a calling

Moving away from the superficial, sale-induced, materialism of yesterday's post and more toward things that actually matter, let's talk about the human soul and its potential and role in the world. (How's that for a switch?)

Invictus is a 2009 movie about Nelson Mandela, rugby, and this poem by 19th century English poet William Ernest Henley:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

And whereas I believe that God is the ultimate Master of our fate, I also believe we too are called to a role of action and perseverance and faith in order for Him to work through us. Ultimately, God gave us the gift of choice, and this poem in the context of the movie's plot truly captures that and inspires us to focus, forgive, seek, give, and do.

One of my favorite themes in Scripture is Call and Response. Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Samuel, Esther, Ruth, Jesus, the apostles, Paul, and virtually every character mentioned in the Bible has a story about Call and Response and a lesson that fits perfectly into our little modern lives. Outside of Scripture, we can see profiles of Call and Response in historical figures, news stories, and certainly in the common people we encounter in our everyday lives. I love looking for it, reflecting on it, talking about it, seeing it unfold.

This movie is about Call and Response. This poem is about Call and Response. Life is about Call and Response:

Here are my circumstances. How will I RESPOND?

It's a great weekend movie. Inspiring, historical, thought-provoking, and overall well done.

If you've already seen Invictus, what did you think?

What do you think about the theme "Call and Response?"

the first blog I ever read....

was Tollipop.

Well, technically it was the second. The first blog I ever read led me to it, making it the second.

But who's counting?

The author of Tollipop
draws these enchanting porcelain children called "Tollipops" and sells them in her etsy shop.

However,

what originally drew me

to this blog was not the Tollipop art,

but the little masterpieces of

phrases, sentences, and paragraphs woven and manipulated by the artist/author.

She is a master of language--

its richness, its movement, its beauty and scape.

She rekindles heirloom language to a blaze that leaves you poised and rosy as the little Tollipops themselves.

She currently has a project underway called the Hundred Dresses Project. Basically, she is writing 100 little stories to go with 100 different Tollipop girls in different outfits. And the stories are wonderful. She also has a collecion of Tollipop stories aside from The Hundred Dresses Project here.

This little project is based on the book by the same title. If you or a young lady in your life is unfamiliar with The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes, familiarize swiftly. It's a well-loved classic that teaches a timeless lesson in a lovely way... for girls, young ladies and women of any age and era.

Oh, and if you start keeping up with the Tollipop blog, you'll soon learn that the author's daughters are amazingly accomplished musicians. She posts videos of their performances, which I usually watch more than once, green with envy and racked with regret for not devoting myself more to music in the earlier days of my life.

What was the first, most impressionable blog you remember reading?

What got you started blogging... or reading blogs?

i put some peppermints in my coffee

image via here

Husband and I read a powerful little story this Christmas by Eugene Field, better known for the classic children's lullaby Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. You can find it here if you would like to read it or share it with your family. It's about a 5-minute read and, as I said, powerful.

Be joyful. Pray. Serve.

Merry Christmas, friends!

christmas just won't come without:

It's a tradition from Husband's family to watch:

The Muppets's Christmas Carol brings Joy with the lessons of the season, and it inspires generosity, love, and a deep appreciation for family-- all in that very witty, Muppet way. It also reminds us that the then, the right now, and the not yet do not control us but certainly form us. Yet, we still have the choice to decide just how these eras will help us become more fully who we are meant to be. And we are called to seek the messages of the then and the mysteries and hope of the not yet while remaining fully in the now of the Kingdom of God.

It's a tradition from my family to read:

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever brings Laughter along with a cold, hard realization of how our human nature often compels us to behave with prejudice and, well, OCD; and how God brings Light, even through that darkness of our nature; and how He's always surprising us with beauty and grace in the most unexpected forms...

