I have a question.
I understand that the divorce rate is high, and probably nothing is going to change that. But even so--there are ways to sacrifice some selfish motives and “needs” to see that children are loved, wanted, and cared for. That’s the least a parent can do.
It’s test time. Here’s a quiz on famous sayings and quotations from various places. How will you do?! Answers are at the bottom. No cheating allowed.
1. Fill in the blank: “Look before you --.” (Proverb)
a. take a step
b. cross the street
c. leap
d. judge
2. Fill in the blank: “More things are – than this world dreams of.” —Alfred, Lord Tennyson
a. understandable
b. wrought by prayer
c. achievable
d. sought after
3. Who said it? “I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."
a. Dominick Hasek
b. Benjamin Franklin
c. Winston Churchill
d, David Letterman
4. Who said it? “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
a. Ralph Waldo Emerson
b. Christopher Columbus
c. Queen Elizabeth
d. Walter Mondale
5. Fill in the blank: “I never forget --, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception.” —Groucho Marx
a. a mistake
b. a face
c. a false impression
d. a polite host
6. Who said it? ”Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater.”
a. Charlie Brown
b. Sir Isaac Newton
c. Carl Sagan
d. Albert Einstein
7. Who said it? “Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical.”
a. George Bush
b. Bill Clinton
c. Yogi Berra
d. Babe Ruth
8. Who said it? “To thine own self be true; then as night follows the day, thou canst be false to no man.”
a. William Shakespeare
b. Christopher Marlowe
c.
d. Jesus
9. Fill in the blank: ”Let -- lie.” (Proverb)
a. brooding children
b. crooked politicians
c. sleeping dogs
d. old men
10. Who said it? “Fish and visitors smell in three days.”
a. Benjamin Franklin
b. Henry David Thoreau
c. Elizabeth Taylor
d. Salman Rushdie
11. Who said it? "I shoulda turned left at
a. Bugs Bunny
b. The Tasmanian Devil.
c. Bonnie and
d. Johnny Carson
12. What movie is this in? “Hell with them fellas. Buzzards gotta eat."
a. Hang 'Em High
b. A Fist Full of Dollars
c. The Outlaw Josey Wales
d. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
a.
b. The Shawshank Redemption
c. To Kill a Mockingbird
d. Shane
Answers:
1. c; 2. b; 3. a; 4. a; 5. b; 6. d; 7. c; 8. a; 9. c; 10. a; 11. a; 12. c; 13. b
I wrote this little (true) story as an example for my English students; it is a response to a question in our textbook that is meant to help students generate ideas: "Have you ever been embarrassed by a teacher or another student?"
When I was in the 8th grade, I was paying much attention to what my friends thought about me. I made good grades and was generally well behaved and cooperative, and I liked that image--but I also wanted very much to be thought of as "cool."
Our teacher, Mrs. Olive Schaefer, told us that we should watch a Hallmark-Hall-of-Fame kind of play on television one night; it was considered to be intellectually stimulating, and she wanted to see how we would like it. My friends and I were trying not to appear very interested in things like that, so we decided we would tell her we thought it was "stupid." I watched a few minutes of the play that night, but not nearly enough to even know what it was about.
The next day at school, Mrs. Schaefer asked what we thought of it, and several students said they hated it. Disappointed, she looked to me and asked, "What did you think?"
I wavered a few seconds. I knew that I should admit that I really didn't watch it. But all my friends were looking at me expectantly. I gathered up my courage and said, "I thought it was stupid."
Mrs. Schaefer looked at me for a moment and she saw right through me. She said, "Judy, I'm surprised at you." Then she went on with the next part of the lesson. I was mortified. I realized that in saying what I did, I told much more about myself than I meant to.
“One Million Blogs for Peace”--I just saw it for the first time, on the Journey with Jesus site linked in my sidebar.
Certainly, I am for peace.
I read about this “Million Blogs” project, and it sounds like a worthy cause to join. In general, I try to stay out of politics on this blog. But the more I think about it, the war in
A few days ago, my college English class read “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll, the author of
"O frabjous day!" the father chortles. "Callooh, callay!!"
Read the poem at this link, if you never have; it's a treat. I told my students I hoped they had read
“Oh, no!” they laughed. “We saw the movie.”
Oh, dear.
Will books become obsolete in some near future technological age?
See the very funny video at this linked site, Girl Talk. You will see a likely (?!) scenario.
In one week, two grown men confided to me that their fathers never told them “I love you.” The father of one of them has been dead for years; the other is still living. These two men were obviously saddened by that fact. They seemed to feel incomplete—not whole because of it. They implied that they had been kept from something important in their lives because of it. The man whose father is dead cried when he told me; the other man seemed angry.
