There is something incredibly blissful about a hot shower.
Our boiler is back. Hot water and heat are on. Dishwasher works.
Bliss.
On Songs and Mystics
Marc responded to a post by John Stackhouse on songs that speak of love for Jesus in fairly intimate personal terms – along the line of lyrics designated as "Jesus is my boyfriend". The post on Stackhouse’s blog elicited some interesting comments. I would recommend going there and reading it. It certainly brings up the issue of those songs that raise discomfort in people who do not like expressing their relationship to God in this kind of intimate language. I guess we need to be sensitive to the aversion and the wrong kind of message that songs strong on love language and weak in theological content give to some participants in worship services.
Stackhouse also interjects some comments on the mystics and obviously does not appreciate the type of ecstatic language and experiences recounted by them. Here I think he is off base.
I don’t think the tradition of "Jesus is my boyfriend" songs comes from the mystics. They may have had what we would consider erotic ecstatic experiences but from those visions came writings that were not so individually oriented as some of the songs for which we are questioning the theology. There came writings on prayer and on seeking deeper prayer experiences with God and there came expressions of adoration of God.
Hildegard of Bingen is noted for her musical compositions and, though many speak of adoration of Mary and saints that we protestants find foreign, I would hardly call them "Jesus is my boyfriend" type lyrics. Here is a short example. I thought the English translation would be appreciated more than the Latin!
O Shepherd of souls
O Shepherd of souls
and o first voice
through whom all creation was summoned,
now to you,
to you may it give pleasure and dignity
to liberate us
from our miseries and languishing.
and o first voice
through whom all creation was summoned,
now to you,
to you may it give pleasure and dignity
to liberate us
from our miseries and languishing.
I think we have much to learn from the mystics who had such deep relationships with God that they actually experienced him in ways most of us today find foreign. Maybe that says more about our life styles that leave little time to develope this kind of intimacy with God than about the "whackyness" of their experiences.
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Filed under Dealing with stuff
Ebola
Seems there is another outbreak. It is probably not far from the hometown of a friend.
An old friend – he used to be our pilot at Karawa – sent a bit of a report/prayer request. Here it is:
The news today is that there is a confirmed outbreak again of the Ebola virus in western Kasai. The most cases have come from the Luebo area which is about 380 nautical miles southeast of Kinshasa and around 80 miles north of Kananga. Last count I heard was 180 have died.At this point we / MAF did one flight last week with some supplies and to take some blood samples for verification. There is a possibility of doing one flight on Thursday and also Friday in the Caravan then we will need to do a mini – check on the Caravan which, at this point, will take place Friday afternoon and Saturday morning then return to Kinshasa Saturday afternoon.SANRU which is kind of an umbrella organization overseeing many health projects in the country and is also connected to the Protestant Church in Congo is overseeing some of the responses along with CDC and MSF. (Center for Disease Control and Doctors without Borders ).Last time the response from MAF lasted about six weeks. We / MAF are already quite busy with other flights so we’ll need to be flexible in adjusting our schedules to meet the needs this disease is bringing.At this point Ebola is not communicable through airborne means, but is communicable through fluids. So in that respect it is similar to AIDS, but much more virulent.Prayer requests to go along with this include:1. Ability to keep the airplanes maintained and flyable.2. Good judgment with the airstrips that we will need to use. Luebo is seven hundred meters long with an up an down slope to it. You cannot see one end from the other since the hump is too high. It is only ten meters wide and is built in the middle of town with houses all around it. The other airstrip is longer but very soft so to take any kind of a load out you have to be down quite a bit on your fuel. Bulape is also a little short at eight hundred meters long with a slope on it and it can also be a bit soft. It also has some rough areas on it now.3. Pray that God will intervene and get this epidemic stopped.4. Strength for the ones going in on the ground to check out the surrounding villages for other cases.5. Understanding hearts for those who had flights scheduled and now may get bumped because of this epidemic.6. Availability of fuel to keep everything going.So pray as you feel led. We are willing and want to be used by God to further His Kingdom here.God Bless,Daniel R. Carlson
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Filed under Africa
One Funeral, One Wedding
Busy day yesterday.
One funeral – and old friend and colleague, Dr Gamal Shenouda. Spent too many years in a nursing home. Life can be rough sometimes. So he is free from the constraints that an ailing body and mind put on him. What a character – loved bad jokes, belly dancing and Jesus.
And on after that, up to Waskesiu to a wedding. We missed the ceremony but were told that it was pretty short anyway. Got there in time for the barbeque and visting with friends.
There was a beautiful sunset – which I missed getting pictures of. The sun set rosy red over the lake and a bit south of the sun, a thin sliver of a moon. Beautiful!
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Filed under Day to Day
Well, actually, it is possible to wash up without hot running water.
