The passage of time

 I received my first watch when I was about eight. This was in the days when people were presented with watches for thier twenty-first birthday or when they retired. They ere expensive and treasured. Mine was from my Grandma who no longer needed it and yes, my sisters thought I was spoiled.

My parents gave me a gold watch for my twentieth birthday (not my twenty-first and I'm not sure why). It was what our jeweller called a self-wounding* watch ie it didn't need manual winding but was movement activated. For younger readers this was long before the days of battery operated watches.

I have loved watches ever since and have quite a collection, although I now favour ones with large faces. Interestingly we seem to have gone back to ones with faces not digital ones. I remember the excitement of those early digital watches which my IT early adopter bought and flogged to schools staff, long before eBay and the internet,

Again for younger readers, I do not have a clever watch thing that tells the time as well as showing how many steps I've done and what I ate for breakfast, although that would be handy. And yes, it is quicker to tell the time from a device strapped to my arm rather than having to reach for my phone, and way more discreet when I wonder just how long I have been sitting listening to someone over coffee.

So this week my favourite cheapy large watch stopped. New battery needed. Or is it cheaper just to get a new watch? While I waited for technical support, I surveyed my watch collection.

I picked up the watch I was given in about 1957 and wound it and set it going. Ditto for another ancient watch inherited from a dear aunt. Then I strapped the self-wounding watch to my arm to get the movement happening.

And [drum roll]. The two windup watches work. After a slight hesitation, the automatic one got going too. Amazing! Time passes but some things don't change....

*He actually called it that rather than self -winding since English was not his first language. We loved it and kept on using that term.

Grumpy or grateful

[During this time of staying put due to the Covid 19 thing, I have not been able to take up some of the speaking engagements at a number of churches. However, I have written up a couple of things that I had already prepared and thought I'd share them here. This is one of them.]

Grumpy or grateful

Reading: Exodus 17:1-7

You probably know the story. God brought the people of Israel out of a horrible situation in Egypt where they had been slaves. They were free! But then they began to grumble. “We were better off in Egypt. There was good food there. Garlic and onions.” (Just the right ingredients to start off a good pumpkin soup!)

God provided daily food for them on the journey, but they thought it was boring. “Same old, same old… every day.’ And now there’s no water.  Just two pages earlier (in my Bible) God had provided sweet water for them. So, did they think, Well God has given us good things, so we’ll be fine. Nup. They grumbled and questioned “Is the Lord with us or not?’

Silly people.

So, what about us?

We all face personal challenges and now there is the tremendous challenge and uncertainty of Covid19. Will we grump and complain, or will we look to God in faith and gratitude?

There are still things to be grateful for. For friends and family, for the promise that with the Lord there is steadfast – unfailing, passionate, extravagant - love.

(Psalm 130:7)

Gratitude is recognised as good for mental health. All sorts of people make a practice of recording things to be glad about. It doesn’t deny that times are tough, but…

Habbakuk 3:17 -19 
Though the fig tree may not blossom,

Nor fruit be on the vines;

Though the labour of the olive may fail,

And the fields yield no food;

Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,

And there be no herd in the stalls

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. 

The Lord God is my strength;

So, when we ask the question Is God with us? the resounding answer is YESSS!!!

Glenys Badger March 2020

Knitted or Knotted

[During this time of staying put due to the Covid 19 thing, I have not been able to take up some of the speaking engagements at a number of churches. However, I have written up a couple of things that I had already prepared and thought I'd share them here. This is one of them.]

Knitted or knotted *      Reading Psalm 139: 1-5, 13-18

I’m a knitter.

            And yes, I natter – quite a lot!

            Some would even say I’m a nutter…

In the eighties a dear friend, Anna, now 91, taught me to make knitted lace; she did large tablecloths and I did small doyleys.

It involves very fine needles and cotton and intricate patterns.

It’s important to get the holes in all the right places and dropped stitches are a nightmare and mistake take ages to unpick.

Recently I decided to revive my skills after a number of years and knit a gift for my granddaughter Hannah’s engagement. It was a busy time just before Christmas and I was distracted by many concerns. It was quite a mess and had holes in some of the wrong places. So I gave it to a friend with the suggestion she put it on her table with a potplant on top of it to hide the mistakes.

And I made another one for Hannah…

 

Did you know God is a knitter?

Psalm 139:13b says ‘You knitted me together in my mother’s womb.’

And God has the pattern for each of us.

Recently I read the book ‘Knot One, Purl a Prayer, (available through the library system).

It was about using knitting as mediation. I was never good at sitting still and thinking or meditation but knitting intricate patterns helped me be quiet and focus.

Mostly, I now sit and colour but that’s talk for another day,  because you already know that God is great at colouring in.

The book included this prayer

Creator and Great Repairer

I count on you to mend

When I mess things up

Help make them whole

Undo my failures

Unravel my mistakes

Surprise me with your perfect stitches

May I once in a while find one in my work

That is, may we sometimes see the pattern forming.

Mistakes need unpulling. It can be painful as in knitting, but is necessary for the design.

And so they become part of the pattern.

So is this a bit fanciful? God as a knitter?

I went looking in the Bible and found other places where it talks about knitting.

Chronicles talks of king David saying, ‘My heart will be knitted to you’. In Judges it talks of the people knitted together as one. So, it’s about being as close as the yarn in a knitted item. It expresses unity and closeness and love.

Then I went looking again. I have always loved Julian of Norwich who lived during the time of the plague in Europe. She is famous for her writings including the phrase ‘all will be well, and all will be well’ – even during a time of death and plague. I knew the icon included a cat and I though I had read about her knitting as well in her time of seclusion (social isolation?)

