That is one of my favourite quotes ~ a massive understatement after her *annus horribulus* & it always makes me laugh. However mad our homelife gets at least I'm not subjected to seeing it play out in the international press!
So after a day pottering through the local thrift shops after some extra cutlery & things we can use as finger bowls & serving platters I came home & helped heft the ramp into place ready to be screwed down on Monday & pottered round the yard some more. When I got tired I made a cuppa & sat in the autumn sunshine on the deck letting my thoughts wander as I watched the tide swirl through the mangroves.
The deck is Issi's favourite place to be. He can see everything, find the sun, sprawl in the shade, sniff the one hundred & one scents on the air. I became aware that absolute hordes of birds were flitting through the treetops & the air was electric with birdsong. Beneath the warmth of the sun was an autumn crispness, sweet & tart as an apple.
It is at moments like this God tends to talk to me ~ probably because I shut up long enough to realise I'm being spoken to! I've been putting information in & putting information in & letting it bubble & spark & percolate for the last few weeks but not really getting any clear sense of direction.Dearest has been off & running. Something about doing this festival has really sparked with him & he's full of ideas & knew just exactly what he wanted to see done. Not me. What I had envisaged as a little family thing & fairly quiet had taken on a life of its own & I was rather horror struck but as I sipped my coffee, one of those *perfect* cups of coffee that occasionally happen along, I was struck by how perfect the setting was for what we wanted to do.
And then it struck me. Not a lightening strike, just another meandering thought worming its way through my subconscious. Jesus was Jewish ~ racially, culturally, religiously. Now of course I knew that Jesus was Jewish. Duh! My mind makes odd connections. There I was idly thinking about the sort of things I do with the girls & the sort of things they do with each other & how that changes when any of the boys are around & how there are certain people I really miss being in my everyday life [everybody wave to Sheila now!] & homesickness & the sort of things that I get homesick for ~ an absolute mishmash! But Jesus was Jewish. He was born a Jew into a devout household. He lived as a Jew keeping the Law & he died as a Jew, cursed on a crucifix. The New Moon festival would have been a regular part of his life, something he celebrated with his family, his community, his synagogue.
I have my starting point & it is amazing how much falls easily into place when I get the first piece. I know the first reading now ~ & I know why I will choose it. I have two others ~ & I know why I have them. I have, unformed & malleable, the feel & form for introducing this festival, bringing together family & friends, but there is something else too, something that I have never come to terms with.I can never remember not living with a sense of *otherness*, a sense of not belonging, but it was a long time before I realised this was because this world is not my home. I am a stranger journeying here, a temporary resident only, a stranger & an alien. My home is elsewhere & in this world there is a constant sense of homesickness. I've lived with it so long I barely acknowledge it any more.
Now at the back of my mind [percolating away] I had the bit from Isiah 66 about the New Moon festival being reinstated when Christ returns & in the pit of my mind something stirred. I am going home. The family of God will gather round the table & I will recognise the rituals because they are the ones God set in place & are not of man. There will be familiarity, a sense of homecoming. More than anything else this feastival is a celebration of hope. Christ will return as the new moon returns. Where two or three are gathered in his name there will He be in the midst of them. *does little jig* Now I am looking forward to celebrating with everyone!
6 comments:
I do so like it when a plan comes together :o)
xc
There are only two choices in this existence:
homesickness or soul-sickness.
I feel as you do, homesick. I have always been intrigued with the Jewish festivals, but more so now that your family is putting them into practice. Ganeida, thank you so much for sharing your journey, your insights, and your faith with me.
You know already most likely that I love the "Don't worry about...." So how is Monday?
Hojos: Hey there, Hannibal! :P
Seeking: lol. the blurb's a reminder for those of us who are *numerically challenged* lol ~ me & one or two others. I was causing some confusion with my dates.
Something is starting to gel in my mind regarding the festivals. We may have to do this first one before I really get a sense of how God's leading but definitely Christ is at the centre & just the reminder that this is a festival he would have celebrated has been helpful. I have gone on~line chasing prayers & psalms that would have been traditional in a Jewish household, ones Jesus would have known & said. Just knowing that gives me a peculiar feeling.
That is really a treasure of a photo of you and your daughter. Thanks for another good read!
Not to sound sacreligious - but say "hi" to Jesus at that festival for me. You mentioned that He'd be there? :)
Enjoy your festival. I hope it gives you what you seek.
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