Update; A Month in Review

     Jerusalem, Jerusalem! A month in and I am finally feeling a bit more settled; though life's pace seems to cycle faster than I have been used to for a while. Church, school, work and volunteering have each demanded a sure amount of commitment and I thank God for graces in these things... both for them and the strength to do them.

   Again, the primary reason I have returned is to finish my thesis. I have thus far determined a topic and methodology and have just to research and execute it... My thesis title is: "Direction Indicators in the Hebrew Bible, A Catalog and Analysis". Things have progressed, albeit slower than I would like. As it is, I am Grateful to have come when I have come. This semester's JUC students are again extraordinarily lovely. I have had a very wonderful time learning about and from them. Their encouragement has been much appreciated! 

   Work continues to demand a good portion of my week, though it provides a nice outlet from other pressures and I have a bit of control in terms of how I spend my time... all within this Zion garden, of course. After all, I have the privilege of tending a garden in Jerusalem on Modern Mt. Zion - Edenic work, I like to think :)

   Lastly, Volunteering has been a beautiful addition to my time in Israel. I volunteer for the Olive Branch Institute. This month, I have had two responsibilities and both were very enjoyable chores. The first was an airport run, which included a ride to Arad, and then a drive north to Jeru, then out to Tel Aviv, then south to Arad again. It worked out that a JUC group was in Arad at the time so I stuck around for the day while they toured the Negev. There I enjoyed an Eyal Golan concert that evening and then caught a ride with them up the next day as they visited Masada, Ein Gedi and Qumran en route fro Jerusalem. 

   The second responsibility was to lead a group of volunteers 'round Israel. If I do say so myself Kay, Kit Karen, and Nancy were a very lovely bunch; and I had a very good time. We toured Jerusalem, Thursday. Friday, we drove out to the Dead Sea and did the typical sites listed above, save Masada. We instead went out to the Makeshim and read from Psalm 90. Then Saturday, we drove up to the Galilee and spent our time journeying the Elijah to Jesus narrative or from Carmel to Capernaum, if you like. Then from a beautiful home visit to some ol' Scandinavian friends of mine (Lily and co.), we did a Coastal Plain/ Shephelah day ending with David and Goliath as we overlooked the Valley of Elah. 

   Time like water scurries in its intended direction without asking for approval or permission. Appropriate that Moses likens life's span to a watch in the night or something a flood disposes of. Just before I journeyed back to Jerusalem, my family mourned the loss of a friend and father figure. Its been a month. Today, I woke up and thought it a very special grace. My days are numbered and I suppose I best ask God for grace to help me redeem the time that I have been given. When I think of Tom, I think of the many stories he had to tell having lived earnestly and well. It still a marvel to me that God's mercies are not only new every morning - they are forevermore! 

Psalm 90:13-17

¹³ Return, O Lord! How long?
    Have pity on your servants!
¹⁴ Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
    that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
¹⁵ Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    and for as many years as we have seen evil.
¹⁶ Let your work be shown to your servants,
    and your glorious power to their children.
¹⁷ Let the favor^[a] of the Lord our God be upon us,
    and establish the work of our hands upon us;
    yes, establish the work of our hands!

English Standard Version (ESV)

Lovely that He promises to continue what He has started in us... til He comes or we go.  

   Below, I have included a number of pictures from this month... Feel free to ask about anything I am up to!

My email is sethhague@gmail.com. I love letters and am indebted to so many of you for your prayers and support. 
Blessings and Love!

There and Back Again...

Smells and sights trigger recall and memories. Bits of data buried under the chapters written over the past few years uncovered instantly in the waft and view. Who knew it would be this potent; this overwhelming?

Why are you late to campus? What have you been doing over the past year? What are you doing now? These questions are the ones that I have been answering over the last week. Naturally, a new setting with new people invokes the exhausting but good work of getting to know the neighbors... Truth is, I have found that these questions expose the more important bits my narrative has to tell -  this last years bloopers and blessings (perhaps the bloopers are themselves blessings, too)

Almost a year ago, I ventured off to the States leaving behind a place that had become my home with its various connections and loves. The following months proved to be hard and good ones. Death visited my Aunt Jean and then Aunt Erma. Then in late November the Hague family went about celebrating my brothers marriage. So miles put between Israel and myself drove me up to Grand Rapids, Michigan then out to Des Moines, Iowa. A little after thanksgiving I circled out even further to see what kind of jobs were available in my field. I flew out to North Carolina drove to South Carolina then to Georgia visiting friends, colleagues, churches and schools. Flying from Atlanta to Seattle, I did more of the same in Washington and BC, Canada.

