Words that have Sustained - Part 3 - Advent 2021

Advent again...grateful for this season...grateful that there continue to be words that sustain...grateful for the poets and artists and thoughtful humans who capture their feelings and words...the journey continues  - broken...blessed...given... in this journey of life, the journey of being human...(photos from my recent UK trip)

Flying over Ireland, into Dublin

Flying over Ireland, into Dublin

11/28

FOR THE TRAVELER

When you travel,
A new silence
Goes with you,
And if you listen,
You will hear
What your heart would
Love to say.

A journey can become a sacred thing:
Make sure, before you go,
To take time
To bless your going forth,
To free your heart of ballast
So that the compass of your soul
Might direct you toward
The territories of spirit
Where you will discover
More of your hidden life,
And the urgencies
That deserve to claim you.

- John O'Donohue

Excerpt from the blessing, 'For the Traveler'
BENEDICTUS (Europe) /
TO BLESS THE SPACE BETWEEN US (US)

South West Coast Path above Branscombe Beach, Devon

11/29

At any time you can ask yourself: At which threshold am I now standing? At this time in my life, what am I leaving? Where am I about to enter? What is preventing me from crossing my next threshold? What gift would enable me to do it? A threshold is not a simple boundary; it is a frontier that divides two different territories, rhythms and atmospheres. Indeed, it is a lovely testimony to the fullness and integrity of an experience or a stage of life that it intensifies toward the end into a real frontier that cannot be crossed without the heart being passionately engaged and woken up. At this threshold a great complexity of emotions comes alive: confusion, fear, excitement, sadness, hope. This is one of the reasons such vital crossing were always clothed in ritual. It is wise in your own life to be able to recognize and acknowledge the key thresholds; to take your time; to feel all the varieties of presence that accrue there; to listen inward with complete attention until you hear the inner voice calling you forward. The time has come to cross.  

From To Bless the Space Between Us, John O’Donohue longer excerpt here: https://sarasmeaton.com/thresholds-by-john-odonohue/

Edinburgh

11/30

You never really know where life will lead you, but if you live with pure intention and feed what you love with all your might, consistently and honestly...you might find yourself in places you'd never dreamed you'd go. - Laura Munson

https://lauramunson.com/my-happily-ever-after-what-ive-learned-from-writing-something-that-a-lot-of-people-read/

Exeter

12/1

This long and lonely path

That I walk upon

Is full of mystery

And hope, that one day

I shall find my way home

- Athey Thompson

Dartmoor

12/2

For all those who are walking in grief, who have lost so much, whether the pain and ache is current and acute or distant but still tender.
Solace is not an evasion, nor a cure for our suffering, nor a made up state of mind. Solace is a direct seeing and participation; a celebration of the beautiful coming and going, appearance and disappearance of which we have always been a part. Solace is not meant to be an answer, but an invitation, through the door of pain and difficulty, to the depth of suffering and simultaneous beauty in the world that the strategic mind by itself cannot grasp nor make sense of.

- David Whyte

Two months in the UK - the Places... and a few activities

From fields and forest to beaches and bodies of water, from ancient to modern, it's impossible to capture - let alone post all that I saw and experienced during my two months in the UK but here are a few of my favorite photos and memories (outside of the people - see previous post for that!) If you're friends with me on fb, you've seen some of these before, but not all!

Always an adventure with Alan - in this case we saw a very large apple on tree long since abandoned in the fields behind his house...and of course we had to get it! see photos below for size comparison

Size comparison - that's a grapefruit next to it and a regular size apple!

Geocaching - so much geocaching...

Fifteens - Irish sweet treat

more geocaching...

zoom in....

Montalto Estate with the Dormans

More geocaching...this one about did us in but we found it!

On the way to...

