Friday, July 31, 2009
Last Minutes....
Today I went to get my hair done and spent the remainder of the day with the groom to take care of the last minute things before the big day tomorrow. I am so happy that my cousin has found his help mate and vice versa. I couldn’t think of a better person for him. She’s a humble, sweet, Woman of God who loves the Lord and puts others before her. I pray tomorrow is everything she wants and more!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
It's About That Time!
Today is the rehearsal for my cousin (the groom) and best and friend (the bride) wedding. I am so happy for them! In a couple of days they will taking the next steps on a road together! I am ready to eat, eat and eat some more at the BBQ they will be having later! I’m so excited!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
What Can I Say?
As each day passes and I deal with the drama and emotions of learning something new about the happy couple; I can’t help but wonder; what will it feel like? I was supposed to meet with “Richard” of the new couple to finalize the shirts and I got so nervous that my stomach was doing serious flips. I don’t know. I feel weird to think about him. He’s taken now and I wouldn’t want anyone thinking of my boyfriend. Don’t you agree? The rehearsal dinner is tomorrow and it’s going to take a lot of work for me to look forward to it, I just want it to come and go. So sorry to say, I can’t wait until the ceremony and reception is over. SMH. I dislike being negative. Keep the prayer there.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Why Am I Not Surprised
I was supposed to meet “Richard” after work for the suit fitting but he cancelled. To tell you the truth, it seems since he’s been in a relationship that he has been more open with me. I am so confused. I never tried to pursue him at all. And there lies the problem. He didn’t think I was interested because he is so used to women going after him. I did the opposite; I was the cool friend on the side that would occasionally talk and joke with him. I was always told that “He that findeth a wife…” I will always stick to that. I like it, I like that if a gentleman is interested, he has to make the move. I am convinced I belong in another time period. I love the old fashion standards to things. These days everyone thinks without thinking.
Monday, July 27, 2009
No More!
I am sick and tired of hearing about them! I would be happy for them if it was God’s will but the more I hear about it the more I am nervous for them. I pray that they take the next steps as led by God and not by their emotions.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Opportunity Knocks
This morning I woke up to the email that an old friend of mine wants to finally give us a chance. Lol. It seems that this would be by chance right? No. I remember talking to my cousin before about decoys. They pop up when the right one is right around the corner. I remember that my spiritual mother told me the story about her and her husband. God revealed who he was one night at a all night Youth prayer meeting. It took them 9 years to get together! Do you know why? One word: Decoys. They let people talk in their heads and one got into a relationship with the wrong one and the other followed. It took time to fix and they were finally obedient to God. But it took 9 years to reach their promise. It reminds me of the story of the Children of Israel in the wilderness. What was supposed to be a temporary trip to the promise land turned into 40 years! How many of us are taking the scenic route to our promise? God wants to show us the easy way but all our complaining has made it longer and longer to get there.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Let Me Off!
Life is beginning to feel like a cheesy Soap Opera. I just found out that none of his friends support the relationship! I don’t know. Normally “Richard” has his head on straight all the time, but this time I think he lost it. I realized that he is probably just so tired of waiting; all his friends are about to get married and he’s the only one that is single. It different for different people I guess.
Friday, July 24, 2009
The Calm Before the Storm
So I know I haven’t discussed the relationship aspect of my life because it just seems way too complicated. I mean, some things take time to explain; especially this. But it seems like everyday I will hear and learn something new about the new couple: Let’s just call them “Maddy and Richard”. I pray that God will strengthen me in this situation, it feels like a test of my faith and I know that whatever God promises me will be mine. I also pray for them. That if this is of God, they follow God and lift Him up in this relationship.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
I Never Thought It Would Feel Like This
I have no words. I literally felt the revelation rock my soul. Have you ever felt like that before? You know what is yours and someone else has taken it? I just found out the person that God has for me is on a relationship with another person. I can only pray his strength and hers, that they don’t make promises to each other that they can’t keep. I pray that they are mindful of each others hearts. It hurts, yes. But………I can’t explain it……I don’t doubt the word I received, I believe it with every fiber or my being. But some people have to test the waters, make sure……maybe he’s one of them. I pray that there are no backlashes or consequences…..
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Open My Eyes Lord, I Want to See Jesus..
