I was lost. My heart was as cold as the January weather outside. Sitting in front of the warm fire my father had built could not warm it. In fact, sitting in my living room, staring into the fire, and watching the orange and blue flames lick the logs, I knew with certainty for the first time that if I died as I was, I would be like those logs. Yet I would burn eternally. Repeatedly, I had listened to gospel messages teaching from the Bible that I was on the broad road leading to hell and the lake of fire.
That night, January 20, 1975, I understood for the first time that it was not a bunch of nameless faces trudging down that road. I was on that road. I needed salvation. Dread and fear triggered a flood of tears. My mother read verses to me from her Bible. One in particular stood out: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
I thought, “How simple!” God said that whoever called upon Him shall be saved. One thing my parents taught me growing up is that God’s word is trustworthy. If it’s in the Bible, it was true. I believed that with all my heart. I kneeled down in front of the couch and asked God to save my soul. In that very moment, the weight of my sin lifted, and to this day, I remember the smile that spread across my face. I knew without a doubt that God had saved me. Not because I prayed. Not because I felt happy. It was because God said. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” God said it. I believed it. I was found.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Day After Thanksgiving!
Our special day included making homemade donuts. After trimming the tree, we huddled in front of the fireplace sipping hot-mulled cider and feasting on warm donuts while listening to Christmas music. As always, it proved to be a cozy day.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Proud Penguins by Kevin
God made penguins to catch their prey easily from the surrounding sea life. Emperor penguins eat squid, which are very slippery and hard to grasp creatures. Penguins, however, have advantages. Their prey cannot squirm out of their mouths because they have spikes on the top of their mouth and their tongue. They also have long beaks to snap up their food. Although squid are very fast, penguins are faster and can swim at speeds of 30 mph. They can dive to depths of 1,500 feet and stay under water for over 18 minutes to catch their food such as squid, shrimp, krill, and small fish. God created these peculiar birds especially unique to catch their food.
Penguins have ferocious enemies. Sea birds hungrily devour penguin eggs before they hatch. They will also feed on unguarded or unwatched chicks. Humans are also an enemy of penguins even when we do not purposely kill them. Sometimes pollution and litter will cause harm to the penguin colony. For instance, in 1989 hundreds of birds died because a massive Argentine oil tanker accidentally spilled 170,000 gallons of gas into the ocean. In addition, tourists visit nesting grounds and penguins become disturbed and leave their nests causing many chicks never to hatch out of their eggs. There are also sea creatures such as killer whales and seals that would love to get a tasty snack like a penguin or two. The worst enemies of the penguin are the leopard seals, which are strong, muscular, swift, and powerful. They are above all the terror of the ocean for the penguin. Sometimes a leopard seal follows a penguin’s shadow as it walks along the ice. Smashing through the ice, the seal will grab the penguin before it knows what happened. Although penguins have fierce enemies, they can swim up to 30 mph if they need to escape their predators.
Mother and father penguins care for their babies. Both males and females spend months feeding at the ocean because they will not eat for a long time to come. Once they dine, they head back to their nesting ground where they will choose a mate and the females will lay the egg. The mother penguin keeps the egg in a tuft of fur hanging down from the bottom of her stomach to her feet. This extra flap of fur protects the egg and the chick from the cold, freezing winter. Carefully, the mother trades the egg to the father penguin. Sometimes they are too eager and will let the egg stay out too long or will lose it. Others who are patient will trade the egg successfully. After the trading, the mother will return to the sea to feed. The father now has the egg and he and all the other male penguins stay in a huge huddle to keep warm. They will have to endure one of the toughest ordeals in the world: the Antarctic winter. The father penguins will suffer for one speck of life inside a tiny shell. The temperature can reach 100 degrees below freezing, the winds around them can reach a speed of 150 mph, and snow can fall several feet per day. Yet the father perseveres for the egg. When the egg hatches, the mother returns and regurgitates partially digested food into the chick’s mouth. The father returns to the sea to feed after two months of not eating. The penguin parents are proud of their chick, which they have both brought into the world.
Penguins have ferocious enemies. Sea birds hungrily devour penguin eggs before they hatch. They will also feed on unguarded or unwatched chicks. Humans are also an enemy of penguins even when we do not purposely kill them. Sometimes pollution and litter will cause harm to the penguin colony. For instance, in 1989 hundreds of birds died because a massive Argentine oil tanker accidentally spilled 170,000 gallons of gas into the ocean. In addition, tourists visit nesting grounds and penguins become disturbed and leave their nests causing many chicks never to hatch out of their eggs. There are also sea creatures such as killer whales and seals that would love to get a tasty snack like a penguin or two. The worst enemies of the penguin are the leopard seals, which are strong, muscular, swift, and powerful. They are above all the terror of the ocean for the penguin. Sometimes a leopard seal follows a penguin’s shadow as it walks along the ice. Smashing through the ice, the seal will grab the penguin before it knows what happened. Although penguins have fierce enemies, they can swim up to 30 mph if they need to escape their predators.
