The Journey of Desire

I love to read, but it seems I go through seasons where I don't read very much. I finally got to read another book these past few weeks. I highly recommend this one also... good stuff. It is called The Journey of Desire by John Eldredge. here are a few of my favorite parts:

You may have heard an orchestra tuning up before a concert. It sounds like total chaos - oboes, cello, French horns, dozens of instruments all sounding off, everyone doing his own thing. Trills, groans, whistles, thums - an absolute cacophony. This is how our desires seem most of the time. But then the first violin plays a long high C, and slowly, all the other instruments join in. They become focused, centered, ready to perform. Such is what happens with the chaos of our desires when we turn our souls to God in worship. All the other desires find their place as we give God his place. That is why the psalmist urges us, "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Ps. 37:4) Only as we truly delight in God is it safe to give us our desires, for then they are not likely to become idols. And by our delighting in God, he heals our false desires as our souls come true in the light of their Maker.

Pleasure is often more about drugging ourselves than it is about enjoying ourselves. And the things we do to avoid the ache are always worse in the end than the ache itself. I think of Jamie, a bright and energetic young woman who has tried so hard to know the right thing to do in every situation. She has tied herself in knots trying to figure out the will of God, solve all the theological quandaries, never miss a beat. She wrote me recently, "I am caught in a tangle of trying to do, trying to live right. I don't know how to not think or worry or control. I don't know how to let go." (Didn't Chesterton warn us, "Poets do not go mad, but chess players do?)

I really like that Chesterton quote: "Poets do not go mad, but chess players do." This makes perfect sense to me and I realize that I'm a chess player. So what about you? Are you a poet or a chess player?

Pic of the Week

Ericka gets the pic of the week. She is so cute!

Diwali Continued Continued...Fireworks

Fireworks are a huge deal during Diwali. Beginning several days leading up to Diwali, the noise began and it sounded like we were living in a war zone. The day of Diwali they were continuous and the sky stayed lit all across the city. Smoke also covered the city. Even our house seemed to be filled with a little smoke. Of course, fireworks are big in America, but the difference is that in India there are no regulations and no space. People do fireworks anywhere and everyone - on major road, on rooftops, etc. Any small piece of concrete seems to be fair game, no matter what trees or powerlines may be around. Even driving can be hazardous and you have to stop and let people finish the fireworks they have lit in the middle of the street. There are a few other interesting things about the fireworks here that can best be explained by photos.

Notice that all the fireworks have babies on them. Is that their target audience? From the kids I've seen running around with fireworks, maybe so.





Speaking of babies, this was taken at Anita's house. Yes, it is exactly what it looks like. That is Anita's 3 year old, with a sparkler in the house. Yes, they simple lit it on the little gas stove there and played with them inside. It made me a little nervous.



Another interesting thing is the concept of jumping in fireworks. This was done by by Mona's family and was really funny to watch. They lit a firework and then they jumped in it and jumped up and down.



Yes, it didn't seem very safe at all, and I thought it was just some quirky family tradition (we all have those). Then, I looked at my friend Julie's blog and it seems that this is common all over the country. lol.



All those pictures make me laugh, only in India!

Diwali Continued...Indian Sweets

Someone suggested that I write more about Indian sweets. This is definately the most appropriate time to talk about them, because there are everywhere for the festival season. Indian sweets are really a struggle for me. Most of you know that I don't like American sweets. Indian sweets are gross even for people who like American sweets. They are all made out of some type of vegetable (at least that is what I read on someone else's blog), and they are loaded with sugar! Indian love them though. I have found a few that I don't mind eating, but I definitely don't go out buying them for myself. I only eat them when they are served to me. I will admit that I've hidden a few in my purse before. I'm getting better at eating them though. Here are some pictures. Don't be fooled. Even if they look appealing they are not. Oh, and some them are covered with silver stuff like tin foil. It is part of the sweet and you eat the silver also. Weird...

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

Diwali

Saturday was Diwali. Diwali is the largest Hindu holiday and is comparable to our Christmas. For more history of Diwali, read the entry below. I was here for Diwali last year, but I had only been in country for a few days and did not celebrate it. So this was my first time to celebrate with Indians. Several days leading up to Diwali, everything became really festive. All the markets and buildings were decorated with lights. Shops had special Diwali gifts and it was just fun to be out. It really did feel like Christmas. Just instead of little Santa Claus's, there were little statue of gods everywhere.