Devenish Island Monastic Site founded in the 6th century by Saint Molaise on one of Lough Erne’s many islands

Two months in the UK - the People

 After two months in Seattle I set out again on part three of what has become my 'eat pray love' tour. For someone who appreciates alliteration,  the British Isles sounded like a good destination to follow Bermuda and Bangkok. And it also sounded really good to see friends - many of which I had not seen for decades. So I set off at the end of September, flying into Dublin and catching the bus up to Belfast where I soon was doing exactly what I hoped to be doing - being with good friends in beautiful countryside - within a couple hours of arrival, Alan had me geocaching all over the place:-) 

This post captures the friends I was able to see on the journey.

Leaving Seattle - nice view of West Seattle

Flying over Ireland...

...into Dublin

Setting off with Alan and the dogs

Geocaching with Alan and Hetty

Alan and Hetty, Chrissy and Dave and Lola!

From N. Ireland it was off to Glasgow to meet up with friend and Chefoo classmate  from first grade Fi and her husband Dave as well as sister Nini and their parents...and then I continued wandering south meeting up with friends including many former classmates along the way. 

Covid kept us from having dinner together but we were able to skype with Graham Ellis and his wife Joyce.

Lovely Scottish tea with Bob and Jan Trelogan

Nini and some of her artwork

A side excursion to somewhere tropical? or Inchacailloch on Loch Lomond!

In case anyone was wondering where we were...

Meeting Langley in Edinburgh

Miriam in Durham

Paul Briffa and family in Manchester

Innspire and Coincidences

And on the 8th day I was released from captivity...and after a couple nights in the Sukhumvit area, I made the move westward on Saturday toward the Chao Phraya river and the oldest part of Bangkok where my friends Iven and Kashmira (and their six delightful children) live, in a very typical old town neighborhood in Phra Nakhon. Iven and Kashmira are friends who I met here 12 years ago (pre-children) and who also call Seattle one of their home bases, though I have never seen them there - only here in Bangkok! They are very intentional, genuine followers of Jesus who I really like. They have walked with me this past year from Thailand and I am grateful for their input into my life. You might recall that they came to visit me two years ago when I was doing the rice growing season up in Maehongson - which certainly cultivated my connections with them and their kids. I have stayed in their neighborhood before which though just minutes to the Grand Palace and other major tourist sites in BKK is a very Thai non touristy part of Bangkok. 

Though many in their neighborhood barely hold on to life at times, it is a place that draws me and where I feel a measure of peace. It is a place that is very different from the 23rd floor of the Double Tree quarantine hotel. Perhaps it is a liminal space. I don't think it is a coincidence that I am here. I also don't think it is a coincidence that I have ended up staying at a guest house called Innspire. AND I am their first guest in a year. The realities of Covid and its effects on shutting tourism down are very very stark throughout Bangkok. While I take no pleasure in any of the suffering that so many are facing, it is a very unique time to be here.

And I am the ONLY one staying in this 9 room guest house that once was a house that palace employed actors and artisans stayed many decades ago. Did I say I am the only one here?! Literally. The manager met me, walked me around, gave me the key and said the place is yours. He shows up to make breakfast for me - which will soon end, because that's just silly - I can take care of myself! On the other side of the wall is khlong/canal that runs into the Chao Phraya river, it also connects with the Saen Saeb canal (for those familiar with Bangkok.) There's a temple on on the other side of the khlong, lots of cats, lots of all kinds of community hanging out, big fish and monitor lizards in the khlong (not quite as large as the recent 7-11 star on social media if you happened to see that video) And Iven and Kashmira's place is a 5 minute walk away past people selling amulets and random found and repurposed items that are spread out on mats on the sidewalk, women sitting on plastic chairs selling themselves, and of course many many food carts...as I said, it is a liminal space.

I know I am a visitor here at the moment and I'm not engaged in anyone's story - though I have heard many stories over the years from I and K - other than mine. But it is to this place that I have felt drawn though it is far from the peaceful forests and rice fields up north. And so I will try to be present to the gifts and the needs around me and to attend to my spirit and soul and listen and be present to the movement of the Spirit that leads and guides and gives life - even in a place where many only would see death and much much pain.

Breakfast fruit at Innspire

Duncan