Inspiring Words

"I...used to spend an abundance of time, in walking alone in the woods, and solitary places, for meditation, soliloquy and prayer...I very frequently used to retire into a solitary place, on the banks of Hudson's River, at some distance from the [New York] city, for contemplation on divine things, and secret converse with God, and had many sweet hours there...

I had then, and at other times, the greatest delight in the Holy Scriptures, of any book whatsoever. Oftentimes in reading it, every word seemed to touch my heart. I felt a harmony between something in my heart, and those sweet, powerful words. I seemed often to see so much light, exhibited by every sentence, and such a refreshing ravishing food communicated, that I could not get along in reading. Used oftentimes to dwell long on one sentence, to see the wonders contained in it; and yet almost every sentence seemed to be full of wonders...I found, from time to time, an inward sweetness, that used, as it were, to carry me away in my contemplations, in ...a calm, sweet abstraction of soul from all the concerns of this world, and fixed ideas and imaginations, of being alone...sweetly conversing with Christ, and wrapped and swallowed up in God. The sense I had of divine things, would often of a suden as it were, kindle up a sweet burning in my heart; an ardor of my soul, that I know not how to express."

Sweet.

good day, sunshine!

Hello, happy campers. I spend so much time complaining, and today I've had a lovely day, so I wanted all of you to know. God helped me wake up in a great mood for some reason (instead of irritated before anything bad even happens) and I got to see Stephanie (wonderful girl I'm hanging out with this week) before she went to school. No fighting with her brother! Yay! And class was alright, got to spend a whole hour and a half with one of my most favorite people, plenty of time in the beautiful sunshine, and MY BIRTHDAY'S TOMORROW! I'm so excited :) Nothing more I could wish for on a day like today. Thank you all, thank you God! Amen!

Hotel Rwanda, discussion

A (heated?) discussion tonight with a bunch of awesome people after watching "Hotel Rwanda"...I wanted to give you guys this link, in case you're interested in a unique Christian perspective as you process this movie:

Brian McLaren, "The Passion of Hotel Rwanda"

And God, help us move past criticism to make a positive influence in this world...

Photography

Yes, I'm still on a foreign country picture kick :) These ones are awesome.

http://www.earth-photography.com/Countries/

I really like the pictures of Austria and Slovakia...

Europe, please!

Hello, my friends :) Today was one of the strangest days I've had ... Europe's been on my mind and beating loudly in my heart. You know when you feel like your insides are going to come out, like you're going to burst if you stay in one place? That kind of thing. I was reading the Bible this morning, really reading it for the first time in a long time, and the sky was grey, and for a second I was right back in Ireland and outside were people with amazing accents and old, wonderful buildings I'd never seen before and entire cities to discover...it was full-blown nostalgia, and I think this was the beginning of my restlessness.

Afternoon brought an unexpected wave of loneliness, and the realization that the hole in me was so huge, no one person could fill it. I didn't know what to do with myself - couldn't decide whether to stay or go, so I ate lunch at a park in Seattle, fleetingly wondering if the men leaving their group in the woods one by one were drug dealers, and returned home to Lynnwood. A long nap made me feel like like *I* was on drugs...

I can't settle down tonight. Web-searching for pictures of Dublin has replaced the homework I should be doing. I can't stay, and I can't go, and my heart's full to bursting and I don't know what to do. I'm sick of school, but know I need to finish the quarter. Even the thought of facing tomorrow has me in a tailspin... I want to sit on a chair next to the street and pretend I'm old and have all the time in the world to dream.

http://photos1.blogger.com/img/277/995/640/Dublin%20(107).jpg
http://home.kc.rr.com/blizzardplease/Dublin%20Shops.jpg
http://www.arrakeen.ch/europe/184%20%20Dublin.JPG
http://www.arrakeen.ch/europe/182%20%20Dublin.JPG