The Foundation of Marriage

Posted April 27th, 2007 by Jen in family life
15 Comments »

I’m not qualified to give advice on marriage, but if I did have a qualification to speak on it, it would be only that I am married and have some experience with the thing. I’ve seen marriages around me crumble, and I have to guard my own like a vigilant watchman. All I can say is, if you’re not in daily prayer over all aspects of your marriage, you’re taking a great risk.

I’ve been reading a lot of Dietrich Bonhoeffer lately, and as I’ve been trying to find an answer to the question I posed here (which I still have not resolved), I came across this wonderful segment on marriage:

God gives you Christ as the foundation of your marriage. ‘Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God’ (Rom. 15[7]). In a word, live together in the forgiveness of your sins, for without it no human fellowship, least of all a marriage, can survive. Don’t insist on your rights, don’t blame each other, don’t judge or condemn each other, don’t find fault with each other, but accept each other as you are, and forgive each other every day from the bottom of your hearts.

from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Martyred Christian: 160 Readings.

What is most striking to me is the aspect of “don’t insist on your rights.” This insisting immediately leads to that sort of indignation that causes judgment and fault-finding.

I’ve been learning a bit about marriage from a dear friend of mine in recent times, my mom-wife-mentor, Catherine. She always tells me, “you need to treat your husband as if he were right, as if he were hearing directly from God, as if he were making wise decisions–regardless of whether he is or not.” That’s tough to swallow. But I’ve tried it. I call it “fake it ’til you make it.” And funny enough, the more I regard my husband as such, the more he actually becomes such. So lay down your rights to call your husband on the carpet for money he spent unwisely or time he squandered away, and begin to say, “honey, I appreciate how you handle our finances wisely,” and find something true, some particular thing he did do wisely, and commend him for that. And pray that God gives him wisdom–this prayer is on my lips almost constantly, because with our enemy prowling about, he’s in desperate need of it.

My last bit of advice would be this: choose carefully in whom you confide. I have only one or two friends I can confide in about marriage issues. Your confidante must not be one to take your side no matter what and say, “you’re right, he’s being such a jerk!” That’s not really helpful, is it? It’s just entrenching you in your sinful mindset that you’ve been wronged and you deserve better, and this attitude hinders forgiveness. My friend above almost never takes my side, but redirects me to what I can be doing for my husband, and directs me to prayer. And she prays. And I know that whatever I say to her will not taint her opinion of my husband. One of your jobs as wife is to guard your husband’s integrity and respect (Proverbs 31:23 - her husband is respected at the city gate).

May God bless your marriage today.

Potty Training the Beguiler

Posted April 26th, 2007 by Jen in family life
4 Comments »

I’ve been through the training three times before. But this child is different. Our conversation this morning:

Mommy: Let’s sit on the potty.

Child (2 yrs): Nope, I do diaper!

My enchanting little chubby-thighed boy…with a beguiling smile that causes my firmness to fail.

Melissa’s Birthday Cake

Posted April 24th, 2007 by Jen in education, family life, politics/world news
9 Comments »

I promised to post a picture of our birthday cake for Melissa, and here it is! Sixteen candles, and I hope it was truly a sweet sixteen after such an ordeal. Melissa, you are a brave young lady, and your courage in this trial has been remarkable. God has surely been with you. Praise His Name! We are not letting up in our prayers, however, for your family or the many other persecuted ones.

And I couldn’t resist showing some pictures of the aftermath of lighting the candles. My kids had such fun–but they do understand why we celebrated with this cake today. My 5 year old daughter, who wasn’t completely solid on the details, told her grandma the cake was for “Melissa, who turned 16 and escaped from jail.” But as you may know, Melissa herself stated that her time in the psychiatric ward was “like a prison.”

Almost better than the cake itself are the rituals of blowing out the candles and then licking the frosting off the candles. With three or more children blowing at once, the task is accomplished in an instant. I had to shoot fast to get this on camera. And hey, we’re all family here, so a little spit on the cake is no matter.

I’ve emailed my cake picture to: falumafischer@aol.com - and if you have a picture, get it on over there, and be sure to post here to let me see it, too! This “Birthday Action” for Melissa is a small token of love to her, and this project will culminate with a special album to be given to Melissa, including all of the photos which are submitted. The pictures will soon be posted on Bildungsinitiative Zukunft.

