Job. (In both senses of the word?)

"Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:
'Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?....'"

It is I, Lord. I have darkened your counsel with words without knowledge.

"Brace yourself like a man; I will question you,

and you shall answer me.

Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?

Tell me, if you understand.

Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!

Who stretched a measuring line across it?

On what were its footings set,

or who laid its cornerstone--

while the morning stars sang together

and all the angels shouted for joy?... "

"No human being can withstand the effulgence of kabod [Hebrew. glory. weight]... Moses' request to see the kabod Yahweh is denied. He is told to cover his face while the glory passes, watching only as God departs. "I will make all my splendor [kabod] pass before you," says Yahweh, "and in your presence I will pronounce my name.... You canot see my face, for no one sees me and still lives" (Brennan Manning, quoting from Exodus 33, in Ruthless Trust, p.53).

"The manifestations of kabod -- the magnalia Dei--continue in an ever-expanding cosmos. Small wonder that ninety-four years ago the eminent biographer Canon Sheehan envisioned heaven as 'The never-ending unlocking of the inner chambers of God'" (Ruthless Trust, p.51).

A God with infinite chambers to unlock, a God of infinite beauty and wisdom and power and knowledge and understanding,
this God have I been questioning, as the way that I thought life and walking with Him should work
has been stripped away from me.

(I still don't understand.
I may not be happy with it.)
But I can be joyful in it
and persevere , if He will strengthen me,
and I can trust that He is still who He says He is,
that somehow that DOES incorporate Him loving me
and Him being all things beautiful.
I may not feel it
or see it,
but I can trust it.

Forgive me, Lord, for forgetting Your glory
, Your transcendent-ness

I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.
You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?'
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.

Melanie's assignment.

Dear friends. I'm not up to writing much about the details of here right now. But I shall speak praise for a sweet weekend, a weekend away in the fall, a remembering that there are other ways of life out there, and a reminder of my passion for weakness. Strange passion? Don't know.

But at any rate, here I am, being forced to live it out in unexpected, in washing-over, in exhausting, constant ways, day in, day out.

I love my friend Melanie. And she did this on her blog. So I will too. To remember beautiful and silly things. To fly a little. To reach out and touch her hand. Pardon the poor formatting. Here we gooooo...... off to neverland -------

Pictures of:

1. the age you will be on your next birthday

2. a place to which you'd like to travel

3. your favorite place

4. Your favorite person (persons.)

5. Your favorite food

6. Your favorite animal

7. The town in which you were born

8. The name of a past pet

9. The first name of a past love

10. Your favorite color

11. Your first name

12. Your middle name

13. Your last name