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| Facepainting at a children's birthday party |
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| A fruit market near the school I teach at |
Sunday, November 28, 2010
more photos from October
October Photos -- Holiday fun
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| During Dasain (Nepal's biggest holiday) with the girls from Humla House |
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| Just a bit of the delicious lunch prepared for a special holiday meal |
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| Happy Holidays |
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
This is Good
I'm taking a break from writing while I recover from an eye infection -- two weeks now -- so here is something from this month's Activated. Hope you like it as much as I did.
An African Folktale
The story is told of an African king and his close friend, who had grown up together. The king’s friend had a habit of looking at every situation positively and remarking, “This is good!”
One day the king went on a hunting expedition, and he gave his friend the job of loading his guns and handing them to him. Apparently the friend did something wrong at some point, because one gun misfired and blew the king’s thumb off.
“This is good!” the king’s friend remarked as usual.
“No, this is not good!” the king replied, and he sent his friend to jail.
About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he shouldn’t have ventured into. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, bound him to a stake in the ground, and stacked firewood around his feet. However, just as they were about to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. The cannibals had a superstition that forbad them from eating anyone who was less than whole, so they untied the king and sent him on his way.
As the king traveled home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb, and he regretted the way he had treated his friend. He went straight to the jail and released his friend.
“You were right,” the king said. “It was good that my thumb was blown off.” And he proceeded to tell his friend about his brush with death. “I am sorry for sending you to jail for so long,” he said. “That was very bad of me!”
“No,” his friend replied, “this is good!”
“What do you mean, ‘This is good’? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?”
“If I had not been in jail,” the king’s friend replied, “I would have been with you.” ■
An African Folktale
The story is told of an African king and his close friend, who had grown up together. The king’s friend had a habit of looking at every situation positively and remarking, “This is good!”
One day the king went on a hunting expedition, and he gave his friend the job of loading his guns and handing them to him. Apparently the friend did something wrong at some point, because one gun misfired and blew the king’s thumb off.
“This is good!” the king’s friend remarked as usual.
“No, this is not good!” the king replied, and he sent his friend to jail.
About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he shouldn’t have ventured into. Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his hands, bound him to a stake in the ground, and stacked firewood around his feet. However, just as they were about to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was missing a thumb. The cannibals had a superstition that forbad them from eating anyone who was less than whole, so they untied the king and sent him on his way.
As the king traveled home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb, and he regretted the way he had treated his friend. He went straight to the jail and released his friend.
“You were right,” the king said. “It was good that my thumb was blown off.” And he proceeded to tell his friend about his brush with death. “I am sorry for sending you to jail for so long,” he said. “That was very bad of me!”
“No,” his friend replied, “this is good!”
“What do you mean, ‘This is good’? How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?”
“If I had not been in jail,” the king’s friend replied, “I would have been with you.” ■
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Meditation Exercise
This is a great meditation to try out. It's one of my favorites, probably because of how much I love the ocean. I can't get to an ocean right now, seeing as I live in a landlocked country, but I can sure pull up many images of beaches, sea water, and waves in my mind. Just thinking about it as I type this is making me feel more peaceful already. You should take a minute or two and try it.
***
Close your eyes and relax. Breathe deeply.
Now picture yourself sitting on the shore of a pristine beach with white sands. There’s a gorgeous view not only in front of you, but all around you. You’re sitting on the shore, close to the water’s edge, looking out over the ocean, toward the horizon.
Slowly now, the tide comes in, and very gently, the small waves begin to lap against you. As the water touches you, it soothes and caresses you. The waters are filled with spirit and life, and you partake of that as these peaceful waves flow toward you. Then they carry away from you stress, tension, worry, fear, and sadness.
There’s not a sound to be heard except for the lapping of the waves and the wind softly blowing. The breeze blowing against the water creates a fine mist. It’s soothing and refreshing.
There’s a message in the wind, though not one that you can hear or make out its words. It’s a message of the spirit that speaks directly to your heart. Your heart and spirit understand, and you open your soul to receive this message, the song of the wind. It’s a song of peace, of understanding, of rest and quiet.
Let the refreshing mist of tranquillity cleanse and rejuvenate you.
"Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)
***
Close your eyes and relax. Breathe deeply.
Now picture yourself sitting on the shore of a pristine beach with white sands. There’s a gorgeous view not only in front of you, but all around you. You’re sitting on the shore, close to the water’s edge, looking out over the ocean, toward the horizon.
Slowly now, the tide comes in, and very gently, the small waves begin to lap against you. As the water touches you, it soothes and caresses you. The waters are filled with spirit and life, and you partake of that as these peaceful waves flow toward you. Then they carry away from you stress, tension, worry, fear, and sadness.
There’s not a sound to be heard except for the lapping of the waves and the wind softly blowing. The breeze blowing against the water creates a fine mist. It’s soothing and refreshing.
There’s a message in the wind, though not one that you can hear or make out its words. It’s a message of the spirit that speaks directly to your heart. Your heart and spirit understand, and you open your soul to receive this message, the song of the wind. It’s a song of peace, of understanding, of rest and quiet.
Let the refreshing mist of tranquillity cleanse and rejuvenate you.
"Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalm 46:10)
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
reorganizing, etc
To all returning readers, thanks for bearing with me while I’ve been away. For the last couple weeks I’ve been busy with work and with a difficult problem that’s consumed a fair bit of my time and mental energy. But I’m so thankful to have now reached the end of the most pressing part of the problem, and to be able to take some time to relax and reorganize.
I just got the last of my things shipped from South Africa, so with winter coming up, I am sorting all my stuff out, and rearranging everything.
