Seven on Saturday

It's been another fast moving week. Next week is looking a little slower...no trips, not many meetings, no school auction deadlines...

1. I went to Augusta with a couple of co-workers Wednesday/Thursday. It was a long drive, but a profitable trip. Gleaned some good stuff from the guy who is my counterpart at the plant there. One of the fellows I went with makes me laugh out loud almost every time I'm with him. He gives me great fodder for writing. This time: an Amalgamation Cake, his friend Sherdon, and a woman whose name was Gabriellalashellapleshette Thomas. No kidding. Thanks for the stories, Crum.

2. I'm finally stepping out a bit at our new church. Matt has been encouraging me to get involved, but it's hard...It's hard to trust people again and to open myself up...To know others and be known by them. But - as I said in my post yesterday - God has worked so mightily in our lives through this past year...shown us more of Him...Shown us more of how and where He is working...Shown me my arrogance and how little I really knew of Him even though I thought I 'knew' so much...Even knocked down a few idols in the process. How can I not thank Him even in my sorrow and pain? Anyway, I posted last week that I've started going to the Women's Bible Study on Wednesday nights where they are going through Knowing God by Packer. I also attended the CCC Book Talk last night (good job, Sondie!). And - I (gulp) agreed yesterday to go to a brainstorming/organizing meeting on a family church retreat coming up this summer. Finally, Matt proposed that we attend an informational meeting on leadership opportunities they are holding next week. I only gave him a noncommittal "sounds interesting" reply, but I think I'll go. Coming down from the shelf, I perhaps...

3. Goals, you ask? Eating terribly for the week, life was chaos with all the work/volunteer deadlines to meet, little to no writing done, not as much time in the word as I would have liked, no progress on my TBR list, and my house...well...it's...a...DISASTER. Sigh. Oh, well - that's why I love Mondays. Time to start over on every thing!

4. Looks like our friends/pastor/neighbor have sold their house across the street. Bittersweet news...but I'm happy to see them moving forward. They have had such a powerful impact in our lives and so many others. I know they will bring blessing wherever they go.

5. E had a great first full week back to school. Grades are good, interaction with the kids are good, attitude is good...couldn't really have asked for things to go better. Sociology, Civics/Economics, French III, and Sports Med.

6. I spent a lot of time working on Mary's school's auction booklet this week. I brought it to the printer yesterday. Yeah! It's going to be a fun time...if you're in the area, put February 20th on your calendar and plan to attend. It was a really fun time last year and this year we'll even have some dancing!

7. So - the deadline for entering the Weymouth Center sponsored Moore County Writers' Competition is this coming Friday. I have a poem to enter, maybe a non-fiction piece, but no fiction this year. UNLESS I get some writing time today to finish up something I think is worth it.

CONTINUE READING...

Remodel Project

I'm on my last section of Mere Christianity with the online book club at Challie's Dot Com. It's been a good discussion and it's been great for me to go back and read this classic from Lewis. I've found lots to think about which is always a good thing. Lewis continues to be pretty controversial with the group, and I understand some of the concerns, but overall the value of the vivid pictures he paints of the landscape of human hearts is invaluable to me.

In this last section, there was a passage that I've seen quoted in several other books...It's about how we think Christ comes into our lives to do a little remodeling. We know there are some improvements to be made, some things to be repaired, but we also think that overall the house's structure is sound and the foundation is solid. We become shocked when He starts tearing down walls, putting up new additions, and bringing in new materials that we never ordered. Lewis says:

We must not be surprised if we are in for a rough time....When a man turns to Christ and seems to be getting on pretty well..., he often feels that it would now be natural if things went fairly smoothly. When troubles come along - illnesses, money troubles, new kinds of temptation - he is disappointed. These things, he feels, might have been necessary to rouse him and make him repent in his bad old days; but why now? Because God is forcing him on, or up, to a higher level: putting him into situations where he will have to be very much braver, or more patient, or more loving, than he ever dreamed of being before. It seems to us all unnecessary: but that is because we have not yet had the slightest notion of the tremendous thing he means to make of us.

