« April 2007 | Main | June 2007 »

May 30, 2007

Photos from Maine

My mom is always on the look out for rocks. A few years back, dad and Isaac (I believe) found Lewis, a rock that resembles a large, smooth whale. Lewis even has an "eye" in the right spot. Last year, Isaac lugged another beauty up from the house. Miraculously, he was able to carry his treasure back down the road on his bike about one fourth of a mile.

This year, I'm hoping I'll find a good one. Down at the coast the first day, I found a promising one. It was small, black, and wonderfully gentle to the touch. Here are some canidates I by-passed.

The first day we arrived, the light was just amazing. It was streaming down, painting the ocean, a deep blue and filling the pine and birch forests with those special, mysical streams. Here is a shot I captured near one of the neighboring houses.

I forget the name of these flowers. The colors amaze me. It's my task everyday to water these plants. These flowers inparticular, need a lot of water so they get two drinks a day. For some reason, my computer isn't letting me resize my photos or I would have sent more.

Posted by larawalk at 02:33 PM | Comments (4)

May 25, 2007

Maine

For those of you who don't know, I'm off to Maine come Saturday morning. I'll be in the land of pointed firs for a couple weeks, chilling, gardening, scraping a porch w/ my dad, eating fresh lobster ( do you know hey can live to be around 80 years old?), hiking, runing through fields of lupines, and much more. I'll try and give some updates from time to time. Also, I'll have my camera at hand so hopefully I'll be able to deliver a visual taste. By the way, does anyone out there live anywhere close to Maine these days? I'd love to visit some amigos

Posted by larawalk at 12:13 AM | Comments (5)

Simone Weil

Here is something interesting I read by Simone Weil. Apparently, she wrote this a few months before dying. The editor, George A. Panichas, explains this piece is key in understanding Weil's (Jewish by birth, Catholic by choice) religious thought. I don't know much about this woman yet, but I'm hoping to learn more soon, especially as I'm lugging a thick book full of her writings to Maine.

Come with Me

He entered my room and said: 'Poor creature, you who understand nothing, who know nothing. Come with me and I will teach you things which you do not suspect'. I followed him.

He took me into a church. It was new and ugly. He led me up to the altar and said: 'Kneel down'. I said 'I have not been baptized' He said 'Fall on your knees before this place, in love, as before the place where lies the truth'. I obeyed

he brought me out and made me climb up to a garrett. Through the open window one could see the whole city spread out, some wooden scaffoldings, and the river on which boats were being unloaded. The garrett was empty, except for a table and two chairs. He bade me be seated.

We were alone. He spoke. From time to time someone would enter, mingle in the conversation, then leave again.

Winter had gone; spring had not yet come. The branches of the trees lay bare, without buds, in the cold air full of sunshine.

The light of day would arise, shine forth in splendour, and fade away; then the moon and the stars would enter through the window. And then once more the dawn would come up.

At times he would fall silent, take some bread from a cupboard, and we would share it. This bread really had the taste of bread. I have never found that taste again.

He would pour out some wine for me, and some for himsef-wine which tasted of the sun and of the soil upon which this city was built.

At other times we would stretch ourselves out on the floor of the garret, and sweet sleep would enfold me. Then I would wake and drink in the light of the sun.

He had promised to teach me, but he did not teach me anything We talked about all kinds of things, in a desultory way, as do old friends.

One day he said to me: 'Now go'. I fell down before him, I clasped his knees I implored him not to drive me away. But he threw me out on the stairs. I went down unconscious of anything, my heart as it were in shreds. I wandered along the streets. then I realized that I had no idea where this house lay.

I have never tried to find it again. I understod that he had come for me by mistake. My place is not in that garret. It can be anywhere-in a prison cell, in one of those middle-class drawing-rooms full of knick-knacks and red plush, in the waiting-room of a station-anywere except in that garret.

Sometimes, I cannot help trying fearfully and remorsefully, to repeat to myself a part of what he said to me. How am I to know if I remember rightly? He is not there to tell me.

I know well that he does not love me. How could he love me? And yet deep down within me something, a particle of myself, cannot help thinking, with fear and trembling, that perhaps, in spite of all, he loves me.

translated from the French, I believe

Posted by larawalk at 12:12 AM | Comments (0)

May 17, 2007

"Little Children"

Often when I go to Blockbuster I'm searching for a movie I can can relax and curl up w/. I want a movie I can trust like a faithful dog or favorite novel. The truth of the matter is most of the films at Blockbuster are not in the least bit cozy or relaxing. Many of these films demand alert discernment on the viewers part. I was reminded of this the other day after watching "Little Children", a film starring Kate Winslett.

Honestly, I didn't enjoy watching this film as it was painfully loaded with sexual perversity, child neglect, and emptiness. Almost immediatly, I realized I couldn't just sit there and relax. Still, there were some really important issues this film struggled with. A theme that probably grabbed me the most was shame.

