52 in 52 Week 31: Babylonian Captivity of the Church/The Small Catechism by Martin Luther

These two are on my Invitation to the Classics Book List. I am combining them today. The "Small Catechism" (1529) is really short (13 pages).  "The Babylonian Captivity of the Church" (1520) is much longer.

Luther said, "unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason -- I do not accept the authority of popes and councils. . . . My conscience is captive to the Word of God."  

With this he wrote the "Captivity":

"laid down a fearsome gauntlet. Its these was that the Catholic Church used it seven sacraments to enslave the conscience of Christians. There were, Luther argued, only three true sacraments, that is, rites to which Christ himself had attached promises with a visible sign: baptism, the Lord's Supper, and confession." Protestants later reduced the number even further to include only baptism and the Lord's Supper" (Invitation to the Classics, p. 123). 

The writing is very bold and gutsy, and I am sure he made some people really, really mad. "The Babylonian Captivity" also "demonstrated a revolutionary willingness of individual conscience to question the authority of the church" (ibid., p. 123). 

Print from Original Catechism Book

"The Small Catechism" is much milder. :) 
Luther wrote this for churches and household to be used in the education of children in the basics of the faith. It is sweet. I wished I could have had it when I was raising my children. It is Luther's teachings on the Ten Commandments, Apostles' Creed, and Lord's Prayer. In addition there is teaching on the sacraments of Baptism and Communion. I have a different view of baptism than Luther, but it was good to read. 

Addition: I wrote this in July and now it is November, and I found my mother's copy of The Smaller Catechism from 1939. She would have been 12 years old. So cool!

Print from German Small Catechism of 5th Commandment: "You shall not kill."

52 in 52 Week 30: The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses

This has been on my Kindle since June 2010 because, while reading Desiring God by John Piper for our Jesus Community, I wanted that famous quote from "The Weight of Glory":

"If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased" (The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis, p. 1-2).

When I read this quote John Piper's excellent book Desiring God (one every follower of Jesus should read IMHO) about 20 years ago, it mesmerized me. Yet, I had never read the quote in context, and now I have! The introduction by Walter Hooper is very interesting because it gives insight in how the man "walked his talk" since Hooper was an associate of Lewis. I think we all would have liked Lewis. He rates up there in "people of awesomeness" for me. 

Even though he is awesome, C.S. Lewis has always made my head hurt (like Dallas Willard). His mind is beyond brilliant. So, as hard as it was to listen to all these addresses this morning it was good for my soul after having just finished Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises last night.  The juxtaposition between these two men, born only 234 days apart and both injured in World War I, is startling. One wrote depressing fiction as part of the "Lost Generation" and the other wrote uplifting fiction and non-fiction as part of the "Found."  Praise God for C.S. Lewis. 

Here are more details about this book from http://www.disciplemagazine.com/www/articles/149.552:

The Weight of Glory is a collection of nine sermons and essays originally composed by Lewis between 1939 and 1956. An original collection was published in 1949, and reworked into its current form in 1980 by trustee and literary advisor of Lewis’ estate, Walter Hooper, whose introduction to this volume sheds light on the many ways in which Lewis lived out the truths he wrote about. 

The title sermon, which appears first in the book, represents Lewis’ most direct work on the value of individuals to God; he affirms that men are immortal souls who have more intrinsic worth than all the cultures and achievements of history. He builds an eloquent case for our responsibility to evangelize and care for our fellow man, reminding us that through every action we are helping our fellow eternal beings toward becoming either “immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.” 

The second major statement in the book is the essay ‘‘Transposition’’ in which Lewis undercuts the Roman Catholic teaching that the elements of communion are actually transformed into the body and blood of Jesus upon receipt. Instead, he posits that the Lord chose those elements to evoke the imagery of His sacrifice through the bread and the cup as a powerful sensory reminder for us. 

Lewis’ lecture “Is Theology Poetry?” explores the artistry of God’s story of creation and redemption and leaves us to marvel at the precision which it describes reality. This piece is one of the fundamental texts on worldview thinking, that is, understanding that one’s beliefs and presuppositions form the basis for his values, ideas and behaviors. It is probably best remembered for his oft-quoted statement, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” 

The remaining portions of the book, “Learning in War-Time”, “Why I Am Not a Pacifist”, “The Inner Ring”, “Membership”, “On Forgiveness”, and “A Slip of the Tongue” cover issues from relationships and exclusivism to education and courage to participation in the life of the Body. 

Lewis wrote from standpoint of wonderment at the mystery of God informed by his conversion from atheism relatively late in life. Each essay, lecture, or sermon in this volume contains pearls of wisdom that inspire and challenge the reader to love the Lord with his mind. Taken as a whole, it is an invaluable resource to give form to the ideas that make the Christian life what it is. This book belongs on the shelf of every believer. 

