Keeping the Lord's Day

 My walk with the two uneven socks has come two an end. I have wore the socks every day as a reminder of how well different people can blend and spread warmth in a rather cold climate. I love the multicolored patterns as well.

(His eye is on the sparrow. Can you spot the bird's nest and the open moth of the baby bird at the top my my Mom's rose tree?)

Exodus 20:

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."

 

 Hannah celebrating the Sabbath.

Today I thought I'd try to explain a bit of Norwegian traditions and attitude about keeping The Lord's Day holy. I feel we live and think differently from the Americans about this, culture-wise.

Since Norway was Christened in year 1030 by St. Olav, the country has been ruled according to the ten commandments and those of Jesus in N.T.. It has been easy, because the people shared the same faith. In my time, the last 30 years or so, things have changed radically and the laws of my beloved country with it.
A story about St. Olav. It was Sunday, but he sat carving with his knife on a piece of wood . A young servant saw this and said cautiously, "It's Monday tomorrow, Lord King." Whereupon the king took the wood shaves and burnt them in the palm of his hand.

The ancient St. Olav church just over at the island.The myth says that when the even older obelisk touches the wall, Domesday will come.

My mother was very accurate about keeping the Sunday holy. She would never even knit on a Sunday. If she and my Dad went for a hike in the mountains, she would never gather berries and carry them home on a Sunday. In the evening they would go to church, but my Mom would always go directly home afterwards. She used to say, if the sermon was good, she needed quiet to hold on to what she had gotten.
I used to go for walks with my friends after church. We discussed and had a great time. There are of course more than one way.

Now the laws and the spirit of our country have changed. Churches are closing down. Some gather for church coffee after worship, some even have opened restaurants. When I grew up neither radio or TV would send sports events till after worship time on Sunday.

There actually still are fines to be paid if one disturb the Holy Day peace. That is you aren't allowed to move your lawn, build a house or make disturbing noises to the neighborhood. Neither must the fishermen nor the farmers work outdoors for 24 hours.
Most shops are closed, so are banks, factories e.t.c.
Even hospitals run about half staffed on Sundays. So do buses, trains and ferries. No serving of alcohol till after church time on restaurants.( Church time being from11a.m. till 12.30 a.m.
There are signals that these laws too are about to be changed. That all the seven days of the week are to become regarded the same. That will be a great loss for our country. We are in deep of need the peace and inner tranquility of a "resting day," which is the Norwegian expression for Sunday. "Keep the Resting Day Holy", the commandment says. We need to seek the Lord.

Remembering the words of Jesus in Mark 2:
²⁷ Then he said to them
“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

I see this as, we need the Sabbath for our own good, and not only to  fulfill the law. The Lord's Day is holy, but it's also a day of recreation and meditation, free from hard work and labor. We so easily forget that until recently the population were forced to work from early morning till late night 6 days a week.
It was a blessing to the ordinary people to have one day off. It was a unique opportunity to go to church first and then rest with ones family, either out or indoors.
Saturday afternoon the church bells rung the Holy Day in. They still have that tradition in Sweden. People took off their working clothes and put on Holy Day outfits.
When I grew up I had not much clothes, but I had clothes for playing, clothes for school and Sunday clothes.
It had to do with paying respect. 

Naomi and Hannah watching the sun go down close to our home.
  About a year ago Gunnar and I were the lucky hosts of two young Canadian Jewish girls, Hannah and Naomi. They celebrated their conservative Sabbath with us. It was an awakening experience. 
Not only because the rules they did follow, but because of the devotion with which they celebrated the Sabbath.
I felt my kitchen was holy ground as the candles were lit and we shared the meals. Songs from the Book of Psalms and reading from the Scripture. I think the two girls song for one or two hours, while the candles were burning. The clean voices, the musicality, the adoration, the joy. I didn't get the impression there was any sacrifice in their Sabbath celebration, only holy joy. Everything was prepared on before hand, lots of tasty dishes. Including family gatherings with relaxed eating and conversations were a main part of the Sabbath in addition to the Holy sermons.

 Gunnar telling about the druids who worshiped the sun here between the mainland and the island long before Christ.
  Once more I thought, how much my generation has lost and failed to hand further to our up-growing descendants.
Like Serina just said, when I told what I was writing about, "but we don't live this way, Mama". 
I just need to make some changes.