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. he is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.

I had lunch with a friend this week that I hadn't had time to catch up with in many months. After we had both shared what had been going on in our lives, how we've seen God working even in the many hard things that have happened, I said, "You know, I've been praying that maybe 2009 could be a little less of a learning experience than 2008...maybe God could not put so quite so many lessons into this next year!"

Oh, boy. Did I really say that? Forgive me, Lord.

Yes, 2008 has been hard in many ways. Hard for me and my family, but also for so many other families in our old church. So many have been hurt, are still hurting, confused, trying to figure out how to move on. But besides all the church stuff, there's been deaths, marriages that have been shaken, and covenant children that have been under attack. So, yes, it's been tough for many. But, what have we learned? What have we seen of God? What walls have been torn down and new wings installed?

I pray that in 2009 I may not be so surprised, so caught off guard, when God forces me on, makes me be a little bit more bold, a little more patient, a little more loving...a little more like Christ. May we all ask God to not put His building projects on hold in 2009, may He turn these little cottages into palaces fit for a King.

Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (Johne 14:23)

Blessings.

CONTINUE READING...

Good Words: Toast, Rats, and Eggs

I love C.S. Lewis...have I ever said that before? He was the master of 'word pictures.' I'm rereading Mere Christianity. If you've never read this classic, take the time. It will bless your soul. Here's a passage that I consider 'Good Words' for me, both in a writerly sense and a spiritual one:

Some of you may feel that this is very unlike your own experience. You may say "I've never had the sense of being helped by an invisible Christ, but I often have been helped by other human beings." That is rather like the woman in the first war who said that if there were a bread shortage it would not bother her house because they always ate toast. If there is no bread there will be no toast. If there were no help from Christ, there would be no help from other human beings. He works on us in all sorts of ways: not only through what we think our "religious life." He works through Nature, through our own bodies, through books, sometimes through experiences which seem (at the time) anti-Christian. When a young man who has been going to church in a routine way honestly realises that he does not believe in Christianity and stops going - provided he does it for honesty's sake and not just to annoy his parents - the spirit of Christ is probably nearer to him then than it ever was before. But above all, He works on us through each other: Men are mirrors, or "carriers" of Christ to other men.

And another:

On the other hand, surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is? Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth? If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man: it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar, but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light.

And just one more:

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.

CONTINUE READING...

Good Words

Really loving this short story collection....

Janey often has night terrors, where she wakes up from a sound sleep with her heart racing and her breathing all but impossible. The idea of her own death seems to assume wretched form, and it sits on her chest, pries open her eyes, and mashes foreheads with her. The walls close in and the ceiling lowers. Darkness deepens. She does not hear but feels the words: YOU WILL BE NO MORE.

He says the word "strange" with that southern accent that hikes up a word in the middle and gives it an extra kick. "Striange."

She falls down the rabbit hole of her own eyes into a brighter future, where she is grown up and no longer oversensitive.

(From The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted: And Other Small Acts of Liberation by Elizabeth Berg.)

CONTINUE READING...

A Day in the Life...

- Up a THREE AM because the DOG (yes, dog) had to go potty and I couldn't go back to sleep.

- Hence had a couple of good hours reading/writing.

- Off to work, in a meeting, completed a couple of 'must-dos' before taking off.

- Met a friend for lunch that I haven't really had a chance to talk to in a while.

- Went to my Dr. appt...small particles, large particle, LDL, HDL....charts, graphs, huh? Basically, I'm up there but not too, too bad. Interestingly, though, I checked myself in at a KIOSK IN THE LOBBY and it even had me swipe my credit card for the co-pay! Humph. I wonder if one day we'll have Dr. appointments using web cams? Maybe someone already does?

- Dropped by the bookstore to pick up my book club selection that I had ordered. I also decided I had to own the book I'm listening to on audio, it's that good. (The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted: And Other Small Acts of Liberation) Shhhh....don't tell Matt.

