The Lord speaks to us using so many "voices." I learned that through my experiences at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference this past week. Worshipping, praying, rejoicing, and sharing my heart and my writing with other lovers of God ushered me into the throne room of the Lord. He provided opportunities for deep thought. He helped me wrestle through some painful issues, and He provided healing. He also bestowed on me a fresh appreciation for the beauty, compassion and care of the body of Christ as it is TRULY supposed to function - in unity and with grace. C.S. Lewis said that the distinction of the Christian faith - the element that sets it apart from all other belief systems - is GRACE. Lord, make me an instrument of your grace!
Humility and teachability were the watchwords of the week, as I had the privilege of interacting with so many excellent writers, teachers, pastors and speakers. I was blessed by the kneelers, the questioners, the weepers - those who weren't afraid to get real with God.
Particularly compelling were author and speaker Mary DeMuth's classes on Inner Guts: How An Extreme Makeover of our Hearts Enlivens, Deepens, and Betters our Prose. Mary speaks from a wellspring of love for the Lord, a place of wrestling with Him and refusing to stop until she has received His blessing. Her authenticity and transparency inspired me this week. And I gained so much TRUTH, so many solid principles that I know will help transform my spiritual life as well as my writing.
I also left the conference with many new friends - friends walking the same daily journey with me as writers, artists, musicians, poets and followers of Jesus. I look forward to a new year of possibilities with God, starting now.
If you're a friend from Mount Hermon or a friend from elsewhere wanting to weigh in on this discussion, please post a comment here. Thank you!
jueves, 5 de abril de 2007
jueves, 22 de marzo de 2007
Poets Among Us
Poets are truth tellers and careful observers of life. Poetry helps us stop and take notice of important things that, in the haste and waste of our daily schedules, we tend to gloss over.
The word stanza means "room" in Italian. A gifted poet will skilfully usher you into his or her world as if leading you into a beautiful room and whispering a profound secret into your ear.
I'd like to share a stanza or two of poetry with you. I hope you enjoy it! This is from my poem titled "The Weight of Language (Ode to My Hometown)":
words are,
solid, intentional,
kinetic as the swollen river in spring,
the revolving planets of our bodies,
the eustachian shells of the conches,
the seeds burrowing down to bury their secrets
in pocketbooks of black soil,
the haunt of a lullaby i haven’t heard for thirty years:
sleep, little two eyes
sleep, little daughter.
The next stanza is from a poem titled "The Shortest Distance":
Let x = y, z, the imaginary i,
glyphs of an alphabet I’ve not yet created.
Let x, y, and z = three strands plaited
like a crown of thorns, set on a sinless shelf.
We’re tangent to God at one—
and only one—point.
One of my writing goals for this year is to have a poetry manuscript published. So far, I've written five collections but have not yet sought publication. The titles are, beginning with the most recent:
-Pause & Effect
-How the Light Gets In
-Wrestling the Angel
-Eclipse
-All These Stones
NOTE: If you have poems or info on poetry that you'd like to share, please post them here. I would love to start a local or online critique group for poets, so please let me know if you're interested. Thank you!
All poems copyrighted © Marla Alupoaicei 2007. Reproduction or use without permission is prohibited.
The word stanza means "room" in Italian. A gifted poet will skilfully usher you into his or her world as if leading you into a beautiful room and whispering a profound secret into your ear.
I'd like to share a stanza or two of poetry with you. I hope you enjoy it! This is from my poem titled "The Weight of Language (Ode to My Hometown)":
words are,
solid, intentional,
kinetic as the swollen river in spring,
the revolving planets of our bodies,
the eustachian shells of the conches,
the seeds burrowing down to bury their secrets
in pocketbooks of black soil,
the haunt of a lullaby i haven’t heard for thirty years:
sleep, little two eyes
sleep, little daughter.
The next stanza is from a poem titled "The Shortest Distance":
Let x = y, z, the imaginary i,
glyphs of an alphabet I’ve not yet created.
Let x, y, and z = three strands plaited
like a crown of thorns, set on a sinless shelf.
We’re tangent to God at one—
and only one—point.
One of my writing goals for this year is to have a poetry manuscript published. So far, I've written five collections but have not yet sought publication. The titles are, beginning with the most recent:
-Pause & Effect
-How the Light Gets In
-Wrestling the Angel
-Eclipse
-All These Stones
NOTE: If you have poems or info on poetry that you'd like to share, please post them here. I would love to start a local or online critique group for poets, so please let me know if you're interested. Thank you!
