tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41649105233469726422024-03-12T20:44:55.252-06:00Thoughtsby Brigitte. I like to read and write about Christian faith and a variety of subjects. I live in Canada.Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.comBlogger1546125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-71396271639738758262019-08-02T12:31:00.002-06:002019-08-02T21:23:30.785-06:00Catch Up / Reading ListDear Blog and Everybody: I have successfully stayed away from the internet for quite a while now, aside from Facebook, and I count it a WIN. No arguing. No dialectics. No writing about what I am reading. Just more walking, more bicycling, no matter the weather. WIN.<br />
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I have lost 15 pounds. WIN. I have learned to be outside by myself for long periods of time without pouting. WIN. <br />
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Most importantly, we walk with Jesus, and with him everything is the ultimate WIN. We will see him face to face. He will make everything good.<br />
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The summer has been unusual and stunning so far. There has been some rain every day, or so it seems. The lawns are more lush than ever. Perhaps in England around the Queen's palaces they look <i>this</i> green. All the trees and bushes that have made it through the winter (with quite a lot of winter kill on them), are recovered and growing furiously. What a sight to behold. Very nice. Very, very nice.<br />
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OK. All that. But I have also had time to read, and I just want to at least list the books for my own memory. I notice that the majority were non-fiction books written by women. Lets start with the most recent book: "<a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Last-Closet-Dark-Side-Avalon-ebook/dp/B0787XLK4H/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3TB9FDE506PJV&keywords=the+last+closet&qid=1564719577&s=gateway&sprefix=the+last+clo%2Caps%2C191&sr=8-1">The Last Closet. The Dark Side of Avalon".</a> The last closet refers to the stories of children raised by adults who practiced sexual licence including forms of LGBTQ. Moira Greyland suffered through a horrendous childhood, including trials such as incest and other physical and emotional abuse. She is the daughter of a very famous science fiction writer and and famous numismatic. The read was enlightening and heart-rending. She does not wallow in her emotions and thus the book remains sturdy, precise, honest and thorough. We can only imagine half of it. But we should read it and consider the early sexualization of children raised in such families and the harm that is inflicted. Five stars for gargantuan effort of truth-telling around a highly controversial and difficult topic where speakers are routinely shouted down, threatened and isolated.<br />
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<img alt="The Last Closet: The Dark Side of Avalon by [Greyland, Moira]" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51HbktWZQoL.jpg" width="200" /><br />
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Before that I read: <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Maid-Hard-Work-Mothers-Survive-ebook/dp/B07CWPRXFG/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+maid&qid=1564768381&s=books&sr=1-1">"Maid", which I bought at Costco</a>. It is the first oeuvre, an auto-biography, of a young, aspiring writer, a single mother struggling to raise her very young child by herself and make ends meet with very little social and financial support, living in the Pacific North West of the United States. It is a testament to our times and ways of thinking. She finds a way to move to Missoula and become a student at University. Very engaging story. Very good writing! Well done!<br />
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The book leaves a lot of questions unanswered which revolve around the open relationships young people tend to have nowadays, the legacy of divorce in families, the legions of people working for low pay, the complexity of social welfare programs in the United States, and many more... Things we should be talking about. Five stars for courage, hard work and successful book.<br />
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<img alt="Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive by [Land, Stephanie]" height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41MHHbzqivL.jpg" width="213" /><br />
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Before this book, I read the famous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blaise_Pascal">Blaise Pascal</a>, finally. He had been on my list-to-read for a long time. This is <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Christianity-Modern-Pagans-Outlined-Explained/dp/0898704529/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Blaise+Pascal&qid=1564766448&s=gateway&sr=8-3">the book I got from Amazon</a>.<br />
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<img height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Hd2ZYhnCL._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="207" /><br />
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<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kreeft">Peter Kreeft</a> is a type of teacher on Pascal. He provides lengthy comentary on a selection of Pensees. They are all very helpful,deep, current, and enjoyable. I read the book in short selections at bedtime, and they actually helped me go to sleep well, unlike some dramatic kinds of fictional stories. In this way, it took a while to get through and digest. There are some important thoughts for life here. I passed on the book, but I think I need to get another copy to read again and underline. Even though the book is written and edited by Roman Catholics, a Lutheran can still get a lot out of it. Pascal was a lay-theologian, so he reminds one a bit of C.S.Lewis. They are not so very systematic, in any case. And by the way, Blaise Pascal is the male writer in this list. Timeless work. Five stars.<br />
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Before that I read <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/WONDER-YEARS-Leslie-Leyland-Fields/dp/0825445221/ref=sr_1_21?keywords=the+wonder+years&qid=1564767202&s=gateway&sr=8-21">a book that I also got off Amazon</a>: "The Wonder Years. 40 women over 40."<br />
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<img height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51U6rcmcTYL._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="207" /><br />
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Later life for women is not often covered in a positive way in any sorts of media, if at all. Where is the woman over 40 or post menopause to get some feedback, guidance and inspiration? I do think there is a dearth of literature. Perhaps, that is why I have been focused on non-fiction by women, as of late. The woman in later life, most positively seen, is hoped to be the <i>source</i> of feedback, guidance and inspiration. Since my own mother died quite young, I have not had her to lead me into this time of life. There are lovely ladies at church who can inspire, but there are more deep and intimate things that you don't discuss outside the circle of close relations, though the church ladies are pretty much as close as it can get and you can see them regularly. Still it is the highlight of my life when my circles of girlfriends get together for birthdays and we can find out about each other's lives. This book was a great idea. The writers are greatly varied in their life experiences and also their writing experiences. It is not as deep and intimate or spiritual, as what I personally need. It just shows that some things can only be worked on in lived experience and not so much in books. Five stars for effort and great concept tackling a neglected subject. I was introduced to this writing group through a Facebook advertisement for a writing retreat. I thought I might be interested in attending it, but then, upon some reading, I thought I would be considered too confessional for the group to really belong. I could be wrong.<br />
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Can confessional Christians belong to a writing group about women's lives and stories? Theoretically, they can.<br />
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Before that, I read a whole series by <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Sensible-Shoes-Boxed-Sharon-Garlough/dp/0830843345/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Sensible+shoes&qid=1564769076&s=gateway&sr=8-2">Sharon Garlough Brown titled: "Sensible Shoes"</a>. I had taken out the second book in the series from a church library, and then I felt I had to read the whole the set.<br />
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<img height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51rmbLLxaxL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="213" /><br />
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I really did love the books about various women's lives and spiritual journeys. The women become a close-knit group through the exercises they experience through a retreat center and unlikely friendships blossoming. They grow meaningfully through life experiences, their friendships and spiritual exercises. I could see that these books could be tremendously helpful to many individuals. Personally, I did not see myself in these women, as the aging, long-married woman rarely seems to figure in any books. I tried to lend this set to my sister-in-law but she complained that the books go back and forth from woman to woman every few pages and it was driving her crazy (to use her words). I thought, with the lack of really crazy things going on, only the daily horrors of divorce, trials of delivering pre-mature babies, and other women-related drama, the movement from person to person was very engaging. I liked the format. What drove my sister-in-law crazy kept me on tenterhooks. Different strokes for different folks.<br />
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OK. That's enough for now. I am sure there were others that I have read in these fair months of the year. Presently I am reading a book from Indigo <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Everyday-Narcissism-Yours-Mine-Ours/dp/1942094450/ref=sr_1_1?crid=27TPI7C1F0XFG&keywords=everyday+narcissism&qid=1564770586&s=gateway&sprefix=Everyday+nar%2Caps%2C187&sr=8-1">on "Everyday Narcissism</a>", also by a woman writer. So far I am not sure what to make of it... Reading it at bedtime bit by bit. Mostly, I see, I have been heavily weighted in American women writers. I think I should should look for something from another country next.<br />
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Have a fabulous rest of the summer!<br />
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<br />Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-59717909708228186562019-04-11T11:06:00.000-06:002019-04-15T17:07:18.617-06:00The Basic Plots and MiddlemarchThe month of March was difficult with influenza going around and, weather-wise, huge mounds of snow melting only very gradually, keeping the air rather cool. April, so far, has not been much different, except that it appears that the last patches of snow have now disappeared while the ponds are still frozen over.<br />
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The returned Canada geese are looking to make nests, with the ganders marching about protectively, but they are not impressed with having to arrive on ice. They exhibit an interesting landing maneuver coming in feet first and then getting around like an icebreaker. They do look well-fattened from where ever they are coming from. The birds may be a pest in places, but they belong here, and their honking arrival is delightful. The geese's spirit is harbinger of new life and summer around the corner. Thank God, he made such large and sturdy, sometimes comical, birds for our climate. <br />
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Meanwhile, I had taken the opportunity to read some huge "honking" books. One was "Seven Basic Plots. Why we tell stories." The author is Christopher Booker. 736 pages.<br />
