Sola Christus

Everything comes to an end

Finishing a PhD is ______ (insert word to show the sisyphean feat that this is).

Planning a wedding is hard/difficult/enjoyable/frustrating (72 days to go).

Living 3, 800 miles away from your fiance while trying to plan said wedding, well there's no way around that one, it's just sh*t, that I wouldn't wish on anyone (34 days to go). Though, my fiance makes it bearable; he is wonderful, always encouraging and loving me--more than I could ever ask for. 

(Plus, I never knew people could be so rude about weddings. Everyone seems to have an opinion, and some people think they can just invite themselves to your wedding. Seriously? Don't they know it costs money?)

Needless to say, my days and nights have been spent with many hours in the office and even less sleep. I'm trying not to get ulcers or have a heart attack, and taking trips to the gym to keep my sanity. Here's the view I see on the way back from the gym:

So, here's my prayer for today, and for the end of this process:

 

 

{this moment} : : insomnia and words

some words and images from this week

 

cemetary clover

 

 

coffee dripped on printed pages

 

 

spring clouds pregnant with rain

 

 

sometimes insomnia reaps results. (State-side friends, this was taken at 4:40am. Yes, that's the sun)

{this moment} : : frozen spheres and blossoms

I bought a one-way plane ticket this week, from Scotland to Charlotte (via London and Chicago). I have mixed feelings about this purchase. But, suffice it to say, I only have a few more weeks in my home, Scotland. So, here are some moments from this week. 

(rain and hail)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

{this moment} : : The Sun always rises

No mater what the course of the story, no matter what dark shadows cross our path, the Resurection assures us, Jesus always wins.

 

National Poetry Month 4.0

I've posted poems for National Poetry Month for several years now. This month, I won't have time to post daily, but I will post some. My PhD thesis (affectionatly known as Harry) is nearing his birthing point, and I am focusing all my energies on him. So, here is a poem, a favorite of mine, to start off this week after Easter.

 

Marked by Ashes

by Walter Brueggemann

Ruler of the Night, Guarantor of the day . . .
This day — a gift from you.
This day — like none other you have ever given, or we have ever received.
This Wednesday dazzles us with gift and newness and possibility.
This Wednesday burdens us with the tasks of the day, for we are already halfway home
     halfway back to committees and memos,
     halfway back to calls and appointments,
     halfway on to next Sunday,
     halfway back, half frazzled, half expectant,
     half turned toward you, half rather not.

This Wednesday is a long way from Ash Wednesday,
   but all our Wednesdays are marked by ashes —
     we begin this day with that taste of ash in our mouth:
       of failed hope and broken promises,
       of forgotten children and frightened women,
     we ourselves are ashes to ashes, dust to dust;
     we can taste our mortality as we roll the ash around on our tongues.

We are able to ponder our ashness with
   some confidence, only because our every Wednesday of ashes
   anticipates your Easter victory over that dry, flaky taste of death.

On this Wednesday, we submit our ashen way to you —
   you Easter parade of newness.
   Before the sun sets, take our Wednesday and Easter us,
     Easter us to joy and energy and courage and freedom;
     Easter us that we may be fearless for your truth.
   Come here and Easter our Wednesday with
     mercy and justice and peace and generosity.

We pray as we wait for the Risen One who comes soon.

{this moment} : : scraps of the week

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

glowering clouds on the horizon

 

this month's goal

 

shades of hope in the ashen land

{this moment} : : the last lap of the marathon

...called the PhD. And 3.5 years comes down to three months folks. The question is: Can she do it?

 

the smell of ashes

Lent is a call to renew a commitment grown dull, perhaps, by a life more marked by routine than by reflection.  After a lifetime of mundane regularity or unconsidered adherence to the trappings of faith, Lent requires me, as a Christian, to stop for a while, to reflect again on what is going on in me. I am challenged again to decided whether I, myself, do truly believe that Jesus is the Christ -- and if I believe, whether I will live accordingly when I can no longer hear the song of angels in my life and the star of Bethlehem has grown dim for me.

 

Joan Chittister
The Liturgical Year

 

(HT to cino for this quote)

 

 

{this moment} : : folded paper

(reminiscing about last year's V-day, I reminded myself, that even though I now have a Valentine for the first time [EVER!] I still must find my purpose not in cards but in the one who is Love.)

