blogging

Well, what is blogging?
It is a form of journalism, a diary, editiorial comments... and what else?

Been trying to find a reason to continue. 
I love reading blogs. Some people make a living from their blogs.

Not me. 
Are you?
Why do  you keep going?

imagine this

How to make these ginger cookies for your church function here.

at the end of a busy week

Scenes from this week:

 - Sunday, The Great Divorce , C.S. Lewis , play

                                          3 actors played 19 roles
                                          below is Hell: hard grass and undrinkable water

- Tuesday, Duke Divinity School: The Word Made Flesh
   "Threefold Beholding " concert at the end of three days with these folk:
    Malcolm Guite , Steve Bell, and Jeremy Begbie

You can hear all sessions here.

- wooed by beauty
- tasted of goodness
- led to worship of the Truth: Jesus.

                                                  a different concert but a taste

It was magical.

We travelers, walking to the sun,

can’t see
 ahead, but looking back the very light

That blinded us shows us the way we came,

Along which blessings now appear, risen

As if from sightlessness to sight, and we,

By blessing brightly lit, keep going toward

That blessed light that yet to us is dark.

                                            

                                                      --Wendell Berry, 

been a busy week

tell you more soon....

Aren't these pretty?!!

irresistible

Valentine's in Paris

What my husband sent to me:

Swing Out Sister--- they are from the UK and filmed
this in Paris 

part two

The snow has been so pretty. 
The days were like postcards as we watched inches pile up.
The moon is out tonight and it is a winter scene.
Scenes poems are made of!

Then there has been Tim Keller's book on Pain 

and Suffering these snow days.

. I will remember reading this book

as the world turned white. The depth of his examination

of this subject which we all experience requires a stillness

of the soul. The question of WHY is always present. 

God is near. He is far in these times. 

" God's plan works through our choices, not around or 

despite them. ' 

" Ultimately, there are no accidents. His plan includes bad things."

' We live in an individualistic , consumeristic society, a society 

in which we are taught not self-renunciation but self- assertion--

your freedom , interests , and needs must come first.  A culture

promoting self assertion , however, will always produce revenge as

a response to suffering,  while a counterculture like the Amish, 

promoting self renunciation , will much more likely produce 

forgiveness as a response. "

" Most of us have been formed by a culture that nourishes revenge 

and mocks grace."

Very sobering. 

we have snow

It was a perfect snowy day. 
We woke up and it started to snow. 
Puffy.
Large flakes. 
It stuck.
Tomorrow has a word  : more

We cancelled a  class trip to a monastery. 
Postponed.
Brother Edward was so kind. 
We already have it rescheduled. 

I am almost halfway through Keller's new book on Pain 
and Suffering. Almost. It is thorough and you have 
to think when reading. Keller says to skip Part One if you are in the 
midst of adversity.  This parttells about cultural worldviews 
on this subject. Quite interesting:  how a culture helps its
 members face evil and adversity. Our modern secularism
questions our national tragedies and has thinned out traditional beliefs. 
The problem of evil is a tough one. Now to Part Two: the fiery furnace.

Watching skating and skiing and snowboarding.
What excellence on ice and snow.

books I am reading

Finished DEATH BY LIVING: LIFE IS MEANT TO BE SPENT by ND WILSON 
for the second time, while my students read it for the first time. They  finished, wrote on it , and made me laugh, had to  read  their words out loud, and some made me cry. 

Reading this with them in class & writing poems & thesis papers: 

and I have many library books in the stack:  lJamie Oliver's GREAT 
BRITAIN cookbook , a book about writing, Lives of Moral Leadership by 
Robert Coles, and even a book on Bono! 

ah to be here

sooooooo cute

Just might have to make one :

Here is the tutorial.

on a journey

I have my daughter-in-law's blog here. 
They are moving here to Charlotte this Spring.

I have my daughter's here. She has a full Junior year so hasn't posted in so long.
Her huge writing project is a thesis paper : Culture Care today  and understanding 
beauty , goodness, and truth from the Medievals. 
 Maybe she will get back towards the beginning of the summer.
The Girl's bible study meets at 7:00 a.m. on Fridays. All student led , even the early hour!
 Now they are reading this book:

I have lots of friends and strangers on the blog links.

Adding Makoto Fujimura's son's blog : CJ and his girlfried start out in Detroit. 

Out of these ashes... beauty will rise
and we will dance among the ruins
We will see Him with our own eyes
Out of these ashes... beauty will rise

wondering on a Monday

Do you ever wake up on a Monday and wonder about the coming week or even 
the day? I usually feel this way after a busy weekend but in between my 
husband's birthday on friday and the Super Bowl / Downton/ Sherlock ( had seen 
all but the first )  this weekend I read Luci Shaw's new book on aging.  Luci 
turned 84 this year. She is an avid journal writer and poet. Poems come to 
her and she loves words. Roots of words. I adore her words. She is on 
facebook and still writing. May we have more, Luci. 

I have always wanted Susan Macaulay to do the same: write to the times 
more of what she has learned. I wrote her in a letter to consider this for families 
in our age. Maybe  a seed will stick in  the  fertile ground of her days. 

Here on a Monday , we can type to each other in an instant. This is what Luci says:

" Information overload. We seems to be spending more and more time in social
networking , hooked to our machines. I'd feel lost without email. I got snared into 
Facebook a few months ago and am amazed at what personal trivia people think
is worthwhile to post. Headache tonight. Maybe some milk and a cookie before
bed. Hung out with my sister. Etc...etc....etc..But then some thoughtful , truly 
informative comment or posting sends my own thinking in a fruitful direction,
and I'm grateful." 

It is still Christmas

I just put on lotion my daughter gave me in a "bag of pamperings" for 
Christmas. Christmas on my hands.
Frosted Pine. Beautiful packaging. 

 Here is another version . I went back to Anthropologie 
during their 50% off  sale price in housewares & home items
 and got some more. 

It smells like Christmas. 



Front door still has a fresh balsam wreath from Maine.

I lit a Yankee candle during the snow : mistletoe.

It smells like Christmas.

When the warmth of Spring comes and our thoughts towards
the Resurrection, Christmas will be in the background.

“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.” 
― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe