Books as armor

I haven't had much time for pondering recently. However, I was in the car last week, driving home from "in town"... and listening to a Moody Radio program. The author being interviewed was talking about the need for more "thinking Christians" and the recommendation to read well...including the Great Books.

He gave a marvelous quote, the author given only as "a monk". "Our libraries are our armories". Hmmm...that gave me pause to think. The spiritual war we fight within society is not only literally "in the Spirit" but also one involving the Soul...our learning center. When reading and learning are seen as worldly occupations rather than spiritual...we are giving up part of our armor. Much to ponder that one...

A quick hello

"... Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace"

John Greenleaf Whittier

I'm in the midst of a gardening project and a plumbing project, both taking more time than I'd planned. Should be finished soon...Lord willing and the creek don't rise.

The Good Book from Art.com

Rest, quiet, prayer, preparation, conquest

I recently signed up to receive Anne Ortlund's ministry newsletter. You can't imagine how happy I was to find she and her husband, Ray, are continuing in ministry. Her books have had a significant impact on my life, equal only to Edith Schaeffer.

Here is an excerpt from that newsletter, as she is talking about Ray recovering from an illness...

"An unexpected gift of quiet! Does the Lord sometimes give you one of these?...

God said to Joshua and the children of Israel, poised on the banks of the Jordan River.

"Three days from now you will cross..." (Joshua 1:11).

First rest, quiet, prayer, preparation. Then conquest.

Christ said to His disciples, poised to tell the world of His death and Resurrection.

"Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised... You will be baptized with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:4,5).

The book of Acts is a book of action! It has twenty-eight chapters. But the first chapter is one of waiting. Then, twenty-seven chapters of ceaseless activity.

What would music be without rests?
What would lace be without spaces?

"He makes me lie down..." (Psalm 23:2).

For His commands to be quiet,

And for unexpected quiet times not of our choosing...

Let's rejoice, and embrace them with thanksgiving."*

Isn't that lovely?

I encourage you to visit their website and I highly recommend any of Anne's books! I especially loved Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman, which is now available in one edition with her two other "Disciplines" books.

*Quote used with permission from Renewal Ministries.

From the Vicar of Wakefield

"The next morning I took my daughter behind me, and set out on my return home. As we travelled along, I strove, by every persuasion, to calm her sorrows and fears, and to arm her with resolution to bear the presence of her offended mother. I took every opportunity, from the prospect of a fine country through which we passed, to observe how much kinder heaven was to us than we were to each other, and that the misfortunes of nature's making were very few. I assured her that she should never perceive any change in my affections, and that during my life, which yet might be long, she might depend upon a guardian and an instructor. I armed her against the censures of the world, showed her that books were sweet unreproaching companions to the miserable, and that if they could not bring us to enjoy life, they would teach us to endure it."

Chapter XXII, The Vicar of Wakefield

Photo: Thomas Kincaid, allposters.com

Happy Thanksgiving

It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures
and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the LORD.

We know that by His divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world. May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown.

But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to, feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.

--Abraham Lincoln - October 3, 1863

Photo: Allposters.com

Psalm 34:12, The Message Bible

Who out there has a lust for life?

Can't wait each day to come upon beauty?

A True Home

"A roof to keep out the rain. Four walls to keep out the wind. Floors to keep out the cold. Yes, but home is more than that. It is the laugh of a baby, the song of a mother, the strength of a father. Warmth of loving hearts, light from happy eyes, kindness, loyalty, comradeship.

Home is first school...for the young ones where they learn what is right, what is good, and what is kind. Where they go for comfort when they are hurt or sick. Where joy is shared and sorrow eased. Where fathers and mothers are respected and loved. Where children are wanted. Where the simplest food is good enough for kings because it is earned. Where money is not so important as loving-kindness. Where even the teakettle sings from happiness. That is home."

Ernestine Schumann-Heink

From my box of Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane Holiday Decaf Green Tea. :)

Another great quote

This quote was on Brenda Hyde's e-newsletter, Old Fashioned Tips, and I thought it was worth sharing here. It was on one of her e-newsletters I found that wonderful pumpkin cookie recipe. :)

What do we mean by patriotism in the context

of our times? I venture to suggest that what we
mean is a sense of national responsibility... a
patriotism which is not short, frenzied outbursts
of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication
of a lifetime.
~Adlai Stevenson

Words of wisdom

I was perusing the blog, A Circle of Quiet, and came across this quote. I think it is a great quote by one of my favorite founding fathers.

"I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study paintings, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain."

~John Adams