Brodtje alstublieft

Brodtje alstublieft!!

Every few metres one come across these outlets selling baguettes...very tasty baguettes...and many of the students here opt to have one at any time of day...this is a healthy snack in substitution for the hamburger...and is not as expensive as any meal at any one of the mega fast food companies...

But what is with bread?! Is bread all we need?!
"It is written that, man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." [Mt 4 4] May we all take this seriously and start to ponder deeper on these words...May we truly strive to nourish ourselves with this food...that we may be satiated.
Physical nourishment is not sufficient for a healthy life; man also has spiritual needs which need to be attended to. Jesus, acknowledged this and he also confirmed what "it is written" in the Torah which he came not to abolish but to fulfill...Deut 8, 2- 3

Thus let us give due heed to all this that we may never be hungry!! Let's say Brodtje alstublieft...
[Baguette please...]

Milk - Honey

Milk and Honey!!

This morning I woke up with a sore throat for the water stays cold eventhough it's not refrigirated...so I decided to have some milk and honey! I never thought that they can go together but believe me they blend really well...Milk and Honey...what a combination...

This drove home something that goes like this in translation "a land flowing with milk and honey" [Ex 33, 3] - a figurative name referring to the Promised Land - which in such way describes a place of great abundance...abundance abundance...that's how He gets to deal with us!! He does know no other way...but to shower us with great abundance of love! That's His only way! He knows no other!

Indeed, this time of year also recalls this image of a perfect land so fertile, its green hills flow with honey dripping from its hives, like liquid gold in the sunlight. A spacious land covered with pink hawthorn, red cyclamen, and white rockrose. There are the flowers of its myriad wild fruits, and the warm valley air smelling of their nectar.

Gushing — somehow — from the land itself, there are springs of pure milk white as snow, and bright streams of it flowing through the hills, as if the milk of an eternally vibrant earth mother in her fruitful cycle of multiplication. It is, "the beauty of all lands" — a paradise whose people would lack nothing.
For us, "milk and honey" originates in the Hebrew Bible in God's description of the country lying between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, namely, Canaan. It is first described as "a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey" — and in this way alone — when God commissions Moses to lead the Israelites to it.
We generally accept the received definition of "milk and honey" as a metaphor meaning all good things — God's blessings; and that the Promised Land must have been a land of extraordinary fertility. The phrase "flowing with milk and honey" is understood to be hyperbolically descriptive of the land's richness; hence, its current use to express the abundance of pure means of enjoyment.
The original Hebrew (transliterated) is "e-retz za-vat ha-lav oo–d'vash"; literally, land (e-retz) flowing with (za-vat) milk (ha-lav) and (oo–) honey (d'vash). The word translated as "flowing" comes from the verb "zoov" which means to flow or gush. Key to understanding this word in the biblical context is an appreciation of its human sexual associations, given that variants of it are used elsewhere in the Bible to denote the bodily fluids issued from the genitals of either a woman or a man.
Thus, in the Hebrew, the word "za-vat" suggests the idea of the land's gushing milk and honey in a sudden and copious flow, as well as its oozing them, and dripping them.
Another instance and context whereby this pair word of milk and honey is mentioned in Hebrew Scriptures is in the Song of Songs [xir ha xirim] in 4, 11 : "milk and honey are under your tongue" it has a very sensual meaning...which the sacred author depicts with all these figurative particles...well it's the way love is being expressed...and there are no inhibitions...the author is not in any way arrested in words...and provides us with a work that is as seductive...
Indeed, that's the only way God gets to deal with us...he is a seductive lover who is ever abundant in his love...he is a honeycomb who is always dripping...

Off to lick off some honey!!!

Me and Him

This is between me and Him...this is what I say to Him and then he just reassures me with some few words...but that would be all I need...[Will you be there? - Michael Jackson]

In my darkest hour, in my deepest despair...
Will you still care?
Will you be there?
In my trials
And my tribulations
Through my doubts and frustrations

Through my fear
And my confessions
In my anguish and my pain
Through my joy and my sorrow
In the promise of another tomorrow
Will you be there?


Ill never let you part
For you're always in my heart.

Let yourself be soaked!!

