Prayers and Casseroles

       Well, here I am, starting a new blog from a small town in rural Saitama (Japan) called Ogawa-machi.  I should have begun this when I first arrived here semi-permanently (after a couple of years of living happily in Penang).   Instead, I allowed myself a "period of adjustment" -- a lo-o-o-ong one!   I don't know quite what I did during this past year, but it kept me pretty busy.  Cooking, mostly, and traveling back to the States to support my aging parents.  Mom died two weeks ago at 93, so now it'll be just my 96-year-old father who'll greet me when I return.  Life has its own cycles, doesn't it?

      And speaking of cycles, a new year has begun in Japan; April 1st is the beginning of the new academic and company employ-ment year here in Japan.  There's something in the Japanese collective soul that likes having new beginnings just when the cherry blossoms appear.   I'll admit that it does make for charming photos to have little school kids starting their academic lives under cherry trees with their gorgeous displays.  And it's traditional to send new company employees out to local cherry viewing sites to stake out a good spot with their blue tarpaulins.  Then, after working hours, all the other company workers join them to spend several hours in drunken revelry under the glorious blossoms.  The cycle of working life continues.

   I was thinking this morning that life is not only cyclical, but formulaic.  I'm not known for offering up public prayers (private ones are another matter), but I do know there are various formulae for doing so.  On the Internet one John D. Witvliet provides this "pattern for prayer" below.

 a) a statement of address to God,

b) a description of God in terms of a specific attribute or action,

c) a petition for divine action,

d) a statement of result, what some sources call "the aspiration," and

e) a statement of mediation, such as "through Jesus Christ our Lord."

  

    There are others, too, of course, out there in the "blogsphere."  Most have catch words like this PRAY formula by Deacon Thomas Frankenfield.

P - PRAISE God!

R - REVEAL

A- ADORE

Y - YES!

For a complete explanation of what those letters stand for, you could visit:http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net  

     Moving from the divine to the mundane, I note that there seems to be a formula for making casseroles, too.  And here it is -- tah-dah!

The basics are:

• One main ingredient (usually protein)
• One secondary ingredient (usually vegetable)
• One starch
• One binder (with milk or water to make it creamy)
• One topping

      And that, my friends, is how I've become an excellent cook in just 13 months!  Naw--just kidding!  I'm still only a slightly-better-than-average cook working in a Japanese kitchen the size of most American coat closets.  But luckily, I'm married to a very appreciative eater!  My hubby, David, almost always enjoys what I prepare, and he often says, "No matter what you cook, it's better than I could do myself, so of course I like it."  Positive feedback like that causes more casseroles to be produced.

    What I want to know is this:  Is there a formula for making friends in a new place?  And does that formula work in a country where you have a language barrier?  (Do I sound alarmingly like Carrie Bradshaw from "Sex in the City" here?)  You see, I'm really short of friends here in Ogawa-machi ("Small River Town") and have been this whole past year.  I know the "friend-making formula" that works in places where I share a common language with those around me.  It goes something like this:  

Me + mingling social event + potential friends + overture made ("Want to have coffee sometime?) + contact info exchanged and --> voila!   A friendship is born! 

    It may last a lifetime, it may endure only until more compatible friends are found.  But essentially, it works.   So why isn't it working for me here in O-machi?  I reckon it's because all the "ingredients" (except the first one, of course) are not available here, or at least not in English.  My meager Japanese allows me to get my daily needs met (somehow!) but doesn't allow for the subtle nuances that "lady talk" requires.  

    I'm lucky in one respect, however.  My sweet husband has made sure we have excellent "connectivity" here in our little Japanese apartment.  What that means in layman's terms is that our Apple TV works well, Netflix does, too.  I can access American TV easily and -- my lifesaver -- Skype and FaceTime are always available to me.  Without them and email, I think I'd dry up and blow away like a tumbleweed. 

    Well, it's still comforting to know that life has its cycles and this phase of my life is just part of that continuum.  Nothing ever remains the same and, who knows, by the time you read this, I may well have embarked on some new, exciting enterprise that'll make us rich.  (But don't hold your breath!)