- Went to the library to work on Mary's school's auction booklet. (Did I really say I would put it together again this year?) While I was there, a Pilot photographer approached me and asked if he could take my picture while working in the library. I said 'yes' because he said he would put my name, the name of the school, and that I was working on the auction in the caption...a little free publicity won't hurt. Anyway, he took about 50 pictures. I'm sure it will be lovely: up at 3am, no makeup, in desperate need of some hair-dye, Goodwill jeans, my comfy I-don't-care-if-this-makes-me-look-fat sweater, and my favorite clogs that have a nice splash of green paint on them and a hole in the toe. Sigh. I suppose I was the best option. Every other person in the library was male, over 60, and in various stages of sleep. Please don't tell me if you see my picture in the paper. Some things are better left unsaid and unseen.

- Picked up the little girls, went to DQ, picked up the big girl who has been back at school three days and already has a sore throat and fever. Ack!

- Home, worked on the auction booklet, popped two pizzas in the oven, worked on the auction booklet, fell into bed around 9pm.

Up for another round at 4am this morning...

CONTINUE READING...

Take Away the Stone

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." John 11:38-39a

I came to this verse in John this morning and the beauty of Jesus's words, "Take away the stone" spoke to my heart. Simply, and with great compassion, He commanded that the stone, the thing that separated the living from the dead, be removed.

He has done that for me. He has taken away my blindness, my deafness, my soul-death. He has rolled away the stone that kept me locked away in a cave of death. He has called me forth from my stinking tomb, into the light, into His Presence, so that I may walk with the living.

He has given me a new life, awakened me from the darkest sleep. (11:11) He has commanded that I be unbound and set free. (11:44) Now I can sit with Him at His table forever and ever. (12:2)

And like Lazarus I should not be surprised, because of the work of Christ in my life, that there will be those of the Evil One who will want to put me back in that dark tomb, back to death, just as they sought to place Jesus there, too. (12:10-11)

Praise God! and Hallelujah! I know they cannot win...By God's grace, I will walk through the door that is Jesus. I will go in and out and find pasture. (10:9) I will hear my Shepherd's voice and I will follow Him. He has given me abundant life and I will live it. (10:10)

May you find pature today. Blessings, my bloggy friends...

CONTINUE READING...

Hooray for Seanie!

He did it! He's finished with flight school! Now, he is:

1. A Private Pilot (Had that since he was 19.)
2. An Instrument Rated Pilot (That means he can fly in bad weather...I've always told him to stay inside during storms, but...)
3. A Commercial Pilot (That means he can get paid for flying people around now....a good thing!)
4. A Multi-Engine Rated Pilot (Having more than one engine sounds like a good thing to me!)

I think I got all that right...We're so very proud of him! And so thankful for all the people who have blessed him with their support and encouragement this last month.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:30-31)

CONTINUE READING...

Good Words

I love metaphors, similes, and analogies. When I'm reading I find myself marking, underlining and turning down page corners so I'll remember to go back and jot these 'good words' down. I decided to start capturing some of these phrases and passages on my blog so I'll have them at my ready for reference and inspiration for my own writing.

I'm putting a new category in my menu called 'Good Words.' It's mostly for me, but maybe you'll find these to be enjoyable, too.

But I feel sorry for them, too. I remembered a red-eye flight I was on recently. At about 4am I fell into one of those poor quality sleeps. I woke up about twenty minutes later and took a stroll down the aisle. The plane was packed with businessmen and they all lay sleeping, their briefcases at their feet like obedient dogs.

(From The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted: And Other Small Acts of Liberation by Elizabeth Berg.)

CONTINUE READING...

Ohhh....Look What I Found!

Came across this blog (Daily Routines) from this blog (Dreams of Genevieve) from this blog (Half-Pint House) Oh, Bloggy-Linky-Love!

