What are we celebrating?

While in Japan I noticed that they too decorated for Halloween. It surprised me a little. I wondered....did they know what the day was all about or did they just borrow the fall holiday and it's decor?

I have never been fond of Halloween. There is something about it that disturbs my spirit. As a child I dressed up and participated in trick or treating. Dressing up was fun, but I was always a bit afraid if not downright frightened as we made our way out into the night. AND every year, I would throw up when we returned home. I suppose it was the combination of fear and lots of candy. Who knows? I've observed children now. A lot of them are scared, too, as they make their way into the dark night with it's ghouls and ghost. They do it, though, cause us moms and dads encourage them to and think they are so cute in their costumes. The scariest thing is most kids will do just about anything for candy.

Like the Japanese, I wonder if most of us know the origins of Halloween or why we celebrate it, or why next to Christmas it is the biggest money maker for the retail business. I know we have over commercialized the celebration of Christmas, and that is not a good thing. Still, I find it so ironic that one holiday is about the giving of life and light and the other celebrates death and darkness, yet one is nearly as prominent as the other.

I encourage you to at least find out what the origins of Halloween are and then you can make an educated choice of whether or not you choose to participate in it and why.

http://www.loc.gov/folklife/halloween.html

What Not to Wear

I was told that the Japanese are a shy people. I'm curious about that because in some ways they didn't seem shy at all, particulary in their dress. For the business day, it was pretty much black and white or at least other dark colors like navy blue or gray, but outside of the workplace they are very creative in the way they dress and it expresses some boldness I think. I was talking to my son, Luke, while we were there about this. I told him that I wondered how long it actually took them to put their outfits together everyday. It was like artwork, and some may have trying to design a masterpiece. Now, I know that most of you guys don't call your clothes "outfits", but from what I saw in Japan, I'm not sure you could describe them any other way. They were very creative. Occasionally, I would actually see someone dressed in an attire that we might call a Halloween costume. It was everyday garb for them.

I also noticed that a lot of the young men had a very feminine look to them. Sometimes when you saw a couple you had to look close to see if it indeed was a couple or just two girlfriends linked arm in arm. Their clothes were fine for them, their choice really, but I couldn't help but giggle when I begin to picture some of my guy friends here dressed like the young Japanese men.

And still a touch of tradition........

Maybe Flying IS for the Birds

Flying just isn't all that fun anymore....it's frustrating at best. I do not like the airport check-in process in the very least. It is stressful and since 911, there are so many new rules. You practically have to undress to go through security. Your shoes have to come off, then the sweater, the belt....everything having to go into bins and go through separately. It always seems like I travel during warm weather and that I am not wearing socks. When I have to take my shoes off, I am then standing where countless people have stood, perhaps barefoot as well. It's gross really, you just don't know where their feet have been. (I'll really try to remember to throw some socks in my carry-on next time.)

On our recent trip to Japan I watched a family ahead of us check in with a little girl about age four. Her shoes had to come off, too. I wondered how intimidating the process was for her. A man in front of her set off the alarm and was asked to step aside for a closer examination. Did she worry that it might happen to her? I worried that it might happen to me!! There is a feeling now that you might break the rules without knowing what they are.

Anything liquid has to be 3 oz. or smaller and it all has to be put into a quart size ziplock bag and yes, put in a bin and put separately through the xray machine. I have an underlying tension now that I will be guilty of some small infraction and I will either be pulled aside and interrogated or zapped by the machine as I walk through. So now when I fly, I'm tense, I'm frustrated and honestly I'm a little angry. I get mad at the terrorists, the airlines and myself for being so ridiculous about the situation.

Last summer we were coming home from a trip to Seattle with some great friends. We had attended the Lavendar Festival and I had purchased a gift for my daughter, some wonderful lavendar foot scrub. (Every young woman needs that!) I put all the gifts together in my carry-on. It made sense to me, but I broke the rule. The foot scrub was larger than 3 oz. and not in a plastic ziplock bag. So...they confiscated it! Can you believe it? Now I no longer had a gift for my daughter. I hope the security lady enjoyed the scrub. I picture them at the end of each day dividing up the goods they collected all day from innocent travelers.

On another return trip the security gal dumped the contents of my purse out on a table and sorted it correctly. Now, I know everyone uses them, but there were all my feminine products along with my lipstick, lotion eye drops, etc. It was embarrassing! At least she didn't keep any of them!

Now we have to deal with the whole baggage weight thing. You get charged for extra poundage. Yes, I have also sat at an airport redistributing the articles in my suitcases trying to make them the proper weight. This was the same stuff I left home with. I'm not sure how it suddenly weighed more than when I checked in at my own city's airport, where not a word was said about it being too heavy. Did I forget to mention the time I had to get an extra box to take some weight out of the suitcase and then check that in too?

