Speakeasy review

Mike Morrell, founder of Speakeasy, says here:

Speakeasy is a way to spread and discuss compelling ideas – author to bloggers to readers. It’s like a funnel of literary goodness, precise and deliberate at the entryway (we’re selective in what author and publisher submissions we accept) and wide-open at the end (when a campaign takes off, we get ‘everybody’ talking).

My second book to review for Speakeasy is Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Charles Marsh.

This book was detailed and gave more information about Bonhoeffer than I knew existed.  It was thoroughly researched and in looking at the extensive footnotes, the number of pages of references was about 20% of the entire book.  Many details of his childhood and early life showed him to have come from a privileged background.  It was written in a pedantic style, obvious since Marsh is a professor and scholar. 

It took over a month for me to get through the first half of the book; not an easy read.  But for one who wants to know minutia of this Lutheran icon who served the Lord as a martyr, this is the book for you.  Otherwise, if you want a brief overview of the life on Bonhoeffer, Widipedia would do.  This is not to diminish the work of Marsh, but it was written in dissertation style, not for the average reader of biography.

Review ends here.

The following hymn was written by Bonhoeffer in the concentration camp, shortly before his death.

By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered,

And confidently waiting come what may,

we know that God is with us night and morning,

and never fails to greet us each new day.

Yet is this heart by its old foe tormented,

Still evil days bring burdens hard to bear;

Oh, give our frightened souls the sure salvation

for which, O Lord, You taught us to prepare.

And when this cup You give is filled to brimming

With bitter suffering, hard to understand,

we take it thankfully and without trembling,

out of so good and so beloved a hand.

Yet when again in this same world You give us

The joy we had, the brightness of Your Sun,

we shall remember all the days we lived through,

and our whole life shall then be Yours alone.

source

This hymn appears in the 1982 Episcopal Hymnal (695)

Dog Biscuits

Julie suggested that The Manor House give dog biscuits to our local no-kill animal shelter for a Christmas gift.

Here is the recipe I forwarded to the activity director where today some of the residents will make these treats.  I found my old dog bone cookie cutter we will use, tucked away in a plastic bag that has housed cutters since time began; the plastic looks a bit worse for wear but the old cutter is still sharp. My thick notebook of recipes is kept mostly for nostalgic purposes, but it came in handy on this occasion.

 Cindy, Activity Director at the Manor, in Christmas attire!

Charley rolling dough

Nancy and Connie tasting the dough

 Julie's Big Idea to make dog biscuits!

Can you believe these herbs are still alive in mid December?  They are watered faithfully, and they keep on giving.

Last evening I finished 2/3 of the knitting required to make up the Promenade Shawl.  It was begun in July, so I have been fairly slow in the needle process. Each row must have a thousand stitches, and there are too many rows to count.  Add those stitches to changing colors, and it is mind boggling for knitting.

On another note, here is a present for Julie I have saved up for Christmas: another When In Scotland shawl.

Hoping your weekend is a good one!

We are Getting Married

Next week, on December 19 at the 8:00 AM Mass, the husband and I will have our marriage convalidated, and I will become a Roman Catholic after having been a member of the Lutheran Church for 25 years. How about that? And thank you, brother, for all the paperwork you sent in for this process to occur.  Our parish is in Grand Junction at Immaculate Heart of Mary.

From here:

Catholics who have married outside of the Catholic Church are encouraged to have their civil marriage recognized by the Church. We call this a convalidation. These couples, who were no doubt well intentioned and sincere in professing their vows outside of the Catholic Church, are not considered validly married in the eyes of the Catholic Church because Church law requires baptized Roman Catholics to marry before a bishop, priest, or deacon and two witnesses. If a couple finds themselves in this situation but want to have the Church officially recognize their marriage, then they should contact a priest in order to begin the process of convalidating their union. This process is usually not very difficult and often helps the couple live their faith more fully.

I told the husband I was expecting jewelry as this will be just as meaningful, if not more so, than our first marriage.  I'll let you know if he comes through.

Our 26th legally recognized marriage will occur on January 6, 2016, also known as the 12th Day of Christmas, and Epiphany. That date was prayerfully chosen back in 1989 so it would fall on the Day of Epiphany. You can figure out the significance.