What is your daily routine? Here's pretty much mine:

Up super early (really - 4:30am or so...My body just works that way)
Walk downstairs, the dog's cold nose on my leg guiding me to the door to let her out
Make a cup of coffee with my beloved Keurig while she potties
Check my email, take a few turns of online Scrabble with my 77-year-old dad in Louisiana
Check a few favorite "honey pot" blogs until I'm really awake
Get another cup of coffee
Read a bit (Bible, devotion)
Pray
Write a bit
Clean kitchen (it always seems to be dirty)
Make lunches
Put out Mary's uniform (this usually involves digging in the dryer for a few minutes)
Get myself dressed (thankfully just jeans and a sweat shirt are acceptable)
Wake Matt and tell him I'm off to work and he's on duty
Grab another cup of coffee on the way out of the door
Drive 30 minutes to work, listening to a sermon or audio book
Attend a daily 8am operations meeting
Get some work done
Have lunch with Matt (who shows up around 9 or 10 after getting the kids to school, etc.)
Drive home, listen to sermon/audio book, talk on phone
An hour-and-a-half for ME!! (This should be my writing time!)
Pick up girls from school
Home, housework, start supper, get homework going
Nap, if possible! :o)
Supper - we meal-share with good friends/neighbors a few times a week...a blessing!
Check email, write, laugh at Matt, kids, and dog
Up to bed with Mary to read and fall asleep, E usually checks in, too

What's missing? EXERCISE!! Ugh! That will probably change after my doctor's appointment tomorrow and I find out how badly my body is continuing to deteriorate. I mean, I already know it's falling apart on the outside, but this is just to make sure I understand that the same thing is going on inside. (Deep sigh here.)

Anyhoo - liked the Daily Routines blog, especially from a writing point-of-view and Dreams of Genevieve looks really interesting, too. Blessings on your day!

CONTINUE READING...

Accidental Evangelist

I read this last night in My Father's World by Philip Ryken:

More than half the human beings who have ever existed are alive in the world today. This statistic has significant implications. One is that there are more people on this side of eternity than there are on the far side. Or to put it another way, during the twenty-first century the combined population of heaven and hell will double.

I found this fascinating. On the way home from church today all five Furbys were in the car together (unusual) and I brought this tidbit of information up and E said, "What does that mean? They're going to run out of room?"

Sean said, "No. It just means if you want a condo on the golf course, you better get moving."

Funny, aren't they?

But, seriously, Ryken goes on to say:

With the eternal destiny of more than half the human race hanging in the balance (yes, he is a Calvinist), this is no time to be an Accidental Evangelist. By an Accidental Evangelist, I mean a Christian who has no real intention of leading anyone to Christ. An Accidental Evangelist is a genuine Christian who trusts in Jesus Christ for Salvation, reads the Bible, and goes to church. But there is one thing Accidental Evangelists do not do, and that is to make a deliberate effort to share their faith. If they ever do lead anyone to Christ, it happens more or less by accident.

Boy - convicting. Funny how things seem to coalesce around you when God is trying to get your attention. Matt said something to me last week about evangelism that got my thoughts going in a certain direction, I listened to a great sermon by Keller on Receptive Grace, I read the first section of My Father's World which was titled 'Christians in the World', and the sermon today at church was on Matthew 5, specifically about Christians being Salt & Light. I'm still chewing some things over and will write more later...

CONTINUE READING...

Mary and Baby A

We've had this strange little visitor today. Mary seems quite taken with him....

CONTINUE READING...

February Look

I'm a little early, but I couldn't wait....I LOVE RED!! So, here's my new banner for February. I figured I was about a week early for December and January, too, so what the heck! Here's my old banners...It was interesting to look back. I've definitely grown from the dead wasp on the first banner. :0) I've also learned a lot from Photoshop. I really like playing around with graphics.

CONTINUE READING...

Seven on Saturday

This week in review:

1. Snow, snow, snow! I so enjoyed the pretty snow and the forced slowing down of life.

2. I got really sick Tuesday night...pretty sure it was a gall bladder attack. Great. I think I've had some problems before, but NOTHING like this. Ugh. It was a few hours of tremendous pain. I go to my HEALTH CARE PROVIDER next week so she can tell me how bad my cholesteral is....:-). This whole aging thing stinks.

