Thankful Thursday

It's a cool day for June, but I am thankful all the same.

I am thankful for the rain we've had.  We have needed it.  Yes, it can stop any time now, but I will be thankful, anyway, because at least it's not a tropical storm.

I'm thankful for a safe return home from my weekend. Thankful to spend time with my husband. The day before I went away, he went away.  The morning after I got home, he went away for another overnight trip, so last night was the first meal we've eaten together for a week. I'm thankful that for the most part, we eat together every night by 6:00-ish. Even though he works almost every night in the family room, he's home.  Occasionally, he comes home for lunch.  I'm thankful for that, and for him, my best friend.

I'm thankful for opportunities to travel within my beautiful home of Canada. Victoria is beautiful, and flying over Kelowna was absolutely breathtaking. I'm fortunate to live where there is so much beauty.

I'm thankful for snuggles from my dog when I got home.

I'm thankful for the work God gives me to do.  It isn't grand, but it's from Him, and that's good.

Book reflection - Growing Up Amish

While en route from Hamilton to Victoria last week, I read Ira Wagler's book Growing Up Amish. I finished it almost the minute the flight attendant told us we had arrived in Victoria. It was a riveting book. 

When our family homeschooled, we use graded readers from Pathway publishers.  The folks who produced these readers live in Aylmer, Ontario, a less than 60 minute drive from here.  It was into the Aylmer community that Wagler was born. We used the readers because they were not based on whole language learning, but rather phonetic approaches. They were excellent, and our kids loved the stories, even if they were a little odd at times. 

People find the Amish interesting, as attested to the number of novels written which are about Amish communites to the recent presentation of Amish reality t.v. shows.  I've never watched those shows, so I cannot attest to their value.

Wagler's story is about a man trying to come to terms with who he is; a common story theme. Wagler buckles under the difficulties of being Amish, wrestles with them time and time again, and goes through a lengthy cycle of leaving and returning. He leaves and returns four times before he leaves for good. In the end, he found peace and came to an understanding that he would not be damned to hell for leaving the church.

One cannot read this and not see the intense legalism that is the heart of the Amish system of faith. The legalism comes not only from their notions about how to be properly related to God, but from the unbearable pressure of conformity to aspects of behaviour that have nothing to do with God or faith. If you read Amish novels (I admit to having read one) you will see quickly how the Amish are romanticized into appearing an ideal community of sorts, but that is not always the case. I was particularly touched by a story about a young friend of Wagler's, Nicholas Herrfort.

The Herrfort family was a little odd and apparently did not measure up to the standards of a good Amish family. They were poor and reclusive, and that didn't win them any prizes.  Little Nicholas was tormented and taunted mercilessly. There was verbal and physical abuse perpetuated on this young boy of eight that made my eyes well up with tears. Wagler didn't intervene, but he did walk home from school the same way, and he did make attempts to be kind to him as they walked home.

The boy ended up with some mental illness issues later in life and the family had him sent away. As a young man, he took his own life. This passage from Wagler was very poignant:

No one can know the depths of his mother's raw and bitter sorrow for her oldest son, her firstborn. I do know, however, that I couldn't stop thinking about Nicholas and all that he had endured. Rather than being accepted and treated as an equal among his peers, he had been rejected and ridiculed simply for being different. My heart ached with regret, wondering how his life might have been different if just one of us had cared enough to be his friend.

I thought about the shy, stammering, smiling boy who laughed and chatted as we walked along the road in the afternoon sunlight on the way home from school. And then I thought about the cruel injustices inflicted on him by those who should have known better and should have protected such a weak and defenseless child.

We knew who we were. And we know who we are today. We can mourn and grieve our thoughtless and cruel actions. We can say we were just children. We can say we didn't mean it. We can even ask forgiveness from the Herrfort family and from God.

But not from Nicholas. Not ever from Nicholas.

I found it interesting that even though Amish culture and society is unique and insular, the methods used to ostracize someone who is different varies not one bit from other groups, even within Christian circles. We all know a Nicholas Herrfort. I knew one, and I'll never forget her. Maybe you were Nicholas Herrfort. The striking thing is that it seems to be human nature to lash out and exclude people we find either differerent, threatening, or just not our cup of tea. It really speaks to our sin nature. It always turns back to exalting ourselves at the expense of others.

I highly recommend this book. The prose is beautiful, and it's a story that makes you want to keep reading.

True confessions

One thing being unplugged for a few days will do (and of course, this is not a news flash) is remind me of how things can be used well or can be used in a bad way.

While I missed my friends with whom I connect through Facebook, I didn't mess the the way Facebook gets misused. There is no need to provide details; we all know what they are. Facebook often makes me feel like I'm back in high school, navigating the cafeteria, wondering where are the safe places to sit.

While I was away, I had no access to Facebook.  I had email and Twitter, but I only really paid attention to those when we had long times for waiting.  On the way there, I read an entire book on my kindle, Growing Up Amish. Good book, by the way. On the way home, I read 2/3 of Jerry Bridges' True Community.

I had a bucket of cold water thrown my way when I got home and used Facebook. As I said, I missed my friends, but I don't miss the debate that happens there. Facebook is a terrible place for debate. There are very few really cogent arguments on Facebook. I wish there was a way to eliminate commenting ability on individual status lines. Some articles are good to share, but inevitably, others pile on and soon five people are having a debate on my Facebook timeline. Some people can't resist a dissenting comment.

