The Perfect Day Off

Woke up late, relaxed around the house, went out to lunch with my husband and spent the afternoon on our boat exploring a brand new area outside of Stockholm.  The weather was summer perfect which is saying something since this year we only had a "sort of" summer!
We had both heard quite a lot about this new place called the Artipelago, a new art museum and nature reserve south of Stockholm on the water near Saltsjöbaden.  We thought today would be the perfect day to explore it.  We were right.  Tanner readied himself at the helm as we headed out on a warm and sunny September afternoon.
After a stunning ride south, we pulled up to a beautiful and free guest harbor, docked the boat and got off ready to explore.  Beauty surrounded us on every side.  Since we had Tanner with us and since he was dying to get in the water, we chose the nature walk first.  A beautiful trail met us as we headed into the woods, with water views at every turn.  We were both stunned at how lovely this new area is and plan to return often next season! Picnic benches dot the trail, rocks along the sea invite a break, and all in all, it was just a gorgeous place.  We wound our way up to the main building where the art gallery is.  The building is dazzling and we look forward to coming back sans dog one day when we can explore the inside even more.  We did stop to use the facilities and my, what gorgeous facilities they were!  We decided to enjoy a cold drink in what may be the most beautiful café in the world!  Again, the view from our bench was just super.  The weather took a sudden change as it often does on the sea and we felt the need to get ahead of the dark clouds that were gathering.  Our ride back into Stockholm was a fascinating mix of wind, rain, and sunshine!  Autumn color was beginning to show its face.  The sky was threatening and beautiful.  When the lightening began to flash, we were longing to be docked and on our way!  In the end, a gorgeous sunset met us and we managed to avoid a total downpour and getting electrocuted.  
We came home tired and happy from being out in God's wonderful creation.  We both were so excited that a new area opened up to us and we look forward to sharing this beautiful place with our friends.  You can drive there so we assume it will also be open all winter which would have its own charm and beauty.
The daylight is waning now and that is always hard to accept.  However, lots of lovely Orrefors candle holders keep the darkness at bay and make for a cozy atmosphere.  
What a fantastic day.  I am happy for these warm September days that help the summer feeling linger just a little bit longer.  

A Street Fair in Stockholm

Several months ago the idea emerged that perhaps it was time for Immanuel church to take their ministry out into the streets and help our neighborhood gain a better understanding of who this community is that sits on the corner of Tulegatan and Kungstensgatan.  Our amazing chair woman spent months planning and working with the city seeking to secure permission to close the streets.  A colleague worked hard at getting all parts of the church on board with what we were doing and Doug and I spent weeks encouraging our congregation to get excited about the possibilities and asking them to volunteer to do something!  After all this, The Good Life Street Festival took place over this past weekend.  It was truly thrilling for me when I saw the signs announcing the street closures for a street festival...OUR street festival!  Volunteers showed up on Friday night to help set up the tents, stage, sound and projection systems as well as begin to sort through the donations for the second hand shop, known as a loppis in Swedish.  (Loppor are fleas, the full word is loppmarknad, flea market, hence, loppis!).  Saturday we needed to be ready for action by 10.00 and again, as the volunteers from the International Fellowship began showing up filled with joy and energy, my heart was full.  Doug had worked very hard on the main stage and we had put together several slide shows that were going to be played throughout the day between the acts.  Additionally, a professional firm had made a series of videos of pastors and lay people explaining in creative ways what Immanuel Church is all about.  All of the live acts were based on church ministries and everyone did really well.  We had everything from traditional Swedish folk music to big band entertainment and the Korean fellowship Praise Band led the crowd in a wonderful time of worship in Korean.  The music was great but I must say, the two highlights from the International fellowship were the aerobics class in the morning and the International Fashion Show that took place in the afternoon!  We have a women's exercise class that meets every Saturday at 13.00.  These women get together to exercise, enjoy one another's company and support one another.  I was so proud when I saw them gather and rock the street with their exercises!  Soon a crowd gathered, others joined in and a good time was emerging!  Later in the day, members from the Swedish, Korean and International fellowships dazzled a very large crowd with fashion from around the world.  It was an amazing moment for me to see the beauty and joy of members from the International fellowship proudly displaying their own culture through the beauty of clothing.  The crowd loved it and it was indeed the highlight of the day.  Another very fun event was the Minute to Win It Game Show we hosted.  We had volunteers attempt a series of silly tasks, seeking to accomplish them in under a minute.  Fan favorites included Stuck on You where one partner stuck a piece of bread with peanut butter on it to their forehead, while their teammate attempted to bounce a ping pong ball onto the other side of the bread, also covered in peanut butter! In Tortilla Head, contestants wore swimming fins and attempted to flip a tortilla onto a plate that was fastened to the top of their head!  I don't have any photos of this because I was hosting the event! Throughout the day, the tents were busy hosting visitors and kids had plenty to do.  Face painting was a big hit, the bouncy castles got plenty of attention and the carnival type games were active all day long.  The church life tent let people know when our services were and what other kinds of ministries they might be interested in.  I love this sign that displays the 5 different worship services that take place at Immanuel church every week.  The weather Saturday was spectacular and we were totally blessed by the warm sunshine that graced this incredibly special day in the life of our church.

