D4D Design Social Documentation
Image by blese
blog.d4d-china.org
TASKING PEOPLE
HCD approach to tasking D4D researchers.
HMW improve the quality of information collected?
Guidelines for tagging (a taxonomy)
Action item: create a framework and taxonomy for collecting information
HMW match skills and interests?
Know your strengths
Offers*/Wants
Take a psychology quiz * (what kind of volunteer are you? what do you do in this situation? how well do you know the law? how would you approach x?)
Action item: prototype a survey
HMW better prepare prepare volunteers for research?
Database of Tools**: Research methods at the ready. Cherry picked per micro and mega-missions.
Coaching for Urban Field Studies (show respect,smile, be nice to people)
An ID card with the D4D story/mission and field tips on the backside. Phone number for a D4D official representative
A wad of fake money to throw in the air in case of an emergency
A t-shirt with Jet Li's "one community" as a D4D partner (WWJLD?)
Action item: prototype a research kit or mission-in-a-box**
Action item: design a D4D ID card
HMW motivate and focus the energy of volunteers?
Progress bar* - Time left till Expo 2010
Progress map ***
A map of neighborhoods showing percentage of coverage, highlighting viring territory, hotspots like construction sites and migrant housing
A calendar highlighting weekend scouting parties (who's coming, how many spaces are left).
A mission page with suggested methods (try this today!) to use and an invitation to accept the mission or pass.
HMW recruit or incentivize experts and insiders? *
CREATING MISSIONS
Type 1 mission, solo in your own hood. (weekdays)
Daily walk. *****
Making stronger relationships with the people in your neighborhood.
"Own your hood"
Type 2 mission, as a group do something (weekends)
Local + Expat Team. *
Locals help with language/culture, expats make it more comfortable? or less... hmm
One Good Deed a week. Reward feeling for the volunteer. Speak to 3 new people in your neighborhood
FEEDBACK
Monthly prize for Top Scout
Volunteer of the Month Award (web page and a real plaque for your wall or table)
Host an event
Tea and workshop ******
Getting to know the community to talk one afternoon
TOOLS FOR SCOUTING
Set up a separate blog: my most interesting, strangest, nicest day in the community.
MSN on the phone (official channel of communication)
MSN group - post photos**, chat room**
Youku Video Awareness campaign: sign up and watch updates from shanghai
Format*: strict simple questions and answers: where did you seen them, one challenge, one idea
Template for material ** - Identify what methods work -evolve into a kit for D4D volunteers.
Scouting Parties**
Spam your friends in a fun way
Posters
Email Photos and comments
SMS Tool to send members reminders *******
Benefits of joining my party
Learn about my neighborhood, explore new neighborhoods
Fun & Food
Host a scouting party in your hood
Be the Expert. Be the tourist.
Photo Walks***** sponsored by Lomo Store.
Video Walks* (Who is the flipcam of China?)
"Icebreaker" An excuse to talk to people in your neigborhood
Neighborhood contests (Nicest smile, Best service, Good Quality Good Price, Reliable, Persistent)
"Take me home"
Small weekend scouting parties leading up to a big holiday blast.*** Take it home
Making them comfortable. Give something back.
Gift of a polaroid.*** Pointer back to D4D.
D4D Urban Scout iPhone & Android app
2 types of missions. Solo missions for workdays. On your way to or from work. Group scouting parties on the weekend.
Living Frugally for Fun and Profit
Image by Boogies with Fish
www.messersmith.name/wordpress/2010/12/23/living-frugally...
Today is my birthday. Happy birthday to me. I've spent a lot of this morning answering messages sent to me from friends, many of whom I have never met, wishing me all the best and congratulating me on my longevity. The former sentiment is welcome and comforting. The latter, well, it seems something that happened to me gradually and is only now becoming troublesome. I have enough faith and understanding of human nature to know that I'm wintering now. That is the season that is upon me. Spring will come, sooner or later, and someday I'll start a new life that is beyond my imagination. I've learned patience, especially in the last half of my life. Living in Papua New Guinea is an experience that fosters patience in the wise. My spring will come.
Since this is the saddest birthday I have ever had, I'll now do what is best for me. I'll amuse myself with feeble attempts at humour while annoying you. This will be fun. Along the way, I'll puzzle you with some images that are utterly unrelated to the subject matter.
