We were just in Detroit this past weekend, and we saw some of the areas of great need first hand. After living in the Detroit area for 2 years, I am excited to hear that Kiva is now making possible micro-loans to the people of Detroit. There is much to be done there. This is very exciting, and we are anxious to be a part!
July 19, 2011
July 5, 2011
Cheyenne Raiders by Robert Jordan
Cheyenne Raiders by Robert JordanMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
One of my first ventures into historical fiction. This is a great story. It was also my first Robert Jordan book besides the Wheel of Time series. I recommend this book.
January 18, 2011
Today
Today...
One of my CS Lewis book club friends heard this from a native Indian (I think Navaho) at a morning presentation while staying in Sedona (AZ).
"The past is history, the future is a mystery, but the present is a gift, a gift from God. Don't return it unopened."
One of my CS Lewis book club friends heard this from a native Indian (I think Navaho) at a morning presentation while staying in Sedona (AZ).
January 6, 2011
Godric: A Novel
Godric: A Novel by Frederick BuechnerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is one of the best books I've read in a long time! To read it feels nearly like reading poetry or music lyrics, it pulls you in and along with a comfortable rhythm that just feels right. The story is rich and many layered; very human and at the same time very holy. It reminded me very much of my favourite novel by C.S. Lewis "Till We Have Faces" in its style, depth, creativitity, and excellent writing. I heartily give this book five stars, I wish there were six to give. I am looking forward to both re-reading it (so much depth there) and also to finding other novels by Buechner (actually, I have a friend who offered to loan them to me, so I won't have to search!). I encourage you to find a copy of this book and savour it. This is a must-read.
View all my reviews
December 17, 2010
December 16, 2010
A Goat!
Christmas Gift Idea: A Goat!
Give a goat. Goats nourish hungry children and families with healthy milk, cheese, and yogurt. Goats also give a much-needed income boost by providing offspring and extra dairy products for sale at the market.
A healthy dairy goat can give up to 16 cups of milk a day. Goat milk is easier to digest than cow’s milk and is an excellent source of calcium, protein, and other essential nutrients that growing children need. Goats are practical animals — flourishing in harsh climates while producing valuable manure to fertilize crops and vegetable gardens.
A healthy dairy goat can give up to 16 cups of milk a day. Goat milk is easier to digest than cow’s milk and is an excellent source of calcium, protein, and other essential nutrients that growing children need. Goats are practical animals — flourishing in harsh climates while producing valuable manure to fertilize crops and vegetable gardens.
December 13, 2010
November 8, 2010
843 pages!!!
October 11, 2010
Native Americans' Day
Maybe the traditional Columbus Day is a good time to consider what Columbus' arrival meant to North America and the people whose native home it was and is. Here is something I wrote Sept 2, 2005...
Haiti's first contact with Europeans
I found it very interesting and distressing to read about the first contact between Europeans and the natives (Arawaks) of the island on which Haiti is located. I was reading part of my daughter's AP US History assignment, from a book which tells about the U.S. history that MY generation was never allowed to study.
The island was referred to as Hispaniola when Columbus first arrived there. Out of the timbers of the Santa Maria, which had run aground, he built a fort, the first European military presence in the "new" world. His report to the Court in Madrid included:
His 2nd expedition returned with 17 ships with the clear goal to bring back slaves and gold. His expedition in Haiti found almost no gold. In 1495, he collected 1500 Arawaks and put them in pens. They picked the 500 "best" slaves and put them on ships for Spain. 200 died enroute. The rest were sold as slaves. Columbus later wrote "Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold."
In time however, most of the slaves died in captivity. So instead, Columbus enslaved them on the Island of Haiti and forced them to collect gold for him. He found, however, that the "fields of gold" did not exist. Each slave was given 3 months to collect a certain quantity of gold. If they failed, as most did, since the gold was not as plentiful as they imagined, their hands were cut off and they were allowed to bleed to death.
There are more horrific facts, too many for me to type here. My point is this... after reading these horrible things that OUR ancestors committed, I thought about how the Grace of God is allowing us to pay back just a small amount of the incredible injustice and evil our ancenstors did to the ancestors of our Haitian brothers and sisters. Thank God for his Grace, and for the privilege to do his work and help undo the evil of the past and of this world.
that's my 2 cents, altho probably closer to a dollar :-)
(source: "A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present" By Howard Zinn)
Haiti's first contact with Europeans
I found it very interesting and distressing to read about the first contact between Europeans and the natives (Arawaks) of the island on which Haiti is located. I was reading part of my daughter's AP US History assignment, from a book which tells about the U.S. history that MY generation was never allowed to study.
The island was referred to as Hispaniola when Columbus first arrived there. Out of the timbers of the Santa Maria, which had run aground, he built a fort, the first European military presence in the "new" world. His report to the Court in Madrid included:
"Hispaniola is a miracle. Mountains and hills, plains and pastures, are both fertile and beautiful... the harbours are unbelievably good and there are many wide rivers of which the majority contains gold .... There are many spices, and great mines of gold and other metals..."Columbus report of the natives:
"[the natives] are so naive and so free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never say no. To the contrary, they offer to share with anyone..."He promised the Court in Madrid that he would bring them back "as much gold as they need... and as many slaves as they ask." He promised this in the name of "God": "Thus the eternal God, our Lord, gives victory to those who follow His way over apparent impossibilities."
