Classic Quotes

Classic Quotes I love:

1. He didn't Study God, He was Dazzled by him- Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo (Emphasis/Italics added)

2. "What we dread most," said the priest in a low voice, "is a maze with no centre. That is why atheism is only a nightmare."- The Wisdom of Father Brown, (a mystery) by  G. K. Chesterton

3. "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes- by A. Conan Doyle

4. Life is like some crazy machine that is always going either too slow or too fast. From the cradle to the grave we alternate between the Sargasso Sea and the rapids-- forever either becalmed or storm-tossed.
 A Damsel in Distress- by P.G. Wodehouse

5. (one of my absolute favorites) "I do see your point of view. But dimly. You see, my own takes up such a lot of the foreground."-  A Damsel in Distress- by P.G. Wodehouse

6. "It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes- by A. Conan Doyle

7. No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.- The Scarlet Letter- by Nathaniel Hawthorne

8. "Why, dash it," I said, astounded, "you must know it is. Use your intelligence, Jeeves. Reflect what proposing means. It means that a decent, self-respecting chap has got to listen to himself saying things which, if spoken on the silver screen, would cause him to dash to the box-office and demand his money back."- Right HO, Jeeves- by P.G. Wodehouse

9. "I'm not absolutely certain of my facts, but I rather fancy it's Shakespeare-- or if not, it's some equally brainy lad-- who says that it's always just when a chappie is particularly top-hole, and more than usually braced with things in general that Fate sneaks up behind him with a bit of lead piping.- My Man Jeeves- by P.G. Wodehouse (Did anyone else just conjure up a image of Clue ?) (lead piping.....)

10. "It is a truth universally acknowledged,that a single man in posession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife"- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

And I know there are hundreds more wonderful book quotes out there, that is why I am asking you to leave your favorite quote (from a book) in any comments.

Thank you for reading,
Esther

Summer Reading List: Classics

So, Summer is here and it's time for all those wonderful library reading programs! But they only deal with the hours spent reading, not the books you read, for all they care you could spend the entire summer reading The Boxcar Children, (not like that's a bad thing). Usually, however, I make a reading list of all the books I would like to finish by the end of the summer. The problem being that I never quite make it through the list, however well-meaning, educational, and impressive it is, because I'm too busy reading fantasy/fiction/fairy tale/magic/dragons EXCITING, FUN books. I enjoy making the list regardless, and this summer, I'll share it with you. Hopefully, I will also include a post later on in the year concerning how many I actually finished.

1. Les Miserables- (By Victor Hugo) Ever since we listened to the abridged version of this book, a WONDERFUL, multi-voice dramatized recording by Focus on the Family, I longed to read the full version. I was extremely disappointed when I could not find it in our old library system, but I recently found it in all it's glory, (except for the fact it was translated into English of course.) This is the book I am currently reading, and it is even MORE beautiful than I thought it would be.

2. Bleak House- (By Charles Dickens) I watched the BBC drama Bleak House when I was sick with the flu last spring, I can't wait to see how the book compares.

3. A Tale of Two Cities- (By Charles Dickens) Am I looking forward to this one? Honestly? No. It is required reading to complete my British Literature course.

4. Frankenstein- (By Mary Shelley) Again, REQUIRED READING. Not something I would pick myself. Which is probably why I've waited this long to read it.

5. The Little Prince- (By Antoine de Saint-Exupery) Can everyone say "lol". This is a small, about 100 pg story, that is a children's book. That said, it IS A CLASSIC. Not to mention, I have read some of it, and intellectually, an Adult could read it and still learn something. It's a fable about a Prince who lived on a tiny planet with three small volcanoes, and one proud, beautiful rose. He traveled to Earth where he learned, from a fox, about what is important in life. (paraphrased from back of book)

There are other books that I look forward to reading this summer, but for now, this is the list I'm posting.
And of course, I'll also read whatever I find at the library, or in my bookshelf, or in someone else's bookshelf. Because it wouldn't be summer if you couldn't read books just for fun, as well as school.

Now for Recommendations, books I think everyone needs to read: (bear in mind I'm talking about classics today, but all the one's I am about to mention are wonderful fun)

1. Pride and Prejudice- (by Jane Austen) Need I say more? In fact, I won't, it more than speaks for itself. However, one word of advice. If you want to watch the movie (which I highly suggest btw), watch the 1995 Masterpiece Classic version. It is 6 hours long, because it follows the book perfectly, even word for word in some parts, it captures the characters and the plot of the story so much better than the new movie with Kiera Knightly. If you are going to make a movie out of a classic book, make that movie classic, and Masterpiece Classic did. (Besides, it has the most wonderful Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett)

2. Something New and/or A Damsel in Distress- (by P.G. Wodehouse) (Couldn't pick) Are they both Classics? Maybe not. Are they the some of the most hilarious pieces of British Literature I have ever read? Most Certainly. A word of warning, although fairly mild, they sadly contain some words I would not repeat. Or, more accurately, just one, only said a couple times. SO, I leave it up to your discretion.

3. Sherlock Holmes- (by A. Conan Doyle) "It's elementary my dear Watson" "This is but sparsely connected to the movies, therefore, must be read separately to reach full potential". Enough Said

4. Lord of the Rings- (by J. R. R. Tolkien) Although this is one of the few books that I read first, than actually enjoyed the movies, the books do contain subject matter that did not make it into them.

And with that.... enjoy your summer! If you comment, please leave YOUR summer reading list and recommendations, as well as saying what you think of mine.

Thank you for reading,
Esther

Blessings

My Favorite Song lately has been Blessings by Laura Story. The music is beautiful, but it's the lyrics that really hit home right now. So I thought I'd share them:

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?
What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?
And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can't satisfy?

And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?

Dear Summer...

Dear Summer,

I love you, I hate the feeling you give me. The super-lazy, un-focused, slothful feeling. You make me remember that annoying verse in Proverbs- "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise" and then "How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?  [Yet] a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man."

I once read that before going to bed. I woke up for some weird reason at 6:30 the next morning. I wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, but this verse kept running through my head so I couldn't. I got up and made Breakfast than started working on School. I hated every second. You give me THAT feeling.

You also make my feet itch. They have a tendency to do that when you KNOW there is something you should be doing, but can't remember what, and really don't care. Except than I DO care, and it bugs me.

Everyone tells me summer should be a time to relax. But than I think of all the wasted time and wonder what I could do with it to make it worthwhile. SO I write lists of summer projects. And then I don't finish them, actually I don't even start at them. And than I'm mad at myself, and you make me start off autumn all cross and discombobulated.

Cordially,
       Esther

Does anyone else have that problem with Summer?

VALUE

This is probably going up on both blogs because it is such an important topic:

I have spent the last school year studying economics. I wish I could say I enjoyed the topic, I wish I could say I excelled in the class, but most of all, I wish it were over. It isn't, I still have another couple of weeks to go. So, if it sounds like I am hating on economics, or economists, I will be the first to admit I am prejudiced in the subject, I'm fairly sure I will think more highly of it in about a year or so.

What economics basically boils down (more or less) to is the study of value. How to express value, how to improve value, how to market value, what economy produces the most value, how to provide incentives for value, how to trade value, who values this more than that and is willing to trade, etc.

Now, Economists would LOVE it if value was material, if it was something that could be measured, plugged into some obscure formula. But here is the difficulty, Value can't be pinned down. (That is what money tries to do, it attempts to convey value from person to person in a way that eliminates the difficulty of trading for things of exact matching value. The problem is that money itself can loose value, when there is an excess of it, or gain value when it is scarce, can be invested in things and lost, etc.) You've probably all heard the saying, one man's junk is another man's treasure. Value is SUBJECTIVE, it is, for the most part, an opinion. Gold is just a metal, an element like aluminum or copper. It's value lies in the fact that, like money, it is used to CONVEY "value" (and of course, it makes pretty jewelry) (technically, also because it is scarce and can't be produced and distributed by the government).

I'm not trying to give you a crash course in Economics. I am trying to explain that value does not always mean what you think it does. Value is defined as "The regard that something is held to deserve". Value is how people see something, measured by what they would be willing to give up for it (approx. economics was not my best course). And how people see things can be influenced by a number of factors, including- but not limited to- general opinion, the media, personal connections (i.e.- sentiment, memories), what we are taught, etc.

But we make the awful mistake of letting OPINION get in the way of TRUTH. We allow our perception of our own value to stem from how other people see us, what we see, what we are told makes someone valuable, INSTEAD of letting our value come from truth, from the one who made us, who VALUED us enough to die for our salvation, something money, gold, all the "riches" of this world, no matter how "valuable" they were regarded to be, could not buy.

So, what lies do we believe, what opinions do we buy into, what measuring-sticks do we use to determine our "value"? (disclaimer- the major points below, not my insights obviously, but the numbered points come from the sermon I listened to today)

1.- Value is based on APPEARANCE
     I think girls struggle the most with this one. I'm sure guys do too, but since I'm a girl, I understand their side more. And, sadly, I think this is the lie most girls fall for. I know I have, I know I still do. It's so easy to see a girl who is, by popular opinion, beautiful, and think "if only I looked more like her, I'd be worth more." But, since so many girls struggle with this, obviously it isn't their idea to say "Hey, look, you should all look like me", because they are comparing themselves to someone else and wishing they looked like her. So where did it come from? I'm going to have to pull the culture card out. CULTURE (aka, media, presented opinions, etc.) is what establishes the "beauty standard". Did you know in some cultures, it is larger women who are considered the most beautiful? This is because in those countries, fat is a sign of wealth. In places where there is little, it is those who have more that are valued more. Isn't it painfully, frustratingly ironic that in America, where we have so much, it is those who look like they are malnourished, or starving, that are considered beautiful? Isn't it sad that gorgeous, healthy young women think they have to look like an airbrushed, anexoric super-model to have any value in the world?
We are GOD'S WORKMANSHIP (some translations say masterpiece). I am not an accident, you are not an accident, God did not go on a coffee break and forget to finish forming us the way he wanted.

