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."