partsofspeaking

This post from Christianity Today is provocative.  I agree--and don't (see my earlier post on nostalgia to get a sense of why). http://www.christianitytoday.com/karl-vaters/2016/december/did-2016-expose-americas-and-churchs-fame-addiction.html Yes, it is silly for people to be saying, "Man 2016 sucked, all these people dying, let it be over."  No more people died this year than any other year, and probably not that many more famous people.  It's just who they are.  And less face it, some of them were old and were going to die soon anyway.  Yes, it's sad about Debbie Reynolds dying right after her daughter.   Maybe Carrie Fisher didn't take care of herself; 60 is young for a woman to die of a heart attack.  I don't know anything about George Michael.  Prince, David Bowie, Doris Roberts, Gene Wilder.  Nancy Reagan--a loss, but she was aged, and she missed her Ronnie.  Some were ill for a long time: Muhammad Ali (not a fan and not sure ...

The Chattanooga Writers' Guild has a Facebook page that often has links to wonderful helps, such as this one about why the movie A Christmas Story is so attractive to so many people. http://thewritepractice.com/a-christmas-story/ The core reason is nostalgia.  Nostalgia, the writer claims, quoting a line from Mad Men, is "the pain from an old wound."  Since neuralgia means nerve pain, and analgesic is a medicine against pain, it appears that alge is a Greek root for pain.  So nostalgia originally had pain involved in it. The article says nostalgia is one of the three reasons the movie is so popular, along with humor and the payoff of a disaster.  It's worth reading if you like the movie, or even if you don't.  It's ok by me; it's not a Christmas necessity ( A Christmas Carol is that), but it is a piece of Americana, perhaps more that for me than nostalgia. This idea, however, that nostalgia involves memory of pain is fascinating to me.  Nostalgia ...

I finished this novel yesterday after a marathon session.  I guess I am of the opinion that reading a novel should not be a life commitment, but apparently I am wrong in that opinion.  I have a copy of The Goldfinch that I would like to continue, but 800+ pages just daunts me after finishing Doer's book. Not to say I didn't enjoy it.  I did, and usually found it hard to put down.  I am just reluctant to recommend a book that is so long (about 540 pages).  It is not dense, but it does take some getting used to because of the converging timelines.  I am not convinced it needed to be that long. I read the criticisms people put on Amazon and I often want to say, "Ok, you are a reader, but have you ever really tried to write a real novel?"  I have, many times, and succeeded five, so I have a clearer sense, I think,of what he has accomplished here. And from a craft perspective, I am awed.  It was one of those books where I say to myself, "you reall...

I must think the world needs my blogging if I am doing it on Christmas Eve. Actually, I am in a mischievous mood.  I have on the Hallmark Channel's "Yule Log" which is literally a video of a fireplace with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra singing about snow.  They did play "Do you hear what I hear?" which is remotely Christian.  I was surprised. Our church choir sang a beautiful rendition of "Little Drummer Boy."  We all have Christmas songs we just don't like. That one is mine.  Why in the world would Mary want the little boy to play a drum for a baby?  I think she had more sense than that.  I have a friend who can't abide "Go Tell It on The Mountain."  These personal pecularities--where do they come from?  It's like how much I dislike marshmallows or another friend despises mayonnaise (which I can't imagine cooking without).  Another point:  fruitcake.  I make a delicious fruitcake.  I just had some.  Would rathe...

Christmas gifts can come in all sizes.  God gave me one today. Walking Nala the pitbull this Christmas Eve afternoon, taking a needed break between cooking wrapping cleaning errands Christmas Eve service, I appeased her by walking near the creek that snakes around the high school where we walk.  I heard a rustling noise and she stopped, I turned and saw the creature above rising through the trees and taking off southward.  The blue and gray was remarkable, not just a bland blend in with the dead trees color.  Recently I was driving up our road to get out of our holler and onto where things happen.  Across the road rushed an animal--larger than a cat, not quite a dog.  He stopped and looked at me; a red fox.  A few days later I saw his crushed body on the same road, further down.  It would be (fill in the blank) if somehow these creatures could coexist with us in suburbia (sometimes bears are seen here!).  Then, however, they might ...

I guess I need to remind myself that I do more than work.  Here is my baking production of yesterday:  Scottish shortbread (which my husband loves and hoards for himself--they are quite good), chocolate chip cookies that are out of this world (new recipe:  see here ), my mother's peanut butter cookie recipe (make with Crisco, which I use about once a year), and candied pretzels (son devours them).  Plus a fruitcake soaked in rum but baked three weeks ago.  The clue to cookies is watching them like a hawk and taking them out sooner than recipes call for, also taking them off the sheets early. 

I hope those who come to read this are not annoyed by my numbering system.  In the past I have posted something every day for Advent.  That was not possible for me this year, so I opted for every other day or so.  I am reading through Matthew and writing my observations, some of which are shared on this blog.  I came to his allusion to the Suffering Servant passage from Isaiah 42, which he quotes in Matthew 12:18ff.  I realize that a whole book could (an probably has) been written on Matthew's particular use of prophecy.  Let me correct myself here; Matthew isn't just making a loose reference here to the Isaiah prophecy; he is saying that at this point in his life Jesus fulfilled that prophecy.  A bruised reed he will not break nor a smoking flax he will not quench.  I have read that for years and didn't have a clue what it means.  I may not now, but I have a better idea, maybe.  Jesus will not, does not, break what is already damage...