Come in, come in! I'm reading again! Can you believe it? It's such a strange thing to do, entering other peoples' minds and being hit by truth, and having your thoughts twisted and reshaped
1. St. Francis. Chesterton's tribute. "St. Francis is not a proper person to be patronised with merely 'pretty' stories. There are any number of them; but they are too often used so as to be a sort of sentimental sediment of the mediaeval world, isntead of being, as the saint emphatically is, a challenge to the modern world." This is a good book. A rambly book. Chesterton wanders. I like to follow him, though. Good words on seeing the world 'upside down,' i.e., losing all self-worship and living in total gratitude...
2. O Ye Jigs and Juleps! Silliness sweet. Chomped up in one lazy morning. Thank you, Heidi. Revive us again, Selah and Amen.
1. My first Moltmann. I'm enjoying it. Lots of gem-sentences. Like: "The true front on which the liberation of Christ takes place does not run between soul and body or between persons and structures, but between the powers of the world...and the powers of the Spirit and of the [redeemed! Kingdom!] future. ...in every sphere of life, the powers of the coming new creation are in conflict with the powers of a world structure which leads to death."
3. I wasn't drawn to this when it was bestselling (is it still?), and it's still not the kind I run to naturally, but I am enjoying it more than I thought that I would. Reading it for a discussion group, which makes me chew on it harder, and appreciating the simplicity and clarity of its arguments. God gives reason and is most reasonable... but I do hope we're all still willing to admit our reason can never swallow His. Ours isn't big enough yet, and never will be. Good words from Keller: Self-aggrandizement is at the foundation of so much of the misery of the world. It is the reason that the powerful and the rich are indifferent to the plight of the poor. It is the reason for most of the violence, crime and warfare in the world. It is at the heart of most cases of family disintegration. We hide from ourselves our self-centered capacity for acats of evil, but situations arise that act as a 'potion' and out they come" (p.82). Also appreciate his exposition of how concern for 'social justice,' improving the world, bettering lives, etc. is ultimately groundless and meaningless apart from a Scriptural worldview which sees an ultimate Restoration, sees Justice ultimately done by the only Just One, sees a future beyond death! Resurrection is not only proof of Christ's identity as Son of God, but also the seed of our hope. Firstfruits!
4. This one I read every day. Or catch up with when I've slacked off. Wonderful. Wonderful! C.H.S. is a poet and a preacher, a theologian who speaks in image-words and draws me in as few 'devotional writers' have ever done. Today's was about the 'two pillars,' the two halves of an arch, equally indispensable: (1)a life of godliness and (2)the faith that must be the root of it. Light and heat both proceeding from the sun...do you picture a hot and fiery arch when you read this? Something about it...
And finally,
p.s. I went to the Museum of Modern Art last night. (Free Fridays!) It was fantastical.
I want to go to junk shops and collect all manner of strange materials to speak about the world in objects.
(on the left, Giacometti's Palace at 4 a.m. ... he said it was about "a period of six months passed in the presence of a woman who, concentrating all life in herself, transported my every moment into a state of enchantment. We constructed a fantastical palace in the night—a very fragile palace of matches. At the least false movement a whole section would collapse. We always began it again."
through words on paper.
Books recently read:
1. St. Francis. Chesterton's tribute. "St. Francis is not a proper person to be patronised with merely 'pretty' stories. There are any number of them; but they are too often used so as to be a sort of sentimental sediment of the mediaeval world, isntead of being, as the saint emphatically is, a challenge to the modern world." This is a good book. A rambly book. Chesterton wanders. I like to follow him, though. Good words on seeing the world 'upside down,' i.e., losing all self-worship and living in total gratitude...The “fool of God” is, it turns out, the servant who gets to know her (his) Master’s business – the one who gets to know the secret of what is truly valuable, and what is not.
To cast off all that hinders. To stand on our heads and see all history and all present and all future as Christ-centered, Christ-preserved and Christ-directed. There is none beside Him.
2. O Ye Jigs and Juleps! Silliness sweet. Chomped up in one lazy morning. Thank you, Heidi. Revive us again, Selah and Amen.
3. Pictures from an Expedition. More froth, but this time chosen to remind me of a landscape. I miss the West. And I bought this book at Wall Drug (South Dakota's #2 attraction).
And... books now in progress:
1. My first Moltmann. I'm enjoying it. Lots of gem-sentences. Like: "The true front on which the liberation of Christ takes place does not run between soul and body or between persons and structures, but between the powers of the world...and the powers of the Spirit and of the [redeemed! Kingdom!] future. ...in every sphere of life, the powers of the coming new creation are in conflict with the powers of a world structure which leads to death."2. 
by Raniero Cantalamessa. Humbly written, wise, incisive by its simplicity. so far, a treasure.
3. I wasn't drawn to this when it was bestselling (is it still?), and it's still not the kind I run to naturally, but I am enjoying it more than I thought that I would. Reading it for a discussion group, which makes me chew on it harder, and appreciating the simplicity and clarity of its arguments. God gives reason and is most reasonable... but I do hope we're all still willing to admit our reason can never swallow His. Ours isn't big enough yet, and never will be. Good words from Keller: Self-aggrandizement is at the foundation of so much of the misery of the world. It is the reason that the powerful and the rich are indifferent to the plight of the poor. It is the reason for most of the violence, crime and warfare in the world. It is at the heart of most cases of family disintegration. We hide from ourselves our self-centered capacity for acats of evil, but situations arise that act as a 'potion' and out they come" (p.82). Also appreciate his exposition of how concern for 'social justice,' improving the world, bettering lives, etc. is ultimately groundless and meaningless apart from a Scriptural worldview which sees an ultimate Restoration, sees Justice ultimately done by the only Just One, sees a future beyond death! Resurrection is not only proof of Christ's identity as Son of God, but also the seed of our hope. Firstfruits!
4. This one I read every day. Or catch up with when I've slacked off. Wonderful. Wonderful! C.H.S. is a poet and a preacher, a theologian who speaks in image-words and draws me in as few 'devotional writers' have ever done. Today's was about the 'two pillars,' the two halves of an arch, equally indispensable: (1)a life of godliness and (2)the faith that must be the root of it. Light and heat both proceeding from the sun...do you picture a hot and fiery arch when you read this? Something about it...And finally,
a plug for a book I read over and over and all the time. I think you'll love it.
p.s. I went to the Museum of Modern Art last night. (Free Fridays!) It was fantastical.
I want to go to junk shops and collect all manner of strange materials to speak about the world in objects. (on the left, Giacometti's Palace at 4 a.m. ... he said it was about "a period of six months passed in the presence of a woman who, concentrating all life in herself, transported my every moment into a state of enchantment. We constructed a fantastical palace in the night—a very fragile palace of matches. At the least false movement a whole section would collapse. We always began it again."
we always began it again. do you think they really sat up nights building toothpick houses? or is he speaking about the fragile nature of relationships and the dreams they're built around? )
