52 in 52 Week 12: The Collected Works of St. Patrick

by Saint Patrick (d. 461 or 493). Translated by Cecil Frances Alexander (1823–1895).


What can I say? It was the day before St. Patrick's Day, and I was sent a link for "Free Audio Book Friday" from www.learnoutloud.com. So, I partook and so glad I did!


I listened to the "Breastplate" Saint Patrick's Day morning for my devotional time and the rest through the day. 


I have read many beautifully illustrated children's stories about St. Patrick. (I went through all the major holidays with my kids and tied them into our history studies.) So, it was delightful to hear the source material for those children's book!





I finished up Confession today. I really liked his Confession even more than St. Augustine's! He was a great man. 


Part of the collected works:


St. Patrick’s Breastplate – This prayer is attributed to St. Patrick and his diciples. It is written with some celtic pagan elements, but is definitely a Christian prayer asking God for protection through daily life.

A Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus – Patrick writes this letter to excommunicate the soldiers of Coroticus’ army who pillaged villages in Ireland and forced many Christian converts into slavery.

Confession – A short autobiography by St. Patrick who tells of being abducted into slavery and taken to Ireland, the growth of his faith, his ministry as a bishop in ordaining many priests and baptising thousands of people, and a trial where he had to defend himself against his accusers. (Summary by Sean McKinley from LibriVox.org)

Sunday Morning Rise Write

Well-Watered Soul


I am listening to The Confessions of St. Patrick right now. I love it. It is a lovely way to start the day as I get ready to do the Bible Book Club. I love how he quotes Scripture throughout his writings. 


I am in the kings of Israel and Judah right now. It has been good. I am happy to fill in the holes of the last time that I did this. God is changing me through this deep time in His word. I think about Beth saying, "You've got to log the time." I agree so wholeheartedly. It has to be devotional rather than academic logging though. And I can't think of approaching this any other way. 


I know I read a ton of books (or listen to them when I work, commute in the car, or exercise more than anything - rarely do I sit down and read a book), but my best hours of the day are spent at His feet, and if that means getting up really early to do so, I find such joy in it. George laughs when I say that I can't wait to get up the next morning. It is because I come to You, God, and Your Word, and it waters my soul more than anything. Gives me the strength to get through the day. Gives me a good attitude and discernment toward hurting people instead of taking their overly critical and negative presence personally (like I used to).  I know when others have not spent time with You. It is obvious. Living in a world devoid of you would make me overly critical too. Such pain I see in eyes. I pick it up and when I was insecure, I would think it was me that they were critical of. Now, I can separate it. It makes being in groups of people adrift so much easier. So many people adrift when YOU can be the anchor of their souls. Being a "sometimes believer" can't anchor them. 


But I digress. My heart hurts and is filled with compassion for something recently. 


Well-Educated Mind


I don't know why, but I loved Lord of the Flies. Well, "loved" is not the right word. Again, these fictional accounts of "what if" societies intrigue me. This book nails the depravity of man so beautifully, and how wonderful to have a 1977 recording of the author reading it and his commentary before and after. 


Candide is funny. I am thinking there is much social commentary in it. I need to understand that, but for now, I am just enjoying the adventure. I am almost done. Less than 1/2 hour.


The Hunger Games has totally surprised me! I really, really like it. It is totally fitting in with my "dystopian novel" theme of the last couple of months! LOL! I like this hero girl. So far, she hasn't disappointed me, but I still have 150 pages to go and part of the afternoon and all evening to finish it. :) I can be among the screaming teenyboppers clammering for the opening of the movie. I'm IN! (But I'll wait a week or two before I go. Not willing to wait in long lines or buy an advanced ticket for it). 


Well-Adjusted Heart


I almost think this section can become a mute point because my emotional well-being is to inextricable combined with how well-watered I am in my soul. I am believing the truth about what God is saying to me, and I don't do knee-jerk reactions as much. Partly because of the change of life. Partly because I have heard God's truth. I point back to my time with Carol last May or June. I should write down when that was. That was one of the most significant Theophostic times for me. I really saw You light cover the disapproving face of my mom, and the opinions of man (more importantly woman) don't affect me like they used to. Galatians 1:10 has been my prayer for years:



"For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ." (Galatians 1:10, NASB95) 


I shared this verse with Rachel at our Romans Bible Study last Tuesday, and then she got an email devotional with this as the key verse the next day! Confirmation for her and for me (I felt strongly that I needed to share this with her). 


Well-Tuned Strength


I am pretty free of pain everywhere. I even shot baskets for 45 minutes on Friday and my shoulder was great! I need to do that more often. It is a great workout if I keep moving up and down the court, and I listen to my books while I do it. It beats the boring elliptical!


I have had to modify the strengthening program that Shandra gave me. I am going to Pilates more, and Jessica said, "Carol, you are probably a LOT stronger than I am because your body has longer levers than my short body." She always goes up and down on those push ups and towel/ball extensions and pull ins, but she is right. I have much more to pull in and push up! LOL!  With Jessica's routine and some of Shandra's exercises and Paula's weight work, I am doing better. I just need to listen to my body rather than do the exercises someone without my back issues gives me. The one who understands it the most is Jessica. She is constantly telling me to "be careful" when we do a move. She understands my back, and she is the person who really got me ready for surfing.


