Time Passages

I don't typically go this long between posts.

I've just been reluctant to move Caleb's sunshiny picture down the page, but I either have to stop posting, or time must move on.

One reason I haven't wanted to change it is that I had a very challenging mid-term Friday that I spent the week studying feverishly for, and the post provided a pleasant image for me to look at during study breaks - a refreshing reminder of a simpler time.

I also kind of wanted to keep his happy picture up because there is so much sadness and strife in the world - the Iraq War, Darfur, Afghanistan, the shootings at Virginia Tech, difficulty nearer by in my former church home, and other issues large and small in many places nearby and far away - lots of hurt - lots of struggle. It was nice to open my blog and see a child's drawing of a spring day complete with waterfall, butterfly, bright sunshine, blue sky, a hill with a cave to explore, and the requisite hole in the tree as a home for some creature to live in.

As I've pondered "moving on," I received the latest issue of Time Magazine, and, as I looked at the cover of the new issue containing images of the Jamestown Colony in celebration of its 400th year and compared it with the cover of the issue from the week before containing faces of people killed in the Virginia Tech shootings, I wondered if it was hard for the people at Time to put out the new issue.
How is it possible to move on in just one week from something so profound. It almost seems publication should have stopped for a period of time, because that news was so weighty that it feels it deserved a "moment of silence" - perhaps a few weeks with no new publication - just to let us pause respectfully and soberly.

Getting a new issue gave me a feeling that VT was last week's news and now we move on.

We do move on, as we always must, and yet there are individuals and families who will never really move on and who will never really be the same because of this event. So, as I write this, I think of all who were personally impacted by that event, and I desire to remember and honor them with my thoughts and my words.

Spring by Caleb

More Know it All

Well, I just came across another Grook by Piet Hein that expresses the other half of my "Know it All" comment. I sure would have liked to meet him!

THOSE WHO KNOW

Those who always
know what’s best
are
a universal pest.

Know it All -- Follow Up

On April 5 I mused about having been omniscient as a teen but finding I no longer know everything - and the realizations that have followed - despair and then reality.

I happened across the following poem this week, another Grook by Piet Hein. To some degree he expresses what I was getting at but much more briefly and elegantly. See what you think.

OMNISCIENCE

Knowing what
thou knowest not
is in a sense
omniscience.

Happiness is . . . (2)

Happiness is . . .

. . . rocks, water, boys, vacation:

On Vacation

Spring break has finally arrived.

My mother-in-law has also arrived from out of state, so we'll be maximizing some "grandma time" - visiting, playing games, hiking, bowling, gardening, scrapbooking, having family friends to dinner, and whatever else comes to mind - and letting Grandma enjoy the warm west after having experienced some light snow flurries back east on Easter (where people were jokingly wishing each other a Merry Christmas rather than a Happy Easter)!

Sadly there is no real break from grad work, so I will also be figuring out where to squeeze in research, study and writing time while yet being engaged with the rest of my family, all of whom are TRULY on vacation!

. . . SO, I'll be taking a blog break - be back in a week!

We Call This Friday Good

And with His stripes we are healed.

And the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

Know it All

I used to know and understand everything when I was a teenager.

REALLY, I did!

It's rather disappointing to realize that I no longer know everything.

Well, at least that's how I felt when it first hit me.

I just don't have all the answers anymore, and I really used to.

Then, as I thought about this loss of omniscience, I began to think a little more broadly, and I realized that the only adults I know that "know everything" are those that have not outgrown their adolescent years. Their black and white view of the world may make them comfortable, but it makes everyone else around them miserable as they wield their "truth" like a sword.

And, of course, they DON'T know everything, none of us do. They're just so insecure that they need the sword of "knowing it all" to give them the illusion of safety.

It is said that "Ignorance is bliss."

I don't know about that, but perhaps it is the case that "Recognition of ignorance is one element of maturity."

It seems a more genuine security is present in those who are able to be comfortable saying, "I don't know the answer."

