partsofspeaking

This is from a very educated, accomplished person. I am quite proud of this review! I just finished the latest in the Scott Wallace Mystery series by Barbara G. Tucker. I have loved all her books but Long Lost Justice is my favorite so far. Her characters are well developed and humanly flawed. The dialect and mannerisms of the region (Southeast US/North Georgia) are perfectly fitting. And the compelling story of the unsolved mystery kept me reading long past my bedtime as it unfolds. This is just plain good writing. I highly recommend!

 I do this podcast because I get to talk with fascinating people--and you get to listen in! https://rss.com/podcasts/dialogues-with-creators/ YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS IT!

Sorry. We live in an attention economy; attention is the "allocation of limited resources." Find it here. A review:  "I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed it. You have a way of capturing local characters and dialect that is very authentic. The characters have a complexity that creates depth in your stories and keeps me engaged. Thank you for sharing your gifts!"

https://www.barbaragrahamtucker.net/ I blog, differently, here, and one can buy my books.  

Opening point: The Book of Acts is inspired and historical, but not always doctrinal or prescriptive.   Everything that happens is not necessarily something that would happen in the church today. Example: tongues. When the gospel came to a new group of people, they were given the gift of tongues as confirmation. Not necessarily true today. Example: miraculous rescue. Peter is miraculously rescued twice, but he eventually is martyred, as were all but one (john) of the 12 apostles.   Context of this lesson: 1.      There were two James: a.       James the brother of John, who is martyred early in the history of the church, and b.      James the half-brother of Jesus, who led the Jerusalem church and wrote the book of James, one of the earliest books of the New Testament. Some scholars think that James is, like the Book of Acts, a historical record of what was going on at that time and focuses on the transition from Judaism-based Christianity to Christianity

Many Christians have been shattered by the news of Jean Vanier's spiritual abuse of women at L'Arche over the years. I knew of L'Arche through Henri Nouwen's writing and knew little about Vanier. I listened to the Quick to Listen podcast (by Christianity Today), which recently had a discussion about this revelation. My first response was, "Well, he's a creep and sinful, but isn't this just about affairs with women who worked with him?" as if that somehow excused the behaviors. The more I listened, the more I saw the abuse of power as a spiritual leader. Part of it comes from a different perception of power in the more hierarchical Catholicism, but he was in a venerated position and telling women there was some kind of sacred meaning in their sexual relationships, which is all the more sordid. The speakers on the podcast spoke about the need for a spiritual director who ensures accountability and counseling, the fact that the church has not dealt with

 https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2024/april-web-only/antisemitism-campus-chants-russell-moore-israel-hamas.html

 Caveat: I am not an expert on this issue in terms of credentialing. I am an "experiential," on-the-ground semi-expert on the subject of dealing with college students with mental health problems as a faculty member and lower-level administrator.  Second caveat: I have no quantitative data that I have generated myself. There is plenty of that available if you look for it, and you will not have to look very long.  I read (parts of) Jean Twenge's book IGEN , and now Jonathan Haidt has a book out on the same subject (which I am tempted to think he borrowed from Twenge's work; I heard him cite her on a podcast). So the stats about 60% of young women being depressed and how much the female suicide rate has gone up are well reported.  Third caveat: I cannot, obviously, give details or examples from my experience, so any I do allude to will be vague.  Beyond the caveats: I am a department chair in the liberal arts unit of my college. My department has the distinc

 What I like about both of these songs is the foundational aspect of God's love. Not a smarmy, mushy thing, but a love that goes to the ends of the earth to make His will complete.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x63cVewXAeg Lyrics: O, church arise and put your armor on Hear the call of Christ our captain For now the weak can say that they are strong In the strength that God has given   With shield of faith and belt of truth We'll stand against the devil's lies An army bold whose battle cry is love Reaching out to those in darkness   Our call to war, to love the captive soul, But to rage against the captor And with the sword that makes the wounded whole We will fight with faith and valor   When faced with trials on ev'ry side, We know the outcome is secure, And Christ will have the prize for which He died An inheritance of nations Come, see the cross where love and mercy meet, As the Son of God is stricken Then see His foes lie crushed beneath His feet, For the Conquer

 It has been almost three weeks since I posted last. April is the cruelest month, said T.S. Eliot; actually he wrote at the beginning of The Waste Land: April is the cruellest month, breeding   Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring   Dull roots with spring rain. Wow. What an image. We sentimentally think of spring as rebirth, but rebirth comes from previous death and decay, reproduction with "memory and desire."  Okay, I'll need to think on this one.  However, that is not the point here. At the college where I work, April is stressful because of all the reports, grading, assessing, and overabundance of programs.  But I've gotten through the worst of it.  One of my students wrote an email about not doing an assignment and asking for mercy (not grace--that would be me doing the assignment for her) with an interesting statement: We went looking for the path of totality. She was referring, of course, to the eclipse on April 8; I am not sure why p