A Few Jotted Thoughts

I received fuzzy blue socks for Christmas. And I have to confess, I put them on twice one night, just so I could feel the unbelievable softness and warmth that comes from pulling them on! Seriously, I smile delightedly and feel pampered when I put them on.

Christmas passed peacefully, and joyfully. And while there's nothing in the immediate horizon that I know of, I have a sense of expectation for good things to come. So the ordinary everyday things that have filled my time: I bought a gracile plant for my office today, I'm acquiring my Finnish drivers' license (no test--woo hoo!), and heading to a four-year-old's birthday party tonight.

The sunrise this morning occurred at 9:25, and the sun will set at 15:20--six hours of daylight muted by a gray sky. But the good news is that the winter solstice is behind us and the days will slowly lengthen to become the nightless day by Midsummer! This all requires some getting used to, as I may remind you that I grew up on the warm Equator where seasons are nonexistent and the length of a day varies by half an hour at the most. As I purchased my plant today, I missed the tropical vistas of South America, and considered starting my very own mini-jungle in the corner of my office under a waterfall poster...

To Work and Yo Ho Ho...

"Chak, chak, chak," the echoes of loud heels on the sidewalk surround me, too muffled to be described as "clip, clip, clip." Red cheeks and noses, hats pulled low, and long scarves over dark coats pass by me as they too head to their offices, receptionist desks, cafés or cash registers. It is the rush of morning workers, spilling out of the crowded and warm trains, where they have caught their last few winks, read the morning news, or mentally checked off a list of to do's realizing that the coffee maker may have been left on at home and that the kids' gym clothes didn't make it into their backpacks; now emerging from the high-ceilinged train station into the -9 degree city air. The sky this morning glows cloudlessly, mysteriously lighting the city with a cold blue hue, warmed only by the millions of small yellow lights signaling the joyous holidays that are approaching at the end of the week. The other prominent color is charcoal gray, as the sentineling trees of the big streets and the park stretch their bare silhouettes into the city panorama, by no means unused to the routines of city life or the winter wind, having spent perhaps centuries supervising the comings and goings beneath them. I hear "rumble, rumble, rumble," as the old trams go by on their rails, and a steady "meep, meep, meep," as the light changes to red, and the little running green man tells me I may walk across the cobblestones. "Pling!" the elevator greets me on the ground floor of my building, and "pling!" it wishes me a good workday as I exit into the echoing entryway of the sixth.

Christmas sights and sounds!

There is no snow on the ground, and everything is dark and wet. This lends itself to depressing gloom, except that Christmas is around the corner! Downtown is strung with lights and a Christmas Market is gracing the park this week with bright red stands and hot glögi (spiced punch) and gingerbread houses.

I've been comparing the Christmas preparations here to those in the US, and find a few differences. I hear less music, and homes are never ostentatiously decorated with lights and yards are not full of figurines and blow-up Santa Clauses. In most windows you can see the warm glow of candles as you walk by. Christmas trees are set up close to Christmas, not at the end of November as in the States, and remain until January. So the only ones I've seen thus far are in the shopping centers, which look festive with bright displays and decorations. I haven't found one radio station that plays continuous Christmas music, and I finally tuned in on internet radio, because I like the familiar English songs, such as White Christmas, or this year, I'll Be Home for Christmas (...if only in my dreams).

This morning though, as I made my way to work through the metro station, I heard the halls echoing with strains of instrumental Christmas music, and had to smile as I passed a group of four musicians with their stringed instruments, thus discovering the source of my morning soundtrack. Anytime I walk in a crowded place with street musicians, I feel like I'm in a movie with all the other people around me, and for that moment, we are all part of the same inextricably linked story.

FYI

A list of 5 things few people know about me:

- I dance in dressing rooms when there's music, just to make sure new clothes fit right :)

- I make up stories in my head about people I see in the street or at airports.

- I carry my toothbrush in my bag at all times, just in case I don't go home for the night. As it turns out, about once a week, I sleep at friends' houses!

- I've had my nose pierced twice, and both times had to remove it (unfortunately, cuz I really liked it!)

- I like to make lists so I can cross things off. Heh, I'll even add things that I did apart from the list, just so I can see it checked off!

A Rough Draft of Thoughts

"One word frees us of all the weight and pain in life. That word is love." -Sophocles

What Sophocles was thinking when he said this, I don't know. But this phrase often comes to my mind at odd moments when love opens the otherwise closed and fearful caves of my life by unexpected words of love and actions of love.

But, the concept of Word...I have wandered down this road of thought often enough also, when I read the Bible and find the "Word became flesh," "In the Beginning was the Word," God's word "dwelling" in people, and hearing the words of Jesus. If that Word that existed before all the worlds and universes were created, that intelligence and wisdom by which all that exists came to be, became flesh, then what is "word" here on earth today? Is it not those who seek to imitate and know this original word? Jesus' words bring life and hope, and if his being was the embodiment of the Word that contains all treasures of knowledge and wisdom of That Which is Beyond (John 1), that says something about the essential character of where and whom he came from--because what he showed on earth was love. And when that kind of love is still found in actions, in speech, in motive today, then it frees us of weight and pain.

And we're back to love. And not the commercialized and trivialized, self-seeking love. But something so different that it does not skip any person, and ignores not even the lowliest or most broken being. It is a love that puts back together pieces that were in wrong places, and brings peace to the confused. It is love that breaks barriers of race, of language, and even time. It is love that finds its beginning in the character of the Word that created all. And it must still be around today. It has to be. Because in the midst of the ugliness, and the pain and the weight I carry around, it arrives gently, and gives me hope.

Anyway, I am well aware that my words here are inadequate, and my thoughts even more so, for I have not before attempted to write down any of these thoughts that ponder connections of metaphysical realities and faith. Take it for what it is. It's really a thanks and a smile, because the word of love is freeing, and as I see it, it's to be found in Jesus and people who want to be like him.

Remembering the 6th

I'm living another first! It is the first Dec. 6th that I can remember being in Finland! I have celebrated the independence days of other countries many times, and this is the first time I am celebrating the independence of my birth country while I'm present in it! We've had a nice meal, and watched some very traditional and patriotic programs on TV, and will soon be watching the President's Ball, where all the big name people go celebrate and the ordinary folks stay at home and critique the pretty clothes, heh (sounds a bit like the Oscars). My boss will be there this evening!

Finland is a very young country when compared to many in Europe, born in 1917. When studying our history, you find that most of it is the history of 800 years of Swedish rule and then 100 years or so of Russian rule. This past weekend we visited an island fortress called Suomenlinna, and discovered that it had been constructed to defend the Swedish empire from Russia and actually had little use as a fortress. But after the Russians took over, this fort was the reason that the capital moved from Turku near the Swedish border, to Helsinki where today it remains. Finland enjoys being a peaceful country, and today the island is a walkable historical site and a popular wedding setting! (Which at this time of year was freezing!)

Today has mostly been for rest, as I find myself quite spent. I had a lovely weekend with my highschool friends and enjoyed introducing them to Finnish life. We had plenty of long conversations about politics and theology and our experiences, and in general, about where our classmates have ended up around the world. I would never have guessed that the next time I saw these friends from Ecuador together we would be in wintery Finland! And the next time...who knows?!!

But now, as I hear our national anthem in the background, I wish "Happy Independence Day Finland!"