Caking

These are pictures of my recent cakes. The wedding cake picture is a little blurry. I didn't know the camera was on the wrong setting, and I was in a hurry. Oops.

Boxes of Soap

Quotes I have read before, but that are worth reading again and sharing many times, from G.K. Chesterton:

But when people begin to talk about this domestic duty (speaking of those tasks traditionally assigned to women) as not merely difficult but trivial and dreary, I simply give up the question. For I cannot with the utmost energy of imagination conceive what they mean. When domesticity, for instance, is called drudgery, all the difficulty arises from a double meaning in the word. If drudgery only means dreadfully hard work, I admit the woman drudges in the home, as a man might drudge at the Cathedral of Amiens or drudge behind a gun at Trafalgar. But if it means that the hard work is more heavy because it is trifling, colorless and of small import to the soul, then as I say, I give it up; I do not know what the words mean. To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labors and holidays; to be Whiteley within a certain area, providing toys, boots, sheets cakes. and books, to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene; I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it. How can it be a large career to tell other people's children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No; a woman's function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute I will pity Mrs. Jones for the hugeness of her task; I will never pity her for its smallness.
(emphasis and parentheses added)

That suffices to wash that box. For the second. . .

The current uproar over the Pope's recent comments regarding Mohammed makes me sick. And the fact that he is inching ever nearer to an outright apology disgusts me. "Please do pardon us for implying that there is an evil and violent face to Islam. Please forgive us for inciting you to blow up churches of those not even involved and murder other innocents." How is it that a group of people can commit acts of gross violence to protest they are insulted by being labeled violent and actually get a hearing from the rest of the world??? Is there no common sense left? I'd call it ironic if it didn't seem such a careless understatement to say so. No amount of soap will finish this, so I'll just stop. It's ridiculous and infuriating, and I wish Christians would step up and call Mohammed the false prophet he was. Below are quotes from other world Christian leaders.

In a first reaction from a top Christian leader, the head of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church criticized the pope. "Any remarks which offend Islam and Muslims are against the teachings of Christ," Coptic Pope Shenouda III was quoted as telling the pro-government newspaper Al- Ahram.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual leader of the world's 200 million Orthodox Christians, issued a statement saying he was "deeply" saddened by the tensions sparked by the pope's comments.
"We have to show the determination and care not to hurt one another and avoid situations where we may hurt each others' beliefs," the Istanbul-based Patriarchate said.

In India, Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, who is president of the Indian Catholic Bishops Conference, said the Christian community in that country must face Muslim protests over the pope's speech "with Christian courage and prayer because truth needs no other defense," according to AsiaNews, a Vatican-affiliated news agency.

taken from this article at breitbart.com

At least the Church in India has some backbone. But they, of course, are the ones on the front lines to begin with. They know that not standing up for Christ is the equivalent of not having Christ. We comfy, "civilized" countries could learn something.
But I was stopping. . .

A Happy Observation

I feel the need to point out that this is the first holiday in 2 years of which I have not spent at least a portion grading papers. Spending the day knitting, reading, and generally not laboring is much better. I look forward to Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and a succession of other REAL holidays in the future.

"The Sending Back"

One of the hymns we sang in church this morning--many of which make proper and laudable use of somewhat archaic words--brought to mind the word "remission." We rarely hear this word in common conversation today, unless we are speaking of someone no longer battling cancer, but in the KJV it is semi-frequently used concerncing sin. Christ died to give us remission of sin. I asked myself what, exactly, it is to "remit." Literally, the root mit or mis means "to send." Re, in this context, means "back." So, to remit is, literally, "to send back." Christ died in order that we could "send back" our sin. If I order some piece of merchandise and receive it in the mail only to find that I don't like it, I can (usually) send it back and get a refund. Ultimately, I am not charged for it. Unfortunately, we cannot "send back" our actions. Yet Christ has, in effect, enabled that very thing. When we realize we can't afford to pay for the mistakes--intentional or accidental--we make, we have only to acknowledge there is already the provision for "sending them back." We aren't charged for them--except for some temporal shipping and handling--and that is God's grace.