None of us knows everything, and to pretend otherwise once one is past adolescence is just pathetic.

OK, OK, Fine.

I'd always been a bit proud that we were not into the cell phone thing. We had an old phone - ONE phone - (doesn't flip open or take pictures or do anything but send and receive calls), and we never turned it on. It was only for road emergencies, but most of the time we forgot to take it on trips anyway. No one had our number.

So many people are so attached to cell phones that I think their skin has bonded to the phone. My students walk into class talking on cells, then get immediately back on them at break, and then get immediately back on them after class (some use them to "text" during class and think I do not know what is going on!). That kind of dependency on constant connectedness is a bit . . . um . . . disturbing.

My family has been out playing frisbee at the park and had a person immersed in a cell phone conversation walk right into the path of the frisbee without being at all aware of their surroundings or the fact that they were in danger of being smacked in the head.

Last time I went to a movie in a theater, the person directly in front of me spent almost the entire time "texting." I wonder if she had any idea how incredibly bright a small cell phone screen is in a dark theater and how many people were annoyed at the distraction. I wonder if she cared. I also wonder why she paid the expensive cost of a movie ticket to see a movie and then "texted" for two hours instead of watching it.

(If you wonder why I didn't say anything it's because last time I was at a theater and someone's cell phone rang and someone asked them to turn it off a fight nearly broke out as the person with the cell phone began yelling obscenities at the person who asked them to turn off the ringer. I figured dealing with a little distracting brightness was better than dealing with a fight. It seems people get really feisty about their right to use their cell phone whenever and however they want.)

I realize cell phones can be useful, but I had only ever found them to be annoying.

The human race actually made it to the late 20th century without cell phones, and I've just been a bit put off by how dependent people have become on them and have not wanted to be part of that.

Well, as of today I am crying, "Uncle."

I will now be carrying a cell phone with me everywhere and insisting my husband do the same (although we still are not going to have them turned on).

This decision was triggered by two events. Earlier this year my husband had a mini-stroke. Thankfully it happened at home before he was in the car driving the kids to school, but it could just as easily have happened while he was on the road. Today my vehicle broke down as I was on my way home from class and heading to my son's school to pick him up. I was not in the nicest section of town (but thankfully had just gotten off the highway and was not stuck in the median - which in California is not a broad grassy area!). I needed to get help in the form of a tow truck. I needed to let family members know where I was, and I needed to arrange for my son to be picked up (thank you B for doing that!).

Given my resistance to cell phone culture, it is amazing I had mine with me and that it was charged up! I was very thankful when I reached into the pocket of my backpack where I thought it might be to discover it was, in fact, there!

OK, OK, fine. I will make sure to have a cell phone with me from now on, but don't worry, the ringer will be off at all times, and I won't be "texting" anyone while in a movie theater.

My Prayer

Fill Thou my life,
Oh Lord my God in every part with praise . . .

So shall each fear, each fret, each care
Be turned into a song
And every winding of the way
The echo shall prolong;

So shall no part of day or night
From sacredness be free
But all my life in every step
Be fellowship with Thee.


(Horatius Bonar, 1866)

Are You Plural?

My maiden name ended with an "s," but people always spelled it with a "z," which drove me crazy!

One year I wanted my name embossed on my high school yearbook, so I filled out the form and paid extra.

You've probably already guessed what happened. The exciting day came when yearbooks were handed out, and I recieved mine - beautiful black cover setting off the gold lettering of the embossing - but with a name that ended in "z." I didn't want a yearbook with somebody else's name on it, so I went to the office to exchange it for one with no name on it. The response of the secretary was that I couldn't have a different one and that I had probably spelled my name wrong on the form.

Huh?

I know God has a sense of humor, because since marrying I now have a last name that does not have an "s" on the end but that people want to pronounce and spell as if it does. My standard line has become that it is OK to pluralize my name when I'm pregnant - but not otherwise! It's the only thing I've found that sticks in their minds and causes them to remember.

