I noticed a few days ago that I had made 99 postings to the blog... so I thought about what could be number 100, and nothing really came to mind, but as I was listening to a recording of Hamlet the other days, this passage really came out to me... even though Hamlet is talking about the possibility of his own death, the words could be applied to just about anything... my 'translation' is below...
Hamlet "There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all. Since no man of aught he leaves, knows aught, what is't to leave betimes? Let be."
Graham's attempted translation: "Nothing happens by accident. Even a sparrow will not fall to earth apart from God's plan, purpse and care. If it happens now, it is not supposed to happen at any other time. If it is not to happen in the future, it will happen now. And if it doesn't happen now, it will eventually happen. All you need is to be ready for it. No man can see into the future to know what he's missing out on, so what's wrong with dying 'early' in life if all is ordained by God? Let it alone."
Thanks my friend...
June 13, 2006
June 06, 2006
From "A Grief Observed"...
"The more we believe that God hurts only to heal, the less we can believe that there is any use in begging for tenderness. A cruel man might be bribed - might grow tired of his vile sport - might have a temporary fit of mercy, as alcoholics have fits of sobriety. But suppose that what you are up against is a surgeon whose intentions are wholly good. The kinder and more conscientious he is, the more inexorably he will go on cutting. If he yielded to your entreaties, if he stopped before the operation was complete, all the pain up to that point would have been useless. But is it credible that such extremities of torture should be necessary for us? Well, take your choice. The tortures shall occur. If they are unnecessary, then there is no God or a bad one. If there is a good God, then these tortures are necessary. For no even moderately good Being could possibly inflict or permit them if they weren't"
- C.S. Lewis, from page 55-56 of "A Grief Observed."
- C.S. Lewis, from page 55-56 of "A Grief Observed."
June 04, 2006
"My Name is..."
A new Asia's Hope Video with pictures of the kids at the Asia's Hope Phnom Penh Orphanage. Click here...
June 02, 2006
Reading again
Can you ever not recommend C.S. Lewis? I just read "A Grief Observed" again... an amazingly detached title for such a difficult and heart rending topic. I will be posting one of my favorite quotes here soon. If you have never read it, it is a short book in 4 parts chronicling the grief of C.S. Lewis after the death of his wife Joy Davidman. I was again struck by the progression of anger, to acceptance, to renewed faith (or should I say a new type of faith?).
I have read almost all of Connelly's books, including one that he merely edited (weird, I know). "Crime Beat" was the first non-fiction one that I have read, even though he started his career as a reporter. I am still sold on his fiction, I think that I would need to get used to his reporting writings... all that said, maybe he should write a 'true crime' book... might be interesting to see the result... until then, I am looking forward to the next Harry Bosch book (the main character in most of his novels.)May 31, 2006
May 28, 2006
MCS Spring Formal
I set up a web page with pictures from our school Prom from a few weeks ago... Click here to see the pics...
Quote from Jonathan Edwards on prayer
"It is evident that we do not, in this duty (prayer), declare our wants and desires in order to inform God, or to incline his heart to show mercy; but suitably to affect our own hearts, and so to prepare ourselves for the reception of the blessings we ask." - A Treatise on Religious Affections, pg. 36.
May 26, 2006
May 25, 2006
My favorite quote from today
I had a particular song on my computer through Rhapsody, and a former student came in and asked me, "Hey isn't that Country Gas?", "uh, I said, you mean 'Classical Gas'?" Funny if you know the tune...
May 23, 2006
2 More Books
Okay, so I have been a little slow on the postings lately... things are hectic at school... but the evenings still provide some time to read... here are the two latest completions...
The Best American Mystery Stories 2003 is a book that I sought out only because the editor of the collection was Michael Connelly. However, I will tell you that even though many of the stories were violently or sexually brutal, I came away amazed at how well these stories were written. I am not a writer, but these people had an amazing ability to conceive of a plot, introduce characters, develop those characters and wrap up the story with a satisfying conclusion with relative ease. I was impressed. The best story, in my opinion, was called After You're Gone.
A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards is truly one of the most significant books that I have ever read. Edwards knowledge of the Scriptures is second to none, and his ability to apply it to the heart and mind of Christian people is amazing. I found that I was underlining huge sections on almost every page. I could not move quickly through this book, and found myself mentally (if not even physically saying), "Yes, I agree, it could not have been said better!"... tremendous theological insights into the human condition and how it relates to our relationship with Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God the Father. Excellent.
The Best American Mystery Stories 2003 is a book that I sought out only because the editor of the collection was Michael Connelly. However, I will tell you that even though many of the stories were violently or sexually brutal, I came away amazed at how well these stories were written. I am not a writer, but these people had an amazing ability to conceive of a plot, introduce characters, develop those characters and wrap up the story with a satisfying conclusion with relative ease. I was impressed. The best story, in my opinion, was called After You're Gone.
A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards is truly one of the most significant books that I have ever read. Edwards knowledge of the Scriptures is second to none, and his ability to apply it to the heart and mind of Christian people is amazing. I found that I was underlining huge sections on almost every page. I could not move quickly through this book, and found myself mentally (if not even physically saying), "Yes, I agree, it could not have been said better!"... tremendous theological insights into the human condition and how it relates to our relationship with Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God the Father. Excellent.
May 17, 2006
2 Books
I have finished up a couple of books in the last month or so that I wanted to add...
Death in the City by Francis Schaeffer is a powerful commentary on the effect of sin upon our post-Christian/relativistic/post-modern culture. He discusses several portions of Romans as well as the example of Jeremiah to show why things are that way, as well as what our response as Christians should be... a good read, I highly reccommend it.
