holy matrimony, batman

It's been nearly a month since my last post. On the upside, things have been so busy recently I feel as if I haven't had time to suffer my September seasonal allergies. I feel like yesterday was the end of camp...and now it's basically Christmas.

I've been doing some beta.blogger.com housecleaning and have stumbled upon some drafts that I either a) lost interest in finishing, b) ran out of time to finish, and/or c) felt they were too personal to post. But, since I've recently opened a 24-7 Prayer Room (a seven-year dream realization for me) I've decided:

to heck with procrastination, and

considering approximately 8-14 people are daily walking in and out of a room that I feel is a symbol of my heart, to heck with self-preservation and fear of vulnerability.

So. Here they come.

First, a few quotes on the sanctity and communal protection of marriage. An idea I've been chewing, like so much cud, over many months...

"We want our marriage to fulfill all of our emotional and physical needs; we ask our partner to do what an entire village once did; and to desire nothing or no one else while doing it."
- Esther Perel

"Suddenly I realized - two people isn't enough. You need backup. If you're only two people, and someone drops off the edge, then you're on your own. Two isn't a large enough number. You need three at least."
- Marcus ("About A Boy")

"Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."
- Ecclesiastes 4:12

"Do you, their family and friends, promise your support and encouragement to the commitment that they are making to one another here today? If so, would each of you please respond by saying 'I promise'?"
- Pastor to the members of the congregation, traditional wedding vows

miss you, ed

Honest Ed Mirvish (1914-2007)

It's one of those moments that I miss my great aunt Dodie. Dodie introduced me, at the age of three, to the city of Toronto and I fell in love. With Dodie I experienced all the glories of the city, including riding the swans at Centre Island, going through the Bat Cave at the ROM, watching matinees at the Uptown, and feeding the pigeons at Queen's Park. For those of you who understand, she was my Dumbledore.

And she probably would have wanted to attend the funeral. And I would have had someone to go with.

www.torontounlimited.ca/video
www.mirvish.com/edwin/edmirvish
www.mirvish.com

i take you, barbie, to be my lawfully wedded wife

From http://www.weddingtutu.com/plastic_surgery.shtml

Pre-nuptial cosmetic surgery is become very popular, and medical technology and procedures are rapidly improving and allowing easy rejuvenating procedures with quck healing time and minimal post-operative bruising and marks. Consider including beauty costs in your wedding budget for services such as breast augmentation, cosmetic dentristy, porcelain veneers, teeth whitening, micro dermabrasion, laser hair removal, restylane, facials, liposuction, face lift, and other pre-marital nips and tucks, and weightloss!

shabbat

Shabbat

So, running myself ragged, I realized, was bound to end somewhere.
I guess it ended partway through my second month of back-to-back engagements.

All I want is a room somewhere,
Far away from the cold night air.
With one enormous chair,
Aow, wouldn't it be loverly?...
Aow, so loverly sittin' abso-bloomin'-lutely still.
I would never budge 'till spring
Crept over me windowsill.
-Eliza Dolittle, "My Fair Lady"

Peace when trouble blows,
Jehovah sees, Jehovah knows;
He is my peace, when sorrow nears,
Jehovah sees, Jehovah hears.
Like the breath, I need to live,
Jehovah takes, Jehovah gives;
Gives me peace,When trouble blows,
Jehovah sees, Jehovah knows.
- Peace

SOS 8:14

Song of Solomon 8:14 (Amplified)
A much better version than the NIV one I grew up with.

[Joyfully the radiant bride turned to him, the one altogether lovely, the chief among ten thousand to her soul, and with unconcealed eagerness to begin her life of sweet companionship with him, she answered] Make haste, my beloved, and come quickly, like a gazelle or a young hart [and take me to our waiting home] upon the mountains of spices!

knock knock

While on I walked, a comfort seemed to touch
A heart that had not been disconsolate:
Strength came where weakness was not known to be,
At least not felt; and restoration came
Like an intruder knocking at the door
Of unacknowledged weariness.

William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

who did swallow jo-jo-jonah?

Ever have that feeling that you

have been running

from something? Or Someone?

Maybe for so long that you can't remember what you've been running from? I sat here for about 10 minutes with snippets of an old childhood poem I remember reading in one of my favourite books growing up, Arrow Book of Funny Poems, which I was finally able to track down via Google:

The Ostrich
(Mary E. Wilkins Freeman)

The ostrich is a silly bird,
With scarcely any mind.
He often runs so very fast,
He leaves himself behind.

And when he gets there, has to stand
And hang about till night,
Without a blessed thing to do
Until he comes in sight.

If God calls you to do something, and you don't do it, is it sloth or sin? Yes, he gives second and third and fourth chances - but, usually, those chances are to do what we should have done the first time around...not opportunities to re-write the script. Do we run, frantic, attempting to track down our "place" only to realize we probably had a better grasp of the complete picture before we started running?

God is patient. God is kind. He'll wait, as we wait, to figure out what's gone wrong, to figure out why we're inside the belly of a giant fish, to recall, dimly, that there might have been something that we were told to do...

"God's calling and you're the one
But like Jonah you run
He's told you to speak
But you keep holding it in,
Oh can't you see it's such a sin?"
- Keith Green, Asleep in the Light