I was married at 21, so I guess when I hit 42 I will have achieved balance with this issue - having spent half my life saying, "There's an 's' on the end" and another half my life saying, "There's no 's' on the end."

My brother-in-law had the following posted on his blog today, and in exploring it, I found out I actually am plural. Are you? (You're still not allowed to spell my name with an "s" on the end, though!)

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 63 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I just went back and checked my maiden name, there are only 6 of those in the US. I wonder if my clones have had the same problem I have?

Of a Certain Age

When one is 41 and receives a senior discount, there is a tug inside between joy and depression - joy at saving money and depression at being thought much older than one is.

If this happens once, it can be considered a fluke -- twice, not so much -- a third time -- well, as they say, the third time's the charm. At that point one realizes this is going to continue from here on out -- no -- no -- not for me -- certainly not for ME!! :-)

It's my husband I'm referring to. I get the sense he's found this experience only slightly demoralizing, since his characteristic frugality is stronger than his vanity -- he's actually quite a humble man -- so, for the most part he's at peace with this. (Right, hubby?)

From now on when we're out together we'll just always make sure he's the one paying!

Perhaps we should set aside the savings for our retirement -- which is yet many years in the future!

And while we wait he is looking more and more distinguished by the day! Ooh la la!!

By the way, I feel I can tease him a little bit since I've already poked fun at myself in my post "Practical Joke." Fair is fair, after all!

One Strike - You're OUT!!

If you've been reading my blog since the beginning, you know I have a love/hate relationship with the dental/orthodontal health profession. I really do appreciate good dental health, but . . .

Our newest lesson is to have found out that our orthodontist's office is intolerant of human fallibility. No, I'm not talking about being nagged to death about flossing.

Scheduling around here is pretty tight with 5 people all of whom have teeth - two of whom are in braces, which is my focus for today's rant. (Click here to see an ealier rant.)

The two family members in braces go to school in two different towns. An appointment in the middle of the day could possibly mean two hours of travel time as well as missed classes - possibly amounting to half a day of school with travel and appointment, so we try to schedule on Saturdays or afternoons, which is kind of tough because the afternoon appointments are booked 2 months out, and sometimes while we are there they want us back in a couple of days.

We realize it is a convenience they provide by being open on Saturdays for families in situations like ours.

My husband and I have ALSO been providers of appointments, he to home-schooling families he oversees and me to people I tutor. He sometimes makes home visits to families that live in other towns as a convenience to them - sometimes having put in round trips as long as an hour and a half.

We've been taking our children to this orthodontist for nearly 3 years now and never missed an appointment until last week. I'd say that's a pretty good record given the number of appointments we've had to keep and the forgetful nature of the human mind and the busy nature of life with 3 teen/preteen kids. The appointment we forgot happened to be on a Saturday. Because we blew it once, we can NEVER again have the privilege of scheduling an appointment on a Saturday. Their policy is "one strike, you're out!"

I do understand that they would prefer not to come in on Saturday if they do not have to and that if someone does not show up for an appointment it is really a pain. I get it. As I've said, my husband and I have been providers of appointments too. My husband has left his office and driven to a house visit before and had the family that scheduled an appointment with him not be there! That was a pain, but he didn't pull a "one strike" policy on them. People forget. None of us are perfect.

I can understand disallowing people special privileges who have a PATTERN of blowing off appointments, but to have no grace at all for one time forgetfulness strikes me as a bit harsh. What can we do about it? Nothing. We tried to reason with them and ask for grace, and it did not work. We blew it once, now we pay for it permanently.

My husband and I are the ones who blew it, but it's the kids who pay, as the next available afternoon appointment was two months out, so the kids are two months behind now on their orthodontal care and braces schedule. I wish they would just hit our pocket book and charge us a penalty for the missed appointment (which would punish us but not the kids) but still allow our kids to come in on a Saturday unless we were to blow it again.