The narrow path leading to the local light tower. Let's pray that Christ and his light must reign and remain shining among us. That no wayfarer must get astray.
Thanks for walking this stretch of the narrow road with me. It's time for the sock to move on.

Thy will be done

I was determined about two issues for this Traveling Sock round.
1. I wouldn't, couldn't spend too much time on the writing .
2. I wouldn't, shouldn't even try to preach. It's simply not my style.
What happened? I've spent the whole day making a single blog post and I've never done this much preaching in my entire life. No wonder nobody bothers to read my writing.
Nevertheless, I've prayed "Thy will be done", and what's coming out for sure wasn't my intention.

A year ago I wrote ten blog posts about The Lord's Prayer.
I had kind of a wakening up. My praying was so much about my wishes and my will. Jesus taught us to search for God's will on earth as in heaven.
I had wrestled with tough topics, like the painful endings of first my father's and then my mother's life.
I still don't know why it had to be this way, but I experienced that Jesus stood by our family's side all of the time.

Job 35: ¹⁴ "Although thou sayest thou shalt not see him, yet judgment is before him; therefore trust thou in him."

My brother's cancer, Gunnar's and Serina's chronic deceases.
The four of us are still works in progress and we are getting better in spite of all odds. My brother had five percent odds of survival after his Whipple surgery eleven years ago. He's still in his job.
Gunnar is fighting like a lion and is achieving physical wonders this year, that I would have thought impossible only half a year ago. Serina is also step by step, inch by inch retrieving strength and will power.

As my father woke up from brain surgery after two days in coma, we were gathered around his  bed. He smiled and pointed towards the wall between me and my mother. "Oh, there she is, " he said. "Do you mean me or Mom," I asked. "Neither", he answered, "It's her, she who has been there all the time."He pointed at the place where "She" was standing. A chill of awe went through all of us.
He hadn't been alone, not for a minute.

Some years later my Mom stood on the threshold to Heaven. We were given a spare room at the hospital where we could rest while the rest was waking, preparing for the end to come.
My mother has always said, "I'm not strong, but I am a stayer."
She was this time too. Little by little we started feeding her with protein drinks and slowly connected after ten days. She got up and stared out in the gray rain wet backyard. Her face lit up, and smilingly she said, "I've never seen such perfect beauty in my life. I didn't know it existed."
She saw into a world I've only read about, and her face was shining.

His will is for us to get saved.
That we may have the food and clothes we need, that our sins may be forgiven, "like we forgive those who sin against us."That we may be freed from temptations, we're bound to fall, over and over again. And that we must be saved from evil, and from doing evil, I usually add, knowing myself just too well. I am so glad that the power and the glory belongs to him, and not to a king, a president or a prime minister, dictator or any worldly or clergy power.
The Lord is the only one to be worshiped and to be knelt before. For ever and ever.

1 Chor. 13 :
⁹ For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
¹⁰ But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
¹¹ When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

¹² For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
¹³ And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Ora et Labora

Psalm 89: ¹¹ "The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;
    you founded the world and all that is in it."

 (When writing about praying and working my mother is in my thoughts in every word I write. Magnhild to the left, is the woman who could not believe that Christians used too much detergent.)

Pray and work.
That's an ancient Lutheran device. The New Born, the Haugians of Norway, from the nineteenth century also lived and preached the same way.
Even the Benedictine monks in the monastery where my friend brother Ole lives do the same. They divide the day between physical work, Bible studies and prayers in the church. How I love and respect these old guys. Spare-time as we name it doesn't exist. They will, however, always do their utmost entertaining guests. They see in each guest a representative of Christ and they try to meet them with a hospitality, like they would receive a visit from Christ.
Isn't that wonderful? I've experienced it isn't empty words.
They have become good role models to me.

This part of the monastery garden belong to br. Frans. He grows flowers attracting butterflies. Br. Ole is my guide.

Christians going green.
I am raised to exploit, respect and fertilize the earth in a time when our neighbor used DDT as pesticide in his orchard. My Dad never allowed use of any poison in the garden. My Mom became an expert in green methods to keep her berries, vegetables and fruit free from worm, lice and worse.

Let the sun bleach and use natural fertilizer. My Mom's practice from the eigties.
 
