I found myself back in my hometown again, dreaming of the house my father’s second wife lived in before she married him, a duplex, and the other half housing her sister’s family.There are many times that I end up at that house, rarely inside, but more often than not doing something with the yard.Last night it involved cutting the lawn while the house was being repainted maroon with white trim.
I usually find myself dreaming of my hometown, my home or the high school whenever I am stressed, or at a time of decision making.Why my mind settles there, I do not know.I am sure that Freud would have an opinion as to why I am never inside the house.
Two gentlemen were watching from the adjoining yard voicing lots of opinions on the grass cutter, me, and the painter.I remember magically see the house change to blue and white, immediately brightening the house and all around it.Color, or the lack of it, plays an important part of our lives.
I had spent part of the day trimming away the dead parts of plants in the garden.Perennials that will sprout again next spring and summer.When I look out the front window it is a different view now, not brown, but filled with ever green plants and shrubs which compete with all the vibrant colors of the spring and summer, always present but sometimes hidden.
Men voicing opinions are always around me.Lots of opinions, most of them I ignore, but some of them know me well, and those I keep with me.I am more inclined to listen to women, women who understand what is at the heart of a subject, if the soul might be wounded, if courage is needed.
So who or want is waiting for me to decide, to notice?How long will I gaze waiting for another sign?How might the universe choose to communicate?
Possibly by needing to replace a hard drive which temporarily forces me off the internet and back to quiet and the time needed to ponder.
I have not been writing much lately, and I like to blame it on the fact that my keyboard hates my fingers. I can be typing along and the keyboard will make random keys stick or place the shift key where the enter should be. It is infuriating. So much so, I hate to use the damn thing.
However, there are times when I really want to share, to give in to the temptation and somehow manage to confuse the keyboard as to whose fingers are pounding away.
Before Christmas I came down with a cold that transformed itself into bronchitis. Sent home from work, twice, I finally went to the doctor, received "drugs" and was told to rest, sleep, drink fluids and get well. Oh, and to have a Merry Christmas. :)
What is one to do when confined to bed, alone?
Netflix and On Demand Movies, life savers they truly were. And my taste is all over the map. Just think 24 hours a day of not sleeping due to coughing and hacking.
Each Fall the Episcopal Church ofSts. Andrew and Matthew (SsAM) in Wilmington, DE celebrates with services entitled Season of Creation. The Season of Creation liturgies focus on biodiversity, land, water, climate change, need not greed, and caring for God's creation. Join with us in praying that this resource may deepen our comprehension of God as Creator and broaden our understanding of our calling to be faithful stewards of creation.
Refashion our mind, O God, to a new way of thinking, that seeing the peril of our failure to halt the desecration of the planet and its creatures, we commit to the promise of life for all that lives.
Reconcile our hearts to one another across all boundaries, that human diversity may be experienced as enrichment, and differences honored as leading to wiser action.
Sensitize the governments of the world to the folly of violent conquest, that has led all of history's adventures in empire to ultimate decadence and demise. And teach all who aspire to leadership of nations the enduring wisdom of collaboration and servanthood.
Strenghten the movement for nonviolence that has emerged in our time, that human ingenuity may be turned to the preservation of the earth, and that our economies be reordered to the urgent needs of the human family.
Kindle in each of us a resolve to dismantle our own private arsenals of violence: our greed and thanklessness, our rage and grievances, our hatreds and all of our shifting of blame.
Enliven the faith communities of the world with a rebirth of welcome for all sorts and conditions of humanity, moving us to reorder our lives and our loves to such simplicity and goodwill as to preserve the each and make for peace.
This is what Bishop Wayne P Wright has written in our weekly eblast newsletter this week.
This coming Sunday is September 11th– the tenth anniversary of a day that none of us will ever forget. For weeks, even months, we have been preparing. I am impressed by the many observances taking place in our churches and schools. They are obviously the fruit of much reflection, study, and prayer. Each carries the potential to invite healing, deepen faith, and strengthen love. Our hope is always that the future may learn from the past. Thank you.
