Blog List Place

Good-bye, Bookworm!

2007-10-09T15:00:00.000-05:00

We have decided to combine our individual blogs into one family blog, so this is my last post here. Be sure to check it out!

Cooking...

2007-10-08T17:57:00.001-05:00

...is serious business.

Dinner Table Politics

2007-09-24T20:18:00.000-05:00

John mentioned at dinner tonight that the president of Iran had been invited to speak at Columbia University. After a few comments, Becca asked if it was Columbia or the the Iranian president that was bad.

John told her that neither of them share our values, and I added that the president of Iran wants to wipe Israel and America off the face of the earth.

Why, she wanted to know, would anyone invite him to speak at their school? (Isn't it interesting how young children can sometimes see the obvious conclusions that even highly educated professors miss?)

Mama said that colleges pride themselves on being open-minded.

"Some people," said Papa, "are so open-minded that their minds fall out."

True, indeed!

Excursion to Galveston

2007-08-31T15:42:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, we went to Galveston to tour the Moody Mansion. It was built in the 1890's by a woman who was trying to outdo her niece-in-law, so there are a lot of features that were extravagant even for a Victorian mansion. Most of the first two levels, which are all that are shown on the tour, was fully furnished. One desk and chair set was made of African mahogany, which is now an endangered species, so it's literally priceless. It was a really fascinating old place. The black-and white version.
Fun with photo editing software :)

When we'd finished there, we ate a picnic lunch and then went to the state park to play in the water. On our way back, we stopped at the seawall, where this picture was taken.

A Photographic Smorgasbord

2007-08-13T14:51:00.000-05:00

I've decided that it would be pointless to try to fill in every detail of what has happened in the past two months, so I'm just going to post a rather random assortment of pictures from that I liked, especially since Katie did such a good job of chronicling our vacation.

A lovely rose.

Hang on, Becca!

'Nuff said.

The cornhuskers.

Strong man.

Seth had a grand old time using this trumpet, which was the leftover scrap of PVC pipe from a project.

The Gateway Arch.

That's a long way down.

Our first bonfire.

A drapery formation found in a Missouri cave.

The Lily Pad Pool at the same cave.

New friends.

My, this lid is on tight!

The passionate broommaker.

Our dedicated photographer.

Sisters.

The monogram queen.

Shooting off firecrackers. Every project needs a supervisor, right?

Learning to pressure wash.

Another new friend.

What happened to this poor fellow?

Um, well, funny things happen around here sometimes.

No, I have not bought a laptop. This is Papa's old one, which he was using for seminars, but he doesn't need it any more, so it's now available to us children. Although the laptop doesn't have internet, it has still been a luxury to not have to fight over the desktop quite so much!

So, How Do You Cool Off?

2007-06-15T14:07:00.000-05:00

Becca said it was like walking under Niagra Falls! Who wants to just run under a sprinkler when you can get a soaking like this?!

We leave for cool, dry Colorado tomorrow, so don't expect any updates for the next couple of weeks.

Vice or Virtue?

2007-06-09T17:45:00.000-05:00

I was thinking the other day that vice is often times just virtue turned on its head. We all have certain tendencies, gifts, or talents, that, if used properly, will be our greatest assets, but if used improperly, will be our worst faults.

For example, leadership ability can either make you a respected, successful leader, or it can help you become a bossy tyrant.

The ability to talk well can either enable you to be a pleasant person to visit with, or it can make you an annoying babbler who always monopolizes the conversation.

So what makes the difference? It seems like often, in order to positively use a gift, you must let it die.

You can't be a great leader...
... until you've learned to serve.

You can't be a great conversationalist...
... until you've learned to listen.

In broader terms, you can't use your gifts in a positive way unless you've learned to think of others first.

Sound familiar?

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing....So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

~I Corinthians 13:1-3, 13

Dedication

2007-05-25T20:04:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday, I met an eighty-three-year-old fiddler. He's been playing since he was eleven, or in other words,
He's been playing for SEVENTY-TWO YEARS!!!

I have sixty-seven to go.

Showtime!

2007-05-18T17:53:00.000-05:00

This was the end-of-the year performance for the drama class I've been in. It went really well, and we had a good audience. I'm just sad it's over!