Justin Lonas

I agree Justin!

Table of Contents:

"The Weight of Glory" (1), (2), (3), (4) (Brilliant) 

"Learning in War-Time" (1), (4), (5)

"Why I am Not a Pacifist" (4), (6), (7)

"Transposition" (1), (2), (3), (4)

"Is Theology Poetry?" (2), (3), (4)

"The Inner Ring" (1), (2), (3), (4) (Really liked this one!)

"Membership" (1), (4), (5)

"On Forgiveness" (4), (5)

"A Slip of the Tongue" (2), (3), (4) (I liked this one too)

Notes:

(1) The original, 1949 version of this work included only these works. The other works were added in the 1980 edition. Also, the 1949 version was published in the U. K. under the title "Transposition and Other Addresses".

(2) also published in "They Asked for a Paper"

(3) also published in "Screwtape Proposes a Toast and Other Pieces"

(4) also published in "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces"

(5) also published in "Fern-Seed and Elephants and Other Essays"

(6) also published in "Timeless at Heart: Essays on Theology"

(7) also published in "Compelling Reason"

Sunday Afternoon Freewrite

It is 3:15 pm on a warm and overcast summer Sunday. George is outside of Philomath at a memorial service for Scott Overton (http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/obituaries/w-scott-overton/article_5028d71e-ca57-11e1-bcc7-001a4bcf887a.html).

Scott was George's major professor for his Ph.D. in Statistics, and he loved George best of all of his graduate students, and everyone knows it. (Who wouldn't love my husband?) George knows the whole family, and he has written such a lovely thing to share at the service.


I wanted to go, but I am not feeling well, and I needed some downtime after a very big week. But George says my idea of being sick is working just a little less hard than I usually do which is true. One of the Bible Book Club members wrote me wondering why the posts were disappearing. WOOPS! I meant to only work through the end of our vacation in August, but I ended up working through to the beginning of November! I rewrote old posts and rescheduled them for future dates forgetting that many people read on their own schedule for the BBC! 

Thankfully, she was in Daniel and not reading chronologically according to the old schedule. If she had, it would have meant 48 chapters of Ezekiel would be missing for her! (Remember I said that last Sunday I got through all of Ezekiel accidentally by working all day?). As it is, she only has the minor prophets. Since I do them chronologically, most have already posted, and I only had to send her five short books! YAY! 


Actually, I will need to eventually cut and paste everything when I publish the eBooks. So, this just gave me a head start.

What I am so encouraged by is hearing from three people in the last couple of weeks whose lives are being transformed by the Holy Spirit speaking truth and transformation into their lives through His word!!! WOOHOO! I LIVE FOR THIS!!!! Anything that I can do to help in that vein is time well spent, even if I am sick!!!! 


I tried to write a bit of Ezra this morning. While cutting and pasting and organizing posts in the Gospel Harmony Book Club have been great, I cannot seem to concentrate on the new posts. So, I am OK with that.


Well, I have four more minutes, and I am already tired. This is enough for my sick brain right now.


No proofreading. Please excuse my mistakes if you are reading this. 

52 in 52 Week 29 :The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Cover painting by James & Ruth McCrea (1974)

"The Sun Also Rises portrays the lives of the members of the so-called Lost Generation, the group of men and women whose early adulthood was consumed by World War I. This horrific conflict, referred to as the Great War, set new standards for death and -immorality in war. It shattered many people’s beliefs in traditional values of love, faith, and manhood. Without these long-held notions to rely on, members of the generation that fought and worked in the war suffered great moral and psychological aimlessness. The futile search for meaning in the wake of the Great War shapes The Sun Also Rises. Although the characters rarely mention the war directly, its effects haunt everything they do and say." 

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/sun/context.html 

This story is pretty pointless, but I guess that is the point: the lost generation was truly lost, and these characters just wander aimlessly through Paris until they make it to Spain for fishing, bull-fighting, and infighting while drunk and aimless and debauched. 


Sound fun? Then you too can take a ride through this book!


Again from Spark Notes, "A Note on the Epigraph":

Before the novel opens, Hemingway quotes Stein ("You are all a lost generation.")  and a biblical passage from Ecclesiastes:

"One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth forever . . . The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to the place where he arose . . . The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. . . . All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again."  

The passage contrasts the transient nature of human generations with the eternal survival of nature: the world endures, and the sun continues to rise and set despite the inevitable passage of each human generation into death. Hemingway’s juxtaposition of the two epigraphs produces an ambivalent tone. On the one hand, there is hope, because there will be a new generation after the aimless generation that populates The Sun Also Rises. On the other hand, there is bitter irony, since every generation is lost, in the sense that each generation will eventually die.

