bekahcubed | bekahcubed - Part 107

The Week in Words

WiW: Work in Progress

May 16, 2011 2 Comments by bekahcubed

“…I can understand the impatience of many with the halting progress made by new democracies around the world. From our vantage point, our own democracy and government may appear to have come easily. But they did not.

Thirteen years after America declared its independence, we had to completely revamp our government.

And though in 1789 we started with a near perfect document, the Constitution, it took decades, even centuries for us to build a more perfect country. It took over seventy-five more years to achieve the abolition of slavery. It was fifty-five years after the surrender at Appomattox before women earned the right to vote and another forty-five years beyond that before real civil rights came to our own nation.

Only in hindsight do we feel the onward rush of progress and think of it as inevitable and unstoppable. In the moment, it looks like something else indeed.”

~Laura Bush, in Spoken from the Heart (paragraphing my own)

She posed the question to the whole class. “But what about when you want to do the right thing, but you just keep sinning again and again?”

I could identify.

I write a noble preamble with the best of intentions.

“We the people of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect union…”

And perfection doesn’t come.

Slavery. Sexism. Racism.

I find myself far from what I want to be.

Divided. At war with myself. Many battles and few victories.
And even the victories that come are such broken, bittersweet victories.

For I am at war with myself–how can I win?

One war won and another rises to take its place.
The steps of progress painfully slow.

I want it to be instantaneous.

I want to write my constitution and be perfected.
I want justification to mean immediate sanctification.

But it doesn’t.

Looking at another’s life, I feel that sanctification comes naturally, quickly.

But it doesn’t.

“Only in hindsight do we feel the onward rush of progress and think of it as inevitable and unstoppable. In the moment, it looks like something else indeed.”

Maybe it’s only in hindsight that the fight loses its pain, that the struggle seems easy. But I’ll keep my eye on the Preamble–and the promised end.

I shared it with my classmate, and I’ll remind myself again:

“O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
~Romans 7:24-25

Don’t forget to take a look at Barbara H’s meme “The Week in Words”, where bloggers collect quotes they’ve read throughout the week.

Faith

Agents of Grace

May 13, 2011 Leave a comment by bekahcubed

I wonder what you thought you were doing when you sang the chorus that impressed me with wonder at God’s reign.

Performing, probably–

But you were an agent of grace to me.

I wonder what you thought as you wrote the books that touched my heart, stimulated my mind, moved me to give glory to God.

Perhaps you longed for greatness or for self-expression–

But you were an agent of grace to me.

I wonder what you thought as you debated the Constitution that would make me a free woman in a free land.

Maybe you had mighty ideals of how a country should be ruled–

But you were an agent of grace to me.

I wonder what you thought as you passed my resume along after a teal-suited interview.

Were you just doing a favor?–

But you were an agent of grace to me.

I wonder what you thought as you built the road that transports me safely to Grand Island and back.

Maybe you were just getting the job done–

But you were an agent of grace to me.

Common grace, bestowed freely
The grace unexplained
Wielded through conduits unsuspecting
Unbelievers, agents of God’s grace to me.

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: A fall

May 12, 2011 2 Comments by bekahcubed

I wasn’t thinking when I stepped out her back door into the place the deck used to be. I wasn’t thinking about how the deck was no longer there.

So my step led me right into the gap between the makeshift steps and the house.

When I fell, I pushed the door open, letting the rest see what had happened.

This week, I’m thankful for…

…friends who come running

…a sister who lifts the stairs away, freeing my trapped leg

…a short drive home (since my right foot was having a hard time with accelerating and braking)

…a bathtub to soak in

…pillows to elevate my legs as I slept

…blissful sleep even as tears of pain slipped down my cheeks

…cruise control to lessen the stress of my drive into Grand Island

…open chairs at almost every nurse’s station, meaning I was off my feet for most of the day

…my favorite resident (I know, I probably shouldn’t have favorites, but I do) hoping I’ll feel better soon

…understanding mothers who don’t blink an eye when I cancel sewing with their daughters at the last minute

…friends again, who text to see how I’m doing

…the God who shows mercy amidst my every fall

What are YOU thankful for today?

Book Review: “The Story of the Bible” by Larry Stone

May 12, 2011 4 Comments by bekahcubed

After the the first book I agreed to review from a publisher turned out to be a dud (in my opinion, humble), I told myself that maybe I just wasn’t cut out for the “review copy” thing. I should go back to just reviewing the books I check out of the library. It’s much less pressure that way.

