Hill Station

mill on the floss

2008-11-16T19:10:00.003-05:00

'But the dreary half year did come to an end. How glad Tom was to see the last yellow leaves fluttering before the cold wind! The dark afternoons and the first December snow seemed to him far livelier than the August sunshine. ...

'But it was worth purchasing, even at the heavy price of the Latin Grammar - the happiness of seeing the bright light in the parlour at home as the gig passed noiselessly over the snow-covered bridge: the happiness of passing from the cold air to the warmth and the kisses and the smiles of that familiar hearth where the pattern of the rug and the grate and the fire-irons were "first ideas" that it was no more possible to criticise than the solidity and extension of matter. There is no sense of ease like the ease we felt in those scenes where we were born, where objects became dear to us before we had known the labour of choice, and where the outer world seemed only an extension of our own personality: we accepted and loved it as we accepted our own sense of existence and our own limbs. Very commonplace, even ugly, that furniture of our early home might look if it were put up to auction: an improved taste in upholstery scorns it; and is not the striving after something better and better in our surroundings, the grand characteristic that distinguishes man from the brute - or, to satisfy a scrupulous accuracy of definition, that distinguishes the British man from the foreign brute? But heaven knows where that striving might lead us, if our affections had not a trick of twining round those old inferior things, if the loves and sanctities of our life had no deep immovable roots in memory. One's delight in an elderberry bush overhanging the confused leafage of a hedgerow band as a more gladdening sight than the finest cistus or fuchsia spreading itself on the softest undulating turf, is an entirely unjustifiable preference to a landscape-gardener, or to any of those severely regulated minds who are free from the weakness of any attachment that does not rest on a demonstrable superiority of qualities. And there is no better reason for preferring this elderberry bush than that it stirs an early memory - that it is no novelty in my life speaking to me merely through my present sensibilities to form and colour, but the long companion of my existence that wove itself into my joys when joys were vivid.'

-George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss (159-160)

Celebrating the Fourth

2007-07-03T20:31:00.000-04:00

Today at work, in order to both observe Independence Day and boost morale, I hosted a patriotic sing-a-long from 5:15-5:30 p.m. (most of us go home at 5:30). Of course, this was only possible because our British boss was out on vacation.

As we stood there belting out 'My Country, 'Tis of Thee,' 'God Bless America,' 'This Land is Your Land,' and 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' I thought of this memorable scene.

BBC photo captions and the art of understatement

2007-06-07T17:11:00.000-04:00

The issue of affirmative action is a sensitive one in India

Understanding

2007-06-04T20:15:00.000-04:00

This explains a lot.

Bye roomie 1!

2007-05-25T13:34:00.000-04:00

Beracah lost another babe to a boy and a plan. Becky just moved back in with her parents. She hopes to save some money and take more classes at RTS in the fall. And who knows what else?

Jodye has already moved in, though, so we're still a big, happy family!

Practice

2007-05-10T19:07:00.000-04:00

"Prepare your work outside
And make it ready for yourself in the field;
Afterwards, then, build your house."

-Proverbs 24:7

"I wanted to give it to the poor, but it was really hard."

2007-05-07T13:11:00.000-04:00

I know some of the coolest, craziest people....

2007-02-14T17:57:00.000-05:00

This has got to be one of the best Valentine's gifts I've ever seen....

http://braehoward.covblogs.com/archives/015883.html

Proverbs 24: 11-12

2006-12-24T14:11:00.000-05:00

"Rescue those being led away to death;
hold back those staggering toward slaughter.
If you say, 'But we knew nothing about this,'
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who guards your life know it?
Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?"

2006-12-20T22:54:00.000-05:00

"We know full well that the work begun in that manger is not yet complete.
Christmas is, for the time being, a feast of light juxtaposed with darkness. We brighten our sanctuary with candles, but the night persists beyond these walls. Though we wipe our tears away to join in the yuletide celebration, we are still a people who mourn."

-Katherine E. Willis Perchey, "A Feast Juxtaposed"

Credit: Christianity Today

"Not that this inward amazement of Dorothea's was anything very exceptional ... "

2006-11-23T21:13:00.000-05:00

"Not that this inward amazement of Dorothea's was anything very exceptional: many souls in their young nudity are tumbled out among incongruities and left to 'find their feet' among them, while their elders go about their business. Nor can I suppose that when Mrs Casaubon is discovered in a fit of weeping six weeks after her wedding, the situation will be regarded as tragic. Some discouragement, some faintness of heart at the new real future which replaces the imaginary, is not unusual, and we do not expect people to be deeply moved by what is not unusual. That element of tragedy which lies in the very fact of frequency, has not yet wrought itself into the course emotion of mankind; and perhaps our frames could hardly bear much of it. If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence. As it is, the quickest of us walk about well wadded with stupidity."