This has left a bit of a bad taste in our mouths (wry pun somewhat intended). My husband and I have been inconvenienced too by the forgetfulness of others we have made appointments with, but I prefer the way we operate. Unless people make it a HABIT to blow off appointments with us, we extend grace. We'd rather be inconvenienced once in a while than to cause others to feel they've blown it with us permanently by ONE forgetful moment. I wish our orthodontist's office would extend us the same grace we would extend them.

I don't know how many years yet we will have to deal with braces and orthodontal appointments. Our oldest was told he would have his braces off in 2 years. It's now been nearly three, and there is no end in sight at this point and no comment. Our third child isn't old enough for braces yet. I sure hope he doesn't need them!! (Although it seems everybody "needs" braces these days.) I feel like an endentured servant to the orthodontist's office. I'm ready for my term of servitude to be over! While I'm very thankful for the good dental and orthodontal care available in our society, there are things about this "care" that I'm not so happy about.

Anxiety Conundrum

I have nothing to say
and I am saying it
and that is poetry
as I needed it.

John Cage (1912-1992)


My main goal in my current studies is to relieve math anxiety and to make mathematics more accessible and enjoyable. Something I'm currently working on is a book relating mathematics and poetry. As I've been working on it, I've realized there are probably as many people with poetry anxiety as there are with math anxiety.

Hmm . . . now I have a conundrum. How do I reduce anxiety about BOTH mathematics and poetry as I connect them?

I love the John Cage poem above, because it illustrates the fact that poetry is FOR people. Math and poetry are not there to master us. They are there to be our slaves and to be used by us as we need them. I'm afraid that too often in school both topics are presented the other way around as mysterious and difficult topics that only those with special knowledge and gifts can understand. I really get bothered about that! Math and poetry are for everyone and can be enjoyed by everyone - if presented well.

My friend Bob is fond of saying that he wants to make calculus his slave. He's got the right idea!

Use poetry and math as YOU need them, and they can provide wonderful things.

You're the one in charge!

Have Dessert - on Me!

Not only is it a wonderful treat, but it's "NO-cal."

March 14 is Pi Day. CLICK HERE for your cost-free, calorie-free pi(e) for the celebration! Try some different varieties.

(Realize that you can choose your own notes as well as the scales listed as buttons, thus making your own "pi-tunes." If you select only two notes, such as C, G, C, G, C, G, C, G, C, G, you can hear the distribution of evens and odds in pi. I've named that the swirl - like a swirl ice-cream cone of vanilla and chocolate. I also favor the C major flavor of pi offered.)

Happy Pi Day!

With thanks to Forrest!

Forever Living and Dying

WILD SWANS

I looked in my heart while the wild swans went over.

And what did I see I had not seen before?

Only a question less or a question more;

Nothing to match the flight of wild birds flying.

Tiresome heart, forever living and dying,

House without air, I leave you and lock your door.

Wild swans, come over the town, come over

The town again, trailing your legs and crying!

(by Edna St. Vincent Millay 1892-1950)

Weird Words

Have you ever experienced the effect of a word getting weird on you?

Tonight I was doing some writing in which I had to use the words "boy" and "girl" over and over again. After typing them about twenty times each they began to look really strange to me. What kind of word is GIRL anyway - with that weird i-r-l ending?

My favorite color is green, but I find if I think too long about that word it becomes weird too: g-r-r-r-r-r-r-e-e-e-e-n-n. Strange.

Speaking of weird, isn't it supposed to be "i before e except after c?" So why is e before i in "weird?" I guess it's just weird.

No Rocket to the Moon

When I was in kindergarten there was a bulletin board with a moon on it. Students who knew all their letters got a rocket to the moon with their name on it put up on the bulletin board. I guess I was a bit dyslexic in kindergarten. I knew all my letters, but I could never keep "m" and "w" straight. When the teacher would show the flashcards and one of those would come up I would always guess - must have been a poor guesser too!


