Oct 8, 2020 | Uncategorized
“In these uncertain times…” This has been echoing in my brain probably since March 2020….How many times have we all heard this statement now? Almost to the point of rolling our eyes now…? Or is that just me? Either way, it sounded like a good blog title. How does one deal with uncertain times? I know for me, I’ve struggled with being able to deal with these COVID times in a, ahem, mentally healthy way…if I’m being honest. And this year has, well, sucked (to put it mildly). Can I get an Amen? Who is ready to put 2020 behind them? I know I am. However, I also don’t know what’s ahead either. And that’s where the uncertainty comes in.
I keep wondering, when aren’t we, or when haven’t we been, in uncertain times? What generation hasn’t faced some type of struggle, or tribulation? I think every generation has one that shapes them, such as the Great Depression, WWI, WWII, Vietnam, September 11th, COVID-19 (and this comes from a US perspective). Now, I’m not saying they are all exactly the same, but we know people struggled during these times, and things were unknown, perhaps even more then, than now due to the internet, but that is also hard to say.
Yesterday I was sitting in a financial class with my husband, and as the presenter was discussing the S&P 500 Index, it got me to thinking about how uncertainty isn’t actually all that uncertain. For example, the presenter described that yes, there are recessions, but it always bounces back. He was trying to help us understand the market is a long-term investment, and to have patience if we are going to invest. However, I kept seeing that image of the ups and downs from 1928 to today (yes, even through COVID), and he was right, it bounced back from each recession, including the Great Depression, EVERY time. There was NOT one single time it didn’t bounce back. And I couldn’t help but think about how many people are describing what we are experiencing as “uncertain times” and how some people are afraid to put money in the stock market. The image I saw took all the fear out of putting money in the stock market to look at the whole picture. What if we looked at the whole picture of our times? Would it help us to see that things will eventually bounce back? We just aren’t in control of when it will bounce back.
You can see the chart here: https://www.macrotrends.net/2324/sp-500-historical-chart-data
What would it be like to live with that amount of certainty in uncertain times? To know without a doubt that things would eventually be okay, even if they don’t seem okay right now, in the moment. Wow…..seeing that image really helped me picture what peace during COVID might be like. Meaning living with peace during COVID, would be like saying I know it isn’t okay right in this moment, but I know it is going to be okay eventually, even if I don’t know when that moment is going to be.
Talk about giving up certainty…yikes!
This doesn’t just play out globally, it can play out in our society, it can play out in our extended families, it can play out in our family, it can play out with ourselves too. There can be so many places where we don’t know what’s coming next, or where we don’t know how we will make it through. Yet, somehow, humanity has managed to continue through each generation, learning from the last. And each generation continues doing the best it can do with what it knows.
Something else that many people don’t think about is how through the struggle, we learn. We can learn about ourselves, we can learn about life, and we can learn to (dare I say it….?) learn to let go of control of the future. We must be willing to allow ourselves to learn. We must be willing to live in uncertainty. So, while many people talk about “uncertain times” as a bad thing, I see it as a chance to learn how to give up control of my life. (and full disclosure, I am definitely not perfect at this)
The real question is when will you be ready to truly live in uncertainty?
Reference:
Macrotrends. (2020). S&P 500 Index – 90 Year Historical Chart. Retrieved from: https://www.macrotrends.net/2324/sp-500-historical-chart-data
Aug 4, 2020 | cut-off, Kristen, self-care, Uncategorized
I have been hearing a lot lately about not being serious 24/7. This is something I can struggle with in my life, especially right now, during this pandemic. I am so grateful for my kiddos who help me to remember to have fun. Playing and not being serious helps me remember to have fun in my life. It’s a reminder that life isn’t just work at the office, work from home, clean the house, help the kids, spend time with your spouse, etc. I love taking some moments and coloring with my kiddos, riding my bike (that I’ve had since I was 12—yeah, I am still a shorty!) with them, or playing cars on the living room floor, or chasing the kids around in the yard playing Tag. It is a way for me to be able to play too.
