Wounded tree
Wrapped up
Like a mummy
Or a swaddled baby
bundled up
for the night
hush now, don’t you cry
your end is just the start
of something new
“The simple way is not the easy way. No one ever promised us that community or Christian discipleship would be easy. There’s a commonly mistranslated verse where Jesus tells the disciples, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me… For my yoke is good and my burden is light.” People take that to mean that if we come to Jesus, everything will be easy. (The word good is often mistranslated as easy). Ha, that’s funny. My life was pretty easy before I met Jesus. In one sense, the load is lighter because we carry the burdens of the world together. But he is still telling us to pick up a yoke. Yoke had a lot of different meanings. It was the tool used for harnessing animals for farming. It was the word used for taking on a rabbi’s teaching (as Jesus seems to use it here). Yoke was also the word used for the brutal weight of slavery and oppression that the prophets call us to break (Isaiah 58, among other passages). One of the things I think Jesus is doing is setting us free from the heavy yoke of an oppressive way of life. I know plenty of people, both rich and poor, who are suffocating from the weight of the American dream, who find themselves heavily burdened by the lifeless toil and consumption we put upon ourselves. This is the yoke we are being set free from. The new yoke is still not easy (it’s a cross, for heaven’s sake), but we carry it together, and it is good and leads us to rest, especially for the weariest traveler.” Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution, p. 135, 136
Picture taken from the car window. (No, I was not behind the steering wheel, but we were driving through the city centre). Last week I was in Frankfurt because of the book fair. More pics on my Dutch blog.
Thanks to Wordle
Insalvation, a Dutch worship band, playing at Challenge 2.0 in Hoofddorp. Youth service organized by our church.
I took Robin to this celebration – in his wheelchair, because of his broken leg. Good to see him having fun with his friends again. Read More »
Muziekgebouw aan het IJ – I guess that name doesn’t make any sense to you if you don’t understand my funny language. It means: “Music Building at the IJ”.
I know you will not be able to pronounce the name of this river if you don’t speak Dutch. And it’s not really a river, but it’s sort of a lake, formerly a bay and now the waterfront of Amsterdam behind the Central Train Station. Read More »
I went to Amsterdam last night to shoot some pics. A dark and exciting city full of welcoming lights. And in all the streets, alleyways and on the crowded city squares I’ve seen the beautiful people, young and old – looking for a good time, trying to fill their voids. Even if they laugh, they make me sad. I need to think about this. Have a look at some of the pics I’ve made and that I will upload here today and this week.
Sea-Fever
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking. Read More »
Shaldon, a small village opposite Teignmouth in South Devon, England – situated on the River Teign. Two ladies are judging the situation in a fenced off bowling green.
I think this place is a ’senior citizens paradise’. And I also think this is a nice picture.
More pictures of Shaldon and the Teingmouth estuary below.
Click gallery pics to enlarge.
 | REbecca on Insalvation |
 | Paul on It’s a cross, for heaven’s… |
 | Mike on It’s a cross, for heaven’s… |
| Mike on Insalvation |
 | mobius faith on Light in the Night |