Then I saw The Story of the Bible from Thomas Nelson’s BookSneeze program–and saw that the foreword was by Ravi Zacharias.

Surely if Ravi wrote the foreword, it’s got to be okay, I told myself. So I went ahead and requested it without reading another word.

What a fortuitous impulse!

The Story of the Bible arrived outside my front door, I opened it up, and was immediately hooked.

For the next couple of weeks, I never went anywhere without my copy.

“You need to see what Thomas Nelson just sent me,” I’d say as I pulled it out of my tote to pass to friends, family, and strangers. (Lucky me, I carry a nice large tote that can hold the jumbo-sized coffee-table-style book.)

“It’s the story of the writing and canonization and preservation and translation of the Bible.” I told them as they rifled through the pages.

Then, lest they miss the most exciting part, I’d direct them to the vellum envelope pages found within every chapter. “Go ahead and take it out” I’d urge.

Dutifully, they’d pull out the odd sized papers found in the various envelopes.

One started reading the writing:

Great Isaiah Scroll
The only complete Dead Sea Scroll is the Great Isaiah Scroll, discovered in 1947 by Muhammed Ahmed el-Hamed and pictured on page 25….

I could hear the quizzical expression in my friend’s voice as she read aloud. “Why on earth is Rebekah so excited about this?”

“Turn it over,” I urged.

And that’s when she discovered what I was so excited about.

Each scrap of paper within the vellum envelopes is a life-size full-color replica of a Biblical text.

A page from the Dead Sea Scrolls, pages from the Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, Wycliff’s Bible and Gutenberg’s. The list goes on and on.

It’s like a museum in one glossy paged volume.

I can’t be more excited.

The text itself is in well-written, engaging prose. I had no difficulty getting through the pages–or dipping in for a paragraph here and there in casual perusal (both of which I did.)

The author writes with an evangelical bent and an obvious reverence for the Word of God. This is no dull historical story of how men have preserved a book. This is a living story of how God has spoken a book, preserved His words, and communicated His heart to the nations of the world throughout the centuries.

This book is a definite keeper!

Rating: 5 stars
Category:Christian history
Synopsis:A museum in a book, telling the story (and showing the documents) of the writing, canonization, preservation, and translation of the Bible.
Recommendation: 5 stars

For the sake of full disclosure, I received this book for free via the Book Sneeze blogger program at Thomas Nelson. All views expressed in this post are my own. I received nothing for this review beyond the book I just reviewed (which is a reward of great worth, if I do say so myself!)

I take pictures of my toilet

May 11, 2011 7 Comments by bekahcubed

I do.

You don’t believe me?

Here’s proof:

back of toilet bowl

My toilet had been running continuously, so I set out to replace the flapper.

Flapper replaced, I filled the tank (sans the space taken up by my Dorothy Lynch dressing bottles of water) with water and added food coloring.

Toilet bowl with blue dye

Unfortunately, the blue food dye quickly leaked into the bowl, indicating that my fix had NOT solved the problem.

So I disassembled the toilet again and did some troubleshooting.

Maybe it’s that hard water deposit on the what’sit there.

My Xacto knife came out and I scraped the deposit off.

I refilled the tank and added red dye this time.

back of toilet bowl

Nope. That wasn’t it either.

Then I broke the ceramic urn thing I keep on the back of my toilet.

So I super glued it back together.

Then I super glued a ceramic figurine I’d broken months ago back together.

Then I discovered that I’d super glued my fingers together.

Xacto knives are great for removing excess glue from random surfaces–but be careful when removing excess glue from fingers.

Postscript: My pastor preached out of Proverbs 31 this Sunday–and I can’t help but think of Mrs. 31 as I go about my not-always-routine day-to-day tasks. Did Mrs. 31 ever have to deal with a toilet that just won’t be fixed? I know Mrs. 31 wouldn’t leave half of her dishes over to the next day. But then again, Mrs. 31 didn’t have to spend 8 (or 10) hours at work each day, did she? I vacillate between inadequacy and pride as I compare myself. Which completely misses the point, I remind myself. FEAR GOD, Rebekah. That’s what make you a Ms. 31 (not whether or not you leave dishes on the counter or succeed in fixing your toilet.)

Book Review: “The Garden of Eden” by Ernest Hemingway

May 10, 2011 7 Comments by bekahcubed

It’s a rare day that I put down a book after the requisite 50 pages because I no longer want to keep reading. (I’ve done that with maybe a handful of books.)

