Finished reading "Titus"

"Remind them to be subject to rules, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another." 3:1-3

We walked "in this world" and Jesus came to us and showed us that God loves us anyway. He sees through our sins to the human being He created and loves. We need to look at others, all humans, as God sees them. Love people and treat them with dignity and respect, not because they are good people or Christians, but because God created them and loves them.

Finished "The Hobbit and Philosophy"

The book the day I got it from a secret friend...

The book the next day because I left it on the coffee table like a fool when we went out to see a show. Grr...dogs!

At least it was still readable. I thought about getting a new one, but then maybe I'll just keep it just the way it is. Every time I look at it I'll remember my dumb dog and her separation anxiety issues. Just like my "Putting Things By" book she ate right after I got it! I swear that dog is jealous of my books.

Anyway...I finished it last night. I couldn't put it down! What is awesome about it is that I've been reading a lot of philosophy the last few years through the The Great Books of the Western World, so while I was reading this, I had a frame of reference for the philosophers they were quoting AND think about what some other philosophers would think about it.

I have notes ALL through this one, much to Tom's dismay, and I can't write them all here but I'll give you a couple of my very favorites that might make you want to run over to Amazon and get one for yourself!

Let me see...here's one! "They (the dwarves) become so obsessed with the goal that they in turn become attached, and thus enslaved, to it. Attachment to an idea may well be the worst form of attachment. An idea does not breathe; living creatures do. Yet Taoists (along with Buddhists, Hindus, poets, artists, mystics, and numerous philosophers) caution us against assigning more reality to an idea, an image, or a symbol than to reality itself."

Instantly I can relate this to my two favorite subjects parenting and education, which in my personal thoughts go hand in hand. How many parents fail to see their children for who they are when they look at them? We grow attached to the idea of who are children are instead the child right before us. And when the child acts out of character of the idea we get angry and try to redirect that child back to the idea. Relationships can be like that. We fall in love with the idea of what our life will look like and when it doesn't measure up we lash out in anger. We've become enslaved to that idea and can't accept the other good that might come along. If we would clear our mind of preconceived ideas we might see all the other glorious things our relationships are instead of the one thing they are not.

And I believe we Christians are given the same guidance about not "assigning more reality to an idea, an image, or a symbol than to reality itself." God Himself is the reality. We are not create images of Him. We are not to carry around a symbol of Him and treat that as precious instead of the reality of His love.

Here's another one, "Good stories and conversations seem to be the key elements in Gandalf's mentoring of Bilbo."

Throughout time, that has been the best kind of education. Gandalf's gentle encouragement and stories of old times are what keep Bilbo going beyond what he was comfortable doing. In the end, Gandalf tells him, "My dear Bilbo! Something is the matter with you! You are not the hobbit that you were." He's right. For better or worse, Bilbo has changed.

Here's another of my favorites. There is a whole chapter on play and I found this gem, "In ancient Greek, there's a close connection between the words for "play" (paidia) and "education" (paideia). The Greeks considered education to be something that comes out of leisure, because leisure is time spent seeking things that are beautiful and enjoyable, not just working to get things that are necessary."

Breathe that one in!

This book was wonderful and I can't wait to get another one. There are loads of them, everything from classic literature and science fiction to tv shows and movies. Entertainment reflects humanity and that is what philosophy is all about.

Finished "2 Timothy"

I say finished like it's some kind of great accomplishment! These books are only a few chapters long, so if you just read titles, you'd think I were zooming along. But it is nice to have a reminder here about what my thoughts were the last time I read through and how things may have changed. I got this particular bible in July 2004, so I've read through it a few times. Some of my notes hurt to read again. Some bring big smiles. Some are not notes at all, but scribbles from one of the boys that wanted to "help" mom.

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." 4:3-4

I think that time has come and it has come before. I read the bible itself. Sometimes I find commentaries. Sometimes I try to find what the original language said, or other translations. Sometimes I find things that make me sad, angry, or confused. But they are still in there and I try to open my heart and mind to find out why. I pray A LOT about certain lines and authors intent. And for some things I may never find the answer and put on my "First Things to Ask Jesus" list. But I can't ignore it. It's there for a reason.