The Campout that Wasn't

2007-04-21T10:15:00.000-05:00

We planned our spring campout for Easter weekend, but as we watched the weather reports get worse and worse, we started to have some doubts. Since we were going to Brazos Bend, we decided to go down just for the day on Friday. The weather was absolutely perfect, and we had a great time.

We had a little trouble putting our new hammock up! There was a lot more stretch in the ropes than we anticipated. Success at last!

We saw quite a few alligators. The water was really high, so they were closer to the trails. This one was one of the biggest ones we saw, and it was hissing. We all backed up rather quickly!
This was a little snake we found on the trail.

The park host had this fun face on his tree.

Campfire time! We roasted marshmallows and biscuits. The biscuits were an experiment. We just took the dough and wrapped it around the roasting sticks. They were pretty good, but it was a little hard to get it cooked evenly.

Always Stop to Smell the Roses

2007-04-08T07:48:00.000-05:00

Introducing Maximillian Schnabblegrass

2007-04-04T19:50:00.000-05:00

Haven't I got creative siblings?

Officially Seventeen

2007-03-26T20:09:00.000-05:00

Seventeen seems dreadfully old, but I felt the same way when I turned sixteen, so I'm sure I'll get used to it. I had a very nice birthday, including a lively game of Jenga.

We actually ended up taking all available blocks, so we had to just push it over when we finished.

Developing Vision

2007-03-20T09:05:00.000-05:00

On March 9-10, Papa, Seth, and I went to a conference sponsored by our church on multigenerational vision. They were seeking to inspire families, and especially fathers, to not just think in terms of having a well-paying job, kids that look good, and a comfortable retirement, but rather to seek to reclaim the world for Christ and raise families who will continue to do so for generations. I came away inspired to seek after God more wholeheartedly; to search out his plan for me and what he would have me doing here and now. As a junior in high school, people ask me all the time what plans I have for the future, and I’ve really been thinking in terms of what I will do when I grow up, or when I graduate, but God has a purpose and a place of service for me now, and I need to be sensitive to his leading. Ultimately, there’s nothing I’d rather be than the wife of a godly man and the mother of many children, but, in the meantime, I have time and energy that can be devoted to God’s service in other ways.

My Past Month

2007-03-07T14:37:00.000-06:00

I know I haven't updated in a month, but I think that I'll blame it on our weekend without internet and being miserably sick with a throat infection for a week and a half. I'm much better now, though, and it's high time for a blog update, so here are some rather random pictures from the past month.

We had this giant head of cabbage. In case you can't read the scale, it weighed over 6 1/2 pounds! This is a neat experiment we did. We projected the image of the candle onto the white notecard using the lens.
Laura turned eight on February 2.
We enjoyed getting to see the MacDonalds again! This was the girls table. We visited, jammed, and watched funny videos. (Grapes, anyone?)
My grandparents were here for a weekend, but, unfortunately, it was right in the middle of my illness and I don't have any pictures. For the same reason, I don't have any pictures from Seth's 14th birthday. I was too sick to enjoy it at the time, but I did enjoy the leftover dessert! I'm so grateful to be healthy again.

The Little Things Count

2007-02-06T19:35:00.000-06:00

I recently ended up on a mailing list for a missions college, and so last week, they called to follow up on a DVD they had sent me.

The call began as I would have expected, with the lady asking if I had any questions about the DVD, and if I was interested in their school at all. What I didn't expect was that after I'd answered those questions, she asked if there was anything she could pray for me about, and if she could pray for me right then. I didn't really have any specific requests for her, but, still, I was touched. The first thought I had when I got off the phone was "Well, that was really nice!"

There were two things that struck me. The first one was the impact that such a seemingly little thing can have. The second was the bond between fellow believers. Here I was, talking to a lady whom I'd never met before, and probably never will meet again, but we were sisters in Christ. It was like meeting a fellow countryman in a foreign land.

The Magic Gopher

2007-01-28T08:30:00.000-06:00

This is really creepy at first, but it does have a logical answer. Maybe I'll reveal it in a comment when everybody's had time to see it!