 

 First Valentine's card

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Annual "Girls Only" V-Day Party

Books Read in 2011

This is a little later than past years, but here are the books I read in 2011, all 26 of them.

Some of the early reads seem like so long ago. Years ago. A lot of things have happened this year. I've lost some and found some. I've closed the chapter on some things, and turned the pages to reveal new chapters. So, here is the account of my words in 2011 (in chronological order).

1. I Sold my Soul on Ebay by: Hemant Mehta (spiritual memoir, nonfiction)

This was an interesting read, if at times a bit gimmicky. It's an aitheist's report on Christian churches.

2. The Magician's Nephew by CS Lewis (young adult, fantasy)

I had intended to re-read the Chronicles this year, but it just didn't happen.

3. Children of Men by PD James (dystopian fiction)

This was a fascinating book. PD imagines a world where women can no longer have children. Interestingly, there's lots of sacramental imagery in this book that was quite beautiful and moving.

4. Peter Pan by JM Barrie (not really young adult, fiction, fantasy)

Much darker than Disney's tinker-belled version, this book is an interesting, short read nonetheless.

5. The Great Divorce by CS Lewis (spiritual biograph/fantasy/fiction, all at once)

One of my favorites by Jack, I found this one just as life-changing as when I first read it.

6. Churched, One Kid's Journey Towards God, Despite a Holy Mess by Matthew Paul Turner (spiritual memoir)

An interesting account of a man's journey out of fundamentalism. My year was marked with lots of thinking about this topic and reflecting on my own roots and baggage from fundie land.

7. Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? by Neil Gaiman (comic, fantasy)

I finally broke down and bought this from Forbidden Planet. I read it twice this year (so I am counting it twice), and wrote an article on it, for the Transpositions blog.

8. The Town Below the Ground: Edinburgh's Legendary Underground by Jan-Andrew Henderson (history)

I love Edinburgh. It is one of my favorite cites, and due to its unusual building history, it has lots of underground secrets. This little book tells some of them. Not the most well-written, but quite conversational.

9. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer (fantasy, young adult)

I was reading this in anticipation of the movie. I had only read it twice before (as opposed to the others), but in the end, I didn't have any money to see the movie in the cinema. DVD it is then. This was, I think, my last time for Meyer's world of Cullens. I'm kind of tired of them.

10. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by Rowling (fantasy)

I re-read the series in anticipation of the last film installment.

11. Momo by Michael Ende (fantasy, young adult)

This was a book club selection, and I found it a bit pedantic and unrealistic. Boring even. I wouldn't reccomend it.

12. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (fiction)

This book was suggested by my fiancé. An amazing and beautiful book, this epistolary novel is simplay breath-taking.

13. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by Rowling

14. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by Rowling

15. Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie fox and the Rise of Spiritualism by Barabra Weisberg (spiritual memoir, history)

I had higher hopes for this book. In the end it just dragged and was not as interesting as Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death by Deborah Blum, that I read a few years ago.

16. Saints at the River by Ron Rash (Southern fiction)

Rash has an amazing talent for depicting the area he is writing about. This novel is about the little corner of South Carolina where I grew up, near the foot of the mountain range.

17. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by Rowling (fiction)

18. The Night Bookmobile by Audrey Niffenger (fiction, fantasy, comic)

Yes, you see that right. This is a graphic novel by the author of The Time Traveler's Wife. Interesting, but a bit disturbing as it seems to praise suicide.

19. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by Rowling

I think this is my favorite Harry Potter book.

20. The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia by Philip Sidney (prose)

A complicated proto-novel with lovers and connections worthy of any soap opera

21. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (not young adult, fiction)

This is another one I read with my fiancé, It was a favorite from when I read it as a young teen.

22. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (fiction)

I read this one a second time, and suggested it to my fiancé for our bookclub. A hard, but moving read.

23. A Woman of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsyth Haley (fiction)

An epistolary novel, that's interesting at first, but then drags on and on. The main character at first seems sympathetic, but then, by the end, she turns out to be a conniving and manipulating woman.

24. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by Rowling

25. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by Rowling

Now, for the 2012's reading. . . .