Ex Vivo: 2011

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Remembering St. Nicholas

"It is a very good day." My professor remarked at the close of class this morning. "Why's that?" a classmate inquired. First looking me square in the eye he said, "For it is the Feast of St. Nicholas!" he exclaimed with an exuberant smile on his face.

What a good day it would be indeed.

The day was full of celebration; including a St. Nicholas party, delicious food, Christmas caroling, as well as an unexpected celebration to finish it all off. My lovely, thoughtful, and wonderful roommate gifted me with a St. Nicholas Day surprise. I was out of the room for a time this afternoon, and upon my arrival, I was greeted with a tidy, decorative, and festive room. Christmas music was playing, Christmas lights were hung, "Happy St. Nicholas Day!" signs were up, and a shoe filled with chocolate gold coins sat on the ground. Time was taken out of a busy schedule of studying and reading to bless another. This kind act bore great gratitude and appreciation.

As she and I read the Akathist of St. Nicholas tonight and say our prayers, I am reminded of God's great faithfulness. May St. Nicholas teach us what it means to give with truly cheerful hearts this Christmas Season.

O champion wonderworker and superb servant of Christ,
thou who pourest out for all the world
the most precious myrrh of mercy
and an inexhaustible sea of miracles,
I praise thee with love, O Saint Nicholas;
and as thou art one having boldness toward the Lord,
from all dangers do thou deliver us,
that we may cry to thee:
Rejoice, O Nicholas, Great Wonderworker!

A blessed St. Nicholas Day to you all!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Patience

Patience is the companion of wisdom.

-St. Augustine

I used to write

I used to write letters
I used to sign my name
I used to sleep at night

Before the flashing lights settled deep in my brain
But by the time we met
The times had already changed
So I never wrote a letter
I never took my true heart
I never wrote it down
So when the lights cut out

I was left standing in the wilderness downtown
Now our lives are changing fast
Hope that something pure can last
It seems strange

How we used to wait for letters to arrive
But what's stranger still
Is how something so small can keep you alive
We used to wait
We used to waste hours just walkin around
We used to wait

All those wasted lives in the wilderness downtown
Ooooo we used to wait
Sometimes it never came
Ooooo we used to wait
Sometimes it never came
Ooooo we used to wait
Still moving through the pain

I'm gonna write a letter to my true love
I'm gonna sign my name
Like a patient on a table
I Wanna walk again

Gonna move through the pain
Now our lives are changing fast
Hope that something pure can last

-Arcade Fire, "We Used to Wait."

Things Worth Waiting For:

Care Packages

The Changing of Seasons

A Warm Fire

A Scrumptious Meal

A Learned Piece of Music

Play

"Well done thy good and faithful servant."

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Homesick

"Fall Free Days," AKA a 5 day weekend in October, for most people involves a wonderful, restful, few days home. This is of course, unless you live thousands of miles away from home, and are faced with staying 5 days on a vacant campus, moping in your room wishing you were some place else. My roommate, Alicia, and I were very likely to face this doleful reality, when a good friend of mine, Monica, came to the rescue. Her lovely family graciously welcomed us to their home. We enjoyed a long weekend of delicious home cooked meals, good conversation, a welcoming church community at Vespers and Liturgy, restful studying, and time to complete load upon load of laundry.
Many, many thanks to their family!
Staying in a living, breathing, functioning home made me realize how I long to be home - my home. I know this place is where I am meant and purposed to be at this season in my life. I am growing, thriving, and enjoying every second. Yet, there is a pressing undertone of sadness every time I think of home. I miss faces, places, familiar sights, sounds, and voices. The funny thing is I have never been one to be particularly homesick. These are such odd and foreign feelings I am processing through. My lovely roommate and I, Alicia, are blessed enough to process through these un-tread waters together. One day in particular we were both feeling especially homesick, when she brought up an interesting point. These feelings of homesickness are unnatural to us. We were not intended to unearth our roots and move somewhere else, leaving our friends and family. We were intended to stay loyal to, and cultivate the "soil" in which we have been planted. An odd pang of irony sets in when realizing this is indeed where I need to be, and yet it is exactly where I was never intended to be.
One night I was again having a rough stretch of homesickness, and I texted my Godmother asking for prayer. In her deep wisdom and consolation, she replied saying that while these are hard emotions to work through, they are also good for our souls. It is a continual reminder that we should indeed be homesick - homesick for our eternal home with Christ. These too, were emotions never intended to enter mankind. For just as in the beginning, we were intended to live with our Savior in perfect communion, forever and unto the ages.
When the pains of longings for home arise, I set my hope on the times I will see my family, speak with them, and hug them again. Meanwhile, there are still places to grow, papers to write, and people to meet here and now. It is in times like these to also remember that when a (healthy) longing in my heart for my heavenly home arises, there is still work to be done.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here are some pictures taken from our time spent on Fall break. Enjoy!

A Fitting Hospitality Icon Hanging by the Jekel's Front Door

In Honor of the Candles We're Not Allowed to Burn at College

Some Leisurely Reading of LOTR

Coffee & Cicero

Fall Colors

Thursday, September 29, 2011

"That time of year thou mayst in me behold"

An Ode to Autumn

By: William Shakespeare

That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
In me thou see'st the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west;
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.
In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire,
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the deathbed whereon it must expire,
Consumed with that which it was nourished by.
This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.