Category Archives: Books

Poetry of the Cross

Over at Rebecca Writes there are links to posts with the theme of the Poetry of the Cross. This is something I found that I’ll contribute during this Holy Week.

I found this old book on our bookcase that Dear’s parents owned. It is called The Gospel in Art by Albert Edward Bailey copyright 1916.

I’m sharing this portion from the section RENI: “ECCE HOMO” John 19:1-5

 

Reni, Guido (1575-1642) Original: in the National Gallery, London.

“There is no denying that the thought of Christ’s suffering has been a powerful stimulus to the religious life of the past. Latin Christianity is full of it, and even Greek Christianity found inspiration in it. Hymns to the suffering Savior have sounded from many a monastery cell and have echoed sweetly down even to our own time. Take for example the wonderful hymn of Bernard, redolent of the midnight vigil and of modes of thought characteristic of his age, but of such beauty that every country and every Christian sect claims a share of it.

“O Sacred Head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down;
Now scornfully surrounded
With thorn, thine only crown.
O Sacred Head, what glory,
What bliss till now was thine!
Yet though despised and gory
I joy to call thee mine.”

This hymn is one section of a long poem beginning “Salve mundi salutare,” addressed to the different members of Christ, “a most devout prayer of the Abbot St. Bernard, which he made when an image of the Savior with outstretched arms embraced him from the cross.” There is a still earlier hymn by Theoctistus of the Studium, Constantinople, less widely known but scarcely less beautiful in Neale’s translation. It is found in some of our hymnals under the first line, “Jesus, name all names above.” This hymn evidently arose under the same need as Bernard’s, and serves to show how all the harrowing details of suffering may be blended in thought with one’s highest spiritual good.

“Jesus, crowned with thorns for me,
Scourged for my transgression,
Witnessing in agony
That thy good confession.
Jesus clad in purple raiment,
For my evil making payment:
Let not all thy woe and pain,
Let not Calvary be in vain.”

When we visited the National Gallery we started in the religious art section with painting after painting of Christ on the cross. After a while I was eager to head to another part of the gallery. When I think of Jesus I do not typically picture Him on the cross at Calvary. I’m always eager to get from Good Friday (which my nephew thinks should not be called “good”) to Resurrection Sunday. I love to picture the Risen Christ, triumphant and victorious, after all that pain and agony. He Lives! Thanks be to God!

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

Spring Reading Thing ~ 2008

Welcome to Spring and the Spring Reading Thing!

 

I participated last year in the Spring Reading Thing. It was my first blog carnival venture because I had just started my blog in March of 2007. Time flies when you’re blogging!

So many books to choose from to read.

Here are my choices so far. (subject to change at the whim of this reader)

Before Green Gables – The prequel to Anne of Green Gables ~ by Budge Wilson

I’m in the process of re-reading/reading for the first time some great classics. I finally just finished reading Anne of Green Gables so I’m excited to read this new book. It is also the 100 year anniversary of Anne so I thought it was a good time to read about her instead of just watching her story.

Scarlet ~ by Stephen R. Lawhead

This is the second book in the King Raven Trilogy. The first book was Hood which I read and enjoyed. Lawhead has an interesting and rich way of bringing you history in his fiction.

Inkspell ~ by Cornelia Funke

Again this is the second book in a series. I read Inkheart a while back and it kept me engaged. Funke has been compared to Rowling.

Gentian Hill ~ by Elizabeth Goudge

Elizabeth Goudge is one of my favorite new/old writers. I am trying to get my hands on all her books. This will be my 5th book of hers I’ll have read. She is another author who develops her characters well. I compare her to George MacDonald in the way he brings a persons faith and relationship with God into the everyday.

Whose Body ~ by Dorothy Sayers

If you read mystery and haven’t read Sayers, you need to. Check out her Lord Peter Wimsey Series. This series was writtten from 1923-1935.

God is the Gospel ~ by John Piper

and right now I am finishing The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

This again is in my quest to read some classics that slipped by me…

Head over to Callapidder Days on thursday morning to see more Spring Reading Lists or to join in…

I is for Iona ~

It’s time for ABC Wednesday and this week we are on the letter I.

Come with me to the Isle of Iona in the Hebrides.

We traveled from the town of Oban on the western coast of Scotland by ferry to the Island of Mull and then we boarded a bus to travel down the Island to take a small ferry to the small Isle of Iona.

This little Isle is rich in history and beauty.