3. How are my 2009 projects going, you ask? Ho-hum....skip this if you're not interested in the mundane details of my life...;-> Let's see: (1) In the Word: not so good...didn't really spend much time in John this week, but did listen to a GREAT sermon by Keller on Receptive Grace, went to a Bible Study on Packer's Knowing God, continued with the online book discussion at Challies, and started reading My Father's World by Ryken. Good stuff, but I need to focus on just reading the BIBLE... (2) Good-Reads: well on that. Finished one TBR and am working on two others (3) Give Up Ice Cream: slipping there....nothing too-too terrible, but if I'm not careful, I'll look up and find myself gobbling down a Heath Blizzard from Dairy Queen. It's so gosh-darn tempting! Ahhh.... (4) Put Up or Shut Up: yes, writing...well, I did go to the library on Friday for the express purpose of writing between work and picking up kids and wrote 999 words. I think that will be my time...I've talked to Matt about it and he's supportive, so with the kids back to a normal schedule this week, I'll give it a good go. I'm reading Writing Alone, Writing Together...more on that later. (5) Declutter: Zero, zip, nadda on this one. My house is a wreck, the laundry isn't done, and we have (gasp) company coming over for lunch after church tomorrow.

4. Friday I had a 'me' afternoon....I left work with a really, really rotten headache, but it cleared up by the time I made it into town. I visited Goodwill to check out books, then grabbed a chicken sandwich (yes, no fries), and went to our great little used book store and browsed. Then it was off to our independent bookstore and to order our next book club selection, Blood Done Signed My Name, and I walked down to the ice cream shop and bought (not ice cream) but a little cup of rainbow sherbet. I drove to the library, wrote for an hour or so, grabbed a few audio books to try out and then left to pick up Ellen from her first day back at school. We went to Panera for soup and then we were off to pick up school supplies for E at Staples.

5. Sean is alllllllllmoooooooooooooost finished with flight school. I'll post a big 'hurray!' for him soon...He's really an amazing boy...excuse me....man.

6. I love my husband. He gives me so much to think about sometimes. He made an off-hand remark this week about evangelism that has really made me ponder some things in my heart. There will be a post forthcoming soon as soon as I get finished chewing on it....I think it will be titled "God is Not..."

7. Here are the books I picked up at Goodwill: The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen ($1, gave to a friend...it's on my TBR list this year), The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell ($.50, gave to a friend because I think I have her copy), Dune by Frank Herbert ($.50, gave to a friend because it is such a good read), Remembering Babylon by David Malouf ($.50, reading now), River of Heaven by Lee Martin ($1, sounded good), and I Thought My Father Was God edited by Paul Auster ($1, from the National Story Project). Also, at the used book store, I bought (all for $1/each): Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue by Danielle Ofri, Incidental Findings: Lessons from My Patients in the Art of Medicine by Danielle Ofri, I feel Bad About My Neck by Noral Ephron, Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro, and Me and My Baby View the Eclipse by Lee Smith. That's a grand total of $10.50 spent for 11 books, 8 that I kept. THIS is how I get into trouble. Ack!

Have a happy Sabbath tomorrow, my bloggy friends!

CONTINUE READING...

Book Review: Cry, the Beloved Country (Audio)

Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton, Blackstone Audiobooks, Inc., Unabridged edition, May 1, 2008, read by Michael York, ISBN 1433213699

Rating: 4.5 of 5 STARS
Source: Southern Pines Public Library, E's English II World Lit class

I read Cry, the Beloved Country probably six years ago when my son had to read it for school. I had never heard of it and the beauty of Paton's writing shocked me. I felt like I was reading poetry. This time, listening to it while driving back and forth to work and while running errands around town, I didn't find the writing as amazing as I did while reading. But, the story...wow.

