a very, very, very cool quote

I am reading Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik. First, a disclaimer. It is not the kind of book I would typically read. However, my next door neighbor gave me two of her very favorite books just before Christmas.

I finished the first one and am now reading this one. It is secular and has some very explicit material in it. However, I want to understand where she is coming from so I wanted to read her favorite books.

Never assume you can't find something worthwhile.

In this book, one of the characters is visited by her grandfather after his death. He was a believer but she never really believed. When he visited her (she was eleven) he told her that

"he was in a place of such peace and wonder it made earth look like the "cartoon compared to the feature."

I was delighted with the analogy; Saturday matinees had been our regular date."

Isn't that a cool analogy?

When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin

The books talked about it [the heart] as if it were a sump pump stuck down in the muck and mire of somebody’s backyard. Never in all my scientific reading did I encounter anything that talked about a broken heart. Never did I read anything about what the heart felt, how it felt or why it felt. Feeling and knowing weren’t important, only understanding. (79)

Reese, your books might not tell you this, so I will. Every heart has two parts, the part that pumps and the part that loves. If you’re going to spend your life fixing broken hearts, then learn about both. You can’t just fix one with no concern for the other. (80)

When Crickets Cry by Charles Martin

This novel is predictable but it is still a thoroughly enjoyable book. What I love about the first quote is that even though he doesn't follow up on it there is an implication in how the textbooks treat the heart. It is how we treat the heart too. We just assume it can always handle all the junk we feed it both physically and emotionally. We treat it as if it were a sump pump and not the wellspring of life.

Book Review
Discussion Questions

heavy reading: I've read some heavy stuff this year!

To some, the image of a pale body glimmering on a dark night whispers of defeat. What good is a God who does not control his Son's suffering? But another sound can be heard: the shout of a God crying out to human beings, "I LOVE YOU." Love was compressed for all history in that lonely figure on the cross, who said that he could call down angels at any moment on a rescue mission, but chose not to - because of us. At Calvary, God accepted his own unbreakable terms of justice.

Any discussion of how pain and suffering fit into God's scheme ultimately leads back to the cross.

Philip Yancey: Where is God When it Hurts

In ancient civilizations and cultures of India and to Southeast Asia where pain and hunger, disease and death, have been for centuries a part of every day life and where easy relief of pain by medication has not been available the people have developed a realistic attitude towards pain. The personal mastery of pain has become an important part of yoga and other forms of discipline. In the West we have come to think of pain as an unwarranted intrusion into our lives. Above all we have come to think of it as something that should be immediately suppressed. The whole thrust of television advertising repeatedly asks only one question about pain. How quickly can it be relieved. Product A relieves it 20 seconds faster than Product B. There is no hint that before the pain is relieved it should be understood and its message should be listened to.

Paul Brand: The Gift of Pain

I thought I am kissing pain and pain belongs to You as happiness never does. I love You in Your pain. I could almost taste metal and salt in the skin, and I thought, How good you are. You might have killed us with happiness, but You let us be with You in pain.

Graham Greene: The End of the Affair

Graham Green: The End of the Affair

The sense of unhappiness is so much easier to convey than that of happiness. In misery we seem aware of our own existence, even though it may be in the form of a monstrous egotism: this pain of mine is individual, this nerve that winces belongs to me and to no other. But happiness annihilates us: we lose our identity.

Graham Greene

Hatred seems to work on the same glands as love: it even produces the same actions. If we had not been taught how to interpret the story of the Passion, would we have been able to say from their actions alone whether it was the jealous Judas or the cowardly Peter who loved Christ?

Graham Greene


If I stopped loving Him, I would cease to believe in His love. If I loved God, then I would believe in His love for me. It's not enough to need it. We have to love first, and I don't know how. But I need it , how I need it.

Graham Greene


Greene, Graham. The End of the Affair. Penguin Books, 1999. ISBN 0-14-029109-1

My review of this thought-provoking book.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind.

du Maurier, Daphne. Rebecca. Harper Collins Publishers, 1971. ISBN 0-380-7855-6

Rebecca a Game of Perception

The Nun Study: David Snowdon Ph.D.

The personal impact of this Nun Study data came home to me one afternoon in Bill Markesbery's office as Susan Kemper and I laid out our findings for him. Unexpectedly, Bill didn't ask us technical questions about our statistical and linguistic methods. He looked directly at Susan and said, "What does this mean for our children?"

The question caught me off gaurd. But when I saw the look on his fce, I realized that he was speaking as a father, not a sceintist. Bill has three grown daughters, and it was clear he wanted to know whether he and his wife, Barbara, had done the right things as parents.

"Read to them," Susan answered. "It's that simple. It's the most important thing a parent can do with their children."

Snowdon Ph.D., David. Aging with Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us About Leading Longer, Healthier, and More Meaningful Lives. Bantam Books, 2001. ISBN 0-553-80163-5

My article: Alzheimer's Prevention by Reading?

