After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters by N.T. Wright

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is one of my continuing self-education efforts, a textbook in my ongoing interest-driven Theology course. It takes a little more mental and intellectual effort than some of the enjoyable fiction choices I make, but it has a correspondingly greater increase in benefit. I find reading well-thought-out theology, or apologetics, can help me to re-affirm my belief, and lead me to more easily make unselfish (and therefore worshipful) decisions, and do things for others.
Page 108, "a glad and unworried trust in the creator God" leads to "a glad and generous heart toward others."



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Cloud and sky beyond the eye
enhanced by black branch fringe
(the dropping sun which glory splashed behind)
High in the east the moon awaits the stage
crouched neath the overhanging cloud
And we distracted by the lavish vibrant sunset
She doth timidity forsake and proudly shine her glow

book review

The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life - The Ancient Practices Series by Joan D. Chittister

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Church, and especially the Catholic Church, has set readings and rituals throughout the year to commemorate pivotal times in the life of Christ as He lived out His purpose of embodying the most direct communication from God to us, God's people: God taking human form to sympathize with and rescue the human race. Coming from a non-liturgical church background as I do, I was curious about and interested in liturgical practices of Christianity. I really enjoyed the learning, mind- and spirit- expanding experience of reading this book over a number of weeks, as a bit of a self-guided study. I can see how following the liturgical year would be a rewarding and spiritually profitable practice. A most enjoyable read.



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I thought you were one of the Dunedain, to whom longer life is given. Well
it seems you are only human, and we'll never get to Rivendell.
But even the noble Aragorn came to know his days were numbered,
and so it must be for all of us, a brief span and then we slumber.
And though we two are surely named on the list of the world's greatest romances,
it seems we must part, to the break of our heart, so it's time for lingering glances...
Let us cast off fear of the future, and give life to the good deeds that live in us:
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
-HJ Feb. 2011

Unseeable

because You have too much face

and we have not enough eye

Unknowable

but welcoming all guesses

as long as it is a best try

Immovable

because there is no Where to go

that You don't already hold in Your hand

Unforgettable

because You are always with us

though You don't always do what we planned

Mystery

bringing us stories like coins of gold

not for burying, but for giving away

Unnameable

by our tongues. But You call Yourself

Love, Bread, Peace, Life, Truth, Way.

-HJ Jan/2011

When the day has come

And the hour, of the King's returning,

When the trumpets are blaring and calling

And the glory is blazing and burning

I will scramble for a back seat

While others are pushing past me

On their way to get a bit closer

For I fear the King's splendour may blast me.

I will seek a more distant view

And hope to look on from afar

For fear of being blinded

By the pure holy Morning Star.

For when holiness stands before mortals

We will covet vast eternity's hall

For to sing all the King of King's praises

All creation, All time, are too small.
-HJ Jan 2, 2011

At the end of the wild ride,
dizzy from the speed of it,
panting from the fright of it,
tears in my eyes from the beauty of it,
I meet Your eyes, and laughing, say,
"Again! Is it over?"
And You smile and say,
"It's not over; it's only just begun!"
-HJ Dec 1, 2010

Repentance Tree Harvest

Matthew 3:8 "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance."

To follow the One Most Beloved,

also known as Familiar With Sorrow,

must I leave all I value in this life?

Must I give up today for tomorrow?

To follow the Only Begotten,

must I give up on having my own way?

Must I let go my will and desires

to take hold of Thy Will Be Done each day?

To live by the Word Become Flesh,

which became Word spat on, crucified,

must I live in full faithful obedience,

of the Spoken, the Suffering, the Died?

Must I follow by changing direction,

taking up the cross carved just for me,

picking fruit from the tree of repentance

for an offering worthy of Thee?

To follow the Way, Truth and Life,

must I step onto pathways unseen?

So I must, but with help of the Spirit,

go where Jesus before me has been.

-HJ Nov 21, 2010

I thought I saw a movement
Like something drifting by
While I worked near my window
With its cloudy autumn sky.

Too small for a falling leaf,
Too compact for a feather,
Too airy for a drop of rain:
Could it be a change in weather?

Was it a downy messenger,
A light and fluffy sign?
Could it be snow? The sparkly flakes
Declare it’s winter time!

To You Who Are Hurting



The intricacies of the eternal mind lean toward mercy;
the veins of the eternal heart run rich with love.

The Christ, when He didn't need to,
came to live in the hurting world.
Never was there such wounding.
Besides the nails, the torture of the cross:
the colossal burden of total darkness of spirit.
The light of God-connectedness
blocked off by the massive barricade of
rotting flesh piled up on His shoulders
in a daunting-to-anyone-less-than-God
nuisance ground of filth and shame.
The Christ, who didn't need to,
acquiesced and accepted,
became pain-sharer by becoming human,
and then pain-bearer by becoming debt-payer
in place of us, who richly earned it.
-HJ Nov 2010