Speaking of the sorry political state which too often causes us to either rage or bemoan the dark circumstances we find our nation and world in, I found this refreshing:
~ … The Bible tells us that we have nothing to be proud of but, unthinkably, that we have everything to hope for. The optimism of Christianity enters this world’s darkness in the person of Jesus Christ, the God-man. In his life, he didn’t flinch from the hardest realities of the communities he walked among – he wept for the world as it was, worn by the war that sin was waging. Jesus went out to the margins where hope was most thin, among people whose lives were passing in desperation and isolation, and he worked there powerfully, tirelessly, hopefully. Jesus selected the most openly sinful in his society and insisted that the hope he was bringing was designed to deliver them from that sin and make them God’s children. He walked among the broken mechanisms of human government, the detritus that Adam’s death had left behind, and spoke redemption, deliverance, new things.
… This redemptive story – this true history of our past, present and future – surpasses anything that our world is presently telling itself. It refuses the easy anaesthesia of substances or materialism, it refuses to sigh and retire to bed in the hope that tomorrow might be better, it does not call us to impotently rage against the dying light of the cosmos, it rejects defeatist fatalism. Instead Christianity brings us to the depths of who we are, the darkness of what the world is, so that it might lift our eyes to the glory of Jesus, so that it might flood our cell with the majesty of a resurrected Redeemer.
This is the message that we can bring to our world – that Jesus Christ is making all things new, that he can make us new, that through faith in his finished work there is now possible a personal regeneration by his Spirit that is a mere foretaste of the physical and cosmic regeneration of the universe that awaits Jesus’ return. We have a message which is not merely therapeutic but so theologically and philosophically sophisticated and sanguine that it should make the ears of a despairing world prick up and listen – things are worse than we imagine, but Christ has come to effect a redemption of which we could never have dreamed. Let’s carry our Christian optimism – this resurrected realism – to a world which is weeping for want of hope, and despairing for lack of redemption. ~
I have a busy day with a couple stories to write & an eye doctor’s appt this morning with the surgeon, the advance check-in for next Wednesday’s 2nd (and last) surgery.
We’re getting a few warm-up days right now, but temps should drop back down over the weekend.
I’ll give my cousin a call later, she was due to get home from the hospital late yesterday and I’m sure she feels good being back home in her own bed and surroundings. I don’t want to call too early!
Meanwhile, coffee for me.
____________
The dusk-time walks with Abby are interesting of late, a number of elaborate front-yard Halloween displays are going up in our neighborhood, some complete with sound effects and giant blow-up ‘things.’ One yard featured a skeleton doing yoga on a mat.
Abby was smitten by one yard with gargoyle-type statues.
Those eyes staring back at us …. Abby had to get close to check some of those out.
Oh, Dj reminded me of something to be thankful for in the moment. So far there are no Halliween displays right around us. One neighbor had a huge blow up pumpkin with a happy face that I enjoyed year after year, but I guess it got too old to hold its breath.
Just had round two of negative conversation with Bro. Mostly it has been good, but the blaming me for things, I have to walk away to enjoy the company of Miss Bosley in the room of confinement. She only blames me for an empty food bowl😀 Easy peezy fix!
My daughter’s dog got completely spooked by a werewolf decoration–they’re very tall this year, 8 feet? She began growling and whining and when it moved at them, she got in front of her owner and barked.
Good dog.
Frankly, they all give me the creeps this year–the decorations.
I was at the eye doctor’s office — waiting for the doctor to come in as they were running a good hour behind schedule — when that universal phone test alert went off this morning.
Considering all the staff and patients who were in that building — everyone, pretty much, with cell phones — it created a real cacophony! Yikes.
Everyone pretty much freaked out, scrambling to try to find a way to make it stop! 🙂
The phone alert hit us while my husband’s jam group was playing. Phones all over went off. I had mine on silent mode in my purse, so wasn’t sure if it went off at all. I checked 9 minutes later, so I was 9 minutes too late to the emergency. It actually didn’t cause too much of a disturbance considering. The group never stopped playing.
Wandering Views 
Good morning! I hope everyone has a lovely fall day. The weather has been perfect here for four or five short walks a day for strength building.
Great photo on the header. Looking forward to seeing more of AJ’s bird collection!
