The Sojourn

The Sojourn – double Haiku on mixed media

First of all, let me say a big HELLO!!! I’m back from my travels and looking forward to getting the creative juices flowing again. 🙂

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Would you consider your time here – your earthly life – a sojourn?

Sojourn: A temporary stay (noun); To stay somewhere temporarily (verb)

I love what Temple Grandin (one of the first individuals on the autism spectrum to publicly share insights from her personal experience of autism) said when confronted with the issue of death. A horse had died, and she asked, “Where’d he go?”

It may sound funny, but really is an existential question that we all face. Where do we go when our bodies die?

As for me, I believe that who I really am, returns to my maker once my body dies. My stay here really is temporary.

Unfortunately, we live in a world that is full of darkness. A mountain of madness and a plethora of ugliness happens daily. All-over-the-world.

I am thankful though, that I have big shoulders to rest between. That place of rest is a place of provision and security. My maker remembers that I am but dust, and He is perfect in every way. He provides me with pockets of silence and peace amid all the chaos.

Do you consider your time on Earth a sojourn?

Belonging

I find it amazing how we are all very individual and unique, yet at the same time we’re all the same. All of humanity searches for answers to the bigger questions of life. Questions with answers that oftentimes seem beyond our reach.

We also have the same needs and inner longings. One of them being the need to belong. Not just the need to belong to a community, or to be a part of something; but a need to belong to someone/thing. We ask, “Who am I?” and rarely, “Whose am I?”

I love this quote by St. Augustine:

• “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

A fellow blogger friend, ‘Rusty Foerger‘ posted something recently that made me think about this universal ‘sameness’. In his post he writes about a well-known Urdu poet, ‘Bulleh Shah‘, from the 16/1700s, and includes a music video by a popular Indian musician (Rabbi Shergill) that was based on his poetry.

Please take a moment to read the post, “I know not who I am”, from “Curriculum of the Spiritual Life”, and watch the following music video.

The Vine

The Vine

Did you know that brown is a colour that is associated with belonging. I’ve written about this before – the need to belong.  A need for community. A need for relationship. We were never meant to be alone, but we were made for relationship. I am very content to have relationship with the one who feeds my soul, and cares for me on a holistic level.

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.” 
― C.S. Lewis

How do you nurture this human need for belonging?

Made to Create

Made to Create – Loop poem on mixed media

Why is it that human beings are so creative? We have imaginations and an ability to create that separates us from all other species.

“According to Marc Hauser, ‘mounting evidence indicates that, in contrast to Darwin’s theory of a continuity of mind between humans and other species, a profound gap separates our intellect from the animal kind.’ (source: live science.com)

Another article from livescience.com says, “Without a doubt, the human trait that sets us apart the most from the animal kingdom is our extraordinary brain… …the ability to reason and think on our feet beyond the capabilities of the rest of the animal kingdom, and provided the works of Mozart, Einstein and many other geniuses.” (source)

As a Christian, I believe that we were created by a creative God, and we were created in His image. Out of my intimacy with God I create, and my creations are a response to what He reveals to me.

Gotquestions.org says, “Mentally, man was created as a rational, volitional agent. In other words, man can reason and man can choose. This is a reflection of God’s intellect and freedom. Anytime someone invents a machine, writes a book, paints a landscape, enjoys a symphony, calculates a sum, or names a pet, he or she is proclaiming the fact that we are made in God’s image.” (source: gotquestions.org)

Michael Card says in his book, ‘Scribbling in the Sand: Christ and creativity‘ –“God is an artist and he is beautiful. He has woven his image into the fabric of our lives, which explains our drive to create things which are beyond us and which we don’t always understand.”

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Why do you think human beings are so creative?

The first comment has a Youtube video by Michael Card called, “The poem of Your Life.”

 

Once Lost

Once Lost – A Mussete

The dove is often used to symbolize the Holy Spirit and peace. It also symbolizes the release of the soul in death. It makes me think of eternity actually. I believe in eternity, and that God has placed eternity in the heart of man.

Do you believe in eternity?

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This poetry form, Mussete, is new to me. I found out about it by Ryan over at Days of Stone. I like the challenge of trying out different poetry forms, and used to write a lot more poems using poetry forms in the past. I thought I’d try my hand at it.