I was halfway through the library copy when I found the copy with this neat cover in our bookshelf. George had forgotten that he read it in college. Believe me, the only thing I really liked about the book was the neat cover. :) 

Freewrite Fifteen

I haven't been writing much here lately. So, I thought I would do a quick fifteen. 


Well-Watered Soul


I have dropped off on my "World Walk" prayer in the last week. About a week ago, I did a very hard elliptical interval training, and I think I overdid it. I must just go back to my easy walking again! It is so much better for my body. It doesn't help to do a hard work out and then be incapacitated for the rest of the week!  


All that said, I have spent more time in the Word than World Walking which isn't such a bad thing, but I like BALANCE!  


I don't know how it happened but I got all the way through Ezekiel this last weekend. Yesterday (Sunday), I was particularly focused, and it was so enjoyable! I like Ezekiel. I was most intimidated by it when I first started the BBC, but I am no longer intimidated. 


The meditation on the glory of God filling the temple at the end is thrilling! Come Lord Jesus!


I am going to go for a little world walk right after this freewrite. It will do me much good and good to do before it gets too hot.



Well-Educated Mind 


I am almost done with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I don't care for some of the content and language, but Ken Kesey was a brilliant writer and an Oregon native. So, I felt it was important to read one of his books. 


We have also been watching film adaptations of Anthony Trollope novels. So interesting that i had never heard of him before a couple of weeks ago. We are currently watching The Pallisers.  I do enjoy it. It was slow, at first, but it has picked up and so fun to see a young Susan Hampshire in the role of Glencora. 




Well-Tuned Strength


I was doing so well until my overdoing it on the elliptical. My back has been tight but not out for a week now. I have been walking lightly. Well, I guess not, I did go hiking on Friday and met my calorie burn goal. I guess I just didn't meet it on Saturday, even though we walked for two hours downtown, but it was very slow walking, but that isn't all bad. Sunday was a rest day. SO, I am probably not as bad off as I think I am, but I just don't feel very motivated this morning to do anything. 


I also think I overdid it on the eating. Nok served us a Thai FEAST at Tarntip on Friday night. Amazing but I know that I have not been good with my eating from Friday-Sunday.


I am back to my FOUR DAY WIN for Monday-Thursday! Then, I will reevaluate again. Back on the wagon after a very fun visit from friends. 


I have three more minutes . . . 


Well-Adjusted Heart


It is great, but I think I am going to have to say NO to meeting with people for a chunk of summer. I wish I had someone who could arrange my calendar. I spend much of my time trying to coordinate meeting with people. I wish people could just be set at a certain time instead of needing to reschedule and fudge all over the place. WHO AM I KIDDING? I cannot even hope for that to happen, but much of time this morning was trying to juggle J, S, and S when I already have M, K, and C scheduled this week. That is meeting with six people PLUS M wanting to "touch base" with me on the telephone "some time" this week! I don't have time to figure out your "some time."  Please just give me some times to call, and I will see if I can fit it in.


On top of that are a "tentative" once someone finds out their work schedule. We also have a going away party and getting my books ready for the Homeschool Curriculum book sale.


I am not complaining, but I think I just need a break from scheduling my life and just get through my photos! I think my mental health would be so much better if I could just have CLOSURE on that and get that monkey off of my back. :)


Well, the timer went off, and now I am going to FORCE myself to get out in the sunshine and walk and pray!!! 


Bye (No proofreading on freewrites so I apologize ahead of time for typos and misspellings. Freewrites are meant to not let those things hinder you. It is a great exercise and helps with your perfectionism [something I obviously don't have a problem with])

52 in 52 Week 28: Faust Part One by Goethe

By Richard Roland Holst (1868 – 1938) ([1])
 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

I read Steppenwolf a couple of months ago, and Hesse kept on talking about "GER-TA." Since I was listening to it on audiobook, I didn't realize until I looked at the actual text that he was talking about Goethe! This inspired me to read the play. 

I had seen this volume in my father-in-law's Franklin Library collection (the fancy and expensive books with the gilt edges) about 22 years ago and had no idea who "GER-TA" was and  what Faust was about. I just thought it was a pretty book. 

Now I know. It is  a tragic poem/play  that is a take-off of Dr. Faustus by Marlowe, a play from medieval times.  

It is about a German scholar who sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for knowledge and power. The first sounds much like the Book of Job, where Satan tells God that he can make one of His faithful servants fall, and God allows Satan to do it.