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<a href="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/410tbdWkMKL._SX334_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/410tbdWkMKL._SX334_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="269" /></a><br />
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For some time, I wanted to explore the topic of "plots" because story telling does not come to me naturally as a passion or art form. Well, not since about grade 5 or so, when we started learning foreign languages in school and explored other "real" countries and histories in books or through actual travel, as is easily afforded living in Europe. Before that we made up plays from props in the house or used our puppet theater. I enjoyed Mr. Booker's book because he broke down the plotting not so much in a dry, technical way but in terms of what is going on with the characters, and that in a sort of archetypal way, making the application universal. The critics of his book would say that he has put a kind of straight-jacket onto story-telling, discarding all those stories that don't fit the schemes, especially more modern ones, as somehow deficient. It may seem that Booker would say that story-telling has devolved in some respects.<br />
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It really is a tome to reckon with. Many stories are explored in great detail, resulting in my feeling better equipped to tailor future reading after his analysis. Someone asked me if I felt more ready to write a story after reading this book, and I have to say that I don't think so. My passion is always to find out what is really going on in a past or current situation, and the idea of storytelling gives me the feeling of artificiality and manipulation. Someone told me: "Push through to untruth". -- I don't know. I want to know how it is EXACTLY. Does that need to be overcome to be an effective storyteller? Jesus was a storyteller, but his stories were obvious parables. Everyone understood that they were brief analogies. But in a sense Jesus' stories were "manipulation" as he broke the news to people in unexpected ways, having them let down their guard to listen with interest.<br />
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Sometimes, though, people leaning to the fiction side of storytelling can't tell the difference anymore between truth and untruth. So I find that also Booker won't distinguish between the fanciful and the real, at times. For example, he discusses the use of the unexpected, miraculous weapon that will defeat the enemy. Here he basically puts side by side James Bond and King David. James Bond always has a new weapon or vehicle up his sleeve to extricate him from dire circumstances to save himself, the girl and the world. We seriously get a comparison here from the esteemed Mr. Booker to the ancient King David who killed the giant with a stone and a sling-shot, receiving King Saul's daughter's hand in marriage. The only difference with the Bible stories are that they go on and on in time and don't have a properly resolved ending. --Yes, really.<br />
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There problem, as I see it, with this is that the literary giants of our times and other times don't believe that Bible stories are "real" stories, that is true stories, in the way that the non-literary person conceives a "true story". We are to see everything under out eyes in an archetypally true way ONLY. If you don't agree, you are a Philistine to them (in the non-literal way, of course, as if there had never ever really been any Philistines.)<br />
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So much for Booker's book. It is exhaustive and I believe he spent a lifetime, over 30 years, slaying the giant of getting everything under control neatly, even David and Goliath.<br />
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The other very large book I enjoyed was George Elliot's "Middlemarch". It is, of course, a famous novel, written by a woman who needs no introduction. The volume had sat on my shelf ever since I purchased it in a used bookstore under some mysterious prompting. It revealed itself to me, just now, and I really, really loved it. Seriously, I am a fan, all 900 pages of it. It is superfluous to tell you why it was wonderful, as it such a dearly loved classic. But I will just say that the novel served to illustrate some of Christopher Booker's points about characters and the arcs of stories. In Dorothea we have a typical lovely female serving as the great prize that needs to wrestled away from the dragon of upper-class snobbery by the unlikely hero in the form of the honorable but unconventional Ladislaw. Ladislaw is in effect a writer disguised as a dilettante. We could say that we have again a book written by a writer about a writers.<br />
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In Middlemarch, we find another kind of author, the famous Rev. Edward Casaubon, muddled and mired very deeply in his endless research. Ironically, he vaguely reminds me of the just before-mentioned Mr. Booker, in trying to systematize and unite all types of stories. Casaubon labored his entire life in the libraries hoping to produce his grand book of "The Key to all Mythologies." Like Mr. Booker he may have been overreaching, but nevertheless, we should sympathize with him in his great effort and its attendant result, his early death, as articulated and forever noted, by the great philosopher Solomon (of actual existence): "<span style="background-color: white; color: #001320; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body." (Ecclesiastes 12:12) </span><br />
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<br />Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-62498622116357380122019-03-14T15:46:00.001-06:002019-03-14T15:46:42.037-06:00Got the Flu and Plant Based EatingLast week, it turned out to be the season for finally getting the flu after having hung in there the entire, deep, long, eternal Northern Canadian winter. The flu felled my thoroughly, just as we were going to turn the corner with the frigid weather. From one hour to the next you think you are passing from life to death.<br />
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The irony for me was that I had been quite resistant to colds, and proclaiming it somewhat loudly, ever since we switched to a plant-based diet--no more spurning of fruits for the many grams of fructose in them, grains, seeds... Once, I was adjusted I felt very good and handily fought of colds, even as I spent much time with toddlers and in some group homes. <br />
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Still I am putting my money on fruits and vegetables, beans and greens. It has taken almost a year to get efficient about shopping, chopping and cooking plant-based for a two-person household. I cook all my beans from the dry stage, and then I end up with loads of them, necessitating freezing batches that come in handy later.<br />
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It is all worth it. I am very grateful for all the new info that has been shared and the great recipes that abound. I don't want to take the time right now to explain and lecture about various benefits, but I do highly recommend everything written by Dr. Greger of "How not to Die"-fame and his free info on the website: <a href="https://nutritionfacts.org/">https://nutritionfacts.org/</a> (Of course, we are going to die, we are just going to try to make sure, as best we can, that it isn't by our own fault.)<br />
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The information is top-notch and the videos are short and precise, spiced occasionally with Dr. Greger's inimitable humor. The cookbook has fabulous illustrations. The research book is fascinating and thoroughly scientific. The new Canada food guide lines up very nicely with this info, and is said to be a triumph of reason over the food industry lobby. <br />
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I highly recommend both books and the videos on the Nutritionfacts site. They have all been a game-changer for my husband and myself. We eat very differently now and much more recommended food makes it to our plates.<br />
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<br />Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-45777588329224634172019-03-05T21:37:00.000-07:002019-03-05T21:37:28.921-07:00For Ash Wednesday"God has assuredly promised his grace to the humble [1. Peter 5:5], that is, to those who lament and despair of themselves. But no man can be thoroughly humbled until he knows that his salvation is utterly beyond his own powers, devices, endeavors, will, and works, and depends entirely on the choice, will, and work of another, namely, of God alone. For as long as he is persuaded that he himself can do even the least thing toward his salvation, he retains some self-confidence and does not altogether despair of himself, and therefore he is not humbled before God, but presumes that there is--or at least hopes or desires that there may be--some place, time, and work for him by which he may at length attain to salvation. But when a man has no doubt that everything depends on the will of God, then he completely despairs of himself and chooses nothing for himself, but waits for God to work; then he has come close to grace, and can be saved."-- Martin LutherBrigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-39422762988453235082019-02-28T14:22:00.000-07:002019-02-28T15:29:22.143-07:00Vatican Conference on Sexual Abuse concludedThis past week has seen the conclusion of a special conference in Rome called by Pope Francis on how to deal decisively with the sexual abuse scandal in the church. We also have seen the condemnation of Cardinal Pell in Australia to 50 years in prison at his 70 years old in life. Today we are informed that last night was his first night in prison. As all convicted pedophiles he will be held in isolation and will be spending 23 hours a day by himself.<br />
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What a lot. We do have some sympathy for him. He seems to have very few, relatively "minor" slips, some call them "vanilla", in his long, illustrious career. We don't need to get into specifics, as you easily can find them online, elsewhere.<br />
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There are many types of victims here. Sexual abuse seems to happen in all sorts of arenas in various ways. I once ended up in a car with a man once, when young, and felt I escaped by the skin of my teeth. I was once grabbed in an alleyway and managed to run away when 13 years old. The man managed to kiss me on the cheek. I had to identify him in a lineup and testify in court. Stuff like this happens all the time, sad to say. The innocent and the minor are always the true victim. Yet, the adult cleric, sworn to celibacy is also a victim. Celibacy does not work for the vast majority people. St. Peter himself was a married man and had his wife with him. St. Paul writes that if one burns with passion one ought to marry and have a partner, as God and nature ordains and calls for. We are sexual beings and it is the odd man or woman out of the whole lot who can do without the closeness, intimacy, confiding, pleasure and comfort of sexual relations and life-long union.<br />
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It is the command for celibacy itself which must be removed and abolished. This is not something that I heard coming out in the statements from the conference. I would expect, therefore, that NOTHING constructive has been accomplished. Nothing whatsoever. -- The Pope said the church will come down with the "wrath of God" on the perpetrators. If the church continues in this unnatural and un-biblical stance to marriage, if may find the wrath of God coming down on it.<br />
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During and after the Reformation, Rome ridiculed the Lutherans for wanting their "wine and women" when they simply asked for biblical standards, serving wine at communion, as instituted by Christ himself, and permitting marriage for church leaders, as permitted by St. Peter and St. Paul, themselves. Why the Roman church persists in sitting "beside scripture", as Luther would always complain, is beyond comprehension and has led to the most deplorable spectacle possible. It ought to teach us about taking scripture supremely seriously. We dare not tamper with it. We dare not set ourselves up as superior in suppression of simple human needs to demonstrate a holiness that God never asked for nor designed. It is the peak of irreligiosity to do so.<br />
