We're now settled in near the Hotel Angeleno. All preparations have been made for the workshop this weekend. I'm in the hotel utilizing their wireless service and getting caught up on email and other tasks that I couldn't do from the road. I'll probably be going to sleep in an hour.
We stopped at what we thought would be a typical park. It turned out to be the Sherman Oaks Castle Park amusement center with miniature golf, batting cages, an arcade, and other activities.
The hotel is $75 for a night in an area of town where the rates are typically $110 to $170 (at the low end). The hotel "room" looks like it may have been the room used by a live-in hotel manager a long time ago. There are two beds, plus a third fold-out bed. There is also a separate room with a kitchen that has full-size appliances.
Jay laughed at my choice of bed saying, "That feels like a piece of plywood." For some reason, there was a very firm box-spring on top of another very firm box-spring, with no mattress. I loved it. My bed at home is a thin futon on the floor. Sometimes when I'm not at home, I'll sleep on a floor rather than a soft mattress. I slept really well last night. Because of the climate in California right now, the windows in most buildings remain open. So, I had fresh air flowing in from the huge window next to my bed.
I'm going to take some time to do my morning stretches (Yoga/Pilates), breathing exercises, and meditation. I may try to go running, but I don't want to run on pavement, so it will depend on whether or not I can find a long soft surface trail around here somewhere.
The Mediterranean Torta is described on the menu as follows: A tower of eggplant, hummus, pesto, marinated onion, roasted bell pepper, and tabbouleh, served with pita points and tahini dressing. Find out more at SojournerCafe.com
This photo is another taken this morning from the porch of the main house on the land where we stayed last night.
I was writing earlier today about my walk up the mountain with Kevin. After carefully making our way back down the steep incline, I began asking Kevin more about his views regarding matters of faith. I was interested to know what his current thoughts were.
Pastors usually have some topic or teaching they are currently thinking about and studying. There's usually a sermon they are writing and revising in their mind. I figured Kevin would have something interesting to share.
He said that his last sermon was on 1 Corinthians 13, the chapter about the qualities of love. He had an interesting suggestion about reading that chapter. Kevin said to read the chapter inserting your name in place of the word love, and consider how well the chapter describes you.
That chapter of 1 Corinthians 13, helps us understand the complexity of love and the multi-dimentional nature of love.
I thought about Jay's building workshop. He has a workbook for participants, and the workbook shows pixtures of the tools someone needs to build a house. The Bible is sometimes referred to as the book of love. In some respects, the Bible is simply a workbook describing "tools" for building love - loving relationships, families, and communities.
A few years ago, I was studying the Hebrew name of God in the Bible. The name for God provided in the Bible is four Hebrew letters Yud He Vav He. The pronunciation is sometimes rendered as Jehovah. I prefer Ya Ha V'ah. The word Ahava in Hebrew is the word for love. So, it's interesting that the name of God could be rendered to include a vocalization that is the word for love. The sound "ah" or "yah" is universally accepted as the sound of God. Thus, Halelujah includes the Hebrew root word for praise (Halel) and Jah (God). Halelujah means
praise God.
Yet another way of looking at the name of God is to see (in the Hebrew) the expression Yah v' ah. The "v" sound in Hebrew is "and." So, the name of God is simply Ah "and" Ah. In Sandcrit, "Ah" is considered the sound that conveys the infinate expanding of the universe. So, Ah "and" Ah is simply understood as infinite universe and infinite universe.
Interestingly, the name for God in Arabic is Allah or Ah L' Ah. The "L" sound in Arabic is like the "V" sound in Hebrew -- it conveys "and." So, the name of God in Hebrew and the name of God in Arabic is simply Ah "and" Ah, which is understood from Sanscrit as The Infinite Universe "and" The Infinite Universe.
As mentioned previously, the word for love in Hebrew is "ahava." To understand this Hebrew word, we hear Ah Ha v' Ah. The word coneys infinite universe three times.
Having this Hebrew understanding of the word love and the name of God, we can understand why John says, "God is love" (1 John 4:8) and again "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God [lives] in her/him." (1 John 4:16) The Hebrew word for love and God are so similar, that they seem to almost be the same.
That's a lengthy explanation, but I share that study on love and the name of God becuase it was on my mind as I was visiting with Kevin about the multi-dimentional nature of love as understood from 1 Corinthians 13.
As we were visiting, two scriptures came to mind. According to the teaching of Ephesians 4:12, the pastor's roll is to equip people for more effective living (loving or being a conduit for for God through the characteristics described by 1 Corinthians 13). Hebrews 12:1 offers a teaching on effective living that advocates simplicity and minimalism in the statement, "Throw off everything that hinders." The implication is that we should discard the material clutter from our lives that makes us less effective, as well as the emotional / spiritual / mental baggage that "hinders" us from more effective living. The main insight and reminder I gained from my conversation with Kevin is that the Bible contains tools for more effective living / loving.
These tools and their use are described in the Bible. In the same way that a variety of tools are needed to build a home, a variety of tools and skills are needed to love more fully and effectively.
I'm interested in taking time to study and revisit the tools of building love.
After about two or three hours of sleep last night, I woke at around 6:30 and went outside to greet the morning. Although my sleep was short, I felt well rested and strong. I'd spent some time last night uploading photos and having a much needed conversation with someone I'd not been in touch with for a while. I felt really good about all that was accomplished last night.