All poems copyrighted © Marla Alupoaicei 2007. Reproduction or use without permission is prohibited.
martes, 13 de febrero de 2007
The Power of Perseverance over Procrastination
All of us battle procrastination at one time or another. In fact, the more creative a person is, the more susceptible he or she may be to procrastination. But we creative types also need time to think about and process what we're planning to create. Once we're ready to begin, that inspiration (plus our hard work and perspiration!) combine to form a beautiful finished product.
Christian author Anne Lamott writes that one day, she purchased a tiny picture frame with a one-inch-square opening and placed it on her desk. When she struggles to begin a daunting writing project, she looks at that small space and tells herself, “All I have to do is write down as much as I can see through a one-inch picture frame... All I am going to do right now is write that one paragraph that sets the story in my hometown, in the late fifties, when the trains were still running. I am going to paint a picture of it, in words. Or all I am going to do is to describe the main character the very first time we meet her... just what I can see through the one-inch picture frame.”* By training herself to start small and get at least something down on the page, she is able to overcome her tendency to procrastinate. And so can we. In fact, I think I'm going to go out and buy myself a tiny picture frame today!
Biblically, what’s the opposite of procrastination? Perseverance. Paul reminds us in Romans 8:25, “But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” Jesus's followers understood the importance of perseverance and discipline. They grasped the fact that living above the level of mediocrity requires sacrifice and a dying to self for the sake of completing the work that God has called us to do.
In what situations is the Lord calling you to persevere today? Please POST A COMMENT below.
For more on this topic, please request information about Marla's forthcoming book, Possibilityville.
Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (New York: Anchor Books, 1994), pp. 17-18. To order this book, please click on the following link: amazon.com/Bird-Some-Instructions-Writing-Life/dp/0385480016/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-5915590-3058404?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177444761&sr=1-1
Christian author Anne Lamott writes that one day, she purchased a tiny picture frame with a one-inch-square opening and placed it on her desk. When she struggles to begin a daunting writing project, she looks at that small space and tells herself, “All I have to do is write down as much as I can see through a one-inch picture frame... All I am going to do right now is write that one paragraph that sets the story in my hometown, in the late fifties, when the trains were still running. I am going to paint a picture of it, in words. Or all I am going to do is to describe the main character the very first time we meet her... just what I can see through the one-inch picture frame.”* By training herself to start small and get at least something down on the page, she is able to overcome her tendency to procrastinate. And so can we. In fact, I think I'm going to go out and buy myself a tiny picture frame today!
Biblically, what’s the opposite of procrastination? Perseverance. Paul reminds us in Romans 8:25, “But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” Jesus's followers understood the importance of perseverance and discipline. They grasped the fact that living above the level of mediocrity requires sacrifice and a dying to self for the sake of completing the work that God has called us to do.
In what situations is the Lord calling you to persevere today? Please POST A COMMENT below.
For more on this topic, please request information about Marla's forthcoming book, Possibilityville.
Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (New York: Anchor Books, 1994), pp. 17-18. To order this book, please click on the following link: amazon.com/Bird-Some-Instructions-Writing-Life/dp/0385480016/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-5915590-3058404?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1177444761&sr=1-1
Exciting news!
Catalin and I received some wonderful news recently. Mary Rosenberg from Orinda, California, notified us that my group of three poems won one of four first prizes in the 2006 Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Competition. What an honor! Catalin and I praise the Lord for this news. Thanks to all those who have prayed for me and encouraged me in my writing endeavors!
The poetry competition is accepting entries now for 2007 and is open to poets under 40, so please help spread the word. For entry guidelines and further information, please visit dorothyprizes.org and click on 2007 Entrants' Checklist. The poems themselves are also posted on the same site. I welcome your comments. Blessings!
The poetry competition is accepting entries now for 2007 and is open to poets under 40, so please help spread the word. For entry guidelines and further information, please visit dorothyprizes.org and click on 2007 Entrants' Checklist. The poems themselves are also posted on the same site. I welcome your comments. Blessings!