Oh, if you could have seen these kids double-dipping their candles into the white fluffy frosting! Personally, I find the frosting revolting, and have always, even as a child, scraped it right off! And whenever I can get away with it, I prepare our cakes sans frosting.

Melissa, we feasted on your cake, and we speak blessings over you this day.

Carnival of Homeschooling - Bee Edition

Posted by Jen in education
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Come and see, come and see - not only bees, but tons of great homeschool and education articles! This is the bee’s knees!
Sprittibee is hosting Week 69 of the Carnival of Homeschooling with a fun Bee theme!

Welcome Home, Melissa and Happy Birthday!

Posted April 23rd, 2007 by Jen in education, politics/world news
5 Comments »

Wow, I was so thrilled to read the news that Melissa Busekros is now back home with her family in Erlangen, Germany! Today is her 16th birthday, giving her some rights that she previously did not possess. The Youth Welfare Office should no longer have any authority over her.

We have been praying, with thousands of others, for this outcome. We continue to pray for the many other German homeschooling families still being persecuted. I wonder what the situation would look like if Melissa were say, only 13 years old? Would that mean three more years in confinement away from her family?

There are efforts underway by several groups within Germany to push for education reform and the reversal of the law making homeschooling illegal. The Kolloquium being held this weekend in Germany (April 27-29), hosted by Netzwerk Bildungsfreiheit, is the second annual International Colloquim on Home Education, the goal being freedom of choice in education. If you’d like to make a contribution to this cause, that’s a practical way to give assistance. Most people I know are ignorant of the gravity of this situation. Please investigate.

Dana reports that a “Birthday Action” is planned on behalf of Melissa. The idea is to light 16 candles (on a cake? or not) and take a picture - send it to falumafischer@aol.com. The goal is for 123 families to take part, so a total of 1,968 candles may be lit, one for each hour Melissa has been held hostage by the state. The pictures will then be posted here. I’ll post my picture later today!

For some other ideas on actions you can take, visit Kinderlehrer’s site, and browse through her posts on who to appeal to in the government, and ideas for letters to write, among other particulars.

Another interesting action to look into is the possibility of providing asylum to German families who are fleeing the country or going into hiding to avoid the tragedy of Melissa - their children being stolen away. An article I read recently quoted Home School Legal Defense Association co-founder, Michael Farris as saying:

Most homeschoolers have concluded when the family courts begin to get involved, their only realistic opportunity is to seek asylum in another country. You don’t expect to apply for political asylum from a Western democracy but that’s what’s happening and with greater frequency.

The philosophy that the government knows best how to raise children is really becoming a worldwide phenomenon. I think Germany represents the edge of the night that’s coming.

I was wondering, and perhaps someone out there can inform me — is there a need for people to be offering asylum? Here in America, how would one go about offering asylum? Would German families even want to come here? Legally, does the United States grant asylum to individuals wanting to escape a fellow “democratic” nation? Just thinking.

UPDATE: See Dana’s update regarding the startling details of of Melissa’s return home. A refusal by the Youth Welfare Office to allow Melissa to visit her parents for her birthday led her to climb out her foster family’s window at 3 a.m. and make her way home! Expect some further action here. She apparently has not yet been discharged from the foster care system, and the Youth Welfare Office is saying they will carefully consider further steps “in the interests of the child.” If their consideration of the best interest of Melissa is the guiding light here, expect more travesty of justice.

I Think

Posted April 21st, 2007 by Jen in general
6 Comments »

Je pense, donc je suis. Rene Descartes expressed this idea, and I will now declare: I have received a Thinking Blogger Award, Therefore I Am. Thanks, Jane at Halfmoon Happenings for the tag. I am to reply by nominating five other bloggers that make me think. But first, I must say, I wish Descartes’ supposition was reversed: I am, therefore I think. If that was true, I wouldn’t be reading such nonsense at this or this. But alas. Now this old lady is thinking, and if she had a blog, I’d surely nominate her.

I’ll get on the five bloggers - they may have been nominated before (is that against the rules?), and if so, just consider them doubly-good thinkers. And they will be discharged from their duty of nominating five others.