Looking forward to the political thread, too, with news about the Speaker.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Speaking of the sorry political state which too often causes us to either rage or bemoan the dark circumstances we find our nation and world in, I found this refreshing:
~ … The Bible tells us that we have nothing to be proud of but, unthinkably, that we have everything to hope for. The optimism of Christianity enters this world’s darkness in the person of Jesus Christ, the God-man. In his life, he didn’t flinch from the hardest realities of the communities he walked among – he wept for the world as it was, worn by the war that sin was waging. Jesus went out to the margins where hope was most thin, among people whose lives were passing in desperation and isolation, and he worked there powerfully, tirelessly, hopefully. Jesus selected the most openly sinful in his society and insisted that the hope he was bringing was designed to deliver them from that sin and make them God’s children. He walked among the broken mechanisms of human government, the detritus that Adam’s death had left behind, and spoke redemption, deliverance, new things.
… This redemptive story – this true history of our past, present and future – surpasses anything that our world is presently telling itself. It refuses the easy anaesthesia of substances or materialism, it refuses to sigh and retire to bed in the hope that tomorrow might be better, it does not call us to impotently rage against the dying light of the cosmos, it rejects defeatist fatalism. Instead Christianity brings us to the depths of who we are, the darkness of what the world is, so that it might lift our eyes to the glory of Jesus, so that it might flood our cell with the majesty of a resurrected Redeemer.
This is the message that we can bring to our world – that Jesus Christ is making all things new, that he can make us new, that through faith in his finished work there is now possible a personal regeneration by his Spirit that is a mere foretaste of the physical and cosmic regeneration of the universe that awaits Jesus’ return. We have a message which is not merely therapeutic but so theologically and philosophically sophisticated and sanguine that it should make the ears of a despairing world prick up and listen – things are worse than we imagine, but Christ has come to effect a redemption of which we could never have dreamed. Let’s carry our Christian optimism – this resurrected realism – to a world which is weeping for want of hope, and despairing for lack of redemption. ~
Let us keep the faith.
-dj
LikeLiked by 3 people
I have a busy day with a couple stories to write & an eye doctor’s appt this morning with the surgeon, the advance check-in for next Wednesday’s 2nd (and last) surgery.
We’re getting a few warm-up days right now, but temps should drop back down over the weekend.
I’ll give my cousin a call later, she was due to get home from the hospital late yesterday and I’m sure she feels good being back home in her own bed and surroundings. I don’t want to call too early!
Meanwhile, coffee for me.
____________
The dusk-time walks with Abby are interesting of late, a number of elaborate front-yard Halloween displays are going up in our neighborhood, some complete with sound effects and giant blow-up ‘things.’ One yard featured a skeleton doing yoga on a mat.
Abby was smitten by one yard with gargoyle-type statues.
Those eyes staring back at us …. Abby had to get close to check some of those out.
-dj
LikeLiked by 3 people
Morning! A fantastic shot up there Aj!!!
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Oh, Dj reminded me of something to be thankful for in the moment. So far there are no Halliween displays right around us. One neighbor had a huge blow up pumpkin with a happy face that I enjoyed year after year, but I guess it got too old to hold its breath.
Just had round two of negative conversation with Bro. Mostly it has been good, but the blaming me for things, I have to walk away to enjoy the company of Miss Bosley in the room of confinement. She only blames me for an empty food bowl😀 Easy peezy fix!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good morning, all. Or afternoon. Time is flying here!
mumsee
LikeLiked by 1 person
My daughter’s dog got completely spooked by a werewolf decoration–they’re very tall this year, 8 feet? She began growling and whining and when it moved at them, she got in front of her owner and barked.
Good dog.
Frankly, they all give me the creeps this year–the decorations.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was at the eye doctor’s office — waiting for the doctor to come in as they were running a good hour behind schedule — when that universal phone test alert went off this morning.
Considering all the staff and patients who were in that building — everyone, pretty much, with cell phones — it created a real cacophony! Yikes.
Everyone pretty much freaked out, scrambling to try to find a way to make it stop! 🙂
-dj
LikeLiked by 2 people
The phone alert hit us while my husband’s jam group was playing. Phones all over went off. I had mine on silent mode in my purse, so wasn’t sure if it went off at all. I checked 9 minutes later, so I was 9 minutes too late to the emergency. It actually didn’t cause too much of a disturbance considering. The group never stopped playing.
LikeLiked by 2 people