Funny title, huh?
Just to say that things are wild right now. We are preparing for a big trip, and afterward, will be in transition for a few weeks.
We won't be able to post to this blog for a while, or very often.
There will be pictures, at some point, of our last few days here in Edinburgh. Also our trip and travels in the States. And our new place, when we get there. Stay tuned.
And in the meantime, check out some of the other links on this site.
Okay. . . so its sort-of a "house gig!"
We were originally hoping to visit with friends in homes when we returned. To share some "key learnings," and play some tunes. Have a dinner. Chat a bit. Talk and listen to God. That's the mix that makes a "house gig."
But we don't have the time for more than a single gathering when we first get to the States. We will be heading quickly up to Lutherhaven to work -- so, enter plan B, exhibit number two, stategy deux:
Wednesday, November 8th is a House Gig at Trinity Lutheran Church in Oregon City. . . yeah, they've got enough room for anyone who wants to show up! Please RSVP, see info at end of this blog.
Here's the details:
Where: Trinity, Oregon City. (16,000 S. Henrici Rd. -- googlemap it if you don't know how to get there!)
When: Wednesday, November 8th, 5:45PM Soup Supper, 7 PM "Show and Tell Time"
Who: Anyone who likes Dust, Jan, Lil' or Zo', wants to hear about how they've been, hear a couple of tunes, capture a piece of what God's up to in their lives and the world beyond America. . . . Did we mention, Show and Tell?!
Why: Hmmm.
Post your "why would I come" in the comment section under this blog!!!
Please RSVP the Trinity Office: email at trinity@bctonline.com or call 503-632-5554
Yesterday, Lily and Zoe got a special email from Rebecca, our friend at Lutherhaven where we will be going to work.
Rebecca sent some pictures of camp too! The picture above is from last winter. She also wrote a wonderful little email that gives you an idea of the landscape and animals. . . . here's a portion:
"Dear Lily and Zoe . . . . Yesterday, Bob (he’s a guy we all work for) saw an owl on the tree outside the office, it was really small and cute. There are deer that run all over this place and the other night one of them actually climbed up on mine and Uncle Stephen’s back porch and ate my flowers. I guess they like pretty red flowers. Can you imagine a deer climbing stairs just to get flowers to eat? There are turkey’s that you’ll see on the road into camp, and a bunny that lives up the road, and sometimes you’ll see lots of big elk in the field on the way into camp. One night I counted 20 of them! There are squirrels that live here (mostly right now they live in the wall under our bathroom) but you’ll see them this spring, and there are fish in the pond. Big orange ones and a catfish that lives there too. Bob likes to feed them and he’ll let you help!"
Thanks Aunt Rebecca for making Lily and Zoe's day brighter, and giving them pictures of where they are going.
Our friend Colin, runs a business here in Edinburgh and has just kicked off a sweet collection of fashion T-shirts hand-printed and sweatshop-free!
Click on the ILK icon in the right column to visit his site and check out some of the merchandise. Dust already wears one of the Tiger T-shirts. . .maybe you'll see a pic on this site someday!
A Quote: "ILK's collection is about creative living and the simple things, making music, growing vegetables and the beauty of what’s outside our front doors."
A thought occurred to us. . .
Many of you used to leave little notes on the "chat box" that we had up in the right column. Why don't you consider doing the same thing -- just use the comment link at the bottom of each post. That way, we'll still hear from you if you want.
For example, you could click on the "comment" below this post and write something right now!
Yup.
That's sun in our faces.
We got some of it! In fact, we had a wonderful time. Dust's friend Alastair and girlfriend Claire were with us at his family place in North Uist.
North Uist in the Hebrides is an amazing landscape with beaches and peat bogs and lochs and machar (scottish prairie) and meandering estuaries and islands as far as the eye can see. . .
Some of you may not want to see the 200 - odd pictures we took during our trip. . . but if you do, just click on the link in the right column titled "get kunky pics here."
Since we are now preparing to leave Scotland on November 1st, we decided its important to get out one last time and see the country. Many of you may not know this, but we went over a year here as a family before we were able to "get out" to the highlands together just a few weeks ago. Crazy! Well, we're going to make up for lost time now.