1. Pebble Chaser: I regularly stalk this site, and if Heidi has a sitemeter, I’m sure I send it off the charts. I appreciate her witty, sometimes zany, humor, as well as her dedication to Truth and the seeking of G-d’s will. And she’s really smart, and contrary to her statement that she left her superpower at Walmart, she does, in fact, possess it.

2. Educating Germany: Kinderlehrer has taken on the task of lobbying for education reform in Germany, where homeschooling is illegal and parents are routinely jailed, fined, and had their children taken away - solely for the “crime” of homeschooling. I value her efforts in this cause that is very dear to my heart (which I wrote about here and here).

3. Principled Discovery: Dana, you always get me thinking. Her tagline is “If the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3. Dana is dedicated to the preservation of the foundations of our great country, is 200 years behind in her politics, and you can count on her to be one of the first to expose the latest erosion of democracy.

4. Susan Wise Bauer: I must include this blog, because I’m indebted to Susan’s book, The Well-Trained Mind, for my successful jump into homeschooling. I went to Barnes & Noble one day last year, after deciding to homeschool, looking for a book, any book. This is the one I randomly grabbed, and while I’m not always the strictest adherent to Classical Education, it was the roadmap I needed. This blog is rarely about homeschooling, but it’s so fun to keep up on Ms. Bauer’s latest writings and adventures.

5. Sillie Lizzie’s Rock: I just discovered this blog within the last week, and can’t remember how I even stumbled across it. It’s my “wildcard” submission for the Thinking Blogger award, because it’s really new to me, but, boy, oh boy, there’s nothing faint-hearted or gutless or even silly about this blog. Do not enter without realizing the tagline: Subverting the subversion…unapologetically Christian and conservative, a blog at the intersection of religion, politics and whatever else I have on my mind at the moment!”

There you have it, and here is the beautiful award itself:

It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well. -Descartes

Descartes photo credit: Wikipedia

In Memory: On the Threshold

Posted April 20th, 2007 by Jen in poetry
0 Comments

It’s been a very painful week. Today, Friday, April 20, 2007, has been marked as a day of mourning for the 32 victims of the massacre at Virginia Tech. In memory, here is a poem by Horatius Bonar (1808-1889) called On the Threshold. I was trying to find some words that would be hopeful, encouraging, and perhaps reassuring to the grief-stricken left behind.

No expression can capture perfectly what each family member or friend is enduring, but I hope this poem is helpful. I know that many of those who were killed on Monday had a faith in Jesus Christ - they’ve passed the threshold to the throne of grace.

On the Threshold

I’m returning, not departing;
My steps are homeward bound,
I quit the land of strangers
For a home on native ground.

I am rising and not setting;
This is not night but day,
Not in darkness, but in sunshine,
Like a star, I fade away.

All is well with me for ever;
I do not fear to go,
My tide is but beginning
Its bright eternal flow.

I am leaving only shadows
For the true and fair and good,
I must not, cannot, linger;
I would not, though I could.

This is not death’s dark portal,
‘Tis life’s golden gate to me,
Link after link is broken,
And I at last am free.

I am going to the angels,
I am going to my God;
I know the hand that beckons,
I see the holy road.

Why grieve me with your weeping?
Your tears are all in vain,
An hour’s farewell, beloved,
And we shall meet again.

Jesus, Thou wilt receive me
And welcome me above;
This sunshine which now fills me
Is Thine own smile of love.

Horatius Bonar

Praying for Blacksburg

Posted April 17th, 2007 by Jen in general
1 Comment »

My deepest sympathies and prayers go out to Virginia Tech families of the murdered and wounded, and to the entire student body, the faculty, the town of Blacksburg, and the state of Virginia.

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

photo credits: Bob Veltri, photo of War Memorial Chapel, Virginia Tech

Puppy love

Posted April 16th, 2007 by Jen in education, family life
7 Comments »

My husband called yesterday afternoon and said, don’t put L. (2 yr. old) in bed yet, I have a surprise for him. I was sure he had a new bike for the little guy–well, I seriously about fell over when my dear husband appeared at the door with my 5 yr. old daughter holding this darling puppy.

I wasn’t ready for a fifth child, honestly. We’ve talked about getting a puppy, but only after the house is built. We’re in a rental right now, but hopefully by the end of summer/early fall our house with lots of land will be done. So my “plan” was to have the house totally completed, the barn up, the kennel built, the property fenced.

