"God is going to make all things good, no matter what choices we make....no matter what we do. He made things beautiful anyway and we should rejoice in that beauty instead of wishing something else had happened."
A good friend of mine once told me that "The glory of God's economy is that He takes our mistakes and turns them into spiritual riches". Meaning that, God is sovereign. Our lives are going to be filled with mistakes, with pain, with heartache- often the consequences of our sin, often the consequences of other's sin. But that pain WILL NOT return void in God's economy. God will use it for OUR GOOD and HIS GLORY. He will use those mistakes to further His kingdom.
That is the promise, the hope that we have, as God's elect.
Monday, June 30, 2008
perelandra
howdy there...
i read out of the silent planet, and the couldn't help myself and went ahead and read perelandra. i had never read perelandra before and i think i liked it even more than the first one! i tried to start that hideous strength, but i think i'm going to take a break and read one of the books i bought at my holocaust convention. if anyone wants to read it...i'm reading suite francaise by irene nemirovsky. irene was a jew who was working on this novel when she was deported and died at auschwitz. this novel was hidden for sixty-four years before it was discovered and published! it is, i think, going to be an interesting perspective because its about locals in france who have to deal with the german invaders during wwii.
perelandra was really thought provoking as the main character-ransom-has to intervene in a very genesis-type situation and stop "eve" from being tempted by the devil. it was very like the screwtape letters in that lewis showed evil's very logical way of reasoning and bringing us to it's side. what was startling to me was the thought that evil is not always blatantly obvious. true evil is very like the truth, but with some simple, fundamental differences. that kind of evil is the hardest to get away from because, if you aren't really clear on what you believe, it's easy to think you've made the right choice.
several parts of this book were touching to me. one of these was ransom's conclusion that God is going to make all things good, no matter what choices we make....no matter what we do. adam and eve made a choice for our world and, even though it was followed by a lot of pain and hardships, it was because of this choice that Christ put on the body of a man and came to be a part of our world. and what would have happened if eve hadn't eaten the fruit? it still would have been good--we still would have been in communion with God. one is not better than the other, just different GOODs. it is an interesting thought to me to consider that God is not sorry that we ate the fruit, but that he made things beautiful anyway and we should rejoice in that beauty instead of wishing something else had happened. this is also the book where Greg gets his quote "sweet poison of a false infinite" :D. that was fun to run across!
i read out of the silent planet, and the couldn't help myself and went ahead and read perelandra. i had never read perelandra before and i think i liked it even more than the first one! i tried to start that hideous strength, but i think i'm going to take a break and read one of the books i bought at my holocaust convention. if anyone wants to read it...i'm reading suite francaise by irene nemirovsky. irene was a jew who was working on this novel when she was deported and died at auschwitz. this novel was hidden for sixty-four years before it was discovered and published! it is, i think, going to be an interesting perspective because its about locals in france who have to deal with the german invaders during wwii.
perelandra was really thought provoking as the main character-ransom-has to intervene in a very genesis-type situation and stop "eve" from being tempted by the devil. it was very like the screwtape letters in that lewis showed evil's very logical way of reasoning and bringing us to it's side. what was startling to me was the thought that evil is not always blatantly obvious. true evil is very like the truth, but with some simple, fundamental differences. that kind of evil is the hardest to get away from because, if you aren't really clear on what you believe, it's easy to think you've made the right choice.
several parts of this book were touching to me. one of these was ransom's conclusion that God is going to make all things good, no matter what choices we make....no matter what we do. adam and eve made a choice for our world and, even though it was followed by a lot of pain and hardships, it was because of this choice that Christ put on the body of a man and came to be a part of our world. and what would have happened if eve hadn't eaten the fruit? it still would have been good--we still would have been in communion with God. one is not better than the other, just different GOODs. it is an interesting thought to me to consider that God is not sorry that we ate the fruit, but that he made things beautiful anyway and we should rejoice in that beauty instead of wishing something else had happened. this is also the book where Greg gets his quote "sweet poison of a false infinite" :D. that was fun to run across!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
in agreement with veronica...
hey veronica!
thanks for posting--i love how eloquently you expressed the thoughts i was struggling to get from head to paper; well done :). HUMANITARIAN--that was the word i couldn't think of!