Maybe it's where I'm at in life now...one child in his early 20's, figuring out where the Lord is leading him in his life's calling; another 16, working through some tough things that as a mother I wish she never had to face; and then one more at nine, just on the brink of that awe-filled transition period between childhood and womanhood. Perhaps because I'm beginning to see my children more as the adults they already are or are in the process of becoming that the story was so much more powerful to me. Yes, this story is about a country (South Africa) and the horrible results of apartheid, but really, at the most basic level, it's the story of the love of a father (a black priest) for his son and the pain that he faces in finding out his son has murdered a white man.

That's all I'm going to say about the plot. It's a worthwhile read, really. It's one that I think everyone should have on their list of I-must-read-before-I-die. (I guess that's assuming there's no reading in Heaven, which I find really hard to believe.) As far as this particular audio version - it was very well done. Sometimes voices can grate on your nerves by the end of ten hours of listening, but Michael York did a fabulous job with every character.

If you've read the book, listen to this new audio version. If you haven't read the book, I'd suggest reading it instead of listening. That's why I only gave this a 4.5 rating - actually reading it was overall a better experience. I would give the book itself a 5.

I've already written two posts on this book. You can read them here (Pray and Rest) and here (A Well Tended Heart.) I'll finish this review with this excerpt from the end of the book:

"He looked out of his clouded eyes at the faint steady lightening in the east. But he calmed himself, and took out the heavy maize cakes and the tea, and put them upon a stone. And he gave thanks, and broke the cakes and ate them, and drank of the tea. Then he gave himself over to deep and earnest prayer, and after each petition he raised his eyes and looked to the east. And the east lightened and lightened, till he knew that the time was not far off. And when he expected it, he rose to his feet and took off his hat and laid it down on the earth, and clasped his hands before him. And while he stood there the sun rose in the east."

And I cried.

CONTINUE READING...

Mere Christianity to Flatland

I read six more chapters in Lewis' Mere Christianity this week for the online book discussion with Challies Dot Com. These chapters were from Book IV: Beyond Personality: Or First Steps in the Doctrine of the Trinity. Lewis is getting into some pretty deep waters here and I'm sure those that had a problem with his views in the earlier chapters are really gnashing their teeth now.

The chapter I want to comment on is chapter 2, "The Three-Personal God.' Here's an excerpt:

A world of one dimension would be a straight line. In a two-dimensional world, you still get straight lines, but many lines make one figure. In a three-dimensional world, you still get figures but many figures make one solid body. In other words, as you advance to more real and more complicated levels, you do not leave behind you the things you found on the simpler levels: you still have them, but combined in new ways - in ways you could not imagine if you knew only the simpler levels.

Now the Christian account of God involves just the same principle. The human level is a simple and rather empty level. On the human level one person is one being, and any two persons are two separate beings - just as, in two dimensions (say on a flat sheet of paper) one square is one figure, and any two squares are two separate figures. On the Divine level you still find personalities; but up there you find them combined in new ways which we, who do not live on that level, cannot imagine. In God's dimensions, so to speak, you find a being who is three Persons while remaining one Being, just as a cube is six squares while remaining one cube. Of course we cannot fully conceive a Being like that: just as, if we were so made that we perceived only two dimensions in space we could never properly imagine a cube. But we can get a sort of faint notion of it. And when we do, we are then, for the first time in our lives, getting some positive ideas, however faint, of something super-personal - something more than a person. It is something we could never have guessed, and yet, once we have been told, one almost feels one ought to have been able to guess it because it fits in so well with all the things we know already.

Hmm. Now, some of you may think this an overly simplistic attempt to explain the Trinity. Some may find it hokie. But there's something in me that this resonates with. Maybe it's the engineer-geek or the geometry teacher part of me, I don't know. But, yes, it does give me some faint feeling of recognition.