Mother and father penguins care for their babies. Both males and females spend months feeding at the ocean because they will not eat for a long time to come. Once they dine, they head back to their nesting ground where they will choose a mate and the females will lay the egg. The mother penguin keeps the egg in a tuft of fur hanging down from the bottom of her stomach to her feet. This extra flap of fur protects the egg and the chick from the cold, freezing winter. Carefully, the mother trades the egg to the father penguin. Sometimes they are too eager and will let the egg stay out too long or will lose it. Others who are patient will trade the egg successfully. After the trading, the mother will return to the sea to feed. The father now has the egg and he and all the other male penguins stay in a huge huddle to keep warm. They will have to endure one of the toughest ordeals in the world: the Antarctic winter. The father penguins will suffer for one speck of life inside a tiny shell. The temperature can reach 100 degrees below freezing, the winds around them can reach a speed of 150 mph, and snow can fall several feet per day. Yet the father perseveres for the egg. When the egg hatches, the mother returns and regurgitates partially digested food into the chick’s mouth. The father returns to the sea to feed after two months of not eating. The penguin parents are proud of their chick, which they have both brought into the world.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Simply Spectacular by Haley
Did you know that a blue whale’s spout can reach up to 30 feet high in the air? A killer whale’s fin alone can stand to six feet tall! Whales are called cetaceans (see tay’ shuhns) because they come from Kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata, class Mammalia, and finally order Cetacea. Cetaceans are split into two groups: toothed whales and baleen whales. Toothed whales obviously have teeth and baleen whales have brushes like a giant toothbrush. It is fascinating that cetaceans protect each other from their human enemies, have a built-in sonar detector, and migrate thousands of miles to give birth to their young.
In the 18th and 19th centuries whaling was a popular but dangerous job. Whales were hunted for their blubber and a substance inside of them that made oil for lamps and extremely expensive perfume. It was a risky job, but it was also high-paying. Those who were willing to take the risk paddled small boats out to sea and attached harpoons to ropes which were then fastened to the boats. Having learned their migration routes, the whalers sat there, watching and waiting for a whale to surface to breath. Although sperm and right whales were the whaler’s favorite catches, gray whales were a fine catch too, yet very fierce. They were so ferocious that the whalers trembled with fear when they found one. Whales are very loyal and protective over each other and, when found, they would give a warning cry that could be heard for miles around to keep other whales away from that area. If a whale had its young with her, it would fight to the death to protect its calf. After a while the poor whale, hurt and exhausted, would give up to its enemies. Today, there are conservation laws against whaling, but, sadly, the damage has already been done and many species of whales are in danger of extinction.
Toothed whales have a system, called echolocation, for navigation and hunting. A special sound sent out by the melon, a rounded structure in the forehead, hits something and bounces back to the whale. The whale can tell if prey or predators are up ahead. Also, whales can tell the size, shape, and the location of the object. They can tell how far off the shore is or how deep the ocean is in a particular spot. Jacques Yves Cousteau discovered this when he was sailing on the best course through the Strait of Gibraltar and noticed a group of porpoises tailing his ship. Suddenly, he had a brilliant idea. He changed course a few degrees, and the porpoises pursued him for a couple minutes but then turned back to the better course. Cousteau thus concluded that toothed whales had a sort of sonar system. We now know this to be their extraordinary system of echolocation.
Whales migrate to warmer waters in the winter to have their babies. Since there will be no food in the warmer waters, the mother whale gorges on food all summer long, storing up blubber that she will live off in the winter. Journeying with the herd of whales, the pregnant mother sacrificially denies herself her own blubber and eats only when she absolutely has to, because she knows that soon she will have her calf nursing off of her. When she finally arrives and her young is born, she immediately helps it up to the surface to breath. The mother’s milk glands are in a little spot near the tail where the calf latches on and hitches a ride. Whales are truly great mothers. The young does not usually leave its mother for years after its birth, therefore, the two get very attached to each other. She teaches her calf to hunt and fight and to be a great whale. Soon they must make the long and dangerous journey back home with the herd of whales. The mother, who is now growing weak from her calf feeding off of her, may fall behind which is very dangerous. Killer whales are just waiting for a chance like this. The calf, adding to his mother’s fatigue, will presently get tired and piggyback on his mother’s back. Finally, when they return to cool waters the mother whale eats and is now able to protect her young.