I never got my rocket to the moon. :-(


I never had any dyslexia problems after that . . .

. . . until now.

Check out the symbols that are used daily in my math class. We use them so often I can now no longer write a three. I'm never sure which way it goes, and when I have to write an epsilon (the mirror image of 3), I end up writing a three instead!


Oh well, no rocket for the moon for me, I guess!

Birthday Problem

Don't stop reading when you see the word math - because this is really cool and you'll miss it. (Besides, you can make MONEY on it if anyone is willing to take the bet!)

There is an interesting problem in math: How many people do you need to gather before you get to the point where there is a 50% chance that two people in the group share a birthday?

Make a quick guess before reading on.

It may surprise you to find out that if you have a group of only twenty-three people you have a slightly better than 50% probability that 2 of them share a birthday. If there are 30 or more people in the room the odds are overwhelmingly in your favor if you bet that two share a birthday. Most people have a hard time believing this, so you should be able to find someone to bet against you.

(The "twist" is that you can't specify the date. It's just any two people sharing A birthday. If you specify the date, the probability drops astronomically. So if you want to win the bet, don't say, "I bet 2 people in this room have a birthday on April 20." You will lose unless you know twins who are there with that birthdate!)

SO, what are the chances that I personally know MORE than two people that have today,the SPECIFIC date March 2, as their birthday?

While you ponder that, let me send out birthday greetings to the March 2 birthday people I know:

Mom
Uncle David
Michelle V.
Michelle V.'s mom
Kevin E.
Florence M.
Florence M.'s grandson
John F
My cousins' grandma on the other side

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all of you!!!

And especially to Mom on a milestone!

Since it's not proper to share a woman's age, I won't say which. :-)

It must be that March 2 is a really good day to be born!

Can any of my readers beat my record of personally knowing 9 people with birthdays on the same day? You can't include celebrities or others outside your circle of friends and family - and no fair including multiple births.

Hope on the March

Winter has been particularly harsh and prolonged this year in parts of the US and other places in the world. I'm posting these pictures to bring you hope of spring soon to come.


(To view another spring image click here.)

Your Turn to Weigh in

No, don't worry, I'm not talking about a scale! (After birthday cake this weekend, I'm certainly not going anywhere near a scale!)

What I am talking about is hearing your ideas.

I was asked tonight if the following poem is a riddle and if so what the answer is.

Poetry can be interpreted different ways by different people. What do you think? Is this a riddle? If so, what do you think the answer might be? Is it not a riddle? If not, what do you think the meaning could be? (This is not a test, and I am not an English teacher. There is no wrong answer here, so don't stress, OK?)

The Bee is not afraid of me.
I know the Butterfly.
The pretty people in the Woods
Receive me cordially --

The Brooks laugh louder when I come --
The Breezes madder play;
Wherefore mine eye thy silver mists,
Wherefore, Oh Summer's Day?

(Emily Dickinson #111 c.1859)

(Context for question: My youngest niece will be reciting this poem Friday, March 2, and it would be nice for her to have some background on it if she is asked questions. Can you help her out? If you know me and are shy about commenting on a blog, feel free to email instead. Thanks in advance to all responders.)

End of an Era

Well, our last single-digit child just hit double digits today. Now we are a household of double-digiters until one of us hits the century mark.

Happy 10th birthday Caleb!

Quote for Thought (1)

We know too much and are convinced of too little. Our literature is a substitute for our religion, and so is our religion.

(T. S. Eliot 1888-1965)

Practical Joke

Look, I was hungry, alright?!

Soup sounded good, but you need quite a bit of soup to fill you up if you're hungry, especially if the soup you have left over is just chicken broth and vegetables.