I'm strong, and I am doing much better with my eating. :)  It helps to not have any kind of medicine in me because I always have to eat when I take it, and this messes me all up. :) I haven't been taking them for a long time. 


Well, I didn't even put the timer on this time. So, I am pretty sure this freewrite is way longer than a 15 minute one. 

Saturday Freewrite

The day is half over, but I thought I would sort through all my "threads" of life today.

I love Saturdays! They are usually so free now that we have made a commitment to truly make it a Sabbath unless there are unavoidable things. Last week, we couldn't avoid the Elders and wives retreat at the coast, and this week, George couldn't avoid the planning meeting for the global council.

I had book club this morning. It was fun to review the life of William Wilberforce as I prepared to lead. William Wilberforce was a hit, but I am sorry the book got such a low score so out of sync with the reviews on Amazon that gave it an equivalent 8.8/10. I think our group gave it an average a little above a 4. It certainly wasn't as bad as Christmas In Plains, was it?  Most of the books I have recommended have gotten much higher scores (most in the 8-10 range). I knew this group probably wouldn't like it though, and I hesitated for four years (I think I read it in 2008).  I should have just kept it to myself, but I didn't take it personally. I have grown in that way.

I am all over the map in my reading today! After prayer and a little in 2 Kings/2 Chronicles 21, I listened to writings on St. Patrick. So lovely! I am almost done with that little gem of an audiobook.

I also took a 5 K walk and laughed out loud as I listened to Candide. I have always wondered about this book. It is satire, and I can't wait to read more background after I am done to understand the hidden meaning behind all of it. (I am sure my book club wouldn't like that book either though.)

Now, I am going to do some Bible Book Club and try to finish both Candide and St. Patrick Confession. Then I am going to lose myself in The Hunger Games.  I really am all over the map. :)

Thursday Already?

This will be quick. I haven't had a night in a long time where I didn't fall asleep immediately. I made chai twice yesterday. It wasn't too late in the morning for me, but I think the caffeine combo of the two probably was my limit for one day, no matter how early I drank it.


Prayer has been great lately. I have been trying to walk and pray that last few days, and it is so much easier for me to stay focused.


Well, I don't need to write much to warm up my fingers. I finished 1 Kings and started 2 Kings yesterday and am on 2 Chronicles 21 now. I had a break with the psalms yesterday, and I loved the break from battle. Old Testament study has been really good this year with the balance of the gospels for our kingdom community.

Speaking of our kingdom community. We had a discussion about what our church would look like if we were to have one. I got more confused than ever, and I wonder how that looks with what you would have overseas. I'm not a visionary though. I am more a plodder/disciplemaker/investing in people on the micro level rather than a macro thinker. So, Lord, bring someone like that here.


Off to 2 Kings. 

52 in 52 Week 11: Song of Years by Bess Streeter Aldrich

 I have been reading this book since early December, and I am a VERY quick reader! I LOVED the last Bess Streeter Aldrich story that I read, Rim of the Prairie. That is a very tight story with a page turning plot. This was slow and needed editing! It wasn't that it was a bad story, it just stretched over ten years, and it felt like 1,000!



I don't want this to turn anyone off because most of her stories are very sweet and good. 


Here is what this one was about:

Song of Years (1939) The state of Iowa was still young and wild when Wayne Lockwood came to it from New England in 1851. He claimed a quarter-section about a hundred miles west of Dubuque and quickly came to appreciate his widely scattered neighbors, like Jeremiah Martin, whose seven daughters would have chased the gloom from any bachelor's heart. Sabina, Emily, Celia, Melinda, Phoebe Lou, Jeannie, and Suzanne are timeless in their appeal -- to spirited to be preoccupied with sermons, sickness, or sudden death. However, the feasts, weddings, and holiday celebrations in Song of Years are shadowed by all the rigors and perils of frontier living. This novel captures the period in Iowa's history of Indian scares and county-seat wars, as well as the political climate preceding the Civil War. Mrs. Aldrich based this novel largely on her grandfather's adventures in Iowa and the stories she heard as a child. 

What is sad is that this is a later book. It was almost like a step backward in her writing. It really was so incredibly painful to get through. 


The good news is that I am finally done. I only have one more book until I have read all the Book Babes books I missed over the 11 years. 

Monday, Monday

Well-Watered Soul

I am not really in the mood to freewrite because I want to get right to meditating in 2 Chronicles this morning after a weekend of meditating in other (good) things due to the Elders and Wives Retreat in Lincoln City.

What a lovely retreat with lovely people. I have great respect for each and every one of them. No lie. It was a pleasure to talk theme for the year: Follow Jesus . . . Step by Step (With the ellipsis because Steven likes them just as much as I like alliterations. Knowing I like them so much, he gave an adaptation for me: Faithfully Follow the Father's Feet).  So, we are still deciding on a theme verse. I think it was going to be 1 Peter 2:21:


George and I were also called upon (after Clint could read my body language) about possibly experimenting with an "arm" of our church being house churches so as to relieve further building, parking problems, etc. Growth with a symbiotic relationship between traditional church and house. It was super well-received, and we will just pray into that. Shocked at how well-received it really was.