(Useful?) Musing

Whether these thoughts are worthy of thought, not to mention profound, of plain drivel may well be a debateable question. If you find them lacking in clarity or focus, you may chalk it up to wine, chocolate, or coffee, as you choose. . .I've had a bit of all three in the past few hours.
First, some quoting from Chesterton's Heretics:

Now, it is this great gap in modern ethics, the absence of vivid pictures of purity and spiritual triumph, which lies at the back of the real objection felt by so many sane men to the realistic literature of the nineteenth century. . . .What disgusted him, and very justly, was not the presence of a clear realism, but the absence of a clear idealism. . . .In [Mr. Bernard Shaw's] eyes this absence of an enduring and positive ideal, this absence of a permanent key to virtue, is the one great Ibsen merit. . . .All I venture to point out, with an increased firmness, is that this omission, good or bad, does leave us face to face with the problem of a human consciousness filled with very definite images of evil, and with no definite image of good. To us light must be henceforward the dark thing--the thing of which we cannot speak. To us, as to Milton's devils in Pandemonium, it is darkness that is visible. The human race, according to religion, fell once, and in falling gained knowledge of good and evil. Now we have fallen a second time, and only the knowledge of evil remains to us.

I might add that we have now fallen (or are attempting to fall) a third time, refusing to recognize the knowledge of good or evil. If I haven't destroyed comprehension and context by chopping up the (several pages long) quote, you can see that Chesterton opines on the modern sensibility's ignorance of an absolute Good. He cites literature--primarily Ibsen's--as an example of modern society's acknowledgement of the bad and ugly with a seeming confusion when it comes to finding the source of good. I think, in our now post-modern society, we have gone a step further and ceased to recognize the bad or the ugly. "Tolerance" is our key virture, whether what we are tolerating is helpful or harmful. Perhaps that is the inevitable result of losing the light; we soon cease to distinguish the darkness. Instead of being surrounded by images of evil, we are surrounded by confusion and open-armed acceptance. Not only do we not know which way is up, we have forgotten there is also a way down.

Much Ado About Something

The strife between our church and the presbytery continues, with harsh words and hurt feelings on both sides, I am sure. Although we stand firmly (and thankfully) with the Kirk, I cannot help but rue the ugliness of the entire ordeal. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's my synopsis: In response to the denomination's decision to allow individual presbyteries the freedom to overrule ordination requirements they might deem "non-essential" and its further plans to quash any disagreement through fear and heavy-handed control tactics, our session voted to separate from the PCUSA. Our former presbytery has sent letters to congregation members requesting us to meet with them at another church in town, where they, ostensibly, will tell "their side." They then made plans, since thwarted, to send another pastor to take over the worship services that took place this morning. We are not going to the presbytery-called meeting tomorrow. I cannot fathom that they could say anything that would interest me, the more so since my one hesitation in joining the Kirk was its affiliation with the liberal PCUSA. We are, however, going to the congregation meeting on Wednesday, when the membership will vote on a new affiliation with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church denomination.
That's my summary. I've been keeping up with events on Pastor Tom's blog (see links), but many of the comments and criticisms there are disheartening, even though many of them are not from within our congregation. When I read the poem below on the "Wittingshire" blog today, it seemed very relevant.

His Savior's Words, Going to the Cross

Have, have ye no regard, all ye
Who pass this way, to pity me,
Who am a man of misery!

A man both bruised, and broke, and one
Who suffers not here for mine own,
But for my friends' transgression!

Ah! Sion's Daughters, do not fear
The Cross, the Cords, the Nails, the Spear,
The Myrrh, the Gall, the Vinegar:

For Christ, your loving Savior, hath
Drunk up the wine of God's fierce wrath;
Only, there's left a little froth,

Less for to taste, than for to show,
What bitter cups had been your due,
Had He not drank them up for you.

--Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

GKC

I have FINALLY reconvened reading Chesterton's Heretics, to be followed by Orthodoxy, after a. . .3 year?. . .hiatus caused by too much homework. I'm very excited. Please forgive me, kind giver of this book.
Now, I am going to regale you with quotes.

