flights tonight

today I've been listening on and off to the album "Blue Trees" by the band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, some songs from "From the Lion's Mouth" by Nedelle, some Raffi and some Brazilian music. I think sharing this stuff is a strange way of trying to get other people to enter my head without having to actually explain what's going on in it. Which, of course, will not work.

This week studies have been focused on the beginning of Time, the Creation event, the appearance of life. Amazing, amazing, amazing. So much we don't know. So much that God did in ways that we have never conceived of. Not as simple as we are often led to believe... and yet I think the greatest scientific law He set in motion was Love. And that element was most important to Him, too, even though He is the mathematical genius who set up all that thermodynamics, cosmology and geology discover about the universe. Otherwise Jesus wouldn't have lived the life, and died the death, that He did. Remind me to write something on here about the ten pre-Creation dimensions and how they relate to the presence of God. Very amazing stuff.

Longing for a beautiful place, for mountains, oceans, beach, sky, magnificence.
Made a t-shirt today.
Wondering why I don't really fit into the church as I continue to encounter it in the States;
knowing that much of it is my fault but not sure how to change myself.
Saw Polanski's Oliver Twist last night. Not bad.
Finished Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles. Enjoyable. Especially the chapter "December 2001: The Green Morning." Perhaps just because I am a treelover.
Quote from delightful little girl at daycare on Friday as we talked about the many countries in the world... "Why do they call them crunchies? Maybe because there's so many people and they get all crrrrunched."

drifting, dreaming, in an azure mood...

I'm learning over time what my heart-language is... it's the poetry of little things.

last night playing rummikub with my mom, wittily insulting each other as we have made our rummikub tradition (I took the cheese-approach, e.g. "Cheeseface". She took the leech angle, e.g. "leechlips.") ... and suddenly Billy Joel's "The Longest Time" came on and we inevitably broke into muppet-dancing. You know, arms outstretched, puppet-style, head back and mouth wide open, whole body bouncing. Man, that's a great song.
So these are the moments that sparkle. And they hurt a little in their magicalness, because everything passes...

Well, I think it’s time for another Voyage through Musical Space, courtesy of ye olde Archos Jukebox and its random mp3 selection capabilities.
Today it seems to be in a very relaxed and magical mood… let’s see what it comes up with.

1. Rufus Wainwright – I Don’t Know What it is
I must start with this one today…and as I listen, the reasons reveal themselves like happy surprise fireworks (that sounds like a Japanese product – happy surprise fireworks) .
This song captures perfectly the feeling of the last dream I had this morning…my friend Bonniemunchkin was in a wheelchair, and was leading a parade (at Disney World, Bonnie! :-) )… and a group of evil people were trying to find her and claim her. I had to reach the end of the street and get to her first…flinging myself through buildings and under railings, with the help and support of some guy whose face I never saw…I did get to her first, and all was well. I woke up with a sense of adrenaline, purpose, companionship. Strange.
My favorite line…”is there anyone else who has slightly mysterious…bruises…”
And then there’s the line that I hear dear, wise Melissa in… “Is there anyone else who is through with complaining about what’s done unto us…”
And then it makes me smile to hear Rufus sing “chugging along”…because my dear brother has recently used that phrase to refer to himself, and it makes me laugh because it’s such a stolid, proletarian phrase for philosophical Popo to use…
And of course, I will always, always hear you, my Melanie, in this song. It’s one of our songs…that line "you gotta be there"...that's about you.

2. Claude Debussy – Nuages
Beautiful. I should read more about Debussy. I think I’ve read about him before but probably have blocked it all out of long-term memory in favor of my imaginary vision of someone who could write such delicate, breathtaking stuff as this cloudmusic.

3.Mary Poppins soundtrack – Stay Awake
Though the world is fast asleep…though your pillow’s soft and deep...

4. Cliar – The Para Handy set
This is a group I heard live in Edinburgh, Scotland. They sing in Gaelic and they are quite magical. Like elfincreatures singing, but after a draught of ale in a warm pub. Maybe. Or maybe just like really talented Scottish people.

