Thankful Thursdays: A Random Collection

1. I'm not dizzy anymore.

2. My thesis advisors seem to like what I have done so far.

3. Spring Break starts next week! I'll be on a plane by 5:00 on Friday!

4. I got to talk to Luke on the phone this evening.

5. Mom sent me crunchy peanut butter with flaxseed.

6. We had warm breezes, blue skies, and kite-flying today.

7. Orchestra concert and jazz afterglow this weekend!

Strange Comfort

I'm still coughing. However, in my English-major nerdiness, I've decided to think of myself as a consumptive Victorian heroine languishing away in a dusty parlor somewhere. That somehow makes it more bearable. Other people's difficulties always have a tinge of romance, but your own rarely do. So the solution is to pretend you're someone else...

...and voila, a crisis suddenly becomes interesting.

Also, notable fact of the day: we have a higher temperature in Hillsdale than they do at home. Ha!

Mellifluous Mondays: I'll Not Feast on Thee

"Carrion Comfort" by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Not, I'll not, carrion comfort, Despair, not feast on thee;
Not untwist -- slack they may be -- these last strands of man
In me or, most weary cry "I can no more." I can;
Can something, hope, wish day come, not choose not to be.
But ah, but O thou terrible, why wouldst thou rude on me
Thy wring-world right foot rock? lay a lionlimb against me? scan
With darksome devouring eyes my bruised bones? and fan,
O in turns of tempest, me heaped there; me frantic to avoid thee and flee?

Why? That my chaff might fly; my grain lie, sheer and clear.
Nay in all that toil, that coil, since (seems) I kissed the rod,
Hand rather, my heart lo! lapped strength, stole joy, would laugh, cheer.
Cheer whom though? the hero whose heaven-handling flung me, foot trod
Me? or me that fought him? O which one? is it each one? That night, that year
Of now done darkness I wretch lay wrestling with (my God!) my God.

"I will not feast on despair." What a thought, that anyone would willingly consume such a miserable emotion. But we do. We like to have pity-parties and wallow in our sadness. It makes us feel important, dramatic, the center of the universe (even though it is a very unhappy center). We refuse to accept hope because it requires us to rely on God. Even if independence produces despair, we sinfully choose that over submission and peace.

We May Not Live in Siberia, But...

"In single file, making no effort to keep up with each other, every man looking bulky because he was muffled up in every piece of clothing he possessed, they trudged across to the midway with not a sound except for the crunch of snow underfoot. It was still dark, although a greenish light was brightening in the east. A thin, treacherous breeze was creeping in from the same direction.
There is no worse moment than when you turn out for work parade in the morning. In the dark, in the freezing cold, with a hungry belly, and the whole day ahead of you. You lose the power of speech. You haven't the slightest desire to talk to each other."

This is from One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch. I know it's describing a morning in a Soviet gulag, and that these men have a far more miserable life than I can possibly understand, and that they're off to work all day in sub-zero weather rather than sit in warm classroom buildings. But all the same, when I read this, I couldn't help but think of students on their way to class at 8 AM in Hillsdale, Michigan.

"Muffled up in every piece of clothing [they] possessed, they trudged across to the midway with not a sound except for the crunch of snow underfoot." Yep, that's about it. :o)

"Praise Ye the Lord"

Praise ye the Lord.
I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.
The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
His work is honourable and glorious; and His righteousness endureth forever.
He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.
He hath given meat unto them that fear Him; He will ever be mindful of His covenant.
He hath shewed His people the power of His works, that He may give them the heritage of the heathen.
The works of His hands are verity and judgment; all His commandments are sure.
They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.
He sent redemption unto His people; He hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is His name.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do His commandments.
His praise endureth forever.
-Psalm 111

Why does the psalmist praise the Lord? Because of who He is. Why will His praise endure forever, through trial and triumph? Why will His glory stand equally strong whether there's a storm outside or the sun is shining brightly? Because of who He is.

God's character never changes. And since our love for Him is based upon His character, since our faith in Him rests upon His character, neither should true love or true faith change.

May He give us the grace to see past our circumstances (which are quite petty in the end) and keep our eyes fixed fully on Himself. It's not about who we are, or what we can do, but about who He is.