There was a song in Sunday School we used to sing. It goes like this: “Open our eyes Lord, we want to see Jesus. To reach out and touch Him; and tell Him we love Him. Open our ears Lord, and teach us to listen. Open our eyes Lord, we want to see Jesus”. That song popped into my head as I read Our Daily Bread today and it talked about sin making us deaf to God. The text is taken from Isaiah 42: 23-25. The Message version is amazing; it starts from vs 18-25. It reads: “Pay attention! Are you deaf? Open your eyes! Are you blind? You're my servant, and you're not looking! You're my messenger, and you're not listening! The very people I depended upon, servants of God, blind as a bat—willfully blind! You've seen a lot, but looked at nothing. You've heard everything, but listened to nothing. God intended, out of the goodness of his heart, to be lavish in his revelation. But this is a people battered and cowed, shut up in attics and closets,
Victims licking their wounds, feeling ignored, abandoned. But is anyone out there listening? Is anyone paying attention to what's coming? Who do you think turned Jacob over to the thugs, let loose the robbers on Israel? Wasn't it God himself, this God against whom we've sinned- not doing what he commanded, not listening to what he said? Isn't it God's anger that's behind all this, God's punishing power? Their whole world collapsed but they still didn't get it; their life is in ruins but they don't take it to heart.” Amazing! I never looked at it from that angle. That God was answering but I wasn’t hearing. It makes me think, I mean really think. I asked God before if I sin unintentionally, forgive me but make me mindful of my ways. Maybe we’re doing something that is stopping God’s word from getting to us. We’ve been seeking God for an answer or asking for a change and He’s been answering us all along but maybe our choice in music, our “happy hour habits”, our relationships, etc. has been making us deaf to the voice of the Lord. I pray if that is the case, the Lord will open our eyes and bring it to our attention. It would be sad that God is talking to us, warning us even but our sin is preventing us from hearing. Be blessed.
Victims licking their wounds, feeling ignored, abandoned. But is anyone out there listening? Is anyone paying attention to what's coming? Who do you think turned Jacob over to the thugs, let loose the robbers on Israel? Wasn't it God himself, this God against whom we've sinned- not doing what he commanded, not listening to what he said? Isn't it God's anger that's behind all this, God's punishing power? Their whole world collapsed but they still didn't get it; their life is in ruins but they don't take it to heart.” Amazing! I never looked at it from that angle. That God was answering but I wasn’t hearing. It makes me think, I mean really think. I asked God before if I sin unintentionally, forgive me but make me mindful of my ways. Maybe we’re doing something that is stopping God’s word from getting to us. We’ve been seeking God for an answer or asking for a change and He’s been answering us all along but maybe our choice in music, our “happy hour habits”, our relationships, etc. has been making us deaf to the voice of the Lord. I pray if that is the case, the Lord will open our eyes and bring it to our attention. It would be sad that God is talking to us, warning us even but our sin is preventing us from hearing. Be blessed.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Wearing My Heart on My Sleeve
I am all for the old fashion way of doing things but I wonder if wearing our heart on our sleeves is the best idea. I realized that while I was single I was in emotional relationships. Even though we weren’t together my mind frame didn’t really echo this. Why? Because mentally I was acting like we were together and if you look at it from that stand point I wasn’t really single, was I? Maybe it’s not like that for everyone; it just seems like that with me. I think I’m just rambling again…………….never mind me.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Good Girls Finish 235, 209
I don’t really believe it but sometimes it feels like it. I do what I’m supposed to, behave the way I should, and see the people around me doing their own thing get ahead. It reminds me of the Psalm when David saw the wicked prospering; but he knew that God would take care of His people. I remind myself that as long as I follow God, He will take care of me. Sometimes we need a little reminder of who He is and what He can do in our lives.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
What Doesn't Kill You...
I doubt it but maybe it's true. It can’t kill me physically but it can kill me emotionally. I am trying to find the right words to say that would make it feel less than it is, but even the little things that are done hurt me. I asked God to remove whatever that I feel that isn’t from Him; but yet the feelings remain. Now I have to deal with it and watch it unfold in front of me. I feel like Anne Elliot in Persuasion when she watches Captain Wentworth with Louisa Musgrove interact with each other and don’t acknowledge her….sigh… I am sure this will pass, and I will look back and laugh at this.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
A Mini- Vacay
I tried to sleep until I could sleep no more. It didn’t work though. I realized today that I am so weak and nothing without the Lord. I need Him constantly guiding, leading, and breathing in me. I just want time with just the Lord and I so we can talk about everything. I am going to take some time off from work; it’s time to be on my knees.