On Oscar Wilde. . .

"In the fifteenth century men cross-examined and tormented a man because he preached some immoral attitude; in the nineteenth century we feted and flattered Oscar Wilde because he preached such an attitude, and then broke his heart in penal servitude because he carried it out. It may be a question which of the two methods was the more cruel; there can be no kind of question which was the more ludicrous. The age of the Inquisition has not at least the disgrace of having produced a society which made an idol of the very same man for preaching the very same things which it made him a convict for practising."

On the failure of modern "free-spirited" artists to powerfully effect anything, good or bad, compared to those of "less free" and more devout times. . .

"Milton does not merely beat [the modern artistic classes] at his piety, he beats them at their own irreverence. In all their little books of verse you will not find a finer defiance of God than Satan's [in Paradise Lost]. Now will you find the grandeur of paganism felt as taht fiery Christian felt it who described Faranata lifting his head as in disdain of hell. And the reason is very obvious. Blasphemy is an artistic effect, because blasphemy depends upon a philosophical conviction. Blasphemy depends upon belief and is fading with it. If any one doubts this, let him sit down seriously and try to tink blasphemous thoughts about Thor. I think his family will find him at the end of the day in a state of some exhaustion."

(Note: By Thor, he means the Norse god, not the Asgard star on Stargate. . . .Oh, I'm such a nerd.)

And,finally, on honesty. . .

"I wish to deal with my most distinguished contemporaries,not personally or in a merely literary manner, but in relation to the real body of doctrine which they teach. I am not concerned with Mr. Rudyard Kipling as a vivid artist or a vigorous personality; I am concerned with him as a Heretic--that is to say, man whose view of things has the hardihood to differ from mine."

That will be all for now.

Linguaphile

Speaking of the Koran, Ravi Zacharias says, "What one does need to grant is that the poetry and the style are beautiful. The postmodern, visually controlled mind has much to learn about the place of beauty in speech." (Jesus Among Other Gods)
I could not help but notice this catchy sentence in P.G. Wodehouse's Mulliner Nights: "This was the snag that protruded jaggedly from the middle of the primrose path of their happiness, and for quite a while it seemed as if Cupid must inevitably stub his toe on it."
Language is fun. And beautiful, at times. Mostly fun.

Berry Basket, Peaches and Cream

If I were going to name my cakes, that would be these (these would be that? those would be these? these would be those?). These are the cakes I did for K's roommate's wedding in July. . .a little late on the posting. Nevertheless, now you can see.

Uncanny

A kind--and not at all scary--gentleman customer just told me my height and weight. Apparently I'm about the size of his wife. Still, rather odd. . . .

Nope, Not Dead, Missing, Lost, or Escaped

I admit to some reticence regarding returning to this world of posting. . .it’s the overwhelmed feeling of being so far behind that it is useless to attempt anything like catching up. This past month has been so very busy; it’s hard to know where to begin. I think I will allow a few pictures to suffice for my thousand words. . .although those will have to wait, as I am currently filling in at the library and have no access to my picture files.
Yes, I’ve been working on an as-needed basis at the Tulsa library, sitting at the tall Reader’s Library desk and answering various customer questions. It’s been enjoyable, for the most part, and interesting. I always have felt a sort of “homeness” in a library. There’s something about rows and rows of shelves and shelves of friendly books that soothes me.
I have also accepted a part-time position at a law firm, where I will be filing, copying, and generally performing office support duties in the morning, beginning next week. I hope that my position there and an occasional afternoon at the library will allow me the freedom to pursue and attain a thriving Arbonne business before long.
That’s all for now. One hour and 10 minutes until my lunch break. . . .

