MXp

F R O M  
A
S W E D I S H
D I A R Y
supporting Gao Zhisheng and his 7 Relay Hunger Strike
S A T U R D A Y
M A R C H
18th

05.50 CET
My feet to the floor
05.58 CET
After my looking in the mirror a rapid fresh cold-water washing am I sitting reading:
“Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge. I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing." As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips. LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” - I´m continuing my reading:


“Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer — it does not rise from deceitful lips. May my vindication come from you; may your eyes see what is right. Though you probe my heart and examine me at night, though you test me, you will find nothing; I have resolved that my mouth will not sin. As for the deeds of men — by the word of your lips I have kept myself from the ways of the violent. My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not slipped. I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer. Show the wonder of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who assail me, from my mortal enemies who surround me. They close up their callous hearts, and their mouths speak with arrogance. They have tracked me down, they now surround me, with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.”

Started with Psalms 16-17 and continued to read through Psalms18-23 and the well-known words:
“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

And am reading about Paul:
“I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them. "On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' "Then I asked, 'Who are you, Lord?'" 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' the Lord replied. 'Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.' "So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds...” (Acts 26:9-20)

06.45 CET
Thinking about Gao Zhisheng and his into Swedish translated Diary about his hunger strike…
This is my 3rd Saturday joining Gao in his 7 Relay action…
My thoughts are also with some friends, some collegues, that I wrote the other week and gave them the idea of 7 Relay Hunger Strike for Gao Zhisheng. Perhaps we are 7 - priests and pastors in the Church of Sweden - collegues supporting you, dear Gao, from the North of Sweden 

06.50 CET
Dressing to go down to the basement looking for a time on Monday when we need to have some washing-machine work. Found a free time Monday 20th 10.00-13.00 CET. Great! Out in the winter morning –10C cold and a little bit frosty. The Grey Sparrow and the Chaffinch are singing from the Spring Time Overtures with the silent ‘Secret’ Police, i.e. the Magpie. It’s spring in the Air although –10C winter frost.
The good old fellow from Kuwait is on stage. My friends are sleeping
when I’m passing outside along the Pilger Falcon Streeet Nr 12 to 2…
Nice to see a couple of teens Daniel and David telling me that they are
going to Boda Borg in Savsjo and some Adventures with their scouters
Nisse, Mattias and Ulrik.

08.15 CET
Starting some work, a phone call and giving some e-mail answers. Reading my Bloglines blogroll. Also finding an article “New Witness Confirms Existence of Chinese Concentration Camp, Says Organs Removed from Live Prisoners” by Ji Da in The Epoch Times Mar 17, 2006.

12.00 CET
Lunch with my wife. Her menu: potatoes and pickled herring; my menu: water.

13.55 CET
Bus Nr 1 downtown for a seminar with Lars Borgnäs - author and TV journalist - and his lecture about the assassination of PM Olof Palme 1986. 

16.30 CET
Back home. Working and resting

19.00 CET
Meeting with some friends and their report from a trip to Afghanistan.

20.30 CET
Back home – still wondering how this Saturday might have been for our friend the Attorney Gao Zhisheng and his family in Beijing… My thoughts and my mind have comfort from the readings today, the Word of God in Psalm 22:2-22 teaches me about our Saviour and his Salvation in our needs in China, Sweden and wherever…