Day 5

A candle is a small thing.

But one candle can light another.

And see how its own light increases,

as a candle gives its flame to the other.

You are such a light. ~

Moshe Davis and Victor Ratner

Colour: Blue


Considering: The covenant with David


                  : the Star of David


                  : A man after God's own heart & the perfect man. 


                  :God's word as a lamp for my feet & a light to my path

Day 4.

 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:43~45

Colour: Green

Considering: the 4th covenant, the covenant with Moses

                     :The *Servant Candle*

                      : Temple symbolism; God with us; We, the temple for the Holy Spirit; dedicating the temple for the purposes of God.

This is about our half~way point so this is the night our focus shifts again from recieving gifts to thinking of different ways in which we can bless the others in our lives.  Always a good thing to remember to bless those who so bless us each day.   And the symbolism is already in place!  The servant candle lights all the others, as Christ lights His Own.  As we recieve, so we are to give.

Day 3.

Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who wrought miracles for our fathers in days of old, at this season. 2nd Blessing of the candles

Colour: yellow

Considering: The 3rd Covenant ~ Abram's covenant.

                     :  The Light of the Torah.

                     : Christ, the fulfillment of the law.

Dino shared that he was wondering all day what the 3rd covenant would be.  Now he knows! ☺

In other news...

The proper response, as Hanukkah teaches, is not to curse the darkness but to light a candle. ~ Irving GreenbergWhile those of you who celebrate Christmas are still busily preparing we are already part way through our celebrations.


Does it feel weird?

Sort of ~ but not as much as you might expect.  What I have noticed is how much even such a small shift has made a big shift in our focus.  It is far less fraught making because our emphasis is on the right things. Mostly.  I think. Sort of.

Let me explain.  Yesterday Dearest had a late dental appointment.  Knowing I was the driver I had planned a simple meal of soup & toasted sandwiches & Star made chocolate pudding for desert. There were orange sweets set out in a bowl. The gifts were pre~wrapped.  The candles are staying out.  I marked our bible passages for the men to read & we were done.  I have multiple nights for doing a variety of different things so one quieter night does not affect the overall whole badly. 

What have I noticed?  My kids are really engaging.  Dino is older of course but even Star, who is at that reluctant stage, is joinging in & enjoying it ~ & she has been most adamant that we not ditch Christmas.  The cats have joined in.  Julie has Hallelujah Hounds ~ we have Christian Cats.  Seriously.  Both cats park themselves in the midst of the doings, ears pricked, all attentive cattiness until we are done.  Then they suddenly disappear.

What are we learning?  What a question!  I forget, often, what a lot of strangeness I hold in my head & can take it for granted that my children also know all about these things.  They do not.  Not even close.  I think this is the first time we have systamatically gone through the biblical covenants.  What an eye~opener for the kids as they follow God's promises through from beginning to end! Personally I have a sense of expectation building because I know what is to come & by the 6th covenant you are at that point where you know 6 promises have been fulfilled, 2 are yet to come ~ & that is seriously exciting, folks!

Why?  So many reasons.  Partly our family is dispersed all over the world: Liddy is in Chile; Theo is up North; Jossie is in Europe.   Partly the Lord & I had a discussion about some of this several years ago because what is there to say about Christmas that hasn't been said ad nausaeum?  And the Lord showed me something I have never forgotten ~ as you don't when it is the Lord doing the telling.  Christmas is not about babies, angels, shephards, wise men.  It is about the cross.  The sole reason & purpose for Christ coming into the world was that He might journey towards the cross.  And ever since I have found the trivialisation of Christmas difficult to bear.  Do you know, have you studied, what it was like to be crucified?  Read a medical diagnosis sometime.  It is horrifying.  Completely & utterly apalling.

Is it right?  For us, yes.  Each day we have come under spiritual attack ~ & each day God's grace has been extended because there is a blessing attached to walking in the old paths.   There is a fulfillment of the promise Christ brings as the New Coventant merges with the Old & with it the peace that passeth understanding.

Day 2.

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. ~Psalm 8

Colour: Orange

Considering: "Let there be light."

                     : the 2nd Covenant [Genesis 9:9~16] BTW I have always found this an intriguing passage because it implies there is a judgement of the animals.  Go on!  Read it & see!

                     :The rainbow menorah candles.

Day One...

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John8:12

Colour: Red

Considering: The miracle of the temple oil, a story Jesus would have known

                  : The 1st covenant

                  : Christ, the light of the world.

The Ghost of Christmas Past.

"Lead on!" said Scrooge. "Lead on! The night is waning fast, and it is precious time to me, I know. Lead on, Spirit!" ~ A Christms Carol.