Forays into a Venerable Art

2007-01-17T14:30:00.000-06:00

This past weekend, we did some candlemaking. We made three candles. The purple one on the left was made by filling the mold with crushed ice and then pouring the wax in. The pink one in the middle was dipped, and then when it got too heavy and started sliding down the wick, it was set in a can and sort of drooped into the bell shape. It has character! The brown one on the right was made from white wax with cinnamon mixed in. The cinnamon sank to the bottom, which produced the graduated color. It smells like cinnamon, but the smell doesn't increase when it's burning. Here's a shot of the purple one which shows the light shining through the holes.

Happy Birthday, Katie!!!

2007-01-07T10:01:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!

2007-01-03T14:39:00.000-06:00

We celebrated the arrival of 2007 with sparklers and fire crackers Monday night. Here's Laura.
Seth. Aren't long exposures fun? This one is John.
Becca.
Most of us sat on the porch...
...while Seth shot off the crackers. Watching him was at least as much fun as doing the fire crackers!

Murder in the Window

2006-12-28T14:46:00.000-06:00

I've been meaning to put up these pictures from my play, which was on December 8, but I've had trouble finding time. Here they are now!

Julia Straitford, rich, obnoxious, and clever.
Here's the hair, which you can't see in the other picture. I had so much fun with the gray hair spray! This is the set. I couldn't get the whole stage in one picture, but this is most of it. We ended up scratching the window, since we couldn't get it to look right.
The play went very well. There were a few mistakes, but nothing terrible. It was so much fun!

As a bonus, here's a picture of the gingerbread house I made last week. I started from a kit, and then I added some extras with graham crackers and pretzels. The house took first place at a contest that Papa's office was having, but that's not saying much, since there were only three entries!

Quiz Time!

2006-12-12T19:32:00.000-06:00

I've been tagged, so here goes!

A - Available/Single? Single, yes. Available? I'm only sixteen!
B - Best Friend? Jesus
C - Cake or Pie? Generally cake, but it depends on the type.
D - Drink Of Choice? Hot chocolate.
E - Essential Item You Use Everyday? Glasses, pencil
F - Favorite Color? Yellow
G - Gummy Bears Or Worms? Bears
H - Hair Style? Long braid down the back
I - Indulgence? Eating sweets
J - January Or February? January. (It doesn't rain as much)
K - Kids & Their Names? Don't have any
L - Life Is Incomplete Without? God and His Word
M - Marriage Date? I'm single, remember?
N- Number Of Siblings? 5
O - Oranges Or Apples? Oranges
P - Phobias/Fears? Standing on wobbly ladders
Q - Favorite Quote? I don't know that it's my favorite, but I like this one: "Maturity is bearing patiently with unpleasant or immature people."
R - Reason to Smile- Jesus loves me, this I know!
S - Season? Fall
T - Tag Three People? No, but all you blog readers out there, feel free to do it!
U - Unknown Fact About Me? I have a souvenir rock collection.
V - Vegetable you don't like? Cucumbers
W - Worst Habit? Reading everything in sight.
X - X-rays You've Had? I had a head X-ray before I got my braces.
Y - Your Favorite Food? Either chocolate or ice cream.
Z - Zodiac Sign? I have no idea.

Thanksgiving

2006-12-01T18:04:00.000-06:00

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My grandparents and aunt were here from Tuesday to Monday, and it was a full and fun weekend. Katie and John went to dance camp from Thursday to Sunday, so we had our Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday.

Katie, with the fruit of her morning's labor. It was delicious.
After lunch, we went on a walk, or a unicycle ride, depending who you ask.
The six of us children performed a short play, Lost and Found, which was adapted for stage, produced, and directed by B. J. Pedersen, who is introducing it below.
The touching conclusion.
One of our talented supporting actors.
We finished the evening with Grandma's well-loved popcorn cake...
and a jigsaw puzzle.
This is totally unrelated, but Papa took an airplane to lunch today. He was in his boss's office this morning, and his boss asked him if he was interested in an adventure for lunch. The boss's coworker owns a small airplane, and every so often, they fly to Brenham for lunch. There's a diner right at the airport there, so they just park the plane and go eat. When Papa came home from work tonight, he said "Guess where I went to lunch and how I got there." We figured out that he had taken an airplane that seated between two and six people to a hamburger place not in Houston before he had to tell us anything.

Campout, Part Two

2006-11-17T14:38:00.000-06:00

Papa was in Boy Scouts growing up, and, every so often, he pulls out some camp song or wilderness skill. So, on this trip, we learned rope making and semaphore. Here, Seth and John are testing our rope splice.

