My dear Friends
After a well-deserved rest, I stepped out into the town of Cambridge again today. I had a feeling I should go to Ken Stevens, the well known music shop next door to one of the religious bookshops and down a kind of open alley where I busked some time ago. Didn't make much money then but a nice lady stood and listened right through to one of my Peace songs.
Wasn't quite prepared for what happened when iIwent through the door. Started singin 'Summertime' to find out if there was a 'middle' bit, then they gave me a guitar and I was away! The salesman, very nice guy, listened, then a man who said he was called Alan clapped and said he would come to the Concert for Peace and reconciliation I am holding on Feb 16th. alan was such a nice man and obviously was moved by my rendering of Summertime that I said I would dedicate it to him on the night.
The young guy behind the counter liked it too, and for sure I will sing it. Kinda expresses a yearning, bluesey, and introduces the theme of reconciliation between blackfolks and white folks.
I am on a roll. Moved away from there, and an hour later found myself in the market square. A group of Methodist students were singing carols, so I joined in and added my voice.
Am trying to keep some energy for the Carol concert in St Edmunds tonight, so will slow down and take easy-I hope to get quite good at it!
Have a good, take-it-easy weekend!
Love and shalom
Sister Gila
Friday, 30 November 2007
Sunday, 25 November 2007
Reflections
Here in Cambridge the weather has been quite strange. Saturday was bitterly cold, almost like a Canadian winter. If it doesn't sound too arrogant, sometimes I feel God is arranging this weather to prepare me for the future! But Canada is a dry cold, and my skin felt more healthy when I was there last March.
My inner clock is speeding up for the eventual day when I arrive there for good. Little events are taking place, which are bringing me nearer, although it's also clear that I must live day by day and do what I can here while I am waiting.But my life seems to be coming together, and I feel one of the lucky ones. I go to see Alexia again in Paris from the 13th to 19th December, two days after my 56th birthday.
Age is a strange thing. At nearly 56 I feel better than ever, more alive and more fulfilled than in any other decade. Yes, I must say this is due to my faith, also being loved and taking care of myself, resting, eating what I like when I can, and being lucky enough not to have a fixed routine at the moment. Once I get to Toronto I will go back to 'normal' working for the first time in 10 years, getting a part-time job to pay the rent on the bachelor apartment I have in mind in the centre of the city. In the meantime, every day brings new surprises, and I guess that keeps you young!
On 16th february 2008 I am giving another Concert for Peace and Reconciliation, this time in a slightly different venue from the College Chapels where I have performed in the past. This one will be in the Lee Hall in Wolfson College. It is a beautiful hall, given by a Chinese benefactor, and situated in an English/Chinese garden. My repertoire will be the same mixed bag; Hebrew music, including Synagogue music, songs of the 60's and traditional folk.
The concert will be dedicated to the memory of Professor Risa Domb, who died just after my last concert last year. Risa was a close friend and my modern Hebrew teacher at Cambridge University. She was also one of the first supporters of The Little Sisters of Joy.
A friend will display some of her late husband's art on cards;Alec Pearson was a well-known artist and tapestry weaver, whose birthday was close to the date of my concert. I hope it will be an enjoyable event, as well as raising awareness for The Little Sisters of Joy.
Much to be done! I'm on a roll!
Shalom and blessing,
Sister Gila
My inner clock is speeding up for the eventual day when I arrive there for good. Little events are taking place, which are bringing me nearer, although it's also clear that I must live day by day and do what I can here while I am waiting.But my life seems to be coming together, and I feel one of the lucky ones. I go to see Alexia again in Paris from the 13th to 19th December, two days after my 56th birthday.
Age is a strange thing. At nearly 56 I feel better than ever, more alive and more fulfilled than in any other decade. Yes, I must say this is due to my faith, also being loved and taking care of myself, resting, eating what I like when I can, and being lucky enough not to have a fixed routine at the moment. Once I get to Toronto I will go back to 'normal' working for the first time in 10 years, getting a part-time job to pay the rent on the bachelor apartment I have in mind in the centre of the city. In the meantime, every day brings new surprises, and I guess that keeps you young!
On 16th february 2008 I am giving another Concert for Peace and Reconciliation, this time in a slightly different venue from the College Chapels where I have performed in the past. This one will be in the Lee Hall in Wolfson College. It is a beautiful hall, given by a Chinese benefactor, and situated in an English/Chinese garden. My repertoire will be the same mixed bag; Hebrew music, including Synagogue music, songs of the 60's and traditional folk.