This one will always be close to my heart.

"At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen." 4:16-18

My MIL, Ann, gave me this when she had heard how some of my friends and deserted me when I was arrested in 2004. There were people who did not believe me that I was falsely accused. And there were some who would not stand with me for fear of being associated. I was devastated. I had no idea that anyone could ever do that. But the Lord did rescue me. I know that His strength was what held me up that year and what continues to be my rock through the years ahead. He's got my back even if the whole world turned against me.

Finished "1 Timothy"

And now I come across verses that I do not like. What to do with them?

"But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression." 2:12-14

Hmm...I can get behind no "authority over a man". Does anyone have an authority over anyone, really? And Adam was created first, yes. But the woman was deceived by Satan and the man was pulled into transgression by woman alone. I'd mark that as worse.

Also, it says "I do not allow...". This is written by Paul, not Jesus. So I take with a grain of salt. There are many passages by Paul regarding women that I don't agree with and I've never seen any church practicing, so I don't think I'm alone here.

"For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer." 4:4-5

Everything? This passage, I believe was written about food specifically. I don't think we should apply that to more.

"But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment." 6:6

Yep. But it's not what you think. When we are content in our lives and in what God has given us, we are relaxed and focused. When we focus on God and not on this world, we are more content and happy. We may not be rich in money or things, but we feel better than if we were. It doesn't matter how hard we work or how much money we get. If we focus on those goals, we always feel like we are missing the mark and need more. We do! We need the Lord and spiritually, we know that.

Finished "The Song of Solomon"

Very beautiful, but I wonder why it is part of the Old Testament. What is it that Christians are supposed to take?

Me? I take it that romantic love and desire are part of God's plan for us. Devotion is beautiful.

"Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among young men. In his shade I took great delight and sat down, and his fruit was sweet to my taste." 2:3

Love satisfies us and gives us strength.

Sigh.

A simpler place

"He often went back to places he had been at earlier times in his life, just to see if the places would seem the same. In most cases, because he himself had changed, the places did not seem exactly as he remembered them, but there were exceptions. The simplest places, where there was only rock and sky, or water and rock, changed the least. When he felt disturbances in his life, as all men would, Famous Shoes tried to go back to one of the simple places, the places of rocks and sky, to steady himself and grow calm again."

"Famous Shoes suspected that the young ranger did not believe what he had just said - he was not old enough to understand the need to go back to a place where things were simple. He had no happiness in his face, the young ranger; perhaps he had never had a place where things were simple, a place he could think about when he needed to remember happiness. Perhaps the young ranger had been unlucky - he might have no good place or good time to remember."

I don't usually write much about the books we are reading as a family because I'm not taking notes but this just jumped out at me last night and I had to write about it. Just a PSA about the book though, it's not for the faint of heart or squeamish. It's one of my husbands favorite books though and he wanted to share it with us. It's a great thing he did because I think I would not have finished reading it after the first yucky parts. In fact, I asked him to skip over them but he wouldn't. But the book is great. The depth of the characters is the best. The Indians aren't all bad guys and the cowboys aren't all good guys. You love some. You hate others. And some you're just not sure about.

What do you think about the quote above? Do you have one of those places? Is it a physical place, spiritual, or just a fond memory? I had never thought of it like that before but shouldn't we all have a place in our lives that we go to to "grow calm again" when life gets hectic?

Before we moved to the desert permanently, we used to come out and camp on BLM land. There is nothing but sand, rocks, bushes, and old mines out there. The boys toted around BB guns and dug holes. I went for long walks in the morning. We'd sit and stare at the fire at night, laughing and telling stories. It was simple. I didn't realize it then, but now I do. We needed that quiet. We needed the simple space and time to re-center our focus and relax. When we came home after a few days, we were happier and more content. And we returned to that same spot many times. We still do, even though we live out here.

I hope you have one of these places! And if you don't, go make one! Even one simple, peaceful room in you house would do. A porch spot with a comfy chair and a view. A nearby park or hilltop to gaze out from. Or a special spot on the couch with the perfect story in your hand.

Finished "2 Thessalonians"

There were two verses that I want to share this time through.

"Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly life and not according to the tradition which  you received from us." 2:7

I don't think he is talking about hiding yourself away from the world. He's speaking about people that they have told the words of Jesus and have taken it in a direction they don't believe Jesus meant it to go. The disciples were people that spoke with Jesus first hand and their words are what we need to heed as we walk in Christ. If Jesus had written a book, we would be reading that. I think they were warning us that some people were taking their words and witness and leading others in the wrong direction. Funny that just this morning, I was reading about a public speaker that seems to be doing just that. He explains the gospel without quoting it. Many people may read what he says and take that as gospel instead of the words that the disciples wrote.

"Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother." 3:15

And that is what we are charged with doing when we find people doing this. He isn't an enemy. He is brother that is being deceived. We, as Christians, need to remind him of God's Word and gently direct him back to it. We all have the free will to interpret the gospels ourselves. But we don't have the authority to explain it to others that way. Read the scriptures yourself. Pray and seek guidance. Open your heart to Him personally.

Finished "1 Thessalonians"

Ahh the letters...I found a few nice gems to glean this time around.

"For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night." 5:2

This verse always reminds me to continually prepare my heart for the return of Jesus. I enjoy the time I have on this earth because at any moment it could all be over.

Which brings me to, "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil." 5:16-22

Finished "Boundaries" by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend

I heard about this book on the Dave Ramsey show on the radio one day and though I needed to read it, for sure. I was right! I've had it for a while now and finally got to it.

I liked it because it confirmed a lot of ideas I've had in the past. It is Christian based self-help, which I don't always enjoy, but this made sense to me. I didn't agree with all the examples or ideas, but I could see where they were coming from and find ways to adapt them to my own world view.

It goes through what boundaries look like in different relationships, how they may developed and in what stages of life, and how you can make up for a lack of development in your own life. It doesn't just tell you what boundaries should be and then leave. I gives you details and ways to help.

The best thing I found in it though is confirmation that boundaries are a good thing and that we need a loving and safe place to develop those boundaries to be healthy, functioning adults. This is something I had started when I had my first child. I felt instinctively that for him to be able successfully navigate the world, he needed a strong and safe base of operations. This book shows stages from infancy to the teen age years. And it talks about how, as an adult learning boundaries, we need to find a group or just one person that can provide that safe place to practice from. It really hit home for me.

I highly recommend this book. Even if you don't believe you may personally have boundary issues, it will help you deal with others that do. It may even make you a better partner and parent!

Finished "Ecclesiates"

Believed to be written by Solomon towards the end of his life, I think he must have been a little jaded and unhappy because this book is a bit of a bummer. There are a few uplifting gems, but mostly it says "Life on earth sucks, look to God for relief.". I can agree to some degree, but I think if you focus on the suckiness of life, you're putting your focus in the wrong place. A real relationship with God and His creation can put a positive spin on things. Why would God put you in a place just to torture you? He wants you to love His creation, after all, He created you for it!

"I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted." 1:14-15

Probably right there. I can imagine Solomon, having all the wisdom God had given him and all that time ruling over his people, that he was pretty sick of the whole thing. God probably gets tired of the lack of human understanding in the world He created, but then He's God, so He fully understands what is going on. But Solomon was only human and got very tired of his fellow man. I can understand that. I'm no where near as smart as he was, but I know the more I learn the more I realize how much I do not know and sometimes it all seems futile. Wouldn't it be easier to live ignorance and just sit and quietly admire God instead?

"I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?" 3:22

Yep. You'll never know what happened after you, just be happy and joyful in what you are doing now.

"Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, for anger resides in the bosom of fools. Do not say, "Why is it that the former days were better than these?", for it is not from wisdom that you ask about this." 7:9-10

This is hard. Studying history and philosophy does help. You can see that there is no reason to hold on to anger and that times have been harder than they are now.

"When I gave my heat to know wisdom and to see the task which has been done on the earth (even though one should never sleep day or night), and I saw every work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not discover; and though the wise man should say, "I know," he cannot discover." 8:16-17

See? Solomon was extraordinarily smart and he realized this. I think I'll take his word for it. I'll do what I can to learn what I can, to apply it to my life, but to be closer to God is my main life goal. We cannot know God's plan. Just watch and see what happens!