Upon my return from Australia, I was immediately deluged with not-so-subtle clues that my life had changed dramatically. I found myself deep in debt. The circumstances leading up to this, some obvious, some not so, were many and complex. They are boring, so I'll not put us all to sleep with the details. Of course, the financial situation was only one of many changes. I've learned to cope with most of these. Some can be fixed. Some can't. Loneliness is the worst, but that can't be helped. It's difficult to explain to why one can feel lonely to the bones while surrounded by laughing friends. It seems unlikely. It is, however, profoundly real.
I must learn many new skills to enjoy this new life. I must accomplish many things to assure happiness. One thing which I can do something about is money.
I made some mistakes at first. I talked too much. I'm a compulsive talker. I give too much away. I trust more than I ought and I take it for granted that others will be as interested and inquisitive about me as I am about them. I want to get under the skin, and sometimes that is unwelcome. I erred in giving the impression that I was broke and in dire financial stress. This is not the case. I'm better off than most of the people on this planet - much better off.
I'm not broke. I am just being careful. Throughout our lives, Eunie and I followed the "best financial advice". Oh, what a mistake that was. It seems that most of those who formulate this advice are those who have already gotten theirs and are looking to get their hand's on some of yours.
The worst mistake, among many, which we made was to buy into consumerism and borrowing. It's easy to talk about these twin evils today, since many of you have also been stung by these wasps. Thirty years ago, nobody would listen. We certainly weren't.
I won't go into the property fiasco in detail. It's too boring. Let's just say that nobody today is suggesting that it's a good idea to buy old houses and rent them out, expecting them to provide a retirement income. You can imagine how that turned out. However, thirty-five years ago that was the "best financial advice", at least from the person in whom we had placed trust.
What I will go into is the matter of debt. I often wonder what my world would be like today if I had resisted to ever buy anything for which I could not pay cash. Certainly there are many, many things which I would never have had. However, today I have none of those things. They've turned to dust or whatever happens to all those things I "needed" then and no longer even exist in my memories.
Okay, time for a picutre:
That's my good buddy Monty Armstrong (whoops, I nearly typed Python) with his trusty Canon G11 camera. The water was nice and clear that day.
So, how does one avoid buying everything which catches the eye and immediately insinuates itself in your brain as a need? For me, it wasn't easy. I spent most of my life learning to subdue the urge. The problem is that plastic makes to far too easy. We lived for many years without credit cards. We resisted the temptation for quite a while. However, I can remember going for a decade with monthly payments to Household Finance. I don't care about all the money I spent on the stuff, but I'd sure like to have the interest back!
Well, I digress. Let me get back on point. What is the difference between being a miser and living frugally?
Let's have a look at the definition of a miser from the Princeton Word Search:
(n) miser (a stingy hoarder of money and possessions (often living miserably))
Hmmm. . . that doesn't sound very pleasant. It doesn't sound like a person you'd want to have as a friend, either. Who would buy you a beer? Would this person share a cab fare without counting every penny? I don't think so. I knew a guy like that once. He owned a barber shop in a small town where we lived for a couple of years. We made the mistake of going on a holiday with him and his wife. He drove us crazy with his accounting. Oh, there was no problem if I said, "I'll get that." However, if I didn't make the offer, then out came the notebook and pencil. Scratch, scratch, scratch - here's your share. I had a pocket full of change clinking as I walked. I hate small change.
Well, that's clearly not me. In the first place, I'm not stingy, never have been. And I'm not miserable, at least as far as money goes. Those miseries I do have will subside. Money problems require a strategy. I have a strategy.
Okay, now let's look at the definition of frugality:
Frugality is the practice of acquiring goods and services in a restrained manner, and resourcefully using already owned economic goods and services, to achieve a longer term goal.
That doesn't sound nearly as bad.
