Enough! vs “Just in Case”
As I unpack boxes . . . and boxes . . . and boxes . . . I find myself thinking “How much is ENOUGH??”
What is it with women and shoes? Just before we moved, I told you about our short trip to France and Germany when I bought some truly yummy shoes but now, as I am putting shoes away, I wonder how many pairs of shoes I really need. I have some – the French shoes – that I actually wear all the time, in fact some of them are old friends now and really need to go to shoe heaven but I keep telling myself “Just one more time!” before I send them on their way. Others, I have bought “just in case” and they are pristine. One actually still has the shoe store tags on them. I have a lot of these, and every time I consider giving them away, I think “but what if I need to wear that particular dress that those shoes go with??” and I hold on for . . . another move.
Moving often motivates me to part with my old friends, and even with some new friends (we’re talking about shoes here) that didn’t quite make the grade. Then again, as I am unpacking, I am wondering “will I really ever wear these again?” And – once again, I hang on to them, just in case I MIGHT need them at some hypothetical time in the future.
I have finally stopped buying dressy evening clothes. I have some really cool ones, so cool that when we go out to a rare dressy event, I usually wear what I love and feel comfortable in. If you have to sparkle, you want to know you look good! I always used to buy ahead – just in case – because the time to be buying a dress is NOT when you need it; when you really, seriously NEED it, you can never find exactly what you want and you settle for something that is not quite right and sometimes at the last minute you ditch it and go back to an oldie-but-goodie that you know works for you. For us, for most Americans, serious dress events seem to becoming fewer. Even charitable events aren’t as dressy as they used to be – partly, I am guessing, because of the economy, but it may be demographics. The baby boomers are getting older – they may not care about dressing up the way they used to.
I think my Mom still has a lot of her evening gowns from the days when she and my Dad went to balls . . . đ but she still loves to go shopping when a family wedding is coming up.
I’ve actually done just fine with the clothes I brought with me. If not a single item of clothing had shown up . . . well, yeh, I’d have been in trouble. I would have needed a few things. I needed an evening purse for the Army birthday ball, even though I had thought to bring the dress.
The other item both AdventureMan and I have a real problem with is books. Even though I get rid of a lot of books, I pass them along, there are still a lot we hang on to, can’t seem to give them up. We haul a lot of books around, and we still have boxes and boxes of books in storage that we haven’t seen for many years. Is there such a thing as “enough” when it comes to books?
I think I am about a third of a way through the boxes. I conceive it as creating “islands of sanity” in the midst of chaos. My kitchen is always the first island of sanity, and there is always a path to our bed and the bed itself which is clear. Today, our bedroom became another island of sanity.
Little Diamond, the guest room is an island of sanity. đ
The Women’s majlis (the small living room downstairs) is an island of sanity.
Where is the chaos? We spend a lot of time in our upstairs family room; it is also our office; it is also an area of utter chaos.
Our living room – I haven’t even started on the boxes in the living room. It is a bedlam of insanity. Many of the boxes contain books, and I have to have places to put all the books before I can put them away. It may stay insane for a little while.
The lady who comes to help me clean came today, and I had a list of things for her to do which mostly did not include cleaning because you can’t really clean when things are chaotic. She and I work well together, she works in her areas and I work in mine with a brief chat-chat-chat now and then when our paths cross. As she was leaving, she showed me how she had broken down all the boxes, hauled them to a small room and stored them neatly, and put all the ones full of paper outside in another holding area . . . that wasn’t on the list. She is a gem. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. I’m going to have to give her a bonus this month. đ She also takes care of cats when people go away, even taking them to the vet if the cat gets sick. She is worth every penny.
I start every morning around seven. I quit around five, take a shower (I need it!) and clean up. I have about an hour before AdventureMan even thinks about coming home, so I thought I would take a chance to have a chat with you.
So I ask you – what does “enough” look like? When is it prudent to buy “just in case” and when does it become consumerism?
Who Is My Neighbor?
You would think when someone so special is talking, people would listen. You would think that when he is trying to tell us what God expects from us to enter into his kingdom in the after life, people would be listening, and indeed, they listened, many listened. There were others who did not. There were also those closest to him who misunderstood! That always baffles me, that those closest could misunderstand.
