* a bit of nostalgia *
something i'd love to see in person one day:

meanwhile the westcoast has been blanketed in several feet of snow, so in honor of, here is ralph waldo emerson's the snowstorm:

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
Arrives the snow, and, driving o'er the fields,
Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air
Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,
And veils the farmhouse at the garden's end.
The sled and traveler stopped, the courier's feet
Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed
In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

Come see the north wind's masonry.
Out of an unseen quarry evermore
Furnished with tile, the fierce artificer
Curves his white bastions with projected roof
Round every wayward stake, or tree, or door.
Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work
So fanciful, so savage, nought cares he
For number or proportion. Mockingly,
On coop or kennel he hangs Parian wreaths;
A swan-like form invests the hidden thorn;
Fills up the farmer's lane from wall to wall,
Maugre the farmer sighs; and, at the gate,
A tapering turret overtops the work.
And when his hours are numbered, and the world
Is all his own, retiring, as he were not,
Leaves, when the sun appears, astonished Art
To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone,
Built in an age, the mad wind's night-work,
The frolic architecture of snow.

(photos courtesy of my friend sarah cuthill - victoria, bc)

* almost december *
i can't believe it. two more days and it's december!! december is my favourite month - the (canadian) cold crisp air, the possibility of (canadian) snow, christmas, my birthday, and new year's all rolled into one beautifully sweet month.

but not this year. no. not only is there no cold air or snow, i will also be buried under piles and piles of school work right up until we leave for toronto. i will have not holiday this year. only days of being cooped up in my room or library studying and writing papers. here's my school schedule between now and january:

today - policy presentation on the GST
thurs - kick off session 1 of a mock therapy group
dec. 8 - research test
dec. 11 - presentation on social science theories on urban redevelopment
dec. 12 - paper on policy presentation due
dec.13 - presentation on how to work with disaster victims
dec. 18 - case exam (demo counselling session)
dec. 20 - final exam for 'human behavior & social environment'
dec. 22 - final exam for 'social science theories for social work'
dec. 25 - case exam reflection due
jan. 2 - FOUR 3000-word term papers due
jan. 4 - leave for t-dot!!!

* gloomy day *
i've been indoors all day doing school work, i'm bored, and it's grey and wet outside. so i'm going ot post some photos of things that make me happy :)


my beautiful friend koryl
sophie's cosmic cafe
canada geese
us

killer
karen children

* here comes winter! *

you know winter has arrived in hong kong when you start seeing these at 7-11's:

it's one of the best things about winters in hong kong. HOT VITASOY!! in fact, it's probably the only reason why i've managed to survive 6 winters so far. when it's cold and damp out, and even colder and damper in, this is the perfect drink that keeps me warm. when i have one in my hands, it's like i'm holding heaven in a bottle. it just warms me up from the inside out. and i thought of that waaaay before joel houston!

ok, shallow post over!

* Uniting to Stop Genocide in Darfur *

And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' - Matthew 25:40

Evangelical Christians are uniting in an urgent effort to bring an immediate end to the genocide in Darfur.

In recent weeks, evangelical leaders have discovered profound unity on this crisis.

Believing that God was calling them to act, a number of those leaders began talking about how evangelical Christians could respond together to this call. Those conversations led to the creation of Evangelicals for Darfur, a campaign that brings together media, web, and grassroots advocacy to call for an end to the senseless suffering in Darfur.

A broad and diverse group of evangelical leaders were eager to participate in this project. The leaders signed onto ads that are currently running in the nation's major newspapers calling on our nation's political leaders to boldly lead the effort to stop the suffering. As evangelical Christians, we now have the chance to add our voices to this important message.

I hope you'll visit www.evangelicalsfordarfur.org and decide to join in this urgent effort. I am deeply encouraged by the broad spectrum of Christians who are speaking out together on this issue. For in matters of life and death, there is no left or right, there is only right and wrong. Together we can help make a life-saving difference for our brothers and sisters in Darfur.

Click here to learn more and to add your voice to this campaign.

* split personality *

the past few weeks have been interesting to say the least, considering some of the things that have been in the news of late.

i originally wanted to write about meeting jane goodall on oct.24 for my next post, but i wanted to wait for the photo i took with her. unfortunately, it never came. i had stupidly forgot my camera at home, and while waiting in line for her to sign my book, i was thinking maybe i could ask someone else to take a photo for me, and then email it to me. just as i thought that, the girl in front of me turned around with her camera and asked me to take a picture for her. so i made the deal with her, except she never sent me my photo.

jane's talk was called "reason for hope", which is the same as her new book. she talked about the seperation of the head and the heart, a split personality of sorts. some people may look at this world we have and say that it is doomed for destruction. look at what people are doing to the earth and to each other, most of the time for the pursuit of power and money. the thing is, most people, if given the chance, would say that love and compassion and selflessness and a perspective of interdependence are all great things - things more valuable than the price of gold or crude oil, more valuable than our net worth. but i think people say this with their head more than with their heart most of the time. if only we could find a connection between the brilliant capacity of our minds (look at all the incredible advancements in technology, all because of the human mind) and the inner invisible stuff that is our hearts (the part of us that feels, needs, aches, fears, and truly connects with others).

if only people could find a way to live & work with their hearts rather than their minds...

and what is it to work with love? it is to weave the cloth with the threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth. ~ the prophet

the problem is that people are so far removed from each other, even when they're standing right in front of each other. i think this is what jesus must have been trying to get at when he talked about leaving the 99 for the 1. we must learn to see that one, that anyone, as our one and only beloved. this is something we've been trying to grow in one_eighty, but it's hard. it's inconvenient. it's much easier to go about life thinking that it's all about ME, that the entire world revolves around ME, and everyone else are just extras or the supporting cast. but what if we could see the OTHER as the main character, whoever that 'other' might be? i think we would have a very different sort of world.

i know it's not easy. we are all humans afterall. and humans are fragile beings, especially our egos. we don't like it when we give and are rejected. we enjoy comfort and fame and money far too often. and we don't like to admit that we have faults, that we are fallible, that we are sinners.

but the thing i've learned is that it much easier to be real, to admit my faults, and to be transparent than it is to have to hide some deep dark secret. eventually, the weight of the secret will crush us. eventually, what is in the dark will have to be revealed in the light, as we saw with ted haggard this past week.

thank God there is hope. thank God He IS our hope.