All is quiet. The cicadas are almost ready to take a break after a few noisy months. In Indonesia, they appear annually, marking the end of rainy season with their 2-3" gobs of insect-ness.
The security guys across the street are catching a python as we walk by today. They toss it and it's beautiful yellow head into an empty rice sack (more below).
The month of Ramadan is over. The all-night shouts, firecrackers, chants, and parties have subsided. People are eating normally after a month of fasting food and water during daylight hours. We feel the change in the air.
Thursday, May 13, 2021 - Ascension Day
Today is an Indonesian national holiday. We celebrate Jesus going back to his heavenly Father. Imagine the rejoicing in heaven when he sat down at the right hand of God, his saving work for humanity accomplished! I meditate on that all week long. How astonishing to have the confidence of salvation - because God himself has won it, accomplishing what we could not do for ourselves.
I read the scriptures: The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Hebrews 1:3)
... and
Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. (Hebrews 10:11-13)
The Indonesian Muslim authorities agree that God will bring up the right phase of the moon today so that Ramadan officially ends for Muslims. This year the government forbade the annual pilgrimage home (mudik) so many families are celebrating more quietly. Some plan to travel next week instead.
Many simply ignore or work around the regulations, so we are wondering if there will be a spike in COVID in the next weeks and months. What if people from hard-hit urban centers transfer the flu to the countryside? That happened in India. We pray for the safely of Indonesia.
It's almost impossible for Indonesian Muslims to imagine not going back to their village and family roots during Lebaran at the end of Ramadan. (Compare the expectations of a Western family's to see each other during Thanksgiving and Christmas.)
The traditional foods are packed away for another year ... but how we have all enjoyed them. (Below, boiled rice packets.)
Friday
The house is quiet since the helpers have the half-week off. In such a disappointing season for them, a few extra days of vacation can't hurt.
For lunch, we order in delicious Korean food from a little shop down the hill. It's $8, delivered, enough for both of us with some left over.
In one of my old journals, I find a +25-year old paper relic from raising kids. Our youngest (now 32) was happy anywhere if he could draw. He was always creating detailed games or military figures. (This was before computer games were a thing.) He refused pens from the time his 12-mo-old fingers could hold a pencil. That's when he started drawing. He starting writing letters at 3. We kept paper and a pencil nearby through elementary school. (This sketch is from Grade 2 or 3.)
On the porch, another of Dr.Ingrid's orchids is in bloom. Two cream and orange-brown flowers droop on spindly stems over the sides of the pot. What variety and splendor in every version.
Saturday
This morning, I find the quilt I finished last year and drape it on the LR sofa as an experiment. It looks a bit busy for the room.
Later in the morning, it takes 1 1/2 hours to baste 3 layers of fabric for the next quilt. I pull out the sewing machine and experiment with machine quilting. Then I have to tear out all the circles and swirls I just made. I'm not good enough yet to do machine quilting - that will take some practice. The quilt will look better done by hand anyway. Argh. I find a golden thread, put away the machine, and toss the basted turquoise layers into the "need-a-project" basket.
Friends come over for pizza night. W's experimenting with pizza crusts; this version is thin and crispy. We declare it a winner.
We enjoy W's homemade pizza with good company, socially distanced and outside. See the layers of distance in the pic, taken just before they leave? Our guests bring their dog Casey along to play with our 3, which ensures lively exercise and doggie conversation (barking at the gate anytime a dog decides to check it out).
Fun. It does our hearts good to see them.
Sunday
Before our gatherings and meetings, we head out the door to walk the dogs. They know to sit and wait near me while W opens the gate. Good doggies.
W doesn't even notice the Mom and kids who stop to look at the dogs, still wearing their pajamas. The dad's in street clothes, but the others? PJs are as modest as anything else and not unusual around here. W is surprised when I point it out.
Monday
Today as we walk, a jaga (security guy) is holding a long bamboo stick. He is poking the hedge across the street from the office. "What's going on?" we ask.
"I saw a big snake in there," he tells us. Another man wanders over to help. They catch a reticulated python, at least 7-8 feet long. (picture above)
Since he sweeps the street and parking area each morning and afternoon, it's good to capture and remove such reptiles. That hedge is often overgrown with grasses and weeds. It is the privacy screen for Bumi Sangkuriang, a historic resort. That can't be safe for the hundreds of wedding guests and others who use the grounds every month.
Last year, a poisonous snake bit a dog running along the same hedge. That was the end of the dog. He was off leash and exploring a few meters from the street, where his owners were walking. He died within minutes. Needless to say, none of us let the dogs pee along that stretch.
On a happier note, I get to talk to my mom every morning. It's nighttime for her in western Canada, so we chat before she goes to bed on the opposite side of the clock. Our conversations and prayers together are a precious gift. She's lovely inside and out.
Heads up: I'm taking a pause from social media to rest my brain for a week. See you when I get back. Have a great week everyone. No snakes, please.
Read more:
*Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.
Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this. He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. Psalm 37:1-6
*The Lord has established his throne in the heavens and his kingdom rules overall. Psalm 103:19
*It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3:26
*May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ. 2 Thessalonians 3:5
*Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory. Revelation 19:6-7
Moravian Prayer: God of the silence, God of the stillness, we ask for your steadying presence today. Help us take time out of our hectic and noisy lives to be still, be quiet, and listen for you. Bring us calm, bring us peace, we pray.
Ruler of nations, to you is also due all praise. Alleluia! Your throne is in the heavens; you rule overall. Alleluia! Ceasing never, may we ever sing your praise.
Alleluia! Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
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