More challenging words...

"Everything that God created is potentially holy,
and our task as humans is to find that holiness in
seemingly unholy situations. When we can do this,
we will have learned to nurture our souls."

Rabbi Harold Kushner



'When we can do this'....(she says longingly).

Today I've mostly been eating...

Pagans! And very tasty they are too!! There's one on top of my diary!



PagEn's actually and they're cinamon rolls from IKEA provided by the lovely Stockings. How can we survive without the shop that brings us pagens and Skumm (sp? Can't remember!) - or in swedish 'Sweets'?!

Bob

When walking out in the snow earlier I was accompanied over the allotments by a little robin, flying from bough to bough keeping up with me...then as I got to the gate he flitted as quickly as he had fluttered into my wanderings.

I decided the robin is a perfect symbol for those people who do just that, appear and bring such joy, vibrance and companionship to your life but who then cease to be a part of it. I can think of so many 'friends' like this, who I am desperate to hold onto but have flown ahead into life - either theirs or mine.

I guess we really should let them go to brighten up someone else's journey, looking out for others who are with us for longer or at that time (something which is hard enough to do in and of itself) and just keep walking the path once brightened by their appearance.

Snow in Wing

It's been a heavenly day in the village today...white and magical. All quiet - hardly any of the neighbours left for work and the usual thunderous busses were absent at school time. The only sound was excitement from a steady stream of bundled up kids off to sledge and snowball. And I have joyfully passed the day watching all manner of busy birds feeding in the garden and enjoying an upstairs view of bounding dogs rejoicing over the scents in the park.

I finally got out for a walk at about 3ish and although the thaw had begun it was brilliant..still crunching underfoot, a kind of kaleidoscope effect on everything you looked at owing to the sun bouncing off every white surface.

As I walked I was mulling over a passage for a service I'm doing in a few weeks ...the transfiguration...where Jesus meets the prophets on a mountain. And where, so caught up in the spectacle, Peter the disciple asks if he should build three shelters for the holy men.

One commentator I read said we shouldn't get bogged down with this it was just a throw away remark but as I walked past a snowman with this in mind I wondered if we could learn something about man's need for permanence, need to build and mark out a place or moment or happening.

Snowmen, sandcastles, cairns, castles and careers we seem to need to say 'we are here'. I can't decide if we should take a tip from the Buddhists and say stop always thinking about the future, just 'be in the moment'. Afterall Peter is so keen to build, to think about the next stage, keen to be doing the right thing, wanting to take the right place within it all, he almost misses the action and the point. (As indeed we see in gethsemane and after the crucifixion).

If we took a more temporary approach, tried to see things from a view of one just passing through would we be better or worse at looking after our world and all it's inhabitants?

Or is it that we want to celebrate life, to say this is amazing and I am in the middle of it, I experienced this?

Either way it seems our focus isn't really on the snow/sand/God itself, what more would we get if we could leave ourselves out of the equation entirely, what else would we see/hear/feel?

Maybe nothing...maybe something, however transient. Thoughts?

(Found this great photo of a girl playing in snow in Wing! (Actually from 2005 but who's counting). It's by a village resident David Schweinsberg - Flickr is fab. So is his photostream.)

Food for eating.

I am a HUGE fan of Waitrose...it's got to be the most ethical supermarket (if that's not a total oxymoron) and it certainly has some fabulous produce, producers and a good take on provenance. Not to mention it's kept both my mother and brother off the streets, for which two communities, at least, are very grateful.

However, one of the best thing to come out of the hallowed portals of 'the mighty W' (as we fondly refer to it) is their freebie magazine 'Seasons'. With fewer so called 'advertorials' than other supermarket booklets it is crammed full of recipes and I've had great fun working my way through them over the last year.

Sausage and Chesnut Caserole, Blueberry and Almond Sponge Cake, Butternut Squash, Sage and Goats Cheese Risotto have all been particular favourites but last night we reached new culinary heights with Smoked Salmon, Pea and Wasabi Linguine. I have only one things to say. Try it!

Instructions:

Add 400g Waitrose Linguine to a pan of boiling water. Cook for 5 minutes, then add 100g frozen Waitrose Petits Pois and cook for a further 2 minutes. Drain the pasta and peas. Whisk 300ml half-fat crème fraîche and 1-2 tbsp Yutaka Japanese Wasabi Paste together in the pasta pan and return it to the heat. Add a 170g pack Waitrose Scottish Smoked Salmon Trimmings and the drained pasta and petits pois. Toss together until the salmon is opaque. Serve immediately with a crisp green salad and lemon wedges to squeeze over.

Food for thought

I have a problem with this book, it has one of the greatest opening paragraphs I've ever read...










'He stands at the glass looking out. The city spreads below
him, blanketed in foggy slumber. Low pressure. Clouds roll
over the hills, seeping out of cracks and crevices as if the
geography itself was sending smoke signals'.

Geography sending smoke signals ...how cool is that metaphor?!

But in my experience the title is a complete lie...it won't save your life, in fact it's likely to reduce your days. Why? the wretched front cover...it's all embossed and tactile, fabulous glossy colours it's so goo you could eat it. Everytime I pick it up I'm left screaming for krispy kremes. Not good for the waistline, cholesterol level, skin should I go on?

The book however, is great for the brain and imagination ... once you get inside the front cover!

Exhibitionist

Hah! See that got you interested. Well sorry for the disappointment this is actually a post about Sunday being the annual LCET exhibition and it was absolutely fantastic. It's always mind-blowing to see what has happened over the last year and a great way to review our work and catch up with the therapuetic team's output.

What amazed me is that we manage to produce such incredible displays and interactive demonstrations of our work, WE manage to produce this. Obviously we are all marvellous (and God does miracles, we're evidence enough of that) but I'm constantly amazed by LCET and all that we achieve.

Thinking along these lines I found this great quotation from Kabir, an Indian mystic....


'Inside this clay jug there are canyons and pine mountains
and the maker of canyons and pine mountains! All seven
oceans are inside and hundreds and millions of stars.
The acid that tests gold is there, and the one who judges
jewels. And the music from the strings noone touches,
and the source of all water. If you want the truth: friend,
listen, the Holy One whom I love is inside.'