In the seventies we were "attacked" by acid rain from England and Germany. In a decade the rich salmon and trout rivers and sweet waters were emptied. No fish could survive in the sour environment. Eager men carried sacks of lime up in the road-less mountains to try heal the damage. Now they're using helicopters to get the job done. Slowly people in my little hometown understood they could not unpunished misuse the environment without it having consequences. I remember my Mom's best friend, Magnhild, saying to my mother back in the seventies, "But Inga, no Christians use too much detergent." She lived as she preached and took it for grated that all around her did so too.

 My Mom making waffles for Gunnar with spelt meal, sour cram, eggs a pich of salt and a two spoons of brown sugar. and bicarbonate of soda. My mother taught me to use soda bicarbonate for my teeth and against stomach acid.People laughed at her last year when she asked for s. bicarbonate. Today it's the in thing to do.

Now pure need has forced my little family to think what we buy and how we use everything from food supply, garden, means of transportation, clothing e.t.c.
Allergies for food, pollen, chemicals have risen ecological awareness. We try avoiding industrial food, white sugar and soft drinks, gluten products, yeast (at least minimize it), there are, oh so many traps to fall into.

 

My childhood friend Oddvar, son of Magnhild,still working at the church's local good will shop every Saturday. Recycling is a part of his everyday life.

For decades we have sent clothes to poor countries, mostly in Eastern Europe. We also buy secondhand stuff of all kinds. It's a way of living and it's fun, like treasure hunting.I even have my own Norwegian online shop, "Mrs. Ljung's Apple Crate". This way I have learned a lot about Norwegian quality craft and industry. Now all outsourced out to Asia.

 The healing flower Valerian root is part of my logo. Serina helped me create it.

If I can contribute to less waste, I think I've done a good job.
What I cannot sell I give to good will shops. What I have done for thirty years now has become an in thing.
A wonderful thing about the Internet. I can work when I have some good minutes.

This brings me to the prayer part, the most important of course.
For a long time I felt that Facebook was a superficial time consumer, filled with advertising and poor jokes. I was wrestled into opening an account by one of my cousins. "If you want to keep track of what's going on in your family, you'd better get on FB. True we have family from Peru to Montana, from Iceland to my oil-working cousin and his family soon in Ghana, Azerbaijan and now in Scotland, Gunnar's nephew in the Philippines, friends moving to Spain and even to Algeria, where a husband recently was taken hostage by terrorists. Because I was informed the minute it happened, I was able to do some serious praying.
On the Scarf Sister site I simply had no rest when to two Scarf Sister nephews were born. I was called to prayer all around the clock.

Serina 14 years old in a bunad her Grandmom sewed. She's marching for the YWCA. "Still young and alive" the posters says. Prayerchild of an army. She shall not be moved!

God is almighty and the great healer who sees and knows everything, but he has challenged us to stay praying, always stay praying. " I will let me be found by you", He says through Isaiah.
The contact with the Lord is a two way route.
What a wonderful gift. He wants us, less than dust, to stay in contact. And I need not go to church to pray, I need not even go to the chamber which Gunnar calls "The Chapel". I can follow Paul's commandment to the Thessalonian.
1 Thess. 5:^17" Pray without ceasing."

 Serina's Grandmom and Gunnar's mama. She died just four weeks after Serina was born. This is the last photo made of her. Her prayers for Serina never expire on date. How glad I was, when I realized that fact.

Daily overload.

Paul writes about all the things he has on "his plate", and he adds, to this comes the daily overload. These last ten years I have felt overloaded to that extent the only place I was free was in my bed. (Where I slept with the cell phone by my side.) There's no words beautiful enough to describe how supportive and understanding Gunnar has been throughout the years. 

 I could not have been of any use for my parents had he not stood faithfully by my side and figuratively carried me and my parents much of the way. 

After Christmas I have had a backlash, a reaction had to come and it has sent me to bed, at least three times a day. I haven't yet written  Christmas cards, nor Easter Cards. I cannot bother to be ashamed, even though I always want to do the right things. There's simply no time or power left in my battery for ordinary curtsy or good manners. I have learned to value the little big things in life. I do so appreciate my wake hours with Gunnar and Serina. Sharing a meal, sitting on the terrace, attending the odd concert, service, flea market or, best of all, watching the sunset with cameras in our hands.