It is considered the finest piece of German literature and the two parts took Goethe over 60 years to complete. Part One was written in 1808. The first draft (Urfaust) had a different ending. Apparently, the first night audience who saw the new ending cheered. You'll have to read it to know what that ending is!

Faust Part Two came out in 1832. I might take a break before tackling it!

Meme for the Classic Girl

The Well Update Freewrite Fifteen

I thought it would be good to update from the homefront being that it has been over a week. There will be typos in this everyone. Don't be alarmed. Freewrites are meant to allow you to write freely without a concern about grammar, spelling, or typos. Those things can impede the writing process. I did this with my sons so that they would not see writing as a negative thing. They wrote freely. Eventually, they learned to proofread and correct, but freewrites were meant to just teach them how to get their thoughts down on paper, which is really what writing is all about!

They do really well now in college having used this method. :)


Well-Watered Soul


I continue to LOVE my "World Walking"!  I think I am putting in about 30-40 miles a week. That means many different unreached people groups are being prayed for. George and I have done it several times together after dinner, and I really like having a husband who loves to pray with me! Kathleen has done it with me too. If anyone local wants to do it. LET'S!

I had this block with Isaiah, but then I asked for prayer, and it flowed right on the blog. So, the one of the MAJOR prophets is down! I got past the halfway point of Jeremiah yesterday by staying home from morning activities yesterday. I was tired from the Civil War Reenactments in Salem on Saturday and just needed some time alone with the Lord. I love Jeremiah. I love how he was hurt that people didn't want to receive his message. So real, and that is how I feel sometimes. SO, I can relate to him.

After Jeremiah, I have Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel of the major prophets, and Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi of the minor prophets. I also have three more history books sprinkled in: Ezra, Esther, and Nehemiah. Oh, I also have 37 more Psalms. Then, I am done with the whole Old Testament. It is really a spiritual journey and not just a task though. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this God-inspired BHAG given to me on Christmas Day 2007!

Personal prayer has been so good too. God is really leading me into deeper places.

Oh, I think I have decided, on second thought and reflection, that the Spiritual Direction class in Mount Angel would not be a good thing at this time. George job is being cut back to 32 hours a week (with a subsequent cut in pay), and we have many major expenses: art school for Michael and dental work for both me and Michael. So, maybe another time! I am very peaceful about that! Plus, I think I already do Spiritual Direction as I read the books from the class. I just wanted to fellowship with others who are doing it. That is the main reason I wanted to take the class.


Well-Educated Mind


I loved The Aeneid by Virgil, and I am so shocked that I did! I dreaded that on my "100 Great Books" list!  But the audiobook of the Fagles translation, narrated by Simon Callow was the BOMB. I started listening to it on my way to Ginny and Lorraine's on Wednesday, and I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN (or, in this case, stop listening). It was great. YAY!


I am also listening to The Federalist read by this man on the internet. You can download all 80 MP3. The founders of our country were BRILLIANT men, and we owe our freedom to them. They presented the need for our Constitution with such foresight! I am loving that too. I take it in little doses of 10-15 minutes each.


(DRAT there goes the 15 minute alarm! I will continue this fine discussion tomorrow for the other "Well" concerns! BYE!) 


Remember NO PROOFREADING. Sorry if it drives you crazy! LOL!




Well-Adjusted Heart 
Well-Tuned Strength

52 in 52 Week 27: The Ascent of George Washington by John Ferling

Just in time for Independence Day!

This is about the myth versus the man. Excellent. I like this review of the book by The Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/02/AR2009070201735.html 

This book is long. It was 438 pages in print, and it was over 17 hours of audiobook listening, but it is so well researched and written that I heartily recommend it. The narrator was also great on the audiobook. I listened to it leading up to our time on the East Coast visiting Valley Forge and Mount Vernon. I always try to read a book about American history around 4th of July. I have read biographies on Ben Franklin, John Adams, and 1776. It was Washington's turn, having been a character in all three of those books. 

Well worth the investment of time. I read a review on library thing that said "One of the rare accounts in which a political idol is not diminished by the revelation of his human imperfections. If anything, his ability comes out enhanced. Singular & thought-provoking" (Niels Peter, Library Thing). I agree.


Here is a really great, short summation of the book by the author:

Well Update

Well-Watered Soul

Love, love, love my miles for millions prayer walks. :) I finally finished Isaiah and am enjoying Jeremiah. Time with family during "Dinner and Discipleship" is sweet. Paul says, "I like doing together as a family if makes everything stick. I like our family." :) Before we did homework on our own and then came together and talked about it. Now, we do it together from start to finish, and it only takes us fifteen minutes longer, but the conversation has been so much deeper.


