We're all going on a Summer Holiday

The tent has been tried out in the back yard - hole patched, poles repaired, pegs straightened. And then everything packed back down again before the grass was suffocated. The supplies are being assembled. The itinerary is planned and the camp sites (and weekend motel) booked. I'll be away from the blogosphere for a couple of weeks enjoying family and exploring more of this great country. And knitting a 12-ply jersey (jumper/sweater) for family member who heads to Oklahoma on a Rotary student exchange in exactly one month!!! Mother panics at the thought of how close it is :-) And rejoices at the anticipation of great times between now and then. I'll be back after New Year.

Christmas Jam

Just saw this great contribution from Brian McLaren that reminds me that Christmas is just the start of an amazing life

Counting down

Songbird is up early (or late - I'm not sure) and posted a Friday Five on a Christmas theme. Very simple. After a day spent writing and posting cards to family and family friends I feel ready for this one. Songbird writes:

It's true.

There are only five full days before Christmas Day, and whether you use them for shopping, wrapping, preaching, worshiping, singing or traveling or even wishing the whole darn thing were over last Tuesday, there's a good chance they will be busy ones.

So let's make this easy, if we can: tell us five things you need to accomplish before Christmas Eve.

1. Write prayer-for-others and prepare reflective powerpoint for Sunday morning worship
2. Complete the final drafts of Year 1 and Year 2 tutor handbooks for 2009
3. Read The Christmas Mystery (an annual tradition)
4. Send working-away-from-home-all-summer family member a special package
5. Check the tent, cook the chicken, prepare the picnic and anticipate the holiday
   

Christmas Meme

From Ruth - who got it from Jan and decided to play.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Definitely paper
2. Real tree or Artificial?
Artificial. So I can put it up for All Saints and keep it 'til Epiphany (or even 'til Candlemas as I did this year)
3. When do you put up the tree?
Oh I already answered that. I aim for All Saints. But this year it was well into December.
4. When do you take the tree down?
12th night - and if not then it stays up until Candlemas in February.
5. Do you like eggnog?
Yes, great winter treat.
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
One year our Aunt made bride outfits for our dolls. All different. They were so gorgeous.
7. Hardest person to buy for?
Well - I try not to buy (Advent Conspiracy fits well with my philosophy) but I do seem to have difficulty 'getting it right' for my immediate family
8. Easiest person to buy for?
Above notwithstanding, I don't mind buying for the family member who is always appreciative of an annual undie restock.
9. Do you have a nativity scene?
Several. This one set up at home, and holy family at work on my bookshelf. Plus smaller ones about the place.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Bit of both but I do prefer the tactile involvement of writing in 'real' cards.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
With a birthday just a few days later, I always felt short changed when well meaning rellies said "we got you a bigger Christmas present that will be for your birthday as well"
12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
Joyeux Noel, Santa Clause, I haven;t seen The Nativity yet.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
No special time
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Yes
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Almond biscuits. With lemon or ginger.
16. Lights on the tree?
None this year, They died last year and I haven't replaced them.
17. Favorite Christmas song?
One???? Five CDs on the player are my faves - Blind Boys of Alabama; Jamoa Jam (I'm dreaming of an Island Christmas); Old Fashioned Christmas (from a bargain bin - has some wonderful really old stuff I'd never heard of); Carol our Christmas; Joy to the World - Scottish Festival Singers.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
A mix. We have almost always been too far from family to even attempt to visit. Last year we were at home and all the children returned to us. This year we are driving on the first 'leg' of our summer camping trip around the NSW south coast.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's?
No
20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Angel
21. Open presents Christmas Eve or morning?
After church on Christmas Day
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
Needless spending
23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
Our tree declares I am an angel girl, and I also have boxes of bells (ring out good news) birds, stars, balls (to represent the world/globe) etc etc. I also love using indigenous flora of this country e.g. the Advent wreath on our table.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?
Picnic at the beach with chicken, salad, christmas cake and cherries (or any stone fruit really) a bottle of lemon lime and bitters and other tasty treats
25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
Justice and Joy
26. What do you like most about Christmas?
Anticipation of Advent, joy of Christmas, wonder of Epiphany. And wearing my Christmas earings.

If you want to play, leave a comment here. It will be fun to read other answers.

A good life

Meme found at Black Pete's and fun to try. I still have quite a few to do!