In the end, we can clearly see that whales are amazing creatures. Unfortunately, in the 1700’s and 1800’s whales were hunted almost to extinction until conservation laws protecting whales were established. We can thank Thomas Edison for inventing the light bulb so that oil lamps are no longer needed! The toothed whales’ echolocation system, enabling them to know the exact size and shape of something even if they can’t see it, is truly astonishing. However, the most remarkable feature of all is the mother whale’s love for her young, sacrificing everything for her calf even if it means her life. Surely, cetaceans are simply spectacular in every way.
In the 18th and 19th centuries whaling was a popular but dangerous job. Whales were hunted for their blubber and a substance inside of them that made oil for lamps and extremely expensive perfume. It was a risky job, but it was also high-paying. Those who were willing to take the risk paddled small boats out to sea and attached harpoons to ropes which were then fastened to the boats. Having learned their migration routes, the whalers sat there, watching and waiting for a whale to surface to breath. Although sperm and right whales were the whaler’s favorite catches, gray whales were a fine catch too, yet very fierce. They were so ferocious that the whalers trembled with fear when they found one. Whales are very loyal and protective over each other and, when found, they would give a warning cry that could be heard for miles around to keep other whales away from that area. If a whale had its young with her, it would fight to the death to protect its calf. After a while the poor whale, hurt and exhausted, would give up to its enemies. Today, there are conservation laws against whaling, but, sadly, the damage has already been done and many species of whales are in danger of extinction.
Toothed whales have a system, called echolocation, for navigation and hunting. A special sound sent out by the melon, a rounded structure in the forehead, hits something and bounces back to the whale. The whale can tell if prey or predators are up ahead. Also, whales can tell the size, shape, and the location of the object. They can tell how far off the shore is or how deep the ocean is in a particular spot. Jacques Yves Cousteau discovered this when he was sailing on the best course through the Strait of Gibraltar and noticed a group of porpoises tailing his ship. Suddenly, he had a brilliant idea. He changed course a few degrees, and the porpoises pursued him for a couple minutes but then turned back to the better course. Cousteau thus concluded that toothed whales had a sort of sonar system. We now know this to be their extraordinary system of echolocation.
Whales migrate to warmer waters in the winter to have their babies. Since there will be no food in the warmer waters, the mother whale gorges on food all summer long, storing up blubber that she will live off in the winter. Journeying with the herd of whales, the pregnant mother sacrificially denies herself her own blubber and eats only when she absolutely has to, because she knows that soon she will have her calf nursing off of her. When she finally arrives and her young is born, she immediately helps it up to the surface to breath. The mother’s milk glands are in a little spot near the tail where the calf latches on and hitches a ride. Whales are truly great mothers. The young does not usually leave its mother for years after its birth, therefore, the two get very attached to each other. She teaches her calf to hunt and fight and to be a great whale. Soon they must make the long and dangerous journey back home with the herd of whales. The mother, who is now growing weak from her calf feeding off of her, may fall behind which is very dangerous. Killer whales are just waiting for a chance like this. The calf, adding to his mother’s fatigue, will presently get tired and piggyback on his mother’s back. Finally, when they return to cool waters the mother whale eats and is now able to protect her young.
In the end, we can clearly see that whales are amazing creatures. Unfortunately, in the 1700’s and 1800’s whales were hunted almost to extinction until conservation laws protecting whales were established. We can thank Thomas Edison for inventing the light bulb so that oil lamps are no longer needed! The toothed whales’ echolocation system, enabling them to know the exact size and shape of something even if they can’t see it, is truly astonishing. However, the most remarkable feature of all is the mother whale’s love for her young, sacrificing everything for her calf even if it means her life. Surely, cetaceans are simply spectacular in every way.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
One Thing is Needful
Luke 10:41-42, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful (anxious) and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her."
The Lord impressed this scripture upon my heart this week. I am always trying to focus on too many things and, thus, many things get done but not very well. I have to prepare for a school lesson, be caught up in my reading, spend time with the Lord, clean my house, spend time with my family, wash clothes, spend time helping the kids through their lessons, empty the dishwasher, exercise, prepare dinner, prepare a Sunday School lesson......deep intake of breath. There is just not.enough.time.in.a.day. Yet recently He used this scripture to remind me that only one thing is needful. Not two things or many things. One thing. What was Mary doing? Sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus listening to His words. It is amazing that when you focus on that one thing, all the other things seem to get accomplished and accomplished well. Then yesterday virtually nothing got done--but no worries. I did the one thing that was needful. He will take care of it.