2.- Value (aka, significance) is based on ACHIEVEMENT
     Ah, yes. this one I struggle with. I do fairly well in school, and too often I base my view of myself on just how well I did. I'm "stupid" or "worthless" if I fail anything, from science to math, you name it. If I don't do better than anyone else, I'm worth less than they are. This is a LIE. God made us all differently, uniquely. If we all had the same gifts, this world would be unbelievably dull, we would never LEARN anything, we wouldn't be able to grow or to excel using the gifts God has given us. There isn't a "better" or a "more significant" job, but there are different ones.

3- Value is based on APPROVAL
     Ouch. This one hurts MOST of all. I have obsessed, and fretted, and worried about what other people think of me more than I would like to admit. It's so tempting to just let the world judge you and accept their viewpoint, to adopt it as your own. To make having friends the most important thing. To care so much about what other people think that you forget to care about what GOD thinks. Other people can't see what is inside of you. And honestly, most of us are too wrapped up in popular opinion to show them anything but what we think they want to see, and to blame ourselves, to hate ourselves, when we don't measure up to their level of value.

That's why the only place Value truly lies in is what God Says. How HE views us. Where the TRUTH really lies. And the truth is...

You are VALUABLE, not because of what you look like, not because of what you have done, not because of what the world thinks of you, because those things will change. Your beauty will fade, your achievments, they won't last, popular opinion, it varies with culture, it changes over time. You are VALUABLE because you are GOD's MASTERPIECE.

Genesis 1:27a- "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them...

Psalm 139:14- "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

Romans 5:8- "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Ephesians 2:10- "For we are God's masterpiece, HE has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."

And my favorite:

Zephaniah 3:17- "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. HE WILL TAKE GREAT DELIGHT IN YOU, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.

Thank You for Reading,
Esther

I wanna be HOT

Have you ever really thought about what salvation means? Not what the definition is, not what it says in your bible concordance, what it MEANS.

The Creator of the entire universe, who is perfection itself, so Holy and Great that we can not come into his presence with our sinful natures, LOVES US.

In fact, he loves us SO much that he made a way that we COULD come into his presence. And because he would not be God if he was able to compromise his standards, not be Holy if he allowed sin to abide in his presence, that demanded payment. "For the wages of sin is death"-Romans 6:23. He loved us enough to pay those wages himself, for everyone who would accept his salvation. But it's not just a matter of saying "sure, sounds good, count me in" and going back to whatever we were doing before. To know that he loved us so much, to know what he did to save us, to truly love him, we MUST BE CHANGED.  "Knowing this, that our old man [(our sinful nature)] is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." Romans 6:6

We must be changed RADICALLY. We are not only free from sin, but we must live for Christ!"The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20b And this CAN NOT be done halfway. In Revelations 3:16 it says that "because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

We need to be HOT. If God's love is a consuming fire, we should be flaming.

Thanks for Reading,
Esther

What Rose Smells Sweet

Partly because it's fun, Mostly because I'm lazy, I decided to post some more of my old Poems. Th story behind both of these is the same, sometimes poems just come to me out of the blue at the most awkward of times. Months and months ago I attended a Shakespeare/Drama class. We were learning about Shakespeare's sonnets and so the teacher decided to cover Iambic Pentameter. After a basic overview, she asked us to all write a short sentence in a iambic rhythm, than pass them to the person on the left, who wold read it out loud, emphasizing the right syllables etc.

Admittedly, my mind had been wandering because I had covered Iambic Pentameter before and I will attribute the rather random and morbid rhyme I came up with to that fact. The first sentence that popped into my head was "What fear is this that calls my name". But that sounded a little strange and might cause the others to worry about my mental health, so I substituted that with "What rose smells sweet when it lies dead." I got a few stares when it was read out loud, but I thought that was the end of the matter until I realized I had the rhythm permanently stuck in my head. So I couldn't rest until I had finished what I had started, the results are below. Both poems share the exaggerated, figurative language of the sonnets we were covering that day.

What Rose smells sweet when it lies dead
Beneath my feet and whispering
Ye all who stare
Hear now, Beware
For soon you all will be like me
And who will say, the rose smells sweet?

What fear is this that calls my name
On waves of sound in tempest wrought
Through good or ill, it calls the same
First strong, than fades, but never naught
It seeps to all my inmost parts
As if to kill, indeed it may
It seems as if I have two hearts
For one could never hurt this way

So, expect a more serious post soon, but for now this will have to do;
Thanks for Reading!
Ester