We are called to love. Jesus said that what God wants the most from us is love. He said the greatest commandment is “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:28-33). And who is our “neighbor”? He means love other people—the people around us.
It doesn’t say “Get others to love you.” And it doesn’t say, “If you know somebody loves you, make sure they say it.” It tells us to love others. That says nothing about them loving us or saying they do. No conditions are attached to it, I notice. We don’t have to wait until they love us first. Love others.
But obviously, people want to hear those words, “I love you.” The words have a sort of magical power. They transform. Could we tell the people we love that we love them—even if we know they might not respond? It’s a hard thing to do. Why should it be so difficult to say three words?
Let’s think about that old goat, our stubborn father—or a difficult grandfather—maybe an indifferent mother or hard-hearted sister. We could gather up our courage and say the words: “I love you.” Saying the words opens our hearts—throws us out in the open, unprotected. It might make a world of difference in our relationships, in their hearts, in our own hearts.
So what if they never can say it back? We could keep on saying it anyway, from time to time, raining love on them. Who can resist a love attack for long?
The all-important question I have for that angry man whose father is still alive is this: can you fling yourself off the safe narrow ledge and say to him ‘I love you’?
The picture is from National Geographic.
Recently, Andrew C. Thompson of “Gen-X Rising” expressed his thoughts about church size. He says he does not believe that churches have to be of the “mega-church” size, like the Saddleback Church of Rick Warren, in order to be carrying out the directions of God to take his gospel to the world. Small churches can do that, as well. I agree with Andrew. The important thing is that a church has its heart in the right place.
When our small Methodist congregation is blandly reading the Wesleyan liturgy, I sometimes wonder about our hearts. We read them so often that we have the words memorized; they are part of us. And yet, we sometimes sound as if we are thinking about something else. Every Sunday, we read aloud marvelous, Spirit-breathed words of one of the affirmations of faith. The traditional version, The Apostles’ Creed, says
And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord:
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic** church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen
I sometimes wonder if in John Wesley’s services, people used to read together like this. I wonder how God hears these words as they come from stiff lips. I understand that a church doesn’t have to be huge to experience Christ’s love. Some days, our hearts are dry. But many days, the Spirit is moving among us and filling us, and our hearts reach out to him.
Andrew said this in his Gen-X Rising blog:
He writes, "The essence of [Methodism] is holiness of heart and life; the circumstantials all point to this. And as long as they are joined together in the people called Methodists, no weapon formed against them shall prosper. But if even the circumstantial parts are despised, the essential will soon be lost. And if ever the essential parts should evaporate, what remains will be dung and dross."
Clearly, for Wesley the power of the Methodist approach to Christian faith is bound up in practices that allow people to experience the saving grace of Christ. That has every bit to do with the quality of a community, and nothing to do with its size.
Al Gore won an Oscar recently for work on his best-documentary film “An Inconvenient Truth.” I believe Gore is sincerely concerned about the environment and truly wants to help find solutions for the damage we humans have done to it.
What are some simple but helpful things we could do?
1. Throw trash into designated trash cans rather than out the window of the car onto the roadside.
2. Recycle everything we possibly can.
3. Turn off water while we brush our teeth.
4. Turn off lights when we leave a room.
5. Use those new curly low-wattage light bulbs instead of regular incandescent ones.
6. Remember that powerful picture in TV commercials some years back of a Native American shedding tears over the terribly polluted river in the background.
We are charged by God with taking care of the earth; we should all take this responsibility as seriously as Al Gore does.
(This blog has been neglected for a couple of weeks; I’ve been busy catching up on paper grading and also, spring-breaking.)
In my last entry, I told a little story about Eddie, an employee at a self-service gas station that is part of a convenience store in our small town. Eddie often offered to pump gas for people, even though it is a do-it-yourself establishment.
He told me he was amazed at how people resisted letting him serve them, free of charge. He said, “You can’t imagine how hard it is for people to accept something that is absolutely free, no strings attached.”
I missed the opportunity to tell him what I thought of immediately, because I was too timid: People have trouble understanding that God offers forgiveness, new life, and wholeness of spirit, free of charge. Or maybe we can understand it intellectually. We think we don’t deserve it, though, so we have difficulty accepting it.
Well, the truth is, we don’t deserve it. And there is no possible way to work hard enough to earn it. It is free—a gift of grace. “Grace” means undeserved favor.
It isn’t necessary for us to go halfway there or to give 90 percent. God through his son Jesus gave it all—sacrificed everything to take whatever blame we deserve. New life is possible now, this minute. It is a gift of love.
