Beauty Treatment 5 - Face lift

I lift up my eyes to the mountains
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 121

Who do we look up to? And who do we look for for help? It is said that we become like what we worship and that we all worship something ..even unknowingly..therefore what we lift our eyes to has power to shape us eternally...

Beauty Treatment 4 - Humble pie diet

'Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves' Philippians 2v2-4

Beauty Treatment 3 - Aromatherapy

'whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things' Philippians 4:7-9

Beauty treatment 2 - Daily cleanse

Forgive others as you are forgiven - daily.

Beauty treatment 1 - Hot soak

Well I got in touch with my Stylist and He told me that the first beauty treatment was to realise that I was loved - warts and all - what a relief!

Inside out

Been contemplating the scariness of what it would be like to live with our insides on the outside -and no I'm not talking of our gooey organs and funny bones- but of our thoughts and fears and fancies. In the film Shallow Hal, Hal is blessed with the ability to see people's inner beauty on the outside, with some interesting results! What if all that counted in life was not how things appeared to be, how nice we seemed, how successfully we presented ourselves etc but instead the pure stripped down truth of our daily thinking. What do we think about? Are those thoughts good in the direction of others? How much are we actually preoccupied by self? Some people have the purest and simplest of hearts -I know mine is a mine field. And I genuinely think it matters - because in the end I think our inner reality will be the only one that prevails. So I'm gonna get my Stylist in on this one and be honest with Him about my flaws and see what beauty treatments He can offer :)

Community

Community is like a little jug

You can fill it up with love

With acts of kindness day by day

Till the jug aint big enough :)

Yesterday

4 course meal in a vegetarian restaurant
Surrounded by beards and pink hair
A backy on a bicycle in the cold Burgos air
Luminita stopped begging to invite me back for tea
Learning Romanian with her son
And extended family
Egyptian film re Alexandria's art underground
Subtitles in Spanish
Arabic sound
Hot ribena and homemade quiche
Just before bed
Yesterday was pretty cool - it's got to be said.

IF

Comfort, comfort

This week I was witness to a very cute happening in our house which got me thinking. Little Marc, 2 years old, had managed to spectacularly trip over his own feet and come crashing to the floor, whacking his head against the corner of a table on the way down. The result of the pain, shock and panic was a lot of tears and screams. The little boy was almost inconsolable until he landed in a heap at his Daddy's feet and just clung to his leg, still crying in such a way that made it hard for him to catch his breath. At this point Daddy, Bernat, simply held him there and whilst stroking his head, he whispered in a tangibly comforting way 'you're alright..you're alright'. Marc was there for sometime, he would receive comfort and calm down and then suddenly, as if being hit by a wave of pain or memory, would start screaming again. All the while his father kept him firmly in his hold, until it really was alright again.
Although as adults we like to see ourselves as sophisticated and advanced in our thinking, my hunch is that we understand little more of our universe than a child does of his, and sometimes all we know is that it is scary or it hurts. Many of us seek answers and feel angry with God for the state of things, but I wonder if what we really need sometimes is His comfort, if we would only let ourselves go and receive it. Even when a painful event is over we can still feel the shock waves of it and need comfort once again.
In the Bible God is described as Father and I cannot think of a better image of His love than this. Comfort from a source that is much bigger than our understanding that can truly reassure us 'You're alright..you're alright' until we can get up again.

Consolaos, Consolaos
Esta semana fui testigo de un acontecimiento muy bonito en nuestra casa, que me hizo pensar. Little Marc, 2 años de edad, había logrado una caida espectacular sobre sus propios pies, golpeando su cabeza contra la esquina de una mesa en el camino al suelo. El resultado del dolor, el shock y el pánico fue un montón de lágrimas y gritos. El niño estaba casi inconsolable hasta que aterrizó a los pies de su papá y sólo se aferró a su pierna, sin dejar de llorar de tal manera que lo hizo difícil para él recuperar el aliento. En este momento, papá, Bernat, simplemente lo mantuvo allí y, mientras acariciaba la cabeza, le susurró de una manera realmente reconfortante "que estás bien .. que estás bien". Marc estaba allí por un buen rato, recibiria el confort y calmaba y de repente, como si fuera golpeado por otra ola de dolor o de la memoria, empezaría a gritar de nuevo. Mientras tanto su padre le mantuvo seguro, hasta que realmente estaba bien otra vez.
A pesar de que como adultos nos gusta vernos tan sofisticados y avanzados en nuestra forma de pensar, mi impresión es que entendemos poco más de nuestro universo de que un niño entiende del suyo, y a veces todo lo que sabemos es que da miedo o nos duele. Muchos de nosotros buscamos respuestas o nos sentimos enojado con Dios por el estado de las cosas, pero me pregunto si lo que realmente necesitamos a veces es su consuelo, si sólo nos dejariamos llevar y recibiriamos. Incluso cuando un acontecimiento doloroso ya ha pasado, igual podemos sentir las ondas de choque y entonces necesitamos confort, una vez más.
En la Biblia Dios es descrito como el Padre y yo no puedo pensar en una mejor imagen de su amor de esto. El consuelo de una fuente que es mucho más grande que nuestro entendimiento y que realmente nos puede reasegurar "Tú estás bien .. que estás bien" hasta que podamos volver a levantarnos. 

A Deeper Listening

Amongst my thoughts for 2012 I have been drawn to the idea of practicing a deeper listening towards God and towards others. A lot is missed through a lack of listening 'it is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way' Proverbs 19v2. Simultaneously I seem to have been strangely drawn to watching excessive amounts of Sherlock Holmes related media. It was when watching one such program the other day that I realized he was in fact a great example of what I had been thinking about. It is Holmes' highly tuned ability to listen to the world around him that enables him to see what others don't and solve the mysteries that evade many. The Sherlock Holmes dramas illustrate brilliantly how messages and signals are being constantly emitted in the world around us if we are patient and wise enough to interpret them. So thanks Sherlock for inspiring me on my quest for 2012 and Happy New Ears to us all!

A game for the turning of the years

On New Year's Eve I played a silly game with some friends at the table of eating. We each put 3 of our top tips/lessons from 2011 into one pot and then 3 questions for 2012 into another pot. We then picked out at random questions and tips - just for the laughs. Of the highlights : to my question 'How can I find the perfect man?' I was advised 'Don't tred in dog poo' and to my brother's question 'How do I find the perfect curtains?' the tip picked out at random was to 'Always consult Tracy' who happens to be his girlfriend! Highly recommend the game - Could this be an effective way of solving future dilemmas?

Burgos 'Freedom' Graffiti

Grafitti Wall in Burgos, Spain says 'Do not cover up your FREEDOM'.

DREAM

This video was made with young people from the Hechos project, Burgos - exploring the realities of life as a refugee and the tensions experienced between 'when reality doesn't let you dream or when your dreams become reality'.
http://youtu.be/th-ER7hWNI4