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<br />Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-742768801448485332018-11-10T12:17:00.002-07:002019-02-28T13:57:22.047-07:00My Roman Catholic Friend and 2. Timothy 1:15-18, re: Praying for the Dead<div style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
<span class="text 2Tim-1-15" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><i><b style="font-size: 12px;">2. </b><span style="font-size: 12px;"><b>Timothy</b></span><b style="font-size: 12px;">, chapter 1</b></i></span></span><i style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">:</span></i></span></div>
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<span class="text 2Tim-1-15" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><i><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">15 </span>You know that everyone in the province of Asia<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-29825AM" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-29825AM" title="See cross-reference AM">AM</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span> has deserted me,<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-29825AN" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-29825AN" title="See cross-reference AN">AN</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>including Phygelus and Hermogenes.</i></span></div>
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<i><span class="text 2Tim-1-16" id="en-NIV-29826" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">16 </span>May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus,<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-29826AO" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-29826AO" title="See cross-reference AO">AO</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span> because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-29826AP" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-29826AP" title="See cross-reference AP">AP</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span> of my chains.<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-29826AQ" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-29826AQ" title="See cross-reference AQ">AQ</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span></span> <span class="text 2Tim-1-17" id="en-NIV-29827" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">17 </span>On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me.</span> <span class="text 2Tim-1-18" id="en-NIV-29828" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">18 </span>May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day!<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-29828AR" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-29828AR" title="See cross-reference AR">AR</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span> You know very well in how many ways he helped me<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-29828AS" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-29828AS" title="See cross-reference AS">AS</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span> in Ephesus.</span></i></div>
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From this passage my Roman Catholic friend of the previous post is intending to show that people--including as illustrious and authoritative a writer as the apostle Paul--do and ought to pray for the dead.</div>
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Specifically, he is attempting to show it from this short exclamation: <i>"May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day!"</i></div>
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As we can see from the context, nothing here indicates first of all, that Onesiphorus has died, second that Paul believes that a prayer for any person will be counted towards their righteousness. </div>
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Moreover, we also see from the context, that Paul has suffered the loss of his leadership over a number of individuals in the church, even though he is an apostle, as he has just vigorously asserted with various preceding points. In that sense, he is able to act as intercessor for these people who have turned specifically against him (and who are living). Their faith in Christ may be in question now, but that is between them and God. They have, however, rejected the messenger Paul without cause, having previously been dedicated to him and his message of the Gospel. This is an injury and injustice also to Paul, himself. His own response is one of pious hope and forgiveness. We see also Paul's Christ-inspired grace. (He does not wish to call down the fire from heaven, as certain disciples ones proposed to Jesus; the "sons of thunder", as he nicknamed them.) Yet, it will be the Lord himself who judges and dispenses mercy. </div>
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Onesiphorus appears not have turned against Paul, but nothing further is explained regarding his present fate, just as we know nothing further about Phygelus and Hermogenes. Anything more becomes a matter of conjecture.</div>
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We also note, that Paul attaches no invocation or affirmation to his pious hope of mercy. Nor does he indicated that all should pray to the Lord for the mentioned individuals, living or dead, instituting here no Requiem Mass, so to speak.</div>
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This is the most flimsy passage imaginable, to burden Christian consciences with mandatory prayers for the dead and their achieving mercy. People who have come out of Roman Catholicism, often speak about the heavy burden of guilt they carried, the hammer over their head. This, here, would be another instance of burden: the Christian struggles under the innumerable sins of others, when it is Christ who has born them all. Let each come to repentance of his very own sins, instead, and turn to the Lord. </div>
Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-89409867224472730452018-11-08T11:04:00.000-07:002018-11-08T14:28:17.250-07:00All Saints' Day and Maccabees<span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This past All Saint's Sunday I spent the afternoon reading first and second Maccabees, never having read it before. The story was familiar to me from a past lecture, but why should it come up now?</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is how it happened. A very famous Christian author and pastor, Eugene Peterson, had died the week before, which promoted a Roman Catholic friend of mine on Facebook to remark that he himself hopes that when he dies, people will remember to pray for his departed soul, not like this famous protestant pastor who was assumed to have gone straight to heaven, by protestants who talked about his departure.--As we know, Roman Catholics promote a teaching about a thing called "purgatory", where many souls are said to go be purified for an undetermined time to eventually be promoted to heaven, leaving people, the departed as well as their living family, in a kind of limbo, as least for the present. As to where a dearly departed has departed to precisely, one dare not say, especially if he or she was not perfect, which none of us are. This gives rise to a whole industry of indulgences, praying for the dead, saying masses for the dead, etc. To which every "Protestant" says: "what exactly are you, dear Roman Catholic, proclaiming regarding the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ? Was his sacrifice not for sinners like you and like me?" Indeed, this whole praying for the dead reads like a racket, as the Reformation has clearly shown, and as the height of faithlessness in the cloak of piety. But Christ is left out. He is not there. (As Jesus said: "Where the corpse is, the vultures will gather." Matthew 24.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, what about Maccabees?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Well, the said Friend on Facebook, of Roman Catholic confession, as I said, just slung that one out: "It's in 2 Maccabees!" Yea, sure, "It's in 2 Maccabees..."--So I read all of 1. Maccabees and all of 2. Maccabees.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Without belaboring the matter, in Maccabees we have the story of the strenous Jewish revolt against oppressive Hellenization during the second century B.C. (Also read about such topics, <a href="https://www.ancient.eu/article/827/the-maccabean-revolt/">here</a>.) It does not read like a sermon, nor a theological treatise, nor prophecy, nor prayer. The Jews did not include it in their canon. The Reformation excluded it from the canon. It is not a source of doctrine about God and spiritual matters. Maccabees highlights the events of the oppression and the revolt, as well as the deeds of the Maccabees. It demonstrates the struggle for conscientious objection involving martyrdom. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We see in Maccabees a high regard for the law. The leaders of the revolt defended the Jewish way of life with great zeal, the regulations the Lord had put down for the nation. Their efforts were of military nature. Outsiders were "sinners." The book does not promote mercy, nor does it speak about the Lord or for the Lord. The authors speak for themselves and their version of the historical record. They do not claim to be prophets, nor to have been living among prophets. In fact, it says, that prophecy had ceased in those times. It should follow, therefore, that the editorializing comments of the unnamed author/s, be taken under advisement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It boggles that mind that precisely here, our Roman Catholic friend wants to find corroboration for the doctrine of purgatory and praying for the dead. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The concern for the dead, so it is said in Maccabees several times, should be taken as a sign of the belief in the resurrection of the dead. This rings a bell when we think about what St. Paul said, as an aside, such as: if there is no resurrection for the dead, why do some bother to be baptized for the dead? (1. Corinthians 15:29). Also, there is the time, where he causes a commotion saying in Jerusalem that he is persecuted for his belief in the resurrection. (Acts 22:6-8.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span class="text Acts-23-6" id="en-NIV-27741" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">"</span><i><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">6 </span>Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-27741I" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-27741I" title="See cross-reference I">I</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span> and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers,<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-27741J" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-27741J" title="See cross-reference J">J</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span> I am a Pharisee,<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-27741K" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-27741K" title="See cross-reference K">K</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span>descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.”