This passage reminded me of a book I'd really like to recommend to all my bloggy friends out there. Be prepared. It's probably the ultimate in geekiness: Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott. I read it with my geometry class at a classical Christian school where I taught a few years ago. It was written by Mr. Abbott, an English clergyman, in 1884 and tells the story of A. Square, a two-dimensional being who is swept away by a visitor from The Land of Three Dimensions. A. is from a world of squares and triangles and circles and is introduced to amazing and unbelievable creatures such as cubes and spheres and pyramids. His worldview is forever changed. By reading about A. Square's mind being expanded to understand how a three-dimensional world could possibly exist, you begin to get a grasp of how one might begin to fathom the concept of four (or even more!) dimensions. Mr. Abbott pokes fun at Victorian England while also laying down some theological truths with his story. It was a great, great read with my class. You can read it online here, but there is also a wonderful annotated version that helps explain all the Victorian and mathematical references. And there's even a movie. (See the trailer at the bottom of this post. It looks like the movie focuses more on the mathematical side of Flatland than on the political and theological aspects.)

Here's the beginning of a chapter describing the women in Flatland. (FYI - Women are straight lines.) I find it hilarious...;->

If our highly pointed Triangles of the Soldier class are formidable, it may be readily inferred that far more formidable are our women. For, if a Soldier is a wedge, a Woman is a needle; being, so to speak, all point, at least at the two extremities. Add to this the power of making herself practically invisible at will, and you will perceive that a Female, in Flatland, is a creature by no means to be trifled with.

Just like these six chapters in Mere Christianity, Flatland gave me (and my students) lots to think about as I pondered a God who is eternal, whose life is "not dribbled out moment by moment like ours" (Lewis), and who is not limited by the three dimensions of our world.

CONTINUE READING...

Great

So.

Today I stumbled across a definition in the Urban Dictionary for upside-down b.

The Urban Dictionary is an on-line slang dictionary that is built by the general public. Anybody can offer a definition.

Upside-down b was entered on October 2, 2006 by someone named Rebelmonkeys.

Here's the definition:

1. Upside-down b
Upside down b - which if you look at it as a lower case, means p, or methamphetamine. This is a common term used in New Zealand, made famous by Bro'Town. The letter p is likely to be derived from the main ingredient in methamphetamine, pseudoephedrine.

Eh bro'! I can't believe youse got hooked on upside-down b!

Nice, huh? I wondered why I'd been getting hits from New Zealand....

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Silly Hearts

This morning I read from today's entry in Morning and Evening by C.H. Spurgeon. It was powerful. Below is the scripture reference and then a rewriting of his devotion in my words.

And the word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? (Ezekiel 15:1-2)

Very humbling, these words from Ezekiel. We, God's people, are called His vine, but what are we compared to others around us? We only by the grace of God have become different, have become fruit-bearing vines simply because we have been placed in soil enriched by the Holy Spirit. God trains our tender tendrils in the path He desires, pointing our new growth to the direction He so desires. It is not of us but because of Him alone that we bring forth fruit for His glory.

What are we, though, without our God? What are we, though, without the constant influence of the Holy Spirit who births our fruitfulness for us? There is no room for pride in us for anything that we have, anything that we do, anything that we are. In fact, the more that we have, the more a debtor we are to God. What logic is there in being proud of debts?

Look back in time to what you once were. Think on what you would be if it weren't for the grace of God. Better yet, honestly meditate on what you are right now this minute...how, though you might fight it, your sinful nature is still struggling, gasping for life, within your heart. Does your conscious bother you? Do you remember the countless times your heart has wandered from God through the years? But yet, because of His great grace alone, even though you wander, God has blessed you, given you fruit to bear, work to do for His Kingdom.

If you are considered a Great Christian, know that you would be a Great Sinner if it were not for God. If you are known to be a Great Warrior for the truth, know that you would be just as passionate for evil if it were not for God placing His hands upon you. So don't be proud...there is nothing you can call your own except sin and misery. Funny that we, who have borrowed everything, even the very breath drawn into our lungs, should boast of anything! Funny that we, who will die this very second if it were not for the stream of life flowing from Jesus, should yet be proud. What silly hearts we have!

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The Inevitable Snowmen!

Mary's snow art:

One happy baby snowman...

One snazzy Daddy snowman...

And one blind Mama snowman....? I wonder if there's a subliminal message here?

