Jalapeños are a Lifestyle

A quote on the front of my copy of this book compares this novel to The Red Tent and Memoirs of a Geisha. Thankfully, I found it more like the latter than the former. It is like The Red Tent in that the underlying story is found in the Old Testament, but while The Gilded Chamber does take a few liberties with the Old Testament account (particularly the apocryphal account if you are familiar with that) the essence of the biblical account remains mostly intact. In other words, Esther and Mordecai remain at their core monotheistic Jews trying to survive in a hostile religious environment. Yes, they make compromises but in the end they remain religious Jews. In contrast, The Red Tent completely changes the religion of the main characters and turns the lives of the patriarchs of the original monotheistic religion into pagans or blithering monotheistic idiots. Yes, there is a lot of sex and sexual politics in all of the novels mentioned but it is not gratuitous. These are essential elements for understanding the lives and politics of a world that is unlike anything most sheltered American women would ever have to endure. Like Memoirs does for the closed Japanese world of the Geisha,  The Gilded Chamber does for the life of women in an ancient Persian harem with a rich tapestry of cultural details. It speculates on what Esther might have had to endure to simply survive in a world where one’s worth rested soley on the kings’ favor. In a way, Esther faced choices similar to that of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof….how much can you compromise and remain true to what you believe? Too often, we view the story of Esther through our modern western eyes as a kind of ancient Cinderella tale. The truth was probably far from a happy-ending-type fairy tale. I particularly liked that the narrative did not end with the events told about in the Bible but speculated on Esther’s life to the time of Xerxes’ death and her escape from the harem as Vashti’s son was crowned king.

I learned something from the notes at the end of the book. Apparently there is a tomb in Iran called The Tomb of Mordecai and Esther. Wouldn’t it be something if the two were reunited at the end?

Children with too much energy cannot concentrate well on their schoolwork. Having the children run laps around the block is my usual way of causing that excess energy to be burned in a healthy manner. A not unwelcome side-benefit is that the noise level in the house drops significantly while they are running. Both because the child with too much energy was usually also making too much noise before being sent away to burn energy and if there happens to be children left behind who are not running laps they are generally wise enough to pretend to be invisible lest I remember a reason to send them around the block as well.  As usual, too many days off in the row (Thanksgiving Holiday) has resulted in an excess of energy in my schoolroom today and each child has been around the block at least once. The last trip by Nicky however, was notable. On her way out the door, I noticed that she was planning to run the lap barefoot. So I hollered, “Put your shoes on before you go!”

I was watching as she came around the front of the house. She was wearing her shoes…on her hands.

Don’t tell me that there is no such thing as malicious obedience.

In keeping with the family tradition of throwing oneself into walls repeatedly in hopes that they will miraculously dissolve, I have been doing the FIRM (aerobic strength training) for well over two years and strength training longer than that. It is the right thing to do. I have read it repeatedly in every reputable source that I can find. I must push my body 4-5 days a weeks into a sweaty, quivering mass and then I will lose weight. The muscle mass will build my metabolism. Everyone says so. There is just one problem. I am not losing weight. I work at the very edge of my body’s ability to recover before the next time and the slightest change in my body sets me back. If my candidiasis flares, I can hardly crawl through 20 minutes of a FIRM workout. Any of the normal fluctuations that my health makes set me back and I not only have to recover from the problem of the moment  but the drain exercise places on me. A smarter person would have surrendered sooner, but I am required by some sort of internal law to be sufficiently bloody before moving on. But I have, in fact, moved on. And you know what? I feel terrific.

All along the way, I have longed to do yoga. It wasn’t vigorous enough. It wasn’t the “right” way to get the results I wanted. Everyone said so. So I would throw myself at the FIRM wall 4-5 days a week and IF I had enough energy leftover I would do a yoga workout. I loved the way it made me feel but exercise isn’t about that…it’s about results, isn’t it? (I hear you laughing out there….No. The way I feel is not allowed to be considered as a desireable result. I’m painting a wall here with my blood and let’s not let common sense interfere.) And so I suffered from “yoga guilt.” I’d occasionally do a yoga workout for no “good” reason other than I just wanted to but I would have to pay by feeling guilty about not doing it the “right” way. About not really working as hard as I should.

Then too much travel, combined with too much stress caused my candidiasis to flare again and once again, I was laid low. Always challenging, my daily workouts again entered into the hellish range. And this time there was enough pain in my life for me to say….what if I approach this differently?

It was suggested to me over a year ago that we should practice nonviolence with our bodies. It seemed like a good concept to work with in terms of one’s body and one’s diet. I even considered the idea to be life changing at the time. Great theory to play with as long as you didn’t let it interfere with working as hard as possible. Nevermind that “as hard as possible” meant draining more out of your body than building it up. Of course, I could never get as far as fast that way and what my body needed was a few more swift kicks. Now, finally, I thought to myself. “What if I actually TRIED that? What if I listened to my body and did yoga because I love it and because my body loves it?”

And so, I am doing yoga and trying not to feel guilty. I am trying to sit down and open the channels of communication that my Creator placed in my body to help me bring balance to my body. I am not going to listen to what everyone else says my body needs for me to eat either, if I don’t want that much protein, if my body isn’t telling me that it wants that much protein, by golly….I’m not going to eat it.

Balance. Not pummeling the part or parts of your body that aren’t falling into line but treating your whole body as one. Honoring what my body tells me when it says “enough.”

It feels good too….yes, I know you knew that already. But I didn’t.

The end of Thanksgiving week and I am blessed beyond measure. Thanksgiving dinner was lovely. It seemed like a good year to do some new things so I tried out a few new “recipes.”

The Christmas tree is up and decorated. Jaya and Lalitha are the first cats I have ever had that think the Christmas tree is fun! So periodically I hear the ornaments rustling and when I go to investigate I see this cute kitty face peering out at me. I have also discovered that once the little devils are actually up in the tree, there is nothing you can do about getting them down! If you reach in to grab them, you are just going to make a bigger mess than if you just let them stay and investigate.

Tim is getting so big. He set up the Christmas lights pretty much without assistance. He did need a little instruction to help him keep from blowing the fuses on the light strings but he did very well.

We sat down as a family while Stan read through all of the Christmas letters that we had copies of from over the years. It is amazing how life changes over the years but stays the same. The Lord has blessed us and kept us through so very much. He is the Rock that guides us even through the storms and I am blessed.