Dustin has a Scot friend, Alastair, from his outdoor education group, whose family owns a croft (Scots old-school farm and cottage in the highlands) up in the Hebrides. To get there, you drive up north through the highlands, turn west, cross the bridge between the mainland and the isle of Skye and drive to Uig where you board a ferry and cross to North Uist. . . . yeah, its out there on the edge of everything!
We're looking forward to just getting out as a family one more time before we leave.
Here's a link to the Hebrides to see where we're going:
http://www.virtualhebrides.com/location/index.htm#location_hebrides
Keep us in prayers -- a little sunshine in late October would be nice, but probably not required!
Dust, Jan, Lil' & Zo'
Alright. . . never mind. The chat box was giving issues, so I just chopped it up and dropped it off this site. Sorry to those of you who like to leave notes.
Here's an idea: send us a real card on real paper (preferrably made by your own hands)!
Hey everyone. . . got the chat box going again. . . enjoy! Leave us a message!
Be sure to check out the little "extras" on the site. . . the labels will continue to take shape as we label our posts -- a great way to look at stuff that is linked by a common theme.
You'll probably notice that things look a little different.
Blogger just kicked on their "beta" version for blogging and we're giving it a go! The only thing we can't figure out how to put in here is the little "chat box" some of you have used. . . I'm sure we'll put that in later. In the meantime, if you really, really, really need to talk. . . send and email or phone!
One of the great things added to beta blogger is the opportunity to tag all entries. There will be a "Tag Link" in the right column soon, so keep checking back to find blogs in searchable categories.
Achtung! House Gig info coming soon!
Notice the piper on the battlements. . . .
We went for a saturday drive last week and stopped at a castle, only to find it closed for a wedding. Bummer!
Then we heard the screaming wail of Scotlands favorite instrument streaming through the trees. Score!
You know you're in Scotland when. . . .
The local butcher shop is older than your native country.
(Rublev's "Trinity" is considered a historically "ground breaking" icon by most scholars)
First of all. Don't read any further unless you are ready to stop what you are doing and be still. Really. There's no point in reading further unless you are prepared to stop, and make some space for meditation. If you cannot do that RIGHT NOW, then come back another time and meditate. This post will still be here!
Rublev's "Trinity":
This icon takes as its subject the mysterious story where Abraham receives three visitors as he camps by the oak of Mamre. He serves them a meal. As the conversation progresses he seems to be talking straight to God, as if these 'angels' were in some way a metaphor for the three persons of the Trinity. In Rublev's representation of the scene, the three gold-winged figures are seated around a white table on which a golden, chalice-like bowl contains a roasted lamb. In the background of the picture, a house can be seen at the top left and a tree in the centre. Less distinctly, a rocky hill lies in the upper right corner. The composition is a great circle around the table, focussing the attention on the chalice-bowl at the centre, which reminds the viewer inescapably of an altar at Communion.
On one level this picture shows three angels seated under Abraham's tree, but on another it is a visual expression of what the Trinity means, what is the nature of God, and how we approach him. Reading the picture from left to right, we see the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
The Colours
Rublev gives each person of the Trinity different clothing. On the right, the Holy Spirit has a garment of the clear blue of the sky, wrapped over with a robe of a fragile green. So the Spirit of creation moves in sky and water, breathes in heaven and earth. All living things owe their freshness to his touch.
The Son has the deepest colours; a thick heavy garment of the reddish-brown of earth and a cloak of the blue of heaven. In his person he unites heaven and earth, the two natures are present in him, and over his right shoulder (the Government shall be upon his shoulder) there is a band of gold shot through the earthly garment, as his divinity suffuses and transfigures his earthly being.
The Father seems to wear all the colours in a kind of fabric that changes with the light, that seems transparent, that cannot be described or confined in words. And this is how it should be. No one has seen the Father, but the vision of him fills the universe.
The wings of the angels or persons are gold. Their seats are gold. The chalice in the centre is gold, and the roof of the house. Whether they sit, whether they fly, all is perfect, precious, and worthy. In stasis, when there is no activity apparent on the part of God, his way is golden. When he flies, blazes with power and unstoppable strength, his way is golden. And in the Sacrifice at the centre of all things, his way is golden.