"If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success." 10:10

Constant study. Lifelong learning.

"Divide your portion to seven, or even eight, for you do not know what misfortune may occur on earth." 11:2

Preppers!

"So, remove grief and anger from your heart and put away pain from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting." 11:10

Enjoy it while you've got it!

"The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body. The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person." 12:11-13

Hmm...the best thing we can do is live in the moment for God alone. Our lives may be poor, or short, but ultimately for God. But, if we must, study, know the world and the way it works, but know it for God. Don't let study, work, or ambition get between you and God. 

Finished Reading "The Origin of Inequality Among Men" by Rousseau

I'll start by saying, right off the bat, that this was not one of my favorite books. In fact, I was eager to get through it because it was making me mad. Yes, things I read can make me that crazy. It's part of why I hate reading comments after online articles.

He had some great points about the cycle of government and social order, but I felt like his premise was started wrong and so the rest really couldn't be depended upon.

For instance, he believes that mankind was not always a social being, that we were not created that way but evolved into a society that has created all our ills. He believes the idea of property was invented. I don't believe that. In fact, the way he describes primitive humans behaving doesn't even happen with animals. 

I believe that the idea of property is a law like gravity. You can think "Hey this gravity thing makes you fall, let's make laws about it and stop it from happening!". Gravity just is and we need to work within it. It's the same thing with property. It goes along with human nature. They best laws and governance work with human nature not against it.

On a personal level I feel like I need to respect a persons personal life before I can take to heart their opinions about other things. I wouldn't take marriage advice from someone who had never been married or couldn't keep one together. This guys life seems pretty shaky. He couldn't keep up with any sort of education or hold any kind of office or job, so how can I take his views of human kind seriously?

Here is a quote that I did like, "The investigations we may enter into, in treating this subject, must not be considered as historical truths, but only as mere conditional and hypothetical reasoning, rather calculated to explain the nature of things, than to ascertain their actual origin;"

I can get behind that. When we think about the origins of things, we have to use our imagination. They are never to be considered ultimate truths. And that's what he is doing in this book. The problem for me is that I can't get behind his beginning of mankind ideas.

And this one, "Peoples once accustomed to masters are not in a condition to do without them." I think we're having a bit of that problem in our nation right not. We've given ourselves over to masters instead of thinking and behaving as a free people should. That is not easily reversed.

The big idea I got from this book is this, the idea of the cycle of government, which I've heard from other authors and speakers recently, but in different words. His idea goes like this.

1. Legitimacy (pre-property, everyone is equal, no society)
2. Establishment of laws and right of property (the creation of rich and poor, haves and have-nots)
3. Institution of magistracy (creation of keepers of the law, brings condition of powerful over weak)
4. Conversion of legitimate power to arbitrary power (keepers decide it owns its power, wishes to keep it and passes it on to heirs, brings condition of master over slave)
5. Slave grow weary of condition, dissolve by revolution

And then the whole thing starts over, except that the legitimacy isn't the same as the very beginning because you really can't take us back to that level without killing off most of the human race.

Some of this I can see, but again, my problem is this idea that man in the state of nature has no sense of property. I don't see this as the case.

Here is one I liked as well, "Nature lays her commands on every animal, and the brute obeys her voice. Man receives the same impulsion, but at the same time knows himself at liberty to acquiesce or resist: and it is particularly in his consciousness of this liberty that the spirituality of his soul is displayed."

This is the free will gift of God. It is what makes us "in the image of God". It is what sets us apart from animals.

I had lots of notes in this book, but these were the most important to me. I don't want to go over the entire thing. You read it!

Finished "Colossians"

I've decided to write about each book of the Bible as I finish them, like I do other books. I don't read a lot of Bible commentary, but I do look for it when something strikes me as strange. Also, I once did a bible study that had a lot of the meaning of specific words. It was amazingly eye opening. I'd like to do that again. Every morning, I read three chapters of the Old Testament, one chapter of Psalms through the Prophets, and one chapter of the New Testament. It takes me about 20 minutes each day and I get through the whole bible in about a year. As I read, I underline things that I'd love to remember in detail and add a note or comment here and there. That is what I will write here for each book.