The concert will be dedicated to the memory of Professor Risa Domb, who died just after my last concert last year. Risa was a close friend and my modern Hebrew teacher at Cambridge University. She was also one of the first supporters of The Little Sisters of Joy.
A friend will display some of her late husband's art on cards;Alec Pearson was a well-known artist and tapestry weaver, whose birthday was close to the date of my concert. I hope it will be an enjoyable event, as well as raising awareness for The Little Sisters of Joy.
Much to be done! I'm on a roll!
Shalom and blessing,
Sister Gila
Saturday, 17 November 2007
Winter and Advent
My dear Friends
Here are some lines from a beautiful poem by George Herbert, the 17th Cenutry poet and Anglican priest:
'Who would have thought my heart would have recovered greenness?
It had gone quiet underground, like a mother root, full blown.'
This always reminds me of the coming of winter, and particularly Advent. Unknown to me at the time, when I was born into my Jewish family, my birthday would be in Advent! On 11th December, it usually falls in Chanukah too. So I was born in a particularly light-filled time.
The coming of Christ, buried in Mary's womb, is exciting and mysterious. We have to imagine what it was like all those years ago in Bethlehem, the shepherds in the fields to whom the Message was first made known. All the really cateclysmic events in life start in a hidden, humble way. I have time, in the warm solitude, to ponder these events and, as the years go by, to be more and more in awe of them. And intimate with them at the same time. Maybe I will share my thoughts with you as the weeks leading up to Christmas go by.
Until then, stay warm! Cambridge is bitterly cold and I have been spending my Shabbat mainly in bed with the heating on!
Shabbat Shalom!
Sister Gila
Here are some lines from a beautiful poem by George Herbert, the 17th Cenutry poet and Anglican priest:
'Who would have thought my heart would have recovered greenness?
It had gone quiet underground, like a mother root, full blown.'
This always reminds me of the coming of winter, and particularly Advent. Unknown to me at the time, when I was born into my Jewish family, my birthday would be in Advent! On 11th December, it usually falls in Chanukah too. So I was born in a particularly light-filled time.
The coming of Christ, buried in Mary's womb, is exciting and mysterious. We have to imagine what it was like all those years ago in Bethlehem, the shepherds in the fields to whom the Message was first made known. All the really cateclysmic events in life start in a hidden, humble way. I have time, in the warm solitude, to ponder these events and, as the years go by, to be more and more in awe of them. And intimate with them at the same time. Maybe I will share my thoughts with you as the weeks leading up to Christmas go by.
Until then, stay warm! Cambridge is bitterly cold and I have been spending my Shabbat mainly in bed with the heating on!
Shabbat Shalom!
Sister Gila
Thursday, 1 November 2007
All Saints Day
Today, 1st november, is the Feast of All Saints. We honour those who have gone before us , those righteous ones who have made a special contribution to our humanity and who have been 'officially' remembered for it. It is a special liturgical day in the Church, but those we honour are from every religion, for many have died for their faith. One famous Rabbi was Rabbi Akibah, who was burned at the stake by the Romans.
There are also those men and women who have never known who God is, but who have done heroic deeds, or 'fed the hungry and clothed the naked' as Jesus said in the Gospel. And those who are especially dear are the countless hidden Saints, some of whom we may live next door to.
It always seems to me that on this day the very cosmos comes to greet us: here in Cambridge it has been a fantastic day, hot, blue sky, unusual for this time of year. But is it? If we can believe that those men and women we commemorate today are really 'looking down on us' it is perhaps not so surprising that today the universe is glowing with light.
Nine years ago, on all Saints, I was in Rome. Unknown to me, my Project was about to begin. I like to think I had the blessing of all the Saints who have found the heavenly Jerusalem to help me and The Little Sisters of Joy and the whole of humanity on their homeward journey too.
Happy Feast!
Sister Gila
There are also those men and women who have never known who God is, but who have done heroic deeds, or 'fed the hungry and clothed the naked' as Jesus said in the Gospel. And those who are especially dear are the countless hidden Saints, some of whom we may live next door to.
It always seems to me that on this day the very cosmos comes to greet us: here in Cambridge it has been a fantastic day, hot, blue sky, unusual for this time of year. But is it? If we can believe that those men and women we commemorate today are really 'looking down on us' it is perhaps not so surprising that today the universe is glowing with light.
