Man, the Thought of God

IF I should say, Now I will think a thought,
Lo! I must wait, unknowing
What thought in me is growing
Until the thing to birth is brought;
Nor know I then what next will come
From out the gulf of silence dumb;
I am the door the thing did find
To pass into the General Mind;
I cannot say I think —
I only stand upon the thought-well's brink;
From darkness to the sun the water bubbles up —
I lift it in my cup.
Thou only thinkest — I am thought;
Me and my thought Thou thinkest, naught
Am I but as a fountain spout
From which Thy water welleth out.
Thou art the only One, the All in All.
Yet when my soul on Thee doth call
And Thou dost answer out of everywhere,
I in Thy allness have my perfect share.



MacDonald, George, "Man, the Thought of God," POEM,
Christian Science Journal, Vol.15 (July1897), p. 226.

Shiloh's First Birthday Party

Of course, you can all expect Nomi to be posting 5,000,000,000 pictures, but these days she is taken with Facebook, and one must be a member to see more than one or two pictures. So ... here is the group that gathered at Rob and Nomi's yesterday to celebrate Shiloh's first birthday. It was so enjoyable! One of the best family gatherings I’ve ever attended. Being a cynic myself about any large family event, I rudely showed up an hour late. This is a habit I intend to cut out of my personal profile immediately. Of course I always have some reason, but yesterday once we got there I realized I would have had so much more enjoyment if I had been prepared in advance. I made the cutest footstool for Shiloh for her birthday. It was a rush job and I know Skip is so right in saying I’ve got to get a grip on this type of stuff. Although it is adorable and no one looking at it would have a complaint, I know improvements I would have made if I had not been finishing it in the hour we were late for the party. I intend to change my ways. I didn't even get a picture, although I intend to do that sometime this week and I'll get it posted up here. Shi was a trooper the whole day. There were 21 people there, everyone talking and laughing and carrying on. Nomi made some Romanian pork rolled in grape leaves (finger food) and TONS of cake --- cupcakes, layer cake, decorated cake ... etc. etc. Cindy brought Satay Chicken Skewers which were delicious and Pam brought some terrific meatballs in sweet/sour sauce. It was a great mix. Not so much food it was overwhelming like a big sit-down dinner, but no hungry kids and plenty to snack and talk over. Being such a cute GIRL, the most common present was frilly little dresses, all of which were adorable. She also got a neat set of wind chimes which I'm guessing she will love. She is fascinated with strings and bells and things that move on cords. Pam, Bruce, Tanner and Kyle brought her a fancy new bike trailer so they will all (Martinsons and Havens) be ready for summer bike riding. At the end of the evening, about 6pm, she was still awake, being passed from person to person. She ended up with me, playing quietly with my necklace and the strings and knots on my sweatshirt before crashing on my shoulder after the last of the visiting kids were gone. Until then she watched the chaos even though her eyes were half-mast much of the time :) For her private birthday celebration, on her actual birthday [2.26.08], Rob and Nomi had another celebration, which included giving her their present of the entire Little Tykes Kitchen. I saw this posted on Facebook that night and asked Rob about it the next day. He admitted he was not in favor of this purchase because it is meant for young girls in the 3-5 yr age group who can "pretend to play kitchen." He said they went home with it Wednesday night and he left for work the next day, leaving Nomi to assemble the thing. Well, turns out she LOVES it! The photos I've copied from Nomi's Facebook postings tell the story ... there are lots of THINGS to touch and fiddle with :) Rob says she loves to open and close all of the doors ... LOL. My fav pic is the one where she is on her tiptoes trying to reach the pans hanging from the top rack. I guess since she is roughly the size of a two-year-old and since her dad comes from a line of Rocket Scientist intelligence ... well, maybe she is advanced for her age, do you think? My latest favorite Shi picture is her in a pair of coveralls crawling around on the floor with Rob >>>