Photo Hunter: water

When Peace Like A River
(It Is Well)
lyrics by Horatio G. Spafford

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrow like sea billows roll;
What ever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
It is well with my soul;
It is well
It is well, it is well with my soul
with my soul;

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control.
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And has shed his own blood for my soul.

It is well with my soul;
It is well
It is well, it is well with my soul
with my soul;

My sin--O the bliss of this glorious thought!--
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more;
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

It is well with my soul;
It is well
It is well, it is well with my soul
with my soul;

O Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trumpet shall resound and the Lord shall descend;
"Even so" it is well with my soul.

It is well with my soul;
It is well
It is well, it is well with my soul
with my soul.

“They say that every snowflake is different. If that were true, how could the world go on? How could we ever get up off our knees? How could we ever recover from the wonder of it?” Jeanette Winterson


Water is also one of the four elements, the most beautiful of God's creations. It is both wet and cold, heavy, and with a tendency to descend, and flows with great readiness. It is this the Holy Scripture has in view when it says, "And the darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Water, then, is the most beautiful element and rich in usefulness, and purifies from all filth, and not only from the filth of the body but from that of the soul, if it should have received the grace of the Spirit. John of Damascus


NASSA believes that stone skipping is a uniquely ancient activity, that touches 'something' very special in those participating. NASSA actively promotes and encourages stone skipping as a 'natural' non-competitive recreation, and as an internationally standardized competitive sport. NASSA is continually designing programs for various groups of individuals like summer camps, church groups, handicapped and disadvantaged groups, scouting groups, clubs, and corporations. (North America Stone Skipping Association)


“Pick a suitable rock. Rocks with edges, bad. Rocks without edges, good.” • “Bring arm back slowly. Stay low. Attempt to keep stone parallel with water’s surface.” • “Let ‘er rip. Count number of skips. (Note: A “kerplunk” does not count as a skip.)” Eddie Bauer


In France, stone skipping is known as, 'ricochet', in Ireland as, 'stone skiffing', in Denmark as, 'smutting'. EVERY language I have accessed has a unique word or term for skipping stones from Hindi to Russian to Chinese. Jerdone (Jerry) Coleman-McGhee


Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time. ~John Lubbock


“One measure of how creative you are is how you respond to changes in your circumstances and environment. How flexible are you? Consider how water adapts to its environment: evaporation, condensation, snowflake, melting, flowing, goes around rocks, fills containers, etc.” Unknown



Well I'm knee deep in loving you done got deeper than I wanted to
It'll probably drown me before I'm through
But I done got knee deep in loving you
And Lord I'd wade your water just enough to cool me down
Wet my feet and find the way to some dryer ground
But I keep on a gettin' deeper and there's just one rain ago
Too late I find I'm caught up in your undertow
Cause I'm knee deep...
Everybody's saying you're not the staying kind
Ain't it like a natural fool to think you will this time
It's too late for changing this feeling down in me
I'm standing here with more than just sand on my feet
Cause I'm knee deep...
Well I'm knee deep...
Well I'm knee deep
DAVE & SUGAR | Knee Deep In Loving You Lyrics



You cannot hear a waterfall if you stand next to it. I paint my jungles in the desert. Macedonio de la Torre


Water, like religion and ideology, has the power to move millions of people. Since the very birth of human civilization, people have moved to settle close to it. People move when there is too little of it. People move when there is too much of it. People journey down it. People write, sing and dance about it. People fight over it. And all people, everywhere and every day, need it. -Mikhail Gorbachev


With foam and spray and a boundless roar, the sleepless sea calls us toward the shore. The wisdom of all life lives here, where the land and water kiss, a shimmer of waves and wind whispering the secrets of our origins. How easily we are lured by scientific knowledge to measure this mystery - calculating geology, biology, climate. But when an offshore breeze gusts life into our lungs, we feel our souls brim with immeasurable passion for the testament of the waters. By simply sitting, listening, breathing, we feel the pull of the tides and the immensity of the sea connection us to all things. Todd Runestad



We never know the worth of water till the well is dry. ~Thomas Fuller,

Photo Hunter: broken

This Old House
written by S. Hamblen

This old house once knew its children
This old house once knew its wife
This old house was home and comfort
As they fought the storms of life

This old house once rang with laughter
This old house heard many shouts
Now it trembles in the darkness
When the lightning walks about

Ain't gonna need this house no longer
Ain't gonna need this house no more
Ain't got time to fix the shingles
Ain't got time to fix the floor

Ain't got time to oil the hinges
Nor to mend the window pain
Ain't gonna need this house no longer
He's getting ready to meet the saints

This old house is gettin' shaky
This old house is gettin' old
This old house has seen the rain
This old house has seen the cold

Oh his knees are gettin' chilly
But he feels no fear or pain
'Cause he sees an angel peepin'
Through a broken window pane