Colossians is not a long book, only four chapters. Two verses that stuck out for me this time around.

3:23-24 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

Even if we work for Walmart, or in our own home as a housewife, our goal as Christians should not be a large paycheck or praise from our children, but to please God with our effort to care for what He has given us.

4:5-6 Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.

This is something that really spoke to me because it is something I've been working on. I want to be an example of God's love to others. I want to share with them the joy I find in God and His creation. I think this verse speaks to that. After all, when you find something that really lights you up, don't you want to share that with the world? God is Love! I want to be the kind of person people see that through.

Finished Reading "Nisei Daughter" by Monica Sone

Last spring we drove up to my Mom's house and stopped in Lone Pine on the way. I've driven by the Manzanar camp a bunch of times but finally got to stop and check it out. I highly recommend it. I picked up this book while I was there. When I stop at a town or visitor center, I like to find an older, or first person, account of what happened there. It's not always easy. This time it was hard to pick just one.

This book was wonderful. I thought it would be terribly depressing but it was not. Most of the book is about her growing up and what it was like being a Japanese child born in the United States. It's something I know nothing about, so her accounts were enlightening. I found myself worrying for her, being angry for her, and outraged that her family WASN'T outraged.



I only have one quote, and it's from the very end. I read it to the boys because I was so touched by it.

"In spite of the war and the mental tortures we went through, I think the Nisei have attained a clearer understanding of America and its way of life, and we have learned to value her more. Her ideas and ideals of democracy are based essentially on religious principles and her very existence depends on the faith and moral responsibilities of each individual. I used to think of the government as a paternal organization. When it failed me, I felt bitter and sullen. Now I know I'm just as responsible as the men in Washington for its actions. Somehow it all makes me feel much more at home in America. All in all, I think the Issei's losses during this war are greater."

She went through a lot of emotional growth and soul searching to get to this place and not all of her friends went in the same direction she did. But I believe she saw something most of us don't. The idea that we control the government is something completely foreign to most of us now. We believe it IS a paternal relationship, that they should care for us like children. I don't think that can work well for long. We all grow up sometime and want our independence. That controlling parent/dependent child relationship always ends in an explosive way. Hopefully we can find a way to some day take back our responsibility in a civil manner.

Finished "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift

This book is on my "Great Books of the Western World" list and I've read it before. I love it for the funny stories and would probably get a lot more out of it if I understood more about 18th century politics, but I'm reading so much that every time I go through these books I get more out of them.

Everyone knows  about Lilliput because of e movies, but he gets stranded on several different islands and meets all kinds of peoples. My favorite is the horse people, Houyhnhnms. My only problem with the whole book is the end because he comes back to England witha good dose of self-loathing and especially cannot tolerate his own people. I thought he was an ass by the end of the book and I was glad I didn't have to go on another adventure with him.

Finished "the Life of Greece" by Will Durant

It's Volume II of "The Story of Civilization". Yes. I read history books for fun. It's not an assignment, unless you consider by goal of understanding history better before I die an assignment by myself!

I love these books! I was only a few more pages to the end, so I've delayed dinner to finish it and then write this. I sighed, nearly in tears, at the end. It's lines like this that make me love these books.

"Civilization does not die, it migrates; it changes its habitat and its dress, but it lives on. The decay of one civilization, as of one individual, makes room for the growth of another; life shed the old skin, and surprises death with fresh youth."

Ancient Greece! Who knew we have so much in common with a civilization so far away in time? It's amazing. History brings me closer to the world and makes me feel more connected to everyone in it.

I'm not going to recap all of Ancient Greece. I'd be hear for days! But here are few bits that made me smile.

Speaking of Homeric Greeks. "Wealth is computed realistically in goods, especially cattle, rather than in piece of metal or paper that may lose or alter their value at any moment through a change in the economic theology of men." Economic Theology. How do you like that? That's exactly what it is. I really think economics relies way too much on theory, trust, and whims, to be called a science. It IS a theology.

And another from that time, "The individual members of the family change with time, but the family is the lasting unit, surviving perhaps for centuries, and forging in the turbulent crucible of the home the order and character without which all government is in vain." Is this something we will find to be true again?

