Creativity

Creativity.

I’ve got an idea for a novel and I’m excited to develop it. Spent the morning trying to visualise the main character. Trying to hear her. Imagining her into being.

I think of writing as fun, but actually, a lot of hard work goes into it.

In the beginning, God spoke creation into being. But he still talks of it as hard work, as he needed time off to recover from the effort.

Praying for some of his creative genius to bless my efforts.

Quality of light

Just watched Mhairi mime sunshine streaming through her window (in southern California), so thought I’d take a photo of the sunshine struggling through my window (in northeastern Scotland). Both are beautiful, with different qualities. 

I have also just listened to the inspirational Dr Martin Luther King Jr deliver a stirring talk on love and its power to overcome every evil thing. He talked of Nicodemus’ encounter with Jesus at night, when Jesus counselled him to be ‘born again’. Dr King extended the advice to America itself, suggesting that the USA needed to be ‘born again’, to have a whole new structure of equality and opportunity for all based in love.

How we need to hear these words today, not just in America but worldwide.

Dr King’s words bring light streaming through the darkness, perhaps in the way Mhairi is experiencing the strong sunshine of southern California. May the words of my mouth and keyboard today allow the sunshine to struggle through and bring encouragement and inspiration to others. 

I took time to clean that window on Saturday, so now I can focus on what lies outside and not be distracted by the smudges and film of grime filtering the view. It takes a little time to clean up my actions and attitudes before the light can pass through unhindered, so that others can focus on the light and not on the messed-up life of the light-bearer.

This is the day the Lord has given. A bit of effort from me, so that Jesus’ light can shine through. God bless your day.

Sabbath

Church. Souper Sunday Lunch to raise money for HIV Aids. Home to a roaring fire, a hot coffee, and yesterday’s newspaper and crossword.

Sabbath rest. Love it.

Pirates!

Just back from a pirate party for a 3 year old. It was wonderful – the theme ran through all the decorations and costumes and food. Well done, Jemma!

We themed birthday parties round pirates lots of times for our kids when they were growing up – so much to use for decorations, costumes, food, and even games.

I’m thinking, though, how odd it is that we treat violent, brutal outlaws as if they are cute and fun. (A little like the thunder-snow of my blog the other day, how we enjoy flirting with danger but don’t really want to be bitten by it.)

There is an aspect of human nature that is drawn to the wild side. It’s just not cool to be too ‘Pollyanna-ish’ – an expression from my American growing-up years where Pollyanna was a movie heroine who was so good she just couldn’t be real. 

And yet...

Why should we think that? Maybe we’ve believed the lie that we’re all basically awful, even more heartless than the animals. When the truth is that we were created in the image of God, who is love, who is pure, who is good. Yes, he gives us free will and we can choose not just to flirt with, but to become totally enmeshed with, the ‘wild’ side, but it’s our choice. 

It might be good to celebrate some heroes who don’t make people walk the plank, who don’t murder and steal, so that our children have better role models on whom to base their understanding of who they intrinsically are.

Yes, we will all make wrong choices and mess up, but deep down, we want them to remember that they are sons and daughters of the King of Kings.

Thunder Snow

Thunder snow

Wow, that sounds so impressive! It’s the prediction for the weather here today, but so far the sun is shining out of a clear, cold blue sky. I see it’s snowing on the west coast, but no sign of the powerful thunder snow up here (yet)...

Then again, do I really want thunder snow and all its potential disruptions? It sounds like it could not only trap us in our home through treacherous roads, but also blitz our power or our internet or telephone or everything. 

Funny how we seem to have an inherent urge to flirt with the wild side, to experience something that gives us a thrill because it is intrinsically full of danger. Of course we all want to walk away unscathed and get on with our lives, but there is a frisson of excitement at the thought of high drama in the weather forecast.

The disciples weren’t too chuffed when their trip across the water turned into a struggle with violent winds and seas. They cried out to Jesus for help and he expressed wonder at their lack of faith, before calming the storm. 

I don’t think any of us court testing times in our lives, but the odd brush with exciting weather ... gets the blood pumping.

Sid the Skier

I know Christmas 2016 is done and dusted, but I just came across this picture of the decoration on our Christmas cake. Unorthodox to say the least. Sid the Skier out of control on a wintry landscape.

None of the usual Santa Clauses, snowmen, or stars of Bethlehem. 

And that’s just what you can see. What you can’t tell from the picture, is that Mhairi fashioned Sid from the cling-film-wrapped stuff she found in the fridge, which I had agreed was marzipan left over from the icing of the cake. It was only when I came to roll out the pastry for the pecan pie that I realised she’d grabbed the wrong cling-film-wrapped dough ball, and used some of the short crust pastry intended for the pie, to create Sid! Once I confirmed I had enough remaining pastry for the pie, a roar of hilarious laughter went up from the kitchen at the ‘hillock.

The other thing you can’t see from the picture is that the pink food colouring was about a decade or more out of date. Bequeathed to me when Jamie gave up his catering business, I have dripped out food colouring occasionally for cakes and cookies, never realising that even food colouring has a best before date. So far nobody has been poisoned (to my knowledge anyway...)

There is always a back story to every picture. Some tell sad tales; some reveal secrets and others are just plain funny. 

Jesus says not to judge each other. Cut each other some slack. Give others a break, the benefit of the doubt. Even the most unlikeable character has a reason for his/her behaviour. Not everyone behaves in orthodox ways. Not everyone – maybe not anyone – is exactly as she appears: we never know the recipe that makes a person how they are. Not everything past their sell-by date should be discarded...

This year I intend to lighten up. To look for the joy in every situation. To recognise that nothing is really just what we see; no-one is completely what we think we know.