Sunday was a day marked with great joy but unfortunately loads of rain as well.  We began the morning with a joint worship service that combined all three of the language groups, welcoming the new Senior Pastor of the whole church, and celebrating who we are as one church.  Instead of continuing the party in the street as intended, we had to make big shifts, move the stage inside, cutting back on the activities for kids and moving several stations under cover.  Still, the mood was festive and light and people continued to enjoy themselves!  We even proceeded with an African Street Dance in the wet afternoon, all who participated taking delight in the music and atmosphere rather than being foiled by rain.  As we started to break everything down, torrential rain began to pour.  The blessing was that it wasn't cold and again, our volunteers were just giants of servanthood.  We resigned ourselves to getting wet, pulled together to accomplish the task and took delight in one another's company.  The body of Christ was functioning to its fullest extent.
There were many reasons why the street festival was a good idea.  We did take the church out into the street and were able to show a beautiful side of our church to our neighborhood.  The deepest blessing for me however was in watching the volunteers from the International Fellowship give so tirelessly of themselves throughout the entire weekend, rain or shine.  They came early, they set up, they hauled furniture, they decorated, they dealt with kids, they planned programs, they smiled, they were joyful, they delighted in the program, they danced in the street, they cheered one another on, they were generous in their servanthood and a joy to be with.  Many were there until late on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.  Many did the hard work of hauling, building, and carrying in order for the street to be transformed.  For these two days, I truly felt I was standing on holy ground while hanging around the intersection of Tulegatan and Kungstensgatan in central Stockholm.  Immanuel International is a church that I've been a part of for 14 years now and still...the generosity of our congregation just simply humbly overwhelms me.  I feel such a deep sense of gratitude for these beautiful servants who love God and others with every fiber of their being.  Praise be to God for this fantastic weekend!

Finally...A Real Summer Day!

Chilly, cloudy, concrete gray days have dominated this summer.  It's tough when we have a non-summery summer as the winter comes with its short days no matter how much sunlight we've been granted during the longer days of the year!  The only bright spot has been that our boat has had some issues so we haven't been able to be out on it anyway. This morning we finally got an appointment from our mechanic to bring the boat in at 10.30 a.m.  We are lucky.  We can drive the boat across water to the place where our guys fix it.  The only bummer was that as we headed out, we could tell that this was going to be the best boating day of the season!  At least we enjoyed the ride over.  Then, our mechanic drove us back to our marina and took the boat back to his.  He said he could afford the time because it was a beautiful day and he didn't mind being on the water either!  The drive between marinas is only about 20 minutes.  So here we were, most beautiful day of summer 2012, sans boat.