What's with an umbrella?! It gives you shelter from the rain! You just feel safe to roam around in rain and still know that you won't get soaked up with water. What more having someone holding it for you and holding you close; making sure that you're all covered!
Well this is a nice scene that I get to often glimpse through the window panes of my college when its raining...

How I wish I could have an umbrella that would ward away all the rain...all the work that I have to do...all that Greek and Hebrew parsing...all that reading...all that writing that I kick off with!! How will I ever say I'm done!! How will I ever ward off all the creeps and fears...!! Who will be my umbrella?!


My umbrella is only Him who says to me: "My child stand still...I will give you shelter...and no there is no way you will get soaked...It will surely happen that one day you'll say I'm done with all the work for I assure that I'll be with you every mile you go and you know that I will never let you down...I'll hold you close and never let you go! All my love is for you and nothing can beat it...no waters or floods can drown it...for my love is as strong that it conquers all...all fears and doubt! It is that which sets you free...so my child stand still for you're forever in my love...just get soaked with it!"

Weather in Belgium

Weather in Belgium is not as nice as in Malta...there is no doubt about it and everybody knows!
Many a times I'm asked why I still decided to come over to this gloomy country rather than not staying on the rocky island of Malta when the sun is always shining...well that's the idea! The sun is always shining...we do get rainy and stormy seasons...and when it rains it does so heavily...unlike here, when it rains and it rarely does now it just drips and you can still walk around with ease and do your errands with as much comfort...it drips all day and yet you see no water puddles...the streets are constructed in such a way that no matter the volume of rain water it flows down the gulleys and is stored at the water table. So no water is gone wasted and the roads are still safe to walk and drive on! Such systems should be devised in Malta...as to avoid all those days when it rains and many main streets are flooded and are thus closed to traffic...which causes much choas and inconvenience...I've had already consulted the mayor of my village about this fact...so that he could see to this...but apparently no heed was given to my call...better luck next time!!

Malta vs. Belgium/Leuven

Talking of high heels!! Well this is the pavement all over the city...It is quite uncomfortable to walk on! Well how about the street pavements! They are all uneven and you're safer on the road than on the pavement...the pavements are all dislodged...and you don't know where to step...I prefer walking by the sidewalk rather than on it...i prefer being run over by a car or by a bike rather than have to always trip over loosened tiles...believe me, we're far that is by far better in Malta...we're not that bad! We should be very proud of all that has been accomplished...we've truly made a step forward in many things...and we no longer feel any shame when people from abraod come to visit our shores!! So let's keep up our common heritage...

High Heels

Oh yes,he was right!there is a price to pay; there is always a price to pay;.nothing comes for free

Indeed, wearing high heels is not such a good idea...especially when you have to walk on city pavements and get your pencil heel stuck there as to then have no choice but to get to ask your buddy to pull it out for you in the middle of the night...and then get to walk barefoot for a while or else have your buddy lift you up and carry you all the way to your room...

Well the heels are almost ruined now...will get them fixed soon...in Malta...for they are by far cheaper there!


These high heels are what I call a necessary evil...when you're from the Mediterranean in a Northern country as Belgium you get to spot the differences...and not to feel and look as odd amongst the inhabitants you get to wear high heels to make up for the height discrepancy! Also, it serves another purpose...and that is why I get to wear them. You don't need to fix all your trousers...high heels solve it for you!

Full Week

Me - Cheri - Sandra

What a nice combination!! It's as if each of us decided to show off our pink outfits!!

It was quite a full week last week...It all kicked on Tuesday when a friend of mine invited me over to have dinner with him together with his friends at his place....we ate some typical food from Jordan and believe me it tasted heavenly!!! It was absolutely delicious...the company made it all the more! What a company! I got to witness to what real friends are like! These bunch of friends get to give everything, all that they are for each other! They are so committed to each other. They won't ever do something to infringe on their friendship's bonds!
On Wednesday, then, I was supposed to go out with some other friends for a night out! We had been planning this for ages and we all decided to have a go at it on Wednesday but I had to refrain from going because I was exhausted...I was dead tired and decided to turn the invitation down on the very last minute...they were all so disappointed but what can I do when the spirit wills but the flesh is too weak and vulnerable!?! Well I'll be catching up with thme next week!! On a Wednesday still!!