Here's monty again. He's shooting a Prickly Sea Cucumber which you can see if you click to enlarge:
The part of the definition I want to bore you with is "to achieve a longer term goal". Consumerism is definitely not about long term goals. Most of the junk we buy is designed to be useless or undesirable within a matter of months or, at most, a few years. I don't need more stuff. I have a house full of it now which I am actively trying to unload. Things are not what I need. What I do need is a plan for life. One of the many goals within that plan is to be measurably better off in each year of my remaining life, at least for as long as possible. Since my income is declining and will continue to do so, baring some miracle, then the only way I can achieve this is by "acquiring goods and services in a restrained manner, and resourcefully using already owned economic goods and services". Well, hey, that sounds reasonable to me!
Oh, I bet you haven't seen one of these for a while:
It's a marine snail. The brown thing blocking the entrance to the shell is doing just what's it's supposed to do - block the entrance. It is a common feature of most marine snails and many of the terrestrial species.
It seems astonishing to me that consumerism has been so successful at converting desire into need. Happiness today seems mostly to be packaged in that hateful clear plastic which defies all but the sharpest most dangerous object which comes to hand. I still break into a cold sweat when I enter an electronics or camera store. Oh, wow, I need that! And that and that too! Out comes the plastic. At least I did until now. No more! I have a plan.
My plan is simple. I will never again purchase anything on impulse. I vow to give myself at least twenty-four hours as a cool-down period before making a purchase. I don't care if it's a great price on a camera that I've been craving or a cheap memory stick. If I can think about it for a day and I've asked myself if the purchase will really improve my quality of life sufficiently to justify the cost, then I might reach for the plastic. However, I will never do so if I know that I can't pay off the amount before the next monthly billing cycle.
Snail wasn't enough for you, eh? How about a Giant Clam (Tridacna maxima): The last thing I want to do now is to accumulate yet more stuff. I'm trying to get rid of about 90% of what I have. It's excess baggage and I'd rather deal with it a bit at a time than have to sing the blues someday when I have to leave Madang and deal with a house full of items which have no place to gather dust any more.
But stuff isn't the only concern. For example, there is the matter of diet. Here on MPBM I once mentioned eating steamed cabbage, pumpkin and beans. That should not be taken as an advertisement that I've become a miser. It happens that those are foods which I like. Having lost my sense of smell, I now find that simple fare appeals more strongly to my taste than rich foods. The fact that it's cheaper to eat that way is, to my way of thinking, a bonus. I used to eat a lot of meat and cheese, foods which are expensive here. I've found that I now have little taste for cheese. My cholesterol level thanks me for that change. The meat which we get here never has appealed much to me. Frankly, I always found it a little smelly - not as fresh as I'd like it to be. So, why should I buy it now?
Here's an Elephant Ear Sponge (Lanthella basta):
They also come in green and bright yellow.
I lost over five kilos while I was in Australia. I was looking just a little hollow. Since coming back I've gained it all back and then some. I now weigh more than I have in the last fifteen years. I'm getting plenty to eat. In fact, I'm going to have to cut back or get more exercise, probably both.
So, thinking now about my plan, just what is it? First, I'll turn down no opportunity to increase my income. If it continues to decline in my present situation, I will eventually have to consider if another situation might be better suited to me. I'll purchase nothing that is not necessary for my physical well being unless I am convinced that it will significantly contribute to my quality of life for a meaningful period of time. I will not go into debt again for anything. If I can't pay for it in thirty days, I can't afford it.
It's that simple.
Here is the last shot of the day, a Blackblotch Lizardfish (Synodus jaculum):
Cute little fella, eh?
I'm not so insensitive to suggest that my plan is for others. It's custom tailored to my situation. Realistically, most people in economically switched-on areas of the planet need credit to live what they perceive as a decent life. The nature of modern economic practice demands it. Who can pay cash for a house or a car, for that matter?
However, it's interesting to dream up a little thought experiment to imagine how one might avoid the worst ills of spending money which one does not have. It seems to me that frugality, as a life-long plan, might work out pretty well. One might think of it as the middle road.
So, I'm not going to play the big spender when I'm out with friends, but I'm not going to be a miser, either. It's the middle road for me.
SAINT BRIGID
Image by Fergal of Claddagh
There are eleven Irish Saints depicted in the windows of Ballinrobe Church - these windows were designed and made by Harry Clarke in 1924 although Patrick, Brigit and Colmcille were executed in 1930 (a year before the artist died)
*****
SAINT BRIGID
Brigid was born at Foughart (near Dundalk) in the year 449. Her father was Dubthach, and her mother was Broetsech. She was very holy, and worked miracles even in her youth. The young maiden was sent one day to a neighbouring house for mead for her sick nurse, but got none. She filled her pitcher with water from a well on her way home, and this water became sweet mead; and when her nurse drank it she became well.