My favorite part of the weekend was each couple BRIEFLY sharing and then praying over them. This was 2 1/2 hours of prayer saturation over each unit. LOVED THAT!  Vickie was so sweet to pray for my daily writing. Since so few of them know that I even do that for my "vocation," it was sweet that she remembered that from a group conversation at dinner on Friday night.

I am so glad to be a part of this wonderful group of saints!

Shift gears as George and I came home from the coast, cleaned our house, and hosted 19 people for Bob B. coming and sharing from his heart about people going to unreached places around the world. It was a very nice time, and I love that saint too. One thing that Bob said challenged me: that new laborers were spending 2 hours a day in prayer and that was one of the commitments. So, I am challenged to do the same. That is my application from the time, and it is perfect as the Gospel Harmony Book Club is finished (until I edit it next year) and I am only doing 8-13 posts each month for the Bible Book Club. I definitely "pray as I go" with that, but I mean laborer kind of prayer. That is what I want to do. Luke 10 prayer. Even though that didn't get picked for our church theme, I think it is going to be my theme for the year.


Well-Educated Mind

This blog already says what I just read. The 100 Great Books are so much easier and accessible than The Well-Educated Mind books. This list has so many books I have heard of and have always wanted to read. So, YAY! Lord of the Flies was playing on my iPod as I fixed tea this morning.

I am listening to The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer again, and it is interesting that he read the Complete Works of Shakespeare on his knees, asking God how to understand them. I so love that about him! I think that reading Shakespeare can be such a spiritual experience, and it is nice to know it is sanctioned by one of the great spiritual mentors of the 20th Century!

Lord Jim was really wonderful. I am still pondering its meaning. But there is a reason why Conrad is so lauded as an author.


Well-Adjusted Heart


I am doing so well. Peace with people is great. I am always amazed at how things have changed since leaving our old fellowship. Heart health is so important.


Well-Tuned Strength


I've decided to totally abandoned the strength routine that Shandra gave me. It really hurts my back, and I am not sure why she didn't just give me back-saving routines. It also hurts my knees, and I know how to accomplish so many of these strength moves without putting my back in a compromising position.

Eating was pretty rampant this weekend at the retreat. So, I am reigning myself in this week. It is time. I have been pretty liberal since my trip to Hawaii. The vacation is over and trying to get back to less in and more out!

I think I will walk to workout today if it is not raining.

Oh my, I have gone on for longer than my usual 15 minutes. Must check the weather radar and get to walking to class!

52 in 52 Week 11: Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

I read Heart of Darkness several years ago and was blown away by the brutality and brilliance of it. Lord Jim had somewhat of the same effect. I think what most impresses me about Conrad is that English is not his native language!


I was at dinner with a friend that said she tried to read Lord Jim but was lost when it took him two pages to describe how the boat went through the water. I laughed because it is true, but what a beautiful description!


Conrad paints a picture and makes a point. I loved this book. I couldn't put it down when it rushed to its final conclusion. 

It also has a special place in my heart because the main character (and narrator) are around Malay people, and even the title is a translation of what the Malays called him, Tuan Jim which warms my heart since I was often called by my Malay friend Puan Carol (the feminine version of Tuan). 


For those of you that read this and don't know, I live in Malaysia for two years and was able to learn the language and love the people! 


I think the fictional village of "Putusan" is actually in Indonesia. some think on the Island of Borneo, but from the description in the book, I am convinced it is Sumatra. I went there last summer and even drove through a Bugis Village (one of the people groups in the book) on Belitung Island, Sumatra!  So, it was fun to read of places and people that I know a bit about.


I don't want to ruin the plot because it really unfolds slowly.  I recommend it!


I listened for most of it but read the last 20% or so. I think Frederick Davidson narrates with great voices for the different characters, but the actual narrator voice often sounds so "haugty." It bothered me more for David Copperfield because he is so truly humble (Unlike Uriah Heep the Creep), but Marlowe strikes me as someone who probably has a haughty English gentleman's voice. So, it wasn't so bad this time around. 

52 in 52 Week 11: More Than Ordinary by Doug Sherman

We had a little "book club" discussion at our Elders and Wives Retreat this weekend at the Oregon Coast. I am still here, and it was a fabulous discussion about being relationally connected with God. 


I really liked it, and it was part of a Bible Book Club post I wrote earlier in the week and thought I would just include it here. 


Heartily recommend this book. It is simple but so CORE to what it is all about!

LINK: 2 Chronicles 11


1 Kings 12:21-24 parallels 2 Chronicles 11:1-4


BACKGROUND 


Judah's King Rehoboam (933 - 916 B.C.)


The 1 Kings account of Rehoboam recounts the event, but the 2 Chronicles account centers around the divine purpose behind those events that we read in 2 Chronicles 10:15: "So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of events from God that the LORD might establish His word . . ."  The question was would Rehoboam listen?


In this chapter, Rehoboam did. He heard and obeyed God's message through Shemaiah. As a result, God blessed him building projects (5-12), his people (13-17),  and his family (18-23).


The King of Israel, Jeroboam had put his own priests in place and led the ten northern tribes into worship of goat and calf idols; but for three years, King Rehoboam led the people of Judah into the worship ordained in the Law of Moses. This resulted in the migration of many priests and Levites in Israel to true worship in Judah. 


