Happy St Patrick's Day!

In honor of today: St Patrick's Breastplate/The Prayer of Saint Patrick

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this day to me for ever.
By power of faith, Christ's incarnation;
His baptism in the Jordan river;
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb;
His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom;
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of the cherubim;
The sweet 'well done' in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors' faith, Apostles' word,
The Patriarchs' prayers, the Prophets' scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord,
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the starlit heaven,
The glorious sun's life-giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward,
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility,
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan's spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart's idolatry,
Against the wizard's evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave and the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

Balèti!

This week I had the chance to attend my first balèti, a Provençal folk dance, with lots of live music and steps that reminded me very much of contra dancing in the United States. Unlike the contra dances, however, a balèti also includes a lot more couple dances, such as polkas and mazurkas, and several different varities of chain dances, called farandoles. There were also bourrées and waltzes and quadrilles, as well as one dance I had originally learned as "Soldier's Joy." It was fun to recognize so many of the steps! Our musicians included two fiddlers, a bagpipe player, several recorders or flutes, a clarinet, a guitar and several accordions. Often the musicians would take turns swapping out so they could dance, too, and would occasionally remind the other dancers that it was generally well thought of to buy the musicians drinks... :) The dance itself was free, hosted in a brasserie in Aix, but the owner did good business at the bar with thirsty dancers. When the weather warms up the dances will take place in the open air--it will almost be like the Renoir painting!

You know you're in Marseille when...

Even the santons are supporting OM!

For those of you on Facebook, I posted the rest of my pictures there. :)

Bits and Pieces

It's been a very full past three weeks (somehow I don't think this will surprise my readers...). :) Here are a few highlights:

*Vacances de Toussaint, or All Saints' vacation, is the equivalent of fall break in France and gave me a chance to get some administrative paperwork started. I say started, not done, because after three trips to the social security office I still don't have all the documents I need. *sigh* At least I don't live very far from their office!

*Kid's Club at my French church meets every other week for an hour and a half of music, crafts and Bible stories. It's been fun remembering all the songs I grew up with and learning some new ones too. :)

Some songs we sing in both English and French (like the one we're singing in the picture--My God is so great, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do! Mon Dieu est si grand, si fort et si puissant, rien n'est impossible

à mon Dieu!)

*Spending time with ICCM friends has been great fun. During break, we met up twice for restaurant outings (my first times eating out since moving to Marseille!). Finding out good but inexpensive spots to eat in a city is a great part of getting to know a place. If anyone is looking to try Algerian or Afghan food, let me know... :)

*Garbage strikes stink (literally). For nearly a week the waste processing plants were blocked by strikers and no bins could be cleared from the street. Thankfully the weather was cool enough that the stench was not as bad as a summer strike would have been, but the sidewalks were often covered by the overflowing mess. (View from my window at the end of the week on the right--some neighborhoods had it far worse.) The plus side of this event is that I am now grateful for all the basic services which have not gone on strike since my arrival...

*Veteran's Day (Armistice Day). France-USA, an association ICCM has worked with here in

Marseille, hosted a Veteran's day celebration at

Park Borély in honor of American soldiers who died in France. Dan gave the invocation and several city officials spoke or (in the case of the mayor) had representatives speak in their place. Each also presented a wreath at the memorial.

They were beautiful, but after the ceremony I accidentally backed into one such wreath and nearly knocked it over--glad this didn't cause a diplomatic incident . ;)

*Armistice Day hike. Through an English meet-up group in Marseille I learned about a hiking expedition through the Calanques, something I'd been wanting to do since my arrival. So instead of sleeping in on my day off last week, I joined six other hikers bright and early to trek through the mountains between Marseille and Cassis--the trip was definitely worth it.

*Thanksgiving. Pictures from the celebration itself are posted over on ICCM's website so I won't repeat the show here, but suffice to say that it was a wonderful celebration and we were very warmly welcomed by the Lacordaire school, which hosted us. At the end of the meal Dan brought a plate of dessert to the director's office and saw a framed collage of pictures marked "Thanksgiving November 2009" hanging on his wall--sure enough, the prints were from the beginning of our dinner! Next year we will probably need to move to one of their larger cafeterias, but everything else suited the celebration perfectly, so we hope to return. Thank you to all who were praying for us!

Preparing a meal to feed nearly 80 people naturally included quite a lot of work, but it all came together beautifully under Nancy's expert direction. Another student and I had a blast rolling pie dough and making cookies on Thursday before our celebration, all while listening to Christmas music that seemed to defy the warming temperatures. Nancy also kindly saved a can of pumpkin for me so I could make my traditional pumpkin bread the next day. One other ingredient--ground cloves--was missing, however, and I couldn't find any in stores. Finally, the open air market saved me and I was able to buy some from the spice stall. Definitely a new experience for me! In addition to pumpkin bread, the list of baked goods included pumpkin, apple, blueberry and pecan pies, oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies, brownies, muffins, and spice cake (apple tarte exhibited at left). One of the apple pies actually got left behind on the day of, but we made short work of it at dinner after Sunday's service. :)

*Marhaban. As I've mentioned in my letters, the court date is this coming Friday, the 20th, so please be praying for favor and provision for classes should we need to move in the coming weeks (there are back-up locations already planned, but getting everyone moved will be a logistical challenge). Otherwise, the classes are going well and I'm really enjoying getting to know my students. Tutoring has been especially fun as I try to help two lively 6-year old boys. It's immensly gratifying to see them understand a concept that escaped them until that moment!

Seeking a homeland

From Bible study this evening:

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. ¹⁴For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

--Hebrews 11:13-16

And a few pictures of the city my pilgrimage is passing through at the moment:

Doesn't the sky make you want to wander? Autumn seems to reinforce the feeling of only passing through...of longing for a home that I've never actually seen before, but I know is my destination.

Herbert on prayer

PRAYER. (I)
PRAYER the Churches banquet, Angels age, Gods breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth ;

Engine against th’ Almightie, sinner's towre,
Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
The six daies world-transposing in an houre,
A kinde of tune, which all things heare and fear ;

Softnesse, and peace, and joy, and love, and blisse,
Exalted Manna, gladnesse of the best,
Heaven in ordinarie, man well drest,
The milkie way, the bird of Paradise,

Church-bels beyond the stars heard, the souls bloud,
The land of spices, something understood.

--George Herbert

HT: KFG

A Less Busy Heart

"The quest for a contemplative life can actually be self-absorbed, focused on my quiet and me. If we love people and have the power to help, then we are going to be busy. Learning to pray doesn't offer us a less busy life; it offers us a less busy heart. In the midst of outer busyness we can develop an inner quiet. Because we are less hectic on the inside, we have a greater capacity to love...and thus to be busy, which in turn drives us even more into a life of prayer. By spending time with our Father in prayer, we integrate our lives with his, with what he is doing in us. Our lives become more coherent. They feel calmer, more ordered, even in the midst of confusion and pressure." - Paul E. Miller, A Praying Life