Well-Educated Mind


Hemingway, Martin Luther, C.S. Lewis, and Plato have been my most recent readings. I finally know where "The unexamined life is not worth living" quote comes from. It is Plato quoting Socrates in the Apologia, that is incorrectly translated as Apology in English when it is really his defense before they condemned him to die. Who knew?


I only have one more Hemingway, and I say, "Hallelujah" to that. I had a talk with Rosemary, and she loves Hemingway. George does too. Great people like him. 


Well-Adjusted Heart


I am good. Had a weird thing where a friend didn't like that I had never brought up one of her character flaws until other people brought it to her attention, and I confirmed it. I didn't know how to respond to that because I think I have over the years. I guess I had always thought that she was aware of it, but I guess not. So, she was shocked when others brought it up.  Still praying for wisdom to respond to that one. 


Well-Tuned Strength


I have gone back to Group Power for good and have done it twice a week for two weeks. I can already see a difference. Pilates was not continuing to strengthen my overall body anymore. It was great as recovery  from my injury, but I have had no back problems since starting Group Power. I have even gone where my back was a bit "kinky," and it worked itself out as I went through all the tracks (12 each session). I am thankful!


The walking/elliptical has been great too. I am adding biking as the weather has improved.

Eating has been good and bad. I am going back to tracking it on the BodyBugg site as I broke down and bought a new one that syncs with my iPod. This will make tracking so much easier. I also plan on take a break from Bible Book Club so that I can move more. :)

Well, I hear the chai tea from George coming. I love my life! (No proofreading. So, expect TYPOS)

52 in 52 Week 26: Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

There is no author like Thomas Hardy. This is my third by him, and he always draws me in so that I cannot stay away for too long. 


This story was written in 1891 and is part of the naturalism genre. It drew criticism in the Victorian Era because of Hardy's sympathetic portrayal of Tess. The narrator is always sympathetic toward her, and I was too. As I listened to Ralph Cosham's excellent narration, I found myself crying out, "This should be subtitle 'a pure woman'!" not knowing that Hardy had already given it that subtitle to "raise the eyebrows of the Victorian middle-classes" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hardy). 


I knew this story because I saw the excellent four hour BBC mini-series in 2009. Since I knew where it would end up, I thought I would listen to it here and there at a leisurely-pace, but there is no comparison between watching a mini-series and reading  Thomas Hardy's prose which is really more like poetry because he "regarded himself primarily as a poet who composed novels for financial gain" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hardy). Hardy is a master. His stories are so compelling, especially this one which is my favorite of the three that I have read. 

Vintage reading : from Plato to Bradbury : a personal tour of some of the world's best books / Robert Kanigel.

Just stumbled upon this at our library website.

I checked this out of the library once, but I didn't have time to really look at it. It overlaps with so many of my favorite books. 

Table of Contents

	Look Homeward, Angel	p. 8
x	The Portrait of a Lady	p. 11
x	As I Lay Dying	p. 14
x	Wuthering Heights	p. 17
	Kim	p. 20
x	Alice's Adventures in Wonderland	p. 23
	Justine	p. 25
x	Oliver Twist	p. 27
x	Pride and Prejudice	p. 30
x	A Passage to India	p. 32
x	My Antonia	p. 35
x	Madame Bovary	p. 38
	Stories (Heretics, subversives, demagogues) - Dorothy Parker	p. 42
x	The Prince	p. 44
	The Devil's Dictionary	p. 47
x	Mein Kampf	p. 50
	Nana - Emile Zola	p. 53
	Ten Days That Shook the World - John Reed	p. 55
x	Native Son	p. 58
x	Essays (Books that shaped the western world) - Montaigne	p. 62
x	Dialogues - Plato	p. 65
	The Wealth of Nations - Plato	p. 68
	An Essay on the Principle of Population - Thomas Malthus	p. 71
x	The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire	p. 74
	The Origin of Species	p. 77
x	The Histories	p. 80
	The Federalist Papers	p. 83
	The Annals of Imperial Rome	p. 86
x	The Peloponnesian War	p. 89
x	Democracy in America	p. 92
	Only Yesterday - Frederick Lewis Allen	p. 96
	Microbe Hunters - Paul de Kruif	p. 99
	Selected Works - Cicero	p. 102
	Coming of Age in Samoa - Margaret Mead	p. 104
	The Outermost House - Henry Beston	p. 107
	The Amiable Baltimoreans - Francis F. Beirne	p. 110
	What to Listen for in Music - Aaron Copland	p. 113
	Gods, Graves, and Scholars - C.W. Ceram	p. 116
	The Stress of Life - Hans Selve	p. 118
	The Greek Way - Edith Hamilton	p. 121
	A Journal of the Plague Year - Daniel Defoe	p. 126
	The Doors of Perception - Aldous Huxley	p. 129
	Elective Affinities - Goethe	p. 132
	Homage to Catalonia -George Orwell	p. 135
	Civilization and Its Discontents - Sigmund Freud	p. 138
	Arrowsmith - Sinclair Lewis	p. 141
	Roughing It - Mark Twain	p. 144
	A Study in Scarlet	p. 148
x	The Song of Hiawatha	p. 150
	The Rise of David Levinsky -	p. 153
	Java Head	p. 156
	Mr. Pottermack's Oversight	p. 159
	A Bell for Adano	p. 161
	The Martian Chronicles	p. 164
	Gentleman's Agreement	p. 167
	The Ten Books of Architecture	p. 172
	The Lives of the Most Eminent Italian Architects, Painters, and Sculptors	p. 175
	The Seven Lamps of Architecture	p. 177
	The Nude: A Study in Ideal Form	p. 180
	The Elements of Style	p. 182
	A Room of One's Own	p. 186
	The American Language	p. 189
	The Little Prince	p. 192
	The Education of Henry Adams	p. 195
	Flatland	p. 198
x	Their Eyes Were Watching God	p. 201
	A Mathematician's Apology	p. 204
	My Life	p. 207
	The Structure of Scientific Revolutions	p. 210
x	Gilgamesh	p. 214
x	Confessions	p. 217
	The Golem	p. 219
	The Razor's Edge	p. 221
x	The Seven Storey Mountain	p. 224
	Death Be Not Proud	p. 227
x	Ecclesiastes	p. 230
	Lost Horizon	p. 233
	The Bhagavad Gita	p. 236
x	Night -	p. 239
	The Varieties of Religious Experience - William James	p. 242

