Lissilote's Xanga

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:24:23 GMT

I watched a garden spider spin its delicate web for the first time last night. I'd never seen a spider actually spin a web before - and I watched, transfixed, as it went round and round, carefully weaving that intricate web.

I love summer. I love everything about it.

I love eating tomatoes that still taste like dirt.

I love the buzzing cicadas in the trees.

I love the cool green grass between my toes.

I love laying out in the field at night watching the stars. Ever so often a chirping little bat will swoop by.

I love climbing up to the roof to look at the moon.

I love sipping homemade mint tea with my legs dangling in the pool.

I love picking blackberries for a pie and getting covered in purple juice. I love getting those stains on my fingers.

I love listening to the chickens cackle away in their "Fowl Fortress".

I love barbecueing in the blazing heat. The wasps tend to love it too. I'm learning to love them....

I love sleeping under the stars in my own backyard.

I love making weird goose-sounds with my skinny little blade of grass.

I love talking to the squirrels in their strange chatter language. It's tricky to chitter back, but it's so much fun.

I love ::smelling:: the heat.

Life is beautiful. I love life. I really love life. It's fascinating really - life can get so hectic, so complicated, so tumultuous, but when you return to the simple pleasures, life becomes beautiful again. It's easy to be too busy, too tied-up, too absorbed in whatever we're doing to "stop and smell the roses". When was the last time I did that? When was the last time you listened to the cicadas or tried to count the stars?

Life is beautiful. Take time to enjoy it.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:51:18 GMT

Three men in history have walked on water.

The first was Christ.

The second was Peter the apostle.

And then there was this guy, Jose.....

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:14:21 GMT

Do you want to make God laugh? Tell Him your plans.

Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

"I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and give you a future."

__________________________________________________________

It's interesting how we take matters into our own hands, make elaborate plans, and then expect them to turn out exactly as we planned. It's amazing how often life doesn't go according to plan. At least, not according to our plans.

In the past three weeks, I've had two very brilliant plans fall quite apart. Plans I'd made so perfect, crafted so carefully, created so flawless - suddenly didn't work.

Interesting, too, that these plans, once completely in my control are now completely beyond my power. Things that were once my brainchild are now gone, and no amount of pleasing, persuasion, begging or logic will ever return them to me.

There's something very mysterious in the fact that we don't have much control over anything, really. We think we have our lives all figured out. We presume to know the plans of our near and distant future. But do we? Do we really know anything for certain?

I don't.

And yet, somehow, someway, that's okay. I'm okay with not being in control. It's taken a lot of prayer, tears and angry talks with The Planner - and it's taken a whole lot of letting go. Letting your brilliant plans slip through your fingers like sand.

But really, how "brilliant" can you plans be if you're not submitting to the Master Planner?

I'm looking forward to seeing how His plans work out.

_______________________________________________________

Do you want to make God laugh? Tell Him your plans.

Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

"I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and give you a future."

Monday, June 16, 2008

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:50:52 GMT

Raindrops keep falling on my head.
Each a perfect sphere of hydrogen and oxygen.
A thousand tears splash on the sidewalk.

The sky stoops under the weight of the liquid blessing.
Intricate networks of nothingness quietly fall.
They laugh as the sky cries.

Splash! They fall to earth.
Seeping into the soggy soil.
The solitary earthworm gets soaked by the invisible water.

Raindrops keep falling on my head.
Past the umbrella, through the coat.
Seeping into the soggy mind.

Splash! They fall into my mind.
Trickling into the corners of consciousness.
The lonely, pulsing IT welcomes the invisible power.

Whispering, murmuring,
The drops of delight speak of the sky.
Raindrops disclosing the sky's special secrets.

Shhh! Can you hear?
Hundreds of tears speak of thousands of laughs.
Mysteries unfurling as H2O dribbles over awareness.

Could it be? The sky's tears...
...are the sky's messengers?
Living ink of a grander pen?

Happy secrets. Blissful shhhhs.
Flying through a grey, stormy sky.
Amidst thunder and earthquakes.

Raindrops keep falling on my head.
Beating reminders of a higher force.
Maybe they're not to be avoided.

Each a perfect sphere of dreams and reality.
Intricate networks of goals and His plan.
Seeping into the depths of a soul.

Put away the umbrella.
Lay aside the coats and boots.
Let the raindrops keep falling on your head.