I was pretty tired yesterday, and I had a hard time concentrating, but I did finally carve out some time to edit some photos (what a stress reliever!) and then do some study on Nehemiah. I was reminded as I studied that our lives are full of issues that need addressing from a biblical perspective, but good analysis of those things requires having a solid, biblical foundation. Worship issues, gender issues, modesty issues, marriage issues, parenting issues; they all require a biblical mindset, but more often than not the fleeting nature of social media makes us answer too quickly. "I need to answer now!" may be shouting into the back of my mind.  I realize that tomorrow, some other "issue" will take it's place in the line of importance, so I had better comment today. I think that needs to change for me.

On Monday, I was watching my luggage go through the security check, how the security agents pushed it through, looked at its contents and then pushed it along further within a minute. That's how social media "issues" can be. Move 'em along; there's one waiting in the queue.

I'm determined to strengthen my foundation. I need it. I realized yesterday that I don't have a thick enough skin to navigate Facebook anymore. I don't plan on getting rid of it, because I have sweet sisters with whom I love to keep in touch. But I'm changing my use of it.  How that will look, I don't know. Probably means I'll be using email more. Maybe when my foundation is a little stronger, my skin will thicken up. I thought up a good motto for Facebook yesterday: Facebook, the place where being yourself will attract criticism. Cynical, I know. It was a long, tiring day, brightened up considerably by the return of my luggage.

I'm rambling. These aren't serious thoughts, I suppose. But I, and some other blogging ladies are now deciding to blog by the rule, "it's my blog, and I'll post what I want to." This is not a link-worthy post, and I'm okay with that. At least it's not on Facebook, where I'm sure there would be people lining up to provide analysis.

Who need analysis when one can ponder the beauties of God, as I did on Monday:

Comments are closed for this post, in keeping with its theme.

Hanging out with book nerds

This past weekend, I attended The Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences with my daughter. She was presenting a paper among her peers within an association of English teachers and students.  The way this worked, there were panels of discussion, involving three to five presenters, united by a common theme. My daughter's paper was about an autobiography of a black cowboy, Nat Love, and her theme revolved around historical aspects within literature. We were free to see any of the other panels within her association.

One of the things I was reminded of is that there is an interdisciplinary element to English studies. Often, when we think of English students or professors, we envision the professor who sits in his study, with his pipe and tweed jacket, a la C.S. Lewis, analyzing poetry. It's much more diverse than that. The speaker I liked best, while focusing on Mary Shelley's book The Last Man, also touched on other disciplines such as politics, history, and philosophy. Also, one of the other speakers who discussed "the last American" with regard to aboriginal peoples, brought in elements of history and environmental concerns. I loved seeing how things intersect.

I could not help but think to myself that our Christian faith is also "interdisciplinary." When we think of Christian theology, we ought to see how it intersects with environmental issues, history, politics, philosophy, science, technology, and yes, literature. Because I have a Christian worldview, some of the conclusions these presenters drew did not necessarily jive with what I think. When a post-presentation discussion ensued regarding The Last Man brought up people's fascination with eschatological concerns, I could not help but think that these men would have a lot more answers to their ponderings if they embraced a Christian worldview.

Another thing this weekend reminded me of is that when we consider reading great literature, we really are guided by what is popularly perceived as the "canon" of great literature. Advanced English studies introduce students to works that while not considered the "canon" are also great works of writing. The book my daughter read about Nat Love is something she would never read unless she went on in her studies. And of course, the whole notion of canon and what is and isn't included is a study in itself.

All in all, the weekend was a nerd's dream as well as a photographer's dream. and I took my share of pictures. It was also a nice trip with my daughter. We used public transit wherever we went, and that was fun, too.

Status Report - June

Sitting:  at my desk, waiting for the coffee.

Glad: that it won't be long. I'm very tired.

Thankful: to have arrived home safely from the Congress for the Humanities and the Social Sciences, an academic conference where my daughter presented a paper. We flew to beautiful Victoria, B.C. for the occasion.

Re-evaluating: my plans for the day in light of the fact that when we stepped off the plane at midnight last night, we were told that our luggage had not accompanied east us from a connection in Calgary.

Looking ahead to: waiting around today for a call with the hope that our luggage gets on that first flight from Calgary. Pretty sure a nap figures into that waiting process.

Feeling bad: for my daughter, whose laptop was in her suitcase and who has an essay on it that was for a class she has today.

Relieved: that when we fly to Whitehorse in September, we only have one connecting flight as opposed to two (like I did yesterday), thus decreasing our chances for a luggage loss.

Happy: to come home to the hugs of husband, the greetings of a son, and the ecstatic whining of my Beagle.

Curious: about the fact that our hotel this weekend seemed to have a plethora of poodles staying there. They were everywhere. We saw a green miniature poodle being walked on the hotel grounds. Yes, a Kelly green poodle. The motivation for doing this as well as the kind of person who would do such a thing boggles the mind.

Thinking: about many things that went through my mind this past weekend.

Proud: of my daughter.  Her presentation, which was on an autobiography of a black cowbowy, Nat Love, was excellent, and she was among the youngest presenters.

Wondering: where to start getting back into the swing of things.

Praising God: for safe travels, despite the lost luggage factor.