Art Museum

Today Tamea and I went to the South African Gallery of Art in Cape Town. One of the exhibits was about how children have been depicted in art through time. On the wall was a poem by William Blake which struck a chord with me so much that I began to cry:

The Little Black Boy

My mother bore me in the southern wild,
And I am black, but oh my soul is white!
White as an angel is the English child,
But I am black, as if bereaved of light.

My mother taught me underneath a tree,
And, sitting down before the heat of day,
She took me on her lap and kissed me,
And, pointed to the east, began to say:

"Look on the rising sun: there God does live,
And gives His light, and gives His heat away,
And flowers and trees and beasts and men receive
Comfort in morning, joy in the noonday.

"And we are put on earth a little space,
That we may learn to bear the beams of love
And these black bodies and this sunburnt face
Is but a cloud, and like a shady grove.

"For when our souls have learn'd the heat to bear,
The cloud will vanish, we shall hear His voice,
Saying, 'Come out from the grove, my love and care
And round my golden tent like lambs rejoice',"

Thus did my mother say, and kissed me;
And thus I say to little English boy.
When I from black and he from white cloud free,
And round the tent of God like lambs we joy

I'll shade him from the heat till he can bear
To lean in joy upon our Father's knee;
And then I'll stand and stroke his silver hair,
And be like him, and he will then love me.

Happy Holidays

So it's Christmastime here, and it completely does not feel like it.

I've been trying to set the Christmas mood, but so far nothing has helped. Playing the two Christmas songs on my iPod on loop (Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by James Taylor and Merry Christmas, War is Over by John Lennon...in case you were wondering), baking delicious baked good with lots of cinnamon, making ornaments for our tiny volunteer Christmas tree, wrapping presents...it doesn't matter what I do, it still doesn't feel like Christmas. I think the fact that it was 90 degrees outside yesterday doesn't help.

Tamea (friend from college, for those reading this who don't know her) is in town and we are planning to celebrate tomorrow by hanging out with the 2-4 year olds here at GGA and then eating steak with two other volunteers. After Christmas Tamea and I will be traveling to Cape Town and the Garden Route for a little sightseeing and relaxation. Pray for us for safe travels!

Wishing you ridiculously happy holidays...