Lewis on friendship

“But in friendship .... we think that we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another, posting to different regiments, the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting – any of these chances may have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking, no chances. A secret Master of the Ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples “Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you,” can truly say to every group of Christian friends “You have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another.” The friendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of all the others. They are no greater than the beauties of a thousand other men; by friendship God opens our eyes to them. They are, like all beauties, derived from Him, and then, in a good friendship, increased by Him through the friendship itself, so that it is His instrument for creating as well as for revealing. At this feast it is He who has spread the board and it is He who has chosen the guests. It is He, we may dare to hope, who sometimes does, and always should, preside. Let us not reckon with our Host.”

C.S. Lewis “The Four Loves”

Chatterbox

“When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise” Proverbs 10:19

Who am I?

Who am I? They often tell me

I stepped from my cell’s confinement

Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,

Like a squire from his country-house.

Who am I? They often tell me

I used to speak to my warders

Freely and friendly and clearly

As though it were mine to command.

Who am I? They also tell me

I bore the days of misfortune

Equably, smilingly, proudly,

Like one accustomed to win.

Am I then really all which other men tell of?

Or am I that only what I myself know of myself?

Restless and longing and sick like a bird in a cage,

Struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat,

Yearning for colours, for flowers for the voices of birds,

Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighbourliness,

Tossing in expectation of great events,

Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,

Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,

Faint and ready to say farewell to it all?

Who am I? This or the other?

Am I one person today and tomorrow another?

Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,

And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?

Or is something within me still like a beaten army,

Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?

Who am I? They mock me these questions of mine,

Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am thine!

Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906-1945

Taken from my roof

God is a wonderful artist.

Beautiful

No, this isn't a cockroach with a particularly shiny bottom. It's a firefly that I found on my marble floor last night. I wouldn't have found it had I not turned off the light to go to bed and seen a flashing green light on the floor. (The photo below is taken from the same place without the flash).

I learned a new word

natni

It's  the word for "friend", but only if you're female, and your friend is also female, and only if you both share the same name.  "Yeah, she's my natni". 

I haven't found any natnis here, my name is a little unusual to Indian ears.

Start 'em early...

that's what I say. You may not be able to see it (note the sarcasm) ... but just below a Mr Men book, and above some other children's books is Wallace's "Greek Grammar - beyond the basics". Oscar put it there himself for a bit of light reading. Ok, so it's not light, it took him both hands and a big effort to get it there in the first place. He's already learned animal sounds, and some shapes, so maybe now we'll start him on "alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon..."

Proverbs 23:4-5

Don't wear yourself out trying to get rich.
Be wise enough to know when to quit.
In the blink of an eye wealth disappears,
for it will sprout wings
and fly away like an eagle.

Lightning

This was taken from our roof this evening.

Addition to previous post

Having put two and two together (one "two" being the rumours in India mentioned in the previous post, and the other "two" being an article in SMH) I think that the fear generated in this little town was because of the Hadron Collider in Switzerland. Doomsday preditictions seem to have reached here and intensified in this superstitious culture...

The world was supposed to end today

so my house elf * tells me. She said it was in the newspaper and on the local TV news and everything. There was supposed to be an earthquake at 2pm. Lots of wild rumours were flying around.

To people around here it wasn't a joke. Some schools were closed today because of these rumours, and those that were daring enough to open had fewer pupils than normal. My house elf's children (8 and 10 years old) didn't want to go to school today because they said that they would rather die at home, than die at school.

I don't know who started these rumours, but I'd be very interested to see who did and how they did it. This community was very afraid today.

This is what happens when truth is not valued (by at least the person who started these rumours). When people are not educated enough to understand that, scientifically speaking, no one can yet predict earthquakes. When people do not trust Jesus when he says "no one knows the day or the hour".

* My house elf receives a generous wage, is not enslaved to the house, and is also not an elf.

My favorite time of the day...

... is when I'm preparing dinner. Specifically when I'm making something with peas in it.