I have been reading about the events happening this weekend at Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel in lower Manhattan. Trinity is only a few hundred yards away from Ground Zero. St. Paul’s, just across the street from the World Trade Center, became a place of rest and respite for rescue and recovery workers in the days following the attacks. Our Presiding Bishop will preach at St. Paul’s on Sunday morning. New York’s Bishop Mark Sisk will be the celebrant for the principal service. Many other events at Trinity and St. Paul’s will add to a week of commemoration and observance. You can read more on the website: www.trinitywallstreet.org
I was especially struck by the theme the parish has chosen to guide its anniversary observance: “Remember to Love.”
This phrase brings to mind Paul’s sturdy and deeply challenging admonition about Christian love: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:17-21)
Before September 11, 2001 I am sure that I always took this passage too lightly. Seeing burning fragments from buildings and airplanes literally falling from the sky, I came to realize how seriously I had underestimated the need for what Martin Luther King, Jr. called “the strength to love.” By choosing the theme “Remember to Love,” the members of Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel have placed this challenge and an opportunity directly before us. It is important to remember the past. But, it is not enough simply to remember. My daily prayer will be for the Spirit of Christ to reconcile and heal us and for the love of Christ to make us instruments of his much needed peace.
The other day I re-watched a movie called Leap Year staring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode. I am a sucker for anything filmed in Ireland and has relationships similar to Tracy and Hepburn or Clark Gable Claudette Colbert in In Happened One Night.
The plot of Leap Year is that "when Anna’s (Amy Adams) four-year anniversary to her boyfriend passes without an engagement ring, she decides to take matters into her own hands. Inspired by an Irish tradition that allows women to propose to men on Leap Day, Anna follows Jeremy (Adam Scott) to Dublin to propose to him. But after landing on the wrong side of Ireland, she must enlist the help of the handsome and carefree local Declan (Matthew Goode) to get her across the country. Along the way, they discover that the road to love can take you to very unexpected places."
Now besides the great accents and the scenery the happy endings always present in Hollywood films, what stuck with me was the scene when Jeremy in an attempt to find some common ground, asks Anna what one thing would she grab if her house was on fire.
Of course, remember Anna is American and to think that that someone would know the one thing they would grab is ludicrous. As she scoffs and taunts Jeremy, he calmly tells her it would be his grandmothers clatter ring. That is the only thing he would take.
What came to me as I watched this movie for the umpteenth time, late at night in my bed. is that I had finally made the great leap over things.
I realize that what I wanted to make sure made it out of the house were the three cats. Everything else did not enter my mind. Things had lost their value.
Of course, remember that I have insurance. What I would need to have in my new abode I would be purchasing.
I realized that the furniture that had been handed down to me, were no longer important. My daughter has no interest. She had her own style.
So, what I have put in my " fire bag" is a dvd of when my aunt told the history of the Gregory family from Scotland and the dvd's my daughters father made as she was growing up.
For the past month or so, I have been trying to discern whether I was really meant to return to Sudan in September. I had made the connections with Five Talents, Inc. I had met the people, attended meetings and started to prepare for going. I had spoken with David Copley and spoke to him about stopping in Juba. I was excited that I might be going through Nairobi, Kenya and ending up in Wau, The Republic of South Sudan. I was excited to be revisiting and old friend in a new country.
I remembered the time leading up to my trip in 2008. Every problem that I put before saying no, was taken care of. A house and cat sitter, a sabbatical granted, funds raised.
This time, not so easy to recognize who was in control.
However, little by little who was in control became very apparent. In order to make sure that I was really listening a messenger I could not ignore came calling. The Rev. Canon Lloyd Casson.
The result, an adventure in a different direction, one that does not require leaving Delaware. But it does mean much time will be spent working toward the continued education of young women utilizing the same skills needed in Sudan.
Then is my continued involvement in the organization the American Friends of the Episcopal Church of Sudan. The work on their annual conference and the up coming expense of attending General Convention in Indianapolis in 2012, both seem to be asking for funds that might go toward funding another trip.
Then my 24 year-old heat pump decided to leak in the basement. Imagine being told I needed $8,000-$10,000 to replace it entirely. Or $2,000 towards replacing the pan.
Jeez Lueez.
Ok, I might not have been paying attention, but did you have to shout?
South Sudan has become the world's newest nation, the climax of a process made possible by the 2005 peace deal that ended a long and bloody civil war.
Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon are among international dignitaries attending celebrations in the capital, Juba.
Sudan earlier became the first state to officially recognise its new neighbour.
The south's independence follows decades of conflict with the north in which some 1.5 million people died.
Celebrations in Juba began at midnight (2100 GMT). A countdown clock in the city centre reached zero and the new national anthem was played on television.
South Sudan became the 193rd country recognised by the UN and the 54th UN member state in Africa.
Officials had planned for people to hold quiet celebrations at home, with the formal declaration of independence due later on Saturday.
But the people clearly couldn't wait. Two hours before midnight and lines of cars zoomed around town packed with people waving flags and waiting to celebrate.
When the final countdown arrived, the atmosphere was wild. Groups ran down roads, dancing to drum beats. Soldiers and policemen joined in too, waving paper flags and laughing.
A sign read: "Congratulations, free at last, South Sudan." But the people didn't need to read the message - they were already dancing and leaping with happiness.
"It is a shout of freedom," said Alfred Tut, lifting his head back and screaming.
The BBC's Will Ross in Juba says the new country's problems are being put aside for the night, and there is an air of great jubilation.
People are in the streets, cheering, waving South Sudan flags, banging drums and chanting the name of President Salva Kiir Mayardit, he adds.
A formal independence ceremony is due to be held later on Saturday.
The Speaker of the South Sudan Legislative Assembly, James Wani Igga, is expected to read out the Proclamation of the Independence of South Sudan at 1145 (0845 GMT). Minutes later Sudan's national flag will be lowered and the new flag of South Sudan will be raised.
In addition to Mr Bashir and Mr Ban, attendees will include former US Secretary of State Colin Powell, the US permanent representative to the UN, Susan Rice, and the head of the US military's Africa Command, Gen Carter Ham.
Under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, a referendum was held on independence, which was favoured by more than 99% of voters.
The new country is rich in oil, but one of the least developed countries in the world, where one in seven children dies before the age of five.
Unresolved disputes between the north and south, particularly over the new border, have also raised the possibility of renewed conflict.
On Friday, Sudan's Minister of Presidential Affairs, Bakri Hassan Saleh, announced that it recognised "the Republic of South Sudan as an independent state, according to the borders existing on 1 January 1956", when Sudan gained independence from Britain.
President Bashir, who agreed the 2005 peace deal with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), stressed his country's "readiness to work with our southern brothers and help them set up their state so that, God willing, this state will be stable and develop".
"The co-operation between us will be excellent, particularly when it comes to marking and preserving the border so there is a movement of citizens and goods via this border," he told journalists in Khartoum.
Fears of fresh conflict resurfaced after recent fighting in two border areas, Abyei and South Kordofan, which forced some 170,000 people from their homes.
But separate deals - and the withdrawal of rival forces from the border - have calmed tensions.
The UN Security Council has passed a resolution approving a new 7,000-strong peacekeeping force for South Sudan - but this is basically a rebranding of the force which was already in Sudan, mostly in the south.
Khartoum has said its mandate would not be renewed, leading the US to argue that the 1,000 UN troops should be allowed to remain in South Kordofan. The 1,000 troops in the disputed town of Abyei are to be replaced by 4,200 Ethiopian soldiers.
Our correspondent says keeping both the north and the south stable long after the celebratory parties have ended will be a mighty challenge.
All you need to know about South Sudan's independence
The two sides must still decide on issues such as drawing up the new border and how to divide Sudan's debts and oil wealth.
Analysts say the priority for Khartoum will be to negotiate a favourable deal on oil revenue, as most oilfields lie in the south. At present, the revenues are being shared equally.
Khartoum has some leverage, as most of the oil pipelines flow north to Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
Citizenship is also a key issue which has not yet been decided.
A new law passed by the National Assembly in Khartoum has withdrawn Sudanese citizenship from all southerners.
The UN refugee agency (UNCHR), has urged both governments to prevent statelessness.
The great divide across Sudan is visible even from space, as this Nasa satellite image shows. The northern states are a blanket of desert, broken only by the fertile Nile corridor. South Sudan is covered by green swathes of grassland, swamps and tropical forest.