The Lord impressed this scripture upon my heart this week. I am always trying to focus on too many things and, thus, many things get done but not very well. I have to prepare for a school lesson, be caught up in my reading, spend time with the Lord, clean my house, spend time with my family, wash clothes, spend time helping the kids through their lessons, empty the dishwasher, exercise, prepare dinner, prepare a Sunday School lesson......deep intake of breath. There is just not.enough.time.in.a.day. Yet recently He used this scripture to remind me that only one thing is needful. Not two things or many things. One thing. What was Mary doing? Sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus listening to His words. It is amazing that when you focus on that one thing, all the other things seem to get accomplished and accomplished well. Then yesterday virtually nothing got done--but no worries. I did the one thing that was needful. He will take care of it.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
The Lion and the Mouse, retold by Kevin
Once upon a time in a land far, far away in some savage place like South Africa (no one can be sure), where the king of the beasts ruled, a little mouse pitter-pattered through the forest. As the little mouse was dreamily walking along and thinking about the luxurious feast of cheese he would dine on with his fellow mice that day, he stumbled right over a sleeping lion. As he picked himself up, he said, “What a flea-brained thing to do! If the great lion wakes up and finds out what a scrape I’ve gotten myself into, I’ll be mincemeat for sure….Oh, no!” Just then a huge shadow loomed over him. He started to run blind with terror, and worse, he felt himself being pulled backwards. He flexed his claws and sank them into the ground. When he looked down at his paws, he saw his claws only digging up dirt and grass. “Oh, please, Your Majesty,” the mouse squeaked, “if you let me go, I might be able to help you in the future.” The lion roared with laughter, while the mouse sank back with fear and anxiety. The lion rolled over and said still chuckling, “My dear little one, you amuse me so much that I will let you go. If this ever happens again…well, I won’t get into details, but believe me, you will regret it!” While the mouse joyfully scampered off, the lion let out a huge yawn and went back to sleep. Then he was again rudely awakened. This time by hunters! Even though he writhed with anger and thrashed about, he could not escape from the net. The hunters staked it down, and the lion was trapped. Just then the mouse ran by and noticed the lion twisting and turning under the net. He scurried over to help the lion and started to gnaw off the ropes. Snap! Snap! Snap! One by one the ropes broke. Once the lion regained his freedom, he gleefully thanked the mouse and both ran off together.
The moral of the story is small friends can prove to be great friends.
The moral of the story is small friends can prove to be great friends.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
He is Deeper Still
“There is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still.” This is the message of The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, a book set in Nazi occupied Holland during World War II. It is a story of God’s love conquering evil.
Corrie and her family are devout Christians who give refuge to Jews during the Nazi occupation. For years, Corrie leads an underground ring and safe house until a fellow Dutchman betrays her to the Gestapo. After a raid of their home, the Gestapo arrests the whole family along with 35 other underground workers. The Jews manage to reach the hiding place built into the wall of the Ten Boom house and, miraculously, are never discovered. Corrie’s father dies in prison ten days later, and after many months in solitary confinement, Corrie is reunited with her sister, Betsie, and both are sent to the Ravensbruck death camp in Germany.
It is at Ravensbruck that Corrie and Betsie experience a “pit so deep” and learn that their hiding place is the Lord Jesus. They trust God through it all never doubting His goodness. When Corrie witnesses the diabolical viciousness of the Nazis, she struggles with why God would allow such atrocities. She remembers a lesson her father taught her when she was young. While on a train trip together, Corrie asked him what “sexsin” was-a term she read in a poem at school. He didn’t say anything right away but turned, picked up his heavy suitcase and asked her to carry it for him. Corrie staggered under the weight, “But Father, it is too heavy for me!”
“Exactly, my child, and what kind of father would I be if I asked you to carry such a heavy burden? Some knowledge is too heavy for children as well. This knowledge I will carry for you until you are old enough to bear it.” Corrie never forgot what her father taught her that day and when she saw people brutally murdered, left to die, innocents suffering and the slaughtering of people like animals, she let her Heavenly Father bear the burden that was too heavy for her and would whisper, “Will you carry this too, Lord Jesus?”