His 2nd expedition returned with 17 ships with the clear goal to bring back slaves and gold. His expedition in Haiti found almost no gold. In 1495, he collected 1500 Arawaks and put them in pens. They picked the 500 "best" slaves and put them on ships for Spain. 200 died enroute. The rest were sold as slaves. Columbus later wrote "Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold."
In time however, most of the slaves died in captivity. So instead, Columbus enslaved them on the Island of Haiti and forced them to collect gold for him. He found, however, that the "fields of gold" did not exist. Each slave was given 3 months to collect a certain quantity of gold. If they failed, as most did, since the gold was not as plentiful as they imagined, their hands were cut off and they were allowed to bleed to death.
There are more horrific facts, too many for me to type here. My point is this... after reading these horrible things that OUR ancestors committed, I thought about how the Grace of God is allowing us to pay back just a small amount of the incredible injustice and evil our ancenstors did to the ancestors of our Haitian brothers and sisters. Thank God for his Grace, and for the privilege to do his work and help undo the evil of the past and of this world.
that's my 2 cents, altho probably closer to a dollar :-)
(source: "A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present" By Howard Zinn)
September 19, 2010
C.S. Lewis: "On the Reading of Old Books"
There is a strange idea abroad that in every subject the ancient books should be read only by the professionals, and that the amateur should content himself with the modern books. Thus I have found as a tutor in English Literature that if the average student wants to find out something about Platonism, the very last thing he thinks of doing is to take a translation of Plato off the library shelf and read the Symposium. He would rather read some dreary modern book ten times as long, all about "isms" and influences and only once in twelve pages telling him what Plato actually said. The error is rather an amiable one, for it springs from humility. The student is half afraid to meet one of the great philosophers face to face. He feels himself inadequate and thinks he will not understand him. But if he only knew, the great man, just because of his greatness, is much more intelligible than his modern commentator. The simplest student will be able to understand, if not all, yet a very great deal of what Plato said; but hardly anyone can understand some modern books on Platonism. It has always therefore been one of my main endeavours as a teacher to persuade the young that firsthand knowledge is not only more worth acquiring than secondhand knowledge, but is usually much easier and more delightful to acquire.(read complete piece...)
September 8, 2010
August 15, 2010
magic JUST at the edge of believability
Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel KayMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really liked Under Heaven. To me, it conveyed this sense of magic JUST at the edge of believability. If you have seen the film Crouching Tiger, it is a similar feeling of magic. It really resonated with me Looking forward to the sequel River of Stars.
Some quotes:
- "but if you couldn't do everything, did that mean you did nothing?" - p.7
- "The world could bring you poison in a jeweled cup, or surprising gifts. Sometimes you didn't know which of them it was." - p.130
- "Duty, assuming all tasks, can betray arrogance. The idea we can know what must be done, and do it properly. We cannot know the future, my friend. It claims so much to imagine we can. And the world is not broken any more than it always, always is." - p.298
- "Only wind, and endless grass, and a sky so much farther away than any she's known. It is difficult to feel that your life means anything under this sky. Are the heavens more removed from humankind here? Do prayers and souls have a greater distance to travel?" - p.375
- "We will pick our way through the shards of broken objects that folly leaves behind. And some of what breaks will be very beautiful." - p.456
- "Sometimes the one life we are allowed is enough." - p.561
View all my reviews
June 20, 2010
Trip of a lifetime with my Dad...
Trip of a lifetime with my Dad. Thank you Dad, I miss you!
John Muir Trail trip Kings Canyon National Park
July 14-19, 1968
John Muir Trail trip Kings Canyon National Park
July 14-19, 1968
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| 1968-07-14_19_John_Muir_trip |
June 6, 2010
looking forward to new book...
April 25, 2010
peace
The wolf will romp with the lamb,
the leopard sleep with the kid.
Calf and lion will eat from the same trough,
and a little child will tend them.
Cow and bear will graze the same pasture,
their calves and cubs grow up together,
and the lion eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child will crawl over rattlesnake dens,
the toddler stick his hand down the hole of a serpent.
Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill
on my holy mountain.
Isaiah 11:6-9 (The Message)
April 9, 2010
some great finds
April 3, 2010
Spring Book Sale!
Paperbacks begin at 50 cents and hardbacks at $1.
Friday, April 9, 4 – 7 p.m. Friends members only—join at the door!
Saturday, April 10, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Everyone welcome.
Sunday, April 11, 2 – 5 p.m. Everyone welcome. $7 Bag Sale.
March 22, 2010
a Vision of the Kingdom
I have a rule. It's really more of a guideline than a rule, but I still try to follow it. My rule is this:
The other day, I broke the rule. Well, not exactly, because I wasn't expecting to have to wait. Silly me. Anyway, in I went, sans-book. I had stopped by the eye doctor to get the nose piece replaced on a pair of glasses. It was a small repair, so I thought I'd be in and out in no time. Again, silly me. It was late afternoon, the office was short staffed, and more than a few folks were already there, at various stages in the fitting of their glasses.