Several days before, Alicia and I spent several nights in markets trying to figure out the appropriate gifts to give. On Diwali, people visit each other homes and give gifts. The gifts depend upon the relationships, but they are normally sweets or some type of household gift. And of course, each visit includes eating alot of food and sweets! By the end of the day, we were stuffed! We began our day with a visit to our landlords' the Guptas. The food stuffing began with sweets and nuts. I will talk more about sweets a little later, but I did really well. I was proud of myself.

Then we had lunch with Mona and her family, and then headed to Anita's house. Anita's house is always an adventure. Her kids greeted us as cheerfully as usually, especially since we were bearing gifts. Because Anita works for us, it was appropriate to buy her a saree (Indian dress) and something for her house. We didn't know what to get her, but we decided on a pressure cooker. It was apparently a hit, at least with kids. As she opened it the kids went wild. Especially the 10 year old, who grabbed the pot and started saying "Cooker! Cooker!" It was so cute. He acted more excited about the cooker then the game we gave the kids. The kids were also really excited about the saree we gave her. They were showing it to everyone. It was so much fun just to see the smiles on their faces. Anita had went way out of her way once again. She made us homemade sweets, which weren't too bad. (Okay, I will admit I hid one in my purse. :)) She also fed us chicken, which is a huge treat for her family. They normally can't afford chicken. She was really proud to serve us meat. She was also proud to tell us that she had actually killed the chicked herself. :) I've never had someone personally kill a chicken for me to eat. :)

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

We spent the rest of the evening with Mona's family. It is custom on Diwali that Hindus have a time of worship of lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. They pray to lakshmi for financial blessings for the coming year. Although, Mona is not very devout, her family had a puja time because it is tradition. Alicia and I watched from the back of the room as the whole family chanted and offered food to their little gods. Mona and her family are special to us, so it was important that we spend this time with them, but it is hard to watch, because they mean so much to us. Below was all the stuff and food they used during their puja.

After the puja, the gifts were exchanged. Once again, felt like Christmas. Except that Indians don't open gifts in front of other people, so you just accept them and take them home.
Then, the lamps were lit. Everyone places small candles outside of their homes to remember the story of Diwali, where the king returns to from exile and all the people light candles to welcome him (see story below).
We joined in this activity, but we just chose to celbrate the return of our King instead.
We then went to Mona's parents house for more food, and alot of fireworks. Another Diwali tradtion is fireworks. I will write more about firworks in another post. We shot fireworks along with everyone else in the city for several hours on a rooftop. It felf like the 4th of July, and Alica and I even sang a few patriotic songs.

By this time, Alicia and I were pretty exhausted, and although we had eaten non-stop all day, we still had one more meal to go. We finally had dinner at 11:30 pm. At this point in time, Alicia and I eyes were drooping, and our host asked, "Would you like to take a nap for awhile?" I started laughing, because it was midnight. lol. I told Alicia, "This is going to be long night!" We managed to get home before 1 am, but we immediately crashed, despite the fact that it sounded like a war zone outside.

The posts above this one are a few other interesting aspects of Diwali.

Then sings my soul... Updated with photo.

The most amazing thing happened the other day. Thursday morning I went to answer the doorbell to get my paper (see the story below), and it was cool! Yes, overnight the weather went from the 90's to the 70's. The past few days have been absolutely beautiful! The beauty of it literally almost brought me to tears. It was exactly what I needed. Today it was in the mid-70's and tonight it was 70. I was actually cold. I had chill bumps in the rickshaw. You may not think that still sounds warm, but compared to 115, it is significantly cooler. They say your body adjusts to the temperatures. So considering it is 40 or so degress lower than what we are used to... It is cool! I love it! Tomorrow I am going to buy a chair to sit on my balcony. Oh, and I am going to post about Diwali soon. It was alot of fun, but I'm too wiped-out to post tonight. Stay tuned for pictures and some funny stuff...

Update: I went shopping today, so here are my new chairs.