5. Carousel soundtrack – What’s the Use of Wonderin’
What’s the use of wondering if the ending will be sad…

6. ‘Wonders of China’ narration from the Circlevision360 movie at Epcot, Disney World.
I love these things!! They are the experiences that first made me believe that the real world could be magical, and though they make the world of travel look like a comfortable dreamworld, still, still, they are right in some way—maybe it’s what travel should be. “The Li River winds like a silver snake/through scattered dragon’s teeth/Whoever looks on this loses himself in eternity.”

7. Lawrence Welk orchestra – South Rampart Street Parade
Enjoyable as ever, Mister Welk and his strange, cultish little happy family of pleasant singers and dancers clad in bright orange gowns in flammable fabrics.

8. Styx – Fooling Yourself (the Angry Young Man)
Don't you feel kind of embarrassed for the Styxguys when you hear this song? it’s so naïve and innocent and...sweet. Did they intend it to be tough and rock-ish? “How can you be such an angry young man…when your future looks quite bright to me…”

9. Beach Boys – Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)
Oh Jukebox. You are in such a charmed mood today. :-)

10. Gustav Holst – The Planets: Saturn
I love this suite.

11. Bert and Ernie – Upside Down World
I hope you’ve seen “Follow that Bird.” I think it’s really cheap on dvd. Go buy it. Now!
“It all looks so funny that I’ve got to frown…’cause a frown is a smile when you turn upside down…”

12. Gone With the Wind theme
13. snippets of Satie and Stravinsky (Rite of Spring), respectively. Short ones.

14.Willy Wonka (the original one) soundtrack -- Wonkavator (End Title)
I think this is pretty much the most happifying track on my whole jukebox. “Hold on, everybody…here it comes!” CRASH… and they’re soaring over Charlie’s village. Perfect.

15. Jim Croce – Time in a Bottle
“I’ve looked around enough to know/That you’re the one I want to go through time with…”

16. Lauryn Hill – Oh Jerusalem
Good, good songs on the Unplugged album. This album is such a unity, I don’t like listening to the songs when they come up on random. But for today I’ll make an exception.

17. Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong – They Can’t Take That Away From Me
I think this song is pretty much permanently etched on my musical memory, in every detail.

18. Allison Krauss – Jewels

19. Audra McDonald – Come Down From the Tree
The songs she chooses for her albums are lovely meldings of lyric and melody. And her honest singing makes them even better.

20. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Submarine Voyage full ride audio, from Disneyland… man, this is good stuff. That all-knowing Captain Nemo voice speaking to you through the speakers as you press your kid-nose up to the cold, foggy round window, fully believing that you’re about to be submerged miles below the surface…“Dive! Dive! All ahead full, steady as she goes…on our voyage through liquid space.”

21. Tangerine Dream – Fairies
22. Cat Stevens – The Wind
23. Ella and Louis – A Foggy Day
The Archos is sort of limited in its selections today, but I don’t mind…the last time I sang this song, I sang it with an Icelandic girl, bumping along a dirt road in Ghana in the dark, with a 7-year-old Ghanaian girl with a German name on my lap. Oh, world. And oh, the little ways God reaches into strange places with bits of Home that he knows we need.

And on that note, we’ll shut down for now. No, wait, there’s a certain song we have to end with…
24. The Jam – A Town Called Malice
Go, Billy!
And Mel, I love you forever.
Always be yourself.

Every burden shall be lifted...

So I'm not sure how to communicate what God gave me by taking me to Ghana, at least not on a blog. But I can't imagine just skipping over that here, odd and inconsistent outlet for random thoughts though this has been... so I am just going to go ahead and post a copy of the letter I just wrote to thank the people who have blessed me with support and prayer to make the trip happen and flourish... it says what I want to say.

I am listening to the Innocence Mission album "Befriended." Do give it a listen. Especially the song "Look for Me As You Go By." All of it, though... this music speaks peace into a confused and tired mind tonight.

Anyway...Here's the letter. Some of you may get it in the mail, too. :-)

"Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:28b-31)

Red dust coating my sandaled feet; the feel of a child’s hand in mine; bright-heat days and cool-breeze evenings. The musical sound of a laugh from the throat of an otherwise silent little girl. The whispers of fifty people praying at once merging into a wave of God-focused sound. The rustle of sleeves as a deaf woman leads a signed song of worship with graceful hands, her eyes closed, her smile radiant. . . These moments will never leave me. And as I thank God with all my heart for them, I also have you to thank, dear family in Christ.

