Parables of the Lost

(Some posts are just here, I've decided. Subscribe or follow using the google + or rss links to the right if you want an alert when I've posted. I figure you'll find your way here if there's something here you need. Or you'll share it with others if you think it's something they need. Otherwise, I just need to write to that unnamed void that makes me think more deeply about how I perceive things. Helps me process. Helps me...stay in tune.)

I sat down in my New Testament class feeling odd.  How long had it been since coming to a class so unprepared?  Huh. Didn't even know what was assigned.

Because of that, the first slide glowing on the screen as I took my seat had more power to pull me in. It read:   

 "Parables of the Lost"

"How many of you have ever lost something and what have you lost?" my teacher asks. Fellow students name things off: wallets, keys, money. The teacher keeps prodding. He wants a category no one's mentioned.  I know what it is, but I don't trust myself to speak at the moment.  He tries a different angle and the feelings that are all too fresh, swell even more. "What are some emotions you might feel when losing something?" Answers come: Fear. Panic. The teacher asks what kinds of things we might lose that would bring those feelings. Wallets, keys and money are stated again.

He won't give it to them. He waits. Ugh. Fine. "Anguish" I say.
 
"Okay. Anguish. That's not a common emotion, Kate. What might you lose that would prompt that kind of emotion?"

"Losing someone, not something."

Lemonade out of Lemons

The day Adam and I were married, an elderly man recognized the tell-tale signs of a man about to be married, "Big day, huh?" he commented.  "Yes.  It sure is!" Adam replied.  Then, curiously, the man said, "What's your name, anyway brother?"  Adam told him, "Adam Day."  The man lit up with excitement. "That's a very special name, do you realize why?" He had that look of anticipation - like he was about to tell him something profound.  Adam could not think of why his name was special.  He'd always thought it was a little old-fashioned. "Because," the man continued, "the first day man was found on the earth, his name was Adam."

I realized something about the story of Adam and Eve a few nights ago.

Daisy Darling

Warning: This post goes through a dark tunnel - but there is light at the end.

Hey Daisy darlin'

Don't spread your arms so wide

Why don't you keep

A little something inside

I know you think that hands are made

For pullin' us through

But there are people in this world

Who don't think like you do

Hey Daisy darlin'

Don't give them all you can

Why don't you keep

A few more cards in your hand

I know you'll only say a thing

You believe to be true

But there are people in this world

Who don't think like you do

And they don't think like you do

And some don't

Think at all

Hey Daisy darlin'

Don't take it all as red

Why don't you ask

A few more questions instead

I know you think that everyone

Should be paid what they're due

But there are people in this world

That don't think like you do

And they don't think like you do

And some don't

Think at all

Hey Daisy darlin'....
(repeats first verses)

~"Daisy" by Karine Polwart

I've never been able to figure out for sure if Polwart is being ironic.  Part of me thinks she means it all literally. A description of some naive little girl thinking the world should be simpler than it is and gently trying to tell her to see its complexity; to guard herself; that its better to keep more inside and not share so freely. Gentle counsel to a delicate flower in an effort to toughen her up so she can survive.  Or if Polwart is speaking to the world. Showing it how it's crushing daisies.

Dick and Jane on the Radio

I know many people who have a desire to learn a language that I've become fluent in.  It's not their native tongue.  In fact, it's a language that is so foreign to some people that they don't even realize it's a language.  And yet it's so familiar that they are exposed to it on a daily basis.