<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-27741L" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-27741L" title="See cross-reference L">L</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span></i></span><i><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span class="text Acts-23-7" id="en-NIV-27742" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">7 </span>When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span class="text Acts-23-8" id="en-NIV-27743" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">8 </span>(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection,<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-27743M" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-27743M" title="See cross-reference M">M</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span> and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)"</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Obiously, these issues had been brewing for some time, just as much as the Pharisaical emphasis on the law vs. mercy and justice. For me, reading Maccabees put some things into perspective regarding thorny issues Jesus and Paul were speaking to in the culture and in the life of the individual consciences in relationship to God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, now, what does it exactly say in Maccabees that gets some people on the road for praying for the dead? At the conclusion of 2 Maccabees, an incident is related where some of the warriors of the Maccabaean conflicts had been found dead, and when it came to the recovery of the bodies, it was found that they were wearing in their layers of clothing some sort of amulet dedicated to a foreign idol. This presents the leaders with a nasty dilemma. Here they were fighting zealously for the law of the ancestors, but their fighters are found practicing a form of idolatry. This really does present a unique embarrassment. What to do and say about this?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ingenious to the end, they take up a collection of money to send to the temple, so a sacrifice could me made for the dead who had died relying on a foreign god, hoping they might still attain the resurrection of the dead.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Elegant? Not. Hopeful? Maybe. Mandated? Definitely not.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here comes Tetzel. You know about Johann Tetzel. "As soon as the gold in the casket rings, the rescued soul to heaven springs." Who sent Tetzel? Those who needed money for their simony and for their construction projects.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Maccabees closes by praising this solution as pious. The leader is pragmatic in his actions. No wonder, the book is excluded from the canon. Theology: fail. God cannot be manipulated. Not the God of the Bible. At some point, you have to leave things to His judgement and to his mercy. Save your money and your time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> 2. Maccabees 40-45: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> "But when they found on each of the dead men, under their tunics, objects dedicated to the idols of Jamnia, which the Law prohibits to Jews, it became clear to everyone that this was why these men had lost their lives. All then blessed the ways of the Lord, the upright judge who brings hidden things to light, and gave themselves to prayer, begging that the sin committed might be completely forgiven. Next, the valiant Judas urged the soldiers to keep themselves free from all sin, having seen with their own eyes the effects of the sin of those who had fallen; after this he took a collection from them individually, amounting to nearly two thousand drachmas, and sent it to Jerusalem to have a sacrifice for sin offered, an action altogether fine and noble, prompted by his belief in the resurrection. For had he not expected the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead,whereas if he had in view the splendid recompense reserved for those who make a pious end, the thought was holy and devout. Hence, he had this expiatory sacrifice offered for the dead, so that they might be released from their sin."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To conclude, we note that the Old Testament does not make provision for this type of sacrifice, however pious the thought. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We also note that Martin Luther wished Maccabees had not come down to us, at all, because it contains too many heathenish things. The writer himself, excuses himself, making no claims except to tell the story in engaging fashion. This is how the author of 2 Maccabees closes the book (chapter 15):</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><i><span class="text 2Macc-15-37" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;">"The city of Jerusalem remained in the possession of the Jewish people from that time on, so I will end my story here.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span class="text 2Macc-15-38" id="en-GNT-14145" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">38 </span>If it is well written and to the point, I am pleased; if it is poorly written and uninteresting, I have still done my best.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span class="text 2Macc-15-39" id="en-GNT-14146" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">39 </span>We know it is unhealthy to drink wine or water alone, whereas wine mixed with water makes a delightfully tasty drink. So also a good story skillfully written gives pleasure to those who read it. With this I conclude."</span></i></span></div>
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<span class="text 2Macc-15-39" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is an interesting story. It is a mixed drink passed to us by the writer, however, and we are right not to draw Christian doctrine from it. </span></span><br />
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<span class="text 2Macc-15-39" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: black;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In addition, our attention should be directed at the sacrifices for sin in Leviticus 4, where a sin offering requires repentance. </span></span></div>
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Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-30550787576564204962018-11-03T13:22:00.000-06:002018-11-03T13:27:35.354-06:00Thanksgiving Service in Berlin, Oct. 2018, for Reunification: Tag der Deutschen Einheit<br />
A Dear Friend sent me this link on Youtube for this special Ecumenical Church Service to celebrate Reunification and the unity of the nation of Germany, in 2018 . I watched a good chunk of it. You can see the large congregation, including the politicians, in a large, ornate cathedral in Berlin. There is fantastic music. I will plan to watch the rest and here, I have filed the link for myself and others.<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RawukFRMUo0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RawukFRMUo0</a></h2>
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The video is completely in German language, though some of the music is in Latin and Greek. It is worthwhile watching for the music and also the brass ensemble and the boys' choir. Very nice.</div>
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When I was a girl, I used to play very often in services in the church brass band. Now I serve as an organist. It is so wonderful to have a full church and to have excellent music. These are true highlights of the week, of the seasons, of a lifetime.</div>
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Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-9172163661208434152018-11-02T11:04:00.000-06:002018-11-02T11:04:15.507-06:00"Educated"While we were on a road-trip in September, I had an opportunity to read several books. The first one was "Educated: A Memoir" by Tara Westover. I had picked it up at Costco because the reviews on the cover were stellar. And the book did not disappoint.<br />
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Tara Westover tells a realistic, yet stunning story of growing up in Idaho, in a Mormon family who refuses to register its children, refuses to send them to school, refuses to let them see the Doctor. The father runs a scrap yard among other businesses that involve the children working in dangerous situation. The mother becomes a midwife so women do not have to see a doctor. Individuals inadvertently become subject to various forms of neglect, abuse and child labor, unnecessary accidents, even though the parents are highly idealistic and religious, well-meaning in their own way. For the child growing up this is insidious, as it knows no different life. Freeing herself from it requires all the strength Tara can muster. It is complicated, to say the least.<br />
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For me, it is a lesson in several areas. First of all, the depth of commitment to their lifestyle by American cultists. In many places in the world such isolation is not possible and communities are much better integrated. In America, however, it is possible, and in any case it is the "land of the cults" as Lutheran immigrant pastor/missionary Walther said. In Lutheran theology, the calling of the Christian person can be to be a medical doctor, a scrap yard owner, a pastor, a midwife, policeman, governor, housewife... All these callings are God's gifts to a helpful and integrated society. With the cult, however, an alienation is essential to keep the message alive, the message of isolation and individualism. A message of being different from other people in society.<br />
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Not that learning some survival skills would not be a good thing. Nowadays, we are so disconnected from nature and the way things used to be done even just two generations ago, that it makes us wonder what it is to be truly human without all our helps and technologies. Certainly, there is a tension inherent, that we can all understand. I myself was thinking we should get a generator when North Korea was sending missiles over Japan last year. There is the dirty bomb that could travel very far that disrupt all our communications and electrical grids. I was trying to imagine it, though I am not given to apolitical speculations. In fact, my generation, and especially myself hailing from the former West Germany, lived in the shadow of the bomb. How will we be able to survive when everything fails or is destroyed? Would we even want to try?<br />
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Maybe a generator would be good, but then you need fuel... Most of all, you would need water...<br />
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Where does it start and end. It becomes a paranoia, more than anything. But emergency preparedness is a sensible thing...<br />
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The book also makes me think about our current NDP government in my Canadian province. They have a left-leaning ideology, which has manifested itself in interesting ways, so interesting that they cannot be elected again. One of the first things, they have done, was to ram down the throats of farmers all kinds of laws regarding farm labor. Perhaps, there are concerns I had not considered. I know a family where all four children died in two separate farm accidents. The marriage also ended up breaking apart. I know a farm where a toddler was run over. But that can happen anywhere. I know a farm where a young man nearly burned himself to death. But had been very foolish. I know a farm where a young Mennonite helper was electrocuted just a few weeks into the job. No doubt, the young are at risk. But then my own 18-year old died in a car accident.<br />
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What factors can be controlled? In any case, the NDP should have had a consultative, bottom-up process, rather than asserted itself in the way it did, right out of the start gate alienating so many. From then on, it also went on to alienate Christians of all stripes. This also, was not ok. Christians, in general, are not like Tara Westover's father and mother. Mostly, they live in responsible, well integrated communities. Some oversight is always a good idea, but government oppression of consciences is not. They are your average, more or less, good citizen. And that is what we have had in my province, as of late. On that level, I had wondered if "Educated" is an anti-Christian book, but that would be not a fair interpretation. Overall, Westover has considered her communication carefully, and her points are well taken. There are indeed Mormon families hiding in Canadian mountain regions trying to keep polygamous groupings intact. These things do happen. And children suffer. We must support the weaker and younger elements in society.<br />