The Return of the Newspaper

As most of you know, I am not a morning person. However, mornings are never quiet around here. Our doorbell begins to ring early in the morning and seems to ring all morning long. First we have our helper who comes to clean, then the sweeper guy who comes to pick up our trash, and then the guy who comes and picks up our clothes to be ironed. (yes, i have it rough :)) Anyway, on to the frustrating part... We used to recieve the newspaper, something that I have grown very fond of. However, we cancelled our subscription for the month of July. Unfortuanately no matter how many times I asked, they never would begin delivering it again. Finally last week I finally got someone who understood me to tell them to deliver our paper again. So they have. However, I think we have had some type of communication malfunction. The normal protocol for newspaper delivery is the same for the States. They typically just leave it at the door. But oh no, not out guy. For some reason, he rings our door repeatedly, then when I open the back door he says, "Newspaper" while holding it up. I stare at him, like, "Yes, I see that." He says newspaper loudly once again, and then throws it down on the mat in front of the screen door and walks off. I just stand there, not quite awake as it is, and think, "Was it really necessary that I get out of bed for that?" Alicia has been the unfortunate one to open the door the past few mornings. Maybe I miscommunicated something to them somehow, or maybe they are just really proud of themselves for delivering the newspaper. Who knows?....

Party Time

This time of year is festival time in India. I don't just mean one festival, it seems these days, there is always a holiday of some sort. Just this past week there were two special holidays. I've really tried, but I just haven't been able to keep them all straight. However, all the holiday typically revolve around one of the 330 million Hindu gods and involve sometype of worship to them. All of these holidays lead up to the largest Hindu holiday which is Diwali. The celebration will be next week, but people are already beginning to celebrate.

Diwali is a five day Hindu festival that occurs in late October each year. The word "diwali" means "rows of lighted lamps" or "array of lamps," and the celebration is often referred to as the "Festival of Lights" much in the same way the Jewish holiday of Hannukah is referred to as the "Festival of Lights." Diwali is by far the most glamorous and important festival celebrated in India today. (This was taken from Internet site).

Diwali celebrates the victory of good over evil - and the glory of light. This festival commemorates Lord Rama's return to his kingdom Ayodhya after completing his 14-year exile. Lord Rama was a great warrior King who was exiled by his father Dashratha, the King of Ayodhya, along with his wife Sita and his younger brother Lakshman, on his wife's insistence. Lord Rama returned to his Kingdom Ayodhya after 14 years of exile, in which he put an end to the demon Ravana of Lanka, who was a great Pundit, highly learned but still evil dominated his mind. After this victory of Good over Evil, Rama returned to Ayodhya. In Ayodhya, the people welcomed them by lighting rows of clay lamps. So, it is an occasion in honor of Rama's victory over Ravana; of Truth's victory over Evil. Taken from http://www.diwalifestival.org/diwali-in-history.html

During Diwali, homes are thoroughly cleaned and windows are opened to welcome Laksmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth, and candles and lamps are lit as a greeting to Laksmi. Gifts are exchanged and festive meals are prepared, and the celebration means as much to Hindus as Christmas does to Christians.

I had only been in country a few days before Diwali last year, but I definitely remember it. I did not spend Diwali with Indians (some friends and I watched Alias season 4 all day long), but it still left a lasting impression. Fireworks are huge during Diwali, so the entire week it sounded like we were living in a warzone all the time, especially at night. They've already begun this year also....:)

I am looking forward to experiencing Diwali with our Indian friends this year, and I'll try to take pictures and explain more about the holiday as I learn more about it myself. I do know it involves getting dressed up, visiting homes and eating alot of Indian sweets. I like the visiting homes part, but the whole Indian sweets thing - not so much. :)

There is just a festive spirit around here these days, which is sort of fun, although, it is still so hard to understand where they are coming from with their beliefs. However, I do find it interesting that they are celebrating victory of Truth over Evil. It just shows that all people from all over the world, deep-down, long for the Truth.

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Jn. 8:32

Writer's Block

I everyone who reads my blog an apology. As with most things in life, even bloggers have certain etiquette they are supposed to follow (or at least that is what they say). It is proper etiquette that if I want people to read my blog, I should update it regularly. Of this, I have done a poor job. I think I am struggling with writer's block. I just haven't thought of anything that I wanted to write about. I enjoy writing at time and I've tried to think of some things, but I've got nothing. Or maybe the problem is that there is so much to write about, I don't even know where to begin. Who knows? However, I am sorry I haven't been posting much. I am going to try to do better, so keep checking. Also, maybe you guys have some ideas... Is there anything you would like to hear about? I am open to suggestions. :)

Pic of the Week



This was taken from my apartment window of the next apartment building in our complex. He was painting on a bamboo ladder.

And you thought your job was bad...