I like to take moments in the torrid whirl of my life to be still and quiet with God. It's not easy. This is one day in the year when I look for such a moment and also to take stock on a year gone by. I find that this poem helps, capturing the moment perfectly.
May I take this moment to wish you a blessed and happy new year. Call by and catch up once in a while.
Peace Dave.
The Darkling Thrush
I leant upon a coppice gate,
When Frost was spectre-gray,
And Winter's dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled vine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires.
The land's sharp features seemed to me
The Century's corpse outleant,
Its crypt the cloudy canopy,
The wind its death-lament.
The ancient pulse of germ and birth
Was shrunken hard and dry,
And every spirit upon earth
Seemed fervorless as I.
At once a voice arose among
The bleak twigs overhead,
In a full-throated evensong Of joy illimited.
An ancient thrush, frail, gaunt and small,
With blast-beruffled plume,
Had chosen thus to fling his soul
Upon the growing gloom.
So little cause for carolings
Of such ecstatic sound
Was written on terrestrial things
Afar or nigh around,
That I could think there trembled through
His happy good-night air
Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew,
And I was unaware.
Thomas Hardy
Saturday
Last Day
Tomorrow is the last day of the year 2006, it is the last day of the Christian festival of Christmas (officially)but even more than that it is the last day of the incumbency of our parish Priest. Tomorrow sees the end of fourteen years of his work within our parish. It will be a strange thing to worship without him.
The gift I prepared for him is ready, as polished as ever it can be and also with a surprise addition that sort of grew out of the editing process and refused to go away. A bit like Franken Freezer my undead freezer that is now living in my garage and humming contentedly, it just would not be turned off. At one point it was going to be a stanza and later it could have been an addition providing a contrasting theme. Neither of these were to be, it was a poem of it's own right and made sure that I knew it. I have reproduced it below, enjoy.
Before that though I had some news today that friends in Sudan have had a baby boy, yesterday. This is really great news as they have had a very bad year as with many people in Sudan. As I pointed out to them in my congratulation message, God brings great joys in small bundles, that's Christmas.
Lead Me
Lead me in the simple way,
That trails behind your tread.
Hold my hand and guide me,
Through the darkness laid ahead.
On steep narrow rocky paths,
Teach me courage to carry on.
Show me how to balance Lord,
What is right and what is wrong.
Through the noise and smoke of life,
Guide me please along the way.
Through all the uncertainties of night,
To the bright dawning light of day.
When at last we reach the place,
Where spirits shine like chrome.
Hug me like your long lost child
And I'll know that I've come home.
Peace Dave
The gift I prepared for him is ready, as polished as ever it can be and also with a surprise addition that sort of grew out of the editing process and refused to go away. A bit like Franken Freezer my undead freezer that is now living in my garage and humming contentedly, it just would not be turned off. At one point it was going to be a stanza and later it could have been an addition providing a contrasting theme. Neither of these were to be, it was a poem of it's own right and made sure that I knew it. I have reproduced it below, enjoy.
Before that though I had some news today that friends in Sudan have had a baby boy, yesterday. This is really great news as they have had a very bad year as with many people in Sudan. As I pointed out to them in my congratulation message, God brings great joys in small bundles, that's Christmas.
Lead Me
Lead me in the simple way,
That trails behind your tread.
Hold my hand and guide me,
Through the darkness laid ahead.
On steep narrow rocky paths,
Teach me courage to carry on.
Show me how to balance Lord,
What is right and what is wrong.
Through the noise and smoke of life,
Guide me please along the way.
Through all the uncertainties of night,
To the bright dawning light of day.
When at last we reach the place,
Where spirits shine like chrome.
Hug me like your long lost child
And I'll know that I've come home.
Peace Dave
Friday
Freezer Promise
In a way this post relates to yesterdays post in that I have picked up something really quite general in something really specific. If you've been reading my posts you'll know that my freezer was due to be taken off life support today. To catch up please connect with this link to the relevant post.
The bottom line is that when we purchased the freezer the cheerful salesman told us that it would be delivered on Friday. It may be in the morning but it was likely to be in the afternoon. He then winced and told us that it would be in the morning if it could be but not to assume that it would be. Patter. Salesman talk. How many times have you bought something, cars are a good example, where the salesman has smothered you talk that in the end proved to be no more real than a moon made of cheese. Having been about a bit I accept this as standard and think nothing much of it. What I heard in this conversation was that the freezer would arrive in the afternoon.
