A Quiet Peace

Sunset
Originally uploaded by Jeanne La Banane.

"Drop Thy still dews of quietness
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace. "

- John Greenleaf Whittier

Week One

I have now completed my first of 5 weeks at the Nursing Home, where I worked last summer too.

I've still got a sexy outfit, but this year, it looks more like this: (It is so huge my crotch is half way down my legs, nevermind.)





I've been assigned the 'cleaning job' for the first three weeks. That means cleaning my floor's rooms and corridors, mainly. The rooms are all exactly the same, save the fact that the bathroom's emplacement alternates from right to left with each room. Pink tiles on the bathroom wall, white tiles on the floor. Furniture to dust, sink to clean, toilet to disinfect, bathroom and bedroom to mop, room after room after room. After the second day, I had already had enough. The repetitiveness of the tasks was difficult to look forward to at 6 in the morning, when I must wake - surely there must be more to life than this, I thought.
It's also very lonely, just me, the mops and the poop leftovers, kindly remaining to give me the illusion I am saving the planet from bacteria mass-invasion.
It was only when I caught the oldies in their rooms that the cleaning life became sweeter and felt more meaningful. Last year I'd been working at the cafeteria essentially - I'd see the oldies come and go, prepare their breakfasts, talk with them, help them get around. It was a really good experience, and every day, I was actually looking forward to coming to work.
Over the week, I've been trying to look out for little blessings here and there - the sunrise I witness every morning being one of them - trying to seep out some good out of this strangely stale job. I'll be back at the cafeteria by mid-August, but in the meantime, I wanted to lift my eyes from the floor I needed to clean, and look up for something. Something other than the cleaning product fumes to feed my soul.
It is quite wondrous the way God works things out, for out best indeed.
I can feel that my heart is being remolded, melted, and a love for His people is being watered again, after a dry season of being worn and uninterested. Probably for selfish reasons. But this is happening now, as I am mopping floors in my yellow marigolds.
I've been having lunch with a lady who's been working here for over 10 years, she's in her late 50s, and is quite stern and likes to be in charge, but offers a warm personality to befriend under that tougher appearance. It was just us two at lunch, she'd made us an 'organic' lunch from various products from her garden. She's been feeding me since I've been here, and gave me courgettes and beans to take home with me today - which is definitely beautifully nice of her :) Well, anyway, the thing is that she suddenly opened up to me at lunchtime. I felt very honoured to be let into a deeper realm of her life.
And I suppose, it's at these times that I feel most alive, that I feel again for the people God puts on my path, that the freedom God offers makes itself all the more real, that my desire to know Him and make Him known becomes urgent, that my interest in people is not forced but instead, almost becomes my 'purpose'...
May God continue changing me and my heart, and may my time at the Nursing Home be one of rejuvenation and spiritual awakening.

My ears are currently seduced by: Joshua Radin - We Were Here

Borrowed Words For A Yearning Heart

"He is the Life that I want to live,
He is the Light that I want to radiate.
He is the Way to the Father.
He is the Love with which I want to love.
He is the Joy that I want to share.
He is the Peace that I want to sow.
Jesus is Everything to me.
Without Him, I can do nothing."

Say Hallelujah
Throw up your hands
The bucket is kicked
The body is gone

...

The sun will rise
The stars will shine
Turning day to dusk
And night to dawn
We'll pass on
But until that time

Say Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Say Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Say Hallelujah
Throw up your hands
The bucket is kicked
The body is gone

Have mercy
It's a wonderful life
Eternal rest for the weary
Mourners party tonight

Say Hallelujah
Throw up your hands
The bucket is kicked
The body is gone

Wave your hands
But don't say goodbye
We're all gonna meet you
On the other side

---
This woman is one of the - if not the - most genuine artist I have come across - she walked on stage last night with an infectious smile, dressed in simple clothes, opened her set with 'Say Hallelujah' and delivered her meaning-full, engaging and challenging songs in the most humble manner. Big up Tracy Chapman, not only for having a hauntingly beautiful voice, but for making music with meaning, rather than making music for the sake of making music.

Wait no longer to go buy all her cds :)

"If you saw the face of God and Love, would you change?"

My ears are currently seduced by: Where You Live - Tracy Chapman

Flash Mob

Jump Jump Jump
Originally uploaded by samuelmelim.

Gandhi led his people on a Salt March.

Mother Teresa draped herself in poverty and became the 'Saint of the Gutter'.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a martyr for racial equality.

Michael Jackson sang about healing the world.

Today, all you've got to do to save the planet my friend, is to jump.

In honour of the Wolrd Jump Day, 600 million people (I kid you not) from the western hemisphere have indeed jumped simultaneously and gracefully to move the Earth out of its current orbit, to "stop global warming, extend daytime hours and create a more homogenous climate."

What a lovely way to recover the planet. But I was told white men can't jump.

My ears are currently seduced by: Ben Harper - Both Sides Of The Gun