Her parents wished her to wed one of the many noble youths who sought to marry her; but she longed to give herself to God in the religious state, and answered like Saint Agnes: “I am betrothed to Him who has angels for his servants.” Her brothers met her one day as she was going to help a poor family. The eldest said roughly to her: "Why do you wander about in this way instead of staying at home? You are unwilling to do the bidding of your father, and cling stubbornly to your own will: you lead a life of virginity to the dishonour and loss of your kindred; but we will overcome your wilfulness, and get you a husband, and thus get friends for our family!” The others, however, moved by her gentle bearing, said: “It is not right to persecute our sister in this way: she has chosen the better part: let her serve God as she likes: and let us not bring guilt on our souls." The holy dove thus got free from the clutches of her headstrong brother.
Brigid got the religious veil in the year 467 from Bishop MacCaille. “She henceforth!” as an ancient writer says, “led a very holy life, helping the needy in all their wants. She was very modest and humble, never looking on the face of a man, given to fasting, prayer, and good works, spotless and patient, and gladly doing the will of God at all times. She was a consecrated shrine to receive the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, a temple of God; her heart and mind were the throne of the Holy Ghost, and she shone brightly by her miracles. As a dove amongst the birds, as a vine amongst the trees, as the sun amongst the stars, so was she amongst other women; she helped all who were in distress and danger, healed sickness and kept the angry fury of the sea within bounds. She is the Mary of Ireland!”
"She looked not on the face of man:
Nor husband had; nor brother:
But where she passed the children ran,
And hailed that Maid their mother.
O Saint, the favourite of the poor,
The afflicted, weak, and weary:
Like Mary's was that face she bore,
Men called her Erin's Mary."
Seven maidens, who had consecrated themselves to Jesus Christ, came and lived with her, and walked blameless before God under her skilful guidance. The holy Bishop MacCaille one day made a feast for them. As soon as they had sat down Brigid said: "Father, first feed our souls with spiritual food." He then spoke on the eight Beatitudes. When he had ended, she said: “My beloved sisters, we are eight in number, and eight virtues are set before us, let each of us choose one of them." She herself chose Mercy. She henceforth began her meals with the Word of God.
Saint Brigid met Saint Patrick soon afterwards, and heard him preaching. Whilst he was preaching she seemed to be asleep. Saint Patrick, after his sermon, said to her: “Tell aloud what you saw in sleep." She answered: “I had this vision: I saw a herd of white oxen amid ripe corn: and then mottled oxen: then black ones: then sheep and swine: and lastly, wolves and dogs fighting." Saint Patrick said: “That vision foreshadows the future state of this land!”
Brigid worked many miracles during her lifetime. Jesus Christ had said: these wonders shall follow after those who have faith: they shall cast out devils in My Name: they shall speak with new tongues: they shall take up serpents: and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall get better. This promise was fulfilled in this holy Virgin, who was full of faith, whose conversation was in heaven, and who was destined by God to be the Patroness of Ireland.
Brigid went to Anghaile, County Longford, where the O'Fearghails dwelt, and stayed in a convent of holy virgins. As soon as she went into it the Nuns washed her dust-stained feet, and then poured the water on the limbs of a Nun who was a cripple, and she at once became well. A woman came one day to the convent, bringing a basket of ripe apples from her orchard as a gift for Brigid. A leper was lying on the ground near the door. Brigid said to the woman: “Give some of these apples to that poor leper!” The woman answered: “I brought them for you and your Nuns, and not for lepers!” Brigid said to her: “Your trees shall not bear fruit again.” The woman, on her return home, found her trees withered, and they never bore fruit again.