Even though Rehoboam was blessed with many children and acted wisely in the distribution of his sons through all the territories of Judah (11:23), he  did disobey God by taking eighteen wives and fifteen concubines (Deuteronomy 17:17). We know that was the downfall of his father Solomon!


REFLECTION


Rehoboam had three glorious years. Let's bask in that for a while because I hate to say it, it won't last!


So, what is going to keep us walking with God for the long haul? Do we want to finish well?  YES!!!!!!!


So, what why did Rehoboam succeed for that three years?


". . . they listened to the words of the LORD . . ." (11:4)


" . . . He acted wisely . . ." (11:23)


There is a simple pattern here: Listen and act upon what God tells you!


APPLICATION


This is the key to a day to day, 24/7/365 life of walking with the Lord: Listen and obey. I know it sounds simple, but that is it.


I am reading a sweet book with the elders and wives of our church called More Than Ordinary: Enjoying Life with God by Doug Sherman (turns out I know the man that discipled him and wrote the foreward to the book!). It is a very simple concept, but it is about walking with Him 24/7/365.  



The principles in this book are super simple. If every believer followed them, their lives would be transformed!  Sadly, we can sometimes be like Rehoboam.


So, if you are in it for the long-haul. Get this book! I love it, and maybe you will too!


Click HERE to read a sample of the first chapter. It will give you a little taste of it.


If you have a Kindle, it is only $3.79, and the first chapter can be sent wirelessly as a sample for free. Click HERE.  


PRAYER


Lord, empower us to listen and obey for the long haul! We want to live extraordinary lives for You. Amen.

52 in 52 Week 10: Why Read Moby-Dick? by Nathaniel Philbrick

I loved this book! I picked it up after reading a review by another member of 52 Books in 52 Weeks challenge. I listened to THIS NPR interview with Robert Siegel and decided to read the book!   

This book met my expectations and beyond. It was so fascinating to read after having read Moby Dick in September 2004 and feeling much like Linda Holmes in the "I Will If You Will Book Club" who wrote after reading Moby-Dick, 

"Book club vice-president Marc Hirsh and I finished the book in June of that year and declared it a great lesson in 'how to pursue a pointless battle to its bitter, violent, inevitable end.' By which we meant, in part, reading the book." 

My joke has always been that it was 100 pages of plot and 500 pages of whaling encylopedia!  Reading Philbrick's book helped me understand the method behind Melville's madness.

I especially liked reading about the relationship between Nathaniel Hawthorne and Herman Melville. There is personal correspondence between the two that helps you understand that Hawthorne was the one who inspired Melville to add a plot to what was more a whaling encyclopedia.  Even though I didn't appreciate the whaling encyclopedia part, Philbrick convinced me it had value. 

Here is a bit of the transcript for the interview with the author:

SIEGEL: And first, the answer to the question of your title. This book runs hundreds of pages; life is short. Why read 'Moby-Dick'?

PHILBRICK: Read "Moby-Dick" because I think it's as close to being our American Bible as we have. It's just full of great wisdom. But it also is just an amazing read. The level of the language is like none other. And it's a book I keep dipping into on a regular basis - almost on a daily basis.

SIEGEL: As you describe it, Herman Melville was already a successful writer when he wrote a novel about whaling - that would be more of an adventure story, I guess, than what it turned into - at a time when Americans actually associated adventure more with the Western frontier than with the seas. And he scrapped this book, and he added all of the incredibly rich undertones and overtones that make it "Moby-Dick." Why? What happened?

PHILBRICK: Well, he met Nathaniel Hawthorne and read some of his stories, and it was Hawthorne's power of blackness that forever changed Melville. Melville realized what he wanted to do with this novel was entirely different from his original aim. And he completely reinvented the book and invented Ahab, and made it the classic it is today.

SIEGEL: Hawthorne is central here, but you also write about Melville's midlife encounter with the plays of Shakespeare, and his ambition to outdo Shakespeare.

PHILBRICK: Yeah. Well, Melville came to Shakespeare quite late, which I think proves it's best to come to books like "Moby-Dick" and to Shakespeare after we've had some life experience. And reading Shakespeare just infused Melville's language, brought it to a level that is just unapproachable. And this combination of meeting Hawthorne, but having Shakespeare as a new launching pad, made for an incredible combination that made "Moby-Dick" possible.

SIEGEL: And you observe that it was characters like Iago in "Othello," complex characters that Melville really engaged with when he read Shakespeare.

PHILBRICK: Yeah, and they're all over "Moby-Dick." But what Melville did is, he applied it to his own experiences whaling and also with what was going on in America, with the Civil War approaching. And so it made this incredible stew of influences that made it a book that really will be relevant in all times.

Isn't that funny about Shakespeare, especially since I have just read through so many of the plays that He mentions in this book! 


