January 28, 2009
That’s right, I finished The Brothers Karamazov? last night. ? All 701 pages. ? Of small print. ? Being stuck in a chair breastfeeding a good part of the day certainly has its advantages!
Anyone else who has read this, I would love to hear your thoughts. ? I find myself wishing for a good Russian literature class–there is so much in this text worth discussing! ? I’ll be posting on this book more, as I work through all the pages I dog-eared on my way through. ? But I am really curious to anyone else’s reactions!
January 25, 2009
“…love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love in dreams. Love in dreams is greedy for immediate action, rapidly performed and in the sight of all. Men will even give their lives if only the ordeal does not last long but is soon over, with all looking on and applauding as though on the stage. But active love is labor and fortitude, and for some people too, perhaps, a complete science.”
The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
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Was Dostoyevsky referring specifically to motherhood?? ? I think he certainly could have been. ? Motherhood is love in action. ? Read more...
January 19, 2009
Here’s a challenge for you for next Sunday (or Saturday.) ? I’ve done this a few times, and it can be an eye-opening experience. ? When you go to church, sit near the front. ? (That’s not the challenge–wait for it!) ? Read more...
January 10, 2009
So we started reading Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television the other day…out loud, in the evenings. ? (I know it seems a bit extreme, but bear with me.) ? The thesis is that television, by its nature, is destructive to human lives and communities, no matter how nice or educational the programming tries to be. ? I’m sure I’ll be revisiting that idea later, but I think we’re already trying to benefit from one of the observations included in Mander’s first argument. ? He points out how disconnected we, especially we who live in the city or suburbs, are from the earth and its workings. ? Our food comes from stores, not plants in the ground; our water comes from faucets, not streams or rain showers; the greenery we do see is chosen and arranged by humans, not nature. ? Many, if not most, of us have lost our connection to the natural world, the world essentially unmodified by human hands (and machinery). ? Read more...
January 4, 2009
Craig stumbled on an interesting article the other day about the damage screen time (TV, computer, etc.) can do to the developing brain.? You can read the rest of the article here, but I’d like to share just the conclusion for its insights: Read more...
January 2, 2009
I was listening to NPR just now, and they reported that today nine people were killed in Gaza by Israeli bombs, and five of those nine were children. ? My stomach sinks when I think of that. ? I don’t know, and honestly I barely care, who is right here. ? How can it possibly ever be justified to kill children? ? Calling them “collateral damage” ? is not only no excuse, it is an insult to the suffering these families must endure! ? How can you tell a mother that her child’s life is less important than your border dispute, that his life is an acceptable sacrifice? ? I try sometimes to put myself in the place of these mothers. ? I cannot even imagine their pain! ? My prayers, more often than I would like lately, have been turned toward these suffering women. ? May God lead us to end this violence!
January 2, 2009
Lucy recieved so many books for Christmas this year!? It is wonderful, because she loves books (as do we) and now we have a whole new plethora of choices for bedtime stories.? I’ve decided to start adding some of her favorites to my “Off the Shelf” reading list on the sidebar.? Many of these are worth revisiting, even if you don’t have a little one around to read them to.? I’ve really been? enjoying re-reading so many books from my childhood, as well as discovering new favorites.? And when you don’t have the time or the patience to tackle a 600-page Russian novel, these books provide almost instant closure.? It’s like great literature, 15 minutes at a time!
January 1, 2009
(If the quote looks familiar, it’s the same one from the “Interdependence” post, so feel free to skip ahead. I promise the rest of the post is different!)
“In fact, we are always meeting in nature with admirable examples of the close correspondence between the forms of the organs and the offices they fulfill, even when these bring no actual benefit to the animal. Read more...