It’s always amazing to me how much stuff we manage to collect and carry around. I think this applies to not only things, but also mental and emotional baggage. Like any baggage, a lot of it is good and useful stuff that we need to have with us, knowledge and experience that we’ve gained over the years, important facts, and truths to rely on.
But I’m sure that if we took the time to take stock of all the thoughts and feelings that we’ve held on to, we would realize that a fair amount of it falls into the category of useless, and sometimes even harmful things. You know, those memories we hold on to of some wrong done, blame we carry with us for our part in a negative experience, thought patterns we’ve developed that aren’t exactly the right way of looking at things.
It’s good to occasionally give our hearts and minds a “spring cleaning” (or in my case right now a winter cleaning) as well. Working through a problematic situation presents a good opportunity to sort some of these things out, clean out the mental closet, and put everything in the proper order.
As stressful as the problem may have been, now I’m coming out of this difficulty feeling more relaxed, refreshed, and with new insight and experience, and for that I’m very thankful.
I just got the last of my things shipped from South Africa, so with winter coming up, I am sorting all my stuff out, and rearranging everything.
It’s always amazing to me how much stuff we manage to collect and carry around. I think this applies to not only things, but also mental and emotional baggage. Like any baggage, a lot of it is good and useful stuff that we need to have with us, knowledge and experience that we’ve gained over the years, important facts, and truths to rely on.
But I’m sure that if we took the time to take stock of all the thoughts and feelings that we’ve held on to, we would realize that a fair amount of it falls into the category of useless, and sometimes even harmful things. You know, those memories we hold on to of some wrong done, blame we carry with us for our part in a negative experience, thought patterns we’ve developed that aren’t exactly the right way of looking at things.
It’s good to occasionally give our hearts and minds a “spring cleaning” (or in my case right now a winter cleaning) as well. Working through a problematic situation presents a good opportunity to sort some of these things out, clean out the mental closet, and put everything in the proper order.
As stressful as the problem may have been, now I’m coming out of this difficulty feeling more relaxed, refreshed, and with new insight and experience, and for that I’m very thankful.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Cookies & Milk
In my current living arrangement I don't get a chance to cook much. Two of the people I share an appartment with are excellent cooks, and are even happy to throw a simple meal together when they get home late after a long day of work. To be honest after spending a year managing a kitchen for a center of 16 people I'm pretty happy to take a break from kitchen, cooking, and food service.
But because I can't stay out of the kitchen entirely I've taken on baking as my department. A couple times a week we host classes and meetings at our place, so I have plenty of opportunity to experiment with recipes, and come up with just the right variations that are a hit.
Here's my adapted recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies. When it comes out right, this one is always popular.
Soften:
1/2 cup butter (you can replace part of this with oil if it makes it easier to mix)
Add and mix well:
3/4 cup sugar
Beat in until smooth:
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
Sift together, then add to the wet ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
After the batter is beaten smooth then add:
1 cup oats
1/2 cup raisins
Drop cookies 2 inches apart on a well greased cookie sheet and bake about 10 minutes or until light golden brown in 180 degree C (375 F) oven. (These need to be well baked. They'll firm up a little as they cool but won't get too dry.) One recipe makes about 30 to 36 cookies.
Get a big glass of cold milk or mug of hot coffee and enjoy.
But because I can't stay out of the kitchen entirely I've taken on baking as my department. A couple times a week we host classes and meetings at our place, so I have plenty of opportunity to experiment with recipes, and come up with just the right variations that are a hit.
Here's my adapted recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies. When it comes out right, this one is always popular.
Oatmeal Cookies
Soften:
1/2 cup butter (you can replace part of this with oil if it makes it easier to mix)
Add and mix well:
3/4 cup sugar
Beat in until smooth:
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
Sift together, then add to the wet ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
After the batter is beaten smooth then add:
1 cup oats
1/2 cup raisins
Drop cookies 2 inches apart on a well greased cookie sheet and bake about 10 minutes or until light golden brown in 180 degree C (375 F) oven. (These need to be well baked. They'll firm up a little as they cool but won't get too dry.) One recipe makes about 30 to 36 cookies.
Get a big glass of cold milk or mug of hot coffee and enjoy.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Book Review -- One Unknown
I know I originally said that I'd review an Agatha Christie novel next, but I think that can wait seeing as it's not a particularly wonderful one, and this book fits in better with my overall theme here.
So today I want to talk about One Unknown by Gill Hicks, survivor of the London bombings in 2005. As a result of the bomb attack Gill became a double amputee after loosing both her legs. In this memior Gill tells her remarkable story of life before and after the bombing. Through perseverance, positiveness, and an enjoyable sense of Australian humour Gill make a complete comeback with a new sense of priorities.
I give this book five stars out of five as I found it so motivating and inspiring. Never once did I feel that Gill wanted us to feel sorry for her, rather that she is sharing her story to present what she's learned through a difficult, but life changing experience, so that we can all gain something from her lessons as well. If you haven't yet read this book, I'd definitely recomend it.
So today I want to talk about One Unknown by Gill Hicks, survivor of the London bombings in 2005. As a result of the bomb attack Gill became a double amputee after loosing both her legs. In this memior Gill tells her remarkable story of life before and after the bombing. Through perseverance, positiveness, and an enjoyable sense of Australian humour Gill make a complete comeback with a new sense of priorities.
I give this book five stars out of five as I found it so motivating and inspiring. Never once did I feel that Gill wanted us to feel sorry for her, rather that she is sharing her story to present what she's learned through a difficult, but life changing experience, so that we can all gain something from her lessons as well. If you haven't yet read this book, I'd definitely recomend it.
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