-George Eliot, Middlemarch (124)

Bye bye, roomie 2 ...

2006-11-03T20:04:00.000-05:00

The Office

2006-10-19T21:18:00.000-04:00

Yay!

Workalicious

2006-10-19T19:29:00.000-04:00

"The Mutant Warriors of Editorial"
Office Olympics 2006

A fun-filled day complete with a Discus Toss (blank CD toss), Archery (giant rubber band flinging), Rowing (task chair racing) and other similar events.

I will say it again--my life IS The Office.

2006-09-22T22:36:00.000-04:00

"The History of the Presbyterian Church of America."

(Credit/details)

2006-09-17T16:00:00.000-04:00

Telepathy

2006-09-08T23:35:00.000-04:00

Check this out (Credit: Miss Funke). As I read it, I think to myself, "Why not?"

When I asked my parents about this as a child, they said, "Yes, we believe that some form of telepathy may exist. This ability probably exists in some people more than in others. It is most likely a remnant of a pre-fall form of communication." And again, I ask, is this embedded somewhere in Reformed theology, that I have just never heard of? Or is this just something that my parents told me?

I believe that very uncanny things like this have happened to me in the past (stranger than just knowing who was about to call), and I also believe that I do have a gift of some foreknowledge. Is this just common sense, or because I am an INTJ, which means that I see patterns in the world and can predict what is likely to happen next? Is it because I am a woman, and therefore have a slightly supernatural instinct? Or, is one of my spiritual gifts "prophecy," perhaps a real, albeit often neglected, spiritual gift?

I think that all of the above are possible but, as always, we must be careful not to major in the minors.

Fun!

2006-09-07T18:42:00.000-04:00

My sister asked a friend to Kilter (Covenant's Sadie Hawkins-type dance) earlier this week, and here are some photos she shared:

From: Cara
To: Childers family

The "message in a bottle" said:

I've been stranded out at sea
with only these for company.
But you could change my fate-
would you be my kilter date?

("these" means the real goldfish we put in the bottle)

Sadly the fish are dead now....but it kinda fits the whole
concept if you think about it :)

David's note in the sand said, "to the rescue my lass!"

Sleepy....

2006-09-06T22:18:00.000-04:00

I feel so incredibly frustrated, but I do not know why. I must admit, though, how comforting it is to have a warm body, the warm body of this sweet poodle I’m dogsitting this week, pressed up against my leg. Max is sleeping right now, and his comrade Zoe, a tiny teacup black poodle, is curled up a few inches away.

They are both darling, but they show love differently. Zoe is like a small, fiesty woman, and she loves energetically, in bursts of emotion. She will try to attack me but, unfortunately, her highest leaps only get her to about the height of my hip, and even that is about six times her height.

I can feel Max breathing. His love is a more manly kind of love—softer, slower, but more steady and sure. He is much quicker to obey me, and he is also more patient in waiting for my affection. He will let Zoe have it out with her enthusiasm, but then he will calmly assert himself and communicate that he is so glad that I am home, and that he would love for me to pat him or scratch his tummy.

Anyway, I would like to be able to talk about what frustrates me, but I can’t in so public a setting. Really, I am probably just tired. And when I try to think about the irksome things in my life, I realize that I don’t have that much to complain about (although a complainer can always find something to complain about). Looking at my life rationally, I do not have it that bad. And I have many things to be thankful for. One such thing is the beautiful view of lightning that I had on my drive home this evening. At one point in the drive, I had an excellent view of the sky, spread out like a stage before me. Then there was a sudden bolt, starting from the middle of the screen and working its way out in ten different spider-arms of directions, spreading across the sky before me. It was gorgeous.

As I think about these things, I am reminded of something from one of my favorite cheesy musicals, White Christmas (silly as it may be, I still find the outdoor dance/tapdance scene, set in Old Florida, to be incredibly romantic--“When You’re Dancing”). The lyrics of another song from this film, which is sung by Bing Crosby in a lovely scene, are in my head right now:

When I'm worried and I can't sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings
When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds
If you're worried and you can't sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds
If you're worried and you can't sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings

--

In my search for these lyrics, I also found these (written by Johnson Oatman, Jr.):

Count Your Blessings

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Refrain

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

Refrain

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings. Wealth can never buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

Refrain

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be disheartened, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Refrain

Here we are ...

2006-08-29T21:45:00.000-04:00

2006-08-19T23:40:00.000-04:00

So this is where you lay your head at night,
and these walls watch your small, still body
as your dreams wander the landscape of your heart.

Could this frail setting be the palace for the unfolding
of you, every evening?

tales

2006-08-18T22:33:00.000-04:00

"The wish is the first truth about us, since it represents not that learned principle of reality which half-governs our workaday hours, but the primary principle of pleasure which governs infancy, sleep, daydreams--and certainly, many stories. Reading stories, we cannot help remembering Groddeck's 'We have to reckon with what exists, and dreams, daydreams too, are also facts; if anyone really wants to investigate realities, he cannot do better than to start with such as these. If he neglects them, he will learn little or nothing of the world of life.' If wishes were stories, beggars would read; if stories were true, our saviors would speak to us in parables. ... "

-Randall Jarrell, On the Truth in Fairy Tales

:-)

2006-08-13T22:13:00.000-04:00

<----(crying)

2006-08-09T21:58:00.000-04:00

Darkness
is all I can see in this square room,
with four blank walls
and a bare floor—
I cannot even see my body,
though I can feel its warmth.

Not even my hands in front of my face
can be seen, but the walls can’t be longer
than fifteen feet each—
or so I guess, measuring
heel to toe, heel-to-toe.

I’m not sure whether I should look for you
or just wait here;
but surely I do part of the work,
and I want to be found busy, trying.

So now I am just running my hands along,
down,
these blank walls, in the dark.

healthy

2006-08-08T20:37:00.000-04:00

http://www.urbansaddle.com/wordpress/wp-content/
uploads/2006/02/relationships.pdf

My paraphrase of Ephesians 1:3-8

2006-07-16T17:46:00.000-04:00

I was reading in Ephesians, and I thought that this passage was hard to understand. I doubt that I made it any clearer, below, but I have at least eliminated the abundant and ambiguous pronouns in the NIV translation ...

"Praise be to the God and Father of the Church's (our) Lord, Jesus Christ, for the Father has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Because, you see, the Father chose us, the Church, in Jesus Christ, before the creation of the world, to be holy and blameless in his own sight.

In deep love, the Father predestined us to be adopted as his sons and daughters, his own precious children, through Jesus Christ, because this was the Father's pleasure and will--so that we would praise the Father's glorious grace, the grace which he has freely given us in his son Jesus, whom he loves.

In Jesus Christ we have redemption through his own blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with, and corresponding to, the riches of the Triune God's grace, that they lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding (the wisdom and understanding of all things that have passed and all that are to come, as well as all that are)."

(Ephesians 1:3-8, paraphrased)

Barkerian Confession

2006-07-11T21:31:00.000-04:00

1. I have come to believe that I am constantly eager to promote myself above those around me, and that Christ is the only source of downward mobility.

2. I have come to believe that I am truly beautiful, regardless of my weight, age, or momentary attitude.

3. I have come to believe that I am extremely susceptible to great amounts of folly from my own heart.

4. I have come to believe that prayer works and that I am foolish for not praying more often.

feeling bored ...

2006-06-24T20:00:00.000-04:00

It sounds so childish, and so unfamiliar, to say--but I am bored.

Yesterday I stayed home from work, due to feeling sick--for the first time yet. I slept until about 2, then I woke up feeling a little better.

Today I felt even better and I got a lot of stuff done around the house. But then I sat down and I started feeling sick again--I may have pushed it too hard.

But I've done so much reading over the past few days, and really all week, since I've been feeling puny. So now--unbelievably--I don't have that nagging, dark cloud of a longing to read.

I don't know how I feel about this. It is very strange--I haven't felt this way in at least six months.

And I don't have the energy to write e-mails of any substance. So perhaps I will go nap. And then read.

2006-06-23T17:44:00.000-04:00

fine work

corporate coping for the nature nut, part one

2006-06-21T21:52:00.000-04:00

Blow-dry your hair on the way to work:

Blow-drying your hair on the way to work does not involve an ac-adapter—nature nuts repudiate such gadgets. Rather, follow these simple steps:

1. Shower before work, at home.

2. After you have dressed, keep your towel around your shoulders.

2. Apply appropriate styling products (gel, mousse, serum, etc.), as desired.

3. Pack a hairbrush in your purse or briefcase.

4. Drive to work, under the following conditions:

a. Roll down your windows.

b. Turn your car's air on the highest setting, the temperature on 'heat,' and direct the vents toward your scalp. (If you get hot, you can adjust the temperature of the air, but try to leave the fan on the highest setting.)

5. Periodically run your brush/fingers through your hair, focusing on the hair closest to the scalp, but occasionally twirling the ends.