However, during this time, being something other than serious can be difficult, ya know, because there aren’t as many places to go and do fun things. We can’t necessarily hang out whenever, wherever, we want to right now. We can also get stuck in work mode because we are working from home, or we are helping kids with figuring out what to do about the upcoming school year, or we are trying to keep our home clean because the house is being lived in 24/7…..there are lots and lots of reasons to not play right now. This is something I have seen even among my colleagues where being in quarantine is exhausting because we can become stuck in work mode. There is a difference for most of us right now trying to find some of that balance in whatever way we can.
It is important for us to attempt to find some balance between the two; work and play. I keep thinking about the proverb, “all work and no play” (Howell, 1659). Which also makes me think about a podcast I heard recently by Rick Warren (2020) where he talked about how more breaks, not longer, breaks help us during the day. We here in the US want to take an hour-long break for lunch, and that’s it, but our creativity and productivity actually increase if we do several 5 to 10 minute breaks throughout the day rather than one long break. This makes sense for us right now, if we are struggling to play because we are working from home and we aren’t taking those coffee breaks with colleagues, or chatting about other things when we stop into someone’s office to ask a question, and our house is in the background with dishes calling our name. We aren’t having downtime when we drive home too to release work tension. This can lead us to feeling those bored/unproductive/lazy/dull/”I just don’t wanna” feelings
What would it be like for us to find some time to play, even if it is at home with our kids, our spouses, ourselves? Find some time to do those things that you love. The things that fill you up and give you the energy to get back to it when it is time to be productive, whether that’s at home, from home, or after work. I love unwinding by walking around our neighborhood, coloring, praying, meditating, playing video games, or playing bored games with my family to name a few things. What are some ways you enjoy not being so serious 24/7?
Reference:
Howell, James. (1659). Proverbs in English, Italian, French and Spanish (1659). Retrieved from: https://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/random-idiom.php?c=767
Warren, Pastor Rick. (2020). A Faith that Leads to Emotional Health: Part 3. Retrieved from: https://pastorrick.com/listen-online/a-faith-that-leads-to-emotional-health-part-3/.
Jan 13, 2020 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20, Uncategorized
On the Northeast side of the Sea of Galilee, we are entering the area of the Golan Heights…where all the conflict was happening round about the 1990s, among other times. There are still mine field signs right by the road, so one doesn’t want to go wandering off on one’s own just there. Yikes!
This area is east of Capernaum, where Jesus began his ministry, where Peter’s house was, and the first church there, etc. This is the place were there were tombs that were roamed by the wretched refuse of society, like for instance the demon-possessed man. There were no chains that could hold him, and he was quite the public nuisance, so they banished him to this area on the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee. If a young archaeologist were inclined to search among the minefields of this area, perhaps remnants of the tombs would be found, but as it is, no one is going to go poking around up in these hills for the ancient burial sites that are indicated to be there by Scripture.
If you remember the story of the demon possessed man that Jesus healed from Mark 5:1-20, you might remember that the demons that were possessing him were many, and they called themselves “Legion.” Legion begged Jesus not to send them to the pit, and instead asked to be driven into a nearby herd of pigs which then ran off a cliff and were drowned. This is the area that this happened in. The exact hill is not known, but it is not hard to imagine this story when you see this landscape.
It is steep, and a drop-off straight to the water. The green grassy area at the bottom of this hill would have been underwater at the time of Jesus, as the water level is lower than usual now. Right by where we stopped to look over this cliff, there were the remnants of an old bunker used by snipers to shoot at local fisherman, nice, huh.
Here is Evan standing on top of the bunker.
And there is your random land mine warning sign. This area was cleared as an overlook, but…you know…not something you see every day.
For some perspective, from this lookout on the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee, we can see where we were this morning, Mt Arbel…the drop-off seen across the water.
How pretty is that!
So to wrap it up for this site…Mark 5:20 speaks of the healed man telling his story in the Decapolis. The Decapolis is a collection of 10 cities of this region, all a part of the Roman Empire and ruled by Herod the Great, and then his sons: Herod Antipas, Phillip the Tetrarch, and Herod Archelaus. One of those cities of the Decapolis is Hippus or Sussita which is the area of Kursi, right where we were standing, and another is Bet She’an…you’ll hear more about that spot later…stay tuned!
