To give rather than to receive

St. Martin on his horse, leading the procession

Katarina with her processional lantern

Church pagent about St. Martin

Today is St. Martin's Day and we went to church in Grabenstätt at 5 pm.  The place was full of children and it was so exciting.  A pagent was performed that told the story of Martin who was a solider who did good things for others.  Eventually, he became a bishop and continued his good work.  (This is the condensed version of the story.)  All of the children brought lanterns that were lit as we left the church and we walked from the church through the town, through the old age home, by the cemetery, and then to the school where there was a huge bonfire and food for all.  The main purpose is to remind us to share and take care of one another.  This is especially true for the children - so that as we enter the Christmas season, we focus on the giving rather than the getting.  A nice way to begin this season.

Retraining Muscles

So - the suitcase was too heavy.  I was told before we boarded Amtrak to New York to catch QM2.  I had to take 10 pounds out and put into my "carry on" - the lovely red handbag that matched my swirling 4 wheeled monster.  My Dad gave them to me and I always feel so apparent when I use them.

The end result... deltoid strain/tear.  After 2 cortisone shots and a week's worth of pain relievers, I am now in rehab.  It is awesome.  The bottom line is that Julia (my therapist) wants to re-train my muscles.  The deltoid injury has caused my trapedius muscle to seize up and create incredible strain in my neck which has led to unbelievable pain in my left arm.  What intrigues me is that the pain to retrain the muscles will make it better.  And today - there was immense pain but already, after a rush of blood and feeling into my hand, it is better.

I have never been one to associate pain with healing.  The "no pain, no gain" campaign has not been something I understood.  Yet now, the notion that new strength can come from painful re-training make sense to me.  Another cliche becomes a true metaphor in life.

WRONG ABOUT "CALL ME MRS. MIRACLE"

Can you believe it?  The Canucks beat us to the punch!  There is a Canadian film company that has already bought the rights and plan to produce the film this year!!!!  And no where is Angela Lansbury!  Way to go "Oh Canada."

About the readings...

At some point, I promised to share my thinking about the books that I have read thus far....

Freedom: A Novel by Jonathan Franzen

In the end, Forrest Gump came to mind.  Could one family’s life and its most immediate network be touched by so many (if not all) of the twenty-first century crises facing the world, including the story’s setting of the United States? Dysfunctional families, self-sufficiency, existential depression, chemical depression, teenage sex, 9/11, Bush-Cheney-Obama, corrupt multinational military contracts, Middle East conflict, elected officials,  Zionism, appointed philanthropists, old money, new money, illicit affairs, divorce, illegitimate children, college athletics, gay rights, the arts, the Appalachian region, mountain top removal (MTR),  coal versus oil, wildlife conservancy, entrepreneurism, carbon footprints, stock market collapse, housing market losses, overpopulation and the Catholic Church, struggling musicians who would have written serious music “if not for the accident of success,” underground Battle of the Bands in West Virginia, drugs, alcohol, peripheral internet porn, Blackberrys, texting, global outreach, anger on the fringes, access to everything and nothing simultaneously, “the beating wing of a single butterfly,” deep abiding love and loyalty – other topics blended into the story told through different people even when Patty kept the center.  The sharp and developed social criticism that emerged shaped my view of global engagement.  The author’s energetic, kinetic, and frantic syntax filled my head and one night, my dreams were narrated by his writing voice.

Freedom serves as the compelling commonality – as a choice, an outcome, a right, a by-product, a motivator, or an expectation – of each individual’s experience.  And the author is almost, but not quite, guilty of trying to balance too much of too much when he finishes the novel through a classical American storybook ending.

A Dog’s Purpose by R. Bruce Cameron

This is the story of our lives.  Give this book to people you love.  Tell this story to your family.  We have all known this to be true.  Simple, complex, heart-breaking, and affirming.  One of my new favorite books ever (The Story of Little Tree, The Shipping News, The Old Man and the Sea, and A Moveable Feast)

Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue

What is fear?  Where do we find security?  How big is the world and how much of it do we need to know to be safe?  How much do we need to know to function?  This is a brilliant book.   I can’t imagine being able to write it but I can certainly imagine thinking about such things. It is dark and chilling for it’s beginning and it jabbed my soul.   Nothing is better than evil being brought to the light through a child’s eyes.