My family had already eaten, so I had a choice in how to prepare this meal for myself. I could heat it up in a pan and then serve it to myself small bowl after small bowl - thus making a pan, a ladle, a bowl and a spoon dirty - OR I could heat it up in a large bowl and eat it out of that - fewer dirty dishes, same amount of food. That sounds practical to me.I thought nothing of it, but when I sat down at the table my husband was absolutely aghast and got out a camera to take a picture of the shocking sight.

I thought it was practical; he thought it was hillarious, so there you have it, a "practical joke"!

(I must admit, I do look like quite a glutton, but, come on, it's just chicken broth and vegetables! Besides, I'm a mathematician. Finding short-cuts is what math is all about! It's what I do! You got a problem with that - meet me outside! I'll be there just as soon as I'm done with my soup.)

My Colorful Life

At the end of November I was bemoaning the loss of color with the fall of leaves. Yet by early February my daffodils had begun to blossom. What a great place to live! Color to color -- vibrance of fall to brilliance of spring -- with only a brief interlude of barrenness to help us appreciate it even more!

In-tree-ging

There's just something I love about trees!
I can't help but be "INTRIGUED".

When I saw this tree on my brother-in-law Dan's blog, I asked if I could share it on mine too. He sees this every day on his way to work (in Kolonia, Pohnpei, Micronesia).

He feels it looks like the tree is trying to crawl over the wall.

What do you think?

(All sorts of possible movie scripts are running through my mind -- one possible title: "The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth." Look out! The trees are claiming their inheritance! Another title could simply be "The Trees" -- kind of like Hitchcock's "The Birds." Then again, perhaps this is a kind, gentle tree like Tolkien's Ents. I hope so!)

To read about life in the tropical paradise of Pohnpei check out Kaselehlie!

To view previously posted tree pictures, click here or here or here.

A Post in Four Parts

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

I have a LOT to share today, and I'm going to put it all in one post: a post in four parts.

PART 1: NEW VALENTINE'S TRADITION

Move over Christmas stockings! My youngest son -- whose "love language" is definitely "giving and receiving of gifts" -- has come up with a new holiday tradition: Family Valentine's Bags.

For the last few days we have had lunch-sack sized brown paper bags scotch-taped to the wall of our living room, one for each of us, for the insertion of Valentine's gifts (as bags got heavy they fell, but that problem could be solved by more and more -- and more and more -- -- and more and MORE scotch tape!).

We have done this for a couple of years now, and I think it is here to stay in our household. Perhaps others of you will want to add this to your holiday traditions.

PART 2: SURPRISE!!

Hello baby!!

I found out today that my "nephew to be" is a "niece to be" -- as far as can be told right now. Best wishes you guys! You are in our thoughts and prayers daily!

PART 3: IN OTHER NEWS

Well, it really is true that people who choose to do stupid things blow it for others.

My son who is a freshman in high school has had bus service -- to within a bit less than a mile of our home -- all year. In the last few weeks more kids than usual have been riding the bus. One of these students, a girl, was misbehaving so badly and would not obey the bus driver at all to the point that the bus driver had to turn the bus around, return to school, and radio ahead to have school officials there to meet her and escort her off the bus. Now, to reduce the number of students riding (and get rid of her and the few problem students who have recently begun riding), a strict three-mile policy is being enforced. That means only students who live 3 miles or further from the school have bus service.

The policy has actually always been "on the books" but had not been enforced, as the bus was quite empty, and there had been no problem until recently. Now that this girl and a small number of others have chosen to be a problem, the policy will be VERY strictly enforced.

We live 3.1 miles from the main entrance of the school, so we should still have bus service, right?

Wrong.

The official measuring is being done from the "nearest 'safe' entrance" to the school from a student's home. According to the bus service, which sent out a truck to measure the mileage from our home today, we live 2.96 miles from the "nearest 'safe' entrance" -- and NO, they don't round up.

This "nearest 'safe' entrance" is actually not an entrance if you are coming from our home. There is a median dividing the road, which means that particular driveway cannot be entered from this direction. In other words, it is not actually an "entrance" from where we live. There is no crosswalk near this "safe entrance," and there is no sidewalk on the school-side of that road -- a very busy road, I might add. To cross from the other side to this entrance, my son would have to jaywalk, because it is also not at a corner. I'm wondering by whose definition this is "safe."