I was a gullible child.  I believed it all: tooth fairies; fairies of all types & sizes; Santa Claus; Rudolph's nose; flying reindeer; other, parallel worlds.  Nothing was too strange or far~fetched for my belief.

My mother has a knack for truly making things around her beautiful & so our house was always decorated for the season.  She spent hours handcrafting decorations, creating nibbles & making the pudding ~ which though I never ate it I always stirred for luck while holding my nose against its fruity richness.

My family are Queenslanders through & through.  We lived in Sydney, on the wrong side of the border.  There was no extended family for Christmas ~ ever.  My father, a pilot, was invariably working Christmas Day & my mother refused to let us so much as peek at anything until he arrived home.  Christmas Day was often very delayed in our house.

My mother is a list maker, a woman of routine & predictability.  No matter the levels of excitment there was order & things were done in a calm & seemly manner ~ starting with breakfast.  Then we almost invariably headed off to early church. Everyone else always seemed to have been up for hours & opened all their presents already.  We were still in a pother of anticipation, the stockings stuffed & sitting under the tree, wonderful & tantilizing boxes scatterd unopened.  Delayed gratification.  It is an important lesson to learn.

Even when my father arrived home we had to wait while he changed out of his uniform, poured himself a glass of Christmas Cheer & prepared to play Santa Claus because we were never ever allowed to dive at the pile of presents searching for our things & rip, tear, bust through everything.  Things were handed out one at a time.  We each got to see & admire each others gifts & share in their excitment.  It was prolonged & orderly.  A good thing because we were not a particularly well off family when I was little.  Comfortable, but not rolling.

Our Christmas tree was a live minature pine.  For 11 months of the year it grew in a pot beside the front door.  The week before Christmas it was dragged indoors & strewn with lights & baubles & tinsle streamers.  Stockings were pegged to the pot's rim.  The Nativity scene came out.  The days grew hot & languid.  School let out.  The anticipation mounted.  I remember.

I am not my mother.  Organisation is not my forte.  I do not cope well with hordes of demented children screaming through my house.  We always, always, kept Christmas low key.  Ours have never been allowed to just get up & rip into things.  They have been made to wait until everyone is up.  Star has had it worst.  By the time she came along the rest were of an age to appreciate sleep more than presents! We have gone to church, read scriptures, eaten a nice meal, shared some treats, remembered the whole reason for Christmas was the Cross.

I no longer believe in flying reindeer.  Rudolph's nose does not glow *like a lightbulb*.  Male reindeer lose their antlers in autumn so all Santa's reindeer must have been female   ~ & though some wit has remarked we should have known that 'cause only women could manage an around the world trip delivering presents in one night!  The logistics, the logistics...., female reindeer aren't designed for pulling sleighs. Christ was not born on December 25th.

The world has turned.  Christmas has become so commercialised it is almost unrecognizable as the celebration of my childhood. I hear far more about how much the big shops have made in profit than I do about the King of Kings & Lord of Lords. Christianity has lost followers at an alarming rate.  Disbelief & scepticism rule the day.  The grog is coming over by the truckload.  So very quietly, one step at a time, we are retreating from the worldly rush & babble, from the desperate consummerism, & recentering ourselves.

There are things that are important to us as a family that we wish to address more deeply. So while I know Hannukah has been & gone this year I have taken some Jewish wisdom.  There is nothing wrong with celebrating per se. I do have issues with all the pagan elements  but that's me.  We are not calling it Chritmas ~ where is the mass in Christmas? I am not putting up a tree or doing cards.   We are not doing anything except attend church & have a nice meal on the day itself but all this week we are focusing on the Light coming into the world.  We are giving gifts, small necessary things ~ one for each person each night.  We are doing the coloured candles & the coloured candy.  We are preparing because Dino & I want to start the new year with a 21 day fast & there is no way that will happen easily if we have been absolute gluttons over Christmas. So...

I am being intentional in my celebrations this year.  It is hard.  I am not an intentional person.  I tend to wing it.  With the rest of the world going crazy we are trying to remain sober & restrained.  And we plan on having a jolly good time while we do it!

Catty Tales.

Never play cat & mouse games if you're a mouse. ~ Don Addis

They're worse than children!  Seriously.  I think I own the most demented cats around ~ which is saying something because cats, on the whole, display a wide range of completely neurotic behaviours in their efforts to manipulate the world around them.

 Marlow & Kirby, like the other set of twins I own, are either in a love or hate relationship with each other.  There is no middle ground.  Most nights they will happily sleep tail to tail.  Dearest, who often sleeps badly, informs me they stand guard over me all night long & visit me to reassure themselves I am sleeping well.  As they don't disturb me I cannot verify this rather strange tale.  What I do know is I woke the other night to find Kirby dying by degrees because Marlow was in a bait & had his jaws firmly clamped round his brother's jugular!  I gave him a mighty swat whereupon I got the highly injured look that plainly asks: What have I done?