 

Morning Coffee Thoughts – Take 2

I am posting this again, because it seems like WordPress is up to some funky stuff with my posts. Ever since the update, my posts aren’t going into the Reader. Let’s see if it works this time.

Mixed media and thoughts

Just something I wrote during my morning quiet time a little while back. I saw this watercolour technique on Youtube and wanted to try it out. I like to mix art and words.

🙂

Morning coffee thoughts

Mixed media and thoughts

Just something I wrote during my morning quiet time a little while back.

Killing me softly (Gogyohka)

Gogyohka: A 5 line Japanese micro-poetry form

I love the song “Killing me softly”, originally composed by Charles Fox. I came to know the song by the version Lauren Hill did, and it had a huge impact on my life. A very special blogger friend, Sibella, from Arts & Rhymes, recently posted a You tube video of the song, and it made me remember an experience I had 10 years ago. My husband and I had recently left an arts team we were working with. We were on our way to Argentina for my husband to do a course in journalism. Before leaving Brazil, I had some questions about my life and future. I prayed and asked God about it and this song came to mind. I didn’t remember the lyrics at the time, but the next day I heard a friend humming the same tune while listening to her mp3 player. I asked to listen to it so I could hear the lyrics.

Strumming my pain with his fingers
Singing my life with his words
Killing me softly with his songs
Killing me softly with his songs
Telling my whole life with his words
Killing me softly with his songs

Now, 10 years later, after hearing that song again, I had a type of revelation. I really feel like that is exactly what these last 10 years have been for me. Losing pride, discovering myself, finding my identity, firming my faith, dying to ego and the need to be known for what I can do. Shaping and establishing my world-view on a much deeper level.

Killing isn’t something we associate with good. Dying isn’t something that anyone wishes to experience. The funny thing though, is that in all of this killing and dying, I’ve never felt so alive and content. As if the opposite has happened.

Have you ever had a song profoundly affect you? If so, share your story 🙂

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I would just like to share a photo of my cute new little puppy, Benny. He gives me heck when I sit down to work, so I’ve succumbed to putting an old cushion next to my computer for him to be close to me. Hahahahaha. I love him to pieces.

Identity

Identity:

• The condition of being oneself, and not another
• Condition or character as to who a person is
• The set of behavioural or personal characteristics by which an individual is recognizable
• the fact of being who or what a person or thing is
• Characteristics, definition, defining oneself

Thinking back to how I used to be, and pondering all of what I’ve gone through, I consider myself nothing less than a miracle. The need for the sense of identity is very important to human beings, both on an individual and social level. My identity was so lost and confused in the past, but God has brought me through so much.

I love the passage in the Bible where God calls a prophet to choose a new King. The prophet went to the house of a certain man who had seven sons. When he saw the biggest and strongest son, he thought definitely he was to be the new king. God told him ‘no’. In fact, the answer was no for every one of the sons that this man had presented to the prophet. He then asked the man if he had any other sons, and he said that there was one more, but he was out in the fields tending the sheep. A very humble position at best, for that day and age. When the prophet saw this son, right then and there God said, “That’s the one”. God wasn’t looking at his outer appearance. He was looking at his heart. I love that.

Today, I am comfortable in my own skin. I am sure of my identity, and of what is expected of me. I know that what really matters is how God sees me, and He knows my heart. And He should. His finger prints can be found all over it.

Where, or in what do find your identity? Are you comfortable in your own skin, and secure in who you are as an individual and within a group?

Eternity in her heart

There is a verse in the book, ‘Ecclesiastes’ that says, “It is beautiful how God has done everything at the right time. He has put a sense of eternity in people’s minds. Yet, mortals still can’t grasp what God is doing from the beginning to the end of time.”

I believe in eternity, and that there is more to existence then just time and space. More than just the material and physical. More than just the few years we have here.

What do you think? Do you believe in eternity? That there is something beyond our life experiences?

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I am back. After a week and a half with very little internet access, I am so happy to be home. How did we ever live without the internet? Hahaha. I’m looking forward to catching up in the blogosphere. 

The above piece was inspired by a piece I found on pinterest. I am very proud of it and can’t believe that I created it. It turned out perfect for what I had in mind.