eleneariel | Entries tagged with church

Three Winston Churchill lectures...a bio/documentary on Catherine the Great (I am so interested in Russian history - why?) Oedipus Rex and most of The Song of Roland...a lecture on Samuel Johnson's dictionary...I think I can feel like I didn't entirely waste my time. I like educational weekends. Especially when the reading of Oedipus Rex can take place on the back porch in a puddle of sunlight with a kitten and a tasty drink.

The sermon this morning was partly about the importance of compliments and affirmation. *nods head* That's certainly something important to me. And I hope not to let shyness keep me from offering them to others as it sometimes does.

(My brothers are probably embarressed by how much I cuddle up to them in church. It's so cold in there, I need to suck every bit of warmth out of their ~~not so~~ little bodies as I can get.)

Buying lipstick is always a gamble, isn't it, girls?

Come on, guys, help me with what to do with my computer. I like to make decisions after lots of imput. I'll probably still go with my gut instinct, but it makes me less stressed about deciding.

(Every time I see his family, I feel like they hate me.)

The elders at church have started a new program: Faith and Family night, Thursdays 6:00-9:00 pm. A meal together, then various studies and discussions. Although it sounds like a grand time, and I'm all for promoting fellowship and study within the church, I feel evil for being glad I work til 9:00 on Thursdays. Even if I had that evening free, it would be really hard to give up one of my two evenings a week at home. Especially since I already spend Sunday and Wednesday nights at church...yeah, now I really feel evil.

(But maybe if God had wanted me to be gone all the time, He wouldn't have given me a love of coming home?)

Er.

There was a baptism this morning. I cried. I've been so emotional today.

I'm embarking on a calligraphy project for savetheolives. It's been so long since I've had a big art thing to work on. *rubs hands together* I'm looking forward to it. I already have three colors of ink on my hands from some rough drafting this afternoon.

(REAL calligraphy pens--with wooden handles and metal nibs and small bottles of ink with names like tobacco and auburn--are the only way to go.)

Saturday's birthday shopping trip was a grand success. We ate lunch at what I have decided is the coolest coffee shop evah (they had a Terry Pratchett book on the bookself!). And I bought some clothes that make me very happy. Like the Ann Taylor skirt that I didn't realize was silk until I got home and read the tag.

Um. I want some more French silk pie.

(I want to go dancing.)

According to Native Tongues, the Italians call the French nostri cugini antipatichi (our disagreeable cousins), while the French retaliate by called the Italians les macaronis. *snerkle*

Also, I learned that 'Manhattan' means, in the Indian language that named it, "The place where we all got drunk."

And during WWI, sourkraut was renamed "liberty cabbage." We're not so orginal after all.

I've decided to read all the books I own. That should last me a while. It makes me happy to think about.

I was reading the 'Public Libraries' magazine the other day and found an article about librarians who are readers and how that changes the way they learn and process information.

Catherine Sheldrick Ross has surveyed avid readers and has found that they discover information and acquire knowledge in many diverse ways. Sometimes information is accidentally encountered that may fill a previously unperceived information gap, trigger the reader's memory, or lead to new research activity. ... In terms of accidentally encountering information, I would add that it is an especially rich joy that comes from the spontaneous discovery of a link between books--for the librarian who reads, this is the real deal.

YES! I love the tangents reading leads me away on. Like the time I read Russian history for two months straight.

Going back to my old church today (long story) reaffirmed that leaving it was the best decision I ever made.

This morning I heard the most beautiful 13th c. French music. If I wasn't what I am already, I'd go spend my life becoming an expert in medieval life and language and music. .... the sacred music of that era is so lovely.

I am feeling exceptionally strange, giddy, chipper, and odd. What a lot of things to wrap up into one bundle of me!

A very pertinent point from this morning's sermon:

"Our righteousness is as filthy rags." That doesn't mean our bad deeds are as filthy rags. All the good things we do look like trash to our perfect Father. But He loves us, accepts our efforts, and helps us try harder, even though compared to His wonderful perfection, they'll always look like old cleaning rags.

Wow. There goes any traces of smugness I might have been tempted to feel.

In the ladies room before church started, I thought of the title of my first non-fiction book. If You Don't Talk To Yourself, You're Crazy: a history of an imagination. Yes, I'm serious. No, I don't know if I'll ever get around to writing it.

Hey, inspiration doesn't always strike in story-book worthy places.

How does anybody ever learn to type on a QWERTY keyboard? And yet, how proficient we are, and how terrible we would be on an ABCDE one.

Baby finger- and toenails amaze me with their teenyness.

Five inches in one week: nothing like a drought to make you properly appreciate rain! I love it. More is predicted.

Sunday I was snubbed at a party by several people I used to go to church with. I don't care that much anymore, but it's an odd experience. I'm not that used to flat-out blatant rudeness and I'm always a little shocked (and later, amused) by it. Also, I ran into my former pastor at the pharmacy and he did deign to say hello, but called me by the wrong name. As the British would say, "typical!"