Ray Bradbury on Books, Writing, and Being Your Own Self

"How to Be Madder than Captain Ahab"  by Ray Bradbury in Chicken Soup for the Soul:

"I have been a library jackdaw all of my life, which means I have never gone into that lovely holy place with a book list, but only with my beady bright eyes and my curious paws, monkey-climbing the stacks over among the children's and then again where I was not allowed, burrowing among the adult's mysterious books. I would take home, at the age of ten, eight books at a time, from eight different categories, and rub my nose in them and all but lie down and roll on them like a frolicsome springtime dog...."

"and the more you read, the more the ideas begin to explode around inside your head, run riot, meet head-on in beautiful collisions so that when you go to bed at night the damned visions color the ceiling and light the walls with huge exploits and wonderful discoveries...."

"I may start a night's read with a James Bond novel, move on to Shakespeare for half an hour, dip into Dylan Thomas for five minutes, make a fast turnabout and fasten on Fu Manchu, that great and evil oriental doctor, ancestor of Dr. No, then pick up Emily Dickinson, and end my evening with Ross MacDonald, the detective novelist, or Robert Frost, that crusty poet of the American rural spirit.  The fact should be plain now: I am an amiable compost heap...."

"I am a junkyard, then, of all the libraries and bookstores I ever fell into or leaned upon, and am proud that I never developed such a rare taste that I could not go back and jog with Tarzan or hit the Yellow Brick Road with Dorothy, both characters and their books banned for fifty years by all librarians and most educators.  I have had my own loves, and gone my own way to become my own self. I highly recommend you do the same.  However crazy your desire, however wild your need, however dumb your taste may seem to others....follow it!"

And on writing:

To sum it all up, if you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling.

You must write every single day of your life.

You must read dreadful dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next.

You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads.

I wish for you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime.

I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you.

May you live with hysteria, and out of it make fine stories.

Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.

(Ray Bradbury, "How to Be Madder Than Captain Ahab." Quoted by William Safire and Leonard Safir inGood Advice on Writing. Simon & Schuster, 1992) 

Sunday Morning Summation

Well-Watered Soul


Lovely times in the prophets lately. I always dread them. In spite of the judgment, there is hope and comfort and compassion. I am looking forward to Jesus in not too many days, but I now that I am in the middle of the waters of the prophets, I am not sinking. There is a life ring of hope.

I have walked a prayed quite a bit in the last week. I read something this morning in On Prayer and Contemplation from Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas that I love:

We pray because we submit to the God of the Universe who knows all, sees all, and loves us so much. There have been some things that I am pleading with God about lately. I am desperate in my prayer knowing that only He can do "exceeding abundantly beyond what I ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20).

So, my soul feels like it is drinking living water lately.


Well-Educated Mind


I am a bad girl! I said I would finish up all books but spiritually nourishing books for a time,  but The Sun Also Rises was already in my holds at the library. So, I am breaking that rule, and it is such a STUPID, POINTLESS book! Why is it in the "100 Great Books" List? Quite rambling. UGH.