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne was something that had sat on my shelf for a long time. I actually got it used to begin with, but it was a good read as well... it is considered one of the earliest Science Fiction novels, even though it does not include the modern use of aliens and UFO's. There were several things that entertained me about it, especially since I have also circumnavigated the globe.
Death in the City by Francis Schaeffer is a powerful commentary on the effect of sin upon our post-Christian/relativistic/post-modern culture. He discusses several portions of Romans as well as the example of Jeremiah to show why things are that way, as well as what our response as Christians should be... a good read, I highly reccommend it.
Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne was something that had sat on my shelf for a long time. I actually got it used to begin with, but it was a good read as well... it is considered one of the earliest Science Fiction novels, even though it does not include the modern use of aliens and UFO's. There were several things that entertained me about it, especially since I have also circumnavigated the globe.
May 05, 2006
So is this real? I don't know...
It is hard to say, in the age of Photoshop, whether this is real or not. But apparently, this rabbit is some kind of German rabbit... more than an arm full if it is true...
(it's still a pretty funny pic no matter what).
May 03, 2006
April 28, 2006
April 27, 2006
Cleveland 7, BoSox 1
A bunch of us went to the Indians game last night... here are some of the better pictures...
argh...
Today I heard what may be the single most stupid thing I have ever heard come out of a student's mouth in all of my years of teaching. A very young student who is not comprehending what has been taught all year looked at me and said, "I just play too many sports, and that's why I can not understand music." On the surface of it, it may not be that obvious how un-intellectual this statement really is. But to me, it definitely is obvious how sad and pathetic a statement that it is about his laziness.
April 25, 2006
I love my new digital camera!
This little guy showed up in the backyard the other day
and gave me the time for 40 or 50 cool shots... here are three.
and gave me the time for 40 or 50 cool shots... here are three.
April 19, 2006
Vigil at Grace Fellowship Church
Each Holy Week, the church I attend hosts a vigil that is open to the community. There are five separate rooms that each have a diiferent theme. Below are some of the pictures that I took there.
April 14, 2006
Playing Games at New Life Christian School
Here are some pictures of some of the students at New Life Christian School in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I recognize many of the faces, but they are getting bigger! These are just a few pictures of the children playing some games.
April 12, 2006
Time for a new posting...
I was letting those Asia's Hope videos sit there for a while so that people could see them easily, but I think it is time for something new. There have been a few things that I have thought about posting, but I think that I'll do some new books that I have finished. So for those of you who are out there (maybe a few), enjoy...
How to Read Shakespeare by Nicholas Royle - this was a gift from my mother at Christmas, and I actually finished it a while back, but thought I'd include it here... an intriguing book in it's approach... the author took one word from each of 7 different plays and used those words to describe (in each chapter) William's approach to writing. The author was brilliant in some of his explanations, however, I think that he may be a little personally interested in the use of sex in Shakespeare...
The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie - a good read. This is coming out on DVD at the end of May with David Suchet playing Poirot again. I am sure that it will be a spot on presentation as always... my only disappointment with this one was that as I began to read it, there were some things familiar about it... and within the first few chapters, I realized that this was a 'novelized' version of one of her short stories "The Plymouth Express". Exact same outcome, exact same types of characters... Annoying if you are familiar with both writings.
Dictionary of Shakespeare by Louise McConnell - this is something that I picked up on the discount rack after Christmas at Barnes and Noble. I have read it slowly, but then again, reading a dictionary is not always that interesting. Nonetheless, I really liked it. The cover says "Clear definitions of the characters, plays, poems, history and stagecraft." That is very accurate. It was really more like reading a desk encyclopedia of Shakespeare than reading a dictionary, but it was good. I don't advise reading more than about 4 pages a night, unless you are a real fan.
The Secret Society of Demolition Writers edited by Marc Parent - the title would take to long to explain here, but it is a collection of semi-anonymous short stories. 'Semi-anonymous' because even though you do not know who wrote each of the stories per se, the names of the contributing authors are on the cover. I read it mostly because I knew that Michael Connelly had submitted one. It did do something to ignite my often smoldering interest in writing.
How to Read Shakespeare by Nicholas Royle - this was a gift from my mother at Christmas, and I actually finished it a while back, but thought I'd include it here... an intriguing book in it's approach... the author took one word from each of 7 different plays and used those words to describe (in each chapter) William's approach to writing. The author was brilliant in some of his explanations, however, I think that he may be a little personally interested in the use of sex in Shakespeare...
The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie - a good read. This is coming out on DVD at the end of May with David Suchet playing Poirot again. I am sure that it will be a spot on presentation as always... my only disappointment with this one was that as I began to read it, there were some things familiar about it... and within the first few chapters, I realized that this was a 'novelized' version of one of her short stories "The Plymouth Express". Exact same outcome, exact same types of characters... Annoying if you are familiar with both writings.
Dictionary of Shakespeare by Louise McConnell - this is something that I picked up on the discount rack after Christmas at Barnes and Noble. I have read it slowly, but then again, reading a dictionary is not always that interesting. Nonetheless, I really liked it. The cover says "Clear definitions of the characters, plays, poems, history and stagecraft." That is very accurate. It was really more like reading a desk encyclopedia of Shakespeare than reading a dictionary, but it was good. I don't advise reading more than about 4 pages a night, unless you are a real fan.
The Secret Society of Demolition Writers edited by Marc Parent - the title would take to long to explain here, but it is a collection of semi-anonymous short stories. 'Semi-anonymous' because even though you do not know who wrote each of the stories per se, the names of the contributing authors are on the cover. I read it mostly because I knew that Michael Connelly had submitted one. It did do something to ignite my often smoldering interest in writing.
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