It appears I wasn't that far off the mark, though, when Quinton asked me what the main difference between my former church and my current church was and I blurted out before I thought, "They like me here."

But I came home and drank three cups of Mexican coffee (thanks again for the beans, Sarah-girl!), and so all was well.

Sometimes I wonder why anybody would hate little old me and sometimes I wonder why anybody wouldn't.

I will now proceed to mention several people.

To another Sarah:

pansyprincess, you were in my dream Saturday night! I dreamed that I went to my favorite coffee shop and you had just started to work there. You made me an excellent latte, and then I realized your sister was also there (she was taller and blonder than you, but her face looked just like yours...probably because I don't know your real sister's faces well enough). We three sat around and talked and I was almost late getting back to work because of you. =)

aftondays's photography contest grows near, but there's still time to submit a picture or two!

savetheolives and I have been having a grand time planning for the end of May. I think Hollywood conspired not to release any good movies when we could see them together, though. It currently looks like we'll have our pick between MI:II and The Da Vinci Code. ....or not.

I will now venture into politics, which I find interesting that I rarely talk about here. I am actually a very political person....believe it or not.

I'm getting really sick of the whole illegal immigration thing, especially the marches and demonstrations and strikes. I have all the sympathy in the world, but you're breaking the law. I don't see the big deal.

And I heard the gentleman who started the whole translate-the-national-anthem-into-Spanish thing quoted today as saying he did it "to honor all the immigrants who came to this country speaking Spanish." My thought, and my dad concurs, is that we should also translate it into French and German and Polish and Dutch and Chinese and a bunch of obscure African dialects and heck, Gaelic too; and then when Americans gather to sing the national anthem it will sound like the tower of Babel and maybe God will strike us dead.

Last night I got the curiosity bug. Inform me below and satisfy my mind. =)

Disclaimers: I know I didn't cover all possibilities; choose what comes closest to you. Feel free to expound in comments. I know many churches don't have midweek (or evening) services. I'm not judging your religious fervor by the number of services you attend, yada yada yada. Etc.!

[Poll #718644]

I have been known to use hot coffee on my cereal when I'm out of milk. It's not very good.

It looks like we'll be recarpeting the other half of the library within the month. Also, adding on in a major way within the year (?).

Last night I finally felt like I had my life in order. All because I cleaned off my desk. *facepalm*

I think I'm skipping church tonight. I feel bad because it's happened more frequently lately, but I have a reason.

And this is the End.

Last Wednesday night at church several people in the row in front of me got into an argument about whether angels ever have six wings. Kimi thought they did, but her husband thought they didn't. Kimi vaguely remembered a passage she'd read somewhere in the old testament about angels with six wings...

...and from somewhere in the recesses of my mind words came to me that I had memorized a long, long time ago in seventh grade Bible School. Isaiah 6:

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

That is some of the most poetic and magestic language I've heard in a good while. No wonder it stayed with me.

(I was Kimi's heroine for the evening; I'm not sure her husband liked me that much, though. *grin*)

savetheolives can post self portraits, so can I--with no feelings of guilt or vanity. (Right?) Here are a couple, some complete with ~~accidental~~ artistic blurring effects.

( behold the beauty of ME! )

Other things:

*My chapter two (see several posts ago) did get picked, and printed. And with only one typo, too, a major accomplishment for this paper. Hee. ...Well, okay, two typos. I just noticed that they stuck in an extra comma where I quite deliberatly did not want one. And--argh! There's another one--"it's" instead of the "its" that I wanted.

Oh well. It was still a thrill, seeing my name in the byline.

*Two baptisms took place Sunday. My, but this church is effeciant at that. o_O I had never observed this type of baptism before. It was very moving, though.

*Yay! for days when you feel pretty.

I'd forgotten how absolutely wonderful it is to partake in communion every Sunday. Going from a staunch twice-a-year church (how did I ever live with that?) to every Sunday = wonderfulness.

I feel the awe and the mystery and the love here.

I have done the right thing, I have done the right thing, I must have done the right thing. Too late to second guess now. How can I, when I feel such peace at least in this part of my life? God is in in control of my life and whether I like it or not things will work out for my best. If that involves hurt or pain, so be it.

I tend to think things this good can't happen to me, but I might be wrong.

It's always so odd when it's 45 degrees and snowing. I never understand it. It was, however, a Sign. A Happy Sign.

If I had time I would post about my church situation and a radical decision that I made, but I don't. I want to do it justice. Soon, yes, soon.

I love how crazy my family can get at points. Saturday night we ended up playing baseball in the backyard with apples. Our apple tree has way to many for us to use, and they were lying right there on the ground, and so...! It made such a satisfying sound to hit a juicy sphere and have it go SQUELSH and fly into hundreds of pieces all over the yard, spraying apple juice all over the batter and anyone else lucky (?) enough to be standing close by.