Brigid then went home with her Nuns. As they were driving along the road they saw a man with his wife and child working hard in a field under the scorching summer sun. Brigid looked with pity at them as they went about bent beneath their heavy loads in the sweltering heat, and bade the driver of her chariot unyoke the horses and give them to the man to help him at his work. She and her Nuns meanwhile sat down on the roadside. She said to a Nun: "Dig a little in the earth, and a stream of water shall flow; some men are coming, and they shall need to drink!” When the Nun had dug a little in the earth a clear stream of water bubbled up and began to flow along the dusty road. A throng of men, on foot and on horseback, followed by a Chieftain in his chariot, soon afterwards came in sight. They ran at once to the well to slake their thirst. When the Chieftain had learned what Brigid had done he made her a gift of his horses, and then went on his way thanking God and his holy spouses.
She worked another miracle at this time. Two British wayfarers, knowing her great holiness, said to her: “We are sick and suffer much; we beg you to heal us." She answered: "Go into the house and you shall there get food and drink; and I meanwhile will pray to God in the Church for you." But they said roughly to her: “You heal your own countrymen when they are sick, and you will not do anything for us who are strangers." She said nothing; but, going into the church, got holy water, and then coming out sprinkled them with it, and they were at once healed. Some pagans, who were standing near, when they saw this miracle, were converted.
Brigid built a monastery in the year in a meadow amid wide-spreading oak trees, and many maidens flocked to that holy house and strove to walk in her footprints. It was called Kildare. Her religious family was spoken of with respect far and wide; and the church of Kildare became a place of pilgrimage for all the Irish. Saint Brogan writes: “She was a ladder to heaven for very many souls, and was called by all the chaste Head of the Nuns of Erin!”
“Saint Brigid is the mother, all men know,
Of Erin's Nuns that have been or shall be,
From great Saint Patrick's time to that last day
When Christ returns to judge the world with fire!
Her life was full of miracles."
Cuinnen of Conneire writes: “Brigid of the blessings loved ceaseless penance beyond womanhood, watching, and early rising, and hospitality to holy men." She was wont to go forth from the convent on winter nights with another Nun, and to stand, with scanty clothing, for hours, in bitterly cold water, praying and reciting the Psalms.
Brigid had many visions at this time. She one day saw men clothed in white garments hard at work ploughing the fields throughout the whole island, whilst other men sowed good seed in the furrows. She then saw men clad in black garments, ploughing and uprooting the growing seed. An angel said to her: “The workmen in white garments are Saint Patrick and his holy disciples; the men in black garments are teachers who shall come towards the end of time: they shall uproot the Gospel seed."
The Chieftains were ever fighting, like angry dogs, against one another. There was peace, however, wherever Brigid dwelt. Although, as an old writer says, “the whole island was a trembling sod “on account of the endless wars waged by the clans, no blood was ever shed in the neighbourhood of Kildare during the lifetime of the holy Virgin” Many Chieftains fled to her for shelter, and the monastic church of Kildare was looked on by all as a safe sanctuary and city of refuge. An ancient writer says: “The veiled Virgin, who drives over the Curragh, is a shield against sharp weapons. No one was found equal to her but Mary: let us put our trust in our Brigid."
A Chieftain, dwelling near the convent, came one day to see the holy Virgin, and, when he was leaving, got her blessing. He went home full of gladness. Whilst he was sleeping in his rath that night, a man, who bore him a deadly hate, broke into his dwelling, and, stealing on tip-toe into his bedroom, stabbed him with his own sword, which was hanging at the head of the bed. He drove it deeply into his body, and then fled, thinking he had killed him. The Chieftain screamed, and the inmates of the house rushed in and found him covered with blood. It turned out, however, that he was only slightly wounded. The Chieftain thereupon said to the bystanders: '' Do not bewail what has happened, for the blessing which I got to-day from Brigid has saved my life." He went early the next morning to thank her, and also gave her many gifts for herself and her Nuns. Brigid coaxed him to forgive the man who had striven to kill him, and, after some time, the two men became friends through her entreaties.