Thank you for your financial and prayer support of my trip to Ghana with Handi*Vangelism Ministries International (HVMI). God has blessed me immeasurably by taking me to Ghana and letting me see Him in His people there. He multiplied the blessing by ten thousand by sending Melissa McDevitt with me; I wish you all knew her, and I hope you, too, have the blessing of such a steady, patient, inspiring, funny, wise and God-loving friend in your life!

Over the past four weeks, things have not always been easy—are they ever? J But through all the challenges of interacting cross-culturally, through our frequent confusion about what was going on and what our role should be, through every low and high moment, Melissa and I felt the love and presence of God. I know that your prayers were being constantly answered. He carried us through by infusing us with simple, inexpressible peace—and He gave us one another to lean on.

The first ten days of our time in Ghana were spent at Handi*Vangelism Ghana’s annual Deaf Camp Meeting, held this year in the rural Volta Region, at the Volta School for the Deaf. The camp included daily Bible studies, teaching and discussions, as well as local outings, sports and lots of dancing (the deaf campers and staff were amazing dancers! It was so beautiful to watch them express the rhythms and joys God has put within them, as they participated in Ghana’s very musical culture regardless of their “disability.”)!

After camp, we returned to the H*V Ghana ‘Rehabilitation Center’ in Accra. Over the next 11 days there, we were introduced to the various key areas of H*V Ghana’s ministry. We participated in services at Hope Community Chapel, the church H*V Ghana has established in the Center to serve as a beacon of Christ’s love in the community. We played with the children who are living at the Center (all children of parents who live on the street, usually children of people with disabilities) as they wait to be placed in foster families or reunited with estranged family members. We went to the streets and met some of their family members and many of the people who participate in H*V’s weekly street fellowship service. We saw H*V’s new land, where they plan to build a newer, larger ministry Center, with space for on-site vocational training and disability training for churches and individuals from all over West Africa.

At a gathering of H*V Ghana staff in Accra, I shared the verses that appear at the top of this letter. These words of Jesus are my favorite verses because of the hope they give me: hope about who God is—He is love. And hope about my life on this earth—when the busy, title-focused world overwhelms me with its to-do and should-be lists, I cling to the words and example of Jesus: to love is enough. These verses have come alive to me over the past year as God has proven to me His unconditional love for even me. As I began to believe in that love, He began to fill my life with opportunities to learn to love others as He does. This trip to Ghana has been for me a culmination of so many lessons and so many dreams. To love is the greatest thing. It is what Jesus did—and does. And it is how I will spend my life.

In the ministry of the men and women of H*V Ghana, and the staff (composed of both deaf and hearing people) of the Deaf Camp, I saw the same heart that God has given me. I saw people ministering with their whole lives, in the everyday, not just through official jobs and scheduled events. I saw a place that people are drawn to because there they find truth, acceptance and unconditional love.

How can I put in words for you how happy God has made me in and through this trip? I can tell you that I am praying to return to Ghana and the ministry of HVMI, if it is His plan for me. A big part of my heart is there; maybe it always has been there, waiting for me to come find it. There is such a clear need—children who have no one reaching lovingly into their crucial growing-up years; this is work for the Body of Christ. I don’t know what God has in mind for me; but as I’ve seen His plan so far, just a step’s worth at a time, He has proven over and over that He knows and loves me better than I ever could. So my eyes are on Him…not on me.

For now, as I go back to work and studying in the States, I want so much to thank you for your love, your support, your encouragement. God has used you to answer my prayers in ways better and deeper than had ever asked or imagined. I pray that each of you will experience the blessing of loving others more and more this year—and that you will know what a blessing you have been to me.

In Jesus,
Kate.

dreaming of Africa...

Just wanted to let folks know I've arrived safe and sound. Back in the States yesterday, back to Texas this afternoon. It may be awhile before I get caught up on email...
Thank you a million times over for your prayers and encouragement. My time in Ghana was deeply wonderful, a colossal gift from God. I can truly say that I love it there-- as Keith Green would say, "you put this love in my heart"... and I am praying to go back.
More to come, either here or in emails.
love to you all.