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| Sunrise over Mt. Rainier this past week. Photo by Nancy Nelson, used with permission. |
Quote for the people of France (and for all of us): "All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming." -Helen Keller
Thoughts for the day (and week), from the book of Job in the Old Testament as paraphrased by our pastor today: God is present in pain and suffering when we don't have answers. He says, "I'm right here in this dung heap with you." We weep with those who suffer. God weeps, too. God has not left us alone, he is with us right here and now, even in our suffering.
Prayers for: the families who lost loved ones in Paris; prayers for my friend Jill who is currently on vacation in Paris; prayers for the young college student from our church who is in Paris and is staying very near the site of one of the explosions. Prayers for us all, that we can learn to live in peace. "Lord, in this suffering, plant seeds of hope, and let us not stray so far into despair that we forget you love us."
Today: Don and I went to see Spectre, the new James Bond movie. Don said he wanted to have an imaginary experience where he knows the good guys will win. This is why I am posting so late today.
Tomorrow: The National Honor Society chapter I am co-advisor for will be inducting 61 new members. Wow!
Yesterday: It was a good football day at our house---The GKHS Eagles won their playoff game, 31-13; The Univ. of Oregon Ducks beat Stanford University 38-36; and our daughter was thrilled the WSU Cougars beat UCLA 37-30. The only team that was predicted to win was the high school team!
Author event: Tuesday night fellow librarians Sandy, Jeanne, and I attended a Lunar Ball together commemorating the launch of the 4th book in The Lunar Chronicles series, Winter, by Marissa Meyer. It was all sparkly and fun. There were so many young girls dressed in ball gowns. It was really a special event. Now to dig in to the 800 page finale of this wonderful series.
Book finished this week:
- Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War by Steve Sheinkin. An excellent, excellent account of the circumstances that led to the US involvement in the Vietnam war and the events that led to Daniel Ellsberg releasing the Dept. of Defense papers to the NYT which ended up undoing Richard Nixon and ultimately the war. I highly recommend it.
Currently reading:
- Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow---audiobook, a post-apocalypse, dystopian novel. Progress 37%.
- The Next Big Thing: The History of Boom-or-Bust Moments Which Shaped the Modern World by Richard Faulk--- short chapters about all kind ofevents or inventions. I am really enjoying it. Progress: 34%
- The Emperor of Any Place by Tim Wynne-Jones---it has good reviews but hasn't caught on for me, yet. Progress 22%
The world stands with you, France! I thought the song from the anniversary of Les Miserables which has 17 different Jean Valjeans was good symbolism of the world standing with France:
Love the video -- brought me to tears! Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a very difficult week, so I enjoyed your retrospective and the positives that are going on also!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the comforting words from your pastor and Anne Frank.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had some bright spots in this difficult weekend. I haven't yet read any of the book you are working on - enjoy them this week!
ReplyDeleteSue
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