I totally agree with the bolded part of Philbrick's interview about coming to these works later in life, after life experiences. Here is the quote from the book regarding that:

Melville's example demonstrates the wisdom of waiting to read the classics. Coming to a great book on your own after accumulated essential life experiences can make all the difference. For Melville, the timing could not have been better, and in the flyleaf of the last volume of his seven-volume set (large print because his eyes were going bad - Carol's addition) of Shakespeare's plays are notes written during the composition of Moby-Dick about Ahab, Pip, and other characters. (p.61)

Reading Moby-Dick, we are in the presence of a writer who spent several impressionable years on a whaleship, internalized everything he saw, and seven or so years later, after internalizing Shakespeare, Hawthorne, the Bible, and much more, found the voice and the method that enabled him to broadcast his youthful experiences into the future. And this, ultimately, is where the great, unmatched potency of Moby-Dick, the novel resides. It comes from an author who not only was there but possessed the capacious and impressionable soul required to appreciate the wonder of what he was seeing. (p. 70) 

I have heard so many people say of the classics, "Oh I read that in high school." (Followed by a look that says, "And I don't want to read it again.") I don't think many young people are ready to tackle classics without more life experiences and education that would help them grasp and understand.

Thanks to the post-Sputnik emphasis on math and science of the Southern California educational system in the 60's and 70's, I wasn't forced to read any classics others than The Great Gatsby and Siddhartha. And I think that was a good thing. I didn't start reading the classics until my late 30's when life experiences had allowed me to appreciate them. 

Still, I don't even think I was ready to read Moby-Dick at 45. I started reading through the Well-Educated Mind list in August of 2003 (see list of books HERE), and arrived at Moby-Dick in September 2004.  I don't think I had the educational background to really understand many of Melville's references. Now, that I have completed the list, I am sure I would understand more. 

I have such a new appreciation for Melville because of Philbrick!!!

Another quote about Melville's review of one of Hawthorne's story collections: 

At that time, Hawthorne enjoyed a reputation as a mild-mannered recluse penning well-crafted stories about New England's quaint colonial past. This, Melville insisted, was missing the point. Instead of a "harmless" stylist, Hawthorne was an unappreciated genius possessed by "this great power of blackness." Hidden beneath his stories' lapidarian surfaces were truth so profound and disturbing that they ranked with anything written in the English language.
Melville then turned his attention in the review to Shakespeare. "[I]t is those deep far-away things in him," Melville declared, "those occasional flashings-forth of the intuitive Truth, in him; those short, quick probings at the very axis of reality; -- these are the things that make Shakespeare, Shakespeare." Moreover, it was through his "dark characters," such as Hamlet, Lear, and Iago, that Shakespeare "craftily says, or sometimes insinuates the things, which we feel to be so terrifically true, that it were all but madness for any good man, in his own proper character, to utter, or even hint at them!" In writing about Hawthorne, Melville, via Shakespeare, was laying the groundwork for Ahab. (p. 44-45)

More on Hawthorne:

The other breakthrough associated with his invention of Ahab was something he clearly got from Hawthorne: a way to put artistic distance between himself and the very thing he most identified with, thus providing a way to write about the darkest and most frightening aspects of human experience. That was why he could write to Hawthorne, "I have written a wicked book, and feel spotless as the lamb." (p.48) 

Love his chapter on "Poetry" in the Moby-Dick. It is better to listen to the author read this excerpt from the book, but here is what he says:

PHILBRICK: Yeah. This is a passage from Chapter 51. It's called "The Spirit Spout," and picks up with the Pequod just south of St. Helena. 

(Reading) While gliding through these latter waves in that one serene and moonlit night, when all the waves rolled by like scrolls of silver and by their soft, suffusing seethings, made what seemed a silvery silence, not a solitude. On such a silent night, a silvery jet was seen far in advance of the white bubbles at the bow. Lit up by the moon, it looked celestial; seemed some plumed and glittering god uprising from the sea. 

SIEGEL: Wow, when you read that, I can imagine Melville reading it aloud as he was writing it. It sounds very much like elaborate, spoken prose. 

PHILBRICK: It is. And you know, it's iambic pentameter at times. And the level of the writing is truly poetic, and yet he's telling this epic story. And so the combination is really, one that was built for the ages.

I could go on and on about this great little book about a BIG book. This author is excellent. I kept reading quotes from the book to my husband last night, and he started reading it!

Monday Morning Freewrite

I usually start these when I first get up, but I have been up for 2 1/2 hours writing already. The house was very quiet and peaceful, and I thought I would write and then go to Pilates, but I am right in the middle of Matthew 24! UGH. When I awoke, I thought surely I could get through it in 2 1/2 hours and Pilates will be a nice breaking point, but George came out to make coffee and noise. So, my concentration was broken at 7:30 am. I also needed a "back break" and realized I was quite "wonky" as I put on my slippers. I showered and loosened up and went on my foam roller only to have a "crack, crack, crack" break out on my back, back, back (could not resist that). It was a "good" crack, crack, crack but made me realize that I was pretty unstable. 


So, I am not going to Pilates and will do "Praise Moves" and stretching along with my strength routine from Amanda. I think the strength routine from Shandra is not right for me. I sort of knew it as I did it. I am definitely strong enough to do all the moves (with heavy weight even), but they are not moves that protect my back. Surely I can strengthen without compromising that!  I am wondering if I can have Amanda give me a whole strength regiment. Or I may just go back to Group Power. That class never hurt my back because everything was "straight" on as opposed to twisting and having possible wrong positioning. I have to pray about this.  


