What brings you to these points in your life? What belief, experience or reality strikes a chord that brings such a strong passionate response from deep within?
Its is a few days to Christmas and its been a gentle contented preparation for me, tinged with a sad longing to see my girls who are pursuing their lives away from Africa and Zimbabwe the land of our birth..There is nothing quite like the African sky, whether its the menacing storm clouds accompanied by the music of the crickets and bugs and percussive shouts of thunder, rhythmic patterns of rain, adorned with pyrotechnic displays of lightening; the splendid canopy of star over the houseboats on Kariba;
the crisp clear azure sky of winter days or sunrise/sunset
that make you hold your breath in awe...
absolutely nothing like it I assure you.
But I digress, Christmas time and today I sat at the piano to practice some golden oldies for an New Years Eve concert I will sing at... popular music of the time used to express and build strength and patriotism during the world wars. My part refers to Dame Vera Lynn's contribution, beautiful tunes some to stir the troupes, some for love. I saw the lyrics in a different light than I did as Mum would croon them to me when I was a very little girl.. the sky... "and rain and snow is all, that will fall from the sky above.. a kiss won't be goodbye, but hello to love..." . The sky that draws my eye and heart so easily to its beauty was so harshly different then. This music and the poetry of Wilfred Owen disturbed and reduced me to tears as a teen, even in my limited perception of what men and women endured then.
More deeply disturbing and emotionally devastating are the books, museums and movies of the Holocaust.. graphically bombarding the eye, ear and mind with the horror and clarity of just how horrendous is mans inhumanity to man...again the continent and country of my birth is no stranger to such carnage and catastrophic cruel loss of life. I am undone by this and my personal experiences here in my land.
There are so many things presented to us daily by the media in its may forms that would have us running for the hills... or in our case.. hoofing it into the 'shuteen' or bush.. or desperately seeking Higher help.. me, I will lift my eyes to the Hills from whence cometh my help as the scriptures say. But what really brings one to their knees? Oh so many, many things. An endless list you could add to and have a large audience nodding in avid agreement, according to the experiences they relate to.
As I journey on and I speak for myself and fellow Christians, especially at this time of year, putting aside the fun, food and festivities,
I am brought to my knees at the magnificent all encompassing love that gave and gives endlessly, that paid in blood sweat and life, that released the greatest power of love and life itself. It started with the spoken word, was manifest in a baby, lead to a horrendous costly sacrifice, burst forth in resurrection life and power and ushers in the reality of living eternally...an heir of the Father and joint heir with the Son!
So humbled and thankful right now.
Its is a few days to Christmas and its been a gentle contented preparation for me, tinged with a sad longing to see my girls who are pursuing their lives away from Africa and Zimbabwe the land of our birth..There is nothing quite like the African sky, whether its the menacing storm clouds accompanied by the music of the crickets and bugs and percussive shouts of thunder, rhythmic patterns of rain, adorned with pyrotechnic displays of lightening; the splendid canopy of star over the houseboats on Kariba;
the crisp clear azure sky of winter days or sunrise/sunset
that make you hold your breath in awe...
absolutely nothing like it I assure you.
But I digress, Christmas time and today I sat at the piano to practice some golden oldies for an New Years Eve concert I will sing at... popular music of the time used to express and build strength and patriotism during the world wars. My part refers to Dame Vera Lynn's contribution, beautiful tunes some to stir the troupes, some for love. I saw the lyrics in a different light than I did as Mum would croon them to me when I was a very little girl.. the sky... "and rain and snow is all, that will fall from the sky above.. a kiss won't be goodbye, but hello to love..." . The sky that draws my eye and heart so easily to its beauty was so harshly different then. This music and the poetry of Wilfred Owen disturbed and reduced me to tears as a teen, even in my limited perception of what men and women endured then.
More deeply disturbing and emotionally devastating are the books, museums and movies of the Holocaust.. graphically bombarding the eye, ear and mind with the horror and clarity of just how horrendous is mans inhumanity to man...again the continent and country of my birth is no stranger to such carnage and catastrophic cruel loss of life. I am undone by this and my personal experiences here in my land.
There are so many things presented to us daily by the media in its may forms that would have us running for the hills... or in our case.. hoofing it into the 'shuteen' or bush.. or desperately seeking Higher help.. me, I will lift my eyes to the Hills from whence cometh my help as the scriptures say. But what really brings one to their knees? Oh so many, many things. An endless list you could add to and have a large audience nodding in avid agreement, according to the experiences they relate to.
As I journey on and I speak for myself and fellow Christians, especially at this time of year, putting aside the fun, food and festivities,
I am brought to my knees at the magnificent all encompassing love that gave and gives endlessly, that paid in blood sweat and life, that released the greatest power of love and life itself. It started with the spoken word, was manifest in a baby, lead to a horrendous costly sacrifice, burst forth in resurrection life and power and ushers in the reality of living eternally...an heir of the Father and joint heir with the Son!
So humbled and thankful right now.
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