But like an unexpected pregnancy, you just jump right in and start loving the little guy, planned or not. My husband had been out shopping with the girls at Big R, and there was a cattle rancher in front of the store with this litter of Border Collie/Heeler pups. The girls begged for a puppy, as usual, and Dad said “No,” as usual. But on the way out, some crazy notion hit him.

No question about the kids’ reaction. J. (5) said, “Now there’s eight people in our family!” We’ve got Grandma, the dog, the parents, the kids…now we’re complete. My 7 year old son, a bit more serious, said, “Having a dog is a big responsibility.” Our two year old keeps informing us all that “Wi-wee (Reilly) wants to eat some water,” and J. (4) can’t stop dancing around with pure glee, “He wants to chase me!”

I can’t believe that just a few days ago I was commenting to Dana, who’s having a baby today, that I was having tender thoughts about my littlest being almost out of diapers! I’m thrown right back into babyhood overnight, with the all-night whimpering and the constant attention to bodily functions. But, oh, puppy love. I’ve taken 32 pictures of this mutt in the past 24 hours. And he barely has a chance to walk with four children constantly vying for a chance to hold him.

Like a good homeschool family, we immediately went to the library to possess books, videos, and manuals on dog breeds, dog training, dog care…and never has motivation been higher to learn about this species. I think we’ll be doing a veerrry long dog unit. For now, puppy duty does not even need to be discussed–it’s a battle over who “gets” to clean up the poo-poo, who’s the privileged one to prepare the food, who gets the enviable job of bathing Reilly.

NOTE: Anyone know what a “Celtie” is? I don’t know if I’m spelling that right, but the rancher we bought the puppy from said the mom was pure-bred Border Collie, and the dad was part Heeler, part Celtie. Can’t find any information on this. Thanks!

UPDATE: Kelpie, not Celtie! Oops, husband must have “heard” wrong, on this “herd” dog =) Thanks to Catherine, my homeschool-mom mentor and amazing woman. The kids and I stopped by her house yesterday to show off the puppy, and she said, what a beautiful Kelpie! And it turns out mom was full Kelpie (a tough little sheepdog of Australia), dad was Border/Heeler. Does this happen to you when your husband goes shopping?

Sans Souci Way

Posted April 14th, 2007 by Jen in poetry
1 Comment »

With April being National Poetry Month, I’ll continue to highlight some poetic pieces, mostly drawing from the expansive creativity of my own family. My cousin, Dick Smith, wrote this beautiful piece I’m featuring here. I was missing Michigan today, so this work is perfect. I’ll begin with Dick’s introduction:

Introduction to Sans Souci Way

Sans Souci is French and means “without care.” It is also a tiny unincorporated community on the shores of the St. Clair River. The setting is on Harsens Island, a part of Clay Township, Michigan. There is a large State wildlife refuge located there where the geese, ducks, and other waterfowl stop in the spring and fall migrations. The birds come in, in great and small “V” formations to a safe resting place, a “home” along the way. For them a home is more than a place, it is part of a life journey, a verb, and so too perhaps it should be for us. We have just assisted the Township in making a grant application to the State to build a 3.0 mile pedestrian/bicycle trail (2 paved, 5 foot wide shoulders along the highway). The Township hopes the project will help promote tourism. Unfortunately the application was not funded.

Sans Souci Way
by Richard O. Smith II

Across the ancient sturgeon depths, on the south of the great blue northern channel, where a heron and a ferry lands, my first footsteps on a Clay pathway lightly tread. There foot by foot my arrogant hopes, like tied up driven dopes lay shoulder by shoulder along the way. Across the marsh, across the fenlands to the olde French trade of Sans Souci, I find a day of passing. Here the commerce on the waters passed from birch bark to cavernous steel, still silently plying the deep blueways, tollways in mind, tolls in time. Great chevrons home the atmospheres and flow to feed upon the flats and rest from nomad quests. Here the path of clay consciousness comes too, to rest from maddening quests in silted wild and creature shallows of Little Muscamoot Bay. A world away, a pause in time, the sub lime slime, a crayfish crawls all cares to a mud castle lair beside my toes a squishing. There prescient schemes do drift to dreams and it is cumulously noble to know nothing at all ~ ~ ~ while breezes blow clear through my ears.

photo credits:
http://www.harsensisland.com/photos.html
http://www.darlor-watch.com

Top Five Reasons I Shop at Goodwill

Posted April 13th, 2007 by Jen in general
2 Comments »

My friends know I’m a long-time Goodwill shopper. Hey, everyone loves a bargain, but I thought I’d share my motivation. When springtime hits, like no other season do I want some new outfits! Goodwill, here I come.

