Inauguration Prayer

Almighty God, creator and sustainer of all things, we praise you and honor your name.

We thank you that you have allowed us to live in a nation of peaceable government. That we have a quiet change of officers. We ask you for the continuance of this process.

As we change officials of the nation, we ask you to continually bless President Bush, his wife, Laura, and family as they humbly step aside and return to citizen life. We ask for their health, of soul and body as they transition to another phase of life.

We pray for President-elect Obama, his wife and children as they step into new roles. we pray for their protection from evil in all forms.
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Unbelief is a Parody to me

It seems it takes faith to have non-faith? As one parades around words and actions of unbelief parody begins to lead the parade. Why you might ask? How could this be? I believe it is an exercise in self-parody. I recently read portions of “Welcome to Your Brain” by Sam Wang and Sandra Aamodt. They gave an interesting thought on mental aptitude:

Q. “Why can’t you tickle yourself?”

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Part V Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

What Alice finds on top of the mushroom was a blue caterpillar who appears to be very comfortable with who he is and whose questions make Alice feel very uncertain as to who she is. His penetrating question, ‘Who are you?’ is one she can’t quite answer. She has changed sizes so many times since this morning and her memory isn’t working too well either. (Now in my imagination, it seems like Alice’s not knowing who she is, yet having a plan to become her true size again and get into that beautiful garden is allegorical. For don’t we all desire to be our authentic self in the Garden of the Lord? I think of Jeremiah 31:12: “And their life will be like a watered garden.”)
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The Velveteen Rabbit

I was given The Velveteen Rabbit as a Christmas gift by Jon M. I hope you enjoy the summary below. It is a story warm and dear to my heart as my own two boys each had their own special stuffed animals they made real.

The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams is about a velvet rabbit who was found in the Christmas stocking of little boy. He was brand new with real thread whiskers and a soft body filled out just the way brand new bunnies look. For a while he seemed to be forgotten and thrown in the toy room with lots of other toys. There he met a skin horse who was old and wise. He asked the Skin Horse, “What is real?” Skin horse said that it wasn’t a matter of how you were made but a thing that happens to you. Skin Horse explained that when you are real you don’t mind being hurt and that it takes a long time. You lose your fur from being hugged too much, your eyes drop out, and your joints become loose and shabbiness occurs. You are not ugly to the one who loves you, only to the ones who don’t understand.

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Review on A CHRISTMAS CAROL

I have been literally enthralled and transported to another era and glory of merry Old England as I listened to Charles Dickens, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, a brilliant Christmas gift given by Jon M.
As I listened to this book-on-cd, I was lost in the narration and found myself at school without noticing the anguish and challenging byllyishness (if there is such a word) of traffic. What a way to “go”!
Many know the story of the peevish Scrooge and his tight-fistedness, the appearance of four apparitions which showed him his past, present and the future outcome of his stinginess and cold heartedness. Ultimately, he humbled himself before his accusers and changed his life to the good. It has a wonderful finale and I laughed and cried along with old Scrooge.
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Part IV Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

The footsteps that Alice heard pattering were not those of the mouse. Rather, they belonged to the White Rabbit who was muttering to himself about the Duchess executing him for he could not find his fan and gloves. When he sees Alice he calls her MaryAnn and commands her to go home at once and fetch his gloves and fan. Now Alice, who had lastly shrunk from holding the Rabbit’s fan, runs off in fear to try to find his fan and gloves. (What a turn of events. First Alice pursues the White Rabbit down a hole and now the White Rabbit is telling Alice what to do. My, but we should be careful what we chase after.) Soon she comes to a house with a brass plate which reads W Rabbit. She doesn’t even knock but runs in and upstairs to try to locate these items before the housemaid, that she supposes is MaryAnn, finds her and puts her out of the house.
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