Then I found this

‘Julian uses the image of knitting to describe the distinctive relationship between God and humans. Humans are knitted by God in their making (Psalm 139) and God is knitted to humanity by becoming human.’

We are all knitted together in love.

God knits us into the pattern for the kingdom, God’s dream for the world.

We are loved. God is closer than we can imagine

We are never alone

Glenys Badger  April 2020

*In case you wondered about the 'knotted' bit. Just think about your knickers...

All wrapped up

I’ve noticed a trend. Gifts being presented in gift bags. Interesting. When I was a kid, presents were always wrapped. Later I recycled wrapping paper and even ironed some of it. Yes, really! When I had small children, I used their art work to wrap presents. (The poster paint flaked badly.)

Now there is the gift bag. I knew Americans gave gifts in gift boxes. You just lifted the lid and ‘voilà’, whereas unwrapping can be a slow tortuous process, full of anticipation.

So, I’m not sure about the gift bags. One I received contained a plate of home-made shortbread wrapped in coloured cellophane, a small box containing a jewelled wreath hanging ornament, and an LED Christmas tree ornament unwrapped. Thus showing all forms of gift presentation.

I now have a range of gift bags in various shapes and designs. Is it OK to use them again? Do I just plonk things in them or should I wrap?

Christmas may be over but it isn’t all wrapped up…

Putting a price on it

[Prices used to be written on by hand.]

How much did I pay for that tin of pineapple in the cupboard? I don't know. I'd have to hunt through a pile of old dockets or something to find out. Not so in the long lost old days.

Many years ago I filled in occasionally as a check-out chick (when I was more of a chick than an old boiler) at my local supermarket - a small family owned business - so that the family could go to the footy. It was fun serving customers as they came through the checkout and wondering what they were cooking for tea with that lot or why they were buying luxury items etc etc.
When things were quiet, one job was to mark new items with the price. It was a modern shop so we had a price gun with labels. Every item in the store had a price except for when they didn't!
At the checkout there was not scanner. The price of each item had to be keyed in. Heaven help you if the finger slipped and you ended up with a total in the hundreds or thousand of dollars.
It was quite a dilemma if the item had no price. There was a huge catalogue of items printed out on large computer generated sheets (the old tractor feed type printouts) As customers queued up I'd search for the item. Eventually I gave up and simply keyed in a figure I thought was fair. Apologies to the owners and to the customers but it seemed to work. Now of course, we have bar codes and scanners. Somehow it takes the fun out of it all.

[Spot the Eudunda's price tag on this packet.]

Just be kind

How to change the world??

One kind act at a time. Most people have probably heard of the idea of paying it forward. There's the whole system of making coffee available to someone who needs it and other ways to offer acts of kindness.
Just recently I came across two incidents that set me thinking.
I was reading one man's account of his experience of sitting with a friend at a pizza place. Both of them were in Christian ministry. They'd had a rough day but sat and chatted and ate pizza. At the end of the time the waitress asked what their plans were and they said they were there for an event. She asked if it was about God. They were surprised as they weren't wearing crosses or clerical garb, nor did they piously bow their head to say grace before eating or sing hymns or rattle tambourines.
They admitted it was going to be an event about God but asked how she knew. Her reply was, 'It's simple. Your were nice to me. I figured it had something to do with God.' Phew!

Some time back I went to the local clinic to have a blood test. No appointments. Just turn up. My heart sank as I saw the number of people in front of me. But I had a book with me and waited my turn. Eventually  I headed in to find a new blood taker filling in while the regular  one is away. We chatted as she did the necessary paper work and prep stuff. Then she looked at the book I had put down with my other stuff. 'Is that a Christian book?' she asked.  'Yes,' I told her,' but how did you know?' (It didn't have a cross on it or a religious type picture. 'Oh,' she said, 'because you are so kind.' She assured me that others are impatient and  get annoyed about the waiting and so on.

Well, I know things can be tough and frustrating and annoying and I am sure Christians don't have the  monopoly on being kind although our founder told us to love one another, but  maybe something as simple as being kind can change the world. I have a feeling I've written about this before, but maybe I just need to be reminded on a daily basis.
Just be kind.

Invocation

My dictionary (Okay, it was actually Google) tells me that an invocation is the action of invoking someone or something, which isn't very helpful. It goes on to add that it is about invoking (whatever that means) someone or something.
A further entry suggests an invocation is a from of prayer requesting (invoking?) the presence of God, especially at the beginning of a religious service. With synonyms: prayer, request, entreaty. Behold the wonders of Google!
So why this discussion? It's not just that I love words and their meaning and the way they are used and change although that is partly it.

I was intrigued recently when the MC of a presentation dinner told us that since it was really a Rotary meeting we would start the meal with the invocation. It wasn't a traditional 'grace' as said before a email by many Christians but it was certainly a statement of thanks. I think ti ended by saying, 'We give thanks.' It's a wonderful thing to be grateful and to acknowledge the good things - friends and food - that we were sharing. But it made me wonder. Who were we giving thanks to? Or was it just a warm feeling of gratitude? Perhaps deep down we really  hunger to have a connection with something beyond ourselves, something bigger. Maybe it's a bit like headlines in times of crisis where people are implored to 'pray for...' What does this mean? Who to? How? Again is it a deep desire for something more, something beyond?

So let's go on doing invocations, seeking what we long for - connection with the divine. And we will find.....