Friday, June 06, 2008

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 20:23:28 GMT

"All my bags are packed,
I'm ready to go....
Leavin' on a jet plane,
Don't know when I'll be back again..."

Yup. All my bags are packed. (Quite an achievement...procrastination has been slayed! We have a whopping 8 hours to go!)

The Expos is bubble-wrapped and foam-board padded. The airport personal have no idea what I'm entrusting them with. Ahhh, no matter how bubble-wrapped and padded and "secure" I make it....I'm gonna be so nervous with it out of my sight and in the belly of a plane!

The Apologetics box is 81% complete, rubber-banded and snug in my carry-on. There is *no way* this is getting out of my sight.

Ready or not, Alabama, here we come!

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:21:05 GMT

Good things that happened today:

- Got to wear my new heels
- Cate treated me to the Park Operations picnic
- Got paid!
- Mr. Mott needed my help with his computer. He asked *me*!
- Yummy lunch
- Chief boss is proud of me
- "Chatted" with Sara
- Found excellent CA Indian information (!)
- Worked on Apologetics for 3 hours
- Met new people
- Talked with the Director of Department of Park and Recreation about Speech and Debate (specifically extemp...)
- Examined a SMART car and a little yellow moped
- Listened to lovely songs

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 02:03:33 GMT

Archaeological evidence substantiates many Scriptural accounts. To quote Millar Burrows of Yale, "...archaeological work has unquestionably strengthened confidence in the reliability of the scriptural record. More than one archaeologist has found his respect for the scripture increased by the experience of excavation...". Nelson Glueck, reformed Jewish scholar notes: "It is worth emphasizing that in all this work no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a single, properly understood Scriptural statement."

Isn't it fascinating? Isn't it intriguing and inspiring?

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Thu, 15 May 2008 16:03:05 GMT

Born Today:
1856 - Lyman Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
1859 - Pierre Currie, French chemist and physicist.
1903 - Maria Reiche, German-born mathematician and archaeologist
1914 - Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese Sherpa who accompanied Edmund Hillary to top of Mt. Everest
1937 - Madeleine Albright, Former U.S. Secretary of State
1990 - Risa!!

Events:
1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers his harmonics law
1795 - Napoleon enters the Lombardian capital of Milan in triumph
1941 - Baseball player Joe Dimaggio of the NY Yankees starts his record-breaking 56-game hitting streak.
1958 - Sputnik III is launched by the Soviet Union
2008 - Risa turns 18!

Beyond the Subtitles

Mon, 12 May 2008 14:17:24 GMT

Have you ever seen a foreign film in which the native language is translated into nifty little subtitles for us English-speakers to read? You follow along, but are clued into the plot by the actors' faces, pitch, body language and vocal tones. You can't understand a word they're saying, and yet you understand perfectly.

Now imagine watching the same film, but with nothing but the subtitles. There's nothing to watch or see except for those blaring white words at the bottom of the screen. There's no sound, and there are no actors to be seen. No scenery to look at, no words or music to be heard, what you get are just the subtitles.
They're the same words, the same timing....and yet the impact is lost.

That's exactly what you get when you read a translation of Homer, of Oedipus Rex, of Dante. You're at the mercy of the translator. Instead of feasting on the author's original words, you're forced to digest some Englishman's version of a Classic. Not that all translations are fraught with error or dullness, but can you actually taste a painting of a grand feast?

When you learn the ancient language for yourself you open the door onto an intimate conversation with the author. You're finally allowed to feel the terrible wrath of the angered god Apollo, comprehend the incredible grief of wretched Oedipus, the horror of Dante's Inferno.

Can you imaging going to Egypt and knowing the the hieroglyphics mean?

Imagine traveling to Mars Hill and being able to read the New Testament in its original Greek.

Imagine decoding the Dead Sea Scrolls in their native ancient Hebrew.

Imagine a whole new world!

But you've got to see beyond the subtitles.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Thu, 08 May 2008 22:53:41 GMT

This week in my study I came across a script to be used for an imaginary "psychiatric hotline", the kind of recorded message we might hear when we call for psychiatric help. It went like this:

"If you are OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE, please press 1 repeatedly.

If you are CO-DEPENDENT, please ask someone else to press 2.

If you have MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES, please press 3, 4, 5, & 6

If you are PARANOID, we know who you are and what you want. Just stay on the line and we'll trace the call."