It also could be irritated by those soft chairs at the Darkside Theatre. I should have just gone to the other chair. I didn't want to draw attention to myself. By the way, The Artist movie is lovely, but it is one I could have viewed in my home with a comfortable chair; unlike Hugo which really cannot be fully appreciated if not seen in a movie theatre with surround-sound, 3D, and big screen. Thankfully the Carmike has VERY back-friendly chairs! :)  


Well, I am going to go back to Matthew 24. The kids are stirring now and will be off to college classes within the hour. 

52 in 52 Week 10: The Crucible by Arthur Miller

This was I-N-T-E-N-S-E! I loved this play, and this L.A. Theatre Works rendition is excellent. I did not know that this was written by Arthur Miller in 1953 in response to the "witch hunt" of McCarthyism. 

Senator Joseph McCarthy led a crusade against communism in American in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Anyone involved with communism or left-wing activities was suspected. Many people were "blacklisted" and lost their jobs. In 1956, Miller was subpoenaed by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. He refused to give the names of communist writers that he knew. We can see this in Giles Corey and John Proctor in this play. 

The Crucible is based on the tragic events surrounding the Salem Witch Trials. Many of the characters were actual historical figures (Parris, Proctor, Sarah Good, Mary Warren, and Tituba).

The main symbol is the crucible (a container used for melting that can withstand very high temperatures).  Danforth says in the play that the court is a "hot fire" that "melts down all concealment." But there is a deeper meaning to the play in this regard, and it reminds me of this verses:

"The refining pot is for silver 

and the furnace for gold,

But the LORD tests hearts"

Proverbs 17:3

"“But He knows the way I take; 

When He has tried me, 

I shall come forth as gold." 

(Job 23:10, NASB95) 

This is a brilliant play, I highly recommend it. There is good and evil in it, and it might be disturbing, but it is worth the read. 


I you cannot find this edition at your local library (or digital library), you can buy is HERE: http://www.latw.org/audio/index.html

Here is the cast:


Cast:
Irene Aranga as Mercy Lewis
Rene Auberjonois as Deputy Governor Danforth
Ed Begley Jr. as Thomas Putnam
Georgia Brown as Rebecca Nurse
Jack Coleman as Marshal Herrick
Bud Cort as Ezekiel Cheever
Richard Dreyfuss as Reverend John Hale
Judyann Elder as Tituba
Hector Elizondo as Giles Corey
Fionnula Flanagan as Reverend John Hale
Ann Hearne as Susanna Walcott
Carol Kane as Mary Warren
Stacy Keach as John Proctor
Anna Sophie Loewenberg as Betty Parris
Marian Mercer as Mrs. Ann Putnam
Franklyn Seales as Judge Hathorne
Madolyn Smith as Abigail Williams
Joe Spano as Francis Nurse
Michael York as Reverend Parris

52 in 52 Week 10: The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare

By Smatprt (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Now I know where the title for the musical "Kiss Me, Kate" comes from! I vaguely remember Elizabeth Taylor screaming in the movie version that came out when I was eight years old. (I wish my library had it. I really want to see it now.)

This is a very sexist play, but it is all in fun. The characters are sort of confusing, and it made it really confusing when librivox had women being men AGAIN! UGH! But I found it in my library with the Arkangel audio series, and I may just listen to it again.

Fun!

52 in 52 Week 10: King Henry IV, Part 1 by William Shakespeare

My favorite audio drama people (www.naxosaudiobboks.com) have not done a recording of this. The digital library just had an abridged version. So, I settled for the FREE www.librivox.org recording, but sometimes they cast women as men, and some voices are clearer and better than others. So, I got this bright idea to go to my library and see if they had them on CD. 

BINGO!

They had the COMPLETE plays, and they are all beautiful renditions. Too bad I had listened to all of this play and The Taming of the Shrew before I realized that they might have them!

This made me want to listen to Part II. I love the history I am learning from Shakepeare!  

52 in 52: Week 10: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

This book's title comes from a Robert Burns poem titled "To a Mouse"


"But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley, (Often go awry)
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain
For promis'd joy."


This book was based on Steinbeck's own experience as a "bindlestiff" (a hobo who carries a bindle, which is a collection of belongings wrapped in a cloth and tied around a stick). It was published in 1937 during the height of the depression




This is a very "tight" story that involves a very short amount of time. It is set in California. The two main characters are George and Lennie who are farmhands with a dream.


I loved The Grapes of Wrath, and I really loved this novella. It is a "psychological novel." I don't want to spoil it. It is "gritty" though. Just a warning. Steinbeck is a brilliant writer, but he writes about the tough things. 


I love this quote from John Steinbeck's journal:

In every bit of honest writing in the world there is a base theme. Try to understand men, if you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and nearly always leads to love. There are shorter means, many of them. There is writing promoting social change, writing punishing injustice, writing in celebration of heroism, but always that base theme. Try to understand each other.— John Steinbeck in his 1938 journal entry^[5]

52 in 52 Week 10: The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

I loved this play! I don't think it is a comedy though. I would definitely put it in the "tragicomedy" category. Aha, I see that The Book of Great Books:A Guide to 100 World Classics agrees with me. :)    

                                                                                                                                                                                    This is the first time I have ever read it, but I saw the movie with Al Pacino as Shylock. Oh my, he was good as Shylock. Definitely worth watching (Warning: There is one unnecessary scene with women’s breasts that came out of nowhere. We have ClearPlay now. So, we don’t have to worry about those kinds of surprises anymore!).