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The Proof of the Pudding

I'm attending a new women's Bible Study at church. We're going to study Packer's Knowing God. I tried to read it a long time ago and I just couldn't get going with it. But now, reading the first two chapters, I was highlighting and asterisking away! Funny how someone's writing speaks to you at a certain time but not at others.

Anyway...here's something I wanted to share. Packer is writing in the 1970's and mentions in the first chapter that they were in the middle of a theological 'storm' of sorts. "God is dead," "our image of God must go," and "we can sing the creed, but we can't say it" were all slogans that were being bandied about. People were being told that knowledge of God was not possible. Nothing new under the sun, hm? Here's what Packer said in response:

My proposal is this. You will know how Bunyan's pilgrim, when called back by his wife and children from the journey on which he was setting out, "put his fingers in his ears, and ran on crying, Life, Life, Eternal Life." I ask you for the moment to stop your ears to those who tell you there is no road to knowledge about God, and come a little way with me and see. After all, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and anyone who is actually following a recognized road will not be too worried if he hears nontravelers telling each other that no such road exists.

I liked that....the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Yes, indeedy.

When I go home to visit my parents, there is always the inevitable conversation with my Dad about Christianity, usually as we sit at the dining room table while my mom cleans the kitchen. He's terribly cynical and thinks there's probably a God of some sort, but Jesus was just a man, and the New Testament is propaganda written by people trying to hold power through religion. He tosses out facts learned from History and Discovery Channel documentaries.

At 78, I fear his heart is so hardened that I'm not sure what it would take to break it. Certainly not a couple of conversations with me each year. Usually the conversation ends with his saying, "Well, I guess I'll find out soon enough. If I can, I'll come back and let you know." His pride is so big that one of his main reasons for not seeking after God is that he's lived his life this way all these years and he's not going to all of the sudden become a 'hypocrite' and turn to religion now that he's getting close to the end. Sigh.

If only he would taste the pudding. If only he would take one step down the road to God and see that it is real.

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The White Stuff

I'm so glad we live somewhere that snow is a novelty and never stays around long enough to turn into gray slush. It snowed last night and this morning. Of course the kids were out of school today. It will all freeze over tonight and the roads should be terrible in the morning. No school again....and maybe no work either! We have a fresh tank of gas for our logs. Ahhh...life is good!

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Pray and Rest

I'm still listening to Cry the Beloved Country. I'm almost finished. I came to this passage and wanted to share it with you. I know there are a few of you out there who are really struggling with hard situations right now and I thought you might find some encouragement here.

This dialogue is between Stephen Kumalo, a South African priest, who has just found out his son is in prison for killing a white man, and Father Vincent, a white priest who is helping him. Kumalo is mourning that his son seems to have lost all sense of evil.

- Stop, cried Father Vincent. You are beside yourself. Go and pray, go and rest. And do not judge your son too quickly. He too is shocked into silence, maybe.

Kumalo stood up. I trust this is so, he said, but I have no hope any more. What did you say I must do? Yes, pray and rest.

There was no mockery in his voice, and Father Vincent knew that it was not in this man's nature to speak mockingly. But so mocking were the words that the white priest caught him by the arm and said to him urgently, sit down, I must speak to you as a priest.

When Kumalo had sat down, Father Vincent said to him, yes, I said pray and rest. Even if it is only words that you pray, and even if your resting is only a lying on a bed. And do not pray for yourself, and do not pray to understand the ways of God. For they are secret. Who knows what life is, for life is a secret. And why you have compassion for a girl, when you yourself find no compassion, that is a secret. And why you go on, when it would seem better to die, that is a secret. Do not pray and think about these things now, there will be other times. Pray for your sister, and for her child, and for the girl that is to be your son's wife, and for the child that will be your grandchild. Pray for your wife and all at your town. Pray for the woman and the children that are bereaved. Pray for the soul of him who was killed. Pray for those who try to rebuild in a place of destruction. Pray for your own rebuilding. Pray for all white people, those who do justice, and those who would do justice if they were not afraid. And do not fear to pray for your son, and for his amendment.

- I hear you, said Kumalo humbly.

- And give thanks where you can give thanks. For nothing is better.

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