I had the perfect chance to talk to Eddie about that, but I missed it. I thought, “The next time he pumps my gas, I’ll say to him, ‘Eddie, remember when you said . . . .’”
But that time never came, and soon Eddie was gone—he moved away or went to work somewhere else, and I never saw him again. I think Eddie would understand God’s gift.
I was about ready to pump some gas into my car’s empty gas tank at a local convenience- self-service store, when an employee, Eddie, came out. “I’ll do that for you,” he said, smiling through his thick mat of a reddish beard. I gladly accepted his kind offer, and we stood talking while he pumped my gas.
“Eddie,” I said, “this is the best full-service self-service place in this county.”
“Yep,” he said. “But you would be amazed at how many people can hardly make themselves let me do this for them.”
He told me that people were often very suspicious of his offer to pump their gas. “They say things like ‘I can do it myself’ and ‘How much will it cost?’” He said most cannot believe that this service is free.
“You can’t imagine,” he told me, “how hard it is for people to accept something that is absolutely free, no strings attached.”
The gas pump picture is from "WebShots."
This e-mail came to me today—I’m quoting the whole thing because it relates to my previous entry about the “Lost Tomb of Jesus.”
Hey guys,
In case you or someone you know are not sure what to make of the new film coming out about the supposed "Lost Tomb of Jesus," I wanted to pass this website along with some helpful resources. Just copy and paste the following url:
http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/471_gods_unsinkable_ship/
(Judy adds: Read the article linked here, “Eight Reasons Why I Believe Jesus Rose from the Dead” by John Piper.)
Now—back to the e-mail—
Some food for thought:
Following the resurrection, Jesus encouraged his disciples with these words: "Peace to you! . . . Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have . . . . Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations" (Luke 24:36-49).
After "doubting" Thomas saw the risen Christ, he exclaimed, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus replied, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:24-29).
In the book of Revelation, the glorified "Son of Man" declared, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades" (Revelation 1:17-18).
Amen.
Quite a number of ancient tombs have been found in
The news centers now on a documentary that will air on Sunday, March 4, at
According to the Discovery Channel article, “All leading epigraphers agree about the inscriptions. All archaeologists confirm the nature of the find. It comes down to a matter of statistics. A statistical study commissioned by the broadcasters (Discovery Channel/ Vision Canada/ C4 UK) concludes that the probability factor is 600 to 1 in favor of this tomb being the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth and his family.
“The film also documents DNA extraction from human residue found in two of the ossuaries and reveals new evidence that throws light on Jesus' relationship with Mary Magdalene.” Reading on, we find that the DNA showed that this Jesus and Mary were not siblings.
Continuing, the writer says:
“The documentary includes dramatic recreations, based on the latest historical evidence, illustrating accurate images of Jesus of Nazareth, his family, his followers, his ministry, his crucifixion and his entombment.
“Part archaeological adventure, part Biblical history, part forensic science, part theological controversy: this is a story that will be carried around the world.”
The DC web site also carries a section called “Theology,” in which possible meanings of this tomb and ossuary are discussed.
Concerning the resurrection, the writer says this:
“It is a matter of Christian faith that Jesus of Nazareth was resurrected from the dead three days after his crucifixion circa 30 C.E. This is a central tenet of Christian theology, repeated in all four Gospels. The Lost Tomb of Jesus does not challenge this belief. In the Gospel of Matthew (28:12) it states that a rumor was circulating in
I think it will be very interesting and important to see this film. I believe many Christians may refuse to watch it because some of the "experts" claim to have here a discovery that disputes Christian beliefs that Jesus rose from the dead (even though the filmmakers say it "does not challenge" this belief). However, I believe Christians should see it so that they will be able to discuss it with full knowledge and understanding of the film’s content.
Some people work very hard, trying to find evidence that Jesus is not the son of God. But our faith can stand scrutiny. God is doing a new thing in these days—something really exciting is going on. Maybe a new “Great Awakening” is coming.
I hated to miss this year’s Ash Wednesday service at our church. I’ve been a real, live Christian for only the past (almost) thirteen years out of my sixty-four. I didn't grow up celebrating Ash Wednesday—the beginning of Lent—and maybe that's one reason it has come to hold lots of significance for me in these years.
I quote this from my Ash Wednesday entry last year:
“It is a season of repentance, of letting go of secret regret or pain. It is a time to tell the truth to ourselves about our regrets, a time to make a choice to begin again through repentance. Many people give up something or do something special during Lent to remind them, through a personal sacrifice, to remain true to the search of self.
“In the Bible, the prophet Joel says,
‘Even now,’ declares the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.’
“Rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for his is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. (Joel 2: 12-13)”
No, there is nothing I could ever possibly do to deserve his love. The heart is what God really wants us to give up—not coffee or chocolate or some other thing. He wants my whole heart, and I gladly give it.
As the sun rises in
The geese reminded me of a winter day a few years ago when I saw a large flock of Canadian geese at a pond in the southern
“Not up close,” I said. Their soft gray elegance touched me, and I thanked God for the opportunity to see his bird art “up close.” I did not have a camera that day.
And I, of course, did not have my camera on our trip last weekend to the Christian Writers’ Guild Writing for the Soul Conference in
Wow! Would you look at that!!?What is a “Yahoo”?
On the home page of Yahoo.com is a little section called “Pulse--What Yahoos Are Into,” which contains a list of popular videos and albums. I have seen it over and over, but for some reason, it penetrated my consciousness a few days ago. Suddenly I realized what it says. “Yahoos,” in the definition of the search engine’s creators, are apparently “cool” people who do their important Internet searching through the Yahoo web site—those loyal to Yahoo.com.
I had to laugh at the joke those makers of Yahoo.com are playing on us.
The origin of the word “yahoo” is . . . well, I hate to tell you this. But according to Merriam-Webster, a “Yahoo” (when the word is capitalized) is “a member of a race of brutes in (Jonathan) Swift's Gulliver's Travels who have the form and all the vices of humans.” The dictionary goes on to say that when it is not capitalized, the word means a “boorish, crass, or stupid person.”
Needless to say, then, to be called a “Yahoo” is not a compliment.
Jonathan Swift wrote in Chapter 7 a detailed description of the Yahoos, a wild and odious species that his character Lemuel Gulliver encountered during his travels. Here is a sample:
My Master, continuing his Discourse, said, There was nothing that rendered the Yahoos more odious, than their undistinguishing Appetite to devour every Thing that came in their way, whether Herbs, Roots, Berries, the corrupted Flesh of Animals, or all mingled together: And it was peculiar in their Temper, that they were fonder of what they could get by Rapine or Stealth at a greater Distance, than much better Food provided for them at home. If their Prey held out, they would eat till they were ready to burst, after which Nature had pointed out to them a certain Root that gave them a general Evacuation.
There was also another kind of Root very juicy, but somewhat rare and difficult to be found, which the Yahoos sought for with much Eagerness, and would suck it with great Delight; and it produced in them the same Effects that Wine hath upon us. It would make them sometimes hug, sometimes tear one another, they would howl and grin, and chatter, and tumble, and then fall asleep in the Dirt.
These Yahoos sometimes resemble monkeys and apes, but more often, humans, engaged in the most obnoxious, nasty behavior. Should we be insulted—or amused—when we see that Yahoo.com refers to its masses of users as “Yahoos”?
 You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists.
What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com |
Sometimes I hear people say things like
That kind of belief is very shifty and meaningless. People who say those things are trying either to avoid truth or to make it what they want it to be. Absolute truth does exist.
Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).
The most elemental, basic truth is love. It is the most powerful force in the universe.
Our hearts were created to cry out for love. We need it. We thrive on it. We shrivel up and die without it. People have been willing to sacrifice everything and even give up their lives for it. Love is the basis of all truth. The Bible says if we have every possession in the world but don't have love, we have nothing. Love is everything, and without it we are nothing. (That's in First Corinthians 13.)
The Bible says (in First John 4) that God is love. It says that if we have love in our lives, we have God, whether or not we know it. If you've known any love, then, you've known God--whether it is love of your children, your parents, your spouse, your friends, or your puppy.
Since love is who and what God is, he is truth.
In Viktor Frankl's book Man's Search for Meaning, he describes the process by which he was able to find meaning even while he was suffering terribly in a concentration camp during World War II. Stumbling over rocks and ice during a forced march one morning just before dawn, Frankl saw an image of his wife, and she seemed very real to him, as real as the sun rising. He says:
A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth--that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. . . . For the first time in my life I was able to understand the meaning of the words, "The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory." (48-49)
We can depend on his love, because it is true, unfailing, and unchanging. It never ends.
The word of God is truth. In Psalm 33, King David says that "the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does" (verse 4). In verse 11, he says "the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations."
The Bible is God's living word--it has all kinds of relevant things to say to anyone of any age, race, or nationality. Bob Just, a well-known journalist, wrote that "the Bible is amazing because truth is amazing. The Bible is not only adventurous; it's also touching, meaningful, instructive, ironic, sarcastic, humorous, gentle and stern--and ultimately both spiritual and human at the same time. It is also strangely modern despite its ancient text." He says it is "God's love letter to us." He calls it "a living document because the God who guides you is a Living God." And the secret to understanding and believing it "isn't knowledge. The secret is love."
