Arti – Ripple Effects

The Blue Herons on the Pacific Coast

Went out to Vancouver Island recently. Saw many Great Blue Herons, birds that are not rare but still not as abundant in my neck of the woods. The herons are common sights along the West Coast.

This is what I found when I saw them––there was always some human presence nearby. I know it’s humans that are impinging on their habitat, but still love to see the picture of coexistence, how they still thrive living side-by-side people, unlike what I’m used to at the Pond in my neck of the woods, where they are usually far away, solitary, and would fly away instantly when humans come near.

A heron silhouetted with the sailboats:

I like this sight too… a shared seashore:

I spent almost an hour with this bird at the beach that late morning. Took many photos of it, walking close to it to take some of these shots, and watched it pick out its brunch:

You can see the small fish in its beak.

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As a postscript, here are some birds I saw visiting the Butterfly Gardens in Victoria, B.C. While I saw some birds I hadn’t seen before, like the Flamingo, or the Macaws or Parakeets not as house pets, I found them ‘too easy’ to capture in photos. The place was very interesting to visit, no doubt, with butterflies flying freely everywhere and very informative and educational displays, yet, I felt like an imposter bird photographer.

Something like taking pictures of animals in a zoo as opposed to photography on a Safari. Surely, lacking the opportunity of the latter, I suppose seeing them in a confined environment is a second best way to meet them? A contentious issue.

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Paris in July 2025 – Delightful reads by Antoine Laurain

For Paris in July this year, I want to read an actual Parisian author writing Parisian stories. I did some digging and found Antoine Laurain. I’m late to the party, for Laurain has written more than a dozen books, which have been translated into twenty languages, an award-winning novelist whose talents are multi-faceted: author, journalist, screenwriter, film director, antique collector and dealer.

I’ve read or listened to four of Laurain’s novels in the past weeks: The Red Notebook (2014), The President’s Hat (2012), The Readers’ Room (2020), and The French Windows (2024). I still have many more to savour. These ones I’ve read are all like novellas, less than 200 pages, each unique in its storyline, very entertaining, easily accessible but not shallow. Laurain’s writing is a fusion of the literary and the popular, weaving suspense and romance, or adding a dash of magical realism as in The President’s Hat. Among these four, The Red Notebook is my favourite.

The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain, Gallic Books (English edition), 2015,
159 pages.

Ahh… The contentment of being sought and found… and to be known.

Laurent, a bookstore owner, finds a woman’s leather handbag in good condition on top of a garbage bin on the street one morning, obviously stolen and discarded there. He takes it to the police station, but is told to wait. Doesn’t have time to spare, Laurent decides to leave it till the next day to hand it in. The mauve handbag is just too much of a lure for Laurent to keep his curiosity in check. That night at home, he opens it gingerly and explores the personal effects inside, hoping to find a name and address so he can return it to its owner.

Among the perfume, hair clip, keys, and numerous other items, there’s a red Moleskin notebook. Just too tempting, how can he not open it? The elegant and fluid handwriting records the owner’s self-reflections, her likes, her fears, her dream.

He had opened a door into the soul of the woman with the mauve bag and even though he felt what he was doing was inappropriate, he couldn’t stop himself from reading on.

It could sound creepy, but Laurain lets his readers empathize with this curious middle-age bookseller, for he is now a detective of the soul. And Laurain knows how to tell his story with humour. As he searches the bag, his girlfriend shows up, complicating matters. Later, adding zest to his quest, his daughter joins in his detective work readily and offers invaluable assistance.

Augmenting Laurent’s eagerness to find the owner of the bag himself instead of letting it go to the police is another object in the handbag, the book Accident Nocturne signed and with a line of dedication handwritten by the French author and Nobel laureate Patrick Modiano. The bookseller is overcome by a surge of passion, for Modiano is his favourite writer. Herein lies the clue to someone who shares the same mind as his. From the line of inscription, Laurent knows the first name of the owner of the bag, Laure.

While ordinary love stories might focus on a person looking for the right one to love, here in The Red Notebook, it describes the complementary side of the search as well, by revealing the one aspect which might be the most gratifying of true love: being sought and found… and to be known.