History of Iona

St. Columba, an Irish scholar, soldier, priest, and founder of monasteries, got into a small war over the possession of an illegally copied Psalm book. Victorious but sickened by the bloodshed, Columba left Ireland, vowing never to return. According to legend, the first bit of land out of sight of his homeland was Iona. He stopped here in 563 and established the abbey.

Columba’s monastic community flourished, and Iona became the center of Celtic Christianity. Iona missionaries spread the gospel through Scotland and North England, while scholarly monks established Iona as a center of art and learning. The Book of Kells – perhaps the finest piece of art from “Dark Ages” Europe – was probably made on Iona in the eighth century. The island was so important that it was the legendary burial place for ancient Scottish and even Scandinavian kings (including Shakespeare’s Macbeth).

Slowly the importance of Iona ebbed. Vikings massacred 68 monks in 806. Fearing more raids, the monks evacuated most of Iona’s treasures (including the Book of Kells, which is now in Dublin) to Ireland. Much later, with the Reformation, the abbey was abandoned, and most of its finely carved crosses were destroyed. In the 17th century, locals used the abbey only as a handy quarry for other building projects.

Iona’s population peaked at about 500 in the 1830’s. In the 1840’s a potato famine hit. In the 1850’s a third of the islanders emigrated to Canada and Australia. By 1900 the population was down to 210, and today it’s only around 100.

But in our generation a new religious community has given the abbey new life. The Iona community is an ecumenical gathering of men and women who seek new ways of living the Gospel in today’s world, with focus on worship, peace, and justice issues, and reconciliation.

The island is car free. While the present  abbey, nunnery, and graveyard go back to the 13th century, much of what you see today was rebuilt in the 19th century.

ht: history and other information taken from Rick Steves’ Great Britain

For more ABC Wednesday go see Mrs. Nesbitt.

 

A Meme about Books

 Willow from Willow’s Cottage tagged me for a meme about Books. I had to think a while on this one and I’m sure my answers might change as time goes on or as my memory clears here and there…

The Bible would fill the bill for many of these answers for me but I’m going to answer with books written by human beings…

1. A book that has changed your life.

I loved Willow’s answer about Dick and Jane. I too remember how thrilled I was to be able to read those books, hold them in my hand. I even remember the smell, putting in the book mark, not wanting my reading time to ever end but I’m going to come up with something different…

I’m going to say that being able to read and enjoying reading and reading a variety of books through my life has changed my life for the better. From Dick and Jane, to the Little House on the Prairie Series, The Freddy the Pig Series, some classics, some good Christian non-fiction, George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Stephen Lawhead, R.C. Sproul. That might be cheating but I really can’t point to one book except the Bible that has changed my life all by itself.

2. A book you read more than once

Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit both by Tolkien, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Byzantium by Stephen Lawhead, The Harry Potter Series

(and of course all those childrens books that I read over and over and over to my kids)

3. A book you would take to a desert island.

Before I answer I was wondering… What is a desert Island? A deserted Island? An Island that doesn’t get rainfall? Anyway it for sure doesn’t sound like somewhere I’d want to be so maybe I would take a book I can escape into and be inspired by like,

The Lord of the Rings

4. A book that made you laugh.

Lots of them have but right now I am reading Anne of Green Gables and it has made me laugh a lot.

5. A book that made you cry

The last time I read the Lord of the Rings and got to the last page I closed the book and wept and thanked God that He gave someone such a talent to write like that. I also cried at the end of the last Harry Potter Book…

6. A book you wish you had written

Something classified as being a classic. But honestly I don’t know if I’d be comfortable living with such brilliance. So maybe a beloved children’s book like The Pokey Little Puppy.

7. A book you wish had not been written.

I’m drawing a blank here. There is a lot of trash out there in the form of books.

8. Two books you are at present reading.

Right now besides the book of Hebrews (I’m on a quest to try to read every book of the Bible 20x before moving on to the next) I am reading Anne of Green Gables.

9. Two books you are going to read.

I’m on a reading children’s classics kick. I’m going to read The Wind in the Willows. Then I just got an Elizabeth Goudge book called The Child From the Sea that I’ll be reading too.

10. A book you read and never figured out.

Oh this is an easy one for me. I so enjoy George MacDonald but one of his books just bewildered me. It’s called Lilith. It’s one of his fantasy books. If anyone has read it and wants to explain it to me, I’m all ears. I really think I get along better with his regular fiction not his fantasy…

So there you have it. If anyone would like to join in on this meme please do and let me know when you do…

Lovella’s Walking Club Tally ~ 11,083 Steps

Time again for our early morning Saturday walk at Emma Wood. We took a new trail this week and took a closer look at the Flora and Fauna along the way.