Betsie taught Corrie to thank God for all things – even fleas – and to trust that God works all things for our good. When they discovered that their new quarters were infested with fleas, Betsie suggested thanking God for them. Corrie found herself doing as Betsie said, but in her heart she knew Betsie was wrong. How could God expect them to thank Him for fleas? But Betsie was adamant. “’Give thanks in all circumstances,’” she quoted. “It doesn’t say, ‘in pleasant circumstances.’ Fleas are part of this place where God has put us.” Later, Betsie and Corrie were given an opportunity to minister to the women of the camp and hold Bible studies while knitting socks for the Germans. They seemed to have almost no supervision and were free to share the gospel and many drank in the Words of Life. They would later find out that no guard was willing to come into the barracks because of the fleas!
Throughout the horrors of the camp, Betsie especially was convinced that when they were free, they were to tell people what they had learned there. “They will listen to us, Corrie, because we have been here.” Although Betsie does not survive Ravensbruck, Corrie is released because of a clerical error. She would later return to Ravensbruck and discover that all women in her age group were sent to the gas chambers one week later. Corrie takes Betsie’s message to all the hurting and scarred people in postwar Europe. “There is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still.” In the ensuing years, she opens rehabilitation homes for those who suffered in the concentration camps, a place to find healing in their own time and way. She turned her home over to NSBers, Dutchmen who collaborated with the Nazis. Corrie believed they were now suffering their own hell and needed healing too. In an extraordinary gesture of love, Corrie traveled to Germany and transformed an old concentration camp into a rehabilitation home for homeless and starving Germans in need of love.
The Hiding Place demonstrates that God’s love is deeper than any wound or any circumstance; that a Sovereign God is in control no matter what it may seem. Their story encourages us to forgive, to love and to learn from our journey. It teaches us that, no matter how deep the pit, He is deeper still.
Corrie and her family are devout Christians who give refuge to Jews during the Nazi occupation. For years, Corrie leads an underground ring and safe house until a fellow Dutchman betrays her to the Gestapo. After a raid of their home, the Gestapo arrests the whole family along with 35 other underground workers. The Jews manage to reach the hiding place built into the wall of the Ten Boom house and, miraculously, are never discovered. Corrie’s father dies in prison ten days later, and after many months in solitary confinement, Corrie is reunited with her sister, Betsie, and both are sent to the Ravensbruck death camp in Germany.
It is at Ravensbruck that Corrie and Betsie experience a “pit so deep” and learn that their hiding place is the Lord Jesus. They trust God through it all never doubting His goodness. When Corrie witnesses the diabolical viciousness of the Nazis, she struggles with why God would allow such atrocities. She remembers a lesson her father taught her when she was young. While on a train trip together, Corrie asked him what “sexsin” was-a term she read in a poem at school. He didn’t say anything right away but turned, picked up his heavy suitcase and asked her to carry it for him. Corrie staggered under the weight, “But Father, it is too heavy for me!”
“Exactly, my child, and what kind of father would I be if I asked you to carry such a heavy burden? Some knowledge is too heavy for children as well. This knowledge I will carry for you until you are old enough to bear it.” Corrie never forgot what her father taught her that day and when she saw people brutally murdered, left to die, innocents suffering and the slaughtering of people like animals, she let her Heavenly Father bear the burden that was too heavy for her and would whisper, “Will you carry this too, Lord Jesus?”
Betsie taught Corrie to thank God for all things – even fleas – and to trust that God works all things for our good. When they discovered that their new quarters were infested with fleas, Betsie suggested thanking God for them. Corrie found herself doing as Betsie said, but in her heart she knew Betsie was wrong. How could God expect them to thank Him for fleas? But Betsie was adamant. “’Give thanks in all circumstances,’” she quoted. “It doesn’t say, ‘in pleasant circumstances.’ Fleas are part of this place where God has put us.” Later, Betsie and Corrie were given an opportunity to minister to the women of the camp and hold Bible studies while knitting socks for the Germans. They seemed to have almost no supervision and were free to share the gospel and many drank in the Words of Life. They would later find out that no guard was willing to come into the barracks because of the fleas!
Throughout the horrors of the camp, Betsie especially was convinced that when they were free, they were to tell people what they had learned there. “They will listen to us, Corrie, because we have been here.” Although Betsie does not survive Ravensbruck, Corrie is released because of a clerical error. She would later return to Ravensbruck and discover that all women in her age group were sent to the gas chambers one week later. Corrie takes Betsie’s message to all the hurting and scarred people in postwar Europe. “There is no pit so deep that He is not deeper still.” In the ensuing years, she opens rehabilitation homes for those who suffered in the concentration camps, a place to find healing in their own time and way. She turned her home over to NSBers, Dutchmen who collaborated with the Nazis. Corrie believed they were now suffering their own hell and needed healing too. In an extraordinary gesture of love, Corrie traveled to Germany and transformed an old concentration camp into a rehabilitation home for homeless and starving Germans in need of love.