What a play. It might be my favorite of the "comedies," but I have never read Measure for Measure but saw it on stage and LOVED the moral dilemma in that wonderful play! 

Portia is a strong woman in this play, but I feel like Shylock is the sympathetic character here. The court scene is so excruciatingly painful for me. The famous quote by Portia is contained in Act 4, Scene 1: 

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,It droppeth as the gentle rain from heavenUpon the place beneath. It is twice blest:It blesseth him that gives and him that takes. 

This quote makes me think of my thoughts about revenge last week, and this quote from Nelson Mandela:

"Resentment is like drinking poison 

and waiting for it to kill your enemy." 

When we extend mercy to another, we are blessed. Must ponder all of this more. 

I have such sympathy for Shylock. A part of me loves Portia strength but makes me so dislike her too. Did she extend mercy to Shylock? I think not! Shylock was a person who was in grief. He had "bullied" all his life. 

This leads me to think of the recent school shooting in Ohio. I don't condone school shootings, but I feel sympathy for some who have been bullied so mercilessly. (The jury is still out as to whether this boy was bullied.)  But again, I go back to extending mercy to others and you will be free!  Jesus could have exacted revenge with all of His power, but He chose mercy, and I am so grateful for that! 

Shakespeare is everywhere. Look what I came across just last week while studying the parable of the Prodigal Son and the subject of repentance in Luke 15:17-19:

"“But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.” ’" (Luke 15:17-19, NASB95) 

To “repent” means “to change one’s mind,” and that is exactly what the young man did as he cared for the pigs. (What a job for a Jewish boy!) He “came to himself,” which suggests that up to this point he had not really “been himself.” There is an “insanity” in sin that seems to paralyze the image of God within us and liberate the “animal” inside. Students of Shakespeare like to contrast two quotations that describe this contradiction in man’s nature. 

What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form, in moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god!

(Hamlet, II, ii) 

When he is best, he is a little worse than a man; and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast.

(The Merchant of Venice, I, ii)

(Wiersbe, W. W. (1996, c1989). The Bible exposition commentary. "An exposition of the New Testament comprising the entire 'BE' series"--Jkt. (Lk 15:11). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books)

I love Shakespeare! This is the last one from my list, but I came down loaded down with more CD's from the library. I am such a nerd, but there is something about Shakespeare that is so relaxing and challenging to my soul.


A word about audio versions! There is a new one by NAXOS AUDIOBOOKS that sounds fantastic (probably the best), and I listened to the first scene for free, but I am too cheap to buy it. The digital library didn't have one. So, I went and got a free version from Librivox, but halfway through it, I realized that my library probably had a CD version, and they have ALL the plays on CD. So, I am sorry I wasted my time downloading the Librivox versions. Some of the actors were very good in this particular play, but nothing beats trained Shakespearean professional actors! 


Here is the version I listened to:


 

The cast was superb which includes: 


Portia - Hadyn Gwynne
Shylock - Trevor Peacock 
Bassanio - Julian Rhind-Tutt
Antonio - Bill Nighy
Gratiano - Will Keen
Lorenzo - Matthew Delamere
Jessica - Sara-Jane Holm
Nerissa - ALison Reid

52 in 52 Week 10: Macbeth by William Shakespeare

I had no idea what this play was about. I knew it was a tragedy, and you would have to had lived under a rock to not have heard the Three Witches (or weird sisters) quoted:


"Double, double toil and trouble                Fire burn, and cauldron bubble." (IV,i)

At the very beginning, I could tell that ambition (both Macbeth's and Lady Macbeth's) would be their downfall. The descent into evil and degeneration of character was so unsavory for me. He has a conscience in the beginning, but he listens to those witches and his wife! 

Apparently, there really was a Macbeth in Scottish history, but he was an honored monarch. 

Shakespeare borrowed the story from several tales in Holinshed's Chronicles, a popular history of the British Isles known to Shakespeare and his contemporaries. In Chronicles, a man named Donwald finds several of his family put to death by his king, King Duff, for dealing with witches. After being pressured by his wife, he and four of his servants kill the King in his own house. In Chronicles, Macbeth is portrayed as struggling to support the kingdom in the face of King Duncan's ineptitude. He and Banquo meet the three witches, who make exactly the same prophecies as in Shakespeare's version. Macbeth and Banquo then together plot the murder of Duncan, at Lady Macbeth's urging. Macbeth has a long, ten-year reign before eventually being overthrown by Macduff and Malcolm. The parallels between the two versions are clear. However, some scholars think that George Buchanan's Rerum Scoticarum Historia matches Shakespeare's version more closely. Buchanan's work was available in Latin in Shakespeare's day.^[10]

From Wikipedia: MacBeth 

As I listened and walked, I heard Macbeth tell Lady Macbeth:

Away and mock the time with fairest show;

False face must hide what the fall heart doth know. (I,vii)

Then I remembered that the title of the book, TrueFaced: Trust God and Others with Who You Really Are, that I read last year was based on this quote!  


This wasn't my favorite play. It was just OK. 

52 in 52 Week 10:The Tempest by William Shakespeare

 

". . . We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep." (Prospero, Act IV, i)


I feel as though in a dream. I loved this play. What is it about Shakespeare that brings me such peace. I know not what.