 

Sitting already.  The waves were crashing and giving off wonderful spray again today.

 

I found this wonderful book at the Friends of The Library in Camarillo for $3.00 and it shows among other areas the flowering plants of the coastel region. Here’s some of what we found today.

 

Sea Fig and Hottentot Fig

 

We’re still working on identifying these two.

 

We saw this pod on a Eucalyptus tree and then this bloom that we guess comes from it.

 

After our walk we walked some more along Main Street in Ventura. We went to some used bookstores and some thrift stores and I’ll show you our “finds” at the end of the post. But first we decided to refresh ourselves at Anacapa Brewing Co.

Good ole Queen Victoria said “Give my People plenty of Beer, good beer and cheap beer, and you will have no Revolution among them”

 

We decided on the brewed on premises IPA and lo and behold we aren’t joining any revolutions today!

We split a pulled pork sandwich, coleslaw and some North Jetty Fries (fries with fresh garlic, rosemary, and Parmesan cheese) We’ll be tasting garlic and rosemary for the rest of the day!

 

After lunch we walked uphill to see the Statue of Father Junipero Serra at the Ventura City Hall. He founded 9 missions in California, including his last and most cherished, Mission San Buenaventura in 1782. He died in 1784. One of these days we’ll take a side trip to the Mission down the street.

The first elementary school that Josh and Dan (our sons) went to was Junipero Serra in Ventura.

Now to the bargains we found today. I bought this cute cake plate at the Mission Thrift Store for $4.95.

The hardbound Jane Eyre for $2 at a Span thrift store and my most exciting find the Elizabeth Goudge book The Child From The Sea for $3.25 at Abednego Bookstore.

We also bought this breakfast in bed or computer in a chair table for $2.95. It folds up flat and the tray also tilts up to set a book on at a reading angle. I like the magazine or book holders on the side.

 

So with all of our walking today my average steps went up nicely to 11,083.  Woohoo! Look what was in the mailbox when we got home, my new pedometer. Now I hope to get more accurate step counts.

Have a wonderful President’s Day Weekend for those of you in the states and a lovely regular weekend elsewhere.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Tuesdays In Other Words

This week, Elisa is hosting “In ‘Other’ Words” at her site, Extravagant Grace. She has chosen a quote from the Anne Ortlund’s book “The Disciplines of a Beautiful Woman.” This week’s quote is:

“But remember, for all your adult life you’ll be a woman. And how you live your life as a woman, all by yourself before God, is what makes the real you. Nothing on the exterior can touch or change that precious inner sanctuary, your heart, his dwelling place unless you let it. And God, who loves you very much has tailor made all your outer life, your circumstances, your relationships, to pressure you into becoming that beautiful woman he’s planned for you to be.”

~ Anne Ortlund ~

So here is where I went for “in other words.”
~
Titus 2: 1, 3-5 ~
“You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.
“Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their
husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”
10 – 15
“….so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
~
I’m just beginning a study with some women at my church on Titus 2. We are using the book Feminine Appeal – Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Motherby Carolyn Mahaney. Here are some quotes from the 1st chapter of the book to follow-up on this passage from Titus.
“Our conduct has a direct influence on how people think about the gospel. The world doesn’t judge us by our theology; the world judges us by our behavior. People don’t necessarily want to know what we believe about the Bible. They want to see if what we believe makes a difference in our lives. Our actions either bring honor to God or misrepresent His truth.
….As verse 10 [in Titus 2] says, we can “adorn” the gospel with our lives. To “adorn” means to put something beautiful or attractive on display – like placing a flawless gemstone in a setting that uniquely shows off its brilliance. The gospel is like the most valuable of jewels.
…Make no mistake, by adorning the gospel, we are not enhancing or improving it.  The gospel cannot be improved! But by cultivating the feminine qualities listed in Titus 2, we can present the gospel as attractive, impressive, and pleasing to a watching world.”
~
The truth that is presented in Titus 2 for us women is a dependable model of what God has planned for women to be in this world. What is truly beautiful is a women who adorns the gospel inside and out…
~
For more Tuesdays In Other Words click over to Extravagant Grace.