Here's a good one. "To him, (Socrates) as well as to Protagoras and Euripides, praisers of the past like Aristophanes attributed the irreligion of the age, the disrespect of the young for the old, the loosened morals of the educated classes, and the disorderly individualism that was consuming Athenian life." So it's not a new thing?

And, "He (Aristophanes) agreed with Socrates that the sovereignty of the people had become the sovereignty of politicians; but he was convinced that the skepticism of Socrates, Anaxagoras, and the Sophists had helped to loosen those moral bonds which had once made for social order and personal integrity."

I can't really sit here and write out all the parts that I highlighted, noted, or giggled at. There is something on almost every page! But this is my take away. So many times I've heard people (mostly intellectual authority) say that ancient history is irrelevant in these modern times, but the more I read, the more I completely disagree. Humanity will always be the same. The technology may change, but the underlying thing through all of time is our humanity. It is what binds us all and is something we can always use.

Finished "The 8th Habit" by Stephen Covey

I read "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" a couple years ago and really loved it. I recommend it to everyone no matter where you are in your life, especially young people. I've been meaning to read this since then and bought it about a year ago...finally got to it! I'm glad I did.

You'd think these books are for business people and they are written with that audience mainly in mind, but it is so much more than that. As a housewife, mother, homeschooler, and volunteer, I have really been able to put the principles related here into practice.

The idea is that our culture is changing, as all do over time, and we can change our way of thinking and reacting to our environment to get the most out of the time we have. It's positive, not your typical "if we just went back to older ways of thinking we'd be better off" idea. It's focused on self change instead of control. It is about our power to choose, extending that small space between stimulus and response. It's about cultivating natural authority and trust by modeling character, empowering others, and vision.

"I call this directed autonomy. The manager's role then shifts from controller to enabler - co-missioning with people, removing barriers, and becoming a source of help and support." Page 257

Exchange "manager" for "parent" and you have the perfect sentence that reflects how we choose to raise our kids, our principles summed up. We model excellence as best we can, empower them to follow their dreams, help them discover the vision of their future, and support them while they find their path. We listen, we encourage, we help. We don't control or demand. It's a relationship that I want to be mutual even after they are old enough to leave legally.

Loved this book! Go get it, but read 7 Habits first. It's the foundation of the 8th.

Finished "Captain from Castile?" by Samuel Shellabarger

Somewhere, someone recommended this book to me. I'm a huge fan of historical fiction and this one looked awesome. It started off with some detailed scenes of torture and the Spanish Inquisition. Yikes! It made me nervous to read and I hoped it didn't continue like this for the whole book, but it didn't. I quickly got sucked in to the story and couldn't put it down. By three quarters of the way through, I was praying for a good ending!

The book was written in 1944, so I did have some concerns about whether or not the attitudes presented by the characters would reflect the time period they were in, or the time period of the author. After a while, I didn't care because the story was so good.

Here are some of my favorite quotes.

"Of course I regret that the Holy Office must at times use severity," de Silva went on. "But what would you have? If blood-letting and dosing are often necessary to save the body, one cannot object to medicine to that saves the soul."

He's speaking of torture to confess sins and renounce evil. Ick. Yep. That's what Jesus said to do. Torture people until they confess anything you want, and then kill them so they can't sin again before they die. It's just disgusting. I really cannot wrap my mind around how anyone would think that the Spanish Inquisition was in any way good.

"Because the zest of life is effort, my son, not attainment."

That's the priest asking our guy to really think about what he wants in this world, and what he thinks he will achieve. How many of us think there is an end to achievement? You think, "Well when I finish school, I'll do this and then that.", and then you get there and think, "Now what?" Our lives are fulfilled in the "pursuit" of happiness, not the attainment!

"I shall us love, mercy, and meekness, not the rack and the scourge. Judge my beliefs by my deeds. It is how we live, not how we talk, that counts."

Now THAT's a priest following the example of Christ!

There is a LOT in this book and it's wonderful. The slow maturing through experience and choices of our main character is what really reeled me in. The colonization of Mexico was fascinating, as well as the contradiction and irony with the religions of the natives. And the romance! Wow! Great book. Highly recommend it!

