31.12.09

the last man standing

Our home has been under quarantine for the past couple days. It has been eerily quiet, unnaturally so.

And thus we all turn that corner to a new year, with all those resolutions that are hardly ever kept, fresh ambition, a new semester to look forward to after being well rested from our holidays (hopefully), plans and events to fill up the blank pages of that clean calendar.

So here's a prayer that your next year may be filled with joy, even in the midst of trials, and that you continue to receive the many blessings poured freely from above with open hands.

25.12.09

rearranging priorities

The Journey of the Magi by T.S. Eliot

"A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter."
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires gong out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty, and charging high prices.:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we lead all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I have seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death."

20.12.09

adventures through the looking glass

The next two weeks I am home. Mostly. Enough to call it home for the holidays. Things have been put away, Christmas music was playing in my room almost all day. And Monday, there is no need to drive anywhere.

This evening I curled up in a chair with my little sister by the fireplace, and read some poetry out of a newly acquired anthology of British literature. "You're finding a lot of adventures in there," was her response to my excitement over the authors found in there (Byron, Tennyson, Hopkins, Wordsworth, to name a few).

Not coming home for a weekend reinforces the great blessing of the times I am able to come home.

17.12.09

10.12.09

laughing like children

The Hamilton Spectator is most helpful in regards to decorating.

Today consisted of a step backwards in time. Only at Redeemer can one spread newspaper across the hallway with tape and scissors and scraps of paper while managing to escape with only odd glances cast in your direction. Only here are you a name and a person, not a number, and feel at ease with the professors who seem to enjoy the antics.

Quote of the day: "What are you doing?" - Dr. Bowen

5.12.09

the genius of Handel

How is that we can offer up such a beautiful song of thanksgiving and praise to the King of kings and Lord of Lords, the omnipotent God?

4.12.09

crunch

Two weeks from today will be my last day of exams.
Two weeks from today, I will be able to go home for a full two weeks; spend time with family and friends, bake cookies, catch up on sleep, read a book purely for enjoyment (perhaps getting through textbooks properly)

skating, singing [loudly and off key], snowmen...

late nights curled up beside a fireplace with quiet music and a steaming mug of hot chocolate...

kids and mittens, glowing from the cold...

these are a few of my favourite things that make home wonderful

2.12.09

Advent

"Are you ready for Christmas?"


Why does the next question after the former have to do with shopping?