Imagine my surprise when opening my door to a fresh faced deliveryman this morning still wearing my night clothes and wiping the sleep from my eyes. Then it hit me, while I was apologising and clearing the way, how often are we like the salesman hedging our bets and never really intending to keep any of the promises we make. How often are we like deliverymen filing a quota and getting things done on time by the sweat of our brow and making sacrifices. Again how often are we like unprepared customers, not ready, having to apologise to people who have worked hard for us, embarrassed by our own actions. What an impact my new freezer has made and with a new year approaching are these really cool thoughts ?
The old freezer is still going, my wife seems to have brought it to life and living things are precious. So FrankenFreezer will live on in the garage.
Peace Dave.
The bottom line is that when we purchased the freezer the cheerful salesman told us that it would be delivered on Friday. It may be in the morning but it was likely to be in the afternoon. He then winced and told us that it would be in the morning if it could be but not to assume that it would be. Patter. Salesman talk. How many times have you bought something, cars are a good example, where the salesman has smothered you talk that in the end proved to be no more real than a moon made of cheese. Having been about a bit I accept this as standard and think nothing much of it. What I heard in this conversation was that the freezer would arrive in the afternoon.
Imagine my surprise when opening my door to a fresh faced deliveryman this morning still wearing my night clothes and wiping the sleep from my eyes. Then it hit me, while I was apologising and clearing the way, how often are we like the salesman hedging our bets and never really intending to keep any of the promises we make. How often are we like deliverymen filing a quota and getting things done on time by the sweat of our brow and making sacrifices. Again how often are we like unprepared customers, not ready, having to apologise to people who have worked hard for us, embarrassed by our own actions. What an impact my new freezer has made and with a new year approaching are these really cool thoughts ?
The old freezer is still going, my wife seems to have brought it to life and living things are precious. So FrankenFreezer will live on in the garage.
Peace Dave.
simple install
A bit more life, it's what holidays are about. This is core business, it affects my computer. For ages we have had the computer and all it's associated stuff locked up in a large cabinet. It served a purpose keeping Little hands far away from damaging sensitive equipment. Recently I learned how out of date that thinking was when my daughter asked me how to download an animation about combustion engines for her interactive slide show on how vehicle engines have evolved. This was homework for a thirteen year old.
We have in the last few weeks and also through giving at Christmas received several goodies for our (my) computer. Included in this are a wireless mouse and keyboard, printer scanner and flat screen monitor. So may task today was remove the cupboard, disconnect the computer and exchange the old parts for new ones. This involved a shelf and and making a short trolley/shelf unit for the main computer parts. The shelf and trolley took about three hours to make and were a pleasure to create. I love to create it's just the engineer in me. Flat bits of wood or steel become things, anything whatever is needed, that's really the joy of it. Especially if I'm doing it for someone else - but that's another story.
It's the next bit that gets to me. I installed a printer, scanner, mouse, keyboard, modem and router in less than two hours. I remember life before Windows, before plug and play. I remember a time when today's task would literally have taken all day. Software has really improved. The question for me here is have we improved, have I improved. Another whole year has passed and am I any better for it, did it improve my software. Can I integrate better, can I do more tasks, can I do what I do better. Am I any closer to the God I love, do I display that to the people I meet and to the people I love? Odd how doing things makes you think.
Peace Dave
We have in the last few weeks and also through giving at Christmas received several goodies for our (my) computer. Included in this are a wireless mouse and keyboard, printer scanner and flat screen monitor. So may task today was remove the cupboard, disconnect the computer and exchange the old parts for new ones. This involved a shelf and and making a short trolley/shelf unit for the main computer parts. The shelf and trolley took about three hours to make and were a pleasure to create. I love to create it's just the engineer in me. Flat bits of wood or steel become things, anything whatever is needed, that's really the joy of it. Especially if I'm doing it for someone else - but that's another story.
It's the next bit that gets to me. I installed a printer, scanner, mouse, keyboard, modem and router in less than two hours. I remember life before Windows, before plug and play. I remember a time when today's task would literally have taken all day. Software has really improved. The question for me here is have we improved, have I improved. Another whole year has passed and am I any better for it, did it improve my software. Can I integrate better, can I do more tasks, can I do what I do better. Am I any closer to the God I love, do I display that to the people I meet and to the people I love? Odd how doing things makes you think.
Peace Dave
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