I like the idea of a man going to so much trouble to find me (no one has ever gone to so much trouble for me before)

While Laure has had men in her life before, but there has never been one who had really stepped inside her mind. Yet here is one stranger who has known and admired her inner being, and is passionate enough to go the distance to find her, and yet…

The ‘and yet…’ is purposely unwritten as I don’t want to give any spoilers. I highly recommend The Red Notebook as a light and entertaining read, one that touches that soft spot of the human heart, to be sought and found… and deeply known.

I await a filmmaker to take this up, write an English screen adaptation and set in New York City, find a perfect cast, and I’m sure it will make one marvellous rom com, or a little more serious but equally heartwarming rom dramedy.

Ah… Celine Song, would you be interested?

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Paris in July 2025 is hosted by Words and Peace and France Book Tours

‘Materialists’ is a film Jane Austen would like

Marketed as a romantic comedy, Materialists, Celine Song’s (Past Lives, 2023) second film defies categorization. Released by A24 just in time to greet summer viewers, the film isn’t quite like your traditional rom-coms. There are no LOL moments, but there’s humour throughout that elicits knowing chuckles. No slapstick acts, but movement made by the actors are often subtle but notable.

The opening scene is a fitting prelude. A caveman courting his sweetheart, slipping onto her finger a ring made from the delicate stem of a tiny flower. Right after that, a stark change of scenery with a busy New York streetscape accompanied by the beat of Cat Power’s ‘Manhattan’, and the title credits begin to flash on screen. Tale as old as time… from prehistoric to modern day.

We see Lucy (Dakota Johnson) walk on in New York City with perky confidence, a successful matchmaker who has seen nine pairs of her clients tie the knot, so far. Lucy exudes such upbeat positivity that she can stop a man on the street and ask outright if he’s single, then hands him her business card. She possesses ‘an eagle eye for chemistry’, an expert in linking her clients by checking all the boxes for the right match: looks, age, height, weight, family background, education, income. Like transactions in the financial market, in Lucy’s business, people are the commodity, numbers on a spreadsheet. Materialistic measures reign supreme in a dating service.

The satirical vibe is obvious. Isn’t that a modern-day parallel of Jane Austen’s time, where successful matrimony is dependent on financial compatibility. Pride and Prejudice (1813) is a prime example. Such is the view held by Mr. Darcy at first, and the reason why Lady Catherine de Bourgh is so furious when she sees an inferior nobody dares to compete with her own daughter. As for Mrs. Bennet, marrying up for money is what she dreams of for her five daughters. Only the heroic Elizabeth Bennet is brave enough to challenge the social norm and insists on her own criterion for marriage: love.

Soon after the opening of Materialists, we come to the inciting incident. In her client’s wedding banquet Lucy meets Harry (Pedro Pascal), the brother of the groom. He checks every box: handsome, dripping rich, living in a $12 million Manhattan suite, 6 ft. tall, working in a family-owned private equity firm (is it still considered ‘work’?) a perfect 10 as a potential client. But Harry is not interested in Lucy as a matchmaker, but a date.

As fate has it, in that same event, Lucy’s ex, John (Chris Evans), reappears in her life as a catering waiter. John is a struggling actor, trying to make ends meet, still sharing an apartment with roommates. Past memories flood back to them. Here we see a relational triangle similar to Song’s debut work, Past Lives. Thus kicks off the storyline, who does Lucy choose? A question as old as time. And for Lucy, the modern-day career woman who handles transactions that deal with external measures only, does love have a place?

Song writes about what she knows, as Past Lives is autobiographical, Materialists is, interestingly, based on her stint as a matchmaker in NYC some years ago. As a director whose debut film was nominated for two Oscars, Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, Song has proven herself to be a versatile filmmaker who can break out of the indie mode into the limelight of popular features.

The camera is a definite asset. Cinematographer Shabier Kirchner used 35mm film to shoot, bringing out cinematic aesthetics of old. Most notable is his camera work, many shots letting a still camera capture the nuances of two characters facing each other talking, maintaining a slower pace to allow the characters, and the viewers, to soak up the atmosphere and the deeper meaning of the conversations, an obvious digression from the breezy, traditional rom-coms.

When viewers drop their own preconception of the actors’ previous roles, Evans as Captain America, Johnson her Fifty Shades sequences, and Pascal the apocalyptic survivor, the trio works well each in their own way. But the one that deserves mention is the supporting actress Zoe Winters who plays Sophie. The twists and turns of the storyline switch the second half of the movie to a different drive, one that feels like a suspense drama, and Winters delivers with heart-stirring effects.

