29 September 2008

A Quote for Today:

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.


C.S. Lewis, from God in the Dock

22 September 2008

My Favourite Season

 

 


"Behold congenial Autumn comes,
the Sabbath of the Year."
- John Logan, 1748 – 1788


~~~


"O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stained
With the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit
Beneath my shady roof; there thou may'st rest,
And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe;
And all the daughters of the year shall dance!
Sing now the lusty song of fruit and flowers.
- William Blake, To Autumn, 1783


~~~


"Come said the wind to
the leaves one day,
Come o're the meadows
and we will play.
Put on your dresses
scarlet and gold,
For summer is gone
and the days grow cold."
- A Children's Song of the 1880's


~~~


"No Spring nor Summer Beauty hath such grace
As I have seen in one Autumnal face."
- John Donne


~~~ 


 Autumn from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons


 

Fall Reading Challenge


  Read Alouds:


                                Narnia (by C. S. Lewis):


                                finish      Voyage of the Dawn Treader  this week


                                then       The Silver Chair


                                then       The Magician's Nephew


                                then       The Last Battle


                                Literature:


                                                The Complete Milne


                                                The Complete Beatrix Potter 


                                                Just So Stories by Kipling


                                History:


                                                On the Shores of the Great Sea by Synge


                                Poetry:


                                                Hiawatha's Childhood


                                w/Toodles:


                                                A Flower Fairy Alphabet by Cicely Mary Barker


                                                Mary Poppins from A to Z by P. L. Travers 


                       


Personal:


                                Reimaginning Church by Frank Viola (read & critique per a friend’s request)


                                Sabbath by Wayne Muller (finish)


                                How to Study the Bible by Kay Arthur (re-read as I am teaching it to a Jr. High Sunday class)


                                H. P. 4 & 5


                                Persuasion by Jane Austen


I hope to read more fiction books, but I will wait to see what I find at the library (or on my own shelves) as the weeks progress.


                               


                               


                                               


 


 


 

13 September 2008

Congratulations Belinda!

My blogfriend, Belinda  is this week's featured blogger.  If you've not visited her blog before, you really should.  Her motto is "Live life with your kids!" and I love reading about how she does just that.  From her writing, I can tell that she loves the Lord, brings honour to her husband, and is a great mum.  She is so gracious and encouraging as well as sensible and wise.  Some day I would just love to have a cuppa with her down under in Australia.  She has a great getting-to-know-you post here, and she also has a website, Lifestyle Homeschool

11 September 2008

One of the fallen:


Robert T. 'Bobby' Hughes (click on his name to read about him)


Age 23
Sayreville, N.J.
World Trade Center


Bobby's Alma Mater:


Bobby's favourite team:



Bobby's dream job:



Project 2,996 (click to read other tributes or to participate)



In Memoriam, [Ring out, wild bells]



by Lord Alfred Tennyson

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.



 


God is our refuge and strength,
         A very present help in trouble.
 Therefore we will not fear,
         Even though the earth be removed,
         And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
 Though its waters roar and be troubled,
         Though the mountains shake with its swelling.  Selah  
         
 There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
         The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
         God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
 The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
         He uttered His voice, the earth melted. 
         
 The LORD of hosts is with us;
         The God of Jacob is our refuge.  Selah  
         
 Come, behold the works of the LORD,
         Who has made desolations in the earth.
 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
         He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
         He burns the chariot in the fire. 
         
 Be still, and know that I am God;
         I will be exalted among the nations,
         I will be exalted in the earth! 
         
 The LORD of hosts is with us;
         The God of Jacob is our refuge.  Selah 


~Psalm 46