Jan 9, 2020 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20, Uncategorized
Very near the Antonia Fortress is the Pools of Bethesda. Right next to the pools of Bethesda is St Anne’s Cathedral. This is one of the few cathedrals that was not destroyed by the Muslims after the Byzantine Era because they turned it into a school, and were particularly impressed by the acoustics. We tried to sing a song or two in there, despite the lack of song books, and with little luck remembering all the correct words. So I volunteered to sing the first stanza of “It Is Well” for our group. I was a little under the weather, but the acoustics were most forgiving and it was pretty cool. A favorite moment for me as it is maybe my favorite hymn. Here is a pic of the cathedral.
Here is a picture of the (now empty) pools with some of the archaeology nearby.
The pools were some 40-50 feet deep. Whoa! Next up is the Israel Museum and lunch.
Jan 6, 2020 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20, Uncategorized
I decided this was as good a place as any to let everyone who cares to know such things, that I visited a shop in the Old City of Jerusalem, just inside the Jaffa Gate, that has been there since the year 1300AD. This business has been handed down from father to son for 26 generations! That is just impressive. I feel like I have to include this story too, because of the culture involved…so interesting!
So the business is called Razzouk’s. Here’s a picture of their sign.
Yep. I got a tattoo. Who is surprised, and who isn’t? I have actually been thinking about this particular tattoo for about 10 years. I found a photo in my phone of a tattoo artist’s ideas that dated 7 years ago and I had thought about it for a long time before that already. When this opportunity presented itself, with so much special-ness and meaning surrounding the location and timing, it took nothing for me to say yes. In fact, 7 other people got tats, too! Mine took less than 2 minutes by the dad, a master tattoo artist. 
They have a book in the shop of designs to choose from. There are stamps that they use as templates, and the stamps they have, have been in use for well over 500 years. Imagine, Christians from all over the world wearing tattoos to show their faith, through generations and across multiple cultures, while on pilgrimage in the Holy Land. It really fits the theme of this trip for me…you are not alone.
Here are some of the stamps. Several in our crew got Jerusalem crosses. A large cross with 4 smaller crosses in each quadrant. I had a custom idea in mind…like I said…I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. I did not want anything that was dark or showy, but still visible and for me. I chose white ink, which, as it ages, looks more and more like a scar. OK…the picture you’ve been waiting for…”Nancy, what did you get?” Here you go!
So, keeping in mind that it needs to heal some yet, it’s still a little red from the excruciating less than 2 minutes of pain involved.
There’s my big reveal, the surprise, the first. As i type this, it’s a little more red yet, but doesn’t hurt. Healing nicely. A really cool way to finish up Day 6!
Jan 5, 2020 | Nancy’s Holy Land Trip 2019-20, Uncategorized
So there is a building on the top of Mt Zion that was built well after the destruction of Jerusalem in 90AD that is a memoriam for the Last Supper. Truth be told, the place where it would have been has been destroyed. What we do know is that the disciples were supposed to go into the city to find a man carrying a jug of water. This would have been an unusual sight because this was woman’s work. There is a group of Jews living on Mt Zion called the Assines, remember them from Qumran? They were a very strict sect (one of the 4 main ones with 2 of the others being Pharisees and Saducees, I can’t remember the other). They called themselves the Sons of Light and the Romans the Sons of Darkness. Anyway, they took vows of celibacy so they would have been men carrying jugs of water. So the area where they lived is believed to be the area where the Last Supper would have been prepared, and the area where they lived is known. So here is the building where this is memorialized.
And this is a particular pillar that Mike pointed out to us. It’s the only one with pelicans.
What makes this significant is that pelicans, when they are old or sick and know they are going to die, they offer their own bodies as food for the younger, stronger pelicans. Interesting anyway.
Right near here was a place that is a traditional place of burial for King David. Mike says he doesn’t buy it because David would have been buried in his city…Bethlehem. Mike said he may have been buried in Bethlehem, but Herod may have moved his bones to Jerusalem. It really wasn’t all that compelling, honestly. And this was all we were allowed to see anyway.
With the other side of the room with this window.
So all in all, the pelican column was cool, the rest was OK. I find that I am more in awe of the old stuff than the newer stuff, and the for-sure-this-happened-here stuff than the maybe and memorial stuff.
OK…the one you’ve been waiting for…the big first is next!!!