My main issue with the movie, however, is probably related to Song being such a brilliant wordsmith in creating dialogues. In writing and especially now in a visual medium, the ‘show not tell’ axiom is all the more crucial. This is even more true when the subject matter is love. Other than hearing the word uttered, the film isn’t convincing enough to show the presence of that affective bond of passion which is so crucial in the ultimate outcome. ‘Love is a mystery,’ Song has said in her interviews. Such a mystery through the ages needs to be represented on screen by actions instead of just being mouthed in words.

Nevertheless, overall, Song needs to be congratulated on transitioning from the indie to the mainstream arena with popular stars, and helming a production with her own style of cinematic artistry.

So what if Materialists doesn’t fit the mold of a rom-com? Why need to box it into a genre? As the opening credits state, and it’s a good description: ‘A Celine Song Film’. Let it be its own genre, the writer-director is in a class of her own. A very pleasant movie not just for the summer season, and one I’m sure Jane Austen herself would like to watch.

~ ~ ~ Ripples

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Click here to read my Ripple Review of Past Lives

Here’s Looking at You, Kid

After weeks of waiting, one owlet is big enough to come out… a nesting doll.

Waking up is hard work. Early owly yawn:

like my fur?

Where’s little bro? He’s too young to come out. Still in the nest… taking it all in:

…. six days later, I found little bro out with Papa or Mama, see him?

No? How about now, zooming in:

and a close-up:

Here’s looking at you, kid. Soon, they’ll be gone, and another season of anticipation will pass. The circle of life.

To the movies next.

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Ripple Effects has come of age

Got this from WordPress a couple days ago. How time flies!

Ripple Effects has been tracking my life for the past 18 years! The movies I’ve seen, books I’ve read, birds I’ve captured with my camera, places I’ve travelled, film festivals I’ve attended, and through the years with special thoughts every Easter and at Christmas, Reading the Season inspirational book sharing.

Through the years I’ve been featured on WordPress’ Freshly Pressed, and Rotten Tomatoes had reached out inviting me to be their Tomatometer Approved Critic. I’ve gained over 7,600 followers, treasured the friendship made with some of you both virtually via the blogosphere and personally. For this I’m truly grateful.

If I ever write a memoir, this is my manuscript. To browse through these posts is to know me. Thank you all for the pebbles you’ve thrown into the Pond to create your own ripples. Many of you are recent followers, but there are some who have been with me from early on. And I’m sure you’d find it revealing to read your own thoughts way back then.

Who knows what the future holds. As far as I’m given the opportunity, I’ll continue to document my pondering and wandering here at Ripple Effects. Hope this site can be your restful retreat in your journey through life as well.

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2025 Babies: First Glimpse

In this indistinct, dead tree trunk hides an annual fanfare,

for such an ordinary tree cavity is the seasonal residence of the Owl Family.

This year, there are two newborns. See them peeking out? For some far-fetched resemblance, I think of Mount Rushmore.

Just a few weeks old, but already gulping down voles and whatever Mama and Papa feed them. Still not out yet, but curious just the same.

Hello world! It’s wonderful to see so many things from high up here. What are all those long black things pointing at us, and all those funny looking, two-legged creatures crawling on the ground, craning their necks to look at us? How funny they look! Hoot, our first glimpse of the world sure is interesting.

Such a sentiment isn’t shared by Papa Owl.

Those two-legged creatures? Just too blasé for me to take a look.

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Morning Feeding

Just as I was feeling a bit disappointed at not actually seeing any birds while hearing lots of them around me in the woods, I looked up a tree and saw this. What timing! A parent owl, let’s just say it’s Mama owl, with a vole in her mouth just about to fly back to the nest for morning feeding.

I couldn’t capture the flying, but here she is, dipping the mole down into the nest, the annual seasonal residence for the Owl Family. Pardon the blurry photos as I was just too excited to capture the moment. The nest was at least 50 feet away high up on the empty trunk of an old tree.

This year, other birders tell me that there are three owlets in there… just a few weeks old. Will see them come out soon. But right at that moment, I was happy to see Mama owl giving them their morning feeding… couldn’t imagine these babies eating up a mole, though, with their tiny beaks.