Valentine was the day that followed...St Valentine on Thursday...I got a bunch of red roses from a good friend of mine...the one who invited me over for dinner on Tuesday...it was quite an enjoyable evening...

Friday ...I stayed in...and then Saturday...then Sunday! On Sunday, I was invited to Cheri Gaumer's welcome back home party...it was quite an evening...I didn't stay that long for I wanted to head back to my room to get myself geared up for the week...and another week indeed has gone bay...and it's already Saturday!!

Yesterday I had a pleasant evening with a friend...we danced through the night and had the dance floor for ourselves...he is such a good dancer...he can make you turn as if on snow!!

My shoe sole is now all torn...from dancing and from walking round the city with all its rough pavements...will be going to the shoemaker when I get to Malta to have my shoes repaired!!

What's Love all About?!

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth
For his love is better than wine
Rightly everyone loves him....

[Cf. Sg 1, 1 - 4]

What is love all about?! Is it about just carressing?! About kissing and fondling?! It's not just that! Precisely because it's more and other than that! Love is ...there are no words good enough to say what something as mysterious and sacred as love is! Yet I would still dare to tread where angels dread to tread! I get to say that love is all that Paul said to the people of Corinth...that it is patient...that it awaits no matter what...that it gives up everything without keeping anything for itself...it has no reservations, no pretensions...it is what gives wings and yet it is that which makes you bleed...it is that which heals and scars.
Love is not to be taken as lightly...it's not all about fairytales...even the author of the shir hashirim cautions its readers to take love seriously for its passions are fierce as the grave and its flashes are flashes of fire...a raging fire which many many waters cannot quench and neither can floods drown it. [cf. Sg 8, 6 - 7]

Change...

Time Flies...

It goes so fast...you never know how it flies! There is always this fleeting change where never gets to stay...everything gets to pass! Change becomes the only constant. Indeed, we have all experienced the constancy and perpetual renovation of the material world which surrounds us. Frail and transitory as is every part of it, restless and migratory as are its elements, never-ceasing as are its changes, still it abides.
It is bound together by a law of permanence, it is set up in unity; and though it is ever dying , it is ever coming to life again. Dissolution does but give birth to fresh modes of organization, and one death is the parent of a thousand lives.
Each hour, as it comes, is but a testimony, how fleeting, yet how secure, how certain, is the great whole. It is like an image on the waters, which is ever the same, though the waters ever flow. Change upon change - yet one change cries out to another. The sun sinks to rise again; the day is swallowed up in the gloom of the night, to be born out of it, as fresh as if it had never been quenched. Spring passes into summer, and through summer and autumn into wintor, only the more surely, by its own ultimate return, to triumph over the grave.
By the revolution of that solemn circle which never stops - which teaches us in our height of hope, ever to be sober, and in our depth of desolation, never to despair....

All this came to me when I read through the greeting words of the KDZ's Update...that my sweet close friend gets to write to every news update...Mari an ever adorable angel!

Sending you all my love from the not as cold Belgium!!

P.S. I love you...

I was looking for a picture that would somehow get to depict what is put forward in the Song of Songs...namely, love! And this is the closest I could find! So I decided to post it on the blog! I also would like to kindly invite you to take this erotic love song which is rightly placed in the library of wisdom books...take it in your hands, read through it and ponder deeply upon it...for this is no other book that is as mesmerizing as this one! Let it seduce you!

Angels...

Aren't we all blessed by angels...there are so many around who flutters their wings...and they become the wind that's underneath our wings...which gives us strength to soar above and reach heavens above...these are the persons who keeps us bouyed and floating when it comes so easy to drown under and be over-ridden with mighty waves. They help us ride the waves and shed hope and light in the darkness of night. Indeed, we are told that the sun sinks to rise again; the day is swallowed up in the gloom of the night, to be born out of it, as fresh as if it had never been quenched...indeed may we shine as bright as the sun after rain!

Keep on flapping your wings my angel...you're the wind beneath my wings...