Luckily, we had packed a picnic since we weren't sure that we'd have to leave the boat so we just changed directions and went for a picnic on Lidingö, the island where our marina is.   We drive by many lovely perches in our boat so we decided to find these big rocks that are a perfect place to hang out.  We successfully achieved our purpose and had a great day!  Tanner was thrilled to be off leash, snooping around the woods and swimming at will.  We also went into the water, which was refreshing, eventually, but man, the water is freezing cold this year.  Feels best when you get out!  But we managed to find comfortable spots on this big, beautiful rock facing the water and the sun.  Tanner is like his mama...he likes to lie on a towel in the sunshine!  We read, slept, relaxed, swam, played with the dog, and soaked in the real summer feeling of the day.  I even got sunburned!

Tonight I feel summer satisfied!  A wonderful day outside followed by a delicious dinner at home and a dose of the Olympic Games on TV. Tanner is utterly exhausted and has a sore leg.  We're all ready for a good night of sleep.  Hope more days like this are in the forecast.  It is so refreshing for me and I need to keep filling my tank with light and sunshine before it all goes away in the winter.

Blå Tåget: The Blue Train

This is easily the weirdest amusement park ride in the world!  For years, Doug and I stood outside of this ride, watching the little trains pop out from behind the wooden doors, small children screaming and looking terrified.  The outside of the ride is scary enough.  It's clear that the blue train is ride through terror!  Dinosaur type characters dot the outside of the ride.  The train is being swallowed by a devil type creature. But here's the kicker: The driver of the train is an anatomically correct female pre-historic creature.  Breasts and lower body detail firmly in place.  For the longest time we could not figure out why this ride was attractive for children.  It featured bizarre images and appeared to scare them to death!  
Our curiosity finally got the best of us and we bit the bullet and went on the ride.  We were supposed to be in the back of the car, but Judy and Olle jumped in ahead of us leaving me totally exposed in the front.

Back seat riders awaiting the thrills and chills!

I do not like scary things that jump out at me.  I decided it was a cultural experience that I could not live without.
 The ride begins with imagery that harkens church.  I know, right.  Weirder and weirder.  Stained glass windows and a creepy ghost-like priest against the backdrop of Frankenstein's head.  The ride took you through a series of things that go bump in the night jumping out at you and "scary" things intended to freak you out.  At one point something fell down on our faces.  Near the end, a door opened and a Quasimodo type character was sitting on a toilet, doing his business!  As I said, weirder and weirder.  Midway through the ride the train pops outside so the waiting public can see you!  Of course, I let out a huge scream just as we hit daylight!  
I really cannot figure out what this ride is all about.  I understand the spooky ride business but there were just way too many questionable images for my taste.  At any rate, now I can say I've been on the Blå Tåget at Gröna Lund.  I would not say it is a Stockholm highlight! I do think that it is a cultural experience you actually can live without!

Gröna Lund: A Chance to Be Kids

Just for fun, Thursday night, we decided to go to the amusement on the water here in Stockholm.   We went with our good buddies, Judy and Olle whose son Sean works there.  We had not been for years and we were reminded of its charm.  

Doug was so excited after we got our tickets!

It's old and small and very much in the spirit of an old fashioned amusement park.  They've added modern, crazy rides but overall, it remains a lovely little place in our town.

Throughout the summer, they host concerts.  Looks like a relative will be making an appearance later this summer!
We went on two roller coasters, one named Insane that flips you upside as it jerks around hairpin turns.  It was insane.  The other, Jetliner, is one the best classic roller coasters I've been on.  Big climb, huge drop, fast turns.  Very fun.  Additionally, we rode "Blå Tåget", The Blue Train.  That ride deserves a blog all to itself so click here for further info.  We rounded out the evening with a ride on The Swings...a great old ride that takes you up and out over the water and gives you gorgeous views of our beautiful city.  
The men tried their hand at the carnival games but neither one won a giant stuffed animal.  
It ended up being a beautiful evening. It was a perfect place to watch the beautiful late summer sky work its magic.  It was even warmish so we walked both ways and took in the beauty all along the way.  The half moon hanging over the city at 10.00 p.m. was breathtaking.  
 