Friday, July 17, 2009
A Little More
I feel like sometimes my co-worker is trying my nerves. My supervisor is on vacation and I won’t lie and say I don’t miss him. I want him back asap! I am convinced I might loss my mine if he doesn’t come back. Yesterday, we went to visit another church in Brooklyn to support one of our ministers that spoke at a Youth Convention. I enjoyed the dancing. There was this one group that danced to “Waging War" by CeCe Winans. I loved it, I thought about it on my way home. It makes me enjoy dancing and ministering through dance. I fell bless that I can touch others without using words.
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Thursday, July 16, 2009
Behind the Building
I just finished reading “Our Daily Bread” for today and I have to say I am moved. The topic is about doing work behind the scenes. I am one of those people that feel that God has called me for the background things and to be honest I love it. I love the fact that I am in the background making sure things go smoothly because without the background work how will anything get done?......Any who….Yesterday I went bowling with my co-workers for the Junior Achievement. I had so much fun! I haven’t gone bowling in a while. I would have loved to have gone with my church family because it would have been tons of fun! I made sure that I showed Christ in me at all times.
Le Provi Specifica
So. Hi. Sorry for the adamant lapses, but I am at this moment sitting in a tiny piazza in Montefiascone where we have discovered available WiFi. This is tantamount to finding gold, or an Etruscan ruin heretofore undiscovered, hence the long delays. Also, we are busy. Very, very busy, so I can't even pre-write and load an entry all that easily. I could no doubt find a few hot spots in Rome tomorrow during our little trip to see a Plautus show in the Roman ruins, but I'll be honest with you -- I care more about my shoulder hefting about Gracie here than I do about 'blogging. Mi dispiace. I'll make it up to you, I promise.
It goes well with me here. Every day is a new adventure in highs and lows, and everyone has had their little panics, but on the whole the group is amazing and the work is wonderful. We've seen no less than three theatre productions of various sorts (not including tomorrows), learned a lot of Italian, learned a classic Scala scenario, been to the hot springs and an arts festival in Spoleto, had some time at il lago di Bolsena, had master classes with two Italian actors, some great meals, and Friend Heather and I even performed our clown Romeo & Juliet for a crowd of appreciative Italians in a renovated Spanish amphitheater. It goes well with me here.
I miss you all, but I wouldn't have missed this for the world. I'll write more in detail soon. Or later. That's me being very Italian . . .
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
It's Not That Serious
I’m not going to get into the whole breakdown of why a Christian child should not be reading the Harry Potter series. But I will say when I heard that people camped out for the movie premiere I had to ask: seriously? I mean, they are so passionate about something that doesn’t pour into their spirits anything positive. I wish we Christians displayed that passion daily and imagine how many people we could lead to Christ. Because Harry Potter can’t save you; no magic can get you into heaven. Jesus said that He is the way, the truth and the light. I see no mention of anything or anyone else as the way to heaven.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Everything's Changing...
I have to say that Keane song has been stuck in my head since the first time I heard it those years back. I have to agree to an extent; everything is changing. My cousin and best friend are about to get married, my sister will be married next year along with my best friends; and in the midst of it all it feels like I’m staying the same. Even my cousin who had trouble with her relationship is getting some leeway. I am not saying that a relationship will change things; it is just the next obvious step in my ministry. I am at this point that I am at peace with being single. I actually feel attached to no one but the Lord; it took me over a year and a half to get here. I am finally in my spring season. I originally called my season of struggle and getting to where God needed me to be as my Winter Season. That’s when you need to be stripped down and things must die and rest so that you can prepare to give birth to new life and colors in the next one. It’s amazing how God speaks to you. I didn’t realize I was in that season until I was talking to my IT tech and he reset my password to winter. I laughed when I realized what it meant and what it meant to me. I had to update my information last week Friday and guessed what it was changed to? Spring. I actually feel the difference; the change of depending completely on God for a companionship and for a pouring into my spirit as well as a purging. Maybe someone is still in winter; maybe you didn’t even realize it yet. But I want to tell you that in this season God wants to warm you, purify you, and have you depend totally on Him so that when spring comes you will continue to. He is with you in the rough patches and definitely leading you through the good ones. Be blessed.