Since then they have begun to charge for any luggage at all. Aren't the tickets high enough? Do the airlines really think people are going to travel without clothes? Of course they don't, so what else are travelers going to do? They are going to pay for the suitcase.

Almost makes me want to stay home.....flying just isn't all that enjoyable these days, unless of course, you are a bird.

Let's Not Waste It

On Saturday I attended a Memorial Service for a woman who had finally lost the battle with cancer. The service was beautiful and honored her and the Lord. Angie discovered a lump on her breast 4 and a half years ago while she was on her honeymoon. Her entire married life was spent dealing with this disease. That's tough!

I was touched by many things that were shared on Saturday, but there is one thing in particular that has kept me thinking since then. Angie, newly married, eager to move into her role as wife and hopefully mother was given a new direction quite different from the one she thought she signed up for. Suddenly there was a war raging and she was on the front line. She accepted her new position, put on her armor and stepped into the fray. She fought the battle feircely, but not just for her own survival. While she was struggling for her own life, she remembered others who were also in the same war. She helped to raise 7 million dollars for inflammatory breast cancer research. Wow! Can I just say it again? Wow!

What kind of energy did Angie really have for that kind of task? Probably very little if any, and yet she still did it. I thought about how much time I waste on a daily basis. What could I be accomplishing? for others? for the Kingdom of God? One step further I have to ask myself a couple more questions. Do I even take very good care of the things God has already placed in my hands....my home, my belongings and more importantly, the people with whom I share this life? How am I using the time He has given me on this Earth? I don't know how many days I have yet to live, but I do know that while heaven is forever, my time here has a limitation. What will I do with it?

One of these things....

How many of you watched Sesame Street? Do you remember this song..."One of these things is not like the others, one of these things doesn't belong?......"

It's Quiet Here

It is quiet here.....I used to think that we Americans live with a lot of noise around us and we do, some I suppose more than others, but until I visited Japan, I didn't realize how relatively quiet it is here.

In one of my recent posts I talked about the Japanese use of "ma", which is quiet spaces in their speech. I'm not doubting that they do that and it may be their way of having some sort of privacy being that they live in such close promimity to one another. What I experienced there in the public world was a profusion of noise, however. I was completely overstimulated and often found myself stressed by the deluge of sound.

Whenever anyone entered a store they were greeted by everyone. You might hear "Irasshaimase!" countless times while shopping for just minutes in a small store. If you are in a larger department store, just imagine how many times it might float across your ear drums. We were in a large electronics store at one point. Every floor displaying a different type of product, for example, computers on one, music on another, cell phones on yet another. (Yes, there was a whole floor for cell phones. There must have been at least 5,000 different phones to choose from.) So if you stopped on each floor you would be greeted by maybe 20 salespersons, and then you would hear those same 20 greet the next 20 people or so that walked onto that floor. Add to that every TV or CD that was playing and you can get an idea for what I experienced.

On the street there was all the usual noise, plus every time a light changed there would be a chirping, bell ringing or song playing for the blind to hear. (I think this is a great idea, but it adds to the noise level.) In the subway and train stations, as well as on the subways, trains and buses, there are constant audio signals for each mode of transportation coming and going, then voices in at least two languages telling you every stop coming up.

I enjoy some quiet in my world. When I am home alone, the TV never comes on, and I only have music playing occasionally. It helps me to be able to think more clearly. Some days the only noise I hear is the phone ringing, conversation with the caller or my own playing of the piano. It's refreshing to be back in a relatively quiet world.

Timeless travel that feels like forever

I am home. I have that light-headed dizzy feeling that often accompanies time change travel. It was a bumpy ride home. We didn't get to upgrade our seats for the return trip, so we were back in coach the whole time. For the majority of the world, that isn't a big deal, but when your travel mate / husband is 6'7" it becomes an issue. He is sort of like origami on these flights, all folded up and he can't help it, but his space kind of slips into your space. That is difficult at best, but we also had a crying baby, an extremely loud snorer and air turbulence. I don't know for sure, but the turbulence could have been caused by the guy snoring. He was something to behold! Every breath he took in, all the air was sucked out of the compartment and then like a strong gale, he blew it back out again. No wonder the baby was crying. I wanted to cry, too.

We left Nagoya at 1:00 pm and landed in Detroit at 11 am, two hours before we left. It is kind of crazy when you think about it. We should feel like we got time back, but in actually I lost a whole night (of sleep, anyway). My last post mentioned how much I appreciate my bed. I think I'm headed that way now before my head floats off my shoulders. Okay, I know it won't really, it just feels that way.

It was a great trip, but it is also great to be back.....

I'm going home....