Finished reading “On the Nature of Things” Books 1 through 4, by Lucretius

It's another reading from my Great Books list. Hmm...this was a strange one. I had to look up who this guys was and when he wrote it. He was a poet about 50 years before Christ was born. The poem (wikipedia says it's a poem but it didn't seem like it when I was reading it) is about how the world works and denounces superstition and gods. I liked reading it because I didn't realize that the idea of atoms was so old. Also, there was a good bit about the circle of life, you know, rain grows crops that get eaten by animals, we eat the animals, die, fertilize the ground, water evaporates, etc.

I'm sitting here trying to think of something write about this book that might sound intelligent, but I'm getting no where. Most of these books make me feel like this, but eventually I find something to hook this information on and it all comes together in the end. Sometimes when I read I feel like I'm running out of time. I don't spend enough time studying. I need more time!

Here are some good quotes from the book.

From Book 1, “for if men saw that there was a fixed limit to their woes, they would be able in some way to withstand the religious scruples and threatening of the seers.”

To me this means that it's hard to resist religious leaders and their ideas about the afterlife because we cannot know what lies after death for sure. I know what I believe. I know what I feel about God and Heaven, but I cannot be imperially sure about it because no human has ever come back to tell us what's over there. So when some strong persuasive person comes along and tells us that if we don't do X, Y, and Z we will burn in hell, it's hard not to be fearful.

Also from Book 1, “For fools admire and like all things the more which they perceive to be concealed under involved language, and determine things to be true which can prettily tickle the ears and are varnished over with finely sounding phrase.”

That's a classic, huh?!

One last one from Book 1, “Nay you see throughout even in these verses of ours many elements common to many words, though you must needs admit that the lines and words differ one from the other both in meaning and in sound wherewith they sound. So much can elements effect by a mere change of order; but those elements which are the first-beginnings of things can bring with them more combinations out of which different things can severally be produced.”

Elements! There are a fixed number of elements like letters of the alphabet, that make up things in our world. Different combinations of the same elements make of different things. That's what I didn't realize was so old. Pretty crazy to think these guys pretty much already grasped the idea of elements making up the world over 2000 years ago.

This one is from Book 2, “So far as it goes, a small thing may give illustration of great things and put you on the track of knowledge.”

This is what I'm hoping is going to happen for me as I read these books!

In Book 3, he talks about the soul. This guy is a humanist. He does not believe that the soul is immortal or created by any being. I did have a problem with his explanations here because he says everything needs a “seed” or starts somewhere and that nothing is just created out of thin air, but who created the seed? This is a problem I have had with the theory of evolution before. What started it? Where did it come from? Some say aliens. Then who created them?

While reading this book I had a thought. To me, it seems that the soul uses the body to communicate with this world. When the body is sick or weak or dies, it loses that connection. A newborn baby has a full and complete soul straight from God, but is just learning to use that body to communicate.

There are two more books in this “poem” but they are listed later in the reading list. I'm sure I'll be able to understand more when I get to them!

Finished Reading "Introduction to Arithmetic" by Nicomachus

You can't imagine the feeling I got when I saw the next book on my list was a MATH book! Yuck! But I plowed on and found it fascinating. I'm not going to pretend I understood it all, but there were pieces where I thought "Cool!", or "That's amazing!", or even "I can see where he's going with that." Many of the Great Books that I read, I don't really follow completely but I read them anyway, taking a note here and there, and sometimes just writing "What?!" in the margins. I've learned from experience that I may not understand what I'm reading at the moment, but it is building something somewhere in my brain and days, months, or years later, I will find new building blocks to put on top of the ones I've collected here.

This book was written about 2000 years ago and it was not what I expected at all. I thought I'd find numbers and answers and proofs like I found in my math text books, but this was all words. And the math concepts were related to the world around me and philosophy, so it held my interest.

Here are my two favorite quotes.

"Without the aid of these, then, it is not possible to deal accurately with the forms of being nor to discover the truth in things, knowledge of which is wisdom, and evidently not even to philosophize properly, for 'just as painting contributes to the menial arts toward correctness of theory, so in truth lines, numbers, harmonic intervals, and the revolutions of circles bear aid to the learn of the doctrines of wisdom,' says the Pythagorean Androcydes."

What?! We should understand math to truly understand the world and what's in it? Oh, man! Now I've really got work to do. But it's not actually about the numbers exactly. It's about the relationships and that I can handle. Just don't ask me to multiply and divide in my head!

And here's my favorite.

"For it is clear that these studies are like ladders and bridges that carry our minds from things apprehended by sense and opinion to those comprehended by the mind and understanding, and from those material, physical things, our foster-brethren known to us from childhood, to the things with which we are unacquainted, foreign to our senses, but in their immateriality and eternity more akin to our souls, an above all to the reason which is in our souls."

Wow. Do we need things like a basic understanding of mathematical principles to help us understand the universe and God? After reading other books that show the magic and symbolism of numbers, I say yes. Understanding these patterns shows us the majesty of God, in my mind. It's amazing!

Oh! One more. This one relates arithmetic, geometric, and harmonic to philosophy as well.

"For the realm of the greater there arise excesses, overreaching, superabundance, and in the less need, deficiency, privation, and lack; but in that which lies between the greater and the less, namely, the equal, are virtues, wealth, moderation, propriety, beauty, and the like, to which the aforesaid form of number, the perfect, is most akin."

Just perfect. I hope next time I read this, or something like it, I can understand more of the math though. I have loads of notes, but I don't see how I can write it out on a blog. More drawings than words.

Finished reading Books 2, 3, and 6 of “Nicomachean Ethics” by Aristotle

I'm not a fan of Aristotle right now. It's hard for me to read for some reason. I feel like it may be the translation I'm reading though. It's as if he uses the same word to describe a word. Virtue is a virtue that all can achieve by practicing virtue, that kind of thing. But here are some of my favorite quotes from what I read this time.

Book 2 was about virtue. “the virtue of man also will be the state of character which makes a man good and which makes him do his own work well.” See?! I have a vague idea about what that means. I think, in another a part he is trying to say that practiced virtue comes from within, it's automatic. It's when you have the knowledge about what is right and wrong and choose the right.

Here's one part I really did like. “For instance, both fear and confidence and appetite and anger and pity and in general pleasure and pain may be felt both too much and too little, and in both cases not well; but to feel them at the right times, with reference to the right objects, towards the right people, with the right motive, and in the right way, is what is both intermediate and best, and this is characteristic of virtue.” Right! This is something I can sink my teeth into. It makes perfect sense. We can have too little or too much fear, but to have the right amount, at the right time, and about the right things is the goal.

Book 3 was about courage. This was good too. It's stuff we don't really think about much but maybe we should, so that we are better at recognizing what is real and what is pretended. He talks about the difference between courage and cowardice.

“One might rank in the same class even those who are compelled by their rulers; but they are inferior, inasmuch as they do what they do not from shame but from fear, and to avoid not what is disgraceful but what is painful.”

This one caught my eye because it's something we try to do with the kids. I don't want them to behave kindly and politely because they fear punishment but because they know what is right and have that virtue in them. We want them not to steal things, not because it's the law and they will go to jail if they don't, but because it is not virtuous to take what is not theirs.

Book 6 was about wisdom. The difference between political and practical wisdom. You can look at a room and measure it and then measure the furniture and know that it fits. But experience will let you look at a room and look at the furniture and know it will not fit or look good in the room. It's two kinds of wisdom, book learning and experience, both are needed at one time or another.

That's what I got out of these books...this time. I'm sure I'll read more and read it again in the future and get more from it. That's what I love about going through the great books. Even if I don't fully understand everything I'm reading, it will come around again after I've read something that gave me more insight, or I'll read something else that will remind me of something I read today and give me that “a-ha!” moment I was hoping for.

I'll have you know that I'm not the best typist and I'm even worse right now. I cut the very tip of my pinky finger off with a vegetable slicer and I'm typing without it. Dumbest move ever...but it is a pretty impressive wound to my sons! I'm so blessed. Jake helped me dress the wound and then cleaned up the mess while I recovered my wits on the couch. They've both been helping cook and do the dishes and such. They are such sweet babies!