And when it was all over, our dog went and delicately began eating the pieces, lying on her back with the apple between her paws like a baby with a bottle.

I'd love to try it with oranges sometime.

In other news, the Four Day Weekend All To Myself is rapidly coming up and I am Excited. Icecream, chocolate, lots of reading, and my first experience with the Church of Christ beckon me, and I can't wait.

Sunday there was a very hidious bowl of wooden fruit on the communion table, including a too-small pinapple, a banana, two Apple-Like Things, and a mango (?) that looked frighteningly like a kidney.

I have never known a mango to look remotely like a kidney before. Perhaps it was some other "exotic" fruit.

I've had a paid account for about a month now, and I still haven't made any polls yet. Time to change that. This one would go on my other LJ, but it's only an humble free one.

[Poll #330462]

Current Mood: literary

Josh Grobin's Canto Alla Vito always puts me in a good mood. Although I hate to type during it, since the speakers on my laptop convieniently are located right where my wrists are. It sounds rather odd, muffled like that. Oh. Maybe if I roll my sleeves up...I bet that fabric doesn't help. *does* Yes, that's better.

I heard that he sang at the Superbowl pre-game show. I wish I would have known so I could have seen just that bit. It never even occured to me that they'd have someone on that I liked.

What I find rather amusing--and maybe I'm twisted for finding it so--is that our church was practically DISMISSED the Sunday evening service so everyone could get together and watch the game. Technically we were supposed to go to each other's houses and have Bible-study type things and "fellowship", but I can just guess how much that really happened. And all the youth gathered at one house to watch the game: I wonder, did they see the half-time show? And if they did, will they, perhaps, forego this thing next year? I can just imagine the effect Janet Jackson's little stunt had on all that testosterone...if they dismiss church next year, I think I'll SCREAM.

I stayed home. I did not attend a pseudo-Bible study Superbowl party. I did not watch the game, not even for the commercials. Instead I...well, what did I do? I read. A lot. And I ate a lot, too. I did some useful stuff like deleting old emails and typed out a bunch of quotes from A Serrated Edge.

However, I am going to watch the Oscars. They aren't sports, after all. *grin* I might even watch them next year, even though LotR won't be involved, just for the fun of seeing rich people making fools of themselves during acceptance speachs. ("I never believed this could happen!!!" ....yeah right. Que va.)

I will now get down off my Ranting About Things Soap Box and go away. *goes*

We just wasted an hour on a History channel program. Well, not wasted, since I'm now utterly and completely convinced that UFOs full of Little Green Men regularly visit earth.

**hopes you know sarcasm when you see it**

Today I saw the Ugly Russian dude again; He *must* be related to Evgeny Plushenko although he is almost surely seven feet tall, which the Rat Squire certainly isn't.

It was much nicer to sit through dinner and watch Prince William feeding his two small sons...oh wait, I guess that means it wasn't really Wills after all. (Unless he has a really complex double life in which he is a Reformed, Presbyterian, and goes by the name of Scott.) (Btw, we [Hannah and I]think it's ridiculous that his name is Scott--she thinks it should be Charlie and I'm convinced he should be a William.) (Hannah just decided we should go tell him to change his name and stop this confusion.)

(I'm beginning to like parenthesies.)

At any rate, the Scott-who-should-be-Charlie-or-William looks almost exactly like the Prince, only with slightly darker hair. His smile is the same, his slightly bashful way of glancing at people, his height and build and even his manner of dress...all made me rather curious if people ever come up to him and ask for his autograph.

(Hannah says I should talk about the church service so people don't get the idea that I went only to Look at People. But I would like to add my own note and let everyone know that she really doesn't try to control my life and anyway, if she did I'd only follow her GOOD suggestions.)

I enjoyed it Muchly, because it was a much more litergical service then my home church (very good) and has a Tall Pastor in Black Robes. **grin** And there were lots of good songs and Loud Organ Music and Communion which my church only has twice a year. (But I didn't have the wine, only juice, because I didn't want to have anyone think I took communion only for the wine experience....maybe next Sunday?)

Current Mood: amused

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July 2011

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Page Summary

cold fingers make for bad typing
the mish-mash
Living a life far away
A Sunday thought (or two)
And there we would'ha stayed if we had'na moved away...
Happy Friday!
life moves
I always knew memorizing parts of Isaiah would do me good
Shamelessly I admire myself
The glory and the mystery
It snowed for ten minutes today
(no subject)
(no subject)
*drags out the miniature ranting soap box*
If it's on the History channel it must be true...?

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Joie de vivre

i thank you God for most this amazing day

Entries tagged with church

cold fingers make for bad typing

the mish-mash

Living a life far away

A Sunday thought (or two)

And there we would'ha stayed if we had'na moved away...

Happy Friday!

life moves

I always knew memorizing parts of Isaiah would do me good

Shamelessly I admire myself

The glory and the mystery

It snowed for ten minutes today

(no subject)