6. After you arrive at work, remove the towel from your shoulders and do a brief styling touch-up before exiting your car.

7. Enter work with dry, fresh, clean, styled hair—and save 10 minutes of time from your morning routine!

Of course, the effectiveness of this method depends on the length of your hair and the length of your commute. Minimum commute time is 15 minutes, with ideally 2 more minutes for each inch of hair below the chin.

Link

2006-06-21T20:13:00.000-04:00

my heart

My nerves are tight

2006-06-14T20:37:00.000-04:00

I'm frustrated because I feel like my job is not good for my health. (Then again, sometimes I just think that I'm not good for my health :).) But in all seriousness, my job stresses me out--big time. The pace is so fast and the setting so sterile and the pressure so high and my tasks so random and varied and often vague or confusing.

Don't get me wrong--I l-o-v-e my job. Honestly, I do. Often I can hardly believe how perfectly God provided this for me, at just the right time, fitting so many of my gifts and the company's needs. I adore my co-workers and I enjoy my industry, and I see a possible future for myself in it.

But what would I pay to have a desk by a window--a window I could look out and see the sky and the earth and trees, animals, and the weather! I would open it and breathe real air and get real Vitamin D during the day. I think this would be a vast improvement over my current situation, which is comprised of drywall, flourescent lighting, and oppressively cold AC.

How to "(do) missions when dying is gain"

2006-06-11T17:22:00.000-04:00

"To wake up in the morning and be aware of the firmness of the mattress, the warmth of the sun's rays, the sound of the clock ticking, the sheer being of things ... (Lewis) helped me become alive to life. He helped me see what is there in the world--things that, if we didn't have, we would pay a million dollars to have, but having them, ignore."

-John Piper (Don't Waste Your Life, pp. 19-20)

No "hill of beans"

2006-06-03T00:07:00.000-04:00

Tonight I watched my favorite film with some great friends. Afterwards they asked me, "So Angela, our little film critic, what did you think of it?" ...I was absolutely speechless.

Proverbs 13:23

2006-05-13T10:54:00.000-04:00

A poor man's field may produce abundant food,
but injustice sweeps it away.

www.chalmers.org

This evening

2006-05-11T19:57:00.000-04:00

I am very tired, so I think I will relax. Sadly, I had to turn down Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid in Central Park so that I can preserve my sanity by getting enough sleep.

I plan to have devotions, work out, shower, pick up a few groceries, pack my lunch for tomorrow, and ... if all goes well ... maybe settle down with a glass of wine and George Eliot's Adam Bede before bedtime.

Yes, I am that elegant bachelorette. (ha!)

Roomie love 4-ever

2006-05-11T19:45:00.000-04:00

Summer Song - (C.H. Spurgeon, July 22 morning)

2006-05-10T21:29:00.000-04:00

"I am married unto you." --- Jeremiah 3:14

Christ Jesus is joined unto His people in marriage-union. In love He espoused His Church as a chaste virgin, long before she fell under the yoke of bondage. Full of burning affection He toiled, like Jacob for Rachel, until the whole of her purchase-money had been paid, and now, having sought her by His Spirit, and brought her to know and love Him, He awaits the glorious hour when their mutual bliss shall be consummated at the marriage-supper of the Lamb. Not yet hath the glorious Bridegroom presented His betrothed, perfected and complete, before the Majesty of heaven; not yet hath she actually entered upon the enjoyment of her dignities as His wife and queen: she is as yet a wanderer in a world of woe, a dweller in the tents of Kedar; but she is even now the bride, the spouse of Jesus, dear to His heart, precious in His sight, written on His hands, and united with His person. On earth He exercises towards her all the affectionate offices of Husband. He makes rich provision for her wants, pays all her debts, allows her to assume His name, and to share in all His wealth. Nor will He ever act otherwise to her. The word divorce He will never mention, for "He hateth putting away." Death must sever the conjugal tie between the most loving mortals, but it cannot divide the links of this immortal marriage. In heaven they marry not, but are as the angels of God; yet there is this one marvellous exception to the rule, for in Heaven Christ and His Church shall celebrate their joyous nuptials. This affinity as it is more lasting, so is it more near than earthly wedlock. Let the love of husband be never so pure and fervent, it is but a faint picture of the flame which burns in the heart of Jesus. Passing all human union is that mystical cleaving unto the Church, for which Christ left His Father, and became one flesh with her.

2006-03-24T23:05:00.000-05:00

Does it get any better than this?

(crusty carpet)

Does it need to?

Welcome

2006-03-24T22:59:00.000-05:00

This is my new home. From http://www.xanga.com/dancingpilgrim.