Charity

'Charity' now means simply what used to be called 'alms' - that is, giving to the poor. Originally it had a much wider meaning. (You can see how it got the modern sense. If a man as 'charity', giving to the poor is one of the most obvious things he does, and so people came to talk as if that were the whole of charity. In the same way, 'rhyme' is the most obvious thing about poetyr,and so people come to mean by 'poetry' simply rhyme and nothing more.) Charity means 'Love, in the Christian sense'. But love, in the Christian sense, does not mean an emotion. It is a state not of the feelings but of the will; that state of the will which we have naturally about ourselves, and must learn to have about other people.

CS Lewis, Mere Christianity

Thomas and I often have discussions with the children and each other about feelings. Feelings are overrated.

Measure for Measure

Friday night we viewed Measure for Measure at Bard on the Beach .

We have now had the fortune of seeing all 4 productions. I would say that this play by Shakespeare was the most challenging to watch. The topic of fornification and moral virtue is central. Part of the challenge in presenting the play to today's audience is that the majority of the viewers would not view fornification as sin. In fact in the whole scheme of sexual sins; fornification with someone of the opposite sex is very low on the list.

Duma

We watched Duma tonight.

You should watch it too!

chest pains

Do you ever get the sensation that joy is piercing your heart? It is pain and it is joy and it is fleeting. Moments when you hear a chord struck, lyric sung, a vision of a full moon on a clear night or reading a word and your breath is taken away. It is a real physical pain. I am stunned when I feel it and I lament it passes so quickly. I am thankful for the experience and know that it is pure grace - and yet, I continue to end up sinning against those I love. Pathetic.

Hopko Lectures at the 2006 Diocese of the South Diocesan Assembly

Found this LINK
- thanks to St. John the Wonderworker in Atlanta.

It is always a delight to hear Fr. Tom.

Troilus and Cresssida

Thomas and I were fortunate to view this play produced by Bard on the Beach. It was directed by David Mackay - who is no stranger to Bard, having been involved for 9 seasons. This was his directorial debut. What a play to have chosen!

I had not read this play - I did read this synopsis before attending the production. I have to admit that of all the plays - this one was the one I was least excited about attending.

But, I am delighted to say that I enjoyed the production. Now, to be clear the play itself left me wondering what was Shakespeare's intention. It was almost as though there should have been another act. The romance story in the first half of the play involving the title characters was left unresolved. The war is still being fought. I did not leave the production with a "what a great story" feeling.

I did leave the theatre praising the actors - and the director. I thought Mackay took a difficult story and told it well. I enjoyed seeing the diversity in ablilities compared to the acting in "A Winter's Tale". I thought they managed to play up the humour where they could. I enjoyed the setting - the American Civil War and the use of southern accents pleasantly surprised me.

It was a lovely evening.

our trip through the okanagan

Recently we returned from a quick trip to the Okanagan. We were fortunate this year to spend several days visiting some local wineries. Before Hannah and Luke were born we often spend our afternoon days sampling the wines and stocking up for the winter months. We started the custom when we tried a locally produced Marechal Foch from St. Hubertus at a dinner to celebrate our engagement. We came back in the summer and bought a few bottles for the following winter. Each summer we would try a few different wineries. As our lives got busier and we had less disposable income we let this little luxury go for the time being. We enjoyed getting back to our favourite haunts and discovering new places to explore.

I used to work for Divino Estate Winery during the summer months while I was a student at UVIC. I am committed to supporting the local wine industry and it is encouraging to see small estate wineries continue to appear and produce quality beverages.

Our two favourite areas are the Naramata Bench where you will find Hillside Estate Winery,Lake Breeze Winery, Lang Vineyards, and Nichol Vineyard. Nichol
Vineyard was "sold out" but we managed to bring home samples from the other three.

Our second favourite area is the "Golden Mile Wineries". These are all within the Township of Oliver and a cycle ride from my folks. Our new favourites are Burrowing Owl and Hester Creek. Hester Creek used to be Divino Estate Winery. It was lovely to see what new wines they are producing now. We brought home some solid reds and I look forward to drinking them this winter.

Even though we aimed to buy mostly reds we ended up with a good collection of Pinot Gris for the late summer - early autumn drinking. This is my new summer favourite.

Now let's get through the fast quickly shall we?