God is the truth upon which all other truth rests.
Frankl, Viktor E. Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy. 4th ed. Trans. Ilse Lasch.
Just, Bob. "No Fear: Overcoming Bible Trauma." WorldNetDaily. 10 Apr. 2004.
My brother Jim is a pilot. He wrote an essay about amazing things he has seen while he is in the air--"Running Rendezvous with Mother Nature." He says God is the master artist and craftsman of these phenomena. Jim gave me permission to share some of this with you. For example, here is a paragraph from his essay, about rainbows seen from above the earth:
The most unforgettable sight associated with clouds is a rainbow. When unencumbered by close proximity to terra firma, it appears majestically in a full, perfect circle. I have seen it only three times in nearly forty years of flying. Conditions must be just right: sun behind, altitude between five and twenty thousand feet, high humidity. It appears on the clouds ahead, possibly two miles in diameter. The full spectrum of colors is there, more vivid than I thought possible. As the aircraft comes nearer to the clouds, the rainbow becomes smaller, to a minimum of approximately one-half mile. The individual bands of color grow even more vivid. As the aircraft scores a perfect bull’s-eye on the rainbow, the nearest band is a hundred feet wide. I could reach out and touch it with my hand, but I do not have to. It comes inside and fills the cockpit with the soft yellow of daisies. We pass into the cloud and it is gone. No more than two minutes have elapsed, but the memory of such a moving experience lasts a lifetime.
While I was rummaging around looking at old (paper) files, I found a folder of things I wrote down about my children when they were little. Kids say some funny things as they are learning to use logic, and if you listen in on their conversations, you may be entertained. When my kids were about 9 (L), 7 (B), and 5 (M), they had this circular discussion in a busy restaurant during a family vacation somewhere in the Wild West.
The previous entry is another one of their circular discussions.
M: What’s the matter with that man?
B: Did you hear what he said?
L: What?
B: He said a criminal escaped from a prison.
M: What?
B: He said a criminal escaped from a prison.
M: Who said?
B: That man.
M: What did he do?
B: He didn’t do anything. He said something.
L: Who? The man? He means the criminal, B.
B: I don’t know. How am I supposed to know?
M: I don’t know. You said it.
Here’s a circular discussion that took place when my children, L (9), B (7), and M (5), were young. This was the kind of conversation that made my head feel foggy.
B: Mommy, does Loretta Lynn sing that song?
M: What?
B: I asked Mommy if Loretta Lynn sings that song.
M: Who’s Reletta Lynn?
B: Ha, ha, ha, he said "Reletta"!
L (exasperated): A country and western singer, M!
B: Mommy, does Reletta Lynn sing that song?
M: What song?
Q: Why are you running so hard?
A: Things. Things that make me uncomfortable.
Q: What kinds of things?
A: Emotional junk. You know the kind—lovey stuff that people say.
Q: Like what?
A: Like what you’re always saying—about love.
Q: And things about God?
A: That, too, I guess. Don’t want to talk about it. It’s just a story.
Q: Gets you out of your comfort zone?
A: Don’t want to talk about that. I’m perfectly comfortable.
Q: Know what you are really running away from? Love. Joy in living—or dying—or whatever. I can’t understand why anybody would run from love—why anybody would choose cold misery over love. Can you explain that?
A:
We have been dog owners for all the thirty-six years of our marriage. During all that time, whenever we became dog-less through doggie-death, another stray would show up soon and take up residence with us; these have all been big dogs, usually two at a time. We have actually sought out, on purpose, only three dogs—Flash, Alex, and Taz. During those years, we have always had at least one cat, once as many as nine, including kittens.
Flash was an adorable Bassett hound mama dog who had just given birth to six puppies. Our children were begging for a Bassett hound for Christmas. The owners of Flash and her puppies offered us a puppy, but when I went to get one, I could see that they were not going to look like Bassett hounds; their daddy was somebody else. So, I offered to take the mama. The owners were delighted at this unexpected turn of events. I took a picture of her and put it in a Christmas card with the assurance that this doggie would be ours as soon as she finished her motherly duties. She was a wonderful, loving pet. We had her spayed, and she lived with us for about two years before getting run over by a car while wandering with our current stray. (We live in the country where dogs run loose.)
Several strays later, our daughter wanted a black lab puppy for her high school graduation gift. We found the perfect one and had her registered: Alexandria (Something) Callarman, who became known as Alex. We had her spayed, and she lived with and loved us for thirteen years. (You’re right: our daughter went off to college when she finished the local junior college and left Alex right here with us.) Even though Alex weighed about seventy pounds, she had to sit in our laps sometimes. She went wandering often with the strays and was eventually killed on the highway.