I'm just home from a sundown show. The great sky-painter was the eminent director, nobody does it better. "And we're only inhabiting  one of his million of balls," Gunnar said.

 

In the magic moment as the sun disappeared under the horizon all nature stood still in awe. Birds, dogs and human alike held their breath.

 (I was not allowed to tell that Gunnar shot this and the following photo)

Then the lights were turn on, white, green, yellow and red, so that no seafarer should get lost along the treachery waters along the coast. No wayfaring men shall get lost. 

This was his voice today.

Isaiah 35

King James Version (KJV)

35 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

² It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.
³ Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
⁴ Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
⁶ Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
⁷ And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
⁸ And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
⁹ No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
¹⁰ And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

I also found sheet music to "Never fades the Name of Jesus."

The Empty Heart

 Walking with Jesus.
Putting on my uneven socks is life a sanctified ritual.
Like every step I walk these days is with The Scarf Sisters and with Jesus.
I cannot say I fully know Jesus, but I am fully known.

 

A Christmas Eve morning several years ago. My brother and I were out doing some errands before Church time. The roads were icy and the fjord was all ice too. If you fall through the ice, there is no way getting up. It's like a lid with water beneath. My brother had poor winter tires, and in a sharp bend the tires lost their grip of the road. We were zig-zagging all over the road with no steering for,- what do I know,- hundred meters? To avoid colliding with a lamp post my brother managed to turn the car over to the left, towards the fjord.
We both knew there was nothing to do. I managed to press out the name "Jesus". In no time the car stood absolutely still. Like a wonder. It was a wonder, it was Jesus.  Kel looked over to me and said, "Well prayed, Felisol." (Yes, Felisol is his nickname for me.) We climbed over a rail and got out of the car, shivering. Then proceeded with our errands.

Minor episode this summer: I bought a necklace an empty heart in Ireland this summer. I just love heart jewels, hearts of all kinds.
With my chronic illness stress is one of my worst enemies. It sucks all power out of my body.
Leaving the house can some times be quite exhausting. We were headed out and I couldn't find my favorite heart necklace.  Stressed and confused I searched the kitchen, the living-room, the bath, the bedroom. All confused I said, "Jesus", and there I stood with the necklace in my right hand. No idea how it came there. I told myself to remember this, always. A month later also in a hurry, headed for Sauda and my mother, I tried to put the necklace on. My shaky, fumbling fingers couldn't fasten the necklace behind my neck. Now I remembered. Said "Jesus" out loudly and the necklace lock was closed.
There is no Abracadabra about it. Just a reminder, that Jesus is so close, and ready to help in a blink of an eye, when we're in need.
I cannot command Jesus. I am allowed to come with my helplessness, and when he wants he can help sooner than I an think.
He is figuratively the shadow by my right hand.
He's filling the core of my heart, where you can only see an empty room.

Philli.4:
⁶ Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
⁷ And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

This is a Norwegian hymn "The name Jesus"
It has two times been voted to be the most important hymn of the twentieths century. It has been translated into 50 languages. The melody is brought to Norway with African missionaries.
It means so much to me.




Never fades the name of Jesus

1.
Never fades the name of Jesus,
Nor is dimmed by passing time.
Jesus' name is everlasting,
For its meaning is sublime,
Jesus' name brings joy and gladness,
Daily sending forth new life;
In his name there's power to gather
Souls of men from ways of strife.

Chorus
How I love the name of Jesus!
He has set my heart aflame!
I have found a great salvation
Through the merits of his name.

2.
Beautiful the name of Jesus;
Let it echo round the earth,
For to weary, hopeless nations
Jesus' name has matchless worth.
Hate at last must yield to Jesus,
Sinfulness before him flee;
Through his name shall truth and justice
Reign again to make men free.

3.
In the night his dear name shineth
Like a lighthouse evermore,
Guiding lonely shipwrecked seamen
Safely to salvation's shore.
When the sun's last rays are fading,
Into darkness spread his fame,
Till the ransomed hosts in Heaven
Sing the praises of his name.

            David Welander (1898-1967),
            trs Catherine Baird (1895-1984)

Walking in Faith

The two different socks are a blessing and a strong reminder.
I'm putting them on like God's full armor.

