like beads on a necklace

Timing is everything.  It strings the events of our lives so that we can see a pattern, or make some kind of sense of them next to each other.  Otherwise, I'm sure we could get a jumbled mess of events that we hold in our palms like a mass of marbles, not knowing which relates to the other or how. 

Such are my thoughts this day, as I contemplate how happy I am that my sister is here right now.  Not later, or earlier, but just now.  I'm sure she thinks the same way, perhaps she would not have held out for another week of studies and exams.  Now is a good time. She went skiing this morning and returned as red as a berry and just as jolly.

The present is also where/when God is with us.  He will be with us in the future, and he certainly walked with us in the past, but we live in the present.  He is always present, as he is not limited by time, so I think speaking of the future or eons past is a moot point in his scope of being.  But for us finite ones who are learning to live fully in the present moment, it is a comfort that the One in whom we trust knows the pattern he is creating with our lives.

slushy thoughts

I confess it took me a while to adjust to being back in Helsinki.  I spent three days inside the house before venturing out into the slushy snow.  Now that I have been out, it's not so bad.  I've also reconnected with workmates, friends, my car, my church and some projects I had going when I left here.  I have found a sense of peace in the return, knowing that I have context and purpose here.  Yet...

unbounded desire in a limited body
is the paradox and wonder i contemplate
not only of you and me and
the Divine, but of worlds flowing
in and about my mind, my will and
this journey i make through our earth.
the poets say many things of pain
but i shall not go into those, only that
pain is tied to joy and loss and gain
and every day of breath seems
to weave these elements in a
pattern made exquisitely beautiful and
three-dimensional by uniting them
to the reoccurring image of sacrifice.
limited in what i may give, unbounded
in what i may hold, how can one
comprehend such mysterious existence?

2011

Dear New Year,

You came so quickly I hardly had time to prepare for your coming.  But I guess that’s all right, I know you don’t mind.  Your arrival probably got more fanfare elsewhere than it did among us in Jerusalem this year, but I just wanted to say welcome.  Welcome, with all your surprises, challenges, vistas, growth, and travels.  I forgot to ask you to do away with the Finnish snow, but I figured it’s fine as long as somewhere up your sleeve you have a beautiful summer.  I will appreciate your wintery shawl as well as your summer sundress, your spring raincoat, and your autumnal partying.  I am happy you have come, and I leave our acquaintance and short 365.25-day journey together in the hands of the Creator who has allowed me to live long enough to meet you. 

Your friend,

Laila