More Goodies from “Of First Importance”

Sorting & Comparing

“All trouble comes from not right sorting and comparing things: seeking that on earth which is only to be had in heaven, and seeking that in the creature which is only to be had in God, and looking for that from self which is only to be found in Christ, and seeking that in the law which is only to be had in the gospel.”

Thomas Manton, The Life of Faith (Fearn, Great Britain: Christian Focus, 1997)

ht: Of First Importance blog

Fall Reading Wrap-up

So here we are at the end of Fall and it’s time for true confessions. I did read some of the books on my list.

Holy Bible ~ year long ~ I’m moving along in my yearly reading. I’m in Ephesians right now and I’m being blown away!

Hood ~ Stephen Lawhead ~ This is going on my Spring List

The Documents in the Case ~ Dorothy Sayers ~ Fabulous! I highly recommend it.

The Dean’s Watch~ Elizabeth Goudge ~ I thoroughly enjoyed this and Goudge is on my new favorite author list! Here’s something I wrote about it when I finished it.

“I just finished the last page of this book and I’m so sad that the story has come to an end. Elizabeth Goudge is fast becoming my new favorite author. She has a great descriptive style. The same appreciation I have for George MacDonald and how he weaves a true loving relationship with God contrasted against a cold religious relationship is growing as deep for Goudge’s fiction. I love MacDonald’s Scottish Countryside settings and I love Goudge’s English countryside settings”

Faithfulness and Holiness ~ J. I. Packer ~ Meaty and I will be reading this one again.

Peace Like a River~ Leif Enger ~ This is going on my Winter list…

Taste and See ~ John Piper ~ I’ve just started this…

The Tale of Beatrix Potter ~ Margaret Lane ~ As usual the real story is different from what you saw in the movie. I’m looking forward to going back to Lake Country in England to check out some of the inspirations for her stories.

Pierced by the Word ~ John Piper ~ I really have a huge appreciation for Piper but this one isn’t one of my favorites…

Books added along the way…

The Scent of Water~ Elizabeth Goudge ~ I’ll be trying to get my hands on more of Goudge’s books. I am thoroughly enthralled by her writing…

What I learned this time around is that there are authors out there that I still need to discover. I’m so happy that the bloggy world has introduced me to some of my new favorites.

Thank you so much Katrina for hosting this great challenge! To see more wrap ups head over to Callipidder Days on Friday.

Coffee and Devotions

 Come and have a cup of coffee with me and consider some thoughts…

I’ve got the gas stove burning

The coffee is brewing. Pick a Christmas cup for your “Joe”. I can also boil water for tea, you know…

I’ve got mine ready to go…

This morning I was reading from John Piper’s Taste and See and I found these thoughts something good to ponder. I’m not including the whole of meditation #5 but parts of it.

“If we would be wise people – people on the way to being “sages” – we must understand how our sinful human hearts and minds work. One profound biblical insight we need to embrace is that our heart exploits our mind to justify what the heart wants. That is, our deepest desires precede the rational functioning of our minds and incline the mind to perceive and think in a way that will make the desires look right. It is an illusion to think that our hearts are neutral and incline in accordance with cool, rational observation of truth. On the contrary, we feel powerful desires or fears in our hearts, and then our minds bend reality to justify the desires and fears….

….It is an old tale. From Cain (Genesis 4:9) to American presidents, truth has been sacrificed to desire, and the mind has been shrewdly employed by the darkened heart to shroud its passions. This is the point of Romans 12:18: They suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” Truth is held hostage by the unrighteous commitments of the heart. The unrighteous heart then employs the mind to distract and deceive. As Jesus says, “Everyone who does evil hates the Light” (John 3:20). Doing the evil we love makes us hostile to the light of truth which will expose the evil and rob us of its fleeting pleasures. In this condition the mind becomes a factory of half-truths, equivocations, sophistries, evasions, and lies – anything to protect the evil desires of the heart from exposure and destruction.

[sophistry -unsound or misleading but clever, plausible, and subtle argument or reasoning; sophism] [I added this definition because this was a new word to me]

We are all given to this. Our only hope is the transforming work of God in our hearts to free us from the bondage of a hardened heart that produces a futile mind.

….we should pray for God to change hearts so that they can see the beauty of truth and love it.

…Romans 6:17, “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were commited.” Obedience came from the heart. Thanks be to God. And if thanks be to God, then let prayers be to God. He is our only hope – to escape our own delusions and deliver others.”

I hope you find these thoughts something good to ponder and learn from today. Go into this new day with truth and grace. Blessings…