TOP 5 REASONS I SHOP AT GOODWILL

1. Let someone else receive the off-gassing of chemical-laden clothing. By the time I get it, it’s about 90% done.

2. I have a hugely better chance of finding modest clothing in today’s leave-it-to-cleavage, must-show-midriff, is-that-your-skin-or-your-clothes culture. Goodwill can be a few decades behind in fashion, but I’ll sacrifice a little trendiness for decency.

3. I look filthy rich. I can only afford to buy that Anne Klein blouse at Goodwill — for $4.99, instead of $69 at Nordstrom. Yes, it’s there, you just have to be patient and unearth it from amongst the rags. That’s the fun of the hunt.

4. It’s a feel-good experience. I feel good about not being wasteful, I feel good about saving my family’s money, I feel good about participating in the recycling effort.

5. Shrinkage has already happened - I know exactly what I’m getting.

Carnival of Education is here: Week 114

Posted April 11th, 2007 by Jen in education
0 Comments

The Education Wonks is hosting this week’s Carnival of Education - there are some great entries from around the EduSphere!

Next Week’s Carnival midway will be hosted by Dan over at DY/DAN. Contributors are invited to send submissions to: dan [at] mrmeyer [dot] com , or use this handy submission form. Entries should be received no later than 11:00 PM (Pacific) Tuesday, April 17, 2007. Please include the title of your post, and its URL, if possible.

College bound for Motherhood?

Posted April 10th, 2007 by Jen in education, family life
3 Comments »

This is my tired little 5 year old who’s so smart she does appear to learn through osmosis - she’ll wake up from this knowing the capital of every state.

But really, she asked me a very interesting question today: “Mommy, do you have to go to college to learn how to be a Mom?” I thought for a moment, and said, “I suppose there are some classes you could take to teach you some skills, but really, your Mommy and Daddy should be teaching you how to be a mom someday.”

I wanted to know what sorts of things she thought she’d need to know to be a mom. “Umm, cooking, baking, boiling, and making waffles.” Then, “And how to treat your kids right, and just how to be a mom!”

The paradox of her question hit me a little later. I truly don’t want government schools teaching my children how to parent someday - that’s absolutely the job of my family and my faith community. But what do you do when the family or faith community fails to do its job? At that point, having public schools take over may seem like an option…but don’t go there. We are living out the results of handing over parental responsibilities to the state - no matter the consequence, I don’t consider that an option.

I was pondering a solution to this problem, and I thought rather than focus on the children whose parents have already handed over their rights and responsibilities to the state, focus on adult education for young parents. If we can get the parents with young children to wake up, the tide can turn.

I’d begin with something very basic, but very complete, like the “fruits of the Spirit” -

But the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

If young moms and dads could seriously get a handle on how to just BE a person with these character traits, everything else would follow. There’d be no need to teach these parents the nitty-gritty details of how to discipline a child, how to teach kids to respect each other and to play fair. Because full of the fruits of the Spirit, they’d just know, like a vine instinctively reaching for the sun. And a child who constantly has modeled before her a parent full of love and self-control and peace –this will undeniably produce a child fully equipped to be a mom or dad someday. Forget college.

Bonhoeffer executed today in 1945

Posted April 9th, 2007 by Jen in politics/world news, religion
5 Comments »

Monday, April 9 - today’s date - in 1945, was the morning of the hanging of Dietrich Bonhoeffer at the Flossenburg Concentration Camp. German pastor, writer, dissident, and martyr. A great force behind the German Resistance to Hitler’s Nazi regime. Sadly, ironically, but perhaps most profound, is the fact that just a few days later, Allied troops liberated the camp. Three weeks following, Adolf Hitler had committed suicide, and within a month, Germany had surrendered unconditionally. But I believe that Bonhoeffer speaks to us through his sacrifice more clearly today than he did in his life.