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The most memorable part of the book, however, was the philosophical and literary point of view. Westover took a degree in history, or more like the philosophy of history, or the process of making history. In relation to this, she comes to interesting conclusions, which one ought to read for oneself. What hit me most is that by writing her own autobiography, she says she is "writing history", herself. <br />
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It makes me consider all the autobiographies that have lived in my head and my life, all this time--my grandfather's, expelled from Silesia, my in-law's, fleeing Poland after the war. Stories that have not made it to the movie screens and histories that have been expunged from the collective memory. These stories make me different from my Canadian neighbors, though many immigrant populations also have suffered through wars, famine, oppression, even persecution. But the languages and images are different, and these communities tend to stay in their own corners. Currently, public discourse has been deluged with programs dealing with LGTBQ issues, as well as Indigenous affairs. In some ways, it is not a surprise that we have all fractured into new subgroups of discussion groups and media consumption. Some are becoming their own islands, their own Idahoes. We are educating ourselves online and what does this mean?<br />
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<br />Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-42508972117714355852018-11-01T11:08:00.003-06:002018-11-01T12:51:40.432-06:00All Saints' Blog<br />
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Where have we been? There was the short and intense Canadian summer. There were irritants with online activity, including some malware on this blog. There were travels and visitors and books to read. We also adopted a new diet and cooking program, one more plant-based, as they say, which required a considerable amount of time and dedication to implement. Indeed, I am spending much more time in the kitchen. What can we do.<br />
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But, I have missed the blogging, as of late. I think mostly, it is the mental hygiene of getting somethings off your mind and onto the page. Moreover, there is a benefit to exercising vocabulary, before losses to inevitable old age or declining brain power use up the neural circuits. Use it or lose it. Also, blogging puts things into your mind as your use it. Your focus is sharpened. There is clarity that emerges, which is vastly better than grey fogginess, which is symbolized by the weather that has crept up on us.<br />
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So, as the more dreary, darker days of winter descend on us, together with the snow in the forecase, I think I would like to post some more. Google Blogger wants me to start a different blog. I wonder about this, as my format is very old. I will have to think about this. For now, good wishes for a good week and blessings for the days of All Saints' and Reformation. Yesterday, we put the family fun of spooky Halloween behind us for another year, but more constructively, we now want to consider the eternal home of our souls with the Lord, which is granted to us purely out of his immeasurable, and superabundant grace, the fount of all true and lasting joy and pleasure. Thanks be to God.<br />
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I feel better already.<br />
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<br />Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-42194722551745565472018-06-04T19:40:00.002-06:002018-06-05T21:02:08.761-06:00Line Dances Over the winter I took up clogging, but this activity is out for the summer. The winter prior, I took up line dancing in a school gym in town. I thought it was fun and good exercise, though I did not really enjoy all the words to all the songs... What can you do. The Wobble is a bit crude, so I use Guantanamera with groups. (Guantanamera works for a lot of things and is a bit slower. A lot of Cuban music is very pretty and repetitive.) <br />
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Here is a list of the videos of line dances I learned a year ago. I just want to refresh them, now, as clogging is out and the movement is good for me. You might enjoy them, too.<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlwYAQ4Si_Y">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlwYAQ4Si_Y</a> Shut up and Dance<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW27n-XeGag">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW27n-XeGag</a> Any Man of Mine, Canadian Stomp<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YzgjhDnuvA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YzgjhDnuvA</a> Copperhead Road<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihCh5wzNjYY&app=desktop">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihCh5wzNjYY&app=desktop</a> TED TALK<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_srg-18Fz0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_srg-18Fz0</a> Cupid Shuffle<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi7fD_wSm-4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi7fD_wSm-4</a> Fireball<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv8w8vtGnjI&feature=youtu.be">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv8w8vtGnjI&feature=youtu.be</a> Scooting Boogie<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTZ4Xec9XKU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTZ4Xec9XKU</a> Scooting Boogie instructional.<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfHWhWmeZHg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfHWhWmeZHg</a> Hustle<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfHWhWmeZHg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfHWhWmeZHg</a> Hustle<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMVK5EcIbZA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMVK5EcIbZA</a> Two step slide<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c82jEPpfGio">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c82jEPpfGio</a> We went<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsqYMWVnY2Q">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsqYMWVnY2Q</a> We went<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYidap7ZJ-w">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYidap7ZJ-w</a> My Boogie shoes<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSSwbqX73hg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSSwbqX73hg</a> My Boogie Shoes<br />
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<a href="http://www.copperknob.co.uk/stepsheets/boogie-shoes-ID93469.aspx">http://www.copperknob.co.uk/stepsheets/boogie-shoes-ID93469.aspx</a> Boogie Shoes sheet<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vTIY0xHBUg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vTIY0xHBUg</a> The Wobble<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1im74-XgYA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1im74-XgYA </a> The MakarenaBrigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-23988877338807990432018-03-15T11:22:00.001-06:002018-03-15T11:36:28.041-06:00"I am Jesus' Little Lamb" --home-made illustrated songbook #1This is my home-made songbook for family. If you like it, you may copy it and use it. It's not art. It's my first one... :) I left out the pictures of family, baptisms, pastors, and such. You can personalize this to the hilt. Blessings.<br />
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"I am Jesus' little lamb" is the kind of song Christian mothers and fathers have sung to their children through the generations, and as such is a pearl that needs to keep getting passed on. It comforted me, too, as I made this book. My favorite page is the one with the angels and their musical instruments. Some people relate to angels a lot, wearing pins and so on, but I can relate to these angels who make music. And this beautiful verse is attached to the picture: "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:1. When we do pass through the shadow of death, the Lord's angels will be with us, maybe even singing this song to us, as we move into the Lords presence, the Lord who is our shepherd and cares even then.<br />
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<br />Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-44263930048951001062018-01-10T09:31:00.000-07:002018-01-10T11:12:24.849-07:00Tamarind Mem / Portrait of Indian Women in Two Generations<img height="320" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51yifHlJteL._SX323_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="208" /><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A friend recommended this book by an Indian-Canadian writer to me even while saying that it was full of bitterness. Indeed, there is bitterness. But I loved it as it spoke to my woman's heart. The themes involving traditional women's lives in India over several generations dovetailed for me with the series currently available on Netflix: "Stories by Rabindranath Tagore." Tagore was a famous Indian writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, the first non-European to do so. He keenly observed facets of the lives of women in the contexts of the Hindu caste system, marriage customs, and aspirations for education, change and modernization. I read "Tamarind Mem" through the Tagore's lens which I had just acquired, but I also read it simply as a woman.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">There are, first of all, the issues connected to arranged marriages. The central character, the Tamarind Mem, is a young woman who is married off to a complete stranger in spite of her vocal protestations and desire for advanced education and independence. She has always had a sharp tongue, something that seems common to many Indian women in stories. Considering the distresses suffered and the lack of power in traditional situations, it is no wonder that the women resort to using their mouth to provide many tongue-lashings. Tamarind Mem is not happy. Her daughter is not happy. She is an unhappy woman making everyone unhappy. The somewhat older man she was married off to copes somehow, but is distant. He provides no friendship for his wife, no talk, no intimacy, while he proves to be a wonderfully warm father and storyteller. There is a split in his personality. The woman's upbringing also does not allow her to approach him in a more relaxed or playful way. There is only Dharma, duty. Spouses don't call each other by their names. One of the men says this: "A woman is for bed and breakfast."</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">The wife's isolation from her husband is crushing her. She is indeed bitter and she is often nasty. Through the book we learn to see the damage she does but also learn to understand her.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">Many problems are connected to Indian customs. We see here a sensitive critique of these customs. But also, the difficulties of coping with lack of communication, of being cooped-up in a house, the crushing disappointment of failing to form a deep relationship with your husband, abandonment in marriage, lack of vulnerability in the most intimate of relationships, are universal. The pain is raw and palpable.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111;">Her daughters seek out different paths in different lands, escaping the limitations of living in Indian society. Tamarind Mem, however, also seeks out a different life and contentment after her older husband dies.</span></span>Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-64215136189766606992017-12-06T14:08:00.003-07:002017-12-06T14:08:38.335-07:00Christmas Cards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This fall, I had some fun taking a mixed media course.</div>
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It motivated me to make my own Christmas cards, such as the one below. Today, I am getting all my mail out. Yea! Blessed Advent season, everyone! </div>
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<br />Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-67223762687954282302017-11-14T16:35:00.000-07:002017-11-14T17:22:46.580-07:00AquasizeHonestly, it could have been the death of me. Now that we have winter, and the need arises to find different ways to exercise, my friend invited me to aquasize.<br />
