With the unseasonably warm weather we’ve had recently it feels like summer is just around the corner. For many of you it may already be here!
Makes me think of homemade ginger ale. Remember the original ginger ale? It’s a cool, fizzy drink that’s not too sweet. This ginger ale recipe was given to me from a friend who owns a restaurant in downtown St. Paul.
Grab your staw hat, find a chair in the sun and sip slowly . . .
Ingredients you’ll need –
Ginger Water: 1 cup peeled, finely chopped ginger, 2 cups water
Simple Syrup: 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water
Club soda, lime juice, lime wedges
1. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Add ginger. Reduce heat to medium low and let ginger sit in the simmering water for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 20 minutes. Strain liquid through a fine mesh strainer. Discard ginger pieces.
2. In a separate saucepan, make the Simple Syrup by dissolving 1 cup granulated sugar into 1 cup of boiling water. Set aside.
3. Make individual (tall) glasses of ginger ale by mixing 1/2 cup of ginger water with 1/3 cup of Simple Syrup and 1/2 cup of club soda. Add a few drops of fresh lime juice and a lime wedge to each glass. Add ice.
Why am I so interested in flexible furniture? The gifts of the world are given to all. What I have doesn’t belong to me alone. My resources, including my home are not just for my own use. They are also for the use of the wider community – those working for justice and those in need.
Therefore, my home must not only serve my own needs, it must also serve the needs of others. It must be available for meetings or to house overnight guests, for example, or facilitate conversation and idea sharing. In order for my home to function this way furniture must be flexible.
But utilizing flexible furniture is useful in other ways too. Downsizing or moving to a new location is easy with flexible furniture. Flexible furniture adapts to new activities or new people without spending more resources ($) for new furniture – saving resources for other purposes. Flexible furniture with many uses is likely to last longer, more likely to be passed on to others and is less likely to end up in a landfill.
So here’s another idea for flexible living – instead of a large, heavy sofa or love seat try four movable chairs.
Source unknownHouseBeautiful.com
Armless chairs that could be used separately or combined to create a sofa would be even better. Endless combinations become possible . . .
This article is about the high cost of leaving ultra-orthodox Judaism. It could have been entitled “The High Cost of Living.” My family of origin wasn’t from this religious tradition, but my experience of being pushed away was the same. Perhaps you have also experienced something similar in your life or know someone who has?
Ultimately we each must choose whether or not to live an authentic life – meaning who we really are on the inside matches how we live on the outside. Unfortunately, our call to live an authentic life and the expectations of our family or culture may be quite different.
To be “loved if” means there is a condition attached. We will be loved “if” we don’t rock the boat, “if” we don’t challenge the status quo, “if” we live a certain lifestyle. But the reality is that love has no conditions. Where there is a condition or “if” attached then it isn’t really love. Love means being accepted as we are for who we are – no exceptions.
Nevertheless, I may choose to not be around a parent or child while they are drinking or engaging in some other destructive behavior. But to reject the behavior is not to reject the person.
My family of origin operated under the “strict father” model. For myself and my siblings there was also the unspoken threat of being abandoned. It actually came true in my case. I really was cast out – while a minor, but imagine the devastating effects this would have had on my younger siblings who witnessed it.
What I remember growing up, is that it was impressed upon us that the most important virtue was obedience. Really? The most important virtue is obedience? When I became a parent I realized how strange this was! The virtues I wanted for my own children were honesty, kindness, generosity, curiosity and compassion. Only time will tell if my family will choose to adopt different values.
This article could also be entitled: The high cost of leaving “the Clan” or “the Tribe” – any tribe, family or group. Another title could be “the high cost of rejecting fideism” – external authority – in this case the authority of family.
Many Christians are unaware of the heresy of fideism. Fideism is a heresy defined as “blind obedience to any external authority.” Ultimately, as adults, the only authority we must follow – are truly obligated to follow – is God within the deepest interior of our own hearts. Any external authority, be it religious, governmental, parental or even medical, can never be the reason for making a decision. We have the responsibility and accountability as adults to learn all we can from those we trust. Then we must make our own decisions.
In healthy relationships participants are encouraging and supportive. There isn’t a demand to control or judge, rather a desire to stay connected. Healthy relationships involve mutual listening, offering support – but ultimately allowing other adults to make their own decisions. Then those decisions are respected. Is your family like this? If so, you’re lucky. If not, you may have to create a family of choice that can provide healthy support in your life.
In the article, those rejected by their families, experienced something different when they were embraced by others. What they found was that healthy, loving relationships do not judge, but want the best for us and that can only be determined by us. No one else can judge what is best for another adult, except that adult. Others who truly care about us know that being true to oneself may mean being flexible and moving into a new life.
Reality, life, God is compassionate. Every instance of suffering we encounter can be an opportunity for growth, transformation and new life. Sometimes being freed from the tethers of unhealthy relationships – or relationships that are toxic for us – allows us to fly.