A Respite for Randomness

We interrupt this cake baking marathon to bring you. . .

various observations upon the process of baking, not all of them new.
1. There are slightly less than 5 cups of brown sugar in a bag. I know this because the (wonderful) chocolate groom's cake requires 2 1/2 cups of sugar for each layer, and I had to open a second new bag to finish the second layer.
2. Cake mixes make life easier. DO NOT, under any circumstance, act as if this is not a revelation. Almost 3/4 of the way through my 8-cakes-from-scratch project, I realize the inestimable value of adding eggs and oil to a bag of powder. Cakes from scratch must be indescribably rewarding. . .otherwise no recipes would have survived. I'll let you know tomorrow.
3. With 3 cooling racks, where to put 8 cooling cakes soon becomes a problem.
4. When making several cakes from scratch in successsion, one quickly memorizes even the most detailed recipe. If, then, you should need a heavenly chocolate cake recipe or a quite good white cake recipe in the next 36 hours, call me. After that, I don't promise to retain the memory. (Please understand that I mean no offense to the white cake. . .it just isn't quite possible for white cake to be heavenly. After all, the Bible mentions only that we shall wear white robes. There is no mention of white cake. It seems obvious, then, that the cake will be chocolate.)
5. Parchment paper is invaluable in convincing cake pans to release cakes-from-scratch as if they were cakes-from-mix.
6. Letting a cake sit in the hot pan for over an hour is NOT conducive to getting it out in one piece. (Someone needs to pay more attention. . .set timers. . .do less than 4 things at once. . . .)
7. I need a bigger kitchen. And an extra table.
8. My glass mixing bowl is preferrable to my stoneware mixing bowl when using my hand mixer, for 2 reasons: the glass bowl is the perfect circumference for my hand mixer, so it does not toss batter bits up on the sides where they will not get mixed in; stoneware makes a horrible clanging noise when combined with an electric mixer.

In case anyone queries into my enthusiasm for completing this cake, let me assure you that I always rebound once the baking is done.
That's all for now. I have some lovely quotes to post from the ORU English Department's spring newsletter, but it is downloaded on the other computer and must wait.

Holy Joy

Reading from Matthew Henry's Commentary, Psalm 9:

Holy joy is the life of thankful praise, as thankful praise is the language of holy joy.

"Those that know thy name will put their trust in thee, as I have done, and then they will find, as I have found, that thou dost not forsake those that seek thee." The better God is known the more he is trusted. Those who know him to be a God of infinite wisdom will trust him further than they can see him (Job xxxv. 14); those who know him to be a God of almighty power will trust him when creature-confidences fail and they have nothing else to trust to (2 Chron. xx. 12); and those who know him to be a God of infinite grace and goodness will trust him though he slay them,Job xiii. 15. those who know him to be a God of inviolable truth and faithfulness will rejoice in his word of promise, and rest upon that. Those who know him to be the Father of spirits, and an everlasting Father, will trust him with their souls even to the end.

Question: How well do I know God? Answer: How much do I trust Him?

Recommended

We went to see the new Disney Pixar film Cars this weekend with my dady. It was cute, witty, and ended up with a good message about life. I recommend it.

Notes on Quotes

Doesn't that sound like a glorified Dr. Seuss book?

The primary purpose of a home is to reflect and to distribute the love of Christ.

The words of Jesus are a stirring reminder to all of us that the pride of birth carried to extreme can be a vortex that sucks us into destructive ways of thinking and living. The rising voice of nationalism has unleashed horrors too numerous to mention. In years of travel, I have been to many places in the world where people think they are superior because of their culture, places like China, the Middle East, Europe, and America. One way or the other, we all think we are the center of the universe because of our place in life. We had absolutely nothing to do with our birth. Jesus did, and He chose a most unlikely city to call home. He was not ensnared by the flimsy and fickle attachments of nationalism.