The Hiding Place demonstrates that God’s love is deeper than any wound or any circumstance; that a Sovereign God is in control no matter what it may seem. Their story encourages us to forgive, to love and to learn from our journey. It teaches us that, no matter how deep the pit, He is deeper still.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Brave New World
Happiness has a high price tag. In Brave New World, Aldous Huxley explores exactly how high that cost is. The World State had established a society in which the people accepted the dictates of the government to gain happiness and stability. Huxley creates this "Brave New World" to demonstrate that the price of happiness and comfort is truth and beauty.
The World State asserts that “universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning,” and operates under this guiding principle. Huxley created a world where frugality was not encouraged and self-denial would upset mass production. Laborers were needed in this industrial world but not thinkers. Workers were produced in assembly line fashion out of test tubes, conditioned to accept their caste and satisfied with the least amount of mind-numbing work for the most gain. An industrial society that is focused on prosperity needs consumers bent on their own pleasure, indulging in their whims and fancies. The Apostle Paul speaks of this people in Philippians 3:19, “…their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” Truth and beauty cannot dwell in this kind of world. In fact, truth and beauty draw us away from thoughts of self to appreciate and admire something else for its own intrinsic worth and value and cause us to strive for excellence, something beyond ourselves.
While enlightening his listeners on the historic beginnings of the new world, the state’s Controller, Mustapha Mond, avers, “When the masses seized political power, then it was happiness rather than truth and beauty that mattered.” Quite prophetically, Huxley alludes to the countless revolutions when nations were unstable, poverty ruled and people were willing to allow totalitarian governments to form in order to obtain happiness and stability. The people turned their backs on truth and beauty, on right and wrong. One year after Brave New World was published, Hitler would rise to power in Germany. The masses looked the other way and closed their eyes to the truth so long as they were prospering, so long as happiness prevailed in their life. For “the good of the German people,” Hitler took away the right to free speech, free press and the right to gather publicly. Who cared when they had jobs and food on their tables? Hitler later organized book burnings of literature he had deemed threatening to the Third Reich. But what did that matter when he had stabilized the economy? The Reverend Martin Niemoeller, a church leader who opposed the Nazi government was asked by a student how such a horror could have happened in Germany. He replied, “First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionsts, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak for me.” Happiness and stability are expensive.
Huxley painted a very clear portrait of a people enslaved by happiness. The Controller conceded, “Happiness is a hard master – particularly other people’s happiness. A much harder master, if one isn’t conditioned to accept it unquestioningly, than truth.” Truth does not always bring happiness and comfort. Therefore, if happiness is the desired goal, truth must be concealed. One must work very hard to elude the truth. They must keep themselves occupied; pleasant vices must abound. Silence and solitude are enemies. Truly, if this world is all there is then we ought to pursue our happiness. Paul said, “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’”(1 Corinthians 15:32) But this world is not the end. Jesus has redeemed us and set us free. He has bought us out of the slave market with His own blood. We, through faith, are citizens of a different kingdom and all of our present sufferings are “preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)
Mustapha Mond, Controller of the World State, believes that society is better off with happiness and stability, even if the cost is liberty, even if it means suppressing truth and beauty. He rationalized, “It hasn’t been very good for truth, of course. But it’s been very good for happiness. One can’t have something for nothing. Happiness has got to be paid for.” The main character, John, realizes the poisonous nature of the “civilized” world and tells the Controller, “But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.” He wanted the choice. The message Huxley sends to our materialistic society is timely. We must consider our leaders and their actions. We must not compromise on moral issues because our pocketbooks are full. We must examine the liberties that are being taken from us “for our good.” Let us speak out now against all injustice and immorality so that we never hit a point where there is no one left to speak for us.
The World State asserts that “universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning,” and operates under this guiding principle. Huxley created a world where frugality was not encouraged and self-denial would upset mass production. Laborers were needed in this industrial world but not thinkers. Workers were produced in assembly line fashion out of test tubes, conditioned to accept their caste and satisfied with the least amount of mind-numbing work for the most gain. An industrial society that is focused on prosperity needs consumers bent on their own pleasure, indulging in their whims and fancies. The Apostle Paul speaks of this people in Philippians 3:19, “…their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” Truth and beauty cannot dwell in this kind of world. In fact, truth and beauty draw us away from thoughts of self to appreciate and admire something else for its own intrinsic worth and value and cause us to strive for excellence, something beyond ourselves.
