My Story

I remember the horror and concern when Elizabeth Smart was kidnapped from her home. I remember the relief and amazement, nine months later, when she was returned to her family. What really amazed me, in the years that followed, was the sense that she had come through this intact, that she was coping, that she seemed to be living a normal life.

Of course, I only knew what I saw in the media - and I didn't follow closely, and only saw snippets of even that information. But I knew she had founded the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, to prevent and stop predatory crimes. I knew she spoke out on behalf of victims. But I was curious as to how she had managed to cope, apparently, so well.

So, even though I worried a bit about being a voyeur, I wanted to read her story, as told in her memoir My Story (with Christ Stewart). I wanted to see what she herself had to say.

Smart described in detail her nine months with Mitchell and his wife. She did not describe his abuse in detail, except to recount - over and over - "he raped me." She did describe her thoughts - the thoughts of a fourteen-year-old - as she tried to figure out how to survive.

She told of her faith, and how this helped her endure. She told of several miracles that encouraged her. And she told of persuading Mitchell to return to Utah, from California, knowing that if anyone was still looking for her, it would be in Salt Lake City.

I think, ultimately, that her mother's advice, when Smart finally was home again, was the beginning of her recovery.

Elizabeth, what this man has done is terrible. There aren't any words that are strong enough to describe how wicked and evil he is! He has taken nine months of your life that you will never get back again. But the best punishment you could ever give him is to be happy. To move forward with your life. To do exactly what you want. Because, yes, this will probably go to trial and some kind of sentencing  will be given to him and that wicked woman. But even if that's true, you may never feel like justice has been served or that true restitution has been made.

But you don't need to worry about that. At the end of the day, God is our ultimate judge. He will make up to you every pain and loss that you have suffered. And if it turns out that these wicked people are not punished here on Earth, it doesn't matter. His punishments are just. You don't ever have to worry. You don't ever have to even think about them again.

You be happy, Elizabeth. Just be happy. If you go and feel sorry for yourself, or if you dwell on what has happened, if you hold on to your pain, that is allowing him to steal more of your life away. So don't you do that! Don't you let him! There is no way that he deserves that. Not one more second of your life. You keep every second for yourself. You keep them and be happy. God will take care of the rest.

Smart followed that advice. She hung on to gratitude and faith, and let the pain and anger and hurt go. She wrote

. . . I decided very early that I only had one life and that I wasn't going to waste it.

As of this writing, I am twenty-five years old. I have been alive for 307 months. Nine of those months were pretty terrible. But 298 of those months have been very good. I have been happy. I have been very blessed. Who knows how many more months I have to live? But even if I died tomorrow, nine out of 307 seems like pretty good odds.

Those nine months were, as Smart said, pretty terrible. But what Smart has done since then is pretty amazing, too.

Almost Amish

Almost Amish: One Woman’s Quest for a Slower, Simpler, More Sustainable Life, by Nancy Sleeth.

I read this book last October, for our book group^*. I wrote this review at the same time, but for some reason, never posted it. Oops.

Overall, I thought Sleeth had good ideas, although I thought she had to stretch her analogy pretty far, to link them to an Amish lifestyle.

She introduced ten general principles that lead to her "slower, simpler, more sustainable life:"

1.    Homes are simple, uncluttered, and clean: the outside reflects the inside.
2.    Technology serves as a tool and does not rule as a master.
3.    Saving more and spending less bring financial peace.
4.    Time spent in God’s creation reveals the face of God.
5.    Small and local leads to saner lives.
6.    Service to others reduces loneliness and isolation.
7.    The only true security comes from God.
8.    Knowing neighbors and supporting local businesses build community.
9.    Family ties are lifelong; they change but never cease.
10.    Faith life and way of life are inseparable.

In the chapter on homes, she emphasized that “No big house or yard care means more time for family, friends, and God.” She also talked about the importance of hospitality - which is easier if you aren't stressed about all the aspects of keeping a home running. She pointed out that soup makes a great meal, and is easy to prepare and serve - that idea has stuck in this non-cook's head!

