notes on incarnation

well, it has taken me almost ten years of living here in Kentucky to finally worship at the local temple.  i am speaking of university of kentucky (UK) college basketball at rupp arena.  i did see U2 at rupp so the stadium has been blessed by the high priests of entertainment.  my brother, brad, scored us 2 free tickets for this weekends game and what a game it was.  UK (known as the wildcats) is one of the most storied college basketball programs in the country and is loved and loathed across the nation (perhaps in the same spirit as my dear collingwood magpies).  this year they are just worse than miserable and the whole state of kentucky is bewildered, frustrated, and angry.  they are not used to losing.  anyway, isaac and i walked down to the stadium (nice to live downtown) and joined the crowds to see them play Vanderbilt (who were unbeaten)  -  and our beloved wildcats managed to win!  isaac and i believe it had everything to do with our screaming and cheering...and also spelling out "C-A-T-S...CATS! CATS! CATS!" every two minutes.

so i am making the missionary journey of incarnation, learning to love the local team and the local sport.  it aint no Magpies at the G but is what they love here (and subsequently talk about in the pubs and bars).  while i make the transition, isaac gets the full, from-scratch treatment.  i am glad to raise him as a wildcats fan and a real kentuckian.  one other hurdle we had to overcome was a young star center playing for the opposition was an aussie over here on scholarship.  we didn't cheer for him once.  now that is real incarnation.

here is isaac taking in the action:

our street

it snowed in the week following christmas and i snapped this picture from our front door.

inbox of hope

this week our inbox has been full and busy but i recognized how much of it was overflowing with good stuff.  we've had great news from many directions about the community garden i've been working on - a grant for $7,000 and additional partnerships in the city - it is a great work in progress.  also, there's been news of work my father and his church in north georgia have been doing to gather furniture and material support for refugees that is much-needed here in lexington.  through email i read of creation care meetings and green loans.  i closed down the computer one morning at pat's coffee shop and i felt the lightness of hope from these good things.  i made a point of walking home via the future site of the 3rd st community garden and i marveled at what god is accomplishing in our midst.  rarely do i find such joy from email.

day one alone

yesterday was lovely.  the first day of the new year and all was cold and quiet.  in continued gratitude for the time together (and knowing isaac was having a ball with his birmingham family) we indulged in complete relaxation. 

first, we slept until 8 am.  slow to get up, we had cups of tea in bed with the sunday times.  then we cooked and baked together: wheat bread, rye bread, chocolate cake (very rich and dense), veggie soup and potato curry.  we didn't eat  until about 11 am and we enjoyed b'fast out of a french cookbook - dippy egg and toast sticks spread with artichokes and goat cheese puree - while watching a bit of little britain. 

after cooking while watching an intense australian film in the kitchen, we went for a walk through the city as the snow fell and watched a late afternoon matinee of sweeney todd (terribly gory but very clever) at the downtown kentucky theatre.

our walk home was brisk and slippery and the house was sadly dark and quiet.  we took down the christmas tree decorations while listening to some ricky gervais stand-up comedy.  finally, we cozied up on the couch and watch a sweet british film that jodie recommended - driving lessons - while i knitted geoff's cardigan (one more arm to go).  finally, we finished the night with an episode of doctor who (series three, our christmas gift to each other).

a gift from my sister

as we wrapped up our christmas holiday at home we received a very unexpected gift from my sister.  due to a change in our travel plans (we'll be returning to georgia next weekend to speak to a church about refugee resettlement) my sister, dacy, offered to take isaac home with her to spend a week with her family.  what a lovely woman - she was actually eager to see it happen.  she has two children, maryellen - 11 and marc - 8, that isaac adores.  they won't be back to school work yet so isaac will have the rare opportunity to be with family for longer than a weekend and get a taste of sibling life.

although we will no doubt miss our boy, it is such a gift of time to us.  yesterday we quickly worked through the head-turning disorientation of "where's isaac", "i thought you had him" feelings to move on to the bright expanse of the week and the almost endless possibilities of margin and space - three nights in a row of dates, seeing movies, and reading the paper in bed.  this morning started beautifully with a sleep-in until 7.20. 

thank you dacy (here she is with our niece, mayson).

georgia aquarium

i (geoff) took my brother brad, cousin shamira, and isaac to the georgia aquarium in downtown atlanta.  it is an incredible display of God's creative ways...from the smallest sea horse to the massive whale sharks and beluga whales.

here's isaac watching some jelly fish...

fish and chips, anyone?

good friends, good food

the very wonderful k's offered their home for a christmas party last week.  it was a beautiful evening and a typically kind and hospitable Bosnian event.  meandering conversations, excellent food (some bosnian favorites such as baclava and pita) and drink.

thanks k's!

 

 

christmas morning

isaac was more than thrilled to open some gifts on christmas morning.  it was good to have brad (geoff's brother) and shamira (geoff's cousin) with us to share in the christmas morning joy.

 

Communion with fruit from the promised land

anticipating the nearly-with-us new year (a time for considering the future/past/present), here's the notes i made for a recent eucharist at one of our high st (communality) gatherings...

We have heard today about the importance of our being more than sentimental memory keepers. We are encouraged by the writers of the New Testament to be far more ambitious in our remembering. We are called to believe that these times of ritual and celebration are in fact moments when the future world God is making – the Kingdom of God – comes into the present.

The future fullness of God’s re-made world penetrates our time and space, affirming the story of God’s work through history and all the while, remaking us. We are invited to taste the goodness of a world re-made by God, a world that has gone through the trauma and struggle of re-birth. As we gather in this way and eat in this way we are like midwives to new creation - to each other’s rebirth and to the coming kingdom.

In the Passover – the meal where Jesus taught us these things - Hebrew people don’t just recall past history. Instead, they enter into the reality that they are exodus people freed from slavery. This Eucharist meal calls us Jesus followers to that same awareness– we are the people, this is the night! So, at the same time we are here in Lexington, gathered as the people of God, we are also the disciples in that upper room, and last, but not least, we are also the heirs of the kingdom, gathered to eat the messianic banquet in the new heaven and the new earth. Past, Present, and Future.

In Numbers(13:17ff), when the children of Israel are still on the border of the Promised Land, Moses sends spies to check things out.

“Moses sent them to spy out the land…he told them to be bold and bring some of the fruit of the land …grapes, pomegranates, and figs.”

Can you imagine the people of God as they first tasted the fruit of the land they would someday soon call their own? Grape juice coursing down smiling faces. As we pass the cup and the bread, and as we gather to eat together, can we also dare to expect that we are indeed tasting the goodness of food from the celebration feast hosted by Jesus - our brother and our God?

(geoff)

privileged choices

on the way home from lunch with the kovacevics on friday, we ran by one of the local food pantries to drop off a small donation from our cupboard.  i laid in bed the other morning and recalled a recent article in the paper that lamented the dramatic food pantry shortages across the city and the country.  unfortunately, due to federal funding cuts and other economic factors, pantries that normally compensate for the needs of the working poor and underprivilged are bare. 

i got out of bed and gathered any staples we had (again, based on what we have it was hardly generous) and we donated them today.  as i approached the door, i had to first encounter the gaze of about eight people waiting to receive help.  as i walked away, the stunning privilege of choice dawned on me.  i thought of all the times i've stood in a grocery isle and debated over type and shape pasta - penne, plain, whole wheat, or organic...hmmm, what suits?  those who suffer in poverty are stripped of so much - security, often opportunity (yes, even in this country), dignity and with it, the ability to choose.  today, those who gratefully get free food from one of these places end up with whatever others decide to give.