Brigid was very hospitable and kind to strangers and travellers, and always gave whatever she had to the needy. She was an eye to the blind, and a foot to the lame, and a mother to the poor. Her Nuns one day said to her: “Mother, you give away everything that God gives to us through the hands of charitable Christians; you leave nothing to us, but give all to the poor." She answered: “Give earthly things to God, and He will give you in return both earthly and heavenly gifts!” A young man one day putting on the clothes of a beggar man came to the convent, and bent down, leaning on a stick, and heaving deep sighs, begged Brigid to give him a sheep as an alms. The holy woman gave a sheep to him. He came back next day and begged her to give him another. She gave it. He came back day after day, until he had got at last the whole flock. He then gave them back. When the holy Bishop Broon had come with some of his Priests to the convent, she took off their sandals, washed their feet, and gave them food and drink as long as they stayed there. She also gave them a rich gift when they were leaving, as she was wont to do whenever a guest was going away. God would not allow Himself to be outdone in generosity, and gave her power to multiply food and drink. Corn and mead, when blessed by her, often wonderfully increased, like the oil in the house of the widow of Sarepta when blessed by the prophet Elias.
I would like the viands of faith and true piety:
I would like the flails of penance to be in my house,
I would like the men of Heaven to be at my house.
I would like knives of peace to be at their disposal:
I would like vessels of charity for distribution:
I would like caves of mercy for their company.
I would like cheerfulness to be in their drinking:
I would like Jesus also to be amongst them,
I would like the three Marys of illustrious renown:
I would like the people of Heaven to be there from all parts.
I would like to be a rent-payer to the Lord, that should I suffer distress, He would bestow a good blessing upon me.
Some holy virgins said one day to Brigid: “Mother, why do watercress, on which holy men live, not grow in this stream?" She answered: “They shall grow there in future." She prayed all through the following night to God to work this miracle, and the banks of the stream were thickly covered with water-cresses the next morning.
Bishop Mel came at this time to see Brigid, and stayed some days at Kildare. He begged her to go with him to Tailten (Co. Meath) where Saint Patrick was then holding a synod. Whilst she was there she often spoke to Saint Patrick, and got great help from his teaching. He gave Priesthood to Natfraich, and gave him to her to be her chaplain. She then went back to Kildare. As Natfraich was one day driving her chariot, she asked him to give a spiritual discourse to herself and to the Nun who was seated by her side. He threw down the reins, and, turning round, spoke of spiritual things to them. The horses, suddenly taking fright, ran down a steep road overhanging a precipice; but they met with no hurt, having been protected by God.
Nectan Mor, a Pictish King, having being driven from his kingdom by his brother Drust, came to see the holy Virgin, and begged her to pray for him, Brigid foretold to him that he would get back his kingdom, and that God would have mercy on him. It happened as she had foretold; and when he became King once more, he gave Abernethy to God and to her in the presence of her disciple, Saint Darlughdach, who sang Alleluia over the gift.
The holy Bishop Ercc of Slane in Meath came to see her, and begged her to go with him to Desmond. As they were going along the road Brigid said to him: “Show me with your hand, where your birthplace is." He showed it to her, and, seeing that she had a sorrowful look, he said: “Why are you so sad?” She answered: '' Because there is warfare now between your family and a neighbouring tribe.” The Bishop said: ''I readily believe it, for they are very unfriendly to each other." Brigid soon afterwards said to him: "Your friends have been beaten in battle and are flying from the field!” He afterwards learned that she had spoken the truth. They went through Hy-Failge and Eoganacht, and came to the rich plain of Feimin. Brigid worked many miracles there. Bishop Ultan wrote them in a book. They arrived at length at the home of Bishop Ercc, near Dungarvan, on the seashore. She then saw the southern ocean for the first time.
She beheld the great sea slowly break on the shore, And her heart quickly beat as she list to its roar, For a vision it seemed of God on His throne, And deep awe filled her soul as she stood there alone. Brigid then turned her footsteps towards Aradha Cliach (Co, Limerick). She and her companions got food and shelter on their journey sometimes at the strongholds of Chieftains and sometimes at “houses of hospitality" built alongside the great roads at short distances from each other. They reached Aradha Cliach in a few days.
Brigid stayed for some time in the golden plain of Aine (near Kilmallock). Whilst she was there she learned that a man was kept as a slave by the King of that country: She went into his rath, but did not find him at home. His foster-father and his children, however, were there. Brigid seeing harps hanging on the wall said to them: “Play for us on your harps." The young men said to her; “The harpers are, not here, they have gone out on the highway!” A man who was with Brigid then said to them in fun: ''Play yourselves on the harps for us, and Brigid will bless your hands so that you may be able to play: do whatever she bids you to do." They answered: "We will play: let her bless us.'' They then took hold of the harps in their hands and began to play. The King heard the music as he drew nigh to the house and asked: “Who is playing? “He learned what happened, and, going in, begged Brigid to bless him also. When she had blessed him she said: '' Do you now in turn give freedom to the man who is in chains." He gave the man his freedom at her request. Brigid then went back to Kildare, and soon afterwards heard of the death of Bishop MacCaille in the year 489.