you know, i never considered that he might be a Christian. there are missionaries all over the place in closed countries that work in normal jobs--schools and such--but can't mention God, right? that is an interesting thought--how do people spread the gospel there? it seems hard for me to imagine because our evangelism here is so vocal. who was it that said "go out and preach the gospel--use words if you have to?" maybe evangelizing is not about how well you can talk about God after all. maybe its about service through love? hm.
i feel the same way about mortenson's viewpoint of the culture and the people. i read kite runner and a thousand splendid suns (outstanding books) last year as well and those books were also instrumental in changing my view of people in the southern part of Asia. i am finding it really hard, though, to shift my point of view because it is so colored by the stereotypes prevalent in the united states. i am currently living in an apartment complex that we've dubbed "little India" because of the high percentage of south Asians here and it has been hard for me to cross the culture barrier to connect to them on a human level. consequently, i just got back from a conference on the holocaust (which was amazing!) in DC at the holocaust museum and it is scary to think that the hate crimes against Jews started with seemingly "harmless" stereotypes and that such stereotypes about south Asians are reinforce here in the u.s. since 911.
i have a desire to grow in my compassion for people that make me "uncomfortable," beginning with the truth that they are created in the image of God.
thanks for posting--i love how eloquently you expressed the thoughts i was struggling to get from head to paper; well done :). HUMANITARIAN--that was the word i couldn't think of!
you know, i never considered that he might be a Christian. there are missionaries all over the place in closed countries that work in normal jobs--schools and such--but can't mention God, right? that is an interesting thought--how do people spread the gospel there? it seems hard for me to imagine because our evangelism here is so vocal. who was it that said "go out and preach the gospel--use words if you have to?" maybe evangelizing is not about how well you can talk about God after all. maybe its about service through love? hm.
i feel the same way about mortenson's viewpoint of the culture and the people. i read kite runner and a thousand splendid suns (outstanding books) last year as well and those books were also instrumental in changing my view of people in the southern part of Asia. i am finding it really hard, though, to shift my point of view because it is so colored by the stereotypes prevalent in the united states. i am currently living in an apartment complex that we've dubbed "little India" because of the high percentage of south Asians here and it has been hard for me to cross the culture barrier to connect to them on a human level. consequently, i just got back from a conference on the holocaust (which was amazing!) in DC at the holocaust museum and it is scary to think that the hate crimes against Jews started with seemingly "harmless" stereotypes and that such stereotypes about south Asians are reinforce here in the u.s. since 911.
i have a desire to grow in my compassion for people that make me "uncomfortable," beginning with the truth that they are created in the image of God.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Thoughts on Three Cups of Tea
I'm almost done with Three Cups of Tea (just a couple more chapters) but I thought I would share some of my thoughts so far.
1. One thing that was somewhat hard for me to get through at first was all the climbing description but as I was reading it I was really impressed. Right now I'm certified to belay at the camp rock wall and I do that for campers one morning a week. I see people struggle on a man-made wall and then I compare it to Mortenson and others who climb God's rock walls. Wow! That takes so much determination and courage.
2. I was also really interested at the parts where it describes the opposition between Mortenson and the Taliban. I read Kite Runner last month (it talks about the Taliban in Afghanistan) and also recently read The Lost Boys of Sudan where there are also a lot of fundamentalist Muslims. Even though the Middle Eastern area of the world has such a terrible reputation in the West, there is still a lot of good going on there and there are real people who struggle through things much greater than I will ever go through. I'm really becoming a lot more interested in the area and what the real pictures of those places and people are.
3. I am thinking also (like Laura) about the difference between a missionary and a humanitarian (not saying that they can't be the same but there is a subtle difference). I believe that God uses people who don't always work in His name. For instance, since Christians aren't welcome in some Islamic areas of the world, God uses a humanitarian who genuinely cares for the people, learns the language, and respects the culture/religion. I guess I'm struggling right now with the fact that Mortenson has been/is extremely effective in helping the poor and oppressed (especially women) and I believe his heart for the people of the area mirrors Christ's heart. But he does it all within an Islamic context-even going to mosque and praying toward Mecca five times a day. If Mortenson isn't a Christian I'm amazed at his selfessness and I would love to see what his potential could be if he had Christ working through him. If he is, I wonder how he reconciles what he is doing in the Muslim communities within the context of his own faith? I'm not sure that I've reached an answer but those are my thoughts right now.
I can't wait to finish it!