Today’s lesson is one of my very favorites in the world. You can substitute any two races who hate one another and the story is equally clear. The man who was asking the question was setting Jesus up, or trying to, and Jesus used the occasion to teach a stunning truth – that love is stronger than hate.
Luke 10:25-37
25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus.* âTeacher,â he said, âwhat must I do to inherit eternal life?â
26He said to him, âWhat is written in the law? What do you read there?â
27He answered, âYou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.â
28And he said to him, âYou have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.â
29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, âAnd who is my neighbour?â
30Jesus replied, âA man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii,* gave them to the innkeeper, and said, âTake care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.â 36 Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?â
37He said, âThe one who showed him mercy.â Jesus said to him, âGo and do likewise.â
I have seen this in my own life. I have seen hopeless situations, with no solution in sight, totally change because one person chooses to love, instead of to hate. Choosing to love, in the face of hatred, takes a lot more character, a lot more strength. It has the potential for changing everything.
Sanitary Germans
After all my years living in so many different places, I’m fairly blase about toilets. In Tunisia, there were no such thing as public toilets, and while exploring Tunisia, we always had to look for “the potty in the wadi”, i.e. a bridge with no-one in sight. I would run, pee as quickly as I could, and finish just before some curious child – or children – showed up. No matter how remote the place, I can’t remember a single stop that a child didn’t come running about sixty seconds after we stopped.
So I got a big smile at the public toilet in Germany – they started installing these about 20 years ago – that even cleans itself. I thought “I wonder how long these would last in Kuwait?” where they could put people our of jobs.
Yesterday, I used a public toilet in a very nice mall in Kuwait, but when I got there, a woman – I am guessing the “cleaner”, and I put it in quotes for a reason, was stretched out and sleeping. I looked in several stalls, no toilet paper, no problem, I carry my own. It didn’t seem all that clean, no paper for drying hands, either, and as I am leaving she holds out her hand and asks how I am, how is my health, etc. I usually tip – but I didn’t tip yesterday, why tip someone who is not doing the work she is paid to do? She didn’t even stand up, just held up her hand!
Drama Queens of the Economic Downfall
Thanks, KitKat, for a hilarious look at the economic downturn. Cats are such drama queens!
Palestinian Handicrafts Cultural Exhibit at Bayt Lothan
Wooo HOOOOO, courtesy of Al Watan another event BEFORE it is over! This time, before it even happens! Woo HOO, see you there. I can hardly wait; I think Palestinian embroidery is gorgeous.
Nonprofit Palestinian Cultural Handicrafts Exhibition at Bayt Lothan
Handicrafts reŮaffirm the Palestinian national identity and support needy children and families
KUWAIT: The Palestinian Culture Center will hold the first of its two annual exhibitions for 2009 at Bayt Lothan. The show includes a large collection of textileŮbased traditional handmade crossŮstitch, as well as pottery from Hebron, books about Palestine in English and Arabic, posters, slide shows, Palestinian food and family oriented activities.
The Palestinian Culture Center is a nonŮprofit organization that was established in Jordan in 1993. It aims to preserve the rich heritage and culture of Palestine and help support women and their families in the Palestinian refugee camps become economically independent.
This year was an active year for the Center due to the affects of the global financial crisis placing a further strain on the poor, as well as the violent and aggressive Israeli military onslaught on Gaza. As a result, the Center worked hard to increase the salaries of the 500 or so women who do the embroidery work, as well as pay for their transportation from the camps, and motivate them by granting bonuses for quality work.
Exhibition Highlights
* Traditional crossŮstitch embroidery of dresses, linens, shawls, cushions, table runners, cards, coasters, belts, purses, bookmarks and more
* Handmade ceramics from Hebron
* Books, posters, cards, key chains, kafiyas and DVDs
* Paintings from Palestinian artists from Jerusalem and other occupied areas
* Multimedia slideshows on Palestine
* Food sale of traditional Palestinian food such as thyme and sumaq, and on Thursday only baked goods and other traditional plates
Palestinian embroidery using needles and silk thread is a manifestation of the Palestinian identity as it has evolved over the ages. An age old art, all Palestinian ladies, young and old, would spend hours embroidering their trousseau, dresses, shawls and cushions. Using geometrical shapes at first, and then evolving to depict images from nature surrounding them, the dresses are famous for their flowery designs and bold natural colors of indigo and red. Symbols of the ubiquitous cypress trees surrounding the orange groves, roses, jasmine and the famous olive tree are typical motifs in these dresses.
