Resting and Reading

It's been a grey and rainy day--perfect for resting and reading. This evening we're enjoying the family in the midst of their homework busyness.

I've been feeling very well. We still don't know what the CA 125 test means for sure, but we can wait and FROG.

I have two books going. One is The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done so Much Ill and so Little Good. The subtitle pretty well sums up all 384 pages. It's very sad how our Planners keep replicating aid programs that demonstrably fail. Just now I'm reading about corruption and cheating, which contribute mightily to the failure of societies to improve. William Easterly, the author, is an economist. He seems incapable of even imagining that the societies where trust and honesty are the general rule have a Judeo-Christian base. You'd be amazed by the other theories to try to explain basic goodness. (In the dim distant past, the last bully left standing in the West simply grew more honest once he had all the goodies--or something like that.)

The other book I'm reading is Eugene Peterson's Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology. I love the way he helps me see the familiar with fresh eyes. Here's a sample: "A primary but often shirked task of the Christian in our society and culture is to notice, to see in detail, the sacredness of creation The marks of God's creative work are all around and in us. We live surrounded by cherubim singing Holy, Holy, Holy. It is easy to miss it. Sin-graffiti disfigures both land and people. Death is a frequent visitor. Blasphemies assault our ears. And our sin-blurred eyes and sin-dulled ears miss the glory that is right before us. But no excuses. We have a huge responsibility and an enormous privilege to live daily in such a way that we give witness to the immense and sacred gifts of time and place." I keep reading paragraphs that I simply want to share with someone.

Okay, there's something to mull over. I'll post again when I get a chance. Meanwhile, we continue to pray for you, and appreciate your prayers for us.

Blessings,
Carol