Each night I clamber awkwardly up our stairs grasping my large armful of cat because if I do the sensible thing & carry them up separately there is an all out war over the favouritism of who got in first.  Meanwhile, as bedtime approaches, both cats start circling my computer chair waiting for the first indications that there is movement bedroomwise. And no, they will not walk upstairs on their own at bedtime.  They expect to be petted, coddled & carried & if I don't a great wailing ensures that is guarrenteed to wake the sleepers & have the workers roaring to shut those animals up! So yes, they are very indulged.

Kirby, however, decided to go one better.  Instead of bringing himself downstairs in the mornings he perched on the drawers & cried until I came & got him.  Of course he made this a perfectly acceptable behaviour by greeting my arrival with lavish delight, stretching himself up along my chest, wrapping his forepaws around my neck, & burrowing in with huge rumbling purrs.  Who could resist?

 Marlow one~upped him by refusing to get out of bed at all, ensuring a steady stream of visitors anxious about his well~being & prepared to chuck him under the chin.  Both cats are very high strung & though they are pretty relaxed it doesn't take much to spook them so alerted by Marlow's pricked ears & alert attentiveness I investigated.

I swear, it's not just the cats.  Everything that lives round here is looney~tunes!  This was playing with Kirby.  Yes, I said playing.  He wasn't in the least afraid of Kirby, as he most certainly should have been, & when I arrived on the scene to remove my cat he came out to investigate me, nose twitching curiously, bright eyes regarding me with decided interest ~ & he hung around while I got the camera & took pictures. 

An Episode of Mishaps.

Standing there, staring at the long shelves crammed with books, I felt myself relax and was suddenly at peace ~ Helene Hanff.

Twice a year, or thereabouts, we go into the big Christian bookstore, Koorong, & spend waaay too much money. To date, Liddy has been the driver.  This is not good news for directionally dysfunctionals like Star & I because when we want to go by ourselves it is never straightforward.  Having discussed the issue with my Star we decided the outer suburb one was a better option than the inner city one because  there was less traffic, the parking was easier & Star could drive.  Oh, & Star said she thought she knew where this one was!

There are no prizes for guessing she did not have a clue.  We crossed the highway heading the wrong way in to town.  We crossed the highway heading the wrong way down to the Gold Coast.  We crossed the highway....all I can say is Star's driving hours increased dramatically!!!!  We crossed the highway so many times we needed to find fuel.

Having discovered on the boat that thanks to Dearest distracting me at the critical moment I had left my card at home we were down to Star's & Star, naturally, had no idea if she could even remember her pin!  While she went to find out I investigated the catalogue for an address & the refedex for directions.  She'd actually been pretty close but having come through on a different road to the one she knew, had become disoriented.

Star being Star put fuel in the car [ a process which required me standing beside her for moral support because she'd never done this before!  How hard can it be to put fuel in a car?] & chocolate in us.  By then we needed it.

However we did eventually find Koorong, which is good for mainstream stuff ~ not so good if you want something even a little unusual.  Just the same God is invariably very good to me.  I had bookmarked something for Dino, who is even more computer illiterate than I am, & which he hadn't got round to watching ~ & there it was, in book form, for under $10~. Score!  I wandered happily until Star made it really plain she was bored witless then gathered up our goodies to do battle with the checkout where we have a discount on at least one person's details but weren't sure if any of us had changed those to the new ones.  No, we have never claimed to be the well organised sort.

We then headed back to our regular stomping grounds so Star could make her purchases ~ an exercise that always leaves me reeling & exhausted, especially when said purchases involve me.  I adore my daughter but she has decided my rather unispired dressing style needs to change.  Considering my figue in a full length mirror does nothing for my ego & is an exercise I usually manage to avoid by the simple process of sticking to Ts & trackies, 2 articles of clothing I know my size for & can buy off the rack in the plainest styles & colours.  This does not suit my flibberty~gibbit daughter who promptly chose something long, flowing & flowery.  Um, no.  I have tactile issues about bits of me touching other bits of me.  Eventually she chose a rather nice top ~ with accessories!  OK, so I do do dangly ear~rings  & a couple of plain rings but I rarely wear any other jewellery.  Tactile issues again.  I can get fraught very quickly by things touching my skin. *sigh*  The things I do for love.

We got home only to immediately head out the door again for the island carol night.  This is one activity Star absolutely adores & insists on attending no matter how difficult & fraught making it is to achieve.  She says it is the only performance where she gets to be in the audience ~ which is sorta true.  It is totally for fun & as we are invariably running late we invariably end up in front row seats where the Singers, who all know Star very well indeed, target her as their audience responder.  Nothing loathe Star plays along!

