influences

in the picture below, one can see clearly, how the King James Version has influenced how we think of a simple cup. i hope i get some time to finish the thought of the conceptual and structural metaphor here.

good friday 2015

for those who wonder – i live because Christ does. there is no other way, no alternative, however crazy this sound. every good friday, for the past 20 years or so, i think of Christ’s death. of the narratives that are read and repeated endlessly for at least 15 hundred years. whom he met. who…

some things are just those things

i sit here, in my tower of ice, under the wing of winter herself, and watch the media stream go by. and there is something wrong in the representations of the recent events in France and other places. yes. terrorism. it does not have race, or religion, or gender, or sex, or colour. it is…

if i get lucky

interestingly enough, the idea of translating This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti seems to be a very good one, and a timely one, too. so, i’ll probably work on the translation the same way i did on The Left Hand of Darkness by Le Guin (does anyone have the question, what’s with me and darkness here? i…

the ownership, or this is _not_ my church

‘this is my church,’ she said vehemently. ‘i come here when i feel like it. and the last time i did… i think it was some two months ago, there was a woman preaching, and i do not like churches where the women are in the leadership. and she did not speak with he feeling,either,…

for the approaching synod

i still have not figured this out completely, but here are some thoughts: a) the lutheran church in latvia has reached a very unstable point in its development – a point of breaking, even. it reminds me of a willow with a lot of rotten wood, and very few living strands that ensure the flow…

a measure for the infinite

when all things have a place of their own in this world, there is no place left for jesus. because jesus does not only contain all the thinkable and pre-arranged orders of this world, he also transcends them infinitely. in a world measured by the finiteness of the human, there is no measure for an…

the beginning

i remember this song from when i was just a beginner pilgrim. not that i have moved very far from there now. things have become…different since then. i have more knowledge and less courage. some of the translucence of the first steps has been lost. some steady peace has been gained. and yet – his…

five – a burden turned blessing

this is one of the songs that has spoken, speaks and apparently will speak to me. i remember the first time i heard it, on my first ever pilgrimage. the song haunted me for days. it was sung at my baptism, too. and i wonder – maybe it is a song that might be universal…

a handheld from above

sometimes i switch off my handheld, turn off the radio and log off the internet. the world is outside my zone of communication. i am not in the world, the world stays out there, with its haste and traffic jams, with its information and the lack of it, with its people and events. i float…

a little bit about birds and gardens

this is a translation from “Dīvainā karaļvalsts” (The strange kingdom) by J. Rubenis. i kinda found it a little bit inspiring. especially the bird part. PUTNU SARUNA Reiz divi putni pils dārzā savā starpā sarunājās. “Bruņinieks saprot putnu valodu un ir nelaimīgs, jo viņš arī grib būt putns,” teica viens. “Vērojot putnus, viņš ir iemācījies…

the second commandment, cultural mutations and etymologies

sometimes – not too often, i admit – it is nice to be latvian. even for someone who’s consciously mutated into english. so, why this time? because latvian has some words modern, contemporary english will never have. take the word for ‘thank you’* in latvian, for instance. it says ‘paldies’. the aproximate translation would be…

ash wednesday

Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. (Joel 2:12-13) when i…

the mountaintop experience

almost sermon layout for the following places first, the ascent. then, the waiting. then, the vision. after that, the meeting. then, the rules. then, the descent. then, the treason. after that, the adherence to the rules. then, the plodding on.

it is simply complicated

the moon, a pale scimitar, over the swollen waters of the river.  i think of how one can be in love with god. and why it is so bizarre and incomprehensible in the eyes of others to be in love with god. is it because ppl think one can love only what one can see,…

birds hide under the feeder in the coming storm

almost storm. the wind shakes the trees, threatening to overpower their stubborn roots, and irreversibly change their vertical. the little birds hide under the bird-feeder at my window. my head hurts, and my bones feel like lead. storms are known to have that effect. and yet, i think of how, maybe, just maybe, there might…

god is the tool-kit to repair a broken world

If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy…