partsofspeaking

The big news is the royal family. Harry and Meghan are moving to the New World and have been "relieved" of their royal duties.  Who cares?  Americans' very existence as citizens is based on the idea that our forefather rejected the king, the distant ancestors (with some family finagling--the Windsors are descendants of Victoria, a German niece of .... well,you get the point). We should not care, but we do asks questions, have opinions, read the click bait.   I think  we take our sides in the drama based on our own family experience.  Every family has one or more of these: The new bride who doesn’t like the groom’s family and slowly—or quickly—tries to get him away from them. The parent who sees their child as ungrateful. The   young couple that wants some space from a close-knit family that wants to control their time. The grandmother who has worked hard for her legacy and doesn’t want it dismissed. The ...

https://babylonbee.com/news/bobs-hemorrhoid-prayer-request-probably-should-have-remained-unspoken

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/san-antonio-chick-fil-a-open-legal-fees Chik-Fil-A turned on Salvation Army. Did they think the left would leave them alone? They should have danced with the ones who brought them. I'm a hypocrite though. I won't buy there, but if someone brings their food to a party . . . 

Parasite gets inside you and won't leave. Its title describes its effect on one. I saw it yesterday at a 12:30 showing. I chose to go because it is touted as the best film of 2019. I don't know if that is true since I haven't seen very many of them, but I can say it is excellent, if disturbing. It is excellent partially because it is disturbing (and very well photographed, although I am not an expert on that point). Yet, my statement of a film being excellent is not to be taken as a recommendation to see it. You must be ready for violence, blood, and, well, sin, if you are going to see it.  Not at Quentin Tarantino level (I think a lot of his violence is campy and ridiculous), but pretty rough. Of course, after watching it, one asks, are the rich the parasites, or the poor? It's not that simple. The poor in this film are not nice people, and they are parasitic; the rich are not un-nice people, but they do seem unaware and are parasitic in their own way. The most t...

Why do we pray as if we are the center of the universe? Why do we Americans (Unitedstatesians) pray as if the church only exists here?

This is my most recent and most emotional, for me, at least. https://www.amazon.com/Long-Lost-Promise-Wallace-Mysteries/dp/1070327174/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Barbara+G.+Tucker&qid=1578668735&sr=8-1

Today, due to a few personal reasons, I move into an apartment near my work. I will still go to my home on the weekends. Virginia Woolf said women who wanted to write need a room of their own. Now I have it.  WITH NO TV. The bad news is now I won't have an excuse!

I still get rankled when I think of what John MacArthur said about Beth Moore in the fall. While I'm not a full egalitarian, it was rude and ill-advised and no one can get around that fact. I'm also not a huge fan of Beth's methods of teaching (too emotional for me), but she's fighting a battle that needs fought. I thought this web article was interesting too: https://religionnews.com/2019/10/29/why-white-women-should-be-just-as-angry-about-john-macarthurs-take-on-race/ Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of intersectionality per se, because I don't think the emphasis on who is more oppressed than whom is a healthy take on life. But I agree that I was more upset by what MacArthur said about the Southern Baptists and their desire to have people of color on their Scripture translation boards. That is not a bowing to critical race theory and pure intersectionality--it's good missiology. So I have to ask how concerned about missiology MacArthur re...

If Bringing Abundance Back was my foray into Southern women's lit, this one is my start in mysteries--not so much cozies, not so much procedurals, but hopefully more character-driven. It has been my top seller. I think the salmon/coral cover helps; the bride in the picture is too broad in the caboose. It's a fun read and followed up by Long Lost Promise , which is shorter but very touching.

Here is a link to my other blog where I have posted a lecture I'm planning on giving in the next couple of months.  https://highereducationobserver.blogspot.com/2020/01/reflection-and-high-impact-practices.html

Folks of my generation will, perhaps, recognize that question. Charles Schulz inimitable Peanuts cartoon is its source, specifically Linus bemoaning their baseball team's constant losses. Linus was the theologian of the group (as immortalized in the 1960s' Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown where Linus actually recites the Luke narrative of the nativity. Serious stuff, and they still show it today! I remember how preachers would use that phrase, that lament, to say that one can be sincerely wrong and therefore, in some iterations, miss heaven and eternal life as well as a lot of other matters in life due to trusting in sincerity instead of something more sure. They were not wrong, although I've often felt they were grandstanding. But that's another matter. Thus the quote in my Franklin Planner this morning (I write commentary on those quotations every day), "It's amazing how much you can learn when your intentions are sincere." The source: Chuck Berry (a ...

I don't particularly like the expression "coming out of the closet" (I think people who use it should look into its origins steeped in stereotypes about gays), but here it fits. Because we hide in the closet in shame about so many things, the last and least of those should be that Jesus loves us and we, lamely, love Him back. Sarah Billups gives great advice here. https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/january-web-only/new-years-resolution-call-myself-christian-in-public.html

This is my Southern women's novel. I believe it is my best in terms of research, character development, setting, and plot. It also has the best cover. Check it out at https://www.amazon.com/Bringing-Abundance-Back-Barbara-Tucker/dp/1514143313/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=Barbara+G.+Tucker&qid=1578007196&sr=8-5

I'm reading Bored and Brilliant by Manoush Zomorodi. I confess to misunderstanding the title at first. She isn't saying that current tech-infused and controlled people are Bored and Brilliant, but that allowing ourselves to be bored will create space for our creativity to grow. Maybe Bored, So Brilliant might say it better. She runs a NPR program where some time ago listeners took a challenge about small steps to disconnect themselves from their devices. Not all out "throw the smartphone in the garbage" but ways to get it away from ourselves and our schedules. Example: Put your smartphone in your purse or briefcase en route to work, or even to the bathroom. (Or of course just leave it on your desk. Do we seriously have to carry the phone to the toilet? And yet, we do!) Example 2: Do not have it sitting on the table during a conversation or meal. We all complain about our partners being distracted by their phones during a date or dinner. Well, duh! The improvem...