All this time, Papa sat on a tree nearby watching and keeping guard.

A googling search led me to some videos seeing owls, even the tiny owlets, actually gulp down a rodent whole, shot from a camera placed inside their nest. I don’t have that privilege, but in a few weeks these furry babies will show their faces out on a branch, cute and downy, leaning against each other… and I’ll forget how they devour a vole, gulping it down whole inside their nest.

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2025 is a Year of Anniversaries

250^th Birth Anniversary of Jane Austen (December 16)

It’s a great loss that Jane died so young, at 41, from a painful illness. The legacy of her six completed novels continue to thrive today. Movie adaptations are still being made, most notable is the upcoming new version of Pride and Prejudice with Emma Corrin as Lizzy, Jack Lowden as Mr. Darcy, and Olivia Colman as Mrs. Bennet. But we will never forget that iconic wet shirt scene of Colin Firth diving into the pond way back in 1995, thirty years ago.

30^th Anniversary* of Jane Austen Screen Adaptations:

Pride and Prejudice Austenmania was ignited with this six-part BBC TV series. Andrew Davis’ screenplay brings Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle together as the pivotal pair. To many, myself included, the definitive version of all the adaptations; yes, my prejudice here.

Sense and Sensibility That same year, 1995, we saw the breakout work of Taiwanese American director Ang Lee, proving his versatility, with Emma Thompson basking in the limelight receiving her Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar.

Persuasion While not as popular as Pride and Prejudice, a novel that shows a more mature writer showing her own sense of wisdom in handling love and life. Ciaran Hinds is an impressive Captain Wentworth.

Clueless One of the first modern renditions of Austen novels. Here’s an American teenager playing Emma in her high school. What follows are numerous contemporary parallels of Austen’s works, like Bridget Jones’s Diary, and across cultures, Bride and Prejudice, From Prada to Nada.

*Jane Austen’s House in Chawton is celebrating the 30^th Anniversary of these adaptations with their own special AUSTENMANIA! events.

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100^th Anniversary of the publication of some modern classics, books and poems* Listing a few here:

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

One of my all-time favourite books. Filmmaker Baz Luhrmann highlights all the zeitgeist of the jazz age, the wild parties, and the gaudy excess but fails to bring out the deep character of the man behind those façade, a romantic hanging on hope and seeing every obstacle as a green light. My Ripple Review here.

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

This is one example that the movie adaptation is as good as or even surpasses the book, for it shows more than words can tell. While I admire Woolf’s stream of consciousness, both in expression and withholding, director Steven Daldry’s multi-faceted depiction of Clarissa’s internal world projected into the psyche of two other women is exceptional. David Hare’s screenplay adapting Michael Cunningham’s The Hours is an exemplary transposition of literature onto the screen. And watching Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore in one film is sure worth one’s ticket, or time.

The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham

Somerset Maugham is one of those writers who take you to places but still remain intact with his characters, the backdrop of foreign lands are merely that, backdrop, while the characters lead the story. I’ve seen the movie adaptation, and in my Ripple review I had written this: “Transforming great lines from a book into equally inspiring visual story-telling is an arduous task, and it’s something that mere beautiful cinematography cannot suffice.”

Carry On, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse

The third of Wodehouse’s 20 Jeeves and Wooster books. Jeeves is a marvellous invention, a character that reminds me of Mr. Carson of Downton Abbey. There are lots of LOL moments. He’s like a Swiss army knife, a tool of multiple usages. Wodehouse makes him more than utilitarian though. In the interactions between employer and butler, the joke always falls on the former. And that’s the fun of it.

No More Parades by Ford Madox Ford

No More Parades is the second book in the Parade’s End tetralogy by Ford Madox Ford (1873-1939) Set in the time of WWI, where poetry was written in the trenches. In its core a love story movingly depicted in the BBC five-episode TV series (2012), one of the most understated and neglected productions. A young Benedict Cumberbatch and Rebecca Hall are the mismatched couple, but it’s the pristine Adelaide Clemens that shines as idealistic suffragette Valentine.

The Hollow Men by T. S. Eliot

‘The Hollow Men’ is the title poem of this collection of poetry by Eliot, astute critic of his times. “We are the hollow men/we are the stuffed men/Leaning together/Headpiece filled with straw.” Alas, a look at our world today one would find how after one hundred years, Eliot’s critique of his society still stands.

