partsofspeaking

I know my dog's barks now.  I know when Nala is barking at passers-by, for no particular reason. I know when Butter has found an animal that does not run away. He doesn't stop and it's different from his bark at strangers. Sometimes he has barked like that at a dead rat or bird. He also does it at lizards or large bugs and when a turtle gets in the yard, and he tries to eat the turtle, who fortunately can protect itself.  Such happened today, and I rescued it with my handy-dandy shovel (I'm not touching it!) and placed it outside the fence, hoping it would come out and find a safer home. I checked back later, and it had, so apparently no real damage was done by my dog, although it looked like he'd chewed a bit of the shell. It was a different turtle from the last time he pulled that stunt.  I heard him at it again, and this time it was a snake. They were having a stand-off, and the snake, which I think is a garter snake but I'm not getting close enough to do any...

 Go see it. Don't take children, though. It's not a "Christian" movie, whatever that is. It's dark, it's made by Christians, it calls us out, and it's a must see.

Amazing story: https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/july/rebekah-naylor-surgeon-retire-india-sbc.html There is great irony here that the SBC just disfellowshipped two churches for ordaining women and that they have allowed this woman to lead medical missions for 50 years.   I am honored even to be able to read this article. What a saint.  Atheists and unbelievers beware: God is using people whether you like it or not!  Those who are "deconstructing their faith": Look to those who live for Christ for inspiration, not those who leave Him. In other news:  https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2023/june/southern-baptist-women-pastor-church-leaders-meeting-sbc.html

A rather heady article about being an older woman. Are we invisible? No, just less in the center of things; more on margins. As they point out, being on the margins or less visible may mean we become stronger persons ourselves.  A Jewish friend told me about Simchat Chochmah, a Jewish ritual meaning "joy of wisdom," which is a service or event for older women. I think it is an interesting idea, but many of us, even devout Christians, do not have any type of ritual of passage or part of life. I find this unfortunate since they are so much of the human experience.   https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/02/akiko-busch-mrs-dalloway-shows-aging-has-benefits/583480/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cr&utm_campaign=The+Atlantic+-+General+Content+Promotion&utm_content=The+Atlantic+-+The+Invisibility+of+Older+Women+-+Lookalikes+-+Yell+Louder&utm_term=The+Atlantic+-+The+Invisibility+of+Older+Women+-+Lookalikes&referral=FB_PAID&fbclid=IwAR1PhO71Sv...

 "Culture is — it is a reflection of our moment and our time. Right? And present culture is the way we express how we're feeling about the moment and we should always find times to express how we feel about the moment. That is a reflection of joy. Because, you know…it comes in the morning." (Cackle, cackle, cackle) Guess who said this?    Hint: If the president dies, this person....takes over.   I'm sorry, this was too good not to post.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJ5Q99EjbQQ I'm embarassed to say I didn't even know about this until tonight! Shout out to Marietta Book Exchange for hosting another writer and me tonight. I made a little money. 

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-best-fourth-of-july-speech-in-american-history?utm_source=pocket-newtab This article is about Frederick Douglass' Fourth of July speech, pre-Civil War.   

 https://rss.com/podcasts/dialogues-with-creators/1026000 So happy to have him on the podcast!!! It will bless you. 

 I have been listening and reading rather a bit about the two higher ed cases that the Supreme Court decided this term and that were revealed last week.  Not being a legal expert, I'll keep my commentary short, although I'm mildly in favor of one (end of affirmative action) and wildly in favor of the second (no loan transfer/forgiveness). Affirmative action had its place at one time but it seems to be far less needed, if at all, now.  The thing is, the media all talk like the only colleges in the country are the Ivy Leagues and a few public Ivys like UNC, Michigan, and UC. The vast majority of college students have absolutely no connection to these institutions but will get wonderful, life-long, life-altering educations anyway. Why does the argument seem to be "if a person of such and such group can't get into Harvard...."  This is another example of elitism and cluelessness in journalism media and "thought-makers."  The loan forgiveness issue overlaps s...

July 4, 1986: President Ronald Reagan addresses the nation from the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy in New York Harbor to mark the renovation of the Statue of Liberty. All through our history, our Presidents and leaders have spoken of national unity and warned us that the real obstacle to moving forward the boundaries of freedom, the only permanent danger to the hope that is America, comes from within. It’s easy enough to dismiss this as a kind of familiar exhortation. Yet the truth is that even two of our greatest Founding Fathers, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, once learned this lesson late in life. They’d worked so closely together in Philadelphia for independence. But once that was gained and a government was formed, something called partisan politics began to get in the way. After a bitter and divisive campaign, Jefferson defeated Adams for the Presidency in 1800. And the night before Jefferson’s inauguration, Adams slipped away to Boston, disappointed, brokenhearted, and...

Egalitarian and complementarian are two words that probably need retirement. Badly. Complementarianism includes elements of equality; unfortunately, it also includes messages, subtexts, and a history of “women just aren’t as smart, capable, or spiritual as men.” It also has connections to a doctrine called "the eternal subjugation of the Son to the Father," which seems suspect to me, and a way to justify a human position with theology. Egalitarianism is not logically possible. Why? Because as a marriage evolves, roles must be flexible. And really, what a couple does within its marriage, as long as there is no abuse, is their own business. Only if kept to a very narrow venue—what jobs women can have in the church—is the term relevant, and perhaps not there either. On another note, this is a neat article:   l https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/04/asia/last-battle-american-revolutionary-war-india-intl-hnk-ml/index.html Even if you don't like its c...

 Movie versions of Anna Karenina often get it wrong. This writer has taught the novel at Northwestern University for decades. Read what he has to say about this woman, her husband, and her lover. https://www.commentary.org/articles/gary-morson/moral-urgency-anna-karenina/own   I am guilty of listening to podcasts, writing prose in my head, and daydreaming while walking my dogs (which I do separately, so it means extra walking). When I do that, one of my dogs might get my attention, and pull my arm painfully, at a rabbit, squirrel, smell, or discarded food.  I need this article. https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/02/us/dog-walking-multitasking-danger-wellness-cec/index.html Shirley Jackson of "The Lottery" fame lets us know her "rules." (By the way, there really aren't that many writing rules if you break them well.) https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-greatest-menace-to-the-writer-is-the-reader-and-other-advice-from-shirley-...