The light that shines around their heads is white, pure light. Gold is not enough to express the glory of God. Only light will do, and that same white becomes the holy table, the place of offering. God is revealed and disclosed here, at the heart, in the whiteness of untouchable light.
The Father looks forward, raising his hand in blessing to the Son. It is impossible to tell whether he looks up at the Son or down to the chalice on the table, but his gesture expresses a movement towards the Son. This is my Son, listen to him… The hand of the Son points on, around the circle, to the Spirit. In this simple array we see the movement of life towards us, The Father sends the Son, the Son sends the Spirit. The life flows clockwise around the circle. And we complete the circle. As the Father sends the Son, as the Son sends the Holy Spirit, so we are invited and sent to complete the circle of the Godhead with our response. And we respond to the movement of the Spirit who points us to Jesus. And he shows us the Father in whom all things come to fruition. This is the counter-clockwise movement of our lives, in response to the movement of God. And along the way are the three signs at the top of the picture, the hill, the tree, and the house.
The Spirit touches us, even though we do not know who it is that is touching us. He leads us by ways we may not be aware of, up the hill of prayer. It may be steep and rocky, but the journeying God goes before us along the path. It leads to Jesus, the Son of God, and it leads to a tree. A great tree in the heat of the day spreads its shade. It is a place of security, a place of peace, a place where we begin to find out the possibilities of who we can be. It is no ordinary tree. It stands above the Son in the picture, and stands above the altar-table where the lamb lies within the chalice. Because of the sacrifice this tree grows. The tree of death has been transformed into a tree of life for us.
The tree is on the way to the house. Over the head of the Father is the house of the Father. It is the goal of our journey. It is the beginning and end of our lives. Its roof is golden. Its door is always open for the traveller. It has a tower, and its window is always open so that the Father can incessantly scan the roads for a glimpse of a returning prodigal.
The tree is on the way to the house. Over the head of the Father is the house of the Father. It is the goal of our journey. It is the beginning and end of our lives. Its roof is golden. Its door is always open for the traveller. It has a tower, and its window is always open so that the Father can incessantly scan the roads for a glimpse of a returning prodigal.
Staffs for the journey
Each person holds a staff, which is so long it, cuts the picture into sections. Why should beings with wings, that can fly like the light, have need of a staff for their journey? Because we are on a journey and these three persons enter into our journey, our slow movement across the face of the earth. Their feet are tired from travelling. God is with us in the weariness of our human road. The traveller God sits down at our ordinary tables and spreads them with a hint of heaven
The Table
The table or altar lies at the centre of the picture. It is at once the place of Abraham's hospitality to the angels, and God's place of hospitality to us. That ambiguity lies at the heart of communion, at the heart of worship. As soon as we open a sacred place for God to enter, for God to be welcomed and adored, it becomes his place. It is we who are welcomed, it is we who must 'take off our shoes' because of the holiness of the ground.
Contained in the centre of the circle, a sign of death. The lamb, killed. The holy meal brought to the table. All points to this space, this mystery: within it, everything about God is summed up and expressed, his power, his glory, and above all his love. And it is expressed in such a way that we can reach it. For the space at this table is on our side. We are invited to join the group at the table and receive the heart of their being for ourselves.
We are invited to complete the circle, to join the dance, to complete the movements of God in the world by our own response. Below the altar a rectangle marks the holy place where the relics of the martyrs were kept in a church. It lies before us. It invites us to come into the depth and intimacy of all that is represented here. Come follow the Spirit up the hill of prayer. Come, live in the shadow of the Son of God, rest yourself beneath his tree of life. Come, journey to the home, prepared for you in the house of your Father.
The table is spread, the door is open. Come.
AT THIS POINT, DON'T STOP. THERE IS TEMPTATION TO STOP AND QUICKLY MOVE ON. SLOW DOWN! GO BACK TO THE ICON AT THE TOP AND GAZE. ALLOW THE SPIRIT TO DIRECT YOU TO THE SON TO ADORE THE FATHER. SLOW DOWN. . . . . . .
(this explanation is an excerpt from the full explanation at http://www.stjohnscamberwell.org.au/Sermons/ExplanationofTheTrinityIcon.htm )