Monday, July 13, 2009
God You Are Good!
There’s a song that a psalmist I know named Minister Courtney Bradley sings that says “Who am I, that You are mindful of me?” I have to ask that question time after time. God is so amazing; that it often humbles me when I think about what He is capable of doing. He is so much more that we can imagine. I always think about how God ways are not our ways; and His thoughts our thoughts. We will never be able to comprehend such an amazing mind. He is so awesome in so many ways. I admit there are times when I am not so confident but that’s when we need to remind ourselves who we serve. That changes everything.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
What's Mine Is Mine.
Now, I am not the type of person to become possessive about anything. I figure if its mine than that’s that. I have nothing to worry about. I don’t like petty things and nonsense; which is why I get along with older women and not young women my age. If God has promised me something and said His word would not come back to Him void; why would I have to question if He was sure? I am starting to get to a point in my walk with God where I laugh at the Devil. God is all- seeing, all-knowing, and in charge of EVERYTHING. If I follow Him why would He not give me the desires of my heart? Lol, God is good always and that’s why I love Him.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
It Was A Blessing!
Today was the last day of our Empowered for Excellence Women’s Conference at Mt. Olive Pentecostal Church of Faith. It was an absolute experience! God is just so amazing and awesome! It was exactly what a lot of women needed. I am so exhausted from running around all day helping out and tying up loose ends. I realized I like to serve others, it feels like if I can bless them that way I will be blessed. I am tired; I have church and a birthday cookout to go to tomorrow. Be Blessed.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Jeremiah 29:11
“I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” Jeremiah 29:11 (The Message)
I love this verse. It has been my key verse all last year; and I needed to hear that last year. But it has been popping back up this year as well. There are times when things happen that I can’t understand. I literally feel like someone has taken something from me sometimes. But then I remember this verse. I remember that God has plans for me; and they’re good. He plans to give me a good future. What more can I ask for? I mean, I have to admit I get upset when things don’t turn out the way I want them to; but then I remember who’s in charge and I realize I have nothing to worry about.
I love this verse. It has been my key verse all last year; and I needed to hear that last year. But it has been popping back up this year as well. There are times when things happen that I can’t understand. I literally feel like someone has taken something from me sometimes. But then I remember this verse. I remember that God has plans for me; and they’re good. He plans to give me a good future. What more can I ask for? I mean, I have to admit I get upset when things don’t turn out the way I want them to; but then I remember who’s in charge and I realize I have nothing to worry about.
La Prova Generale
So you drive to Siena, and head at a serious clip toward the main piazza, because as far as you know you have maybe a 3% chance of getting a ticket to their "dress rehearsal" for the most famous bareback horse race in the world. You don't really know what that means, but . . . hell: "When in Rome."
You're not in Rome, though. After much run-walking over cobblestones, you're here:
After a good pause for a refreshing beverage (which helps you recover from the embarrassment over having covert-sprinted amongst all the laid-back Italians) you set about trying to figure out how to get a ticket. Your friend, who speak much better Italian than you do, works it out. E la:
So, you've got good seats. The seating is right beside the course, which runs the entire circumference of the (very large) piazza, and has been covered with tightly packed earth specifically for the event. I mean to say: You are RIGHT THERE. It's hard to believe someone's actually going to bring a semi-wild animal that close to you on purpose. It's also difficult to believe that you needed to rush so, because the piazza still looks like this:
But, you know, you go with it because your friend speaks better Italian than you, and has been to this event before, and because just maybe this will be a memory of the sort that never goes anywhere it can't be remembered again. It's good you kept these things in mind, because within ten minutes, the piazza goes from looking like the above to this:
There is much accepted pomp and circumstance prior to the main event. The city, you see, is divided into various neighborhoods that are represented by animals. The tortoise, the porpoise, the little owl, etc. These contradi are the participants in the race, and whoever wins the real race (the next day) gets bragging privileges for the rest of the year. So groups gather, songs are sung, children are corraled into choral groups and everyone has a boisterously good time. It's hard to imagine it getting more intense for the real thing, but it surely must. Juxtoposed beside that sort of contemporary hootenanny is medieval ceremony, such as a procession of the city emblem:
The real deal. See those guys in the back? Plate mail and wicked pikes. Wicked pikes, man. Further traditions include really skilled flag-twirling/dancing and processions of drummers, etc. The last little pre-show bit is the procession of what I assume represent the city's cavalry. These fellows march in, their horses high-stepping beautifully, swords raised:
Then you know what they do, after completing a lap? They point their swords forward and haul ass for a lap! In formation! It's seriously amazing. If I saw these guys bearing down on me, forget it. Even if I had a cannon or two. I'm going home and watching it on the news. Good luck, everyone else. Of course, after that, some clean up is necessary.