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It snowed plenty overnight, and I take myself onto the road to head to the indoor swimming pool in town, which I have spurned for several years now. In my bag are some watershoes that I have been using in my house for flexible foot movement and utilizing all 33 foot joints, as is recommended by my yoga teacher. So far so good. The watershoes are coming in handy as they will also help keep me safe on the deck of the pool which can be slippery. It is sensible to get a bit more cautious with "advancing age" (cough, cough).<br />
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It turns out that with the snowfall, the road is rather treacherous as the rear end of the truck swings out at the three-way stop, then the big intersection at the highway, and the several other left-turns I have to navigate every so slowly. This town happens to have a lot of freight-truck traffic rumbling through it, frightening me as I try to steer my little, slip-sliding vehicle. Has there been no sanding, yet, today?<br />
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I get to the pool, and into the water five minutes late but safe. One surely needs to budget more time for this sort of expedition, this time of year.<br />
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The ladies--an no men, by the way--are already busy with their warm-up exercises, jumping, splashing, turning. I am finding that the watershoes are marvelous; they cushion the blow of the heel coming down on the pool bottom, and I can feel the whole foot planting on surface which gives a good calf stretch every time the foot goes down. Well, now that we are comfortable, we can try to follow along with what the teacher is doing. My friend seems to have no trouble and I can always ask her and follow her. The instructor's voice is piercing above the noise of the water splashing. She sounds like Bernadette in the Big Bang Theory. My goodness, the poor soul is straining her voice.<br />
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Now, that I have sort of figured out what to do, I can have a look around at the other ladies. Most of them have grey hair and seem very cheerful. In fact, a good many of them are having animated discussions with their friends over top of the intrepidly, screeching instructor--and the music, and their exercising. They are laughing and sharing the latest stories. I can hear words floating by such as "gall bladder", "pregnancy", "wedding". Some of them wear crosses. I am beginning to think that the entire Catholic ladies' aid is in aquasize, today.<br />
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At the 35 min mark, even the instructor lets herself be distracted to throw in something about someone's premature labor and delivery, the baby coming out with some sort of suction machine and having a rash. Or maybe the mother had a rash. Whatever. I suppose this is better for the women than having a coffee clatch and just sitting around, as they are using their time rather efficiently. At the 37 min. mark, a lady next to me, not grey but sporting a beautiful hair coloring job, starts to complain about her full bladder, and having to decide whether to go to the bathroom or not, since it may not be worth her while, at this point in the class. I decide to encourage her, though I have no experience with this yet. I tell her, that it will take her one minute to get to the bathroom, one minute to go to the bathroom, and one minute to get back in the water. She goes.<br />
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All the while, some men and women have been floating more or less without moving, in the deep end wearing flotation belts or using pool noodles. I am not sure what good it is doing them to float like that except that the easing of the pressure on the joints might be pleasant. They make and odd sight, I suppose like the rest of us. Perhaps, there are a variety of mobility issues.<br />
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In the very end, we all settle comfortably into the hot tub sharing more stories. This hot-tub-sitting takes me back to a holiday we had this summer in Iceland. It happens that Iceland Air flies from Edmonton to Europe via Keflavic Airport near Reykjavik and offers longer lay-overs for travellers, at no extra cost. On the way, there, and back, I watched several Icelandic movies, getting to know more about the lifestyle in Iceland. We spent two days touring Reykjavik and environs. In a way, the Icelanders and we Albertans share this treacherous, cold weather, with the difference that they have natural hot springs absolutely everywhere since they are living on a fault-line, where the European plate meets the North American plate. They have pools in every corner of the city and all over the place, they love to soak in. Well, at least, in my cold, icy Alberta town, situated very much right on the North American plate, we intrepid northerners also have our public indoor pool, even though we may have to gather our courage to make our way to it.<br />
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<img alt="Image result for hottub in iceland" height="213" src="https://www.dorisanddicky.com/images/stories/flexicontent/item_1059_field_36/l_doris_and_dicky_frost_and_fire_boutique_hotel_iceland_hot_tub.jpg" width="320" /><br />
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<br />Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-25042812449294448472017-11-10T14:28:00.001-07:002017-11-10T14:33:49.807-07:00Reformation Summer 1Where I live, we are already deep in the winter season, on November 10. We are reminded that it is Martin Luther's birthday, today. As we know, he was named for St. Martin, whose feast day we have tomorrow, the day Luther was baptized. (Babies were quickly baptized in times when neonatal death was more common.) As children in Bavaria, we had very memorable St. Martin's day celebrations in the evening with lantern trains, bonfires and reenactment of St. Martin sharing his coat with a poor man.<br />
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I just feel like posting some pictures we took in Wittenberg, this summer during the "Kichentag" (church day/convention). We enjoyed a tremendous month in Germany, this year.<br />
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<br />Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-3958841828824699102017-10-31T22:12:00.000-06:002017-10-31T22:12:07.173-06:00Reformation Day--500th Anniversary<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Thanks be to God for the rediscovery of the Gospel, and the passing of it down all the way to our generation, and to me. It is the most precious thing in all the world, the pearl of great price. With our deeds we can accomplish nothing. The Spirit of God does all the work, by pointing us to Christ and leading us to faith. And before that, we must realize that we cannot keep the law, that we are all worthless and have gone astray. This is the truth.<br />
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Thank you Father, for loving even me in Christ who bore our weaknesses and sins. We live in the great hope of the communion in heaven and on earth, when we will see face to face. And our hearts are glad. A mighty fortress is our God. We do not fear. One little word can fell the enemy though he he is crafty and on the prowl. The kingdom ours remaineth...<br />
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Most of all the enemy wants to tear the word of God out of our hands and out of our hearts. We need to be firm and vigilant and plant ourselves on the clear promise of the Lord, for which we praise him. Amen.<br />
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<br />Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-7332199981183967312017-10-26T22:03:00.000-06:002017-10-26T23:09:02.872-06:00Cleaning out some files: Paulo Freire, philosopherIn clearing out some files in my old filing cabinet, I had come across some interesting articles that were required reading for a philosophy of education course I had taken eons ago.<br />
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In the clearing out process, there remained a little pile of articles on Paulo Freire, that I caught my attention and I wanted to read again, which I managed to do this evening.<br />
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Freire seems to be a mixture of liberation Catholic, revolutionary, educator of adults for literacy, Marxist dialectician, critic of traditional arrangements, colonialism and promoter of just society helper of the poor and oppressed. There seems to be a little Freire for everyone, and certainly I can find a lot of places where I sympathize with him, from what I can glean.<br />
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Never having lived in conditions of poverty myself, I can probably not grasp the breadth and depth of his passion and vision. I have been to northern Canadian aboriginal reserves that might provide some similar conditions. There was hunger, poor education, despair and isolation. My father was a refugee, and I know terrible conditions from stories told in the family. I am only one generation away from the family having had nothing and running for their lives. But the family was not spiritually dead or impoverished, partly because the great works had been passed down, because people knew things by heart and because they were Christians. There, I disagree with Freire's emphasis on letting go of what he calls "banking" education. This is a grave mistake. And also Dewey was wrong on a lot of things. (This is why we have American presidents who can't speak English, in the land of sects.)<br />
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However, as a Lutheran, I also see that in some sense Freie is a "Lutheran". Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther posted theses to be debated that highlighted the oppression of the church by the Roman Catholic hierarchy. A great revolution of sorts resulted. Humanistic education and freedoms of the university, literacy, including biblical literacy, a proper care of souls in the congregation and social assistance were brought about.<br />
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Portuguese Catholicism may have brought something to Brazil, that Freire knew in his day that was wrong, but that had been let go in other places quite some time before. But bringing in a type of Marxist communism or National Socialism (Nazi's), any sort of leader-focused revolution toppling existing orders of society have proven to be some of the most oppressive systems ever invented by man. The next elite fights its way to the top, inevitably quite quickly to oppress now without conscience or impediment. We did not know some particular horrors before these leaders and revolutionaries invented them in their great reflective creativity. They became monsters. We must see this with clear eyes. There is something very wrong with the theories. We may let go of Catholic hierarchy and of edicts from Rome and councils, but as Luther said, we must not let go of the word of God. Where we abandon it, we get into deep trouble. In some places, a Catholic political party has stood in the way of oppressive alternatives. There are all sorts of scenarios.<br />
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The poor we always have with us, and we should deeply involve ourselves in the troubles and needs of this world and our neighbors. This is true. Love cannot just be a word or theory. Freire is right, there. But some of the centuries old Reformation ideas already came to grips with some of these issues without jettisoning what was right from before. It was a conservative revolution.<br />
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In briefly checking the history of Brazil on Wikipedia, I see that it interestingly concludes with this point about the changing religious landscape:<br />
