Broken eyebrows, the theology of masks, and slivers of chocolate

Friday, August 20, 2021

On the clock, we're a day offset to where our family lives = for special events, we celebrate them for 2 days, ours and theirs. We miss family and friends most, living here.

Happy Birthday (again), Kirsten! We call her over breakfast while night is falling in TX. We've popped into Pino Terrace #NaraPark for breakfast after a long walk. Their shrimp fritters are so good.

The huge Nara tortoises have already had their daily scrub-down (yes, it's a thing) and their water bowl is already clean.

On the way home, I check if the dead scorpion has been scraped off the street. It has.

But we see a few dead toads, run over by motorcycles. Last week it was a big lizard. I'm so tempted to make a collage with all the dry dead animals we see on the road. Some of them are beautiful! So far, W has managed to dissuade me. They'd probably have to be baked further and treated so they don't rot or mold - that's what's deterring me the most.

There's so much wildlife in tropical neighborhoods. Wherever you have shrubs or grass, you have a thriving ecosystem. Snakes. Ants. Roaches. Big flying and crawling insects. Birds. Butterflies. Worms. Rats. Mice. Monkeys. Squirrels. Civets. Lizards. The occasional sloth. And more. With no cats in the yard (our dogs chase them away), many critters thrive. However, when beasties come into the house, we put our foot, thumb, or a trap down.

Privacy is a great gift in this city of millions. We have no front yard. Two walls of the house are shared with neighboring houses while two sides of the house open to the backyard and driveway. The dogs are on patrol from one end to the other.

This afternoon, the garden is quiet except for birds and a few insects. A tokay burps his chant in a tree nearby. Not a leaf is stirring on this side of the mountain. The earlier rainstorm has passed. The light is golden and dim. It feels like a pause, not like we've seen all of what's coming. The dogs sprawl near where I read and write.

I grew up in the valley between mountains so it's hard to picture that we live in the mountains. Then we look across the valleys to ridges and peaks. We walk a flat-ish mile loop once or twice every morning and some afternoons. Well, it feels flats on the gradual climb ...  until we go the other direction. Then I'm shocked by how steep the downhill is. You get used to everything.

It's been a rough week in the news, both personal and global. So much is going on. National takeovers. Flares of illness. Two more Americans acquaintances died of Covid today. Add that to the many friends who are sick in hospital. We get updates each day ... and it makes for some long nights of prayer.

We send home-baked bread and cookies to a few neighbors. Friends reciprocate with their own treats. This small sharing of life and work offers human comfort, a little piece of our souls exchanged with each other. "We remember you. We hope you know you're important to us and others, even when we can't meet."

Today is the first day in ages that I've gone into a department store. For weeks, shops have only been allowed to open their grocery departments: the lockdown must have lifted a bit so we buy spray paint (touch-ups - always going on in the tropics), flower fertilizer, and a new spatula.

By the time we get home, we have to turn on the pump for a shower. City water is turned off after a few hours in the morning. A shower has to be quick: if we run the storage tanks dry, there's no water to flush the toilet. Every day, we empty the dehumidifier into jars beside the sink for washing our hands and faces in the evening. (Since W filters our drinking water, we have access to clean water day to night.)

Saturday

Ibu A is baking today. I ask her to fold peanut butter cookie dough around a piece of Chacha's new brand of chocolate. 

A little sliver of chocolate is just what the cookies need. The peanut butter cookie is good - but the "thumbprint" dough is delicious, too. IbuA amps up half of the recipe with sprinkles. Even better. She's a baking master.

When I need a break from work, the daily "Inchies" prompt provides 5 minutes or less of pure play, especially with the limited colors in my marker box. I look forward to a word each day from The Inchie Challenge. 

Join in the fun if you want to. It's an open group.

Day 5: Wood

Day 6: Sea

I almost like the backs better - they're more like watercolor. And the duration of marker on paper is evident.

Sunday

Although we're not yet meeting in person, BICOnline fills Sunday morning with community. We host a Chat afterward to discuss the Gathering. Sometimes it's a sticky theological question. Sometimes we catch up on how God and life intersect. We even discuss wild interpretations and fake news posted on the internet.

W makes a startling discovery in Leviticus (the rule-book on living in Israelite society, written by Moses). It's not the most exciting read until you imagine yourself at that time - moving from slavery to freedom and into a healthy society. What would you have to know?

The Bible is called the Living Word, right? It does come alive differently nearly every time you read, listen, or study. That's one of the reasons we love to chunk through long passages. This week, I've been listening through the Chronicles of the Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, plus the corresponding prophets (Haggai and Zephania).

As you hear the stories and prophecies repeated many times, you start to listen in a different way. Details stand out that you've never noticed. And that's what happened to W last night.

So ... we're walking through the neighborhood this morning when he pipes up with, "I just noticed something I've never seen before. Those with infections had to mask in scripture." We talk about it and when we get home, I look it up. Hey, the next verse also mandates quarantine if you're sick. Who knew? W writes a post on Leviticus 13:46 later in the morning.

Day 7: Broken (Our son and I have broken eyebrows, just in case you didn't know that's a thing.)

Read more:

*God has power to help or to overthrow. 2 Chronicles 25:8

*[God says,] Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. Isaiah 65:24

*God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

*Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Romans 8:34

*Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Philippians 4:4-5

Moravian Prayer: Christ Jesus, the light of your life shrinks the darkness of ours. We thank you for the blessing of your time with us, and ask that your love would always guide us closer to the light of your reign. Immanuel, may we know the blessing of tears that burst forth from the well of your joy. 

Merciful Savior, we seek the justice for which you freed us. May all our voices, in unrestrained harmony, celebrate your presence. Share with us in the rhythms of your celebration. As we carry this blessing of your forgiveness, guide us also to apply loving mercy to those who face abuse, that we may share your peace. Amen.