And it's not because I like cooking all that much (oh no no no). But peas here come still in their shells, and what might seem like a very slow mundane task is transformed into something soothing and calming when I sit on the floor with my bowl of peas to shell and Oscar trots up to me and instead of bugging me for something, plonks himself down opposite me and takes a pod and starts methodically taking the peas out of the pod (one by one, of course, is there any other way?) and putting them into the correct bowl. He then gathers the remains of the pod up into one hand and puts it back into the bowl and starts all over again. We both sit there happily until the task is done, and Oscar sometimes long afterwards.

I love it, not just because I think my one and a half year old is very clever, which of course I do, but because he sits there quietly working until the task is done. We both can just sit there shelling peas together, content in each other's love, with no need for making animal sounds, pointing out body parts, or desperately thinking what could Oscar be doing at this time while I'm making food. It's our moment of waking peace in the day and I treasure it every time.

Lovely

Reading the bible in one year

I've started to read along with a one year bible reading plan. I've tried it before, but never managed to finish it sticking to the one plan. I love the New Living Translation, especially reading the Old Testament, I find I understand it much better than the more literal translations. I usually read it on my mobile (that way I can curl up in bed and read it without the light on..... mmm).

Something "praiseworthy"

Here's something which is "excellent and praiseworthy" - Oscar has managed to not only get a milk moustache, but a milk goatee and some milk chest hair as well. Well done!

Proverbs 17:22

“A cheerful heart is good medicine,

but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

The latest incarnation of my blog

I've been wondering for a while what I should do with this blog, since facebook and our website have taken over my "photos and stories" mode of blogging. Because I do like blogging (and I like the idea that maybe someone, somewhere will actually read this blog) and so I want to keep it, I've decided to give it a new reason for being.

So in spiritual exercise to keep myself looking positively at the world (Phil 2:14), I will post all manner of things that are in accordance with Philippians 4:8. "Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." (NLT)

Hopefully someone, somewhere will also be encouraged by the mishmash of things that are posted here...

Prayer is like riding a bicycle

“I think it was the “blue” that did it. A shiny blue bike of my very own… I had always hated the A to B-ness of life. Now, I could go where I liked. I could start at A, head for M, and stop off for a while at F if it took my fancy. If I changed my mind at F, I might forget M and pay a little visit to Q, which, as we all know, is only down the road from R. It was lovely, and I loved it… In the course of just riding easily to and fro, I made real contact with the child inside myself, and in the process learned a simple and profound truth about contact with God. I discovered that a prayer didn’t have to start at A and end at B either. I learned or started to learn that it is quite legitimate, and –dare I say- enjoyable, to meander aimlessly around, just enjoying the nearness of God, in the same way that you don’t have to arrange special activities to enjoy being with a friend or a parent. God sat quite happily on his back doorstep, watching me as I pedaled happily around in my prayers, looking up occasionally to smile at him, and feel reassured by the way in which he smiled back. It was a new experience and a very pleasant one, despite the occasions when I fell off my metaphorical bike and bawled like a kid with a bruised knee.”

Adrian Plass “ The growing up pains of Adrian Plass”

The Will

And shall I pray Thee change Thy will, my Father,

Until it be according unto mine?

But, no, Lord, no, that never shall be, rather

I pray Thee blend my human will with Thine.

I pray Thee hush the hurrying, eager longing,

I pray Thee soothe the pangs of keen desire-

See in my quiet places, wishes thronging-

Forbid them, Lord, purge, though it be with fire.

And work in me to will and do thy pleasure

Let all within me, peaceful, reconciled,

Tarry content my Well-Beloved’s leisure,

At last, at last, even as a weaned child.

Amy Carmichael

More Amy Carmichael

Thou who art my quietness, my deep repose,

My rest from strife of tongues, my holy hill,

Fair is Thy pavilion, where I hold me still.

Back let them fall from me, my clamorous foes,

Confusions multiplied;

From crowding things of sense I flee, and in Thee hide.

Until this tyranny be overpast,

Thy hand will hold me fast;

What though the tumult of the storm increase,

Grant to Thy servant strength, O Lord, and bless with peace.

Amy Carmichael