A Coincidence

I am astonished. I was speaking to a dear friend about this very thing, a topic that has been pressing on me for a while and making me fret -- and then, within twenty-four hours of understanding my issue, here it is. A "coincidence" as we say in Middle-earth (Gandalf).

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

     Psalm 16:11

Technorati Tags: Christianity, Prayer

The Twelfth Day of Christmas: Epiphany

Source
Gustav Dore

The Journey of the Magi

T.S. Eliot

A cold coming we had of it,

Just the worst time of the year

For a journey, and such a journey:

The ways deep and the weather sharp,

The very dead of winter.'

And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,

Lying down in the melting snow.

There were times we regretted

The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,

And the silken girls bringing sherbet.

The Eleventh Day of Christmas: Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer isn't one to usually "wax poetic" (isn't that from King Alfred? Waexan...) but his little book, The Cost of Discipleship, is full of beautiful moments:

"[Grace] is costly because it costs us our life, and it is grace because it gives us the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all it is costly because it cost God the life of God's Son: 'you were bought at a price,' and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon God's Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God." Technorati Tags: Christianity, Writing

The Tenth Day of Christmas: Nicknames

One of the many things I enjoy about Christmas is listening to my family and friends talk -- the youngest to the oldest, the sisters in constant dialogue, etc. And we all have different names for each other. Not radically so, but yes...we've always been rather taken with nicknames.

My dad calls all the family members "sweetie" -- male or female, child or wife. Practical, yet endearing.

Mum alternates with first names and the ever appropriate "hon" (short for "honey"). My little brother has copied her. (I have to think about it to find it amusing, otherwise it's only too normal to hear my brother call across the house with something like, "Hey, hon! Where's the extra extension cord kept? We need more lights!"... he means for any "hon" to respond).He himself bears the title of "Dude." He finds it manly.

The Ninth Day of Christmas: Dad Returns to Work

Advent behind me

Christmas tide soon to end

Epiphany ahead

But today filled with farewells to my father

I said it to the hat on his head

And his boots placed on the lower step

To the scent of shaving cream in the bathroom

And through the rising steam of our coffee cups

Finally I said it into his collar bone

Christmas behind me

Epiphany soon to end

Advent again

Technorati Tags: Christianity, Poetry

The Eighth Day of Christmas: Of Birthdays

Twenty-four years ago I was to be a Christmas baby. But I decided to arrive fashionably late -- by eight days. Sixteen years ago my little brother, Samuel David, was also supposed to be a Christmas baby but he thought his older sister's idea a good one...and so we share the same day.

We have always been close friends. He was the present on my eighth birthday, my baby brother, and now he's sixteen! He was the baby of the family, and then the little friend, and soon the rambunctious boy who thought he could beat his biggest sister at racing. Ha. But it was just a few years ago, racing down the sidewalk, that he flew right by me (no boy has ever been faster than I!). Now, his face is furry and he towers over me, 6'1"! He is the strong, youthful brother who accompanies his sisters on errands to scare off the twerps -- he rather enjoys this job.

Love you, Sam! Happy birthday! But now I think I need to carry a big stick to beat off all the silly girls!

The glory of young men is their strength...
Proverbs 20:29

Technorati Tags: Christianity

The Seventh Day of Christmas: Happy New Year!

Waes hael to all of you! From Middle English,"Good health" and, yes, the drink. Here we come a wassailing... Who doesn't love mulled cider?

Today is a quiet day for the Robinsons. Most of us are sick, including myself -- I've had bronchitis every year for the past five years or so now. It's getting a little old. So, we spent the day making hot beverages of every kind, watching silly movies and reading silly books (Dorothy Cannell's The Thin Woman). A good day, in spite of the coughing.