Saint Conleth, a hermit living in Magh-Liffe, came to Kildare in the year 490, and soon afterwards became Bishop there. He once gave some rich vestments as a gift to Brigid, "but she!” as Saint Brogan writes, “gave to the poor even these rich vestments which Bishop Conleth had used when offering the Sacrifice on the festivals of the Lord." Saint Conleth died in the year 519.
Brigid and a blind Nun sat side by side, speaking of God and of heaven, one evening as the sun was sinking in the west. The night wore on whilst they were speaking, and daybreak came. The bright morning sun stood on the hill-tops, and turned earth and sky to gold. When Brigid saw the fields and trees glittering in the sunshine and sparkling with dew, she felt sad at heart at the thought that her beloved friend could not behold “the beauty of heaven with its glorious show," and she prayed to the God who had made the sun to give light to her eyes. She then laid her fingers gently on the sightless eyeballs, and the Nun at once was able to see. She feasted her eyes for a long time on the blue sky, the bright flowers, and the green meadows, gleaming with sunlight, and thanked God with her whole heart. Withdrawing her eyes from the lovely scene, and looking at Brigid, she said: “Mother, shut my eyes again, for I fear lest the better I am able to see earthly things the less I shall be able to see heavenly things!” Brigid yielded to her wish, and she became blind for evermore.
Brigid was now always living in thought in heaven. Saint Brogan writes: “Brigid never loved the world, and her thoughts were ever in heaven. She overflowed with faith. She never spoke ill of anyone. She was kind-hearted and charitable, and had no care but for God alone, and God worked more wonders through her than through anyone else. She showed the same love to all, to the servants as well as to her spiritual daughters, to beggars, and to the sick.”
''Bridget never turned away her mind from the Lord, even for one hour, but was ever thinking of Him in her heart and mind. She spent her time diligently serving the Lord, doing wonders and miracles, healing every sickness, until she gave up her soul to heaven!” (Annals of Ireland.)
When Brigid, soon after she had become a Nun, was one day driving, she saw a giddy youth running wildly along the road. She sent one of the Nuns to fetch him. He would not come to her at first, but the Nun at length coaxed him to go to her. Brigid said to him, as he stood abashed before her: '' Whither were you running? “The giddy boy began to laugh, and answered: “I was running towards the kingdom of Heaven.” Brigid said to him: “Would that I were worthy to run with you to-day towards the kingdom of God: pray for me that I may go to that blissful land." The boy answered: “Saint, pray to God that I may go straight to heaven; and I will pray in turn that you may have everlasting happiness, along with many others!” Brigid said to him: “I shall get the Body and Blood of my Lord Jesus Christ from your hand when I am dying." The boy answered: “Would that you might live long enough to get Communion from me." He then went away. But Brigid prayed much for him, and he thenceforth led a very holy life, and carefully kept that hand stainless which was to give the last sacraments to the holy Virgin, He was therefore called Ninian of the stainless hand. He became a Priest, and, sailing to Britain, did much good there during many years. He was now once more with Brigid at Kildare, for her holy life was drawing to an end.
The snow-white rose whom Christ had made His bride in His blood was about to be planted in the heavenly garden of her Spouse: the busy bee that had been gathering honey during her whole lifetime, was going to where it was stored in the city of God: the wise and faithful Virgin was going forth to meet the divine Bridegroom with the lamp of grace burning brightly in her soul: she was going to drink forever of the water of life, and to eat forever of the tree of life. Brigid, the Queen of the South, the Mary of the Irish was dying surrounded by angels, and by her Nuns. She died a holy and happy death, February 1st, in the year 523. Her body was buried in the Church, and the Nuns, as Bishop Edmund O'Dwyer writes, kept a fire burning day and night before it: “The hearth burns with Brigid's unceasing fire, and the ashes do not increase: it is the emblem of her loving soul." The bodies of Saint Conleth and of Saint Brigid were afterwards placed, one on the right and the other on the left of the altar, in shrines adorned with gold, silver, and precious stones: and golden crowns were hung overhead.
