Work to Music

(I just finished this years week of cleaning recently.  It is delightful to read old descriptions.)

For a week, seven twelve hour days, I have been working out at the factory as a cleaner.  That means a lock of stooping and sweeping and wiping down and scooting and crawling along rollers and under and over conveyors and scraping dope and twisting around to get under parts of machinery and bending myself into awkward positions to get hard-to-reach places with my little broom. Fun stuff.  I was grateful for the face mask especially when sweeping above my head.  Oh yeah, the scraping was amazing.  The dope was possessed by the spirit of Zeno.  Anyone could scrape off swathes and come back and scrape less, but still some, and then less but still some, and then less, but . . .yeah, dear old Zeno.  But it was neat becoming better acquainted with the people, which was easier while working in the doper area than on the conveyors.

This morning I woke up at 4:45 and thought maybe I could squeeze making an egg in for Papa but he was gone.  I woke up at 7:25-ish (no alarm).  I began to get up and fell back on my pillow.  My back was sore, my hands were sore.  I thought, oh! I'm sore!  I don't want to get up for now.  So I went back to sleep.  After all, today is my "independence" day--especially if I read the declaration...I miss hearing that.

Anyway,  while doing tedious work, it is easy for songs to strike in my brain--really it's almost like a radio in the head.  One day, I had a song my mother played a couple days previously stuck in my head.  I hated it.  Girls just wanna have fu-un...yeah.  So, that night I purged with Libera--Be Still My Soul, You Were There, Vespera.  I had good music the next day. The first two stuck the best, and the next day You Were There was stronger than Be Still along with Control and Tonight.  (You were there, in everything I knew from the moment I began . . .to Take control of the atmosphere, Take me far away from here.  There is no better loss than to lose myself in you. . .)

    My "radio" standards were good; they included a story time station.  Story time included tales of the "sinister" girl.  She is left handed and quite the escape artist.  She has had a hard time of it, but things may be looking up now.  Also, related to her story is another story line. . .it involves a garden, a grump, a priest and a son of Elaine Zephoran.  The son is trying to find his birth parents as he is an adopted child.  
Here is the list:  You Were There, I Am Loved(Above the Golden State), Un Amore Per Sempre(Josh Groban), Tonight(Toby Mac's and Group 1 Crew's), Mad World, Black and Gold(Sam Sparro), Amazing Grace, story time, Porcelain Heart(Barlowe Girl), Higher Ground, Control(MuteMath), God of Our Fathers(ALERT Chorale), Dark Waltz(Hayley Westenra), random tune, Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring (instrumental), Be Still My Soul--besides other random stuff.  I had to switch stations once.  Some people were talking about I Will Survive...I switched. 

Spring tour: yesterday's update

So, here is what I typed yesterday on the bus.
I am exhausted. Today we went to Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary school. That was pretty neat; we didn't sing as long as usual and the space was not the best for sound, but the children were responsive and animated—some clapping and swaying and drumming or singing or air guitar-ing along with us. It amused me when the children were asked if they would one day want to sing with us that amid the "yes"s and raised hands there was a boy toward the middle who animatedly declared "No!" And it was beautiful to see someone actually physically sit up and partially rise to the music, just enthralled she appeared. Afterward the students of Bethel and the students of Martin Luther King, Jr. mingled, hugged, high-fived and became acquainted.
We left and made a half hour stop at Wal-Mart, where Rebekah and I got a chunk of bread and two pieces of fruit for lunch. We already had cheese available to us. After lunch had been over a bit, I took an hour nap before leaving for the big Methodist place.
The place we went to this evening was like a big community center/school/performing arts complex. They served us some of the best barbecue ever for supper. I enjoyed speaking a bit to a few of the folks who served us. One was a veteran of Vietnam, and that came up in a discussion about communication. Back then, the first letter his wife wrote traveled around the world before reaching him.
Then we had sound check and later the singing. It was a very large auditorium and relatively few people in there. While singing my voice had some clogging issues at one point and at another just rang out more clearly than usual. During one song that spoke of God's power, I was impressed by the need for a change in attitude. I was singing in my own power, but it is for God's glory and in His power that I ought to be singing. It is humbling--and empowering when I give up my power.

"Now, we'll all introduce ourselves..."

Have you ever had the feeling that everyone is looking at you--and they really are--and that no one would tell you if you had spinach between your teeth? Instead they would keep smiling politely at you as though you were the hostesses latest piece of statuary. 
TEP interviews are kind of like that. 