It’s an even rarer day that I put down a book that I want to keep reading but that I mustn’t keep reading.

Yet this is what I have done with The Garden of Eden

This is the story of a young writer and his new bride, on their honeymoon in the French Riveria. It’s written with Hemingway’s typical terse prose. From the beginning, the interpersonal dynamics between the girl and the writer are fascinating–all the more fascinating by the way Hemingway tells his stories.

Unfortunately, the story starts off with quite a bit of sex (not surprising for a honeymooning couple–or for Hemingway)–and denigrates further as the story progresses.

First the girl cuts her hair like that of a boy.

Then she wants to be more experimental in the bedroom. (Given Hemingway’s somehow less-than-graphic prose in this segment I made it past this part.)

But when she starts taking on with a girl she meets–and when she practically orders her husband to sleep with the other girl–and when I realized that what was coming next was that she too would be sleeping with the other girl–

I knew I had to close the book.

Writing it out like this, so cold on my computer screen, it’s hard to believe that the story thus far was as engaging as it actually is.

It’s a perverted, immoral tale.

So why did I want to keep reading?

I wanted to keep reading because Hemingway truly is a master of his art, and he is tremendously masterful in this particular story.

The writer intrigued me and puzzled me. He very clearly had no desire to be involved in what his wife was drawing him into. He was uncomfortable with it from the first. Yet time after time, he accedes to her wishes. He tells her he likes her hair when he doesn’t. He cuts his hair in the same style as hers. He kisses the other girl.

Why?

Why does he continue this wicked little game?

I won’t ever know. I don’t need to know.

Yet I feel somewhat like Digory Kirke, standing by the bell and wanting so much to ring it.

Thankfully, the book was due back to the library the day I decided, so the temptation to read the rest will subside with the opportunity to do so less accessible–and I will not live to regret having rung a bell that could not be unrung.

This “review” is somewhat unusual among my reviews in not having a summary statement at the end. I feel it unnecessary to rate or provide a short synopsis of this title. On the other hand, I do feel it valuable to give my recommendation: don’t go near this particular bell. And if you find yourself hearing the warning of the Holy Spirit, as I did, over a book you’re reading–please put it down. The paradise this world offers is but a pale imitation, a twisted shadow, a tormented image of the Paradise God offers. Let the vision of the One cause you to turn your eyes from every deformed other.

The Week in Words

WiW: What’s really important

May 9, 2011 4 Comments by bekahcubed

I don’t have a lot of time to blog this morning–so I’ll just give a couple of quick quotes that I read this morning that got me thinking:

“…we Christians would be utterly insane to envy people who pitch themselves out of the window of sin—on top of a skyscraper—to enjoy a vapor’s exhilaration of the freefall of greed, or the freefall of drugs, or power, or fame, or sex, or job success—and then death. We would just be insane to envy the world.”
~John Piper (see here)

“Thus says the LORD:
‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these I delight,’ says the LORD. ”
~Jeremiah 9:23-24

How easy it is to envy the world or to boast in the things of the world.

How foolish it is to envy the world or to boast in the things of the world.

For these things will fade like a vapor and nothing will be left.

But this…

to understand and to know God…

this is what will remain.

This is worth devoting my life to pursuing.

This is worth boasting about.

Don’t forget to take a look at Barbara H’s meme “The Week in Words”, where bloggers collect quotes they’ve read throughout the week.

Book Review: “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak

May 6, 2011 4 Comments by bekahcubed

What is it about books that makes them so tantalizing?

What is it about them that begs to be picked up, to be enjoyed, to be READ?

I’m not quite sure what it is…but it is a powerful force.

It’s the force that made young Liesel Meminger perform her first act of thievery: picking up a book lying half hidden in the snow by her even younger brother’s grave.

What follows in The Book Thief is a masterful tale of the power of written words snatched from snowy seclusion, from a censor’s fire, from a kindly cruel neighbor’s library.

The illiterate Liesel is taught to read by her near-illiterate foster father. Liesel reads to the Jew her foster parents are hiding in their cellar. And both the Jew and Liesel write as death looks on.

For this story is set within Nazi Germany, while the Grim Reaper is busy across the whole of Europe.

The Book Thief is a fascinating story, not the least because it’s narrated by the Grim Reaper himself.

An excerpt from the beginning of the book:

“As I’ve been alluding to, my one saving grace is distraction. It keeps me sane. It helps me cope, considering the length of time I’ve been performing this job. The trouble is, who could ever replace me?….The answer, of course, is nobody, which has prompted me to make a conscious, deliberate decision–to make distraction my vacation. Needless to say, I vacation in increments. In colors.