The exhibition is being held at Bayt Lothan in Salmiya, which is next to Marina Mall and facing the Arabian Gulf Road.
It will be held for four days starting Monday, April 6, 2009, through Thursday, April 9. It is open to the public from 10:00 am to 1:30 pm and 4:30 pm to 8:30 pm on Monday through Thursday.
The Palestinian Culture Center thanks Bayt Lothan for their generosity in providing the premises free of charge.
Last updated on Monday 30/3/2009
Kuwait to Provide Assistance in Dharfur
From today’s Arab Times:
Kuwait Red Crescent ready to fill aid agencies gap in Darfur
KUWAIT CITY, March 7, (KUNA): Kuwait Red Crescent Society (KRCS) said Saturday it was ready to fill the aid agencies gap caused by the withdrawal of a number of humanitarian organizations from Darfur.
KRCS Chairman Barjas Al-Barjas said in a letter he sent to Secretary-General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Bekele Geleta, that KRCS believed the federation should cover the needs caused by the withdrawal of 16 non-governmental organizations from Darfur due to bad security conditions. He called IFRC to urge all humanitarian and charitable bodies, national societies, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to contribute to ending the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Darfur. Al-Barjas said KRCS was ready to provide aid, as it always did to the needy around the world.
Meanwhile, the Arab League Council has decided to send an Arab-Afro delegation to the UN Security Council (UNSC) to defer the International Criminal Courtâs (ICC) arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir. The council, meeting urgently at the foreign ministersâ level to discuss ICC arrest warrant, expressed dismay for the ICC decision and said it did not consider justice, stability and peace in Sudan. The council voiced solidarity with Sudan against any plans undermining the sovereignty, unity and independence of Sudan.
The foreign ministers underlined in a statement importance of the independence of the Sudanese judiciary. They refused any attempt to politicize the principles of the international justice which would jeopardize the unity, sovereignty and independence of countries around the world. They regretted the fact that article 16 of the Rome statute of the ICC was not provoked thus delay the arrest warrant for 12 months. They asserted that heads of state enjoy immunity in accordance with the 1961 Vienna agreement.
The arrest warrant does not consider the implementation of the peace agreement in Southern Sudan and preparation for the general elections in the second half of this year, said the ministers. The Arab foreign ministers urged the UN Security Council (UNSC) to live up its responsibility to preserving peace and stability in Sudan. They called on regional and international parties to provide suitable atmosphere for the political settlement between the Sudanese government and rebel groups in Darfur.
May God bless the work of their hands and their hearts.
Walk-a-thon Tomorrow (Saturday)
The weather is PERFECT. There is no excuse – honestly – this is a wonderful activity!
Why I Love A-Word-A-Day
This is today’s entry from Anu Garg’s A Word A Day.
Wordsmith.org The Magic of Words
This week’s theme
Words from Obama
This week’s words
cohere
with Anu Garg
Tomorrow Barack Obama will become president of the US, and not a moment too soon. This week we’ll feature words from Obama, words from his books, speeches, and interviews.
Unlike most politicians, who hire ghostwriters, Obama writes his own books. He’s a gifted writer. Reading his words you can see his thought process. He’s not one who sees the globe in black and white. He has lived outside the US and has been exposed to other cultures. He realizes that just because someone has a different set of beliefs, just because someone looks different, doesn’t mean he’s wrong — sometimes there can be two ways to do something and both can be right.
Obama is to be commended for his accomplishments. We’ve come a long way in this country. But we still have far to go before we can call ourselves truly unbiased. Real progress will be when any capable person can have a fair chance at winning the highest office, even someone who happens to be, say, a black gay vegan atheist woman.
Anything is possible… but don’t hold your breath.
cohere
PRONUNCIATION:
(ko-HEER)
MEANING:
verb intr.: To be united; to work or hold together.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin cohaerere, from co- (together) + haerere (to stick).
USAGE:
“I learned to slip back and forth between my black and white worlds, understanding that each possessed its own language and customs and structures of meaning, convinced that with a bit of translation on my part the two worlds would eventually cohere.”