And to tie it all together with:

The Nativity is a movie of so much beauty I'm not sure I can assess it. The filmography, the story, I can't say enough. It brings me into the Story of the season; it makes me aware of the power of the Holy Spirit. And reminds me of the total subversion that the Gospel brings to our lives, or

The Great Reversal, as a good friend calls it. Everything you think you know; everything that has a supposed function, order, and nature, is completely subverted by the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and by the pervasiveness of the Holy Spirit. In my experience, that's the way of the Lord. Always challenging our most concrete knowledge and expectations, forcing us to abide in His mystery, His grace, His scheme and ultimately, to Dwell in Possibility.

something unique

What is it about the Autumn Light that's so different?

Something more golden,

A touch more enigma,

Something holy and gracious.

It's like a magnification of the light that shines from happy eyes.

I'm really excited about something, and I want to tell you about it. I don't talk very much about my job on this blog because I am a private reading intervention tutor. Parents hire me to work one-on-one with their children if they are struggling in reading and language. It can be an "elite" business if you are in a city where people know the terms dyslexia and Orton-Gillingham, and people in Charlotte know those terms.

I am one of what seems to be the few individuals who absolutely loves what they do. I actually get what I like to call a working high, similar to a runner's high, but it comes from doing your job. It's amazing to see an understanding of language and the written word, not to mention a love for literature and stories, develop in a little person who has been struggling so hard academically, simply because his/her brain learns differently from other brains.

So, that's what I do, in a nutshell. Now, why am I so excited?

I have been bothered by the fact that this is an "elite" business. Only children whose parents can afford it get the instruction they really need. By chance, which I believe is the Holy Spirit in secular terms, I discovered a North Carolina Non-Profit called The Augustine Project. They actually train their volunteers to do what I do, and they send them into the public schools to work one-on-one with children from low-income families. So, since my mornings are usually free, I've volunteered to start working with them. I will get to do some pre- and post-assessment testing and maybe even help with some teacher workshops and work with a student or two. Basically, I will get to share my training and the skills I've learned over the years with a non-profit that changes the lives of low-income children with learning disorders.

I am so thankful there are organizations like this in existence.

Pieces of Carl Sandburg's Homestead

While we were in Flat Rock, NC this past weekend, we also visited poet and people-activist Carl Sandburg's home.

It sits on almost 300 acres of lush mountainous land.

You can walk as much of the premises as you want.

We met people there who live nearby and come to the property for a daily hike.

You can hike mountain trails that take you to various lookout points, where I imagine Ole' Carl went to write some of his poems. Do you know his poetry?


I haven't read a lot of Sandburg's poetry, but one of his poems I like is:


On the Way

Little one, you have been buzzing in the books,

Flittering in the newspapers and drinking beer with lawyers



And amid the educated men of the clubs you have been getting an earful of speech from trained tongues.




Take an earful from me once, go with me on a hike



Along sand stretches on the great inland sea here




And while the eastern breeze blows on us and the restless surge




Of the lake waves on the breakwater breaks with an ever fresh monotone,





Let us ask ourselves: What is truth? What do you or I know?
How much do the wisest of the world’s men know about where the massed human
procession is going?




You have heard the mob laughed at?



I ask you: Is not the mob rough as the mountains are rough?
And all things human rise from the mob and relapse and rise again as rain to the sea?

What do you think about that poem?

Its structure, tones, words, and message?

More on The Sandburgs:

Read an intriguing article about Carl and Lillian Sandburg's love story here.

Read about 200 of Carl Sandburg's poems here.

Lillian Sandburg, Carl's wife and mother of his three children, raised hundreds of goats on the farm. She believed that goat milk was good for those with dairy-related health issues.

Read more about Lillian's goats here,

if you are interested in goats and such.

Today, you can pet the goats still living on the farm.

They are actually descendants of Lillian's prize goats.

Dwell In Possibility

(Photo via here)

I dwell in Possibility--

A fairer House than Prose--

More numerous of Windows--

Superior--for Doors--
Of Chambers as the Cedars--

Impregnable of Eye--

And for an Everlasting Roof

The Gambrels of the Sky--

Of Visitors--the fairest--

For Occupation--This--

The spreading wide my narrow Hands

To gather Paradise--

-Emily Dickinson