Ain't gonna need this house no longer
Ain't gonna need this house no more
Ain't got time to fix the shingles
Ain't got time to fix the floor
Ain't got time to oil the hinges
Nor to mend the window pain
Ain't gonna need this house no longer
He's getting ready to meet the saints

"Groanings which cannot be uttered are often prayers which cannot be refused." CH Spurgeon


“Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be.” Samuel Johnson


Habits are formed by the repetition of particular acts. They are strengthened by an increase in the number of repeated acts. Habits are also weakened or broken, and contrary habits are formed by the repetition of contrary acts. Mortimer Adler


“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” C.S. Lewis quotes


It's easy to be led astray when you're so broken. People take advantage of you. Willie Aames


“The heart is the only broken instrument that works.” T. E. Kalem


How else but through a broken heart may Lord Christ enter in?” Oscar Wilde


DON'T be unwise enough to think that we are serving God best by constant activity at the cost of headaches and broken rest. I am getting to be of the opinion that we may be doing too much. We want at least this is my own want--a higher quality of work. Our labor should be to maintain unbroken communion with our blessed Lord; then we shall have entire rest, and God abiding in us; that which we do will not be ours, but His. John Kenneth McKenzie



These bottom photos are from when a category 1 tornado (read weak - barely registering as a tornado) passed through our area a little over a year ago.

The top set comes from two different burned out houses that I discovered both of which have been razed since the photographs were taken. I am fond of derelict houses.

Photo Hunter: gross

pollution is gross - I am not a raging conservationist but this behavior bugs me.

Opie, you haven't finished your milk. We can't put it back in the cow, you know. ~Aunt Bee Taylor, The Andy Griffith Show


Oh Beautiful for smoggy skies, insecticided grain,
For strip-mined mountain's majesty above the asphalt plain.
America, America, man sheds his waste on thee,
And hides the pines with billboard signs, from sea to oily sea.
~George Carlin


And Man created the plastic bag and the tin and aluminum can and the cellophane wrapper and the paper plate, and this was good because Man could then take his automobile and buy all his food in one place and He could save that which was good to eat in the refrigerator and throw away that which had no further use. And soon the earth was covered with plastic bags and aluminum cans and paper plates and disposable bottles and there was nowhere to sit down or walk, and Man shook his head and cried: "Look at this Godawful mess." ~Art Buchwald,




Waste not the smallest thing created, for grains of sand make mountains, and atomies infinity. ~E. Knight


"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy." — John Sawhill


To waste, to destroy our natural resources, to skin and exhaust the land instead of using it so as to increase its usefulness, will result in undermining in the days of our children the very prosperity which we ought by right to hand down to them amplified and developed. ~Theodore Roosevelt



We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. ~Native American Proverb



"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not." — Dr. Seuss, "The Lorax"


Only when the last tree has been cut down,
Only when the last river has been poisoned,
Only when the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten. — Cree Indian Prophecy


Man is a complex being: he makes deserts bloom - and lakes die. ~Gil Stern

Photo Hunters: wild

It is odd. My husband never reads what I write and avoids looking at photos most of them time. However, if I discuss with him a project - he has opinions and ideas. I mentioned this Photo Hunter theme and he said I should get pictures of our girls acting wild. So I looked. This is as wild as I've photographed as when they get much wilder I can't photograph them as I get too stressed. But here you go - at my husband's request. Though he will never see it.

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Mary Oliver


I need this wild life, this freedom. Zane Grey


“I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry for itself.” D.H. Lawrence


wild adj: Lacking supervision or restraint; Disorderly; unruly


There is a need to find and sing our own song, to stretch our limbs and shake them in a dance so wild that nothing can roost there, that stirs the yearning for solitary voyage. Barbara Lazear Ascher


Music is nothing else but wild sounds civilized into time and tune. Thomas Fuller


“If you feel the urge, don't be afraid to go on a wild goose chase. What do you think wild geese are for anyway?” Will Rogers


wild noun: Occurring, growing, or living in a natural state; not domesticated, cultivated, or tamed


One of the darkest evils of our world is surely the unteachable wildness of the Good. H. G. Wells


“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air…” Ralph Waldo Emerson


"Why do you lead me a wild-goose chase?" - Miguel de Cervantes


“All good things are wild, and free.” Henry David Thoreau


wild adj: Risky; imprudent: (thank heavens for Daddy's strong arms)


Grant me some wild expressions, Heavens, or I shall burst. George Farquhar


“To see a world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower Hold infinity in the palms of your hand and eternity in an hour.” William Blake


I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing. Agatha Christie


I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief... For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.” Wendell Berry


A small tribute to my tulips last spring. My 'wild' children have no respect for those things cultured. :)

'Mid the sharp, short emerald wheat, scarce risen three fingers well,
The wild tulip at the end of its tube, blows out its great red bell,
Like a thin clear bubble of blood, for the children to pick and sell.
Robert Browning, Up at a Villa--Down in the City (st. 6)