Barack Obama; Dreams From My Father; Times Books; 1995.
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. -Martin Luther King, Jr., civil-rights leader (1929-1968)
Here is what Anu Garg isn’t saying, and my guess is he hasn’t thought twice about it. He is an American. He was not born in America, he immigrated to America – as most of us did, meaning our forefathers and mothers came from Europe, from Africa, from Asia and from India and the Middle East and – and – and. As an immigrant, as an American, he is free to say what he wants. Free to be happy Obama is president, and at the same time free to say that the system is not yet free enough.
I also totally love it that his quote for today is from Martin Luther King, who we are celebrating in America, on this national holiday.
We don’t have to agree. I love it that he is passionate about his beliefs, and that he provides A-Word-A-Day as a public service, entirely free, every day sending a new word, defined and used in context, to subscribers in every nation in the world. I admire people like him, like the Rajab family here in Kuwait, like Andrew Carnegie who started most of the small town libraries in the United States, people who use what they have been given to give back to the world-at-large.
You can see A Word A Day leads my blogroll. You can subscribe by clicking on the blue type above. đ
Family Crisis
The Gospel reading for today details a family crisis. We grow up with these words, we know them by heart, but it is only living in the countries near where Jesus was actually born that I have come to ponder these words in my heart, and try to imagine what it meant in Mary’s time.
Matthew 1:18-25
18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah* took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, âJoseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.â 22 All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23 âLook, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuelâ,
which means, âGod is with us.â 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son;* and he named him Jesus.
Living in Jordan, living in the Gulf has helped me so much to understand the context in which this birth took place. In America today, it is still hoped for that women will be married when they have children, but it is not taken for granted. No one goes out and kills a daughter or sister who has had sexual relations with a man before she is married. Parents don’t disown daughters who conceive before the vows are publicly exchanged.
Even now, in the Middle East, most expect women to be virgin at marriage, and to conceive only after the formalities of marriage. There are steep penalties to be paid for varying from that route. Banishment. Death. Dishonor. A bastard child, if she lives that long. These are all things Mary was facing as she entered her earliest months of pregnancy. Joseph had decided to set her aside – not to marry her. He was a decent man, but a man of the times, he didn’t want a pregnant bride. The angel comes – he tells Joseph that this baby is special, conceived of the Holy Spirit, that Mary remains virgin. And miracle of miracles . . . Joseph listens.
What a courageous woman. What a courageous man.
No Home Activities for Welfare Societies
A sudden and unbelievable decision bans welfare activities in private homes. This could have far reaching effects – are not most welfare activities taking place in Kuwait privately organized and funded? I have been to so many private fund raisers for charities I support – bazaars, game nights, line dancing classes – almost all in private homes. I suspect this is legislation that means well, but discourages people from reaching out to meet needs not met by the city or state.
Welfare societies banned from organizing activities in private homes
Al Watan staff
KUWAIT: Welfare and charitable societies are facing a new challenge after the Municipality has decided to suspend any such activities from taking place in private homes.
The Municipality has sent 62 official letters to the Ministry of Water and Electricity demanding that power be cut off to certain buildings in Jabriya and Salmiya after these private residencies were found to have been involved in activities of welfare societies. Undersecretary at the Ministry of Water and Electricity Yusuf AlŮHajiri confirmed in a statement to Al Watan that the ministry will disconnect the electricity from properties involved in violations of housing regulations.
Representatives from a number of welfare societies and charitable organizations expressed their bewilderment at this decision and said that all their activities are licensed and were often inaugurated under government sponsorship. They added that many people will suffer from what they described as a “hasty decision.”
The decision to ban activities in private homes came directly from the Municipality General Manager Ahmad AlŮSubaih who on Tuesday gave formal instructions to suspend all such activities on grounds that they violate private home regulations.
Local Municipal Councils are now able to issue violations and communicate directly with the Ministry of Water and Electricity to disconnect the power of any property which is found to be violating the terms and condition of housing tenancy.
Welfare societies and charitable organizations have already sent an official letter to the Cabinet requesting that they be allowed to expand their charitable activities and receive donations in cash to facilitate their work.
Last updated on Friday 21/11/2008
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