She made an interesting statement about technology:

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American spends just nine minutes per day in religious and spiritual activities. This disparity between how much time with technology and how much time we spend with God says much about our priorities. I think it indicates that technology is supplanting God in our hearts and affections.  We are pursuing technology with an abandon and intensity that should be reserved for God alone.

If true (she didn't cite references for her stats), this is very telling. (I know that I spend a disproportionate amount of time on social media.)

In her chapter on simplicity, she stated, “Simplicity involves cutting back on two major kinds of stuff – the kind that fills our houses and the kind that fills our calendars.” We all struggle with this, and our book group spent a good bit of time discussing the challenges inherent in this effort.

Regarding service (chapter 6), she wrote

[God] wants us to serve him with a glad heart, not because he is lacking anything, but because the very act of getting outside our selfish, small concerns enriches us. Service is the agent through which we act out our love for God and for one another. Serve God: serve your neighbor. In doing one, we are doing the other.

This made me think of Mosiah 2:17: "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

I think that's the most important side effect of simplifying our lives - we have more time and energy to serve others. Certainly the principles that Sleeth shares can help us in this endeavor.



* We chuckled when one member of our book group confessed that she had read the wrong book. She had grabbed it quickly from the library, without looking closely, and read a book with the same title, but by a different author (Kathryn Cushman). It was a novel about two sisters participating in a reality TV show, and not at all what our reader was expecting. Oops!

Does Bonnie Need Pajamas?

Around here, our radios are generally tuned to our local NPR station, WMUK. There are lots of good things about public radio (for instance, on the morning of Christmas Eve, we can listen to A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols).

NPR used to be touted as commercial free. This is no longer the case. There still are no commercials, per se, but there are periodic recognitions of the 'underwriters.' I suppose that at least these recognitions are less jarring than your standard commercial radio commercial.

And yet.

We regularly hear about Pajamagram, where you can order pajamas, and have them delivered right to your door.

Really? There is a need for home-delivered pajamas? As a girl who sleeps in whatever t-shirt is handy, I would say, "No thank you. No need for PJ deliveries here. Chocolate deliveries? Absolutely. Pajamas??? uh, no...?"

Do people maybe have pajama crises? unexpected guests who arrive sans pajamas? they realize their old pajamas clash with their new sheets, hence the need for an urgent delivery? the weather changes, and they realize their summer garb isn't getting them through the night???

The other day, their non-commercial revealed that you can also order pajamas for your pet.

Really??? Since when does Bonnie need pajamas???

Some things just beg to be mocked.

(Bonnie just begs to be fed.)

And Are There Angels Hovering Overhead? Hark!

Bonnie and I enjoyed our walk today. Snow fell, and winds blew. She was pretty beat by the time we got home:

She looks pretty satisfied, don't you think?

We put up our tree today. As we do every year, we smiled at the cheerful declaration on the box: "Assembles in minutes!" This year, it assembled in about three hours worth of minutes:

We still need to add the ornaments, but the lights brighten the room, and make it feel like Christmas - that, and the snow. We should have a Christmas poem, too:

December
by Gary Johnson

A little girl is singing for the faithful to come ye
Joyful and triumphant, a song she loves,
And also the partridge in a pear tree
And the golden rings and the turtle doves.
In the dark streets, red lights and green and blue
Where the faithful live, some joyful, some troubled,
Enduring the cold and also the flu,
Taking the garbage out and keeping the sidewalk shoveled.
Not much triumph going on here—and yet
There is much we do not understand.
And my hopes and fears are met
In this small singer holding onto my hand.
           Onward we go, faithfully, into the dark
           And are there angels hovering overhead? Hark.

