market tidings

Q V market was bustling with movments, scents, textures and tastes today. I like the art of beetroots- a thick combination and swirl of mud, soil, stringy stalks finished with a red bulb at its end. Botanical works.

Returning brought back many seasoned memories of place. We were immediately drawn by the plants on sale. I bought fresh gum leaves for the house. They add much needed and thoughtful sculptures to place. Obtained the airplants for my room. Cons made the choice picks. The lull of colours and petals were too tempting to be dismissed. Such succulent plants grow well in winter. They last really long even though winter seems like a dead season, dry and cold. Even plants learn to rediscover life through death.

I reaped a good harvest with the following dishes yesterday: asam pedas with mullet, green curry with beef and fresh basil, greek salad with pine nuts, honey-drizzled wings and roasted chicken sandwiches...I used to be cynical over pre-packed stocks but have since undergone a conversion of tummy and heart!

Much self-integration has been happening inside me, alot of inner-work sensed and forged from within. The quiet helps me to reassess my basic priorities in life: what i live for, what sustains my beliefs, the art of believing. The lifeworlds i earnestly seek and would even risk for.

Going within. Pope John Paul II once said that 'the longest journey is the journey inward.' Some spend their entire lives pursuing this vocation. Some never do and may spend the rest of their daylight hours working toward a peace that eludes them till today. By night, some of us slip away only to become watchful insomnaics over ourselves and not for others. Yet others learn to find the friend within. A few discover both after a lifetime of trust and faithful prayer.

There is some similarity between the noise of the marketplace and the inner turmoil that is fueled by speed and restlessness. Yet the Spirit goes where it wills, letting us know that"God pours gifts on his beloved while they slumber." (psalm 127:2)

I like that line. Solace, comfort and self-surrender all contained within a verse, a meditation on trust.