Dudes with brooms. If that isn't old school, I just don't know what is. After all these things rad, they get set for the race itself, including the latest technology. Ropes, for example. Very large ropes.
Which are spring-loaded. You know, to contain the semi-wild horses and their death-hungry riders. It's like some terrible idea of a horse race dreamed up by a Dungeons & Dragons (TM) -obsessed fourteen-year-old...
Yes, I am that fourteen-year-old.
Anyway, the horses arrive one by one, bearing the crests of their particular contrado. We got to sit right in the section where the horses begin, between the two ropes. It is due to this buona fortuna that I present to you contrado Lupa:
Now the really, really good stuff starts. It takes forever for the horses to get in line. I thought this was simply because, well, they're semi-wild horses. Ah, no. It turns out that it has something to do with signals the riders are getting from the officials/palio-captains of their contrado. Those people are standing -- as they have done for hundreds of years -- on a double footbridge that spans an alley between two buildings of the piazza. They are signaling their rider to be slow, or agitate his horse, or freaking kick the guy beside him. It's like baseball, with all the hand signals. It's part of the game, but the part that goes largely unacknowledged. This is, in fact, a primary reason for having a rehearsal for the event! The tortoise is the last contrado to enter the corral, and he sits it out for a long time, his rider's face as placid as the Buddha's, while the other horses and their riders kick and shout and otherwise try to hold it together.
You'll have to forgive me, because it started even faster than I could have imagined, so I don't have the beginning. I also don't have the end, because as soon as it was over people started climbing off the stands behind me to congratulate the winner and see if the guy who fell off his horse had died. (He didn't.) But, well, the final event of the thing is, simply put, this:
You're not in Rome, though. After much run-walking over cobblestones, you're here:
After a good pause for a refreshing beverage (which helps you recover from the embarrassment over having covert-sprinted amongst all the laid-back Italians) you set about trying to figure out how to get a ticket. Your friend, who speak much better Italian than you do, works it out. E la:
So, you've got good seats. The seating is right beside the course, which runs the entire circumference of the (very large) piazza, and has been covered with tightly packed earth specifically for the event. I mean to say: You are RIGHT THERE. It's hard to believe someone's actually going to bring a semi-wild animal that close to you on purpose. It's also difficult to believe that you needed to rush so, because the piazza still looks like this:
But, you know, you go with it because your friend speaks better Italian than you, and has been to this event before, and because just maybe this will be a memory of the sort that never goes anywhere it can't be remembered again. It's good you kept these things in mind, because within ten minutes, the piazza goes from looking like the above to this:
There is much accepted pomp and circumstance prior to the main event. The city, you see, is divided into various neighborhoods that are represented by animals. The tortoise, the porpoise, the little owl, etc. These contradi are the participants in the race, and whoever wins the real race (the next day) gets bragging privileges for the rest of the year. So groups gather, songs are sung, children are corraled into choral groups and everyone has a boisterously good time. It's hard to imagine it getting more intense for the real thing, but it surely must. Juxtoposed beside that sort of contemporary hootenanny is medieval ceremony, such as a procession of the city emblem:
The real deal. See those guys in the back? Plate mail and wicked pikes. Wicked pikes, man. Further traditions include really skilled flag-twirling/dancing and processions of drummers, etc. The last little pre-show bit is the procession of what I assume represent the city's cavalry. These fellows march in, their horses high-stepping beautifully, swords raised:
Then you know what they do, after completing a lap? They point their swords forward and haul ass for a lap! In formation! It's seriously amazing. If I saw these guys bearing down on me, forget it. Even if I had a cannon or two. I'm going home and watching it on the news. Good luck, everyone else. Of course, after that, some clean up is necessary.