One of the main characters is child sex offender. Basically, he is the scape goat of the whole community-- his house is littered with papers proclaiming his offense, and everyone is always whispering warnings about him. Anyways, the loneliness and shame that he feels is magnified uncontrollably after the death of his mother--his only source of love and grace. When she dies, he ends up doing what many in the community have been wanting him to do: he castrates himself. The scene is horrible. He sits there on a swing with blood everywhere.

At this point however, one of his arch enemies-- a cop who is actually responsible for the death of the sex offender's mom, comes by. The cop is overwrought because of the guilt he feels. He lifts the sex-offender into his arms, lays him in the back of his truck, and off they ride, top speed, to the hospital. It is a wonderful scene and it's basically where the movie ends.

Anyways, hope I didn't spoil the movie for anyone, I think I was just struck by the issue this film struggled to unfurl. While the viewer has to wade through loads of unnecessary junk (lots of explicit sex scenes) there are redeeming things about it. It made me aware that yes, there are loads of rotten films out there, but still, many of them are searching and struggling to get at matters of utmost importance. I just need to remember that many of the films are not lullabys to put me to sleep.

Posted by larawalk at 01:12 AM | Comments (5)

May 10, 2007

Morning (and night) Glory

I wish I was a morning person. Really, I think I am one at heart. I love getting up before anyone else. I love the quiet mixed with bird songs. I love the sun rise more then many other things.

Check out what Bonhoeffer says about the morning and see if it doesn't inspire you to fall in love with morning all over again, or maybe, for the first time eh?

Each morning is a new beginning of our life. Each day is a finished whole. The present day marks the boundary of our cares and concerns. (Mt. 6:34, Jas. 4:14)It is long enough to find God or to lose him, to keep faith or fall into disgrace. God created day and night for us so we need not wander without boundaries, but may be able to see every morning the goal of the evening ahead. Just as the ancient sun rises anew every day, so the eternal mercy of God is new every morning. (Lam. 3:23) Every morning God gives us the gift of comprehending anew his faithfulness of old; thus, in the midst of our life with God, we may daily begin a new life with him.

In Holy Scripture, morning is a time full of wonder. It is the time of God's help for his Church (Ps. 46:5), the time of joy after a night of weeping (PS. 30:5), the time of the proclamation of the divine Word (Zeph. 3:5), the daily distribution of the sacred manna (Ex. 16:13f.). Before daybreak Jesus went away to pray (Mk. 1:35), in the early hours the women go to the tomb, and the disciples find the risen Jesus on the shore of the Lake of Tiberias (Jn. 21:4). The people of faith wake early because of their expectation of God's marvelous acts. (Gen. 19:27, Ex. 24:4, Job 1:5, etc.)Sleep no longer holds them. They rush to greet the early grace of God.

When we awake, we drive away the dark shapes and confused dreams of the night as we speak the morning blessing and commend ourselves for this day to the Triune God. The evil moods, uncontrollable emotions and desires, which we cannot get rid of during the day are often enough simply ghosts of the night that were not driven off in the morning and now want to spoil the day for us. The first moments of the new day are not the time for our own plans and worries, not even for our zeal to accomplish our own work, but for God's liberating grace, God's sanctgifying presence. To anyone whoo is wakened early by care, Scripture says: "It is a vain that you rise so early and go so late to rest; eating the bread of anxious toil for he gives to his beloved sleep." (Ps. 127:3). It is not my anxiety about the coming day, not the burden of my work which I have before me, but it is the Lord who wakes me every morning;...he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught (Is. 50:4) Before the heart unlocks itself for the world, God wants to open it for himself; before the ear takes in the countless voices of the day; it should hear in the early hours the voice of the Creator and Redeemer. God prepared the stilllness of the first morning for himself. It should remain his. (Fromk, Meditating on the Word,32-33).

Presently, however, I am a night person. Do you see I'm writing this at 1:21 a.m. ! You know, I don't beat up on myself for being a night person right now, though I would prefer to be a morning person and have the mind to think that some day, I will reach this goal. The truth is, there are lovely things about being a night person. For example, some of the best conversations (from my experience) have happend at night. Peoples defenses lessen a bit etc. (k, this can lead to sin, watch out ).

This reminds me, I've been flipping through Richard Foster's book on spiritual disciplines lately. In the section on fasting, he mentions something called Watchings. The idea of a Watch, is to stay up all night, "in order to attend to prayer or other spirutual duties" (Celebration of Disciplines, 51). Cool beans I say.

Posted by larawalk at 01:50 AM | Comments (8)

May 01, 2007

Short!

Sorry, I'm getting carried away w/ photos! I blame Lucy...no...she is too sweet.

Posted by larawalk at 10:29 PM | Comments (1)

Firm Foundation

The semester is wrapping up for Firm Foundation Tutoring Program in S. City. Yesterday, I snapped pictures of our immigrant and refugee kids. All of them a are Liberian save one, who is from Ethiopia.

="400" border="0" />

Posted by larawalk at 03:38 PM | Comments (1)