While enlightening his listeners on the historic beginnings of the new world, the state’s Controller, Mustapha Mond, avers, “When the masses seized political power, then it was happiness rather than truth and beauty that mattered.” Quite prophetically, Huxley alludes to the countless revolutions when nations were unstable, poverty ruled and people were willing to allow totalitarian governments to form in order to obtain happiness and stability. The people turned their backs on truth and beauty, on right and wrong. One year after Brave New World was published, Hitler would rise to power in Germany. The masses looked the other way and closed their eyes to the truth so long as they were prospering, so long as happiness prevailed in their life. For “the good of the German people,” Hitler took away the right to free speech, free press and the right to gather publicly. Who cared when they had jobs and food on their tables? Hitler later organized book burnings of literature he had deemed threatening to the Third Reich. But what did that matter when he had stabilized the economy? The Reverend Martin Niemoeller, a church leader who opposed the Nazi government was asked by a student how such a horror could have happened in Germany. He replied, “First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionsts, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak for me.” Happiness and stability are expensive.
Huxley painted a very clear portrait of a people enslaved by happiness. The Controller conceded, “Happiness is a hard master – particularly other people’s happiness. A much harder master, if one isn’t conditioned to accept it unquestioningly, than truth.” Truth does not always bring happiness and comfort. Therefore, if happiness is the desired goal, truth must be concealed. One must work very hard to elude the truth. They must keep themselves occupied; pleasant vices must abound. Silence and solitude are enemies. Truly, if this world is all there is then we ought to pursue our happiness. Paul said, “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’”(1 Corinthians 15:32) But this world is not the end. Jesus has redeemed us and set us free. He has bought us out of the slave market with His own blood. We, through faith, are citizens of a different kingdom and all of our present sufferings are “preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)
Mustapha Mond, Controller of the World State, believes that society is better off with happiness and stability, even if the cost is liberty, even if it means suppressing truth and beauty. He rationalized, “It hasn’t been very good for truth, of course. But it’s been very good for happiness. One can’t have something for nothing. Happiness has got to be paid for.” The main character, John, realizes the poisonous nature of the “civilized” world and tells the Controller, “But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.” He wanted the choice. The message Huxley sends to our materialistic society is timely. We must consider our leaders and their actions. We must not compromise on moral issues because our pocketbooks are full. We must examine the liberties that are being taken from us “for our good.” Let us speak out now against all injustice and immorality so that we never hit a point where there is no one left to speak for us.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Response to Literature - The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
“How does a china rabbit die?” Edward Tulane asks himself that question as he sinks to the ocean floor. Although Edward endures many trials and hardships, they change him into a compassionate and loving companion. Edward begins his life with Abilene. Everything about Edward is elegant; his long furry rabbit ears, his exquisite china head and his dapper wardrobe of the finest quality. Abilene adores Edward and – to him – rightly so. Why shouldn’t an elegant rabbit such as himself receive such consideration? Yet Abilene’s love is unrequited. Edward, bored by all those around him never listens. He takes umbrage at every perceived slight. When Abilene and her family take Edward on a ship and he is tossed overboard by a group of rude boys, his miraculous journey begins.
A fisherman discovers him in his net and Edward is grateful for the first time in his life. He feels happy just to be alive and to feel the sun on his face. He finds himself listening to the fisherman’s wife as she speaks about the pain of losing her little boy. When their daughter cruelly throws him in the garbage, Edward feels pain in his heart. Yet again Edward finds a home and love with a hobo and his dog, Lucy. For seven happy years, a once refined Edward lives the life of a hobo. Then, once again he is ripped from his family and his heart aches.
Edward’s next owner shows him how to love. Sarah Ruth is a sick little girl living in squalid conditions with only a brother to love her. Instead of Edward receiving all the attention and care, he finds himself watching over Sarah Ruth. He and her brother Bryce tenderly care for her until she dies. Edward wonders how he can go on living without Sarah Ruth. Shortly thereafter, Edward’s head is smashed and, bereft of Sarah Ruth, he yearns to leave this cruel world and be with her. But Edward’s time here is not yet over. A doll mender puts him back together and he sits on a shelf in a small but exclusive doll shop for many years sinking into despair and hopelessness. That is, until an old doll comes to sit next to him on the shelf.
Visible cracks in the old doll’s head tell the story of a life full of hardships. Edward confides he is done with loving. It is much too painful. The old doll understands but she tells him he must have courage and above all, hope. Someone will come. When someone does come for the old doll, Edward believes and hope is born. Although Edward must wait many years, he never loses the glimmer of hope that someone will come. And someone does - Abilene. But now she owns a wholly different rabbit. He might not be handsome on the outside, but he is beautiful on the inside. Each crack, each hurt taught Edward to love.