Keepin' the faith in intercultural marriage
Many intercultural couples assume that as long as both partners are Christians, they’ll share the same spiritual values, but this isn’t necessarily true. Intercultural couples often grapple with differences in their core values and beliefs regarding the following issues:
· abortion
· alcohol and drug use
· baptism
· church attendance
· circumcision
· communion
· contraception, pregnancy and infertility treatment
· dancing
· dating/courtship
· dealing with illness and its treatment
· death (including cremation and burial rites)
· euthanasia
· health care
· heaven and hell
· immigration
· justice/law enforcement
· parenting
· “proper” attire
· salvation
· sexuality
· tithing/financial giving
When you have an opportunity, be sure to discuss your beliefs with your spouse regarding the above issues. Take the time to understand what he or she believes, as well. For more insights into intercultural marriage, please check out my upcoming book Taking the Leap, which contains detailed guidance for addressing and overcoming differences with regard to values, worldviews and beliefs.
· abortion
· alcohol and drug use
· baptism
· church attendance
· circumcision
· communion
· contraception, pregnancy and infertility treatment
· dancing
· dating/courtship
· dealing with illness and its treatment
· death (including cremation and burial rites)
· euthanasia
· health care
· heaven and hell
· immigration
· justice/law enforcement
· parenting
· “proper” attire
· salvation
· sexuality
· tithing/financial giving
When you have an opportunity, be sure to discuss your beliefs with your spouse regarding the above issues. Take the time to understand what he or she believes, as well. For more insights into intercultural marriage, please check out my upcoming book Taking the Leap, which contains detailed guidance for addressing and overcoming differences with regard to values, worldviews and beliefs.
Avoiding Food Fights in Intercultural Marriage
Did you know that intercultural couples list "arguments about food" as the #1 problem issue that they face? You'll understand better why after you check out the list below. Here are some country names and some of the traditional foods or regional delicacies that their inhabitants enjoy:
Australia: Beets on a burger; Morton Bay Bugs (crustaceans similar to crayfish); vegemite (a dark brown, salty food paste made from yeast extract)
China: Bird’s nest soup; jellyfish; owl soup
England and Ireland: Brawn (head cheese); fish and chips
France: Calf’s head; escargot (snails)
Germany: Blood sausage; schmaltz (a spread made from chicken fat that is eaten on bread)
Iceland: Hákarl (fermented, decomposed shark meat)
Indonesia: Bats; monkey toes; trasi (a paste of salted, fermented prawns)
Italy: Cibreo (rooster’s comb); songbirds (roasted and eaten whole)
Japan: Fugu (blowfish), which contains a toxic organ and kills around 300 people in Japan per year
Korea: Kim chee (fermented cabbage); sea slugs
Norway: Lukefisk (codfish soaked in lye)
Philippines: Baalut (a fifteen or sixteen-day-old fertilized duck or chicken egg that is buried in the ground for a few weeks and then eaten complete with eyes, feathers and feet)
Romania: Salmale (traditional meat-and-rice rolls); mamaliga (polenta); tripe soup (made with the lining of a calf’s stomach)
Scotland: Dookers (a type of long-beaked, black and white diving seabird); haggis (spicy sausage mixed with oatmeal and stuffed in sheep’s intestines)
Sweden: Surströmming (fermented herring)
Tunisia: Roasted sheep’s head (complete with brains and eyes)
Spend some time discussing this list with your spouse. Are there any foods on the list that he or she enjoys? What about you? Find out which delicacies are common in your spouse’s country. Which sound interesting to you? Are there any that you’d be unwilling to try? (I must admit there are several foods on this list that I can’t imagine eating!) If so, be sure to tell your spouse beforehand to avoid an uncomfortable situation later. Whenever possible, strive to make food differences something you can laugh about rather than something that causes conflict.
If your or your spouse enjoy certain delicacies not listed here, please POST A COMMENT or e-mail me at marla_alupoaicei@yahoo.com. For more great reading like this, please stay tuned for more information on my upcoming intercultural marriage book, Taking the Leap.
*“Weird Foods from Around the World,” weird-food.com.