After Alex, we had two strays, Bubba and Jack; actually, they overlapped with her. They lived with and loved us for about twelve years altogether. After they died, both of old age, we decided it was time to become dog-less for a while. That lasted for about six months.
During the time that our yard and garage were unguarded, we realized that possums and raccoons were coming often to eat the cat food. One night, hearing noise, I looked out and saw a skunk and a raccoon having a shoving match over the cat food. They tried to shoulder each other out of the way politely for a while. Then the battle escalated. They were rear to rear, pushing each other as hard as they could. We decided it was time to get a big dog or two.
Since no stray had appeared, we looked on the Internet and found Taz, a big neutered male black-lab mixture, at Rescue the Animals. From the moment we got him, he became our best dog yet, although he has a close rival in Spot, a big stray who came along to join Taz. That was almost three years ago.
Taz was owned by someone who kept the gigantic dog indoors and fed him nothing but dry dog food. He had (and still has) impeccable manners—has never once jumped on or slobbered on anybody. The first night, we had to keep the garage light on all night because he was afraid of the dark outdoors. He would rather be petted than eat; he seems to live to be near us. When we come out, he dashes over as fast as he can and sits politely as close as he can, hoping we will talk to him and pet him; he will sit as long as we will keep petting him. I rub his silky ears and neck and call him my “sweet baby.” He loves that.
Soon after we got him, we discovered that he is obsessed with chasing a tennis ball. We keep a supply for him, since they often get lost. He has all the neighbors, the grandchildren, the meter readers, the plumber, the electrician, and the air conditioner man trained to throw the ball for him. When we come home from somewhere, he grabs the ball, brings it to the car, and deposits it in the floor of the car in hopes of some good throwing.
Like Flash, Alex, and all those strays, Taz loves us with no strings attached. If we hide his ball so that we can get some outside chore done, or because we get tired of throwing it, he never holds a grudge. He understands and accepts the fact that we won’t let him in the house, and he adores us anyway. I believe God created dogs with this ability to love without conditions, without manipulation, without inhibitions, so that we can see a picture of his kind of pure love. We should love God and each other in the same open, clear-eyed, unconditional way that our dogs love us. That’s how love is supposed to be.
I’m not a big watcher of “American Idol,” but I have some observations of it based on three or four viewings and what I’ve seen in the news lately.
Apparently, the panel of “judges” screen thousands of idol hopefuls.
They are charged with choosing the final thirty or so contestants, who will be picked off one at a time during the season.
Many of the people auditioning have little to no talent.
The judges roll their eyes and make rude remarks to the ones they don’t like.
In fact, some of the things they say are downright cruel and hurtful.
For example, on the news I saw What’s-His-Name (meanest judge) say to one young man that he had weird eyes and did not either sound or look human. He said, "You look like one of those creatures that live in the woods with those massive eyes."
I was horrified that anybody would be that mean and personal. Why couldn’t he just say thanks, but no thanks?
I think the whole thing is somewhat rigged from the very beginning.
A couple of years ago, I asked my students to write a little piece about the appeal of “reality” shows. My example was “Survivor.”
One student said he thought viewers identify with real people more than actors. Maybe this season’s opening “American Idol” segment had more viewers than ever for that reason.
One student used “American Idol” as a reference. She said, “We have a responsibility to choose our music.”
Oh, good grief!
A common criticism of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer is that they are full of anti-African-American sentiment because of the use of the “n-word” and the degrading position of slaves.
On the contrary, I would argue that Mark Twain's works are great masterpieces in the emerging American literature of the westward movement of the 1800s. He portrayed human nature with an ironic view, in many of its quirks and foibles. His works reflect the way Southern people were at that time, including the way they talked--and that included the common use of the "n-word."
At that time, the "n-word" did not hold as much insult, hurt, and humiliation as it came to hold later, it seems to me. Mark Twain was very much against treating black people as less than human. We see in Huckleberry Finn that Huck saw the slave Jim as a father figure whom he loved dearly. He was very conflicted over whether he ought to break the law and help Jim escape or obey the law and turn him in. His final decision was the just one, as he realized that the law was wrong. Twain demonstrated through this situation that often the “social right” is, in humane terms, wrong.
When I was a child (lo, these many years ago in the fifties), people said the "n-word" freely, although it was falling out of favor. I was forbidden to say it, even though my grandmother did, and I was not allowed to criticize her for it--conflict!
There was a very old black man who went through our town every day driving his horse-drawn wagon of tools; his name was "N-word" Dink. Everybody thought highly of him, and nobody meant to be disrespectful in calling him that, as far as I in my childish mind knew, although there probably were plenty who did. My mother said I was not to call him "N-word" Dink, but MR. Dink. I thought that was weird, but in my heart, I knew she was right.
