Claude Delaittre rscj | Margot Crowther rscj | Fleur Caldwell rscj | Geraldine Villaluz rscj

The In-Between Time

Blackall, 2004 - The Empty Month of January (The flavour of the Outback Queensland ? Australia - but just at a certain time.)

Burning heat presses down on skin, clothes, surfaces,
clammy clothes cling uncomfortably,
And legs are leaden.
The one living in the In-Between time
stands in the open door-way,
Half-seeing, half-hearing,
Nothing really.
The past gone, the future unknown.
First the long empty NOW of the In-Between Time.
Curved, blue sky above, ashen plains stretching to the horizon,
waiting breathlessly for rain.
Stillness, space, solitude, silence,
A sharp bark, a crow?s complaining cry,
the hissing and clicking of insects, the odd car passing
someone doing something!
But not the one standing in the doorway.
This is what they write about ? a Valuable Experience
The In-Between, Nothing Experience
hold it carefully, slowly sip the Living Water,
savour the clear tastelessness of patient waiting
(the daily substance of most of my brothers and sisters- their daily
bread.)
Stand still and stay
in the In-Between Time.

Spinning

The artist at work

As the wheel turns as I treadle
My mind roams the hills and paddocks of our land
Where so many sheep and lambs nibble, romp, sleep,
I wonder which of these was mine,
The one whose fleece has ended up in my hands.
A Romney - whose soft feel is easy
To the touch and does not tend to lump and break.
Was it male or female?
Was it young or old?
Was it from the North or the South?
How I would love to pick it out,
Meet it and tell it how grateful I am,
Thank it and give it a cuddle.
What do you give sheep to show affection?
What sort of tit bit would it really relish?
Only God knows these things.
I can talk to Him about my sheep.
I can thank Him for this animal of mine,
So much cherished and talked about and used right back in  time.
Jesus spoke of sheep,
He even compared us to that animal.
'Go feed my sheep' He told His Apostles.
The people of the Old Testament used sheep as sacrifice to God,
Moses was looking after his flock when he saw the burning bush.
Before the Passover the people had to feast on lamb
And put the blood on their door posts.
So down through the ages this humble beast has fed and clothed
Countless millions of people.
How often we think of, sing of and pray to God
As SHEPHERD.
'The Lord is my Shepherd
There is nothing I shall want.'
So thank you Lord for my sheep.
His/Her wool is being spun and knitted into a cardigan.
What a story this cardigan could tell!

Concert for Peace, 2003 Cebu City, Philippines

Download MP3: shoutforpeace.mp3

SHOUT FOR PEACE!
DANCE FOR LOVE!

Theme Song of St. Theresa?s College
Concert for Peace, 2003 Cebu City, Philippines
Words and Music: Geraldine C. Villaluz rscj
Orchestrated by: Obette G. del Rosario


SHOUT FOR PEACE! PEOPLES OF ALL NATIONS
DANCE FOR LOVE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH.


Sing as one voice all peoples,
Sing out with joy for we are called,
To co-create our world with God?s love in creation,
Sisters, brothers, fam?lies we are one.


Reach out our hands to another,
Water, earth, sun, moon and sky,
We are one fam?ly, one world, one creation,
We stand to co-create a better world.