It was a totally different evening for us and we really had fun.  I screamed like a kid on all the rides and have now not been able to speak for 2 days.  Still, it was very fun to join the younger set and enjoy a fun evening with our friends.

More Guns Not the Answer

I am amazed at the number of people who are saying that the only way to combat gun violence in the US is to arm every citizen to the teeth so that we can protect ourselves. Numerous voices have spoken out for a greater gun presence in our society not a reduced one. They argue that a reduced gun presence only protects those wishing to do harm not the innocents who get hurt in these shooting sprees as we saw in Aurora. Many have stated that if more people had been armed in the theater, then the shooter would not have been able to harm as many people as he did. I am stunned at this logic. Has anyone considered what it would be like to live in a society where the presence of weapons is everywhere and where armed citizens are taking issues into their hands? I will never understand why anyone thinks that a shooting spree could be avoided by another shooter. Violence begets violence and we will never find our way to a truly free and peaceful society if we perpetuate this mentality.

I personally do want to live in a country where everyone I encounter is armed. I lived in a violent, heavily armed city for two years of my life: Medellin, Colombia. I was there from 1986-1988 and in 1987 Time Magazine ran a cover story entitled 'Medellin, Colombia: The Most Dangerous City in the World.' The presence of armed guards was palpable throughout the city. Machine gun armed guards stood outside of my apartment building and other public areas. And guess what? Medellin was not a safe place to live. Bombings, kidnappings, and shootings were all part of my life while I lived there. Two men were gunned down on a motorcycle on the next street over from where I lived. I stumbled on the scene one morning while out walking. One afternoon my entire apartment building was shaken to its foundation because a bomb had gone off in my backyard. After two years of living in such a violent country, I began to have nightmares. Violent nightmares with people getting killed and lives being threatened. The presence of bloody, violent scenes being played out in my dream life night after night led to quite an anxious way of life. The toll of being surrounded by a violent presence was overwhelming at points. The presence of rifles and guns in my every day life did not make me feel safer.  The violence presence of weapons that surrounded me eventually manifested itself in ugly, disturbing ways in my psyche. And never once did I think that the solution to all this was to go get a gun.