Last week, a man named Wesley Autrey became a hero in
Violence seems to be more and more a part of our culture, and I, for one, find that fact to be regrettable. Our entertainment is thoroughly laced with it; large numbers of people are interested in a movie, for example, only if it is full of blood, explosions, high-speed chases, and daring escapes. Why is this true? What does it say about us?
According to Merriam-Webster, violence is, basically, outrage:
Violence occurs in much literature, as well as in popular media-type entertainment. That is because literature does not just appear, all by itself, out there on the edges somewhere; it reflects life. Therefore, it must be true that the reason we see violence in literature and entertainment is that it happens in life. It is universal.
We are both shocked by it and drawn to it; we study it and obsess over it sometimes. We both fear it and want to avoid it, but we somehow enjoy reading about it and/or seeing it in games and movies. (That in itself is a little shocking, isn’t it?)
In both film and literature, as in life, people usually commit violent acts for reasons, whether understandable or twisted and perverse. When people commit violence, we discuss their motives; if it appears to be without reason, we say it is gratuitous or senseless.
Read this little story by Rudyard Kipling:
"There is an ancient legend which tells us that when a man first achieved a most notable deed he wished to explain to his tribe what he had done. As soon as he began to speak, however, he was smitten with dumbness, he lacked words, and sat down. Then there arose -- according to the story -- a masterless man, one who had taken no part in the action of his fellow, who had no special virtue, but afflicted -- that is the phrase -- with the magic of the necessary words. He saw, he told, he described the merits of the notable deed in such a fashion, we are assured, that the words `became alive and walked up and down in the hearts of his hearers.' Thereupon, the tribe seeing that the words were certainly alive, and fearing lest the man with the words would hand down untrue tales about them to their children, they took and killed him. But later they saw that the magic was in the words, not in the man."
(This story is part of a talk Kipling made; read the whole thing, if you want to, at this link: Literature—A Book of Words.)
Consider the power of words—of the written word—of pictures.
Why did the tribe kill the man? Did they have understandable motives? After they killed him, how and why do you think they changed their minds about him?
Do you think humans are basically like the people in this story?
I haven’t done this before, and I do not hold with doing it! But … this is one of those stories that floated into my e-mail from my cousin; it is such a good and true (well, true in theme) story that I feel compelled to share it here.
Is there a magic cutoff period when offspring become accountable for their own actions? Is there a wonderful moment when parents can become detached spectators in the lives of their children and shrug, "It's their life," and feel nothing?
When I was in my twenties, I stood in a hospital corridor waiting for doctors to put a few stitches in my son's head. I asked, "When do you stop worrying?" The nurse said, "When they get out of the accident stage." My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.
When I was in my thirties, I sat on a little chair in a classroom and heard how one of my children talked incessantly, disrupted the class, and was headed for a career making license plates. As if to read my mind, a teacher said, "Don't worry, they all go through this stage and then you can sit back, relax and enjoy them." My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.
When I was in my forties, I spent a lifetime waiting for the phone to ring, the cars to come home, the front door to open. A friend said, "They're trying to find themselves. Don't worry, in a few years, you can stop worrying. They'll be adults." My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.
By the time I was 50, I was sick & tired of being vulnerable. I was still worrying over my children, but there was a new wrinkle. There was nothing I could do about it. My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing. I continued to anguish over their failures, be tormented by their frustrations and absorbed in their disappointments.
My friends said that when my kids got married I could stop worrying and lead my own life. I wanted to believe that, but I was haunted by my mother's warm smile and her occasional, "You look pale. Are you all right? Call me the minute you get home. Are you depressed about something?"
Can it be that parents are sentenced to a lifetime of worry? Is concern for one another handed down like a torch to blaze the trail of human frailties and the fears of the unknown? Is concern a curse or is it a virtue that elevates us to the highest form of life?
One of my children became quite irritable recently, saying to me, "Where were you? I've been calling for 3 days, and no one answered I was worried." I smiled a warm smile.
The torch has been passed.
(Comment by Judy: It is true we never stop worrying about them. It’s just a good thing we can hold them up to God in prayer and trust him to guide and care for them! That is the only way to stay sane while they are growing up.)
Since we are at the beginning of a new year, I am in a resolution mood. I found the 70 resolutions written by Jonathan Edwards in 1722-23. They are so good and noble-spirited that I have decided to adopt some of them for my own. I want to share these with you; I have translated them freely into modern language (with apologies to Jonathan Edwards) so that they will be more understandable to the 2007 soul.