Asimbonanga

Here is a fine flash mob, a beautiful tribute to Nelson Mandela



I read about this performance in a Yahoo article. The Soweto Gospel Choir posed as shoppers and store workers, and performed Johnny Clegg's Asimbonanga. According to the Yahoo article, the song was written during Mandela's incarceration as a call for his freedom. The article provided these words:

Asimbonanga [we have not seen him]
Asimbonang' uMandela thina [we have not seen Mandela]
Laph'ekhona [in the place where he is]
Laph'ehleli khona [in the place where he is kept]

Asimbonanga
Asimbonang 'umfowethu thina [we have not seen our brother]
Laph'ekhona [in the place where he is]
Laph'wafela khona [in the place where he died]
Sithi: Hey, wena [We say: hey, you]
Hey, wena nawe [Hey, you and you]
Siyofika nini la' siyakhona [when will we arrive at our destination]

This choir, this music is stunningly beautiful. I have no words to add...

Beagle Walks, and Beagle Selfies

According to my favorite snowfall-tracking site, we had 3.7 inches of snow on Wednesday. Here are pictures taken during our walk that day. It wasn't too cold, but it was definitely snowing:

Frays Park

Jess, heroically navigating
the stroller (and J) through the snow

Why are we stopping???

Yesterday when we set out, the sun was shining, but it was cold - around 9 degrees, which, with the wind chill, worked out to around -9 degrees. Brrr. Bonnie and I walked to the end of the park, and then I dissuaded her from continuing into the woods. Instead, we headed for home, walking down Piccadilly Rd. I noticed that, once we were homeward bound, Bonnie was happy to move along, with no pauses to dig in the snow. I let her into the house, and went back out long enough to snap a couple photos:

Frays Park

Frays Park, by our home;
I love the shadows

Today, it was sunny and balmy: 28 degrees!

Friendship Village

 These birds (in the upper right corner) caught my eye ear with their singing:

Today we met a woman with some sort of fox hound - she described her dog as a "tall beagle," which was pretty accurate. The two dogs sniffed hello, and then we headed off in opposite directions. Bonnie immediately started behaving like a crazy dog, racing and dancing back and forth on the path. Do you suppose she was flirting?!?

I've decided that most of the pictures I take of Bonnie are, essentially, selfies. I hold the camera at her level, aim in her direction, and hope for the best. It results in an awful lot of pictures like this one:

Actually, a lot of these beagle selfies include no beagle at all, and one today seemed to be of the sky (the sky...? really...?).

But I do have a few decent photos from today:

Beagle on the move!

I even got a decent selfie of myself (the headphones not only allow me to enjoy my podcasts, but I've found they keep my ears warm):

More snow coming tonight and tomorrow!

Oh, I almost forgot - here's the Dec 9 update of my Sky Scarf - ten months down, just two to go:

That grey and white at the bottom is SNOW!

Some Notes - Both Musical and Non-

Last Monday, Jim and I attended a recital by Kirill Gerstein. He was recognized as the Gilmore Artist in 2010, and presented this free concert as a thank you to the community. Jessica and her son K - a budding pianist - joined us.

Gerstein performed Haydn's Andante with Variations in F Minor; Schumann's Carnaval,; Timo Andres' newly commissioned work, Old Friend, and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. All in all, it was a great evening. Gerstein's playing was spectacular. Of course, everyone loved the Mussorgsky piece (including young K). The Andres piece featured an interesting bit of technology - Gerstein played from an iPad, rather than from sheet music, and used some sort of device with his foot to change pages - how the world moves along!

I played piano at the Springs tonight - Christmas music, of course! - and here is where I found sweet old Tippy, keeping watch over the tree and presents in the lounge. He didn't even stir when I took his picture.

Yesterday I started a new adventure. I'll be working at Stitching Memories a couple Saturdays a month, and yesterday was my first day. What a day it was! Mary held a Make It - Take It workshop, with thirteen choices. The store was packed, and everyone seemed to have a great time. And I survived my first day. ☺