I found graces upon graces, mercies upon mercies. I found that even the shortest previous interactions could lead to deep-rooted and meaningful relationships. Finally, I found work. I took up wings and flew out to Australia. I didn't expect a Jerusalem University College experience would land me a construction job but it did. One that then provided an opportunity to teach. A provision I also did not expect. With these very lovely folks, I began to find my voice. I began to see how much I loved to teach and what the teachings could mean to people. A three month period may only allow you to scratch the surface with folks but God can use the smallest of seeds to topple the largest of mountains.

From Australia to New Zealand for holiday and reprieve, I went. A while before I had decided to come home, I had begun looking for what might be next. Coming home, it became more obvious that I should return to Israel and take up the task of finishing a thesis that I had seriously thought about letting go. Its not a document that I need for the degree though it is a document that would put me in better stead for more serious work in the discipline.

So April, I returned home and began searching again for work and the ability to finance a return to Israel. I again landed in Grand Rapids, not least after having visited a number of lovely friends in Chicago, Upland, Greenville, Lowell, Nashville, Little Rock, Buies Creek, Scioto Hills, Akron, Oberlin and Tank Lake. After one last trip from Grand Rapids to West Virginia and I began taking on as many hours as I could manage to fit the flight bill. God be praised. He provides and I have made it back. The journey has so many meaningful happenings and Providences. I have found that, God as my witness, the most devastating of losses can lead to the most life-giving gains. "The greater the struggle, the more glorious the triumph."

Paradox...

I'll fly by the wrung of the spinning recoil

and taste the temper of time

when bull-backed relapses invoke a response

a turned table that's taken and mine

so hold back your passions and beat back your tears

and stand tall to face what you've done

Too bad ours is over with out hearing cause

too bad I'll be standing alone

Hear Hear the Red Dragon

Hear Hear she's inside

Hear Hear the slayer will come

Hear Hear the White Stallion

Hear Hear the last dance

Hear Hear when judgment is done

Some terrors bought back by a teller of chance

a love-song two-faced into black

Cause its never as easy as its may to appear

and their judgments are quick to attack

I should have stopped dancing when the music turned off

and I should have turned off the noise

Cold-cocked with surprise now the secrets awake

undone by your right to be poised

Hear Hear the Red Dragon

Hear Hear she's inside

Hear Hear the slayer will come

Hear Hear the White Stallion

Hear Hear the last dance

Hear Hear when judgment is done

Guns loaded and lonely she might pull you in

and pull you down on her chest

Right to wrong fancy the bottles is full

and I'll raise it

here's to wishing you, Best!

Forgiveness and jealousy are signature friends

Pent up in license and loss

The row that you traveled has seeds left to grow
and the better for having a cost

Hear Hear the Red Dragon

Hear Hear she's inside

Hear Hear the slayer will come

Hear Hear the White Stallion

Hear Hear the last dance

Hear Hear when judgment is done

Meant to...

A block from home

And far from here

The linger burns my throat.

A fit of fear

And wrung out tears

That sting of shadowed smoke.

The pangs and fillings

...cloud nine fall

A ring wrung round your neck.

Icarus

In replayed paid

And broken promises. (this is your heart break)

Cause I never meant the things I said and you think that you would know it

And you never meant the things you did and you think that I should know it

The crux and candor

Bridge and break

The wash of better dreams.

A mix of force

Your loss of voice

Will build a better thing.

But the long lost fight                             (is bitter biting and fits of lightening)

Blind-eyed might

Is a fixture on your wall.

You’ll tell yourself

And tell yourself

The Devils got a fall.

Cause you never meant the things you said and you think that I should know it

And I never meant the things I did and you think that you would know it

But these

Terrors are forever

Invested in your head.

They are figments

Of a past appeal

Robbing your investments

Ending starts

Refining charms

From death in absolutes.

But standing taller

Filled with power

Are bits of what you'll lose.

Cause I never meant the things I said and you think that you would know it

And you never meant the things you did and you think that I should know it

Mine is smaller

Pose or falter

Or buy myself a drink.

And hope the bruises

Light their fuses

In final. release.

Cause you never meant the things you said and I think that I should know it

And I never meant the things I did and you think that you would know it

Bridge:

Maybe it’s a chapter where the best is yet to come

Or maybe its an ending that has. just. begun.