99 Meme - 111 Meme

Nicked from Marja-Leena

The rules are simple: bold the things you've done. Explanations are optional. Fun is guaranteed.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (depends what you mean by ill though)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (too expensive - did manage the water taxi)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise (for a day)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout/Guide Cookies/Biscuits
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason (there's always a reason - someone sent them!)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a cheque
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt (very small)
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (as in managed the publication process)
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

With all respect, to balance the American references, Pete offered the following addenda, to modify the meme:

100. Climbed a Toltec pyramid in Mexico
101. Attended a church service in Cuba
102.Visited the Nagasaki Peace Park
103.Lived in the vicinity of some of the oldest landscape on the planet (depends definition of vicinity - but some of South Australia is very very old - and a long way from Sydney I concede)
104.Visited 3 historical sites in my own country: Waitangi and Parihaka in NZ, Darwin in Australia)
105. Been within 100 metres of an active volcano

With equal respect, to balance the euro-american references, and to add to the fun, I offer the following addenda:
106. Baked a pavlova
107. Seen Uluru in person.
108. Seen the Lady Knox geyser erupt in person
109. Swum in Waikeremoana
110. Not taken a sick day when you were ill
111. Walked across the harbour bridge (Auckland or Sydney)

Mitre 10 - Sandpit

Prompted by Ruth's water heater story (it's well worth reading) I post the genetic basis for DIY. You need need to understand the New Zealand-Australian rivalry is deeply entrenched!

Eye Spy

Sophia posted the Friday Five: Windows of the Soul over at RevGalBlogPals this week, and as I believe it is still Friday in several places I'm in for a play!

Inspired by her husband's Lasik surgery yesterday, Sophia asks us to say a little prayer for his safe recovery and share our thoughts on eyes and vision.

1. What color are your beautiful eyes? Did you inherit them from or pass them on to anyone in your family?
I was always so proud to have brown eyes like my Dad. Technically more on the hazel side. I've passed them on.

2. What color eyes would you choose if you could change them?
No desire for change.

3. Do you wear glasses or contacts? What kind? Like 'em or hate 'em?
As a 'woman of a certain age' I need my reading glasses. I love them. Diamantes on the side!

4. Ever had, or contemplated, laser surgery? Happy with the results?
No

5. Do you like to look people in the eye, or are you more eye-shy?
More eye shy.

Bonus question: Share a poem, song, or prayer that relates to eyes and seeing.
I'm in love with a green-eyed man (his eyes are the most gorgeous I've ever seen) of Irish ancestry so those smiling Irish eyes are the ones humming in my brain. Thanks Sophia for the angel song and the bright gay Saturday I'm dancing into. Happy weekend!

Illumination

Christine, at Abbey of the Arts, has issued invitations toPoetry Party #28! Posted on Monday, she notes that December 8th is both the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in Christian Tradition and the Enlightenment of the Buddha in Buddhist Tradition. The Immaculate Conception honors the conception of Mary without sin, illuminating her purity and grace from the moment she was conceived in her own mother’s womb in preparation for her to give birth to God. In Orthodox tradition, Mary is know as Theotokos, which means God-bearer. December 8th also marks the observance of the Buddha achieving enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. The word enlightenment is derived from the idea of becoming filled with light, light symbolizing clarity and wisdom.

The invitation is to write a poem in honor of the call to illumination. To become illuminated means that one carries a light within rather than seeking it from another source. Just like Mary and Buddha, we each carry the spark of the divine flame. The mystics have told us this for centuries.

Christine also posted the photograph below as a focus for creativity. In the growing darkness of these days, might you discover your own brilliance and the brilliant beauty of the world? The image below was taken at the retreat center (on the Hood Canal) one evening when the world was luminous.

light
shines
in dark places
Justice
Healing
Joy
overcome
war
greed
self-interest

in me
in every place

please put away the snuffer and nurture the flame
NOW

Advent longings

A wonderfilled seasonal Friday Five from Sally this week:

"Imagine a complex, multi-cultural society that annually holds an elaborate winter festival, one that lasts not simply a few days, but several weeks. This great festival celebrates the birth of the Lord and Saviour of the world, the prince of peace, a man who is divine. People mark the festival with great abundance- feasting, drinking and gift giving....." (Richard Horsley- The Liberation of Christmas)

The passage goes on, recounting the decorations that are hung, and the songs and dances that accompany the festival, how the economy booms and philanthropic acts abound....