I am reading some classics like the one I quoted above, The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses by C.S. Lewis, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church by Martin Luther. I am also listening to The Ascent of George Washington, but that is OK since I had started reading it before I made this decision to knock off the 20th Century depressing novels! LOL!


Well-Adjusted Heart


I am good. Saw someone that is unhealthy for me to be around,  and it was OK. In the past, I would have thought that I needed to twist myself like a pretzel to have them "like" me, but I honestly know that I would not want a close relationship with that person anymore because they are so unhealthy and suck me dry.  It was a relationship of convenience, nothing more. That person needed things from me that I could give, and when the person no longer had need of me for them, there was no relationship left. I don't know if that person knows of another way to relate to people, really. Burned many people. The relationship really was over about this time 15 years ago, but I came back from Malaysia thinking the person was my closest friend in town. Wrong. The good thing I can say is that I have NO other relationships that are like that. My friends are my friends, not because of what I can give them but because there is a meeting of our souls. I am so very grateful for the close friends that You have given me, and I thank You that through this relationship, You have taught me so many good lessons of wisdom and of life. Probably my second most painful relationship (other one was an unhealthy one in college) of all time, but I have so many other relationships that are so healthy and long-term and deep. I am really blessed.

This person was a bit stand-offish, and I wanted to say, "Don't worry, I really have no desire to be around you. You don't have to act like you are better than me, more well-liked than me, or more 'in' the crowd at this place than me." I get your mode of relating, and I don't need to have any part of you anymore." Instead the person plays a game of protection and walls that she doesn't need to play. I have moved on. You need to get over the ego you have about being better than me. You aren't. We are "just as good as and no better than anyone else."  We are free, but she doesn't know it. I realize she may never know it. So, I prayed.

I prayed through the whole hour long that I was around them. I prayed for healing. I thanked God for the joy I feel. It was my Liberation Day from the clutches of a church that was really unhealthy for me and part of that was a liberation from her too. So, I am really thankful. I love her family though. Love them to pieces, but I still have those relationships.

I am so much healthier than I used to be, and I don't have to be friends with everyone, but I am called to love everyone. It may sound like I am bitter, but I am not. I am free. I just feel very sad for the bondage that she is under, but I wouldn't have time for her even if she were healthy. Too many others that I want to spend time with right now!


Well-Tuned Strength


I went to Group Power two times last week, and I was SO sore from Tuesday, but so GOOD! I didn't go Thursday because I was more sore than Wednesday. So, I went Saturday, and I am not sore today. I really liked the instructor too, I think his name was Don. He doesn't keep time with the music, but he is really encouraging as he goes. Liked him.

Eating. UGH! I thought I was doing really well, but the scale does not reflect that. If I don't count every calorie that goes in, I think I am really eating reasonably. I am so close to my goal, but I am SICK of counting calories. UGH!

52 in 52 Week 25: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

 Beautifully written in flawless form. I liked this Hemingway quite a bit! 


This is a wonderful novella about an old Cuban fisherman named Santiago. I do not want to give too much away. My husband gave more away than I would have liked, but he thought this would have been a better introduction to Hemingway than For Whom The Bell Tolls, which is his longest book. 


This is a story about courage, humility and pride, aloneness, companionship and love, age and youth, honor, and heroism. It has many layers of meaning. It won him the Pulitzer Prize in fiction in 1953. 

Saturday Morning Smile

Mrs. Rogers Remix

Source: youtube.com via PBS on Pinterest

1 Peter 1:3-11

This is from the brilliantly artistic daughter of a high school friend of mine. Isn't it lovely?

Tired, Happy, and Sore

Thursday Freewrite 


I find it is feast or famine with me. This week has been active, and I am tired. We went to Silver Creek Falls and The Oregon Garden yesterday for a total of nine hours of being out and about. Then, we came home and went out as a family, celebrating the boys finishing their finals. It was great, but I could barely get out of bed this morning.  I wonder why?


I had all sorts of grand intentions about getting myself to Group Power at 9:20 am, but I cannot seem to move. Tuesday and Wednesday I had so much energy, I wrote for two hours, went to Group Power did elliptical, met with Kathleen. Yesterday I ploughed through all my work early in the morning before our excursion. Now, I am ready to go back to bed.


I am sore from Group Power though. It didn't hit me so hard yesterday, and it was good to walk all day, but I am more sore today than Wednesday. Pilates and private weight lifting isn't cutting it for me. Group Power challenges me beyond, and I haven't been back since I hurt my back (maybe two times). I thought I was getting just as good of workouts, but after Tuesday, I realized that I was WRONG. It hurts right where it should for me to get back to being really strong again. I realized that I never had back problems when I did Group Power. 