Lending ear to the devil is a dangerous thing I often find myself doing.
How he tormented me, "You have nothing to tell about walking, spreading the word of God. You're a good-for-nothing person not attending church or serving the way the other sisters do."
Well, he's kind of right, you know. I don't preach, and the last ten years or so I actually haven't done much to help or serve actively in the church either.
When I go to church, I do so to get food for my hungry soul, rest for my tormented mind and get filled with joy through the Scripture, the hymns, the communion, even the beauty of the building.

(I need to add I did my share as Serina grew up, following to Sunday School, scout camps, even baking or making buns of puffed rice and chocolate for family gatherings at the YWCA/YMCA, attending gospel concerts where Serina and her lot were performing, Gunnar driving to and from each Friday evening when other adult pairs were busy having fun themselves, gathering money to support the trips to Paris, Estonia or wherever the choirs and scouts were headed.)

I think I'm making excuses for not being a church-working-going type. I am who I am, trying not to pretend being better or more engaged.
I've had to find my own way of being a Christian, serving God as honest as I can.
My Mom always instructed me to work for the face of God and not be an Eye servant.
I've tried to do that, with many flaws and failures.

A year ago, my Mom and me working in her garden. I miss her beyond words. I hear her voice and instructions wherever I go. She still is a blessing to me.

If something, this has become my way of being a Christian.
I cannot be a straightforward A4 person. I wasn't cut out to be this way. I am not even honoring Christ the way I'd like to.
Nevertheless I am a person friends call in times of trouble and ask for prayers. They know I'm weak, they sometimes despise me, but they know that's why I've become a praying person. I cannot do or be anything without God. Because I'm weak, I am strong.

2 Chor. 3:² "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men."

Heart warming socks arrived today

They say God's timing is perfect. They are right.
Not only is his timing exactly planned, but also his instructions to those who walk his errands.

 Life and Breath and Everything Else: Psalm 78:13a

 

Published with the permission of Lauren Dawenport. See her blog.

Some of you will know that for 24 years I have been living with the chronic fatigue syndrome ME. That means that my batteries run low quickly and I have to lay down and recharge 2 -3 times a day.
After all these years I and my family have found ways to cope and I even see God's blessings through my illness,( at least in retrospect).
I was allowed to be a stay at home Mom from when Serina was a baby after my collapse.
All family members have been knit closely together, because we needed each other to make life work for the one we all loved the most, the divine gift, baby Serina, only niece and only grandchild.

As Serina grew older both husband Gunnar , my brother Kel and my parents grew life threatening ill in just a short time.
Again, we were able to be there for each other.

I admit I felt I'd reached a point of total helplessness when Serina also came down with ME last June. As my Mom was heading towards the end of her life, my daughter had just finished her education and about to begin her life.

I have learned to walk on promises and take one step at a time over and over again. Sometimes I envy people who can plan a half year ahead. I just have to recognize, this is not for me.

So often I've woken up in my childhood room reading the text over my head. Never will I leave, nor will I forsake you. Signed God.
If I could share how these words have given me new strength and new hope.

I love the Sisterhood of the Traveling Scarf and Terry in particular, since she has come to stand so close to me and has also adopted Serina as her prayer child.

I wondered if I even would be able to take part in this year's adventures. I just thought, let me wait and see.
After serious praying, some new and very promising neurological medication against the ME symptoms came available in Norway this February. Serina started in March. Lots of side efferents which meant trials to all of us.
We have learned to embrace the good moments and we indeed do.
Life is so precious and so are smiles, laughter, companionship, hugs, games, food and the odd outdoor expedition.

Like today. Gunnar was exhausted, but Serina and I managed to stay on wheels from 09.30 til 02. Record breaking attending three flea-markets. We barely made it home, when I found the letter from Linda. Sweet Linda had not only sent one sock, but also a new pair of socks. That was the only way I could have started this sock journey today. Both Serina and I went to bed. Norway is still so old fashioned that stores close early on Saturday and most keep closed on Sunday. It's about keeping the Lord's Day holy.

Had Linda not enclosed an extra pair of socks, I'd had to wait until Monday. The Lord knew and he inspired Linda, that's for sure.
In a week or two I shall also try out this new medication. Then I would not have been able to write, at least not if I must go through similar side effects like those of Serina.

God sees and plans so many steps ahead, while I hardly see the end of a day.
Praised be his name. Praised be his love and fatherly concern for each and everyone of us.