Same Kind of Different As Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore with Lynn Vincent

Dad gave me this one.  Cajun country Louisiana, black/white difference and discovery, doing the right thing and “shit happens” anyway.  It is a beautiful story even with the “uh, oh” moments of “good to be a Christian” tendencies that made me wonder if I would finish reading it before I was witnessed to in a book.  I finished it and didn’t feel like I had to been subjected to a Baptist born-again revival so I recommend that you stick with it until the end.  The writing is excellent, the humor is laugh right out loud, and the tears are genuine.  This is a true story.  Be prepared to see yourself in the mirror.

The Rembrandt Affair by Daniel Silva

The premise seemed promising; stolen art, murder, and discovery of horrible secrets along the way.   But a tale of universal interest is lost in the author’s true storyline that is painted poorly with huge brushstrokes – bad Nazis, good Zionists, pro-Israel global citizens and small-minded provincial anti-Semitics.  

The Millenium Triology  (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked Over the Hornet’s Nest) by Stieg Larsson.

I liked the first book the best.  I understood the characters and their motivations.  It was exciting to read about a place that I did not know.  It made me want to bring a map and chart the streets, the “gates,” and paths taken.  I was especially intrigued by Kalle Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander – great characters, well developed.  Early on, I thought that Lisbeth was the main character but now I wonder if it is Kalle.  Excellent work.  The last installment…. I think was a compilation of all that had been discussed and said before.  I don’t think it is a lie but I do think it all occurred after Larsson died.  Whoever completed that work told the truth – the entire book reflects the intent of the author but not the author’s work.  A read worth the time. 

Call Me Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber.

Okay - it will be THE Hallmark movie of the 2010 or 2011 holiday season and everyone will feel good about giving it to their aunt or grandmother for Christmas.  Like all of the Jan Karon books, no one will be embarrassed to recommend it.  Jessica Lansbury will be asked to play Mrs. Miracle. 

And what did they see?

And the veterans and military led the march into church this morning with standards high and trachten all around.  Throughout Europe and in America, this is the week that fallen soldiers are honored.  As I sat in our village church and looked at the Baroque altar and stages of the cross, I thought about how many people were wearing eyeglasses.  This made me wonder, what did people see before they had spectacles?  Did the colors look different?  Were the images scary?  How did these magnificent, opulent altars look to someone who could not see clearly?

Heiligkreuz and Baumburg Klosterkirche

Peter suggested an adventure this morning - "Let's drive to the Gothic church of Heiligkreuz and then to the cloister of Bamburg."  So off we drove in the old but cushy, dark blue/green Mercedes sedan that we have leased for our time here.  Sometimes we both feel like we are driving a tank.  So many of the cars on the road are tiny and peppy! 

Heiligkreuz reflects a "country Gothic" style.  Unlike the famous towering cathedrals of Salisbury and Cologne, it is much more modest with the unusual feature of columns down the center aisle to support a double apse.  Additionally, there are frescoes on the church walls from the end of the 15th to the beginning of the 16th centuries.  The colors are almost pastel like and have been complimented by a very recent (2005/2006) renovation of the chancel.  New frescoes are on the walls using the same pastel shades of orange, blue and yellow but these are decidedly more abstract and modern.

As we walked in the church, we were both aware of a distinct buzzing that turned out to be a HUGE beehive above the alter.  YIKES!  Dying bees lay on the floor but plenty were flying all around.

Next was the Klosterkirche (see above and below) which we have seen several times from the road but never visited.  A full-blown Baroque church, with a Rococo renovation, that was the center of an Augustinian monastery that was active until 1803;  Napoleon closed it down.  And so was our Saturday morning!

White Blank Walls

The apartment is full of white blank walls.  Hardly a break in their infinite emptiness.  It has been incredibly restful to see their expanse and not be distracted by the images and thoughts of others.  This makes me incredibly aware of how our homes are filled with important memories and mementos - which indicate our love for and approval of others.  I realize that serving as a care taker of so many "things" keeps us from taking care of ourselves.  It has happened before - this recognition that too much stuff is in our lives - too many things clutter our steps and our minds.  So I am diving deep in the simplicity of this apartment and allowing the emptiness to fill me up with ideas and energy.  Who knows whether I can take this back home - I have never been successful in the past and probably don't need to be.  For now - this is peace.