Our furnace/boiler has done it again. Heating plate has a hole. Pressure vessel cracked. No end to the problems with this one. Parts will have to be ordered from Ontario so it will be Tuesday at the very earliest before we have hot running water again. The girls are not too happy.
If you see one of my family members coming to your door towel in hand please have mercy on them!
We may actually break down and put in a new boiler and separate hot water heater. If the cost doesn’t kill us.
This furnace has been nothing but trouble and now winter is almost here. There was frost on the grass this morning.
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Filed under Africa
Well, actually, it is possible to wash up without hot running water.
Our furnace/boiler has done it again. Heating plate has a hole. Pressure vessel cracked. No end to the problems with this one. Parts will have to be ordered from Ontario so it will be Tuesday at the very earliest before we have hot running water again. The girls are not too happy.
If you see one of my family members coming to your door towel in hand please have mercy on them!
We may actually break down and put in a new boiler and separate hot water heater. If the cost doesn’t kill us.
This furnace has been nothing but trouble and now winter is almost here. There was frost on the grass this morning.
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Filed under Africa
Well, actually, it is possible to wash up without hot running water.
Our furnace/boiler has done it again. Heating plate has a hole. Pressure vessel cracked. No end to the problems with this one. Parts will have to be ordered from Ontario so it will be Tuesday at the very earliest before we have hot running water again. The girls are not too happy.
If you see one of my family members coming to your door towel in hand please have mercy on them!
We may actually break down and put in a new boiler and separate hot water heater. If the cost doesn’t kill us.
This furnace has been nothing but trouble and now winter is almost here. There was frost on the grass this morning.
Comments Off on
Filed under Africa
Well, actually, it is possible to wash up without hot running water.
Our furnace/boiler has done it again. Heating plate has a hole. Pressure vessel cracked. No end to the problems with this one. Parts will have to be ordered from Ontario so it will be Tuesday at the very earliest before we have hot running water again. The girls are not too happy.
If you see one of my family members coming to your door towel in hand please have mercy on them!
We may actually break down and put in a new boiler and separate hot water heater. If the cost doesn’t kill us.
This furnace has been nothing but trouble and now winter is almost here. There was frost on the grass this morning.
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Filed under Africa
This day
Today started out with early morning prayers – at 7 rather than the usual 6:30. Since I was a tad on the tired side, the later hour worked out just great for me.
Today we made some progress on the water leaks, I think. The plumber is returning tomorrow to try and find the one leak and when I last checked, the other pipe was still dripping water steadily. I thought he had fixed that one but –
Anyway, today I have been a bit tired. A bit more stress with all these pllumbing issues I guess. And other aspects of life brings other stresses. And there have been those today too.
So, it was a pleasant surprise to walk in to the house and have it smelling of chocolate. Double chocolate chip cookies. Very chocolately. Yum. And now I will drift off to sleep to the smells of fresh baked buns. I hope Sara doesn’t get too busy with classes. This cooking/baking streak is something I like.
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Filed under Day to Day
It seems a house always needs repair!
On Saturday a pipe somewhere inside the basement ceiling started to drip. We decided that it would have to wait till Monday. We think it is a water pipe to the bathroom on the main floor but it is all enclosed so we really have no clue – other than the drywall on that part of the ceiling became wet and soggy and it was dripping.
By Sunday afternoon the piece of drywall had fallen onto the floor.
Monday – the plumber has been called. The drywall is off the small dropped part of the ceiling that contains the pipes so it will have to be repaired but that is not a huge job – yet.
Tuesday – I come home after work and go down to get hamburger out of the freezer. The light has burned out but the furnace /storage /freezer room is very humid. I turn on another light and what greets my eyes but a pool of water on the floor. Our furnace is obviously leaking from somewhere but no where obvious – as in something that could be shut off.
I began to mop. It is hard work mopping in a small humid room, especially when it looks as if no progress is being made. I began to haul out stuff that was wet; stuff that probably should have gone straight to the junk yard rather than into our basement storage anyway. Now that it is wet it has to go. Most of the good things are in plastic tubs. We’ve had this sort of thing happen before. We have learned a little from past disasters.
Meanwhile Sara is cooking supper, I am mopping and know that I should leave for worship practice in 30 minutes. Leo comes home and agrees to mop for a bit, phone our other kids who have borrowed the carpet cleaner(which is a wonderful water vacuum in a disaster setting like ours) and get them to bring it over.
So after getting back from music, I finish up the clean-up and find that what I think is an overflow pipe at the back is spewing out a slow but steady stream of water. No wonder progress with the mop was non-existant. Anyway, now I can get a bucket under the leaky pipe, the plumber will have a real job tomorrow. We will be poorer but drier by tomorrow night. I hope.
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