MamaT: October 2007 Archives

.....after watching the Kevin Costner/William Hurt film Mr. Brooks.

Demi Moore CAN NOT act.

That is all.

.....otherwise known as, "Hey I'm So Far Behind I Have My Choice of Lots of Questions!"

I would enjoy reading a meme about people’s abandoned books. The books that you start but don’t finish say as much about you as the ones you actually read, sometimes because of the books themselves or because of the circumstances that prevent you from finishing. So . . . what books have you abandoned and why?

I abandon books all the time. As I grow older, and my childhood dream of reading every single book in the entire world recedes further and further into the distance, I find that I have less patience for books than I once had. Don't get me wrong. I love lots of different kinds of books, and a book doesn't have to grab me by the arm and rush me through the revolving door immediately to be worth my time.

But.

I can pick up a book and know that it is simply not the right book for me at the time within the first 30 pages or so.

And it has more to do with me than it has to do with the book.

Times have been a little tough around the MamaT household. Nothing major wrong. Just a whole host of little problems/concerns/nits to pick that have conspired to destroy my peace and normally stable personality. Because of that, the books I am choosing to read are lighter--there's a lot more Georgette Heyer and a lot less Flannery O'Connor.

I actually had Flannery's Everything That Rises Must Converge on my Fall Reading List. I read the first story in the book. It was genius. Complete genius. But it made me want to dive under my covers and cry my eyes out or, more likely, drown my sorrows in a pint of Ben and Jerry's.

So, that book is abandoned. For now.

And that's the key. A book rarely stays abandoned forever in my world. I can only think of ONE book that I have thrown away without finishing in the last 10 years. And that was One Hundred Years of Solitude. I had simply had it up to here with magical realism and could read no more. Even now I feel guilty about the abandonment, and the book'll probably wend its way back onto my "to read" shelves.

.....the McKid and MamaT recommend their newest book from the Children's Book of the Month club:

Friday is errand day.

"MOM!" I yelled. It was a triceratops.

And the silliness goes on from there. It's a picture book, but it has really tickled the McKid's imagination. Worth a look for a Christmas present for a young dinosaur lover.

Everything is a grace, everything is the direct effect of our father's love — difficulties, contradictions, humiliations, all the soul's miseries, her burdens, her needs — everything, because through them, she learns humility, realizes her weakness — Everything is a grace because everything is God's gift. Whatever be the character of life or its unexpected events — to the heart that loves, all is well.

------------------------St. Therese of the Child Jesus

OK, so it might be a "little way", but it sure isn't an "easy way"! This quote alone would take me the rest of my life (and then some) to achieve.

This is the hymn we started with. I love this hymn, because I love the scripture that it comes from. After my first confession, reading Psalm 103 was my penance. And what a lovely penance to receive!

This song was also used in Godspell, using a radically different tune.

O bless the Lord, my soul!
His grace to thee proclaim!
And all that is within me join
To bless His holy Name!

Then bless His holy Name,
Whose grace hath made thee whole,
Whose lovingkindness crowns thy days!
O bless the Lord, my soul!

Sung at SMV to St. Thomas. Sung in my office to a completely different tune!

Offertory was a blast from my past. Anyone of my age who grew up Episcopalian sang this as one of a small rotation of songs in Vacation Bible School. Every kid knew this one, and we marched along in place during the chorus.

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
Forward into battle see His banners go!

Refrain

Sung to St. Gertrude. But you know that. Don't you?

Communion hymn was by Charles Wesley. Any Sunday is a good Sunday when it has a Wesley hymn in it!

Glory, love, and praise, and honor
for our food
now bestowed
render we the Donor.
Bounteous God, we now confess thee:
God who thus
blessest us,
meet it is to bless thee.

He dispels our sin and sadness,
life imparts,
cheers our hearts,
fills with food and gladness.
Who himself for all has given,
us he feeds,
us he leads
to a feast in heaven.

Sung to Benifold, but I can't find a MIDI for it. Sorry!

And finally, a song with one of the nicest tunes. The opening sounds like bells ringing.

O praise ye the Lord!
Praise him in the height;
rejoice in his word,
ye angels of light;
ye heavens, adore him
by whom ye were made,
and worship before him,
in brightness arrayed.

O praise ye the Lord!
Thanksgiving and song
to him be outpoured
all ages along!
For love in creation,
for heaven restored,
for grace of salvation,
O praise ye the Lord!

Sung to Laudate Dominum. It can also be sung to Hanover, but I like the other version better.