But this is not Christmas- this is a Roman festival in celebration of the Emperor....This is the world that Jesus was born into! The world where the early Christians would ask "Who is your Saviour the Emperor or Christ?"

And yet our shops and stores and often our lives are caught up in a world that looks very much like the one of ancient Rome, where we worship at the shrine of consumerism....

Advent on the other hand calls us into the darkness, a time of quiet preparation, a time of waiting, and re-discovering the wonder of the knowledge that God is with us. Advent's call is to simplicity and not abundance, a time when we wait for glorious light of God to come again...

Christ is with us at this time of advent, in the darkness, and Christ is coming with his light- not the light of the shopping centre, but the light of love and truth and beauty.

What do you long for this advent? What are your hopes and dreams for the future? What is your prayer today?

In the vein of simplicity I ask you to list five advent longings....

In this time of waiting
for the coming of the Saviour
For what do I long?

• For a world where justice and peace are rampant
• For every child to be born in a context of love and concern
• For meaningful connections with family and friends across seas and continents
• To be in touch with nature; to feel the sand between my toes and the wind on my face
• To eat well and share abundantly; and know this experience is universal
  

The Award

Ruth at Visions and Revisions surprised me with a Superior Scribbler Award recently. Thank you so much! And now I have the pleasure of passing it on to five deserving bloggers.

The difficulty of this task is made only a little easier by seeing that some authors of my regular reads have already received The Award. But there is still a certain randomness to choosing just five of so many people I enjoy visiting.

The rules of the award, set by the scribbler are listed below:

• Each superior scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to five most-deserving Bloggy friends
• Each superior scribbler must link to the author and the name of the blog from whom she received The Award
• Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to this post which explains The Award
• Each blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr Linky List. That way we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honour!
• Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog

And my nominees are:

Sally at Eternal Echoes, who introduced me to the world of blogging and who scribbles superior sermons and stories and poetry that engage and inspire
Whitney, who has crossed the Atlantic and scribbles superior glimpses of grace that resonate all the way to the Antipodes
Sophia at Sophia's Call, who scribbles words of wisdom that reflect growing in faith and understanding
Joan Elizabeth, a superior photographer and scribbler, whose Blue Mountains Journal never ceases to delight and who experiences the same seasons that I do
Singing Owl, a wise and wonderful woman who in the Owl's Song scribbles challenges to preconceptions and remains true to herself

Prayer for Advent

Wondrous Creator

You break forth

In the midst of darkness

Your light shines

Without regard for boundaries

Of space and time

Light of the world

In a world

of fractured relationships

You were born as one of us

Challenging global powers

That compete for our allegiance

Spirit of light and truth

You illumine our lives

You illumine our world

Showing clearly

What is and what can be

We come to you in wonder and in praise

We seek your light

that we may turn from

attitudes and actions that destroy

We seek your wisdom

that we may rightly discern

and live for justice and in love

We seek your life-giving breath

that we may truly live

Amen

These are the words we can trust:

When a person recognises that the most important truth is that there is one and only one God, and that human purpose is to love God with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbour as oneself

Jesus says to that person, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’

Spread the Word

World Aids Day. A quick post to remind us that menopausal women are one of the groups most at risk of HIV AIDS, especially in developed nations. Especially women of our generation who followed a traditional pattern of marrying first heterosexual partner and remaining monogamous. Until death or divorce leads to singleness, without experience or knowledge to negotiate safe sex in any new relationship. Of course many women equate condoms with pregnancy prevention, which seems irrelevant after 'the change of life' (as my mother used to refer to menopause). And the sort of middle-aged men that middleaged heterosexual women might choose to date are not necessarily ones they would have qualms about unprotected sex with. It's over seven years now since the article about Jane Fowler was written, but it is the most eloquent and relevant piece that I could find. I am surprised at medical students who assume that people aged over 50 years don't engage in risky behaviour. And surprised that Viagra doesn't come with safe sex warnings. As Monica Rodriguez is quoted in the article, "This isn't a population that grew up talking about sex or condoms or HIV/AIDS. But we can't let our discomfort around issues of sexuality get in the way of conversations about safe sex."