So if we are going to promote the ideology that further arming the American public is the way to stop the crazies from shooting innocent people we have to understand what the fall out from this will be. Are you prepared to ask yourself, “Do I have my keys, lipstick and revolver” as you get ready for a night on the town? Are you really prepared to be the one who steps in and stops the violence that may unfold before your very eyes, knowing that you have killed another human being, no matter the circumstance? People very non-nonchalantly make the comment that if one other person in that theater had had a gun, the guy would not have been able to gun down the others in the theater. OK, maybe true, but what about that guy who steps up to gun down the shooter? You think he sleeps well after that? And the odds that innocent people get hurt in a shoot out are pretty high.  Most gun owners do have highly specialized training in killing another being or being able to perform well under great stress.  That is why this line of thinking will lead us to being a more nervous, traumatized, unable to sleep well at night culture. Promoting violent responses to violence will not lead to a more peaceful and free society. In fact, it enslaves us to fear and wondering. It creates a climate where people feel on edge and inevitably, accidents will happen. It foments an attitude that shooting another human being is OK if you feel your rights are being infringed upon or you fear that the other party will hurt you first. I cannot see myself enjoying living in a place where I have to wonder about the presence of a gun in every pocket. Yes, it is a great tragedy that people who are evil, mentally unstable, or simply enjoy inflicting harm on others have guns and will use them in in appropriate ways to hurt innocent people. But I will never believe that further arming the American public is the solution to the gun violence in America. Tighter regulation of who can obtain a firearm, where it can stored, how it can be used, and the type of guns made available are steps in the right direction. How we deal with the flood of weapons that are already out there on the street is a mystery that I have no answer to. But I know getting more weapons out there will not help us to create a more peaceful and free society. It undermines our freedom to think that the more heavily armed we all are, the better off we'll all be. In the end it all points us back to our culture and the type of environment we want to create for our citizens. The right to bear arms in our nation has become a ticket to do harm for many and it's time we changed that mentality. It's not just limiting access to guns that will do this. We need a total change of heart. A fresh look at the type of world we want to live in. A clearer understanding of the intention of the law makers when they wrote the 2^nd amendment.  I do not understand why the church is not speaking out more clearly on the issue of gun violence and how the presence of guns in our society has created a culture of violence that is ruining any semblance to being one nation under God. How does the perpetration of violence through a mentality of increased weapon presence support our ability to be a loving and gracious presence in our society? I'm just not understanding why Christians aren't on the front lines seeking to clarify how we can maintain our 2^nd amendment rights but protect the rights of those who wish to live in a more free and peaceful society. There must be a middle ground here somewhere. Perhaps the Christian community can find it and forge the way ahead.

The Bed We've Made With Violence and Guns

The tragedy in Colorado has got everyone firing from their hips again with varying opinions regarding gun use and availability in the USA. Don't get me wrong here. I think what happened in Aurora is tragic beyond measure, but I can't help but wonder why the American people are surprised when things like this happen. Of all the sad things that I've noted about my home country while living abroad this is by far the most troubling for me: America loves violence. We can easily be defined as a country that has a bizarre fascination and enjoyment of violent activity. Our movies indicate this when season after season films with epic violence take in huge box offices. Our sports indicate this: Our professional hockey league is the only professional hockey league in the world that allows, dare I say even condones and encourages, fighting. American football is one of the most violent sports played in this day and age. Winning isn't even enough for that sport. Clear goals of causing injury have been cited in recent history. Last spring, one team was found offering cash awards paid out to those who inflicted the most egregious injuries. Our culture promotes and loves violent video games. And of course, we have the most unregulated hand gun laws of any developed nation in the world. And consequently, the number of death by guns in a non-war situation are exponentially higher than any other country in the world. But there are many countries in the world who allow handguns and hunting guns but they do not have the street violence problem that the US does. Why is this? I have to say, I think it is because embedded in our mentality is a deep-seated insatiable love affair with violence. And this love affair with violence leads some to act that out on the real life stage. Couple this with loose gun laws where background checks and mental stability are not requirements for acquiring an assault rifle and why would any other outcome be expected? We have made a bed of guns and violence and we are forced to lie in it when situations like Aurora come to light.

To me, we need more conversation around the fact that assault rifles and other guns designed for the express purpose of killing others are available to the American public because the National Rifle Association has lobbied for such. In fact, I think it is largely plausible to trace most of the issues that America has with gun availability and misuse to the NRA. So my question then becomes, at what point do we hold the NRA liable, in the same way that we held McDonald's liable for serving coffee that was too hot, for the times when a firearm lands in the hands of someone who intends harm? Clearly, the results of their lobbying for looser gun laws and greater gun availability has resulted in danger to the public. Why can they not be held responsible? Why in all of the crying and grieving about these terrible events is the NRA not truly taken to task? Could it be because in our heart of hearts, as a nation, we like the presence of guns in our society? Why else then? I'm open to ideas.

Finally, why are we as a nation so impotent against the NRA? Where is our energy for taking real strides towards creating a safer public for all involved? Why is the Christian community not outraged about these shootings and therefore throwing energy towards getting more guns off the streets? That will be the topic of my next blog. Stay tuned.