So I sat down to wait. There was a really nice looking iMac computer on the counter (maybe to entertain kids while waiting), so I fiddled with it a bit. But it was not connected to the internet, so my interest quickly waned. "Drat" I thought. What WAS I thinking, not bringing a book in?!?! As I quickly surveyed the other patients waiting ahead of me in the queue, contemplating a trip out to the truck to retrieve my book, my eyes rested on a young dad and his little son, perhaps 7-8 years of age. I watched the optician cleaning a pair of glasses as the man, already wearing glasses, and boy watch. The little boy's eyes were growing wide with excitement and anticipation. It was at this point that the Spirit snuck up behind me and peeled back my Eyelids so that I could See, really See, the wonder and holiness just across the room from me.
The boy was getting his first pair of glasses. His dad wore glasses, and now the son was getting some of his very own. As the optician finished cleaning them and gently fit them on the boy's nose and over his ears, I was overcome by the holiness of the moment. The circumstances that had foiled my obeying my "rule" had provided me an opportunity to be Still and See. I was given a priceless Gift, I was given a Moment of Stillness and Silence in my heart to set aside my agenda, my schedule, my "rule", in order to view something priceless... a proud child taking a step in his father's footsteps and beaming in the Joy of the Moment. It was a moment of Enlightenment for me.
As I sat across the room from this Holy scene, I prayed a prayer of thanks for being given such an undeserved gift. My agenda was to read some pages in a book about God. But instead, I was given a Glimpse of God Himself, and his Holiness. Thank You. I go forward from that day with the determination to open my eyes and ears more to those around me, hoping to catch another Glimpse of the Kingdom right in front of my face!
Grace and Peace
Whenever I go to a place at which I think I'll have to wait, I bring a book along, to read while waiting.Here are some examples: going to the DMV, mailing a package at the Post Office, or going to a doctor's appointment. You get the picture. It's really a brilliant idea (not my own, I stole it from a minister's wife I once knew), an idea which has enabled me to read untold hundreds of pages over the years. It's a really, really good rule... most of the time.
The other day, I broke the rule. Well, not exactly, because I wasn't expecting to have to wait. Silly me. Anyway, in I went, sans-book. I had stopped by the eye doctor to get the nose piece replaced on a pair of glasses. It was a small repair, so I thought I'd be in and out in no time. Again, silly me. It was late afternoon, the office was short staffed, and more than a few folks were already there, at various stages in the fitting of their glasses.
So I sat down to wait. There was a really nice looking iMac computer on the counter (maybe to entertain kids while waiting), so I fiddled with it a bit. But it was not connected to the internet, so my interest quickly waned. "Drat" I thought. What WAS I thinking, not bringing a book in?!?! As I quickly surveyed the other patients waiting ahead of me in the queue, contemplating a trip out to the truck to retrieve my book, my eyes rested on a young dad and his little son, perhaps 7-8 years of age. I watched the optician cleaning a pair of glasses as the man, already wearing glasses, and boy watch. The little boy's eyes were growing wide with excitement and anticipation. It was at this point that the Spirit snuck up behind me and peeled back my Eyelids so that I could See, really See, the wonder and holiness just across the room from me.
The boy was getting his first pair of glasses. His dad wore glasses, and now the son was getting some of his very own. As the optician finished cleaning them and gently fit them on the boy's nose and over his ears, I was overcome by the holiness of the moment. The circumstances that had foiled my obeying my "rule" had provided me an opportunity to be Still and See. I was given a priceless Gift, I was given a Moment of Stillness and Silence in my heart to set aside my agenda, my schedule, my "rule", in order to view something priceless... a proud child taking a step in his father's footsteps and beaming in the Joy of the Moment. It was a moment of Enlightenment for me.As I sat across the room from this Holy scene, I prayed a prayer of thanks for being given such an undeserved gift. My agenda was to read some pages in a book about God. But instead, I was given a Glimpse of God Himself, and his Holiness. Thank You. I go forward from that day with the determination to open my eyes and ears more to those around me, hoping to catch another Glimpse of the Kingdom right in front of my face!
Grace and Peace
March 14, 2010
Happy Pi Day!
Wishing all you fellow Pi fans a happy Pi Day 2010! (see Google's tribute at right) Pi was the first irrational number I met in my mathematical life, and has proven to be a faithful friend and extremely useful. At those times when, try as I may, I cannot maintain a rational mood or worldview, my friend Pi reminds me that rationality is not a prerequisite for success in our beautifully mathematical world. Sometimes one has to walk on the wild side of irrationality to fully describe the circle of life in which we find ourselves. We do not have a perfect circle without the irrationality of my friend Pi. We need to embrace the irrationality in our lives that make us perfectly rounded (if that is not too corny to say). Here's to irrationality! Here's to my friend Pi. 
March 12, 2010
interesting thoughts...
Good stuff!
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