*The popular ‘Year Reading Club’ on Kaggsy’s and Simon’s book blogs are featuring the 1925 Club reading event this October, where we read books published in 1925 and share our thoughts in our blogs.

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50^th Anniversary of some iconic movies:

Where were you in 1975? Watched any of these movies in the theatre?

Jaws dir. by Stephen Spielberg

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest dir. by Miles Forman

The Man Who Would be King dir. by John Houston

Monty Python and the Holy Grail dir. by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones

Dog Day Afternoon dir. by Sidney Lumet

Barry Lyndon dir. by Stanley Kubrick

The Return of the Pink Panther dir. by Blake Edwards

Three Days of the Condor by Sydney Pollack

Farewell, My Lovely dir. by Dick Richards

Funny Lady dir. by Herbert Ross

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Not born yet? How about 1985?

40th Anniversary of:

The Breakfast Club dir. by John Hughes

Back to the Future dir. by Robert Zemeckis

The Color Purple dir. by Stephen Spielberg

A Room with a View dir. by James Ivory

Out of Africa dir. by Sydney Pollack

The Purple Rose of Cairo dir. by Woody Allen

Vagabond dir. by Agnès Varda

Witness dir. by Peter Weir

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Numerous posts on Jane Austen, as well as movies and books mentioned in the above lists are posted here at Ripple Effects. Seek them out using the Search feature on the top of the left sidebar.

Heading to Cannes… in my mind

I’m watching closely the Cannes Film Festival taking place right now. While my tour is virtual and imaginary, I look forward to TIFF in September when I go to Toronto, as some of these Cannes selections might reprise there.

So, if I were in Cannes now, this would be my list of films to watch (links for related films in the list below are to my Ripple reviews):

TÔI YAMANAMINO HIKARI (A PALE VIEW OF HILLS) directed by Ishikawa Kei

The English translation quickly draws me in: A PALE VIEW OF HILLS is the first novel (1982) by Nobel Laureate Kazuo Ishiguro. An introspection of a Japanese woman living alone in England, spanning decades of life from post-WWII Japan to her resettling in a foreign country. Past memories intermingle with present day reality. Ishiguro is adroit in psychological narratives. I’m curious to see if the film lives up to his credit. Time to reread.

ELEANOR THE GREAT directed by Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut. Eleanor moves to New York City at age 90 for a fresh start and befriends a 19-year-old student. What an idea: A fresh start at 90. Even more amazing in real life, for 95 year-old June Squibb could well be the oldest actor still working, and just recently acclaimed for her performance in Thelma (2025). For those with a longer memory, Squibb was an Oscar nominee for best supporting actress playing Kate Grant in Alexander Payne’s Nebraska (2013).

THE MASTERMIND directed by Kelly Reichardt

Kelly Reichardt is one of my all-time favourite directors. A look back at her works Wendy and Lucy (2008), Certain Women (2016), First Cow (2019), has piqued my curiosity in how she’d handle this art heist movie, Reichardt’s sensitive rendering of a more popular themed, mainstream subject. And the cast here is a huge attraction: Gaby Hoffman (Field of Dreams, 1989), Josh O’Connor (The Crown, 2020; Emma, 2020), and John Magaro (First Cow, 2019; Past Lives, 2023).

Nouvelle Vague (NEW WAVE) directed by Richard Linklater

I was captivated by Linklater’s Before trilogy back in the days… Before Sunrise (1995), Before Sunset (2004), and Before Midnight (2013). But he’d shown his versatility by other more subsequent titles such as Boyhood (2014), and Hit Man (2023). Now in 2025, he dives into the French New Waves, his first French language film, creating a making-of feature in black and white to chronicle the shooting of Jean-Luc Godard’s classic Breathless (À Bout De Souffle), which premiered at Cannes in 1960. I anticipate an articulate and adroit handling of this homage to the French cinematic legacy.

