Out There!

MAGPIE 179

Photo courtesy Tess Kinkaid, Magpie Tales

Save your life

Including files

Where you can't

Hold them 

Keep them safe

Locked away

Within a cloud

Out there

Let them all

Float about

So very  safe

In cyberspace!

Barbara M Lake ©

Trinidad WI

July 2013

`

Indentured Labourer

MAGPIE 175

Image by Musin Yohan

Courtesy Tess Kinkaid, Magpie Tales on Blogger

From a far off land she came

Rolling across rough seas

With promises of 

A better life

In the West Indies

Days and nights meld into one
The routine just the same
No one cares
About her life
As she cuts the cane

Now the rains are fast in coming
Falling now until December
And all the 
Time she toils
She refuses to remember

Barbara M Lake  ©

Trinidad WI

July 2013

Birthdays!

It's my daughter's birthday today!  

Last Week.

First passport photograph  - aged two years!

It was my son's birthday last week.

Taken on his Wedding Day December 2010

Aged two years

I am blessed to have two wonderful children. They are a joy.

Eight years apart and born in  the same week.  Wimbledon was a no-no for me the week of their births as I was somewhat preoccupied!  

Birthday parties which of course had to be separate, were a challenge!   He  didn't want the clowns and the little children but she wanted to roller blade and barbecue  with the big boys!!  Happy days!

1986

Let It Be Me

MAGPIE 174

 Stanley Kubrick for Look Magazine 1949

C`mon baby

Let me

Light up your life

Barbara M Lake

Trinidad WI

June 2013

Is There More to Life?

After a somewhat 'dark' week during which I felt that something was 'disturbing my spirit', today was wonderful.

I spent most of the day being part of an Alpha Holy Spirit Day.  The Alpha Programme which came out of the Anglican church many years ago,  is not a bible study or a crash course in religion!  It  is a ten week course which explores the meaning of life and one's relationship with Jesus Christ.  It is a very personal, uplifting, and non threatening course which ultimately can bring one into a deeper understanding of life and enhance the faith of those who do believe in God and also, bring non believers to Christ.  It is anything but boring, is fun and involves food.  Plenty of food.  I always tell people to be prepared to gain a little weight whilst doing an Alpha course as this is hospitality at its best!!

I have over the years, worked on many Alpha Courses and have seen peoples' lives change as a result of their participation.  I have  seen relationships change for the better be it a marriage or a friendship.  I have seen attitudes change, brittleness disappear, forgiveness taking place and non believers coming to faith.  And also I have seen people 'giving' their lives to Christ.

Giving one's life to Christ does not mean sackcloth and ashes, continuous fasting, piety  and being permanently on one's knees!!  That is a far cry from Christianity.  Christianity is fun. It's a way of life.  It's following in the footsteps of Christ and trying to live out His expectations of us. It's living by example. No easy task!!

Anyway, there I was today at the Holy Spirit Day having given the refresher Ministry talk to prayer leaders last Thursday evening when I was still shrouded in the thing that was disturbing my spirit! This evening that cloud has gone.  Today I saw people who were wary of what might happen, receive the Holy Spirit.  I saw tears, heard laughter, felt the beginnings of healing and personally once again, felt an extraordinary peace as the Holy Spirit moved among the group.

Want to know more about Alpha?

 http://www.alpha.org/  in the UK or

http://www.alphausa.org/Groups/1000047505/What_is_Alpha.aspx

Self Protection

MAGPIE 171

Walking, Walking Singing in the New Dimension? 1979 by Marris Graves

Photo courtesy Tess Kinkaid, Magpie Tales on Blogger

Awakening to the world

Feeling human

A thanksgiving prayer

And life was good

Daily crackle onslaught

Too early

Disturbing my spirit

So life became bad

Suck in sharp irritability

Quick retaliation

To unnecessary remarks

Interpreted as criticism

Change of hairstyle

Good last night

Cannot ever compensate

When clothes don’t fit

Fumes from bumper to

Bumper traffic

Impatience of drivers

Road rage abounds

Suffocating heat makes

Noise even louder

As the city

Springs to life

Different ethnic groups

Unbearably sullen

Step over homeless

Asleep on pavements

Cool of my sanctuary

Behind office door

Down the valium

Pink aura protects 

Barbara M Lake ©

Trinidad WI

June 2013

Indian Arrival Day and Corpus Christi 2013

In the last month I have had 896 hits on my various Indian Arrival Day blogs which I began in 2010.  I decided not to write one this year as there is very little I can add to the last three posts apart from the fact that it is 168 years since the first Indians arrived here in Trinidad and Tobago on the ship, the Fatel Razack and began work in the cane fields as indentured labourers.  

This year the Roman Catholic Feast of Corpus Christi falls on the 30 May which is also the celebration of Indian Arrival Day so instead of one Public Holiday incorporating both, the government in its infinite wisdom, decided that tomorrow, Friday should also be a Public Holiday.  Talk about catering to the masses!!  

Corpus Christi is a liturgical solemnity celebrating the tradition and belief in the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and His presence in the Eucharist.  It emphasizes the joy of the institution of the Eucharist

On this day when we celebrate both Indian Arrival and Corpus Christi I am once again  struck by the diverse culture of this twin island Caribbean nation.  Whilst the two islands are predominantly Roman Catholic, a great many of those of East Indian descent are of the Hindu faith.  I am heartened by the fact that religious intolerance is not a major factor in this country.

So to my friends out there, whether you are celebrating your Catholicism or the arrival of your ancestors, I wish you all a very happy day.