We had a great crowd ~ the best in years.  It wasn't too hot & Star & I always head towards the alto section where Star's cracking voice is not so noticable & I have some hope of hitting some of the notes some of the time!   All the hours & hours of sitting in singing classes is paying off in the strangest ways.  I've known most of these voices for years.  Now I am hearing quite clearly strengths & faults & the ravages of age ~ & for a good part of the programme [& lets face it most carols are not musically difficult] was able to hold an alto part against the high soprano on my right!  My friend, Sian, had a solo & whatever she has done this last year her voice has improved out of sight!  The timbre, the richness, the control ~ just amazing!  Lovely to listen to.

So just feeling my way throught this season because one of the things of course is that if we want everybody to be able to participate in something we have to take into account their schedule & everybody's schedule is geared around Christmas.  Still, the Lord has given me one or two ideas & Christmas being on a Sunday this year makes things so much easier. To really plan out what I would like to do requires not running like a mad woman all through September.  And October.  And November.  And all of December.  Which is unlikely in the short term.  But one day it will happen.

God is a Homeschooler.

We remember 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 30% of what we see, 50% of what we see & hear, 70% of what we discuss with others, 80% of what we personally experience & 95% of what we teach others.~  Edgar Dale.

As I read round about I keep returning to one thing ~ well, one thing for the present!  Maybe it's because I'm a homeschooler.  Maybe I'm just that way.  Whatever. 

 If you've ever struggled to remove the blank stare from a child's eyes that tells you they just don't get it then you get that teaching is not always a joy~filled experience.  On the other hand there is nothing quite like watching the light break & understanding flood a child's mind!  The trick is to make it happen!

I mean, one of the biggest hurdles for us as homeschoolers as Star has got older is dealing with the department of education mentality that says everything needs to be written down.  Why?  Star is then working in her weakest learning style ~ & we know all about learning styles in this house because none of mine learn well in traditional ways!  Being a visual myself I don't do so well with the kinesthetics & hands on learners ~ which is what most of mine are.  They are exhausting.

And then I started researching about the Jewish festivals & you know what?  God is a homeschooler!  Seriously.  We've all been here, right?  Four kids, four different learning styles & we're struggling to pull a lesson plan together that isn't going to take more than it's alloted hour & which all four children will *get*.  Near impossible even with hours upon hours of ground work.  Someone is going to whinge about something the entire way through. 

Every time I study the festivals I am struck anew by this.  There is something for the eyes [visual learner], something for the ears [auditory learner], something to do [hands on learner] & enough movement to keep a kinesthetic engaged.   What's more [despite the disputed reliability of Dale's figures] all the festivals encourage both discussion & teaching.  Think how the very youngest at a Jewish Passover asks the important questions.

This struck me again as we struggle to move our family away from the traditional Christmas thing because I can hamstring myself all over the place.  I want to keep it simple a la my Quakerish impulses.  I want to move it to the left & closer to our shared Jewish roots.  I understand God is for lavish celebrations ~ according to His guidelines.  I want to ensure the focus our family maintains is Christ centred.  Seem obvious?  Amazing how unlikely this is even in Christian homes when there is all the excitement of a tree & presents.

I have used this book for purely practical purposes.  It is full of wonderful food, games, bible readings, music etc for each of the feasts but I find it quite difficult to use.  Nothing seems to be organised in the sort of way I organise things & all the various bits seem to be all over the place.  It is a really large heavy book too.  As mine are older now a lot of the consumables are not for us ~ though later perhaps for grandchildren?  Also I find it incredibly verbose when there is no need to be & weighted with solemnity; I'm not a very solemn person so that tends to have me rolling my eyes rather like Star & stifling a yawn of boredom but at the time it was the best & most detailed information I could find & I still appreciate it for that.

This is the other book I have found really helpful.  It is not about the festivals per se & I discussed the book here but I buy books that I can read multiple times on multiple levels & Perry is a man after my own hearrt.  He goes beyond the surface.  He digs deep.  And he understands something that has come to mean a great deal to me:  Jesus was an orthodox, practising Jew.  As I seek to follow Him more closely I want to understand & appreciate what He understood & appreciated during His earthly walk & that includes the festivals; The Jewish festivals.  Christ never celebrated Christmas.  Or Easter.  These are foreign concepts, man~made imports that have rather succesfully obscured our roots & the things God Himself implemented to teach us how to succesfully walk in His way.

I do get that very few seem to be getting called this way but if you refer to the quote above you will realise we retain 95% of what we teach others.  So, um, yeah, you're just my way of ensuring I remember what I read! lol