In one of my books, this is under the "Romances." If that is the case, it is my first one. Another book puts it in the "Comedies" of which I have read many (I believe it is wise to start with the Comedies to warm yourself up to the Bard).  The Book of Great Books classifies it as a "Romance; tragicomedy" which makes it fit in all categories but the Histories! 

Do I take part: the rarer action isIn virtue than in vengeance: they being penitent,The sole drift of my purpose doth extendNot a frown further. Go, release them, Ariel.My charms I'll break, their senses I'll restore,And they shall be themselves (V,i)

It is a moral tale, and Shakespeare hits the right notes. I knew nothing about this one before I set sail with it upon the tempestuous sea except that my previous book, Brave New World,  derives its name from one of the lines in Act V,i:

How many goodly creatures are there here! 

How beauteous mankind is! 

O brave new world! 

That has such people in it! - Miranda

 This is play is so delightful! I don't want to spoil the plot. Look at the picture  of the cover, and you will get an idea of the beginning. This play has all the elements that make for delight: good, evil, love, forgiveness, and freedom!


About the Naxos Audio version: BRAVO!!!! I continue to say this, Shakespeare was meant to be acted rather than read. So, this was lovely to listen to as I followed along. I knew the gentle father and Miranda were familiar voices. So, I was delighted to discover it was Ian McKellen and Emilia Fox! Then, my joy was made complete to hear another British favorite, Benedict Cumberbatch, as the wonderful, Ferdinand.  


Here is the full cast: 

CAST

Alonso, King of Naples – Roger Hammond
Sebastian, his brother – John McAndrew
Prospero, Duke of Milan – Ian McKellen
Antonio, his brother, the usurping Duke of Milan – Neville Jason
Miranda, daughter of Prospero – Emilia Fox
Ferdinand, son to the King of Naples – Benedict Cumberbatch
Gonzalo, an honest old councillor – David Burke
Adrian, a lord – Simon Treves
Francisco, a lord – Tim Bentinck
Caliban, a savage and deformed slave – Ben Onwukwe
Trinculo, a jester – Ian Talbot
Stephano, a drunken butler – John Hodgkinson
Master – Simon Treves
Boatswain – Tim Bentinck
Ariel, an airy spirit – Scott Handy
Juno – Elaine Claxton
Ceres – Laura Paton

Wednesday Wellness

Wednesday Wellness


Well-Watered Soul 


We prayed for a good long time in the Kingdom Community about all the unrest in the world. Praying for peace in Afghanistan. Thanking God for the opening in North Korea so that people there can get food (praying that it gets through to them all and the government doesn't gobble it up). He is agreeing to let inspectors come in. Maybe this is the answer to all our prayers for opening in North Korea. The 27 year old leader may be more malleable than his American culture loving (but government hating) father. 


I am in the Passion Week in the Gospel Harmony Book Club and in our Kingdom Community gospel reading. It is tough every time. I don't want it to ever not be tough to see what Jesus suffered on my behalf. 


Well-Educated Mind 


I am on my last Shakespearean play on the 100 Great Books List. I just finished Act II of The Merchant of Venice. That will be my first book for this first day of March. 


I really need to finish Song of Years. It is so much more interesting to read classics than things like that. I like Bess Streeter Aldrich. She was a decent writer for her time, but this book is so flat and so all encompassing of years. I like "tighter" stories. Of Mice and Men had just a few characters and was about a smaller set of time. I was immediately engrossed. This one is just a rambling on of years (maybe that is why it is called Song of Years). Well, the SONG IS TOO LONG!  LOL! I am more than halfway through it, and I prefer Shakespeare to this boring book.


I know that some people in my book club would be aghast at such a statement. We have people who LOVE Aldrich books, and she is their favorite author. I have liked her other books though, especially The Rim of the Prairie which was a "tight" book. There was a small amount of time, and there was even a mystery that kept me reading to the end. 


There is no mystery to Song of Years, and I can't wait until it ends!  If I finish that, I will only have one more book to have read all the Book Babe books that I missed. 


Well-Adjusted Heart 


I hear the diesel truck revving up in the driveway. I convinced George to drive today instead of try to ride his bike in the freshly fallen snow. Yes, there is beautiful SNOW. I walked out in it in order to snap some pictures. It is still very crunchy and not slushy yet. I love freshly fallen snow!


My heart is good.


Now, I hear Michael's alarm. Paul has no class today but piano and Dial-a-Book book deliveries. Maybe I can convince them to do this with me before Michael goes to class and Paul to piano as my back is a bit sore.


Well-Tuned Strength


Yes, the back is sore. It is sore because of tightness and not because I wrenched it. I started that new workout routine with Shandra, and it really is very hard. I should have just done the stretching in Pilates and skipped the strength moves because I think my back was too tight to do it. 


I think I am sorer today than yesterday, at least in my triceps. OUCH! This is good to mix it up a bit. I have been relaxing as my shoulder has healed. I think it is now at 95%.


I am resting today though. I can't go walking (unless I walk in a field which is a possibility and would be beautiful) because I don't like walking in the snow on concrete (I fall). 


Michael is up and said "Good Morning!"  The bell just rang.