I was in my early 20s when I was given Bonhoeffer’s great book, The Cost of Discipleship, which he wrote in 1937 - quite prophetically, I must say, as he paid the ultimate price. “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die,” said Bonhoeffer.

Just as a prophet is not accepted in his own town (Matthew 13:57), Bonhoeffer was speaking so far ahead of his time that I believe most of his contemporaries benefited little from his life. Many of his fellow pastors and churchpeople supported Hitler’s policies. The true beneficiaries of Dietrich Bonhoeffer are those of us living today.

As he explained his involvement in a plot to assassinate Hitler, Bonhoeffer said: “If I see a madman driving a car into a group of innocent bystanders, then I can’t, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe and then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver.” A further glimpse into the action-oriented Bonhoeffer was his collaboration in an effort to help a group of Jews escape to Switzerland, which led to his arrest and imprisonment in April 1943, two years prior to his execution.

So, I’m trying to lay the framework of all of this history onto life today. Here’s a Bonhoeffer quote that helps his death bring some benefit to me today: “Nothing is fixed, and nothing holds us. The film, vanishing from memory as soon as it ends, symbolizes the profound amnesia of our time. Events of world-historical significance, along with the most terrible crimes, leave no trace behind in the forgetful soul.”

Can we please not suffer from profound amnesia? Can we please not be illiterate regarding church history? Bonhoeffer displayed the most admirable resistance to tyranny you can hope for; yet this was too late for his own age - we are the recipients, and our call is to respond to the conditions that make tyranny possible. We are offered the opportunity, if we would educated ourselves with this history, to direct action at the root of the problem, instead of being forced into a violent struggle with the full-blown fuhrer.

So, The Cost of Discipleship teaches me that believing in Jesus isn’t enough - there is a call to action, and Bonhoeffer sets a real-life example of sometimes radical action. Bonhoeffer warns against the “cheap grace” that advocates belief without obedience. “Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ. It remains an abstract idea, a myth.”

Here are some issues I’ll be exploring in more detail in another post - this is an excerpt from the 2003 documentary film, Bonhoeffer:

The church has three possible ways it can act against the state. First, it can ask the state if its actions are legitimate. Second, it can aid the victims of the state action. The church has the unconditional obligation to the victims of any ordering society even if they do not belong to the Christian society. The third possibility is not just [to] bandage the victims under the wheel, but to jam a spoke in the wheel itself.

Do you think the church has any reason today to act against the state? Ahh, now we’re getting to the heart of this, and we must examine this closer if Bonhoeffer’s martyrdom is to have been of any profit. (I don’t want to presume that some action against the state is the only thing that results from Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship, it’s just one matter among many that I’d like to explore. And so no one assumes a Waco-style ambush, I have a very pacifist bent, as did Bonhoeffer, I’m not talking about war-mongering against the state.)

Good Friday

Posted April 6th, 2007 by Jen in poetry, religion
1 Comment »

“Stay, don’t go,” is what my heart would want to say. But it’s the Father’s will, and today, I’m so grateful beyond understanding (I can never know all He suffered) for the sacrifice over 2000 years ago.

The crucifixion of Jesus Christ took place in A.D. 30, on the Friday of the Jewish Passover week. This day is now celebrated by Christians worldwide as Good Friday. Even on the cross he reigned, and today is such a day to observe the ultimate triumph, as well as the passion, the suffering, the humiliation. This is a day of remembrance, mourning, and grief, a day to suffer with Him. I can suffer with Him as I contemplate and consider the injustice of the world, and have compasssion today. I can meditate on the hardship and heartache of the oppressed today, and pray for them.

GOOD FRIDAY
by Christina G. Rossetti

Am I a stone and not a sheep
That I can stand, O Christ, beneath Thy Cross,
To number drop by drop Thy Blood’s slow loss,
And yet not weep?
No so those women loved
Who with exceeding grief lamented Thee;
Not so fallen Peter weeping bitterly;
Not so the thief was moved;
Not so the Sun and Moon
Which hid their faces in a starless sky,
A horrow of great darkness at broad noon–
I, only I.
Yet give not o’er,
But seek Thy sheep, true Shepherd of the flock;
Greater than Moses, turn and look once more
And smite a rock.

photo: Christ of Saint John of the Cross by Salvador Dali

Britons back home, Happy Easter! But why?

