Week 3: Do you know the Soloist? Small talk about Holy Ground
Holy Ground in Los Angeles The movie “The Soloist” is about a homeless man in Los Angeles. He has nothing but an old shopping cart filled with junk and an old violin. No day is the same and yet all the days are the same. Every evening he finds a place on the porch of…
Week 2: About the What, Why and How of a Rule of Life (100words/100dayChallenge)
This time I explain more about the What, Why, and How of a Rule of Life. WHAT is a Rule of Life? It is a trellis to train me so that I can organize my life. The First Three Letters. HOLD are Task-Oriented and Practical. Holy Ground, Orientation, (H) Organization (O) and Implementation, Let’s go,…
A snapshot: Workspace Wageningen is Open! (+2 Filmclips)
First, there is the fun of the preparations: flour from the mill nearby, homemade bread, sweet and savory little things to eat. This is what happened in the afternoon of 29 september: The curtain falls, and Jelle explains that this map has been released by the University of Wageningen. It forms a beautifully…
“Let’s Fly Like The Eagles!” Upcoming Online Retreats, Welcome.
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary,…
A poem about belonging
One sister here wrote to the other a rondeau/ rondel A Rondel/rondeau is an eight-line song that was widely used and sung in the Middle Ages. Another example of a rondeau is In Flanders Fields I’m sharing this poem here with permission, but I am not allowed to mention who of the sisters wrote it.…
The Story of Torrie
Laurens wrote and illustrated this story in his notebook around the days of our move from Osijek to the Netherlands. My first book was published in the autumn of 2020. Jelle and I published it ourselves and I could not decide if I should add this story. Does it fit? does it not fit? Finally,…
6 suggestions for contemplative writing
Come now, insignificant man, fly for a moment from your affairs, escape for a little while from the tumult of your thoughts. Put aside now your weighty cares and leave your wearisome toils. Abandon yourself for a little to God and rest for a little in him…. My friend Anneke, who joined me on all kinds…
This is what we celebrate: +/- 45…. (therefore: 5 books for free)
This is what we were celebrating on 22-2-2021: Jelle: 45 years, plus 1 year plus 1 week and 1 day. Janneke: 45 years old, minus 1 year minus 1 week and 1 day. “What unwritten law governs the emergence of love at first sight? I was 22 when I met the man who was to…
High water in the Low lands and a Winterwonderland
Our second lock-down here in the Netherlands was disrupted by a wonderful surprise. First of all, due to the melting snow upriver in Germany and Switzerland, the rivers rose 14 meters above sea level. Normally, most of the Netherlands/Lowlands are below sea level—hence our country’s name. Every year, I feel the adrenaline rush through…
A trip to the world of Corrie Ten Boom
Since we are not able to travel these weeks, I’ll take you along a trip to the world of Corrie ten Boom. In 1844 the grandfather of Corrie started a prayer group in the Barteljorisstraat. He had it in his heart to pray for the Jews. In 1944 the Gestapo came to the House…