breinchemie bom

laatmiddag lou, lui en blou
die halwe maan hang
'n skewe glimlag aan die koepel van die dag

dis die wit punt van Chaos se nael
ingewurm onder die blou rofie,
om dit af te skil in 'n stadige ooplê
wat ons trillende groen senuwee blootlê
en snitterend te lag as ons weerloos snak
op die laaste lou, blou dag

Merton Reflection for November 9, 2009

[Septuagesima Sunday, 1967] And, after all, am I not arrogant too? Am I not unreasonable, unfair, demanding, suspicious and often quite arbitrary in my dealings with others? The point is not just "who is right" but "judge not" and "forgive one another" and "bear one another's burdens". This by no means implies passive obsequiousness and blind obedience, but a willingness to listen, to be patient. This is our task.

Thomas Merton. The Road to Joy, Robert E. Daggy, editor (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1989): 96-97.

book review

Under a Blood Red Sky by Kate Furnivall

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I would not have chosen this book from the shelves in a shop, because for one, I don't like the cover. As it happened the book is one of those we are now reading in our book club, so I decided to give it a shot, at least.

I liked it! I will keep an eye open for the author, she writes well and I was drawn into the story, felt sympathy for the characters and the cool crisp atmosphere of Russia.

The story line itself is interesting, with the women in the labour camps and the life in the village of Tivil, the different characters, from the Chairman to the priest with his wild hair, to the gypsy and his strange rites.

What really intrigued me was the day to day life of normal Russians shortly after the revolution. I see the author's mother spent part of her childhood in Russia during that time, and although I wouldn't know if all the details are correct, they certainly feel right

.Always delightful to discover a new author.

View all my reviews >>

Just learn to wait, and do what you can and help other people.

[Christmas Letter, 1966] Most of you, even with all that you have to suffer, are much better off than you realize. Yet the heart of man can be full of so much pain, even when things are exteriorly "all right". I

t becomes all the more difficult because today we are used to thinking that there are explanations for everything. But there is no explanation for most of what goes on in our own hearts, and we cannot account for it all. No use resorting to mental tranquilizers that even religious explanations sometimes offer.

Faith must be deeper than that, rooted in the unknown and in the abyss of darkness that is the ground of our being. No use teasing the darkness to try to make answers grow out of it. But if we learn how to have a deep inner patience, things solve themselves, or God solves them if you prefer, but do not expect to see how. Just learn to wait, and do what you can and help other people.

Thomas Merton. The Road to Joy, Robert E. Daggy, editor (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1989): 94.