Thoughts from confinement
So far so good.
We're very blessed in having a clean, dry, modern apartment, and balconies so we can get outside, and also enough rooms to be able to escape from each other. I can get on with work in my office, Catrin works in her room. Pat in the living room or our bedroom.
I can't imagine being bored! My list of things to do grows longer every day!
I have the usual studies and messages to prepare and people to catch up with, online of course.
My reading is not progressing as I would want it to.
Meanwhile for diversion there's museum sites that I have not visited, like the Uffizi, the Atelier de Lumières in Paris, the Musée d'Orsay and the British Museum that have wonderful websites.
The Metropolitan Opera House and the Opera de Paris are broadcasting operas, and the Arte website also has some corkers. Pat and I watched Manon, by Massenet.
Then there are wonderful films available to watch, most of which we have not.
I'd like to do some music practice, but I've not been doing that either.
Modern Greek didn't last long, going the way of German ("die Frau isst eine Banane") and Italian.
However, Voces8 have been doing some really good webcasts on the history of music notation and on harmony, and I've watched a few of those. Very good stuff.
And Bordeaux' own Salvatore Caputo, the chorus master of the Opera National de Bordeaux has done some great workshops on Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, on singing Mozart, etc. I've caught a couple of those.
We're more in touch with our families than before. Pat reads with one of her sisters and we all message each other frequently. We've also had some family quiz nights, though I have never quite siezed the difference between quizzes and examinations, so I beat myself up over forgetting, for example, that Judas Iscariot's father was called Simon, or that Grozny is the capital of Chechnya.
Church life continues - Pat still gets groups together to do various things, like "knit and natter" and "ukulele group", as well as groups for Bible study and prayer. We've done song nights, with limited success because of internet lag. We are still planning our great Bordeaux Church Singleness Day which is scheduled for early May, though newspapers are now rumouring a release from confinement for mid-May.
Obviously Zoom, Facebook live etc. have all involved time watching vidoes, looking at websites and testing various options to try and make things work properly. Someone remarked this morning on how the social media are full now of churches webcasting the Easter message. "Why didn't this happen before?" he asked. I restrained myself.
Meanwhile I give a weekly morning devotion in our church in North Wales and we've made a quick update video for them, too. We plan to make an update video for wider circulation next week.
On Monday I keep out of my study. I'm allowed screens - normally I try and operate "no-screen Monday" but that's when we can get out and about and have adventures.
In other news I too have begun breadmaking. We can get flour - general purpose flour - but yeast is in short supply so if we look like running out I'll start a sourdough culture.
Today is Easter Sunday, and this song seems very apt:
PEACE, PERFECT PEACE,
in this dark world of sin?
The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.
Peace, perfect peace,
by thronging duties pressed?
To do the will of Jesus, this is rest.
Peace, perfect peace,
with sorrows surging round?
In Jesus’ presence naught but calm is found.
Peace, perfect peace,
with loved ones far away?
In Jesus’ keeping we are safe, and they.
Peace, perfect peace,
our future all unknown?
Jesus we know, and he is on the throne.
Peace, perfect peace,
death shadowing us and ours?
Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers.
It is enough;
earth’s troubles soon shall cease
and Jesus call us to heaven’s perfect peace.
We're very blessed in having a clean, dry, modern apartment, and balconies so we can get outside, and also enough rooms to be able to escape from each other. I can get on with work in my office, Catrin works in her room. Pat in the living room or our bedroom.
I can't imagine being bored! My list of things to do grows longer every day!
I have the usual studies and messages to prepare and people to catch up with, online of course.
My reading is not progressing as I would want it to.
Meanwhile for diversion there's museum sites that I have not visited, like the Uffizi, the Atelier de Lumières in Paris, the Musée d'Orsay and the British Museum that have wonderful websites.
The Metropolitan Opera House and the Opera de Paris are broadcasting operas, and the Arte website also has some corkers. Pat and I watched Manon, by Massenet.
Then there are wonderful films available to watch, most of which we have not.
I'd like to do some music practice, but I've not been doing that either.
Modern Greek didn't last long, going the way of German ("die Frau isst eine Banane") and Italian.
However, Voces8 have been doing some really good webcasts on the history of music notation and on harmony, and I've watched a few of those. Very good stuff.
And Bordeaux' own Salvatore Caputo, the chorus master of the Opera National de Bordeaux has done some great workshops on Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, on singing Mozart, etc. I've caught a couple of those.
We're more in touch with our families than before. Pat reads with one of her sisters and we all message each other frequently. We've also had some family quiz nights, though I have never quite siezed the difference between quizzes and examinations, so I beat myself up over forgetting, for example, that Judas Iscariot's father was called Simon, or that Grozny is the capital of Chechnya.
Church life continues - Pat still gets groups together to do various things, like "knit and natter" and "ukulele group", as well as groups for Bible study and prayer. We've done song nights, with limited success because of internet lag. We are still planning our great Bordeaux Church Singleness Day which is scheduled for early May, though newspapers are now rumouring a release from confinement for mid-May.
Obviously Zoom, Facebook live etc. have all involved time watching vidoes, looking at websites and testing various options to try and make things work properly. Someone remarked this morning on how the social media are full now of churches webcasting the Easter message. "Why didn't this happen before?" he asked. I restrained myself.
Meanwhile I give a weekly morning devotion in our church in North Wales and we've made a quick update video for them, too. We plan to make an update video for wider circulation next week.
On Monday I keep out of my study. I'm allowed screens - normally I try and operate "no-screen Monday" but that's when we can get out and about and have adventures.
In other news I too have begun breadmaking. We can get flour - general purpose flour - but yeast is in short supply so if we look like running out I'll start a sourdough culture.
Today is Easter Sunday, and this song seems very apt:
PEACE, PERFECT PEACE,
in this dark world of sin?
The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.
Peace, perfect peace,
by thronging duties pressed?
To do the will of Jesus, this is rest.
Peace, perfect peace,
with sorrows surging round?
In Jesus’ presence naught but calm is found.
Peace, perfect peace,
with loved ones far away?
In Jesus’ keeping we are safe, and they.
Peace, perfect peace,
our future all unknown?
Jesus we know, and he is on the throne.
Peace, perfect peace,
death shadowing us and ours?
Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers.
It is enough;
earth’s troubles soon shall cease
and Jesus call us to heaven’s perfect peace.
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