Views from the window

Hem

I wonder if we are the hem of his garment

The tip of his royal robe

The segment that sweeps along the ground

As heaven dances upon the earth

Splendor meeting soil

Stirring up the dust

Bound to be a little frayed

Bound to bear the marks of a journey long and hard

Bound to unravel a little at times

But even the thread is golden

And there is a master seamstress

And you would think the trimming would lose its allure

That the filth it sails through would ruin it beyond recognition

But in this upside-down kingdom

It is the stains that make it more beautiful

And in this upside-down kingdom

The gown glows most brightly in the dirtiest of places

And because it is an upside-down kingdom

Perhaps we are not hovering on the distant margins of the heavenly One

As he hangs loftily high above us

Perhaps here, on the boundary

Between

Seen and unseen

Lost and found

Despair and joy

What is and

What is yet to come

Is where

He is most present

And so perhaps this fragment

Of a breathtaking garment

Is actually

The most glorious

Katrina Quinn May 2013

Penzance

The town I spend most time in at the moment is Penzance.  It's just a 10 minute drive away and is where my job is.

Penzance is the end of the line.  Literally.  The South-west trains go no further.  Apparently this means that quite a few people who are at the end of their tether wash up here.  Homeless, job-less, hope-less.  We met this guy who'd ended up in Cornwall and was ready to kill himself.   He had nowhere left to go.  Thankfully, in his case, he was rescued by a Jesus-loving, kind-faced mother and daughter.  The daughter is called Grace.  And he is still alive.

There are parts and people in Penzance that do seem kind of forgotten.  There's a lot of drinking and angry shouting.  Penzance isn't breath-taking pretty like the other town we live near: St Ives.  In a lot of ways it's a fairly average small market-y town with your New Look, Peacocks, Boots, Weatherspoons and Pound-stretcher, etc.  I often hear people dissing it.

But there's also loads of churches - one in particular with the most beautiful graveyard I've ever seen.  There's pretty parks and tropical gardens.  Dog-walkers galore.  There's the camp guy with pink and blue hair and two tiny dogs who walks past the cafe every day.  The lady with the the two Labradors.  There's hidden backstreets and tiny alleyways to explore.  Friendly faces in the the shops and cafes I've been in.  A sea-water swimming pool and St Michael's Mount hovering in the distance. There's palm tree studded driveways and tiny cottages.  Every corner reveals a different view.

it's not beautiful, but

I like it.

  

What do you see?

Just playing around trying to be a bit more creative, and make the most of having more time on my hands...

Tornadoes

A wind blows

It moves the branches that have been hanging heavy for too long

Moves them until the trees are waving and dancing their praises

Them that thought they could not be moved

Them that believed they could not dance again

The wind will even shake the rocks

Will move the things we thought would never change

But do you know what will do more damage?

Tornadoes

Tornadoes of a different kind to what you’ve seen before

Because the wind stirs hearts

The wind starts picking up the dead leaves and whisks them away to uncover forgotten ground

The wind echoes off shards of broken glass and a new song rises from what was once deemed hopeless

And the wind stirs hearts

Stirs them to remember

Stirs them to dream again

As they catch a scent on the breeze of something ancient as the stars

And promising as the dawn

Stirs them to move

Stirs them to believe that the surroundings could look different

As they begin to move and move and move

They spin through the streets

And they run through the dark places

And the wind causes embers to throw off sparks

And the sparks cause creativity to catch alight

Light where before there was none

Streams in the desert

And LIFE and colour and music and newness and rhythm and rescue and refuge and places of safety and restoration and healing and peace

Hearts like tornadoes

WE are the tornadoes

Fiercely gentle and

Unafraid

Spinning and spreading the breath of God out into homes, streets, villages, towns, cities, nations

In workplaces and walkways and supermarkets and studios and gyms and gardens and schools and pubs and clubs and beaches

And what can remain the same once a tornado has passed through?

How to become a British Citizen

Becoming British

Attaining that coveted maroon passport

It's easy.

All you need to do

is to fill in about 100 hundred forms

submit evidence numerous times to prove who you are, where you live and have lived, where you've worked, where your mother was born, where your grandfather was born, who got married to who

i.e. track down birth certificates and marriage certificates - ORIGINALS MIND YOU - this task becomes even more fun when your family is spread out over four continents.

Pass a citizenship test - where you will be asked to learn all sorts of information that no average British person knows, like the percentage of ethnic minorities and religions that make up the UK, how parliament is run, etc.

In the mean time, make sure you are never stopped by the police for anything, make sure you don't apply for benefits that you are not allowed to apply for, make sure your visa is always up to date, make sure there's no reason for citizenship not to be granted, worry while your passport (with visas in) is not with you, worry each time you've sent everything off about whether it will be accepted, worry about how to pay for everything, like....

pay for a visa (the type of visa depends on your nationality and your immigration status e.g. ancestral visa, marriage visa, etc)
pay for a solicitor to help you get your visa as laws often change and if you get one thing wrong you'll have to start over again
pay to send your documents off safely
pay to have them sent back safely
repeat above two points several times over
pay to take a citizenship test
pay again for a citizenship test if you don't pass it the first time
pay to apply for permanent residency
pay solicitors to help you apply for permanent residency
pay to apply for citizenship
pay solicitors to help you apply for citizenship
pay your county of origin to let you have dual nationality
pay Britain to let you have dual nationality
pay for a passport

and if you want to you can pay for a special certificate at the end of it.

If you're wondering, that comes to well over £2,000.

See EASY.

Sure.

But, amazingly, thanks mainly to some very generous family members, we have got there.  My South African hubby is now also British.  He can now apply for a British passport and travel around Europe and elsewhere without going through a lengthy visa application process.  The lady at the citizenship ceremony yesterday said his South African passport looks well travelled.  Wrong.  In 10 years he's only been back to SA once, and other than that not left the country.  His passport has travelled more in the post than in his hand.  But now, the world is being opened up.  And this is the main reason he went through the above process.  Lots of people stick with permanent residency, as you can access most benefits that citizens do, and you don't have to pay the extra grand or so.  But we don't think we'll be here forever, so i reckon a British passport will come in handy.  Also, it's not totally random as his grandfather was English. AND he's married to me. I think it would be weirder if there were no connection at all.

The ceremony in Truro Town Hall yesterday was interesting.  It's where about 20 people were officially made citizens, as they pledged their allegiance to the Queen and country.  I'm not sure that many British-born people would be that happy about doing that!  There was a massive portrait of the Queen and of Prince Charles at the front of the room.  Almost comical.  The other people were from all different nationalities - American, Chinese, Philipino, Indian and others.  Many of them were married to British people and had young children, which made a serious ceremony kind of funny, as there were 2-year-olds shouting out and running around throughout!  There was a talk from a lady with a big gold medallion on, who mainly spoke about Cornwall and the council!  But everyone was very friendly and welcoming and it was a positive event. They even served scones and jam afterwards!

We got home to be greeted by Union Jack flags decorating our house which was funny!  But now I'm a bit embarrassed and I think they'll be coming down soon.  Can't say i ever expected to 'be one of those people with flags on their house'!!  Not really that patriotic you see... which is why yesterday was a little odd.  But it's a massive relief for both of us not to have to spend any more pennies or fill in any more forms.

We did it!!! :-)