I am tired and need to go to sleep. But I thought of something Isak said awhile ago that made me laugh (and I want to write it down before I forget).
One morning he came to me, kind of excited, and said: “Dad, I had a dream about you last night.”
“Oh, really! What did you dream about exactly?”
He thought for a second. “Well, there were some bad guys and some good guys… like in the Lord of the Rings.” He was concentrating on remembering. “You were fighting with the good guys,” he said with a smile.
I can’t wait to hear the end of this one, I thought. It was the way he told it, as if he was building up to something special. Maybe a super-dad-hero tale. “Wow! I was chasing away Orcs? Awesome!”
“Yeah,” he said with a smile.
This is going to be good. But wanting to hear the rest I asked: “What then?”
“They killed you!” he answered casually.
“They what?”
“They killed you!” he repeated.
“But I was helping the good guys! What do you mean I was killed?”
I don’t know… but you’re pretty much a dead man!”
“Well… what happened after that?” I was still hanging on to the hope of some good ending.
“Nothing. I woke up.”
“That’s it! You woke up?” I had just dropped from hero to zero. He had me set up for a lot more.
“Yep, that’s pretty much it!” And without waiting for another comment from me he asked: “Can we go out a play now, dad?”
It seems that there was split “voting” on The Faces of an Angel. Your thoughts, which by the way were very kind, represent pretty much what I feel too: she was so cute in many of the shots, in different ways. Therefore, it’s hard to pick a winner, but if I was force to, I would pick this one, as some of you also did.
But as it turns out, our Angel is not always who she appears to be. I was acting Paparazzi the other day, and look what I discovered at the end of my lens.
Clara: Hmm… I would sure like to play with those marbles.
Clara: “Isak, can I play too?”
Isak: “Just wait a second, okay!”
Clara: Wow! This bag is full of them!
Clara: Okay… he’s looking away. I’ll just grab this little string here, and…
Clara: Dam-di-du-di-doh… quietly we go…
Isak: “What in the…?
Isak: “Oh, no you don’t!”
Clara: “No, no, no, no…nooooo!”
Louis: “Maybe she wouldn’t do that if you let her play with you?”
Isak: “But we we’re just in the middle of a game!”
Back to the game area.
Clara: “Mask? [This is what she calls our neighbor, Max.] Can I have a marble from you?
Max: “Sure, let me get one from my box.”
Clara: “Really! Oh, thank you!”
Max: “Here you go!”
Clara: “Thank you, Mask! At least there is one nice person here…”
What lessons can we learn from this? Don’t steal? Of course, this is fundamental. But maybe also: if the rich would share some of their wealth with the poor, maybe the poor wouldn’t be forced to steal.
Reader: “Ah, you’re just saying that to defend Clara.”
Louis: “Why, yes… of course. After all… she is my angel!”
He thought this looked easy when I did it, but Isak found out for himself that “blowing out” an egg is quite the workout for the lungs. Grandma Silvana (my mother-in-law) is there to support him.
After being serious for quite some time now, this is just to help us look at the brighter (or wackier) side of life. I don’t know if you have the same strange sense of humor I have… but I love these guys (and there’ll be more to come, I promise)
Should one want to be serious, however, and find a meaning in this sketch, it isn’t hard to do. I like this video, not only because it’s funny, but it shows how silly we sometimes appear when we argue for the most trivial things in day to day life. Maybe that’s why it’s so funny: we see ourselves…
Just want to send to all my friends a different Christmas card this year. We decided to have some fun in the studio (and in Photoshop). Hope you enjoy it! But most importantly, I hope you enjoy your Holiday Season. And please, don’t forget to do some good out there. There may be someone just around the corner who stand in need of your love and service - today!
Lately my sons and I have gone to quite a few hockey games to cheer on our local team, Södertälje (SSK). When we went two days ago the team lost 0-1. In fact, every time we’ve seen them play this season they have lost. I made that comment to the boys and jokingly added that perhaps we should stay home next time. Then perhaps they would win for a change.They didn’t like that idea at all, wondering how in the world their dad ever got so superstitious. Besides, it was fun to go to the arena. Big deal if our team didn’t always win.
My youngest even taught me a valuable lesson. When going to the car I asked if he thought the players were happy about the game.
“Yes, of course!” he replied
“But they lost the game!” I reminded him.
“Daaaad! The most important thing is not win, but to have fun!”
“Well… I agree, son,” I answered a bit shamefully, “but do you really think they thought it was fun when the other team scored?”