This longhorn was at one of the Johnson sites. He was comfortably lounging next to the fence until Seth poked him. It's impressive how quickly an animal that size can stand up. It did put him at a better angle for picture taking, though.
This is where the vultures roosted. We came upon the tree when we were out walking. There were about three dozen birds in it that all took flight when we came up.
It was a busy weekend.

Campout

2006-11-17T14:22:00.000-06:00

This past weekend, we went camping at Pedernales Falls State Park. We'd never been there before, but it was one of the nicest state parks we've been to. We spent Friday visiting the Lyndon B. Johnson sites nearby, and then on Saturday we explored the park. We spent the entire morning clambering around on rocks at the falls, and then there were a couple of expeditions to other points on the river in the afternoon. We had beautiful weather all weekend, although it was rather chilly on a couple of mornings.

We're not quite sure how this cute little guy managed to get into the dumpster, but there he was! We also spotted armadillos, deer, and vultures at various times.

Texas Celebration

2006-11-08T17:30:00.000-06:00

For those of you who don't know, (and who haven't already read Katie's recent post), our family does an annual celebration of a different country or culture. It includes food, costumes, reports, and study. This year was historic Texas.

My parents, stolid and grim.
Becca, shown, made the poster on the upper left. Laura did the one underneath it. Seth did the one with all the graphs on the right, and I made the horns.
The feast! From right to left: chili (which, unfortunately, you can't actually see), chili with cornbread on top, grits with green chiles, corn fritters, sourdough biscuits, and gravy. Not shown are the cowboy cookies, which were absolutely fantastic. The cowboys.
The pampered chef.

Revolution, by George Barna

2006-11-03T14:52:00.000-06:00

"Millions of believers have moved beyond the established church, and chosen to be the church instead.

"Research by renowned pollster George Barna points to a hidden revolution--one that will impact every Christian believer in America. Millions of committed Christ followers, looking for more of God, have stopped attending church on Sunday mornings. Why are they leaving? Where are they going? And what does this mean for the future of the Church?

"In this groundbreaking book, Barna examines the state of the church today-- and compares it to the biblical picture of the church as God intended it to be. He documents how and why a new brand of devout 'Revolutionaries' is abandoning the local church building while attempting to become the Church that Christ commissioned us to be.

"This Revolution will challenge you with
-the staightforward biblical guidelines for the Church
-7 core passions of a Revolutionary
-a daring redefinition of the church as we know it.

"Maybe you're afraid of the changes to come. Maybe you've been waiting for this moment to arrive. Either way, THE REVOLUTION IS HERE."

-From the back.

I just finished this book recently, and found it very inspiring. The back doesn't really reflect it so much, but it talks a lot about how people in and out of the church are desiring to take their faith seriously, and are not depending on programs or pastors to do the work of ministry. It has made me want to live more whole-heartedly for the Lord.

The seven passions mentioned on the back are: intimate worship, faith-based conversations, intentional spiritual growth, servanthood, resource investment, spiritual friendships, and family faith(i.e. not relying on Sunday school teachers to bring up your children in the faith). I know I'm not where I'd like to be in these areas so it's been kind of a wake-up call for me.

Emily Dickinson

2006-10-17T18:04:00.000-05:00

I have long appreciated Emily Dickinson's concise yet imaginative work, so when I came to her in my literature book, I thouroghly enjoyed the section. She did have a bleak view of death, and a good bit of mixed up theology, so not all of her poems are as enjoyable as others, but here are are of few of the ones I like best. The last one is probably my very favorite.

How happy is the little stone
That rambles in the road alone,
And does n't care about careers,
And exigencies never fears;
Whose coat of elemental brown

A passing universe put on;
And independent as the sun,
Associates or glows alone,
Fulfilling absolute decree
In casual simplicity.

******
She sweeps with many colored brooms,
And leaves the shreds behind;
Oh, housewife in the evening west,
Come back, and dust the pond!

You dropped a purple ravelling in,
You dropped an amber thread;
And now you've littered all the East
With duds of emerald!

And still she plies her spotted brooms,
And still the aprons fly,
Till brooms fade softly into stars--
And then I come away.

