Sabbath Rest

"Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the sabbath in honor of the Lord thy God; on it thou shalt not do any work, neither thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." 

I've recently become convicted about working on the Sabbath. God states above, point blank, to rest on the Sabbath. Really--the commander of the universe is asking us to take a break, to take it easy for one day out of seven--how hard should it be? Ha! Hard to remember, but so, so, easy to forget. We have a pressing homework assignment, or want to wash a pair of jeans for Monday, or are just bored and check our email...only to get sucked in to the computer. 

You know, a week is really a rather artificial time unit--nowhere in nature is there a basis for this strange seven days time segment. A day is based on the time it takes for our planet to rotate once--a year is based on the time it takes for our beloved earth to circle the sun. Even a month is based somehow off the lunar cycle--but the week? No graceful participant in the celestial dance marks a week. The week is God-breathed. If even God needed rest, why should we attempt to be "productive" 24-7? God took a break after six days--who are we, his paltry creation, to scorn at that? 

 

One Sunday a few weeks ago I did rest, really rest. It was a very peaceful day. I snuggled with my mom, worked on a cross-stitched sunflower, and maybe cooked something--I don't remember. The point is, I felt rejuvenated. Refreshed. Rested. Ready to joyfully face another week. Why don't you try it this Sunday? Turn off your computer and go for a walk. Enjoy your family. Read that book you've had on your nightstand for the past month. Embrace God's time management. 

Randomonia...?

Since my last blog post I've come across a several interesting links. I'll post the "fluff" here before metaphorically rolling up my sleeves and analyzing Blue Like Jazz and The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism.

This links to an interesting website showcasing uncommonly used words.

Save The Words

This article discusses the work of a University of Utah professor of anthropology, who theorizes that due to a "founder effect" Ashkenazim Jews are genetically predisposed to high intelligence. According to the research paper, this high IQ has the side effect of causing several genetic disorders, including Tay-Sachs. I don't entirely agree with this paper. Although there have certainly been many brilliant Jewish thinkers, it seems unfair that any people group should be inherently more intelligent than any other people group. Additionally, since Jews place a high cultural value on academics and study, it could be argued that this intelligence is not inborn, but achieved. A classic example of nature vs. nurture.   

http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/culture/features/1478/

Grammar generally causes my eyes to glaze over. That said, the below website fairly clearly describes a compound complex sentence and the real difference between a dependent and independent clause. Yay for nitty-gritty grammar!! 

http://www.evergreen.edu/writingcenter/handouts/grammar/compoundcomplex.pdf 

As long as we're on the subject of grammar, an interesting note. In quoted text an ellipsis with three dots (...) indicates editing inside the sentence. For example, instead of, "My Uncle Moe, who builds houses, lives in Vermont," you could say, "My Uncle Moe...lives in Vermont." On the other hand, an ellipsis with four dots (....) is used to indicate word omission between several sentences. For example, rather than, "My Uncle Moe, who builds houses, lives in Vermont. He called today," you could simply say, "My Uncle Moe....called today." Neat, huh? 

Political Cartoon

Old-Fashioned Fun...New Fangled Yum!

Okay, that was pathetic rhyming. What can I say? I'm sorely out of practice at writing eye-catching titles. Have any of you ever read the maple sugaring scene from the Little House on the Prairie series--I'm not sure of the exact book--where Ma pours some hot syrup on the snow and makes homemade maple sugar candy? For any of you who've never had it--you are missing out on a critical life experience--it's delicious! Very sweet/creamy with a melt-in-your-mouth texture. An all-natural truffle! So....trying to duplicate that ethereal experience, I ventured outside into our sub-zero weather--okay, a bit of a hyperbole, but not by that much!--armed with a jug of raw material and fierce determination. Perhaps because I didn't heat the syrup first, or maybe for some chemical quirk, the syrup didn't harden, but oozed into the snow. :-( Not to be deterred, I seized my nearby spoon, and ate my first maple-sugar flavored slushy. Ummmm...almost worth the incessant driveway shoveling!

Yay! Kathy Tyers autographed my book!!!!

The title is fairly self-explanatory...but (yay!) all the same. I've been a fan of Kathy Tyers' books since reading Firebird last year--which at least partially influenced the name of my gmail account. On her website (http://www.kathytyers.com/) she graciously offered to autograph books, so I sent off my copy a couple weeks ago along with a little note. She actually answered my letter with an entire typed page! Hehe! I danced a happy jig!!

If you're at all interesting in sci-fi/speculative fiction, I would definitely recommend her books. Shivering World--another favorite--is excellent, abet very intense and a trifle confusing at first. It escapes classification, at once a mystery, but also a bit sci-fi with a dash of romance--altogether a very winsome combination. Although I haven't read them, Mrs. Tyers is also known for her two Star Wars books: The Truce at Bakura and Balance Point.

Some photos of me, ridiculous with excitement and sporting a pronounced winter look--no? ;-)

PS--The fuzzy thing in the corner of the photos is our Christmas tree.

Vocab Word: Environing--Archaic for 'encircle' 'surround'

Visual Argument

So...this is my visual argument. Originally it was arranged in a square, but my untechy self had an exceedingly difficult time working with this...thus the lineup! The argument itself is a bit simplistic, basically exploring the effects of technology on our lives. Pretty straightforward. Anyway...feel free to comment!

Sprainkle

Pretty cool word, huh? Sprain + Ankle=Sprainkle--The unfortunate state of my poor foot.

While dashing around my elder sister at last night's modern dance class, my right foot slipped, and suddenly crunched sideways in a rather painful manner. After limping through the last five minutes of class, Dad discovered that it was sprained, swathing the entire area in yard upon yard of downy gauze and simultaneously christening it. While at CVS (does that need a little copyright symbol?) getting our passport photos taken--a fiasco!--we picked up a neat little elastic fabric foot thing, now snugly encasing The Foot. Aside from being a teeny bit swollen, my ankle is scarcely uncomfortable--the sheer novelty is still intriguing. :-) I wonder, can I scribble on my "cast?"