Edwards wrote (in Judy’s modern interpretation):
Edwards wrote himself this note: “Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.”
1. I resolve that I will do whatever I think will be most likely to glorify God and be for my own good, benefit, and pleasure for the rest of my life, without considering the times, now or in the distant future. I resolve to do whatever I think is my duty and most for the good and benefit of all people. I resolve to do this, no matter what difficulties I encounter—no matter how many or how great.
2. I resolve to continually try to find new ways to accomplish these things.
3. I resolve, if I ever fail or fall short or forget and neglect any of these resolutions, that I will be sincerely sorry for all that I can remember that I did wrong and put things right again, when I come back to my senses.
4. I resolve never to do any kind of thing, either spiritually or physically, other than what contributes to the glory of God; I will neither be nor allow anything that does not glorify him, if I can possibly avoid it.
5. I resolve never to waste one minute of time, but to improve my time the best way I possibly can.
6. I resolve to live my life to the fullest, as long as I live.
7. I resolve never to do anything that I would be afraid to do if I knew I were about to die. (In other words, I would live as if I were in the last few hours of my life, doing only that which is right, good, and loving.)
8. I resolve to act and speak with the understanding that I am just as bad and mean-spirited as the worst person. When I become aware of wrongdoings or mistakes of others, I will take that opportunity to confess my own wrongdoings to God, rather than criticizing others.
9. I resolve to be aware that I will die eventually and to think about the circumstances surrounding death. I will be prepared for death.
10. I resolve that when I feel pain, I will think of the greater pain of people who have willingly suffered and died for their Christian beliefs, and the eternal pain of people in hell, suffering because of their lack of belief.
11. I resolve, when I think of any puzzling religious question, to do what I can immediately towards solving it, if circumstances do not prevent me from it.
12. I resolve to immediately give up anything that I find I delight in because of pride or vanity.
13. I resolve to always be trying to find people who need charity and generosity.
The 70 resolutions can be found, complete and original, at the site of the Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics, linked here.
After some research and study, I have decided that I will recommend that TS buy the hardback version of the Oxford Companion to the English Language. It was edited by Tom McArthur, who is one of the world’s foremost experts on the English language(s).
He could buy it in a paperback concise edition beginning at about 64 cents from Amazon. Or he could buy a brand new one from Amazon in the hardback edition for about $70 or so. If I had some Christmas money earmarked for books, I would buy a shiny new hardback one and be very excited about it! Here is a link to information about the book on Amazon.
Three other books that I am sure would be excellent choices are The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language by David Crystal; A History of the English Language by Albert C. Baugh; and The Origins and Development of the English Language by John Algeo and Thomas Pyles. Too, if TS doesn’t have one, I’d suggest he buy a good unabridged dictionary--a big fat one.
These books are all published by the most highly respected publishers in this field, especially
If somebody gave me enough money, I’d buy all four of them and consider them to be great treasures!
Today, we’re going to have a little vocabulary study. We’re going to take a look at the word passion. (I’m an English teacher, remember.)
Merriam-Webster says passion is an emotion that is deeply stirring—an emotion that compels action. Without it, life is meaningless and dull.
Rick Warren, the author of The Purpose-Driven Life, says, “The driving force behind all great art, music, literature, drama, and architecture is passion.” As we go through our lives, he says, “passion is what sustains [us] in reaching our goals. It turns the impossible into the possible.”
People are passionate about any number of things: history, ships, writing, swimming, photography. Some people are passionate about orchids. Orchidelirium is the name the Victorians gave to the action-driving “flower madness” that seems to be almost like gold fever for botanical collectors. Books have been written about it. Wealthy orchid devotees of the Victorian era sent explorers out to find rare flowers--heavily armed, to protect themselves against other zealous seekers. You can find a number of web sites about orchids; the one linked here is a good example of this kind of passion.
Oswald Chambers says in My Utmost for His Highest, “No one on earth has this passionate love for the Lord Jesus unless the Holy Spirit has given it to him. We may admire, respect, and revere Him, but we cannot love Him on our own. The only One who truly loves the Lord Jesus is the Holy Spirit, and it is He who has ‘poured out in our hearts’ the very ‘love of God’ (Romans 5:5 ). Whenever the Holy Spirit sees an opportunity to glorify Jesus through you, He will take your entire being and set you ablaze with glowing devotion to Jesus Christ.”
And…to conclude our word study, Paul says in Hebrews 12:29, “our God is a consuming fire.” God is the ultimate passion—love. The more I throw myself into that consuming fire, the more free, rich, and full my life is.
Picture: http://www.hachettebookgroupusa.com/books/62/082126205X/index.html
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