Death, the character, would be played by David Tennant. Daisy would be played by Reese Witherspoon. Why am I not working in a casting agency? Read this if you like chick lit but a little darker and very funny.
The Wilderness Journal: 365 Days with the Philokalia Jason A. Gagnon Bringing it back to Earth January 16, 2019 Format: Paperback The Philokalia is a tricky set of books. It is a collection of writings from spiritual Fathers of the Eastern Christian tradition who lived and wrote between the fourth and fifth centuries. It often comes with a warning - "Don't read these without the guidance of a spiritual father!" They were written largely by monks for monks- but still, for a set of books called "Love of the Beautiful" that is strange advice. If these writings are to help the devout on the path to salvation, why do they so often come with a warning? To be fair, flipping through a volume of the Philokalia can sometimes read like the Eastern Christian equivalent of Zen Koans. What is the sound of one hand clapping? Beats me. But what about when St Isaiah the Solitary writes "He who receives no help when. at war should feel no confidence when at peace"? Be...
No one is surprised that a librarian reads a lot of books, but it might surprise you that I have read quite a few "self-help" books. Most educators and parents today are familiar with the concept of "growth mindset" (rather than a "fixed mindset") that we can embrace our mistakes and learn from them and in doing so open ourselves up to greater learning. So I have embraced the hardships in teaching, marriage, motherhood, and just generally being a human. I have read books about anxiety (my favorite is "The Anxiety Toolkit"), books about marriage (a big fan of "The Five Love Languages"), and on and on. Oftentimes I find secular books extremely lacking. The faith component for me, in processing life's challenges, is a big one. I have appreciated the many books offered by Ancient Faith Publishing on topics such as parenting, marriage, and even ecology. The church is a hospital for sinners. How we deal with our own mistakes, shortcomi...
There’s a poem by Walt Whitman, When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer, that tells a little story about sitting in a hall listening to a lecture about the facts and figures and proofs about the stars- but he was disquieted. He left, went out and looked up in wonder at the stars. This is a poem that has always stuck with me- that we don’t want to get bogged down in the details of a thing, and lose the thing itself. But is he right? When I look at a flower, my appreciation is pretty superficial. When a botanist looks at a flower, with their expert knowledge, they can appreciate the flower on a much deeper level. They understand the various parts of the plant and how they all work together, and what role the plant has in the wider environment. They know the plant as it lives through the seasons. If they can take that knowledge and still keep the sense of wonder and joy of experiencing a flower, then I envy the extra depth of their experience...
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