So, I am doing it at least two times a week. I feel it today in my triceps and between the shoulder blades (where I am weakest). Surprisingly, I am not sore in my glutes. I thought that would be where I would feel it the most, but I guess all the walking I have been doing has really strengthened that part of my body.


I got through a few chapters of Isaiah this week. So, I am up to Isaiah 54. I would really like to be through it. I skipped and went on to Micah and flew through it. I might skip Jeremiah and go to some Psalms or something. I have big books after Isaiah: Jeremiah and Ezekiel. They are not for the faint at heart. This was the toughest part of Bible Book Club for me last time. I longed for Jesus when I was plowing through the judgment and glad I didn't grow up in Old Testament times! I have 73 more posts for 2012. That is about 2 1/2 posts per week. It is a discipline, but it is such a worthwhile discipline, even if nothing comes of it.


My walking and praying has been the highlight of my life since my personal prayer retreat! I have loved walking and praying for peoples. So rewarding!  I have some really nice days of sunshine for it too. YAY!


Well, I think I am running out of time, and I am really glad I could get my fingers walking through the keys before I tackle another day of writing. Lisa canceled on me today. SO, I have more time and just a talk with Heather and dinner and discipleship with the family tonight. YAY!


I love my life even though I am tired and sore today! Bye! 

Fifteen Freewrite - GO!

Well-Watered Soul


I couldn't be happier. My soul is feeling so lifted to God lately. I decided to cut back on the morbid tragedies for a while and read some things that life up my soul. Of course, I am reading the Bible, and it really helps that I am now in the "hopeful" part of Isaiah (51) because the judgment part was also when I was going through the little overwhelming mini-funk that I have been going through because of being out of BALANCE! So, that is so great. 


A few of the things that I have read include: 


Holy Invitations:Exploring Spiritual Direction by Bakke 
The Weight of Glory and Other Essays by C.S. Lewis
On Prayer and Contemplation by Aquinas (from the Summa Theologica) 
The Art of Christian Listening by Thomas Hart


I am also taking a course called SoulCare 101 for the Certificate in Spiritual Direction I will earn this summer before I do the more intense Spiritual Direction course through the Shalom Prayer Center in Mt. Angel. It will mean a weekly commute 24 weeks a year, but my soul will benefit greatly from it!


One of the most exciting things is what I am learning as I walk and pray (see a previous post about that). I am praying for a different unreached people group for every mile. I love it! I am trying to get out first thing in the morning before I sit down at my computer and to take "walking and praying" breaks throughout the day so that my body doesn't settle into this chair of mine.

Soul is very WELL-WATERED these days!


Well-Educated Mind

As you can see, I am 81% of the way through the list in 100 Great Books, but I am also reading books from The Invitation to the Classics, because the emphasis in that book is books that a believer should read, and they are a little tamer than some of the books on the 100 Great Books list. I am continuing to love my self-education journey so much. 


Currently I am listening to Faust I, but the audiobook from librivox is not very good! The guy who plays Méphistophélès sounds like he has a cold. It is so annoying!


I finished Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and the book is even better than the mini-series! Review is forthcoming! 


Well-Adjusted Heart


Balance has been replaced in my life. YAY! Our Kingdom Community is over, and that has freed up my time to take a break and do other projects. So, I love having balance!


Well-Tuned Strength


Walking! That is really helping my back. I haven't been going to Pilates, mainly because I am wondering if my days at the Timberhill Athletic Club have come to a close, and maybe I should go to campus (cheaper but terrible parking). I still have to think through all of that.


Need to lift weights today, but I am doing great in this department. 

Open the Gates of Summer!

Part II of what God told me:


1) Walk - Isaiah 40:31


...............for world - prayer miles for millions (Matthew 5:14)
...............to wait on Him - for the next step (Isaiah 30:18-21)
...............for weight control  [with weight lifting] (1 Corinthians 6:20)


2) Word - Jeremiah 15:16


...............Old Testament with the BBC
...............Hebrews with SCC
...............with Weavers in Dinner and Discipleship Thursdays
...............with women


3) Weavers - Titus 2:3-5


...............love my husband by dating him weekly
...............love my children by weekly walks, dinner, and discipling
...............work at home: cooking, clutter, crafts (photos!), camping
...............Washington D.C. (wedding, Wardrop ancestry)


4) Women - 2 Timothy 2:2


...............Kathleen (every other Tuesday)
...............Stacy (Monday mornings)
...............Abi (World Walking and Downton Abbey)
...............Spiritual Direction, Discipeship, Discernment as needed