"Sarah," the name is called and you are welcomed in to sit at the end of a table that is surrounded by other people and everyone is smiling.  You smile back, sort of.  Maybe you just thought you smiled.  Dr. Godwin leads the introductions and everyone, almost says their names and what they are for the purposes of the interview.  "Dr. Able. I'm in the [whatever specific dept. it was she named]." 
"Scruton," smile and wave from Scruton,"English department.
" Deb Thompson, "Hi,"leans forward,"You know me."
"heh, yes. I remember" you, and now I missed someone...but the introductions continue.  Then Dr. Godwin asks if I want to say anything about myself after explaining that I was a transfer student from a fine institution.  They asked where I was from and a little polite questioning ensued which was brief--about five minutes or so.  Then, "Well, it was a pleasure getting to meet you.  If you could just tell them, we will be a moment."
So I exited with the awareness that they may be about to talk about me.  As I exited, I told the other students awaiting the interview, that they would be ready in a moment.  I recognized a girl from choir--forgot her name but we greeted each other pleasantly.  Or she was pleasant, I hope I came across pleasantly, but I still felt tense from the interview.  I really don't like being the center of attention and conversation.

Ashes

Thinking about lent.  Last night went to the Ash Wednesday service in our chapel in Campbell hall.  It reminded me so much of the mass-- there were actually three readings, the prayers, the focus on the Eucharist...The message spoken was about lent as a time of revival as we enter more fully into the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.  And, you know, that is something we could use more of.  So, what will I be doing during lent to grow spiritually?  I kind of failed last night through tiredness.  I planned to pray in the evenings with my scripture readings (more than just, "Lord, bless me as i go to sleep, and thank you for today. Good night.")  Well, I barely read.
Rev. Hames (or Chap) encouraged us to not give up after a slip up.  It is a time of growing.  So, don't get too discouraged.  By God's grace, (and you need His help anyway) get up and keep growing.

After the meeting I had "Ashes" stuck in my head.

We rise again from ashes,

from the good we've failed to do.

We rise again from ashes,

to create ourselves anew.

If all our world is ashes,

then must our lives be true,

An offering of ashes,

      An offering to You.

We offer You our failures,

we offer You attempts;

The gifts not fully given,

the dreams not fully dreamt.

Give our stumblings direction,

give our visions wider view,

An offering of ashes,

      An offering to You.

Then rise again from ashes,

let healing come to pain;

Though spring has turned to winter,

and sunshine turned to rain.

The rain we'll use for growing,

and create the world anew,

From an offering of ashes,

          An offering to You.

         

       

       
        ... Thanks be to the Father,

          who made us like Himself.

          ... Thanks be to His Son,

          who saved us by His death.

          ... Thanks be to the Spirit,

          who creates the world anew,

          From an offering of ashes,

                    An offering to You.

Today is beautiful

(from Multiply)

The day started out cold and gusty--I love days like that.  I woke up just in time to get ready for class and slide in as the teacher, Dr. Lankford took role.  College Algebra class--I am so glad I was able to switch to that class rather than taking Basic College Algebra or waiting a semester.  We did some word problems today and that happens to be an area that Mr. Deland focused on at Cedars. So, that was kind of fun really.
Understanding Old Testament--the teacher had me concerned for a bit as to whether he believed that the Bible is the inspired word of God.  Sometimes, that class had me feeling so frustrated, but today the conclusion was reached and it puts me much at ease.  Before, he referenced the two names for God in chapter one and two of Genesis as two gods and the stories as two separate stories.  Today, we finished the discussion.  That was a discussion of seeming, today was a discussion of meaning.  With meaning, you look at what the text actually says, what it meant (to the best of our ability to discover) to the people at the time of writing, and what it means for us.  Chapter one ends in the beginning of chapter two with the seventh day on which God rested from His labour.  We were created in His image, and created to worship Him.  The second telling of the creation of man concludes with the creation of woman and man and woman being joined as one flesh.  The teacher drew from this the importance of humanity coming together in respect and love.  He drew a parrallel from these two stories to the brief statement of the first commandment that Jesus made: You shall love the Lord your God with all you heart, mind and strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Part of what he did before going into his explanation was to present us with the scenario of his being a friend who is a sceptic--he sees two gods, two stories, and doesn't see how they fit or make sense, and he really doubts this whole god thing and is asking you what you are getting from these passages.  Apparently, this was something the teacher went through, and that has an influence on his round about methods of coming to a point.  In any case, it has me thinking....