Nine years ago, on all Saints, I was in Rome. Unknown to me, my Project was about to begin. I like to think I had the blessing of all the Saints who have found the heavenly Jerusalem to help me and The Little Sisters of Joy and the whole of humanity on their homeward journey too.
Happy Feast!
Sister Gila
Wednesday, 17 October 2007
Return from Paris
My dear Friends
I have been home from France exactly a month, and I still have a deep impression in my heart. For some years now I have been praying the psalms in French, as well as in Hebrew, and this, combined with a few lines every day of a novel, keeps my French alive. I was brought up to believe that you best learn a language, including a spoken one, by reading first-of course it is not a real substitute for talking to people, but it does give you an insight into the culture.
And there is the food! Been buying French cheeeses, jam and I brought some wonderful peppermint tea with pepper (actually tastes much lighter than the stuff over here) from Provence to make what the French call a Tissane. I didn't watch the rugby match recently, but I found someone else who supported France!
So I have become a real Francophile (devotee of everything French). To carry on this process and in order to visit Alexia and her family again, I found the cheapest rate on the new Eurostar from St Pancras (just a hop from Kings Cross where the Cambridge train gets in) and am going from December 13th to the 19th. One of my favourite times of the year, it was the time in 1989 I first went to Amsterdam and celebrated my first Christmas there as a new Christian in the Church.
Je vous embrasse (big hugs)
Sister Gila
I have been home from France exactly a month, and I still have a deep impression in my heart. For some years now I have been praying the psalms in French, as well as in Hebrew, and this, combined with a few lines every day of a novel, keeps my French alive. I was brought up to believe that you best learn a language, including a spoken one, by reading first-of course it is not a real substitute for talking to people, but it does give you an insight into the culture.
And there is the food! Been buying French cheeeses, jam and I brought some wonderful peppermint tea with pepper (actually tastes much lighter than the stuff over here) from Provence to make what the French call a Tissane. I didn't watch the rugby match recently, but I found someone else who supported France!
So I have become a real Francophile (devotee of everything French). To carry on this process and in order to visit Alexia and her family again, I found the cheapest rate on the new Eurostar from St Pancras (just a hop from Kings Cross where the Cambridge train gets in) and am going from December 13th to the 19th. One of my favourite times of the year, it was the time in 1989 I first went to Amsterdam and celebrated my first Christmas there as a new Christian in the Church.
Je vous embrasse (big hugs)
Sister Gila
Tuesday, 9 October 2007
Sacre Coeur
My dear Friends
In all my years of visiting Paris, I had never seen Sacre Coeur until this last visit. In my mind I had built up an image of it which was touristy, noisy and full of steps! Well the last was certainly ture, but, claiming a sore foot-from all the pilgrimaging!-I persuaded Alexia to come with me on the 'cable car' which still leaves quite a few steps to climb, so you feel you are doing the real thing.
At the foot was a carousel, at the top a breathtaking view over Paris. We sat on the steps and pondered and watched the tourists and non-tourists having a good time on the lawn below, picknicking and listening to the harpist, who was officially busking above. You could see all of Paris except for the Eiffel tower-to see it you had to go round a corner and peer quite closely into the sky. It was a fine day, no clouds and you could almost feel you were in heaven.
Inside, no cameras were allowed, which made a huge difference to Notre Dame. Prayer was going on all the time, and we found great solace in sitting in one of the Lady Chapels, where Our Mother poured out her grace on us, which very comforting. Unlike in Notre Dame there was a tribute to Cardinal Lustiger, who died recently. I had the privilege of meeting him, when The Little Sisters of Joy had just begun, in Jan 1999, and he was the Archbishop of Paris and a Jewish convert like me. It was a poignant meeting and I was delighted to see that the notice in Sacre Coeur read:'Notre Cardinal est mort'- our Cardinal is dead, making it very personal.
Afterwards we wandered down to Montmartre, the artist quarter and had a meal in a restaurant with red and white checked tablecloths. Then we had a tea in 'The Rose House,' a lovely cafe, which had been a meeting place for artists in former times. There we met a couple of charming English ladies from Manchester, who seemed to love Paris as much as I do.
It was very hard to leave Paris, and France, the next day. Fortunately I have found a cheap ticket on the Eurostar, and I am going back to Paris for 6 days on 13th December.
A bientot!
Sister Gila xxxx
In all my years of visiting Paris, I had never seen Sacre Coeur until this last visit. In my mind I had built up an image of it which was touristy, noisy and full of steps! Well the last was certainly ture, but, claiming a sore foot-from all the pilgrimaging!-I persuaded Alexia to come with me on the 'cable car' which still leaves quite a few steps to climb, so you feel you are doing the real thing.
At the foot was a carousel, at the top a breathtaking view over Paris. We sat on the steps and pondered and watched the tourists and non-tourists having a good time on the lawn below, picknicking and listening to the harpist, who was officially busking above. You could see all of Paris except for the Eiffel tower-to see it you had to go round a corner and peer quite closely into the sky. It was a fine day, no clouds and you could almost feel you were in heaven.
Inside, no cameras were allowed, which made a huge difference to Notre Dame. Prayer was going on all the time, and we found great solace in sitting in one of the Lady Chapels, where Our Mother poured out her grace on us, which very comforting. Unlike in Notre Dame there was a tribute to Cardinal Lustiger, who died recently. I had the privilege of meeting him, when The Little Sisters of Joy had just begun, in Jan 1999, and he was the Archbishop of Paris and a Jewish convert like me. It was a poignant meeting and I was delighted to see that the notice in Sacre Coeur read:'Notre Cardinal est mort'- our Cardinal is dead, making it very personal.
Afterwards we wandered down to Montmartre, the artist quarter and had a meal in a restaurant with red and white checked tablecloths. Then we had a tea in 'The Rose House,' a lovely cafe, which had been a meeting place for artists in former times. There we met a couple of charming English ladies from Manchester, who seemed to love Paris as much as I do.
It was very hard to leave Paris, and France, the next day. Fortunately I have found a cheap ticket on the Eurostar, and I am going back to Paris for 6 days on 13th December.
A bientot!
Sister Gila xxxx
Thursday, 4 October 2007
In the JOY of the Lord is your stronghold
My dear Friends
The title of this piece is taken from the book of Nehemiah, in the Old Testament, Chapter 8, verse 10. It is a fitting motto for The Little Sisters of Joy, at whose heart is Jewish-Christian reconciliation. In this passage the Torah has been reconstituted by Ezra, the scribe and Nehemiah, who began the rebuilding of the !st Temple after its destruction in 587BC and the exile of the Jewish people into Babylon. They were not to return for 400 years, and many beautiful and haunting Psalms are said to date from this timne, lamenting their exile:
'By the waters of Babylon, there we sat and wept. We were asked to sing a Song of Zion by our captors-how can we do this in an alien land?'
'If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be cut off!'
Today is also the Feast of Tabernacles, commemorating the journey through the desert to the Promised Land. It is a time when the Jewish people remember they were homeless and nomadic. The same theme is picked up in the New Testament in the book of Hebrews:
'There is no abiding city in this life.'
Strangely enough I find this quite comforting. We are all on a journey to our common Promised Land, where there will be no fighting, where we will be in our right relation to each other in a world of harmony and love.In a period of great unsettlement for me personally, I am beginning, with some difficutly, to see the wisdom of this teaching about the inconstancy of our lives here on earth. To use a French phrase: 'Plus ca change, plus ca reste...the more things change, the more they they stay the same.'
JOY!
Happy Feast!
Sister Gila
The title of this piece is taken from the book of Nehemiah, in the Old Testament, Chapter 8, verse 10. It is a fitting motto for The Little Sisters of Joy, at whose heart is Jewish-Christian reconciliation. In this passage the Torah has been reconstituted by Ezra, the scribe and Nehemiah, who began the rebuilding of the !st Temple after its destruction in 587BC and the exile of the Jewish people into Babylon. They were not to return for 400 years, and many beautiful and haunting Psalms are said to date from this timne, lamenting their exile:
'By the waters of Babylon, there we sat and wept. We were asked to sing a Song of Zion by our captors-how can we do this in an alien land?'
'If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be cut off!'
Today is also the Feast of Tabernacles, commemorating the journey through the desert to the Promised Land. It is a time when the Jewish people remember they were homeless and nomadic. The same theme is picked up in the New Testament in the book of Hebrews:
'There is no abiding city in this life.'
Strangely enough I find this quite comforting. We are all on a journey to our common Promised Land, where there will be no fighting, where we will be in our right relation to each other in a world of harmony and love.In a period of great unsettlement for me personally, I am beginning, with some difficutly, to see the wisdom of this teaching about the inconstancy of our lives here on earth. To use a French phrase: 'Plus ca change, plus ca reste...the more things change, the more they they stay the same.'
JOY!
Happy Feast!
Sister Gila
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