1. One thing that was somewhat hard for me to get through at first was all the climbing description but as I was reading it I was really impressed. Right now I'm certified to belay at the camp rock wall and I do that for campers one morning a week. I see people struggle on a man-made wall and then I compare it to Mortenson and others who climb God's rock walls. Wow! That takes so much determination and courage.
2. I was also really interested at the parts where it describes the opposition between Mortenson and the Taliban. I read Kite Runner last month (it talks about the Taliban in Afghanistan) and also recently read The Lost Boys of Sudan where there are also a lot of fundamentalist Muslims. Even though the Middle Eastern area of the world has such a terrible reputation in the West, there is still a lot of good going on there and there are real people who struggle through things much greater than I will ever go through. I'm really becoming a lot more interested in the area and what the real pictures of those places and people are.
3. I am thinking also (like Laura) about the difference between a missionary and a humanitarian (not saying that they can't be the same but there is a subtle difference). I believe that God uses people who don't always work in His name. For instance, since Christians aren't welcome in some Islamic areas of the world, God uses a humanitarian who genuinely cares for the people, learns the language, and respects the culture/religion. I guess I'm struggling right now with the fact that Mortenson has been/is extremely effective in helping the poor and oppressed (especially women) and I believe his heart for the people of the area mirrors Christ's heart. But he does it all within an Islamic context-even going to mosque and praying toward Mecca five times a day. If Mortenson isn't a Christian I'm amazed at his selfessness and I would love to see what his potential could be if he had Christ working through him. If he is, I wonder how he reconciles what he is doing in the Muslim communities within the context of his own faith? I'm not sure that I've reached an answer but those are my thoughts right now.
I can't wait to finish it!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Sci-fi thoughts, part two
Laura, I am your fellow science fiction nerd. The thing I love the most about the genre (and I'm talking the good stuff, not you know, Star Wars dime novels) is the opportunity that it gives you to take a step back from the world that you live in and view it from a different angle. I suppose that's true of all great books, but there are just ridiculous amounts of freedom available to a science fiction writer. Douglas Adams can have a whale spontaneously appear out of nowhere high in some alien atmosphere and plummet towards the ground while having a stream-of-consciousness monologue with a pot of petunias, and not only do you somehow believe in it while he's writing this, it's also a kind of profound (and VERY morbidly funny) take on mortality and the human condition. Come on! That's great!
Rediscovered Ursula LeGuin this past week. What an amazing writer! Elegant, intelligent, extremely thoughtful and creative writings that affirm life without glossing over the problems and struggles of being human. Plus, they're just great, incredibly readable stories. :)
Rediscovered Ursula LeGuin this past week. What an amazing writer! Elegant, intelligent, extremely thoughtful and creative writings that affirm life without glossing over the problems and struggles of being human. Plus, they're just great, incredibly readable stories. :)
science fiction
Lewis often astounds me with the way he can spend time on a description without reducing me to snoring. instead of skipping over it in chunks, i find myself slowing down to allow his language to paint the picture before me. he, and other geniuses like him, are the reason why i never take a crack at writing science fiction, a genre i have always secretly loved (Ender's Game is the literary love of my life). you cannot write science fiction without inviting your readers into a new world, with unique colors, shapes, objects, languages, etc. and when i try to write such a setting, i am reduced to feeling like Ransom when he arrives at Malacandra: nearly paralyzed in the realization that everything is different, you cannot function like you used to in your comfortable reality, and where do you possibly begin to adjust yourself?
i realized three chapters in that ive read Out of the Silent Planet before, but i am as eagerly into the text as i was the first time. what an enchanting read!
p.s: somebody else post please please please please?!?
i realized three chapters in that ive read Out of the Silent Planet before, but i am as eagerly into the text as i was the first time. what an enchanting read!
p.s: somebody else post please please please please?!?
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
adding to yesterday's post...
tues:
i just finished three cups of tea!
on to before we were free.
wed:
i just finished before we were free!
on to out of the silent planet, book 1 of the cosmic trilogy.
i am also reading a book about wine and it is very interesting--its a sort of how-to guide.
i just finished three cups of tea!
on to before we were free.
wed:
i just finished before we were free!
on to out of the silent planet, book 1 of the cosmic trilogy.
i am also reading a book about wine and it is very interesting--its a sort of how-to guide.
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