He thought for a second. “Maybe not then so much… but at least they had a lot of fun before that happened. And that’s all that matters!”
I let out a laughing sigh. “You know… you are absolutely correct! Things don’t always go the way we plan. The important thing is that we enjoy life as much as we can, when we can. And if thing go bad, like for our hockey team, at least we can remember the fun we’ve had before things started to go bananas. Maybe that happy thought can even help us get back on track again?”
Last week I attended a CES Conference. At one point a friend and colleague gave all the participants a few minutes to write a personal psalm. I’m not a poet, I know, but I was still glad to have a few solitary moments to clear the world from my mind and write these words of gratitude. For the wonders of the earth, I adore Thee For the light in heaven, I see Thee For the glories of thy creations, I admire Thee For the blessing of family, I honor Thee For the companionship of friends, I thank Thee For the power of Thy Word, I worship Thee For the gift of Thy Son, I praise Thee For the Spirit that enlightens me, I follow Thee For all the endowments of life - I love Thee If I were to add (my own) images to my thoughts it could look something like this. For the wonders of the earth, I adore Thee For the light in heaven, I see Thee For the glories of thy creations, I admire Thee For the blessing of family, I honor Thee For the companionship of friends, I thank Thee For the power of Thy Word, I worship Thee For the gift of Thy Son, I praise Thee For the Spirit that enlightens me, I follow TheeFor all the endowments of life - I love Thee Comments to some pictures: Nr 4 shows my family; nr 5 shows some colleagues and friends; nr 6 shows a recent baptism in Lodz, Poland, in a ‘home-made’ baptismal font; nr 7 shows one of my Polish Institute students with a painting of Christ in the background.
That’s at least what my daughter thought when we tried to take her picture, luring her with some candy from the side lines. You see what her eyes are saying, don’t you? If you just GIVE me some of that candy YOU will feel a lot better… and I will scream a lot less!
And so it was.
Just think of all the wonderful things life teaches you.
What beats a bedtime story? How about four bedtime stories?
My sons kidnapped me! They wouldn’t let me go. I started with one story (which was our deal), then a second, just to show them I cared. When my time was up, the little terrorists started pressing me. “You’re not a nice daddy if you leave now”; and “We’re going tell mommy that you…” (well, we’ll skip that part…). “Okay”, I answered with faked authority, “but only one more!” Somehow that one became two.
You know, life is big! The universe with all it’s wonders encircle us. Mankind has reached its height in terms of scientific discoveries. Still we’re just getting started. Technology is entertaining us with gadgets to many to number. At this very moment you are sitting here, surfing the net, reading this blog, looking for information, or searching for some kind of happiness through this miraculous world wide web. (Who would have thought it possible a generation ago?)
Still. With all the depths and heights of our existence on earth, few things we experience can match the wonders of a bedtime story moment. No computers, no television, no loud music. Just person to person. Child to parent. Smile to smile. Heart to heart.
“Dad, do you always have to bring that camera?” Haven’t I heard those words a thousand times?
“Yes, my son, I do!” I said patronisingly, “and one day you’ll thank me for doing you this favor! Just get up there and enjoy yourself!”
Both of my sons knew the drill. When dad takes up that big lens, that’s the signal. We were at Church, with all of the Primary (”Sunday school”) children practicing for their annual presentation at worship service. My boys got up on the stand with the rest, and after a few minutes when they spotted me, they cranked up their smiles. Can you guess who they are?
That’s nice, I thought. But I just wanted a “situation” shot. I tried to discretely signal to them to pretend I wasn’t there - and to just look normal! They both nodded. Good, they understood. Then my finger reaches the shutter, and I have a nice image in the view finder. But right as I press down…
Thanks, guys!I got the “stupid” look instead. They have been practicing on that one more frequently, most likely in protest to what they view as my exaggerated photographic zeal.
I just laughed. Poor kids, I have really messed them up, haven’t I?
For the light in heaven, I see Thee 
For the glories of thy creations, I admire Thee 
For the blessing of family, I honor Thee 
For the companionship of friends, I thank Thee 
For the power of Thy Word, I worship Thee 
For the gift of Thy Son, I praise Thee 
For the Spirit that enlightens me, I follow Thee 
For all the endowments of life - I love Thee 
Comments to some pictures: Nr 4 shows my family; nr 5 shows some colleagues and friends; nr 6 shows a recent baptism in Lodz, Poland, in a ‘home-made’ baptismal font; nr 7 shows one of my Polish Institute students with a painting of Christ in the background.
