Yesh Li Blog: April 2015

Monday, April 06, 2015

Happy birthday, Bonnie!

It's a special day today--Bonnie's birthday--and therefore time for another blog post/note to mark the occasion. Whenever I do these posts, going through old pictures, I find a million that I want to post (well, not a million, but a lot). I know I can't post them all, so here are 10 or 12 specially selected shots from her past.

Here's one of the earliest ones--her passport picture. Born in Spain, she needed a passport to get into the United States.

Here's a very early shot in Mifflin Township with Grandma and Grandpa Switzer. Note on the back says "1st grandchild--Bonnie S. Switzer"

Here I am with Bonnie. Kathy's note on the picture says "Bonnie and Daddy (see Bon's haircut?). April '75.

Bonnie with Kevin Bell--Gaeta, October '78.

Then-Vice President George H.W. Bush stops in for Bonnie's birthday party (no, actually we were at his birthday party at the home of the U.S. ambassador to Canada).

Not exactly sure where or when this was taken, but I liked it. Do you remember, Bon?

At the Pearl Street house with Rory.

Here we are with Bonnie and Rory at their wedding at Faith Bible Chapel, Arvada.

Love this shot of Bonnie and Rory.

Jono and Alia, our first two grandchildren. We are so proud of these guys and how Bonnie and Rory are raising them.

This is Bonnie's office (not to mention her cat). Her current position is at Goodlife Community Centre in Buderim, Queensland, Australia, where she takes care of many administrative tasks, including editing a quarterly glossy magazine.

Some time ago, Bonnie began exercising her creative talents painting favorite quotes. This is one that I treasure and have hanging on the wall of my office.

Eventually this led to her starting her own Etsy shop online. Her paintings are very beautiful and quite popular.

We celebrate you today, Bon. We rejoice with you as we remember the day of your birth with great joy. We are very proud of you and all that you are involved in, and we look forward to seeing you again soon.

Sunday, April 05, 2015

He is Risen, Indeed!

The tomb is empty. Life has overcome death.

The Agnus Dei is risen as El Buen Pastor.

He is risen!

He is risen, indeed!

Nature proclaims the new life as it rises from the death of winter into marvelous springtime.

Whether you call it Easter or Resurrection Day or Pasqua or you are just enjoying the new life budding forth in nature, may the Resurrection Life shed abroad on this joyous occasion infuse your being with newness of life and grace and every good thing. May we all experience new life in those areas that are dead or barely living.

Friday, April 03, 2015

Chag Pesach Sameach

To all who celebrate the historical and continuing miracle of Passover, we wish you "Chag Pesach Sameach." Happy Passover.

Why Yesh Li Blog?

Why do I have a blog? Quite simply, I have a blog to share my favorite things with others. The right side of the blog has a long list of links to some of the places on the Internet that I visit often. In addition to sharing those with others, I often come here myself to find a quick link to where I am going.

Bonnie, our eldest, led the way into blogging with her Simple Beauty Blog, and later with her extremely popular Beans Blog. I decided I would give blogging a try and thought "I have a blog" might be a clever name, but in English it sounded rather lame, so I did it in Hebrew, a language I love more and more the more I learn it.

What does Yesh Li Blog mean?

We would translate (i.e. interpret) yesh li blog to mean "I have a blog" in English, but the literal Hebrew means "There is for (or to) me a blog." You cannot literally say "I have" something or other in Hebrew. It is always "there is for me," or "there is for you," or "there is for us," etc. Hebrew, the language of the Bible, is showing us that we are really stewards of what has been provided for us and for our use. Rather than private ownership, perhaps a better term for what we "own" would be private stewardship.

Languages have been my passion since at least the fourth grade, when I studied Spanish from a library book called Fun with Spanish. In high school, I was the rara avis that became enamored of Latin. In later U.S. Navy tours of duty in Spain, Italy, and Japan, we did our best to learn the local languages. Along the way, I studied some Russian and picked up some Greek by studying etymologies and some Chinese by studying Japanese writing systems.

My first introduction to Hebrew was in the early 1980s, when I took a correspondence course, but it was not until the past decade that my primary focus has been on this wondrous language. It has been deeply rewarding, and especially in the past few years since we met Ori, an amazing Israeli woman, who has become not only my primary Hebrew mentor but also our good friend. Moreover, the small group of people who meet weekly to study Torah in Hebrew in Boulder have become dear to us and enriched our lives greatly. Further, reading Jewish commentaries on the Web of the weekly Torah portions has deepened my own faith and opened up new understandings of the scriptures we share and of Christian writings based on those scriptures.

The pursuit of words has been an essential part of my life for many years (since birth?). Many things have changed in my life, but I don't see that part of it changing any time soon (until death?). Lehitraot! Shalom, Chaverim!