******
I like to see it lap the miles,
And lick the valleys up,
And stop to feed itself at tanks;
And then, prodigious step

Around a pile of mountains,
And, supercilious, peer
In shanties by the sides of roads;
And then quarry pare

To fit its sides, and crawl between,
Complaining all the while
In horrid, hooting stanza;
Then chase itself down hill

And neigh like Boanerges;
Then punctual as a star,
Stop--docile and omnipotent--
At its own stable door.

******
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it on the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

******
A word is dead
When it is said,
......Some say.
I say it just
............Begins to live
................That day.

******
To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,--
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do
If bees are few.

******
There is no frigate like a book
......To take us lands away,
Nor any coursers like a page
......Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may the poorest take
......Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
......That bears a human soul!

An Afternoon at the Opera

2006-10-09T20:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday afternoon found our family at Miller Outdoor Theater for an "abridged, family-friendly" version of the opera La Boheme. We had never been to an opera before, so this was all very novel to us. There were four actors, a narrator, and an accompanist. Basically, I think what they did was choose all the best songs of the opera, and then the narrator filled in the story gaps that were left. At one point, when the hero and heroine had just met, the narrator said that they were already falling in love. "Things move fast in opera," he said. One of the songs that they cut was one character singing a tender goodbye to his coat. That would sure have been funny!

This opera didn't have a terribly interesting plot. How could it, I suppose, when it takes five minutes to get every sentence out? So, I guess that you only go to the opera for the music, not the story. The other thing about opera is that everything is pretty much sung with the same amount of drama and emotion. If you're not listening closely, "You're the beloved of my life," and "Look! I painted those soldiers" sound just alike.

Opera is not exactly my favorite kind of music, but I do think it would be fun to go to a full production, with a complete set, orchestra, and choruses. Mama said that this gave her enough opera to last her another couple of decades.

The accompanist was rather interesting. He came out early for a sound check, and a few people started clapping. He waved his hand for them to stop like he was personally insulted. He was also wearing red socks under his black pants! He never really looked like he was particularly enjoying himself, and when we were pulling out of the parking lot, we saw him walking to the car. He had already changed clothes and was leaving!

Overheard in the Kitchen

2006-10-04T20:21:00.000-05:00

"Laura! Don't put the lettuce in your hair!"

I'm afraid I don't know the circumstances behind this, but I found it amusing.

Books!

2006-09-27T20:11:00.000-05:00

The Servens did this on their blog, and I thought it looked like fun, so here goes.

1. What is one book that has changed your life? The Bible, certainly. The Word is sharper than any two edged sword! Secondarily, God really used A Christian's Secret of a Happy Life, by Hannah Whitall Smith, to pull me out of a pit a few years ago.

2. What is one book that you have read more than once? The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings. I've read each of those three or four times straight through. There are many, many others that I've read at least twice.

3. What is one book that you would want on a desert island? Umm, well, for practical purposes, some kind of survival guide, I suppose. For emotional, mental, and spiritual purposes, definitely the Bible.

4. What is one book that made you laugh? The Complete Adventures of Homer Price. There is absolutely nothing profound about these stories, but they are undoubtedly funny.

5. What is one book that made you cry? I don't remember ever actually shedding tears over a book, but I've gotten a little choked up over a few. A Tale of Two Cities was one, I think. A couple of short stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne (The Birthmark and The Minister's Black Veil) more recently.

6. What is one book that you wish had never been written? Mein Kampf, Das Kapital, Origin of the Species, and Descent of Man. I'm not doing very well with only naming one!

7. What is one that you wish had been written? Oh, I don't know. There can never be too many books!

8. What is one book that you are currently reading? Pilgrim's Progress. I've been familiar with the story for as long as I can remember, and I've read the children's version, but this is the first time I've read the original. I've hardly cracked it open yet, though, so I can't really tell you how it is.

9. What is one book you are meaning to read? The list is endless! I'll limit myself here and only mention one: The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis.

A Myth Debunked

2006-09-22T20:05:00.000-05:00

Take it from me; there is nothing romantic about fainting.

Oh, don't get me wrong. If there's a dashing young lover in the vicinity, the aftermath might be romantic, but there is absolutely nothing inherently romantic in fainting.