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Until recently Catholicism was overwhelmingly dominant. Rapid change in the 21st century has led to a growth in secularism (no religious affiliation). Just as dramatic is the sudden rise of evangelical Protestantism to over 22% of the population. The 2010 census indicates that fewer than 65% of Brazilians consider themselves Catholic, down from 90% in 1970. The decline is associated with falling birth rates to one of Latin America’s lowest at 1.83 children per woman, which is below replacement levels. It has led Cardinal <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cl%C3%A1udio_Hummes" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Cláudio Hummes">Cláudio Hummes</a> to comment, "We wonder with anxiety: how long will Brazil remain a Catholic country?"<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-49" style="font-size: 11.2px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Brazil#cite_note-49" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[47]</a></sup></div>
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<img alt="Image result for Paulo Freire" height="198" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Painel.Paulo.Freire.JPG" width="400" /><br />
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If I get around to it, I would like to read more about his ideas on adult education and literacy.<br />
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<img alt="Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, eyeglasses and text" height="200" src="https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/22687561_10155982481779994_7128237743109928320_n.jpg?oh=dde58504abd0b18008a9227d12549a64&oe=5A673482" width="200" /><br />
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<br />Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-59659083464054124762017-10-25T14:30:00.001-06:002017-10-25T16:13:44.779-06:00"Lord, keep us steadfast in your Word" Talking about books...<br />
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This fall, I am privileged to spend some time teaching music to families with young children, again.<br />
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My husband and I have begun accumulating a little library of books with songs, for young children. There is a book series we enjoy tremendously. The songs are adapted by John M. Feierabend, with very creative artwork from various artists to add illustration and give fodder for discussion with children.<br />
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Our little toddler knows each book by the title and knows all the songs. Every time she comes over, she pulls these books out for Opa to sing to her. Opa has never had so much fun in his life. The first one we purchased was <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Tailor-Mouse-John-M-Feierabend/dp/1579999034/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1508962171&sr=1-1&keywords=The+tailor+and+the+mouse">"The Tailor and the Mouse."</a> We love it especially for the tune in Aeolian minor tonality and its bouncy rhythm, all while the poor mouse has to live through several stunning adventures.<br />
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Which brings me to a new little children's illustrated song-book from Concordia Publishing House.<br />
I also bought it on Amazon, due to Amazon's efficient way of finding books for me...<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Keep-Steadfast-Your-Word/dp/1933737115/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508962750&sr=8-1&keywords=lord+keep+us+steadfast+in+your+word">LORD, Keep Us Steadfast in Your Word.</a> is such a wonderful, old Reformation hymn that it is a TREASURE to have it in this format for family use.<br />
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Thank you, to Martin Luther for writing the hymn. Thank you to Karyn Lukasek for her illustrations, and thank you to the Publisher. This is a great addition to our well-used children's illustrated song book shelf.<br />
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Below, also see Grandma's music studio supplies and reachable bookshelves for self-service for little people.<br />
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<br />Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-36477860634468074332017-10-24T11:53:00.001-06:002017-10-24T12:02:43.133-06:00PowerOn the internet... I have met people who have considered all matters in the light of "Power" and power-plays. Generally, I flatter myself with the opinion that I don't have this mindset but seek out the freedom of Christ for every person through the work of the Spirit of God. We don't have power over each other. Our relationships are ordered by our relationship to Christ.<br />
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One thing that happened to me online was that if you discuss something about the Lutheran Reformation, some thought pops into the thread about how Luther exerted his power <i>by blaming the victims</i> ("victim-blaming being a great injustice in the world, no doubt, but some like to find victims everywhere through so-called "consciousness-raising" and then we get the favorite victim of the day.) --That person has lost complete sight of how the Reformation freed all sorts of people from dominion that was oppressive and corrupt.<br />
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Some of these people on-line mentioned a book, that seemed to a sort of Bible to them, called "The 48 Laws of Power". <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/48-Laws-Power-Robert-Greene/dp/0140280197/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1508866455&sr=8-2&keywords=Power">Here it is.</a><br />
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In the end, you guessed it, I succumbed to the temptation and bought it. It sat on the shelf for a while, as it is quite a thick and thorough anthology, though broken down into many manageable sections. Overall, it reminds of Machiavelli's<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prince"> "The Prince"</a>.<br />
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The introduction explores why a person might be interested in reading this type of book and what might be gleaned for various purposes.<br />
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Lately, I have begun to tackle the book, being at the moment about half through, by reading a little bit every evening as an aid to going to sleep. This is not meant to be derogatory, but the heavy stuff, in small bites, as presented, allows the cognition to switch from the troubles of the day to the ideas presented which can be quite knotty but in story format. There is something for the brain to chew on. Meanwhile, the body says: "Enough of all that." And the eye-lids get so heavy. It's perfect for that. After <i>one more </i>story, you decide that you have had it for the day.<br />
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As to the contents, as I am chewing on it in bite-sizes, it does furnish nutritious food for thought. Certainly, it is not the stuff my parents taught me, my teachers taught me, but maybe life has taught me through experience and observation. There is certainly truth here to be witnessed to. Some of the anecdotes are even from the Bible.<br />
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Literary-wise, the stories are also valuable and engaging reading coming from some great books. So, while one may not wish to employ the stratagems discussed here, even some Biblical ones, we recall the words of our Lord Christ, who taught us to be as wise as serpents but innocent as doves. Also, he tells a parable to explain how the world works and manipulates matters to its favor. In this manner of being wise and observant, we can profitably study a book like the "Laws of Power", I think. In some ways, I must admit, that at this late date, some coins are dropping in my head, looking back on some decades now... Still, we pray the Lord preserve us from manipulation and cruelty.<br />
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<img alt="Image result for reading to go to sleep" height="260" src="http://images.wisegeek.com/tired-woman-sleeping-with-book-on-chest.jpg" width="320" /><br />
<br />Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-32622692099290783642017-10-19T15:59:00.000-06:002017-10-19T16:01:58.881-06:00More than Three WishesA book from my own library came across my path. The author is the well known <a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B6rg_Zink">Joerg Zink, </a>theologian, poet, activist. Along with poems it features lovely nature photography. The tittle is "More Than Three Wishes" ("Mehr als drei Wuensche")<br />
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We received it from an Aunt and Uncle, as per signature on the front page, and I am guessing, they gave it when Stefan was suddenly taken from us.</div>
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At this present time, I am considering passing it on to a relative in Germany who has taken seriously ill with a brain tumor. </div>
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But before I pass it on, I have to quickly read it again. :)</div>
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This is a poem that caught my attention:</div>
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"Was ich dir wuensche?</div>
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Nicht, dass du </div>
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der schoenste Baum bist,</div>
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der auf dieser erde steht.</div>
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Nicht, </div>
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dass du jahraus, jahrein</div>
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leuchtest von blueten</div>
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an jedem Zweig.</div>
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Aber dass dann und wann</div>
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an irgendeinem Ast</div>
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eine Bluete aufbricht,</div>
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dass dann und wann</div>
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etwas Schoenes glingt,<br />
irgendwann</div>
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ein Wort der Liebe</div>
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ein Herz findet,</div>
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das wuensche ich dir."</div>
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Along with the poem we find a picture of tree branches that are very bare, except for scattered, scarlet irregular blosssoms.</div>
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Here it is in English translation (mine).</div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>"What is my wish for you?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Not, that you are the very most beautiful tree,</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>that stands on this earth.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Not,</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>that you shine, </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>year after year,</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>with blossoms</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>on every branch,</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>but that from time to time,</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>on any branch,</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>a blossom opens up,</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>that, from time to time,</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>something Beautiful succeeds,</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>that at times,</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>a Word of Love,</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>finds a heart,</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>--that is, what I wish for you."</b></span></div>
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It almost makes me cry because it so humble, yet profound in its aspirations, a prayer, a hope, slim or wide, taking into account all the suffering and frailties we experience in a lifetime...</div>
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The language, too, is humble. It reminds us of the fairy tales with three wishes for oneself, but here someone has a wish for someone else, for that person to receive and give some things of beauty and love, any thing, any time, any place.</div>
