[Spoiler Warning] By the end of the movie, Mulan's fullest self is realized. She saves the emperor himself from the leader of the Huns, even dressed as a woman! She leads the other men with her strategy (now all dressed as women, to the “I'll Make a Man Out of You” reprise). She the personally beats (Attila?) the Hun with her wits.
Though set in China, perhaps the story is Western, with Western ideals, and Western heroes. As a product of Western society, I love it!
The scope of masculinity is very broad—from the effeminate adviser, to the noble blockhead Yao, to the handsome and capable Li Shang. Mulan proves she cannot fit into her prescribed position in society in the meeting with the matchmaker. She is too full of personality... so we see another ideal of femininity as Mulan develops as a soldier. She fits well. She has more than physical stamina, for she is a problem-solver. She has emotional equanimity when the army passes through the razed village. She commemorates the dead, tries to comfort Li Shang, despite her own despair.
All told, she is no typical Disney leading lady. For example, Cinderella's claims to fame include a lovely singing voice, a fondness for animals, and extraordinary forbearance when treated poorly by relatives (not to mention a knack at scrubbing, sweeping, and sewing). Snow White is primarily maternal, exhibiting a keen household sensibility, a fabulous cook, a fondness for woodland creatures, her “fatal” flaw though, is being a tad too trusting when it comes to strange, old women. Sleeping Beauty, er...uh, Briarrose, is it?... a nice singing voice, dancing skills, a fondness for woodland creatures... Jasmine and Belle have a few more traits to recommend themselves: an independent spirit and a deep love of learning, respectively. But Mulan is the new woman: strong, smart, sensitive, beautiful—though her physical beauty is downplayed when she is dressed as a man. But she is not entirely new-fashioned: she follows in the rags-to-riches economic expectation, and she still talks to animals, though their responses are limited to typical animal-talk, excluding Mushu the dragon.
[Spoiler Warning] By the end of the movie, Mulan's fullest self is realized. She saves the emperor himself from the leader of the Huns, even dressed as a woman! She leads the other men with her strategy (now all dressed as women, to the “I'll Make a Man Out of You” reprise). She the personally beats (Attila?) the Hun with her wits.
Though set in China, perhaps the story is Western, with Western ideals, and Western heroes. As a product of Western society, I love it!
Still Turning
Even if the air feels stagnant here
the world is still turning.
Even if human glances are brief, deflecting things
the world is still turning.
Even if my head pounds and I hear doors creaking
several towns over, I guess
the world is still turning.
Spring will follow winter, if all
that is so.
The moon will rise and fall
tides will ebb, yes, and flow.
On its axis, tight and true,
even without you,
the world is
still
turning.
the world is still turning.
Even if human glances are brief, deflecting things
the world is still turning.
Even if my head pounds and I hear doors creaking
several towns over, I guess
the world is still turning.
Spring will follow winter, if all
that is so.
The moon will rise and fall
tides will ebb, yes, and flow.
On its axis, tight and true,
even without you,
the world is
still
turning.
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