partsofspeaking

Scripture for today: Romans  8:15:  For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” To match with I Timothy 1:7:  for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.   Need I write more? Why is fear paralyzing us? Fear over everything and so many things that do not seem worthy of it?  My granddaughter turned 7 months yesterday! I had to stop by to see her during a frustrating (due to traffic) trip to Chattanooga from Dalton and back. She was experiencing a new thing: playing with oatmeal.  It was her first experience with oatmeal, which had no sugar or salt. That sounds unappealing but I understand the reasoning. For her, it was more about the texture and swallowing. She actually did swallow a little bit of it, but more was on her and the little desk of her high chair. Her parents were letting her feed herself; I think I ...

The school year has begun for millions of teachers, administrators, and students.  You are prayed for.  I have seen many commercial for the Olympics on NBC, and they run this way:  "You will never see an Olympics like this....with very special guests" followed by a clip of Snoop Dogg.  When did he become a "very special guest"? I would expect someone like an Olympic athlete of the past who accomplished other things (not surnamed Jenner).  I don't see Snoop Dogg as having much to do with the Olympics, athletics, or healthy living.  I visited the Southeastern Quilt and Textile Museum in downtown Carrollton, GA, last week. If you are in the area, I recommend it if you have an interest in the industrial history of the region or in quilting. I will have a podcast episode about it soon. I also visited the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC.  Amazing place, also a podcast. If I were smart, I would incorporate and get some kind of tax write off on t...

 Well, it's still morning on the West Coast.  Romans 5:6ff For when we were still without strength, [ d ] in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10  For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11  And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. I think we overlook, or rush over, the word "demonstrates" in verse 8. Some translations have it as "shows," which is inadequate as translation.  Here's one explanation:   In the Bible, the wor...

His mercies are new every morning.  Lamentations 3:22-23. My contract starts today, so off to work I go.....as if I don't work every day as a professor and administrator. But I have to stop the flexibility and remote work. I am ambivalent about working from home; good in some ways, not good in all ways. It would be nice if my worlds could be separated. But it is nice to save money on gas and time driving and "getting beautiful" every morning.  We are reading the New Testament through the year at our church, and I am more or less on target. Today I'm on Romans 5, but, you know, I just couldn't get past the first five verses.  Therefore, having been justified by faith, [ a ] we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2  through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces [ b ] perseverance; 4...

Some random observations: 1. The Olympics opening ceremony has set off a stir with some kind of drag queen tableau seeming to parody da Vinci's painting The Last Supper . Lots of people are angry and offended. Well, it's the French. That's a flippant remark, but would we really expect respect for religious iconography from them? Or respect for much of anything except their language and food?  To be honest, though, da Vinci's sort of had the depiction wrong anyway.  The disciples and Christ would not have sat at a table with a white cloth in a perfect geometrical arrangement, on only one side.  Update, 8/3/24: The artist in charge of the design said it was based on another painting depicting the gods on Mt. Olympus.  Whatever. It was still vulgar and inappropriate.  Of course, Facebook has lots of opinions. One lady posted something from a pastor who tried to put a good face on it, saying we should understand and have compassion on those who would do this because...

               I am thinking a lot about Scotland lately.             I have been there, I am pleased and proud to say. In1997. That is a long story in itself, not for here, but all I can say is I felt perfectly at home. One could argue I had no right to; it wasn’t my home or my country and I’d never been there before. No matter. I belonged.             Scotland has been in my thoughts for several reasons. First, I am working on a long essay, which might turn into a book, about my response to JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy.   In that book, Vance seems to have an obsession about the Scots Irish, which, as that unimpeachable source Wikipedia states, can be identified as:     The Ulster Scots people are an ethnic group [6] [7] [8] [9] descended largely from Scottish and English settlers who...

  I started this a week or so ago.     It was a sparkling morning. After weeks of dryness with browned grass and wilted flowers, two periods of heavy rain yesterday covered the thirsty trees and shrubs with drops that caught the emerging sunshine that 7 a.m.   Everything looked and felt refreshed and new. The air, damp and promising dense humidity and heat later on, still had a coolness and slight breeze that reminded me the Georgia heat does lead to autumn breathability.   Crepe myrtles. How I love those. Are they shrubs, or trees, or are there variations of both? Who invented them? How did they come to surround us in July in the East? They do not look natural, really, because they are so orderly. The oaks and pines around here, and even maples, are arbitrary in their placement and size. The crepe myrtles stand on display where humans wanted them; borders to property, landscaping, along picturesque roads. I remember thousands of them in coastal Virgini...

Conspiracy stories rampant! We have three choices: laugh at them (and thus add to our cynicism), immerse ourselves in them (and thus add to our anger), or consider them distractions and wait for the truth to come out over time.  The 24/7 news cycle has to be fed; as I've often said, in the absence of information (and the information people want), things get made up or at least embellished wildly.  For some of us, we just wait for the next thing to stoke our need for distraction.   Traveling friend and I drove two hours to Murphy, NC, to visit an amazing place, the John C. Campbell Folk School.  I want to read about it some more before I post anything of depth, but I will say this: the folks that work there were hospitable and kind and excited about what they do, and that means a great deal. I interviewed some of them for my podcast.  Shout out! Also drove through beautiful north Georgia and Western North Carolina, stopped for peaches at Mercier's Orchard in...

Former President Trump shot at a rally.  Republican Convention.  J. D. Vance surprise VP pick.  A massive Internet outage. President Biden drops out of the race.  Kamala Harris becomes (maybe) the Dem nominee, what a match up.  Sheesh.  The pundit types have exploding heads.

 On Saturdays I do book events this summer. Today I will be at a market from 9-1 and at Barnes and Noble in Chattanooga from 2-4. I am writing this on Friday night after watching a good bit of the Republican National Convention and other news coverage, listening to many political podcasts, and thinking a lot.  Things I know:  1. President Biden needs to drop out of the race, and if he had done it earlier, he and his people could have controlled the narrative and made it seem like he was resigning from the race for the good of the country and party. Now that is too late; he just looks like an angry, deluded, and ill old man who can't or won't accept reality.  2. The media is not to be trusted in their portrayal of Donald Trump. I am not saying he is innocent of a lot of serious things, including disregarding the constitution, just that he is not what they present him as and they get away with the misrepresentation. The fascist narcissist is apparently a really human a...

It has been ten days since I posted last. The absence has been due to three reasons, in ascending order.  1. A friend and I took a trip to Clintwood, VA. This is not an auspicious place, but a good one.  It is the county seat of Virginia's "baby" county, which means it was the last one to be created in the late 1800s by take parts of two adjacent counties in Southwestern Virginia on the Kentucky border.  We took the trip because it is the setting of my latest novel and I wanted to visit it. The Director of Jonnie B. Deel Librarian, Kim Rose, probably wondered why this random woman from Georgia was calling her abut having a book event in July, but she set up a wonderful time. I met the ladies who run the Dickenson County Historical Society and they gave us a tour of their archives, and it is a labor of love.  We also stopped at my grandmother's home place and the "Natural Tunnel State Park," and I got to see how much the little town I visited as a child in th...

We sang this song yesterday and it was quite worshipful--no applause afterward.  Many say that worship songs today are not meaningful, but I disagree. Some are, some aren't. This one is. Recency of being published does not make a hymn good or bad. There are many old ones we do not know about because, I suppose, they did not resonate, and even worship songs have their fashions.  But all that is argumentative and somewhat negative, so listen and read.  Sometimes my posts border on the "wise guy," but not today and yesterday.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjB0mkj0XaM How I long to breathe the air of Heaven Where pain is gone and mercy fills the streets To look upon the One who bled to save me And walk with Him for all eternity   There will be a day when all will bow before Him There will be a day when death will be no more Standing face to face with He who died and rose again Holy, holy is the Lord   And every prayer we prayed in desperation The songs of fa...

14  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son [ d ] from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15  (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16  For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:14-17).  We may not get much grace from other people, and some people seem bent on not granting any grace, probably because they feel stronger when others are weaker.   But from God we get "grace upon grace." How much grace is that, anyway?  The Bible Reference.com website states:  The ultimate expression of God's love for mankind is grace. Grace is best described as being given what you do not deserve. This is different from mercy, which means not getting what you do deserve, such as punishm...

  I have to admit, I laughed at this. The audacity. Trump is definitely entertaining. Wildly immoral and generally incompetent (not because he's incapable, but because his North Star is himself, his ego, his power) , but entertaining. I have heard him compared to Nebuchadnezzar, in the sense that God used someone like Neb despite his paganism and Neb eventually humbled himself before God. I think that's an insult to Neb.  Now I'm being a wise guy, and the one thing the world could use less of is wise guys.  Don't worry folks; not an endorsement of Joe. Update July 21: Joe cannot be endorsed any more. Perhaps he can rest now.