Australia: Beets on a burger; Morton Bay Bugs (crustaceans similar to crayfish); vegemite (a dark brown, salty food paste made from yeast extract)
China: Bird’s nest soup; jellyfish; owl soup
England and Ireland: Brawn (head cheese); fish and chips
France: Calf’s head; escargot (snails)
Germany: Blood sausage; schmaltz (a spread made from chicken fat that is eaten on bread)
Iceland: Hákarl (fermented, decomposed shark meat)
Indonesia: Bats; monkey toes; trasi (a paste of salted, fermented prawns)
Italy: Cibreo (rooster’s comb); songbirds (roasted and eaten whole)
Japan: Fugu (blowfish), which contains a toxic organ and kills around 300 people in Japan per year
Korea: Kim chee (fermented cabbage); sea slugs
Norway: Lukefisk (codfish soaked in lye)
Philippines: Baalut (a fifteen or sixteen-day-old fertilized duck or chicken egg that is buried in the ground for a few weeks and then eaten complete with eyes, feathers and feet)
Romania: Salmale (traditional meat-and-rice rolls); mamaliga (polenta); tripe soup (made with the lining of a calf’s stomach)
Scotland: Dookers (a type of long-beaked, black and white diving seabird); haggis (spicy sausage mixed with oatmeal and stuffed in sheep’s intestines)
Sweden: Surströmming (fermented herring)
Tunisia: Roasted sheep’s head (complete with brains and eyes)
Spend some time discussing this list with your spouse. Are there any foods on the list that he or she enjoys? What about you? Find out which delicacies are common in your spouse’s country. Which sound interesting to you? Are there any that you’d be unwilling to try? (I must admit there are several foods on this list that I can’t imagine eating!) If so, be sure to tell your spouse beforehand to avoid an uncomfortable situation later. Whenever possible, strive to make food differences something you can laugh about rather than something that causes conflict.
If your or your spouse enjoy certain delicacies not listed here, please POST A COMMENT or e-mail me at marla_alupoaicei@yahoo.com. For more great reading like this, please stay tuned for more information on my upcoming intercultural marriage book, Taking the Leap.
*“Weird Foods from Around the World,” weird-food.com.
Writing Down the Bones
I just began reading Natalie Goldberg's book Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within. Absolutely fabulous! I highly recommend it for writers. (Please note: Goldberg does mention briefly that she practices Buddhism, so Christian writers should be aware of that when reading the book.)
A few highlights:
Judith Guest writes in the introduction, "Writers do not write to impart knowledge to others; rather they write to inform themselves." Interesting point.
Goldberg calls us to "say a holy yes to the real things of our life as they exist." A holy yes... I'm going to have to use that line somewhere.
In addition, Goldberg writes, "Never underestimate people. They do desire the cut of truth." This particularly encourages me in my poetry writing. Poetry is such a fascinating genre. You take a variety of images and elements and mix them up to create an enigma, a new "animal" with so much more power. The whole is so much more than the sum of its parts. (Thanks to my bio professors at Purdue for that one.)
People do desire the "cut of truth," and they recognize it when a principle or an image rings true. It's like a sword piercing to the core of one's being. That's the job of the poet---to write something that rings true. Poetry both conceals and reveals at the same time; I suppose that's why I love it so much.
Other books in my current reading pile include:
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
The Memory-Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado
The Art of Possibility by Ben and Roz Zander
The past few nights before I have gone to sleep, I have been reading excerpts of Anne Lamott's books (Bird by Bird, Traveling Mercies) for perspective and a laugh. Very few writers actually make me laugh out loud, but she does. (My husband probably thinks I'm loony when he hears me laughing like that!) Anne Lamott is so honest, carefree and wise. She's not afraid to really live. I love that!
A few highlights:
Judith Guest writes in the introduction, "Writers do not write to impart knowledge to others; rather they write to inform themselves." Interesting point.
Goldberg calls us to "say a holy yes to the real things of our life as they exist." A holy yes... I'm going to have to use that line somewhere.
In addition, Goldberg writes, "Never underestimate people. They do desire the cut of truth." This particularly encourages me in my poetry writing. Poetry is such a fascinating genre. You take a variety of images and elements and mix them up to create an enigma, a new "animal" with so much more power. The whole is so much more than the sum of its parts. (Thanks to my bio professors at Purdue for that one.)
People do desire the "cut of truth," and they recognize it when a principle or an image rings true. It's like a sword piercing to the core of one's being. That's the job of the poet---to write something that rings true. Poetry both conceals and reveals at the same time; I suppose that's why I love it so much.
Other books in my current reading pile include:
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
The Memory-Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado
The Art of Possibility by Ben and Roz Zander
The past few nights before I have gone to sleep, I have been reading excerpts of Anne Lamott's books (Bird by Bird, Traveling Mercies) for perspective and a laugh. Very few writers actually make me laugh out loud, but she does. (My husband probably thinks I'm loony when he hears me laughing like that!) Anne Lamott is so honest, carefree and wise. She's not afraid to really live. I love that!
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