The relics of the holy Virgin were taken away when the Danes made an inroad into Hy-Failge, in the year 835. Bishop de Burgo writes: ''I saw the head of St. Brigid, the Patroness of Ireland, in the year 1770 in the chapel dedicated to her in the Church of Saint John Baptist, at Lumiar, near Lisbon. Her Office and Mass are celebrated February 1st, and the members of the Sodality founded in her honour assist at them. Sheep and cows are brought there to be blessed!” Saint Brigid was honoured for many ages in the Irish Church as the special Patroness of ecclesiastical students
Brigid the noble Virgin,
the golden and beautiful Torch,
the dazzling and glorious Sun:
may she lead us to the everlasting Kingdom:
may Brigid get salvation for us:
may she overthrow the armies of evils before us in spite of the throng of devils:
may she do away with the debts of the flesh.
blossoming Branch!
Mother of Jesus!
Great is the glory of this beloved and spotless Maid!
May we always find shelter with this holy woman!
She is, with Patrick, the chief Pillar of this Kingdom;
the Helper of Helpers;
the Queen of Queens.
When our body is laid in the shroud, in our old age,
may Brigid shower blessings upon us:
may Brigid get salvation for us.
Bottoms Up at Hidcote Manor Garden!
Image by antonychammond
Or should I leave this example of topiary to your own imagination!!! Hidcote Manor Garden is one of England's great gardens. It was the life's passion of one man, self-taught gardener Lawrence Johnston who created his 'garden of rooms' here.
The creator of Hidcote
Lawrence Johnston was born in Paris of American parents. He came to England to study at Cambridge University.
After graduating, he fought for the British Army. He was so badly wounded in the First World War that he was laid out for burial. His colleagues realised that he was still alive only after he moved slightly.
In 1907, Johnston's mother, Mrs Gertrude Winthrop, bought the Hidcote Manor Estate. Johnston came to live at Hidcote and soon took to gardening.
Developing a masterpiece
Johnston spent 41 years creating what would become one of England's most influential 20th-century gardens. He began work in 1907, becoming interested in making a garden out of the fields surrounding the house.
The garden was developed in the fashionable Arts & Crafts style: a series of outdoor 'rooms' offering surprises and discoveries at each turn.
By the 1920s, the transformation was well under way. Johnston employed 12 full-time gardeners to help shape his 10-acre creation. He always took advice and read extensively on the work of eminent gardeners, such as Gertrude Jekyll.
'A garden of rooms'
Johnston designed Hidcote as a series of outdoor 'rooms', which combine sensuous masses of colour with traditional garden crafts such as topiary. Each room has its own distinct atmosphere and character.
The hedges that divide the rooms sprung up due to the plot's exposed aspect. Johnston planted hedges of holly, beech, hornbeam and yew for shelter and structure.
Exotic plants
As well as a gardener, Lawrence Johnston was an accomplished plantsman. The range of plants he used was huge.
In a never-ending quest, he secured rare and exotic species by sponsoring and taking part in plant hunting expeditions. Trips took him to the Alps, Kenya and South Africa. He also plant-swapped with the Australians and the Japanese.
The expeditions introduced over 40 new plants to cultivation in the UK, many of which bear Johnston's name. He was awarded three Awards of Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society for his plant hunting achievements.
The National Trust learns to garden
In 1948, Lawrence Johnston retired to Serre de la Madone, his home on the French Riviera where he had created another spectacular garden.
Hidcote Manor Garden came to the National Trust, the first property acquired specifically for the garden.
While carrying forward the spirit of Lawrence Johnston, Hidcote has changed over time since the 1930s. Lack of funding has led to areas of the garden becoming overgrown and many of Johnston's tender plants being replaced.
'This place is a jungle of beauty. I cannot hope to describe it in words, for indeed it is an impossible thing to reproduce the shape, colour, depth and design of such a garden through the poor medium of prose'
- Vita Sackville-West
For more information about Hidcote Manor Garden, please visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/...
No comments:
Post a Comment