We are about to leave Japan. It has been a very interesting, educational and fun trip. I have so many thoughts to share when I get home. It will take days to weed through all my journal notes. Looking forward to high speed internet with all the symbols in familiar places on the keyboard. Can't wait to see the people I love, my cats and to play my Yamaha piano. One more thing.........I love my bed and greatly anticipate falling into it tonight. Ja, Mata!

A moment or two in Japan

Greetings from Nagoya, Japan! Last night we had dinner with Luke's Japanese parents. What a delightful night! They were precious and so very gracious! The meal they fixed us was oishi.....delicious!

I have been so touched that God's spirit resides here in this place where so few acknowledge Him. Look for more on that in blogs to come.

Konbonwa!

When In Japan

Went out for sushi......ate raw cuttlefish. Yum! Well, maybe not. It is really mostly chewy without a lot of flavor.

In Japan

It has been a crazy and interesting place to visit. I am unable to write much now because I am paying for this little bit of internet time. I will post upon return all kinds of interesting tibits. Gotta go now, there are so many things to do and see.

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane.....

Eight hours from now, I will be getting in the car to head for the airport and then to Japan. It just feels odd. It wasn't one of the items on the list of "Things Deb might do someday", and yet here I go. I always knew that Luke would go to Japan. It was just in him, but I hadn't considered it for myself. Luke is there now, though and I want to see him there. I feel privileged to get to go visit him.

I am suffering from a large dose of melancholy in the moment, though. I tend to get sad when anyone leaves on an airplane, even if I'm the one leaving. I can't really think of a good reason for this other than I don't care much for good-byes and somehow boarding a plane seems more of a good-bye than other modes of transportation. Flying usually means you are going too far away to drive. Feels like a long good-bye to me.

I love to travel and see new places, but I also love to be home. I'm comfortable here. I mean that more emotionally than physically. Perhaps I should have said it is comforting to be home. When I am away I miss all the people I love. I miss my piano. I miss my cats. Honestly, I miss my bed. (Okay, so that one is a physical comfort.) Anyway, I'm all packed (finally) and I've sighed a hundred times this evening, yes, and even fought back a few tears. I think I'll go play the piano one more time before I leave.

It will be awhile before I post again. Hopefully though I will have some great stories of Luke and Japan. Sayounara!

Packing is for Rats or Rats! I have to pack!

I leave for Japan in 33 hours. I have found all kinds of ways to procrastinate packing for this trip. I'm not exactly sure why. Here I am again though, writing this blog instead of putting clothes in a suitcase. The truth is I am not fond of packing. I'm never quite sure what to take, or what I will be in the mood to wear or to do, so I tend to overpack. I'm determined not to overpack this time. Maybe that is why I'm putting the process off. Perhaps it is my backward way of overcoming overpacking. If I wait long enough, I won't have time to pack much. What do you think? Will it work?

I really am too tired to pack now, I think I will go to bed and read a little........................

Lead Me to Rest

The Japanese have a word for the empty spaces between words. It is called ma. In a sense there is a reading between the lines and deeper hidden meaning can be found in these quiet places. There is an atmosphere created by the words around these spaces that help interpret their significance.

In my piano lessons, my instructor reminds me of the importance of the rest. He tells me that in order to give a song it's greatest interpretation, I must give the rests their full value. The empty spaces give life to the notes played all around them.

My life is full, sometimes it is busy, too busy. There is a lot of stuff going on, a plethora of things to do, a whole bunch of people to be with, all kinds of needs to be met, both mine and everyone elses. There is noise, plenty of it! There are words, tons of words, so much talking!

God calls me to a quiet place of rest. He calls me to consider "ma"....empty spaces. It is there that I find the deeper meaning. He knows that it is in the silence that the rest of my living gathers its breath. I must give rest it's full value.

In the quiet place

Where His presence fills the space

I will find my rest

Wouldn't You Agree?

"Has it ever occured to you that 100 pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So 100 worshipers meeting together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship...."---A. W. Tozer

Ever been in a church where there is a lot of talk about unity? Yeah, me too. I understand why we talk about it and even strive for it. God's word itself says in Romans 12:18 "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." There are many references to loving one another (John 13:34 and 35, Rom. 12:10, Rom. 13:8, Gal. 5:13, Eph 4:2, and so on) It is important or He would not ask us to do it. We just don't do it very well. Why is that?

We talk about it and maybe we even try sometimes, but most of us are so focused on what we want or what we think our neighbor thinks about us that is extremely difficult to stay unified for very long. So what do you suppose would happen if we took Mr. Tozer's advice? What if each individual stopped looking to themselves or to their neighbor down the row, stopped striving so hard for fellowship, stopped talking about it and all focused on Christ, the Standard? Would we not be in complete unity with our hearts joined in worship? What did Jesus himself say comes first?

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. " Matt. 22:37-39

Order is key. We will never grow close to each other until we look to the One who is able to tune our hearts.