We have made truth relative and culture supreme and have been left with a world in which wickedness reigns.

taken from Jesus Among Other Gods, by Ravi Zacharias

It is so easy to think of home as a safe haven, a place for me to be insulated from the world, a place I can come to have things my way. Instead, as Zacharias says, I should be thinking of my home as a means to an end, as the tool with which I am privileged to share the Gospel. It should indeed be a safe haven, a place insulated from the trials of life, but not just for me. It should be that for everyone in my sphere of influence. . .a place where Christ's way reigns supreme and there is never fear of embarassment, reprisal, or inhospitality. I think this means I can't be a hermit.
The comments on culture are provocative. It is not exagerration to say that I have always seen patriotism as a godly trait. God, family, country, in that order, deserve our devotion. I think this is a particularly sticky subject for Americans because of our Christian founders. American history is important, not only for national pride, but to discover the godly principles upon which our nation was built. Foreign policy is important, not only for its impact on our country, but because we have responsibilities as a Christian nation. I realize that the nation as a whole has largely strayed from its Biblical roots, yet our culture still shows Biblical influence in areas such as work ethic, equality of persons, etc. It may be that truth and American culture were, at one time, largely intertwined (or were seen that way). I wonder if this is true for many--all?-- countries, if I am again falling to the American ego. What are the responsibilities of a Christian toward his country, in terms of attitude or devotion? Is that answer somewhat dependent on the godliness (or lack thereof) of the country's culture?

Love and Home

I really must update my reading list. Below are several quotes from chapter 2 of the Ravi Zacharias book I, Isaac, Take Thee Rebekah, which I am currently reading.

G.K. Chesterton said these powerful words: "They have invented a phrase, a phrase that is a black and white contradiction in two words--'free love'--as if a lover ever had been, or ever could be, free. It is the nature of love to bind itself, and the institution of marriage merely paid the average man the compliment of taking him at his word."
When two lives meet, they are like two distinct walls. Each has to start by dismantling his or her wall one brick at a time, and then those bricks are taken intact and with other materials used to build a structure with a roof that brings them together at the top. That is the new home.
The playwright Thornton Wilder said it well: "I didn't marry you because you were perfect. I didn't even marry you because I loved you. I married you because you gave me a promise. That promise made up for your faults. And the promise I gave you made up for mine. Two imperfect people got married and it was the promise that made the marriage. And when our children were growing up, it wasn't a house that protected them; and it wasn't our love that protected them--it was that promise."

And here is one from the ever-present, yet nearing-completion, Domestic Tranquility, responding to an quote from Hillary Clinton signifying the modern person's inability to find meaning at the "core level". As my life is, hopefully, now changing from one focused on a occupational responsibilities to one centered at home, I am finding need for some small adjustments in the expectations and habits I've developed over 2 years of being consumed by teaching demands. Statements like this bolster my motivation.

That core meaning is readily apparent to Brunnhilde [representing a woman who finds fulfillment in domestic and familial pursuits] all day, every day, as she nurses her baby, rocks it to sleep, reads to her children, and prepares dinner for her family.

Out of the Mouths of Babes and Children

Amazing how the most "complicated" of issues may be reduced to bare simplicity by those as yet unskilled in the arts of avoidance and prevarication. Read about it "here".

Back from the Backwoods, Part 3

A few final shots. . .
Hopefully you can see the small white butterfly that chose to light on the brim of my hat. It kept flitting down close to my eye (hence the funny squint).

. . .although it seemed to prefer K's hand.




I spotted this garter snake right next to our trail. It pretended we weren't there, although we were less than a foot away. K said the little guy thought he was well-hidden. . .I say he needs to work on his camouflage act a bit.

This water fall was our first major stopping point on the way to our campsite. It's called Abram's Falls (like Abraham before God changed his name, if you ask me; like an Abrams Tank, if you ask K). It was pretty, and wading out in the stream allowed us to see several types of trout and a few crawdads.

Back from the Backwoods, Part 2

Before and After pictures from our overnight backpacking escapade. . .if you can't tell which is which, you don't need to know.

Back from the Backwoods

We've returned from a week-long vacation in the beautiful rolling hills of Tennessee. We stayed near Smoky Mountain National Park, where we spent the better part of 4 days, including 1 night, and from which we secured many lovely pictures. I shall now post a choice few, with appropriate captioning.
These are some flowers growing out of the side of the rocky mountain-top we hiked to on our first day hike.


Here we are, having successfully completed to 4-mile hike to said mountain-top, known as Charlie's Bunion. Now for the 4 miles back to the car. . . .

This little snail was the first of many we saw on the various trails. He was my own personal find.