How do I know? Well, this afternoon, I was innocently walking through our dining room when I felt a sharp pain in the ball of my left foot. I got to a chair and examined it, and found a small splinter with the end just barely protruding. After my own efforts to extract it with tweezers were fruitless, I asked my mother to try. When she said she would have to use a needle, I decided I would let it work its way out on its own. I got up and went to the kitchen, and then started to feel light-headed. I made it to the chair in the living room with about five seconds to spare before I fainted dead away. My next memory is coming gradually out of la-la land, and my mother asking if I was okay. It took me a few minutes to recover, but I'm back to normal now, other than the slightest of headaches. My younger siblings thought I was dying.

By the way, this was not completely unprecedented. I once fainted after skinning my knee, and I've gotten light-headed over other injuries.

It's rather mortifying. I like to think of myself as such a strong person. I guess there's nothing like a good fainting spell to humble a person, after all.

Sigh.

But this will never do! If I go on like this, I'll have to change the name of my blog!

So, on the lighter side, it came to my attention this afternoon (before the splinter) that my younger siblings didn't know how to do the hokey-pokey. Not wanting my near family members to be ignorant of this established tradition, I taught them! They caught on quickly, and we greatly amused our parents with a complete rendition.

The Icon

2006-09-19T20:03:00.000-05:00

Last week, my dear friend Mrs. H took me out to lunch at the Hotel Icon downtown. It was a fascinating place. The hotel has only been in business for a couple of years, but it is in an old bank building. The huge vault door is right behind the registration desk! I always love the high, carved ceilings in old buildings, and this one was no exception. The furnishings were probably not genuine antiques, but they certainly gave an authentic flair to the building. It was all perfectly chosen, even to the draperies.

The food, by the way, was scrumptious.

Pictures!

2006-09-15T20:01:00.000-05:00

I was told by a friend of mine the other day that my blog needed pictures. Problem 1: I don't have a digital camera. Problem 2: I really haven't taken any pictures for the last couple of months. Undaunted however, I have scanned in a couple of shots I took at Arches National Monument on our vacation this summer.
This was sort of an accidental shot, in that I didn't realize what I was getting. It's at Double Arch, where there are two arches with a cave-like area in between. I took the picture while sitting in the smaller arch, looking down into the in-between area. The large arch is the opening on the right, but what I love about this picture is the way the smaller arch is silhouetted. You can even see us at the bottom!
This is at Delicate Arch, probably the most famous one. Tired hikers on top of the world!

Starting Drama

2006-09-11T20:06:00.000-05:00

Thursday was the first day of a drama class I'm taking through our homeschool support group this year! Yah-hoo! There are eleven people in the class, and we're doing a murder mystery called Murder in the Window. I'm playing an old, rich, and heartless widow. I'm not the villain though; I'm the victim! We'll be performing sometime during the first two weeks of December. Exact date is TBA. I'm really looking forward to this year!

Five Years

2006-09-11T19:59:00.000-05:00

This is the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It's hard to believe that it's been that long.

Concerning Emerson

2006-09-06T18:00:00.000-05:00

I've been reading excerpts from Ralph Waldo Emerson for literature, and I find it tragic that this man was one of the most influential writers of the 19th century. Here are some samples:

Every spirit builds itself a house; and beyond its house a world; and beyond its world, a heaven. Know then, that the world exists for you... Build, therefore, your own world. ~Nature

The world certainly does not exist for us. We, and the entire world, exist for God's glory.

Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind... No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature... the only right is what is after my constitution; the only wrong what is against it. ~Self-Reliance

So man's mind is the standard for right and wrong, and any dependence on the ideas of other people is demeaning? No, man is created to be dependent on those around him, and God is the standard for right and wrong.

If therefore a man claims to know and speak of God and carries you backward to the phraseology of some old moldered nation in another country, in another world, believe him not.
~Self-Reliance

In other words, the Bible is not relevant to anyone other than those who wrote it.

One more:

But thou, meek lover of the good!
Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.
~Brahma

No comment on that one.

Entering the Blogosphere

2006-09-05T19:59:00.000-05:00

Well, I've been thinking I'd like to have a blog for some time now, and here it is! About the title... I am certainly a bookworm. I'm almost always in the middle of some book or another, and you'll probably hear about them here! And, yes, I have strong optimist tendencies.