The big debate now is over the debate and its aftermath. Should Biden step down, who should take his place, what should the party do. I am no Democrat but they are in a pickle if they want to win. I am also no supporter of Trump so I sort of see it from the outside. In both cases the real problem is two old egotistical men, neither capable of wise leadership. Reports say Biden is pretty active from 10-4 everyday. Good grief. So who's running the show? And then the Supreme Court decision on immunity. I read the decision. All these people telling us what it says should just say, "read it for yourself." It's written pretty plainly, overall. They basically just bought Trump some time before the election by sending the consideration of the real charges back to the District Court. They did not say he was immune from everything. So that's the first point: widespread misinformation. However....it did seem like a broad interpretation of presidential powers. This is an old ...

 Today is the mid-point day of the year. That is both sad (where did the time go, and how much of it was spent on nonsense and fixation about politics?) and encouraging.  This is a good day to recalibrate. I did so by not succumbing to the temptation to watch "shorts," throwing away a rich desert, and reading some poetry. I will recommend the poetry of Rachel Landrum Crumble, a poet in my writers' group, and of Cynthia Robinson Young. Their backgrounds are different, but they write from a place of wisdom, which I really think is necessary in a poet (well, anyone who purports to put out writing for others). I read two Twitter posts and that will do.  Social media has become such a swamp. I had a book event Saturday, an hour away. A bit of a waste of time, but some value; I return to the Rabbit Valley market in Ringgold this week. I am thankful for anyone who buys and reads my work. Those who read the free stuff, maybe a little less thankful!!! (Kind of kidding, not really)...

About 25 minutes. That was enough.  Sad, to use one of Trump's Twitter exclamation.  I was amazed how much Trump kept his cool, even though his affect was "boy, I want to destroy this guy." But he actually showed some (a very little) compassion.   But I couldn't take 90 minutes of that. Obviously neither could President Biden.  This is elder abuse, and it's time to replace him, but that has to be his choice. But, in my mind it's not the issue of two old men debating; it's the issue of two old narcissistic men with no real values or moral compasses except power and "glory" defending themselves even to the point of their (nonexistent) sports prowess.  Sad but funny headline:  Biden evaluates his own debate performance from Georgia Waffle House.   This is probably only funny to people from Georgia who are familiar with Waffle Houses .

In the history of the church, there have been legends about Jesus' actions as a child, other than the the time in the temple. One is that he brought a dead bird back to life. It is the human condition to imagine and make up stories. Since, based on everything we have been told, 30 years transpired before Christ started his ministry, that leaves a lot of time for humans to think up narratives. In the absence of information, people create it, true or not.  Protestants don't really "go for" these legends. But I have heard many theories about where the Apostle Paul shows up before the martyrdom of Stephen. One of them is that he is the rich young ruler who walks away. Another was on the chat boards for THE CHOSEN.   A character is skulking, in rags, in the background during the resurrection of Lazarus. The fans posit that it's Paul.  Considering that  by the time Luke, John, and Matthew wrote (Mark, too, perhaps), Paul was very well known, it doesn't make much sen...

 In February of 2022 I started my podcast, Dialogues with Creators.  So far I have made no money, have spent quite a bit, but I've had a lot of fun. I have been able to talk to the most amazing people: an archaeologist, for one. Lots of artists. Professors and scholars; farmers, our pastors, entrepreneurs.  I think, I will have to stop at some point in time. And then I think, why? I have a record of great conversations to look back on, and they have given me much joy. I won't be traveling for a while (a couple of things planned for 2025), so this is my vacation.  Please check it out, probably starting this season and then going backward. https://rss.com/podcasts/dialogues-with-creators/ Also on the usual suspects of podcast servers.   In other news.   Who is going to watch the "presidential" debates on Thursday? They promise to be ..... cringey? painful?  funny?  or enlightening? Two egotistical old men.  Does anyone care what's goi...

There are many things I like about living in Northwest Georgia. People are lovely, I actually am ok with the climate, and there is some real beauty. The laws are more progressive than in Tennessee, and the schools are good. I am able to jump on a highway and be a lot of places quickly. And there are things that go against the grain.  First, and mainly, is the lack of classiness. Case in point, our congressional representative, who over the weekend said publicly: ‘Anyone that wants to continue to shame us for January 6 can go to hell." Such a fine Christian woman.  Another case in point. I drive up I-75 a few times a week. We have lovely billboards.  1. Injured? Call Pritchard. (Is it supposed to rhyme?) A personal injury lawyer. This is not the only one.  2. A realtor who doesn't seem to have a problem using copyrighted images.  I assume he knows exactly where to stop. "Divorcing? Get rid of the spouse, sell the house."  "Are you a Barbie girl living in a ...