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5
A fisherman discovers him in his net and Edward is grateful for the first time in his life. He feels happy just to be alive and to feel the sun on his face. He finds himself listening to the fisherman’s wife as she speaks about the pain of losing her little boy. When their daughter cruelly throws him in the garbage, Edward feels pain in his heart. Yet again Edward finds a home and love with a hobo and his dog, Lucy. For seven happy years, a once refined Edward lives the life of a hobo. Then, once again he is ripped from his family and his heart aches.
Edward’s next owner shows him how to love. Sarah Ruth is a sick little girl living in squalid conditions with only a brother to love her. Instead of Edward receiving all the attention and care, he finds himself watching over Sarah Ruth. He and her brother Bryce tenderly care for her until she dies. Edward wonders how he can go on living without Sarah Ruth. Shortly thereafter, Edward’s head is smashed and, bereft of Sarah Ruth, he yearns to leave this cruel world and be with her. But Edward’s time here is not yet over. A doll mender puts him back together and he sits on a shelf in a small but exclusive doll shop for many years sinking into despair and hopelessness. That is, until an old doll comes to sit next to him on the shelf.
Visible cracks in the old doll’s head tell the story of a life full of hardships. Edward confides he is done with loving. It is much too painful. The old doll understands but she tells him he must have courage and above all, hope. Someone will come. When someone does come for the old doll, Edward believes and hope is born. Although Edward must wait many years, he never loses the glimmer of hope that someone will come. And someone does - Abilene. But now she owns a wholly different rabbit. He might not be handsome on the outside, but he is beautiful on the inside. Each crack, each hurt taught Edward to love.
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Kevin's Birthday!
Kevin turned 10 on Thursday and we had a Patriot's party for him. Mimi and Papa, Grammy and Granpa and James were there. Grammy and Granpa gave him a Tom Brady football shirt which I think was his favorite gift since he hasn't taken it off for 3 days. He's so happy to be in the double digits.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Immigrant/Inventions Celebration
After reading about immigrants and the many inventions and overall progress in science, we celebrated our learning with family and friends.
Haley focused her display board on immigrants. She wrote a report on immigration detailing the causes of emigration, passing through Ellis Island, and life in America for immigrants. She graphed the number of immigrants by decade and found pictures of Ellis Island and immigrant life. She also wrote a report on the Statue of Liberty.
Kevin especially loves science so his display board was all about inventors. He wrote reports on Thomas Edison and the Wright brothers and made a timeline of some of the more important inventions of the day. He also displayed a model he built of the Wright brothers' flyer and all of our scientific experiments from SL4 science. He had everyone vote on the best invention - the electric motor (from SL4 science) won!
We tried to include as many of the larger immigrant nationalities as we could when planning our menu. We started with Meatball soup (Italians), Hungarian Goulash, Perogies (Polish), Challah Bread (Jewish), sweet potatoes (sold on city streets), and ended with Banana Splits, which were invented in 1905 in the USA. While the adults sipped Irish coffees, they watched a street play performed by Haley and Kevin. They acted out poems which included: My Shadow, Ooey Gooey, Roger the Dog, Godfrey Gordon Gustavus Gore, and Antonio, Antonio.
It was a hit!
Haley focused her display board on immigrants. She wrote a report on immigration detailing the causes of emigration, passing through Ellis Island, and life in America for immigrants. She graphed the number of immigrants by decade and found pictures of Ellis Island and immigrant life. She also wrote a report on the Statue of Liberty.
Kevin especially loves science so his display board was all about inventors. He wrote reports on Thomas Edison and the Wright brothers and made a timeline of some of the more important inventions of the day. He also displayed a model he built of the Wright brothers' flyer and all of our scientific experiments from SL4 science. He had everyone vote on the best invention - the electric motor (from SL4 science) won!
We tried to include as many of the larger immigrant nationalities as we could when planning our menu. We started with Meatball soup (Italians), Hungarian Goulash, Perogies (Polish), Challah Bread (Jewish), sweet potatoes (sold on city streets), and ended with Banana Splits, which were invented in 1905 in the USA. While the adults sipped Irish coffees, they watched a street play performed by Haley and Kevin. They acted out poems which included: My Shadow, Ooey Gooey, Roger the Dog, Godfrey Gordon Gustavus Gore, and Antonio, Antonio.
It was a hit!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)