Posted April 5th, 2007 by Jen in politics/world news
1 Comment »

Billed as an Easter gift, the Iranian government released the 15 British sailors and marines, and they have arrived on their beloved home soil in time for Good Friday services and the Easter celebration. When I heard the news of the release yesterday, I was overwhelmed with relief, but suspicion crept in.

An Associated Press story today said the release is largely credited to the pragmatic conservatives like Ali Larijani, Iran’s top foreign policy negotiator (and also its chief nuclear negotiator). Well, with “pragmatic” being defined with synonyms like “sensible” and “practical,” one would be hopeful.

But pragmatic is hardly a word I would use in the same sentence as Larijani, a former Revolutionary Guard officer who thinks the Holocaust is a myth and calls for Israel to be “wiped from the map.” Not to mention unqualified refusal to freeze uranium enrichment.

Maybe he’s pragmatic in comparison to Iran’s hard-line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who would like to see the U.S. as well as Israel wiped from the map. It’s like saying that when compared to jumping off a 300 foot cliff onto rocks, jumping off a 200 foot cliff onto rocks is very sensible.

So why the release of the Britons? I honestly don’t know, but I highly doubt that pragmatism is the answer. This is pure political maneuvering, propaganda at its best.

Iran has an aggressive nuclear program, and of course the release of these British sailors and marines raised hopes for Iranian compromises on its nuclear program, as stated in the A.P. story. There is no compromise with madmen. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned, “If the synagogues are set on fire today, it will be the churches that will be burned tomorrow.”

photo credits: AP and Reuters

Lilium longiflorum

Posted April 3rd, 2007 by Jen in poetry, religion
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Ahh, the lovely Easter lily has arrived! I got mine today and just admired its stark white beauty and trumpet-shaped flowers, and my heart rejoiced in the symbolism of resurrection life. Here it is, that white-robed apostle of hope, on my back deck as the sun sank low.

A wonderful poem by American poet Anne Porter, in her mid-nineties when the treasury this is part of, Living Things: Collected Poems, was published (talk about a late bloomer), begs to be read:

AN EASTER LILY

[Ahem, the first verse
is now missing
because I was kindly informed
by a commenter below
That I was violating copyright law.
This beautiful verse
used to be about
A Paschal moon
Shining into our homes
With radiant ceremony]

…here’s the rest of the amazing poem,
I’m so sorry I can’t post all of it:

I for my part received
An Easter lily
Whose whiteness
Is past belief

Its blossoms
The shape of trumpets
Are mute as swans

But deep and strong as sweat
Is their feral perfume.

by Anne Porter

Though native to the Ryukyu Islands of southern Japan, I love the fact that the Easter Lily Capital of the World is on the southern coast of MY state, Oregon!

I’ve been savoring these days leading up to Easter, this most glorious of all Christian holidays. I’m trying to incorporate traditions into my family, and when holidays come around, I’m always on the lookout for a meaningful observance to weave into our life. I didn’t grow up with traditions, and even as a child I was very sad about that. I want my own children to be grown and say to one another, “Don’t you remember when we always picked out an Easter lily for our table, and one for Grandma, too?”

Take pleasure in this week, and hold onto your traditions or create new ones.

(I’m ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille.)

Nor the arrow that flies by day

Posted April 1st, 2007 by Jen in religion
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I’ve found myself struggling with fear lately. What a wretched thing fear is. I’ve taken the offensive and have been speaking God’s words to keep my mind set on Truth. So, I’ve got scriptures pasted all over the place to remind me. Here is one particular gem (on my kitchen window) that I’ve memorized and repeated, and repeated again a dozen times a day.

Why? Well, it works. Romans 10:17 tells me that faith comes from hearing the word of God. And the word of God is the “sword of the Spirit” described in Ephesians 6:17. I’d be really dumb not to use the most powerful weapon I have. I’m responsible for setting a tone of joy in my house, and I certainly can’t do that when I’m bound up in fear.

This is from Psalm 91 (the entire chapter is worth memorizing), and I’ve personalized it by changing the “you” to “I.”

I will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at my side, ten thousand at my right hand, but it will not come near me.

If I make the Most High my dwelling - even the LORD, who is my refuge - then no harm will befall me, no disaster will come near my tent (my dwelling place). For He will command His angels concerning me to guard me in all my ways.

Psalm 91:5-7, 9-11