Dudes with brooms. If that isn't old school, I just don't know what is. After all these things rad, they get set for the race itself, including the latest technology. Ropes, for example. Very large ropes.
Which are spring-loaded. You know, to contain the semi-wild horses and their death-hungry riders. It's like some terrible idea of a horse race dreamed up by a Dungeons & Dragons (TM) -obsessed fourteen-year-old...
Yes, I am that fourteen-year-old.
Anyway, the horses arrive one by one, bearing the crests of their particular contrado. We got to sit right in the section where the horses begin, between the two ropes. It is due to this buona fortuna that I present to you contrado Lupa:
Now the really, really good stuff starts. It takes forever for the horses to get in line. I thought this was simply because, well, they're semi-wild horses. Ah, no. It turns out that it has something to do with signals the riders are getting from the officials/palio-captains of their contrado. Those people are standing -- as they have done for hundreds of years -- on a double footbridge that spans an alley between two buildings of the piazza. They are signaling their rider to be slow, or agitate his horse, or freaking kick the guy beside him. It's like baseball, with all the hand signals. It's part of the game, but the part that goes largely unacknowledged. This is, in fact, a primary reason for having a rehearsal for the event! The tortoise is the last contrado to enter the corral, and he sits it out for a long time, his rider's face as placid as the Buddha's, while the other horses and their riders kick and shout and otherwise try to hold it together.
You'll have to forgive me, because it started even faster than I could have imagined, so I don't have the beginning. I also don't have the end, because as soon as it was over people started climbing off the stands behind me to congratulate the winner and see if the guy who fell off his horse had died. (He didn't.) But, well, the final event of the thing is, simply put, this:
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Breakforth to Bringforth!
Tonight was the first night in the Women’s Conference. The theme is “Break forth to Bring Forth!” The text is taken from Isaiah 54:1-3. The speaker was amazing! She made me excited and even more on fire for Christ! I love that this can happen; that we can come together and have a word for the Lord poured into our (The Women) souls. It’s an amazing feeling. Day two is tomorrow, I am very excited! I am expecting a breakthrough.
Forse . . .
Allora.
It's been about a week and a half in Italia, which means we're in our third day of classes with the students. This also means that I have finished my third day of Italian classes, which means that my grammar and syntax may come across a little...funny...at certain points of this. Mi dispiace! The good news is that this trip and its classes at Lingua Si are improving my comprehension enormously. The bad news is that it sometimes makes me say things like, “The gelato likes to me.”
I'm writing you from one of the more impressive views of mountaintop Orvieto, sitting at a park bench not fifteen feet from a sheer cliff's edge facing roughly northeast (I think). Behind me a little ways are the ruins of an Etruscan amphitheater, and my stomach is full of pizza. It's roughly three o'clock, and it's been a good day in spite of some challenges. Such as barely being able to walk down stairs for the past two days, my knees occasionally buckling unexpectedly toward the cobblestones. You might think that given my situation, nothing could be better. And that's true, in many ways. We teachers, David Zarko, Heather Stuart and myself, have had a week here to prepare before the students arrived last Sunday, and we made good use of it. We had many adventures and misadventures the which I will write about at some point when there's more time and convenient internet access – including attending la Prova in Siena, the dry-run of their famous horse race, il Palio. (You may have seen shots of that in the latest Bond movie, Quantum of Solace.) For now what's more pressing is to talk a little about the work.
It's fascinating, thus far, what's different and what remains the same when comparing this trip to 2006's. The reason I'm staggering about this year hasn't so much to do with drinking wine with my lunch; rather it's because this week we have four days' worth of commedia dell'arte master classes with Angelo Crotti. As anyone who's met Angelo knows, he is a man of great strength and energy, and he has no problem asking as much from his students. Monday he took us through an hour's worth of strengthening exercises that kicked off the pain-fest, and yesterday he continued with various exercises and added some very committed, very acrobatic animal movement. All this, of course, in addition to working on the many postures and movements of the commedia dell'arte archetypes, most all of which involve raised arms and deep stances. I love it, but next time I'll be training up to it rather more. Jogging, she is not enough.