The bus service has let us know this is the city's problem for not putting in a round-about or crosswalks and gave us numbers to call the city (yeah, I'm sure the city is going to claim responsibility and put in an expensive round-about right away upon receiving our call!). When a student is hit by a car, I think there is going to be enough problem to go around -- and if that does happen, finger-pointing is not going to fly with the public.

All this thanks to the girl who was being a problem on the bus (whatever happened to disciplining the person/s who is/are being a problem rather than making others pay a price?). Her problem is now a problem for many.

What a pain.

Hopefully this problem, whomever it belongs to, will not go beyond merely being a "pain" to actually meaning injury or worse to a student.

PART 4: BACK TO "REAL"ITY

My spring semester began today, so I am back to reality - specifically "Real Analysis II" affectionately known as "Real 2." (See below for a snippet from my notes today; I put this part of the post at the bottom, because I was afraid it would scare people off if I put it at the top.)

Another aspect of this semester will be doing a lot of reading and research and writing a book length manuscript in my class "Mathematical Logic and the Arts." I'm going to be plenty busy this semester . . . but good busy!

Out of the Mouths of "Babes"

This morning after church I saw two girls, somewhere between ages 6 and 8, walk arm in arm onto the sidewalk from the grass area.

I gleaned quite a practical fashion tip as one said to the other in an advisory tone:

"On Sundays when you plan to jump on the grass after church, you really shouldn't wear high heels."

God's Language

"Philosophy is written in this grand book - I mean the universe - which stands continually open to our gaze, but it cannot be understood unless one first learns to comprehend the language and interpret the characters in which it is written. It is written in the language of mathematics, and its characters are triangles, circles, and other geometrical figures, without which it is humanly impossible to understand a single word of it."

"Mathematics is the alphabet with which God has written the universe."

(quotes: Galileo Galilei 1564-1642)

(photo: Heidi 1987 Battle Creek, MI)

Pay it Forward

This goes from silly to serious, but it has a point. I don't know how to write about it without stringing all these thoughts together, so hang on for the ride!

A dear friend of mine traveled to England in the fall. She knows what an anglophile I am, and when she returned home she sent me an email with a photo attached. I downloaded the attachment with great anticipation. I assumed it would be a picture of Westminster Abbey or some other particular cathedral or castle that I love - or perhaps the home of one of my favorite authors. The following picture was what I opened:

WHAT?!

When I first opened it I was shocked - no castle? no cathedral? not even a hedgerow? A car?! Then I looked more closely. Clearly she is reading my posts and knows how special the Azores are to me! It's such a cool thing to have friends who really know you and pick up on it when something is special to you, even when they are not with you - even something as obscure as a taxi in England with advertising for the Azores on it!

I was touched.

This surprise of a picture brought to mind two more serious things that have touched me very deeply this year. One of these is that while this friend was in England, she lit a candle for me in Westminster Abbey and prayed for me, remembering a burden I've long carried. Another dear friend visited Israel last year and wrote my name on a slip of paper and put it in the wailing wall also with a prayer for full freedom for me.

Both have made me feel my burden lessened by their care and carrying it with me and bringing it before God for me in very special ways.

I'm using a lot of words, but these actions have touched my soul beyond the ability of my words to express.

As these have come to mind, I have a strong sense of wanting to "pay it forward." I want to take what they have done for me and pass it on by doing the same for others. I want to remember those in my life who are carrying burdens of any kind, to think of them, and to remember them before God, and, in so doing, to help them carry their burden.

If you are someone I know of who is carrying a burden, know that I am thinking of you in this way and remembering you before God in my prayers.

If you feel so lead, I'd like to ask you to consider "paying it forward" for others too. What a precious thing we can do for each other!