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Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-22800916203399809752017-10-17T22:40:00.000-06:002017-10-17T22:45:45.869-06:00Luther's 95 ThesesRead Luther's 95 theses all <a href="https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2017/10/ninety-five-theses/?platform=hootsuite">here</a>.<br />
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This morning, I read quickly through all the theses, realizing how the indulgence trade sparked the reformation debate. The indulgence sale for the sins of those in purgatory, was the opposite to the Christian faith, a perversion, a greater one could not be imagined. The sheep were being fleeced while deprived of pastoral care, without the preaching of repentance and faith in Christ. A wolf was pretending to be shepherd. The indulgence salesman was authorized by the papacy.<br />
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Former critics had been put to death. Savonarola, Hus, were the first martyrs of the Reformation, even before Luther came along. He, too, was to be killed, but he lived, and wrote, and spoke, and argued, and set the world on fire for freedom in Christ who is the true Lord and lover of the church.<br />
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I love here, the reversal of how the gospel makes the first, last, and indulgences make the last, to be first. The Gospel is a reversal, but indulgences reverse the reversal: the ones with the most money to spend can make it into heaven the fastest. The closest to the ecclesiastical levers of power, can even be the ones to profit from it all monetarily. It was as sick, as sick could be. And how does Luther go about it? He writes and calls for debate.<br />
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"The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." The church of the day, asked the sheep to lay down their lives for the false shepherds.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #373a3c; font-family: "proforma semi bd" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 20px; font-weight: bolder; line-height: 1.54;">1. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #373a3c; font-family: "proforma bk" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 20px;">When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said “Repent,” he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance.</span><br />
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "proforma semi bd" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 1.25rem; font-weight: bolder; line-height: 1.54;">62.</span> The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "proforma semi bd" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 1.25rem; font-weight: bolder; line-height: 1.54;">63.</span> But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "proforma semi bd" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 1.25rem; font-weight: bolder; line-height: 1.54;">64.</span> On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "proforma semi bd" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 1.25rem; font-weight: bolder; line-height: 1.54;">94.</span> Christians are to be exhorted to be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, death, and hell;</div>
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<span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: "proforma semi bd" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 1.25rem; font-weight: bolder; line-height: 1.54;">95.</span> And thus be confident of entering into heaven through many tribulations, rather than through the false assurance of peace.<br />
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Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-24024158005741499332017-10-17T16:25:00.003-06:002017-10-17T19:54:37.623-06:00Drugs and TrucksBlogging is such a thing, pro's and con's. On one hand, it lets you get stuff off your chest, and vocalize what moves you. On the other hand, it seems to become too easy to just complain and oppose, and that about many and various things. So.<br />
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Lately, we observed, that families fall apart. A wife moves out with the children or the man is kicked out. One or both partners find new partners, and the children live with a step-parent. It so then turns out, that a man lives with a woman and her children (they don't actually get married but talk about their "fiance"), and somewhere else the father lives in another new family. Both men will be required to pay spousal and child support. So in each household, money flows out to another household, and money flows in from another household. You would think, all could be considered well, but obviously, the parents are living in biblical sin, and the children are mostly separated from their fathers.<br />
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There are many sides here that could be discussed, but one we talked about over dinner was, that in the end effect the money ends up in the mothers' hands to support the children, whereas before, the fathers, unfortunately, especially in Alberta, might have spent the money on "drugs and trucks". Many a fellow made a lot of money in the oil patch, and was--sadly--gone from home a lot. And so it went. Such are some everyday tragedies that happen in these parts.<br />
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<img alt="Image result for beautiful pick-up truck" height="285" src="https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/FxsAAOSwwo1XfCZI/s-l300.jpg" width="400" />Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-44724071769971263902017-10-10T09:41:00.000-06:002017-10-10T09:46:19.146-06:00White LinenThere has always been something particularly festive and beautiful about white linen. Not only is it very clean and bright, it signals a special occasion and joy, also seriousness, decorum and good manners.<br />
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For Canadian Thanksgiving, yesterday, I had decided to reconfigure my little living/dining room to be able to seat 12 people and also be able to remove the tables again. I ended up with using five bistro tables from IKEA--two I owned already, and purchased three more. To cover them, I cut in half several white table cloths in my stash.<br />
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(I used to own some monographed heirloom linen, passed down through the generations from unknown individuals. They were incredibly tough and irregular, the real item, something everybody should have a chance to handle once with their own hands.)<br />
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So, in the end, I had five tables covered in white. Afterwards I realized that my meal might stain the cloths fairly permanently, with the type of sauces I had chosen to make. I almost opted to run to Home Hardware to get some custom size vinyl covers. But no, vinyl covers ruin the whole effect. NO, no, no, no, no. We will see how it goes.<br />
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OF COURSE, we ended up with some spicy red stains on the table cloths. Thanks to our trusty new programmable washing machines these days, I could choose a nice long, very hot wash with extra long spin cycle, etc. All, said, by washing the cloths hard and adding some bleach, they came out beautifully white and shiny, again. --Whew.<br />
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My husband asked me about the cloths, afterward, as I folded them after drying. "How did the stains come out?" I said to him: "This is the beauty of white. You can wash it like crazy, add the bleach, and voila, it is white again."<br />
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You can always clean and bleach white again.<br />
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And again.<br />
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All of which reminded me of the multitude of Saints who are before the throne dressed in white. It is a white that has been given them, by the lamb, through trials and tribulations. There is nothing easy about this white. And it needs tough rewashing all the time. It needs very hot water, and lots of tumbling, to get the stains out. It is a beautiful and costly white, but one that can always be recovered again. Such, also is our life.<br />
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<br />Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4164910523346972642.post-24451011974115277392017-09-08T18:44:00.000-06:002017-09-08T18:44:19.467-06:00Just Breathe or SmokeWe have arrived in some sort of post-cognitive age. It's not pretty. <br />
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We are supposed to relax and meditate and stop thinking. Fine. Sometimes, it's good to just be quiet. But this has become the "answer" to everything.<br />
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Oh, sometimes, they "pray" for things to "just go away". Yes, right. If we just breathe, maybe things will just go away. Actually, no, mostly they won't. The problem will stick around and get worse and worse. And then you will take some marijuana, which will now be legal, and everything will be better. No, it won't.<br />
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Funny, everyone is trying to get us to learn to think, think from a free and clear mind, unencumbered by history and moral teachings. But I think we just end up breathing and smoking, and maybe go to a demonstration, to which they have a counter-demonstration, and everyone just breathes fire. Then they can go and just meditate and breathe after that. Oh, they may have some free sex from the gender-fluid life, in between. <br />
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If you have some actual points to make about something, you will be derided as "not loving", as "unkind", as "rude", as "aggressive", or possibly "micro-aggressive." That seems to be the flip-side of the the just stay cool and breathe message. Breathe, stop thinking, stop talking, stop arguing, stop saying what you think or believe. The more they breathe and smoke, the less you are allowed to say something to them or discuss any actual problems.<br />
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Someone, I know, is praying right now (I don't know to whom), that his problems will just go away. He has messed up his family life, messed up his financial life, messed up his health, and he is hoping his problems are just going to vaporize. It does not work that way. Denial has never yet solved a problem. Shouting down those with unpleasant messages, has not yet solved anything. You are in trouble. Big trouble. You do need a plan. There are consequences to stupid decisions. There are also consequences to doing nothing and saying nothing. Often, we are just talking about not wanting to be responsible for anything.<br />
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I looked up Mandy Hale, whose quote I pasted above. She seems to be a lovely, young woman, who can't seem to nail down a relationship with a man, and makes a living giving dating advice. I suppose this just happened to her: her relationships don't go anywhere and voila she has found a lucrative calling. How nice. I don't want to put her down, but the women in my life who are ready for marriage and who are committed Christians and solid in many ways, have married and found permanent and lasting relationships. What kind of dating advice can Mandy Hale really give: breathe...<br />
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Then there is this guy on Youtube: "How Yoga ruined my life". It's a misleading title. But hey, I clicked on it, and he made income from the advertisement I watched. Really, he wants to tell you, that he found his calling being a yoga teacher. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyX6_todmrg"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyX6_todmrg</a> Here, I am sending you to it. He will make a little bit more money. He is going to be a teacher, who teaches you nothing but to relax, and he will make money from this message. We are indeed, hopeful idiots and people can sell us anything that is easy.<br />
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<br />Brigittehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10259491144770243688noreply@blogger.com0