Still, it’s possible that you might be asking, why does he even need a vacation? What does he need distraction from?

Which brings me to my next point.

It’s the leftover humans.

The survivors….

Which in turn brings me to the subject I am telling you about tonight, or today, or whatever the hour and color. It’s the story of one of those perpetual survivors–an expert at being left behind.

It’s just a small story really, about, among other things:

A girl

Some words

An accordianist

Some fanatical Germans

A Jewish fist fighter

And quite a lot of thievery

I saw the book thief three times.

The Reaper tells the story of all his dealing with Leisel–the Book Thief, as he calls her–from her first act of thievery to her last breath. Along the way, he tells a story of men and women and little girls and boys who risked much and gained much in silent resistance to the Reich.

I found it wonderful.

Rating: 5 stars
Category:Historical fiction
Synopsis:The Grim Reaper tells the tale of a young girl inside Nazi Germany who finds herself enamored with books–and willing to go to great lengths to obtain them.
Recommendation: I greatly enjoyed this book–although it took a bit to get accustomed to the Reaper’s unique style

Interesting note about this book–This was my first, and last, adult fiction book with last name “Z”. Just so happens, all the other books my library owns by authors with last names starting in Z are either sci-fi or mysteries–books I determined from the outset that I wouldn’t include in my personal challenge. So there you have it :-)

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Nothing in particular

May 5, 2011 1 Comment by bekahcubed

“Whatcha doin’?” they’d ask.

“Nothin’ in particular” I’d often tell them. “Just a bit of this and that.”

Sometimes life’s like that.

Nothing in particular–

but quite a bit of bits and pieces nonetheless.

This week, I’m thankful for…

…doing nothing
I’ve had several jam-packed weekends in a row–and they’ve plum worn me out! It was lovely to have a Friday night of doing nothing (even if I did end up at work until 9–I didn’t have anything to do once I got home!)

…bloggie buddies
While I’ve been busy, blogging (and blog reading) has been somewhat neglected. But despite all that, I have good bloggie buddies who continue to stick around.

…catching up
It takes forever to catch up on blog reading–but I do love to hear what’s been going on in everyone’s life and mind. In addition to catching up on reading blogs, I’ve gotten busy writing up some overdue book reviews (which means this month might be a little book-heavy. Eh. C’est la vie.)

…living history
I’ve been reading about World War II and started talking about it with my brother (whose degree is in history and whose special focus is WWII) in the presence of my grandfather. Josh and I fought a bit about what really is the beginning of the war and this and that–but then Grandpa interjected. Because he lived through the war. He told about what his schoolteacher said about all the war business as it was going. (She said the boys who were in school wouldn’t have to go to war because there had to be a 2/3 majority in Senate for the U.S. to go to war, BTW. According to my dad, that rule has changed via a Constitutional amendment.)

…lemon drops
I tried to read in the car since I had books to return that I hadn’t finished yet. For whatever reason, my stomach rebelled. For whatever reason, lemon drops eased my suffering. I am thankful.

…my residents
I love my residents. Really. Even the ones who drive me nuts. And I’m glad whenever I can bring sunshine to their days–or, if not, whenever I can brush even one cloud away.

…singers in a fort
The Bible study gals “hid” in the fort out back, giggling and singing. It was the perfect relief after a too-long day of work.

…common grace
I was struck today with the many marvelous ways unbelievers have been agents of God’s grace to me. Someday I’ll write a post on it. For now, I’ll just marvel at the works of art, the discoveries of science, the structural and political advances–so many wonderful things done by unbelievers, not knowing by Whose grace they were acting.

Thank God that the rain falls on the just and the unjust.

What are YOU thankful for today?

Following Christ

A Quick Note to Myself

May 5, 2011 1 Comment by bekahcubed

Reminder: Worth

Your worth does not depend on how many assessments you complete at work.
Your worth depends on what God says about you.

“Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
~Matthew 10:31

Reminder: Rest

Your rest is not found in sleep on a bed (or a spare couch or a car seat).
Your rest is found in Christ Jesus

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
~Matthew 11:28

Reminder: Truth

Your feelings are not truth.
Christ Jesus is truth.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
~John 14:6

Reminder: Life

Your circumstances are not your life.
Christ Jesus is your life.

“For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”
~Colossians 3:3-4