Leuven - Cycling - City

LCC

This is something which you cannot miss out in Leuven...it is a green city...and as I always claim one is more likely to get hit by a bike than being run over by a car! Yet what is of great "fascinans" to me is this type of bike where you get to see parents riding along with their kids...there are some who even have trolleys carrying some two kids in great comfort and safety...This morning as I was on my way to the gym, I had to get to the open market to buy some veg and fruits as well as some good nice sockings for the temperatures are going down and down almost below zero...I happened to see a mother with a baby child on the front, with another in a back pouch in her jacket and another one cycling along with her at the back...I would not trade such a spectacle with anything...I might sound bizarre but these things touch my heart and soul...I behold beauty in such things; a beauty which cannot be encapsulated in adequate words...for some things goes better unsaid or better cannot be said!

What an Ass!!

What an Ass!!

Do you still remember the first science class that we had! Whereby we were given instructions to fold a paper in four and then get to write an answer to a question on each of the sections as to finally realize that when these one-word answers are put in a string the sentence "I am an ass" would come to the fore...Indeed, that's what I realized today as well...for I had to read the entire notice [aandacht] that was still on the door to the fitness centre today when I went there for some work out all saoked in rain. It was indicated [in Dutch] that the sports complex will be closed and will reopen again on Monday 4th till 5pm...but then in small tiny print there was also indicated that both the fitness centre and the indoor pools will be closed [gesloten] and I had to head back home...but then decided to have a detour so that I would still have made some work out...Indeed, and on my way back I met a Maltese couple. I knew the girl, we used to work together during summer and she had told me that she would be visiting her boy who happened to be here following some courses in law as an Erasmus student. What a great coincidence. I could tell from a distance that when I got glimpse of this boy that he had Maltese facial features...and as a matter of fact I looked at him again and it was then that I got a glimpse of his girl whom I knew. What a small world! I don't know if I should leave all this up to a matter of coincidences...I would rather have it explained as a miracle...as a sign from God that all that might seem impossible for us is absolutely possible for him! A sure sign to induce me to trust more to hope for more and to keep my head held up high to behold anything that comes my way that is God-sent!!

Behold the light! Behold him! He is the One whom we can Trust!
He will not disappoint us! He is forever faithful!

Track Runner...

I would run 500 miles
And I would run 500 more

Oh yeah yeah...went to the fitness centre but guess what it was closed and will be closed today as well. It will only reopen for tomorrow...all university facilities are closed down during these days in honour of St. Thomas Aquinas who is the Patron Saint of KUL...But I realized that just before I reached the complex and then went to the glass door to have a notice [in Dutch] confirming that the fitness centre is 'gesloten' and will reopen on Monday but would stay till 5pm instead of 11pm...I get to pick up on some words and then make up the meaning...I rarely miss...but there are occasions when I do...
But still, this didn't put me off...I decided to run round the track for as long as I can hold myself up...and ran for some half an hour and then headed back to the city centre to meet up with myPolish friend [Zuzanna] for some last sale shopping...and guess what I found some two pair of jeans from espirit and zara for 20/10euros...that was quite a bargain...as I usually get to pay around 100euros..i bought some other basic clothes and then I was all exhausted as I hadn't had a decent breakfast and had no lunch till 3pm...wiii
It is always so pleasant to be with friends...and to have them as near....

I miss out on other friends back home...and I treasure them now like never before; for as the saying goes, you'll never miss the water until it is gone...

Fitness Centre

Fitness Gym

What a day!! What an early bird! I woke up at around 6am and could not get more sleep...now that exam period is over and I can even sleep longer I'm waking earlier than I did or had to last week...isn't this an unfathomable contradiction...

Then I headed to the library was looking up for some articles and books and ended up having a very nice chat with a Romanian chap by the name Cosmin...it was then time for me to head back to my room and get ready to the gym...had my first session there and it was absolutely fun...i'll be going there as often as i can...hopefully daily...it's good to feel good! we are all temples of the spirit and embellishing the indwelling is only proper and praiseworthy.


I'm now off to rest for a while to get ready for later...for a Salsa Party and then if some energy is still retained in this temple of mine then I get to drag my friends to Seven Oaks for some house music...