VIE PRIVEE (A PRIVATE LIFE) directed by Rebecca Zlotowski

We know Jodie Foster can speak French, but can she master the language in a full feature film showcased in Cannes, France. I sure hope so because the audience there can be very direct and umm… expressive in showing their love or disapproval. Foster plays a renowned psychiatrist investigating the death of one of her patients. The French cast includes Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, 2007; The Grand Budapest Hotel, 2014) and Virginie Efira (2023 César Awards Best Actress winner for Revoir Paris)

Sentimental Value directed by Joachim Trier

Four years after The Worst Person in the World with which his star Renate Reinsve won Best Actress at Cannes and Trier went on to be nominated at the Oscars for his screenplay and his film representing Norway for Best International Feature Film, now director and star reunite to bring us a story exploring family, memories, and the power of art. Cast includes Stellan Skarsgard and Elle Fanning.

Left-Handed Girl directed by Shi-Ching Tsou

What attracts me to this film, first is the title, then is the face of the little girl. What’s more intriguing is that Tsou’s directorial debut is produced, edited and co-written by Sean Baker, the US director who won the Palme d’Or last year with Anora, a feature that later went on to win five Oscars. The Left-handed Girl follows a single mother and her two daughters striving to adapt to a new environment in bustling Taipei as they open a stall at a night market.

Renoir directed by Chie Hayakawa

Hayakawa’s first feature film Plan 75 (2022) premiered at Cannes and won the Golden Camera award. It was Japan’s official entry to the Best International Feature Film at the Oscars in 2023. Renoir is Hayakawa’s second film, a coming-of-age story of a sensitive eleven year-old girl growing up in 1980’s Tokyo, living with a stressed-out mother and a terminally ill father. Cast includes Hirokazu Koreeda’s favourite actor Lily Franky (2018 Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters, Like Father, Like Son, 2013)

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The poet’s spring thoughts

Lines Written in Early Spring

I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And ’tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:—-
But the least motion which they made,
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature’s holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?

––– William Wordsworth

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Photos taken by Arti in spring and summer 2024

And then there were two

Yesterday was my first official spring birding. Soon as I stepped out of my car in the woods, I heard a loud peculiar call. I saw a large, black bird landing on top of a tree. One positive thing about a late start to spring for us is the bare branches. Surely, green leaves are warming to the eyes, but bare branches allow clearer views of birds. Can you see it?

Soon I found that it wasn’t just a black bird. The red crown gave it away. A pileated woodpecker, my long lost friend! I’ve seen many woodpeckers in my neck of the woods, downy, hairy, northern flicker… but I haven’t seen, let alone photographed, a pileated woodpecker for many years.

It soon flew away, but not too far. I followed quietly, stepping over dead leaves, dry twigs and trunks to a more favourable vantage point. It landed on a large trunk on the ground, allowing me to get up close and personal.

Just as I was congratulating myself for the good fortune in my first spring outing of the year, I saw two. How rare it is to see two pileated woodpeckers together, for me anyway. This pair wasn’t afraid of nature paparazzi like myself, for I’m sure they must have known I was around. I was able to get a good pose, but still natural in situ.

Looks like a good birding year is in store for me.

Easter: the Joy of Eternal Hope

A time to be silent, and a time to speak.

What better days than Easter to speak of death, and life eternal.

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11: 25-26)

The past few months I’ve been silent on Ripple Effects. Actually, for the past year, I’d been posting just occasionally. Fact is, for fifteen months, I’ve been caring for my husband afflicted with cancer. It had been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. On some days, he was well enough that we could go out to have a meal in a restaurant; on other days, it would be just a tiny morsel or nothing at all. All these months, I’d learned to find joy in afflictions, and be grateful for just being able to sit down at the breakfast table together, the warm, morning rays seeping in, and immersed in the moment.

This year started with an ominous diagnosis. The metastasized cancer cells had not only mutated but the new growth was extremely aggressive. Battling terminal illness had made everything superfluous, books, movies, or music. What was left was the very essence of my being, faith in the risen Christ. Both of us were often revived by the promises of the living God, inspired by His Word, and sustained by the encouragement and prayers of countless supporters the world over via online prayer groups. It had been a journey of faith. Ultimately, it’s all grace.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed… (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)

On March 21, my husband departed to a better country. We were not unfamiliar with the immigrant experience. Now, a final move to that eternal kingdom, a homeland much more beautiful than anywhere in this world. He had arrived there first, I’ll join him one day. He was accepting, which was grace in itself. We were prepared, even planned his celebration of life service together. The event turned out to be a memorable occasion for hundreds to gather for a collective remembrance in peace and even joy.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

All because He is risen. He is risen indeed!

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Happy Easter!

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