Last evening, we had dinner with some local small house enthusiasts -- Tyson and Amanda. Tyson plans to live with Amanda in a small house on his Father's land. I've been living in my small house on my Father's land for five years, and enjoy being in an extended family setting while still having independence. Tyson and Amanda have recently started a really nice blog about their small house experience and journey:
http://greenaerie.blogspot.com
Amanda is a very skilled writer and photographer with a sweet and genuine personality. Tyson is one of these guys you quickly admire and respect for his enginuity, resourcefulness, enthusiasm, positive attitude, and hard work. So they were a fun couple to get to know.
This morning, I had an opportunity to visit with Tyson's Father, Kevin, who was a lot like Tyson, but like the bigger and stronger tree of the orchard. Some people grow frail with age. Kevin, like a tree, just seems to be stronger. I noticed a Zondervan NIV Study Bible on the table. I commented that it was one of my favorite versions of the Bible. After a little more conversation I learned that Kevin is the pastor of the local church, yet his lifetime vocation has been construction and building, or what I might refer to as inventing and designing -- creating.
Some of my favorite pastors have been those with building and construction experience. They are usually very practical and down to earth people, and approach the scriptures holistically. Their parables and metaphores often come from their practical experience with building. So, they approach the building up of individuals, families, and communities in an organized way. A pastor friend of mine would literally include diagrams of constructing a building in his sermons. Each aspect of the building represented a spiritual aspect of life.
Anyway, I digress. Kevin didn't try to rope me into a conversation about the Bible or salvation. He was enthusiastically telling me about a mountain he has been wrestling with --a real mountain.
In the main house, I noticed a simple vertical banner on a supporting beam with the words of Jeremiah 29:11, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" For some reason that scripture really spoke to me this morning. It was like a confirmation that I needed. I didn't share this with Kevin, but kept it to myself.
Kevin has been grappling and wrestling with the mountain north of their home. He eradicated the wild poison oak, briars, and thistles, and made a "road" up the mountain with switchbacks.
Seeing what he had done to transform the mountain and make it habitable was really something. His wrestling with a mountain reminds me of Jacob's wrestling with the angel of God (see Genesis 32:22-31). I'd previously heard about a faith that can move mountains. Now I've seen it.
The mountain pass was so steep that I felt like I might slide down. This photo is from the top of the mountain, but it doesn't really convey how high up we were.
(To be continued...)
I've enjoyed living in the Vardo Gypsy Wagon and foraging for food over the past six days. I've also had to forage for Internet access. It's been easier to find fresh apples and plums on the ground than to find a good Internet connection. Sometimes I'll think I've found a connection, and then it drops, or it prohibits proper sending of email. It's like picking up an apple from the ground to discover it's rotten.
Last night, I had a relatively good connection last night. We were able to access the Internet in a remote area by connecting to a Linksys wireless router that was connected to a satellite dish service -- I presume it was something like the Hughes Satellite Dish Internet service.
I'm now ready for my morning run, but as I start my run, I see the
apple trees. Of all the plant life here, I'm most impressed with the
apple trees. It's an amazing accomplishment for the plants around here
to survive, blossom, and thrive in the midst of what seems like arid
soil. Yet, the apple tree impresses me because it produces fruit --
even when planted in dry soil. It survives, and has enough left over
to give away. So, this is the thought I'll begin my morning run with.
I, also, in dry and difficult conditions, want to survive, blossom,
and thrive, but even more than that, I want to produce fruit when
times are hard. I want to have something of myself to give to others.
My prayer and hope is to have strength beyond what I need. To have joy
and hope overflowing to give to others. Even when it seems like life
is hard. Even if I'm going through a hard time. This is the teaching,
the admonition, I receive from the apple tree today.
Normally my runs are 36 minutes, but over the past five days I've been
going for 54 minute runs. Also, when I'm home, I usually carry my
heavy backpack in my bicycle trailer, and I carry fewer things. Being
on the road, I have more electronics gear, so the bag is heavier. So,
my body is really feeling the soreness of these additional demands.
I have a theory that every time a person engages in heavy exercise,
there are micro injuries. In weight lifting, it's the recovery from
these micro injuries that produces more muscle. Most micro injuries
can be healed in 24 hours, assuming a good night sleep. However, some
will need 48 hours. This is why weight lifters alternate the muscle
group worked on from one day to the next.
The amount of healing that takes place depends on the amount of sleep,
rest, and other factors. Some people go running everyday. For many
people, the body can recover in 24 hours from a short less intense
run. Howerver, if there are cumulative micro injuries, these may
result in a larger injury. For example, if a muscle is fatigued and
not provining the support or balance needed, more weight and strain
will be shifted to other muscles or ligaments. This could result in a
more serious injury.
As the body becomes conditioned and stronger, more muscles and stamina
infrastructure are created. The same workout seems easier because more
of the body is efficiently engaged in the task. This produces less
strain on any single area of the body, resulting in fewer micro
injuries and faster healing times. However, one should always be
mindful of the potential for cumulative micro injuries from repetitive
stress.
I find that trail running feels better than running on cement. The
surface is typically softer, and the slight variations in the trail
ensure a random and distributive stress on the entire body which
presumably would result in less identical repeated stressors - as
would be the case in walking or running on cement or stair climbing.
The stairs on Great Wall of China are of unequal height. Presumably if
they were the same height, fatigue would set in much faster since
doing even an easy task, repeatedly, can become hard if it is the same
task over and over without variation.
I'm going to start my morning routine of stretching (Yoga/Pilates),
breathing exercises, meditation, and then running.
It's too dark now to take a photo with the iPhone, so I picked this
picture from the Peace Site collection of pictures:
http://www.resourcesforlife.com/docs/item774
Tomorrow around noon we plan to get on the road again and continue our
trip down to the Mexican border.