It is an amazing experience, studying Italian all day, then working intensively on traditional commedia in the evening. Angelo's techniques, talent, and not to mention his gorgeous masks, make for a very challenging, expanding experience. Perhaps even more amazing is to watch the students – all with varying degrees of experience and context – take on these incredible tasks. Some of them have never even seen commedia dell'arte before, yet they're finding moments of great expression in approaching it. Most of them have little to know experience conversing in Italian, yet every day they manage to communicate more and more with it. (For me, for the first time, the language feels useful rather than intimidating – just as a personal sidenote.) Everyone's a little (okay – a lot) frightened of the ultimate goal: To perform an original commedia dell'arte scenario in Italian, for Italians. Yet that is just how we were in 2006 as well, and it turned out to be wonderful. I'm sure none of us expected to be able to hold a conversation in Italian on the first day of classes, either, but we all did.
The major difference between our last full program and this one is the amount and variety of training and practice we'll be making use of. In fact, we're only spending this week in Orvieto. Next week we'll be back for brush-ups in Italian, but largely we'll be in Aquapendente at Teatro Boni, our artistic host. There the students will take classes with Andrea Brugnera and we'll begin the work on the actual Scala scenario we're using, The Two Faithful Notaries. That, too, is when the major events begin. So far we've only had meal-oriented ones – and those are of course great – but starting at the end of this hard-working week we start seeing sights and shows. Hopefully I'll be able to write about those individually as they occur...or anyway, soon after when they actually occur.
I've done a lot of reflecting during all this, of course. Italy is enticing, exciting and extremely challenging to me, all at once. I've had some major (insofar as my experience extends) victories on the trip already, as well as some harrowing moments and, let me face it, outright failures. Yet the failures have been more productive, somehow, than I've allowed them to be in the past. We're trying to teach, after all, that risk and mistakes are great tools to improving communication. It seems I take that lesson more and more to heart the more I challenge myself in this way. God, is it challenging! Which is both an outburst of frustration and an exclamation of thrill.
I'll write more soon, e vero. Until then, may the gelato like to you as well, my friends.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Starting Over
I feel like I need to break free; to leave behind the things that I have no use for but hold on to anyway. Sigh. Starting over is normally the hardest thing to do. You are leaving behind things that you formed a connection with and starting fresh with no attachments. I am getting there…….I was listening to a Newsboys old song that says that we don’t serve a God we created, and that the God we serve is exactly who we want our God to be. Love it!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
In Times Like These....
You know we all reach a point when we wonder “Why does God continue to send down His mercy on us?” I mean look at the society we live in. We make Sodom and Gomorrah look like the Brady Brunch. SMH, I can’t help but just ask God to continue to show His mercy on us; they are many people in this nation willing to stand up and be counted for Him. And because of those people, we still have America.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Old Habits Die Hard
I need to remind myself that a lot lately. There are many people in my life that are not saved and are accustomed to doing things a certain way. My problem is that I have let them for so long unaware that now I have to catch myself and point it out for them. The reality is that it’s going to take a while for them to start to slowly curb themselves but I feel it will be worth it because I will be able to grow spiritually.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
I Feel It
Today’s service was amazing! The worship was an amazing experience. There was no way you could have been there and not feel God in that place. I love days like that! I wish everyday can be a worship experience where I just lift my hands, praise the Lord and feel Him move. But since I have this weird thing called a job, my worship experience can’t be that hardcore 24/7. Sigh. I have to speak in our evening Youth service about Evangelism. I am not too nervous, I spoke on Friday for our Youth Service as well and I felt very encouraged.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
My Declaration of Dependence!
Today is Independence Day! I look at the things that I was dependent on and I thank God for the Independence from them. I am dependent only on God! With Him all things are possible. I thank Him for being who He is and doing an amazing work in my life. Its funny how God speaks to us, how He reminds us of His power and mercy. The things that used to take precedence before Him are now in the background or gone. It’s not easy, I am the first to admit it; but to be able to be at a place where nothing can interfere and you can freely commune with the Father is a feeling that I can’t explain or find words to express.
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