Just some thoughts

Today, E and I had the day off together - it was fabulous!  We walked around downtown this morning, went to Chic-Fil-A for lunch, I box-dyed my hair for the first time (a little tricky doing it by yourself, no doubt, but it was successful I would say)...pretty great day!  Now I'm sitting here ready to write about a "famous female", and what I ended up doing was just begin to read up on who I wanted to write about: Katy Perry.  

She certainly has a huge fan base with over 15,000,000 twitter followers and obvious support world-wide with her music.  The more I started reading her tweets, watching videos and interviews, the more I realized that it would be impossible for me to write about her influence on culture and my thoughts because I really can't sum them up yet.  When I look at her and many other celebrities, I really wonder what it must be like to be watched like that by so many people - the affects of "celebrity" on the celebrity.  I definitely don't envy it.  I also reflect on the affects on our culture of the celebrity deal.  I think it's great that people who are talented have the opportunity to take their skill to a whole other level in the times we live in.  But there are so many cons and costs that partner with the celebrity lifestyle at any level.  Obviously, I'm not saying anything new here, I'm just thinking about what my response should be to the world of celebrities with all of the pros and cons.  Do I read People magazine to try to get an understanding about their lives - why?  why not?  Why do I get so intrigued and attached when I hear updates about a celebrity?  Do I try to learn about people I'm watching or listening to when sometimes it's impossible to know trustworthy sources?  Lately I would say, heck with it! I don't even know these people!  And yet, something pulls me into wanting to know about their lives. 

While I continue to chew on this, let me leave you with two interesting videos I did find worthwhile in my time spent investigating the celebrity world:

A great interview with Whitney Houston   (Part 2)
An interesting quick interview with Katy Perry (I don't recommend surfing this page) 

Friday: Famous Females

Famous Females: Lady Jane Grey

I've heard it said, "one way to know culture is to study its history".  I am personally fascinated by many parts of history and I have found that many people are at the very least intrigued by some particular mark in history.  There are many specific eras or events in history that captivate me - such as the Kennedy Assassination, unsolved mysteries, and much of British history.  I recently came upon the story of Lady Jane Grey by watching the movie Lady Jane with Helena Bonham Carter.  I had never even heard of this woman, but have gotten into watching a lot of British movies/shows lately, and this one sounded interesting to me.  Well, I highly recommend it.  I so enjoy when movies surprise me in a good way like this one did!  It introduced me to another understanding of British culture and Christian history.

Let me tell you about Lady Jane.  She was known as the "Nine Days' Queen" because she ruled England for only nine days.  It was a really critical time in England's history because of the tension between Protestants and Catholics.  King Edward VI was ruling and she was his first-cousin-once-removed.  Edward, unfortunately, was ill and died at the young age at 15.  Though his half-sister Mary I (aka "Bloody Mary") would be in line for the throne after him because she was Henry VIII's daughter, Edward changed the succession on his deathbed to fall to Lady Jane Grey instead.  At least from the impression of the movie, a big part of why Edward wanted her to be Queen was because he shared her Protestant faith.  He did not want Mary to be Queen and reinstate Catholicism (which, unfortunately she did, and killed hundreds of Christians at the stakes).  Lady Jane only ruled for nine days and in the movie she was portrayed as a great Queen. Mary grew in influence and eventually Lady Jane was not only forced out of the throne, she and her husband were both beheaded.   

Though her story and life were short, what captivated me about Lady Jane as I watched the movie was her incredible commitment to her faith in Christ.  She did not care what happened to her, she did not back down once from the Truth nor did she remain silent in times when it would have been perceived as agreement with Catholicism.  There was a scene in the movie, toward the end when she is being held prisoner in the Tower, where the priest comes to question her one last time - hoping she will agree with Catholicism and be spared from death. And her and her husband both, while being separately questioned, held firm to their belief as Protestants in Christ.  It is an epic part of the movie.  

I was very moved by their commitment and fervency while watching - really evaluating if I would be as firm if in the same situation.  Lady Jane is a great woman of history.

Paul Delaroche - The Execution of Lady Jane Grey

Tips from C.S. Lewis

I found a great snippet about writing by C.S. Lewis that I must share.  It is from his book C. S. Lewis’ Letters to Children. I used a quote from this in my previous blog because I think it can be applied to writing, as Lewis meant it to be, but it also brings to light some great things regarding how we speak as well. 

1. Always try to use the language so as to make quite clear what you mean and make sure your sentence couldn’t mean anything else.

2. Always prefer the plain direct word to the long, vague one. Don’t implement promises, but keep them.

3. Never use abstract nouns when concrete ones will do. If you mean “More people died” don’t say “Mortality rose.”

4. In writing don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was “terrible,” describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers “Please will you do my job for me.”

5. Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say “infinitely” when you mean “very”; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.

Changing Habits - Words

Words...The endless amount of words that come out of my mouth!

Lately I am noticing how many words I use daily in conversation...and with that, how difficult it can be to put a gate over my mouth if I feel that deep urge within me to express something.  But there are three things in Scripture that have been challenging my heart regarding this matter:

James 1:19-20 - Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Proverbs 10:19 - When words are many, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his lips is prudent.

Proverbs 31:26 - She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

These Scriptures bring up 2 main things I have been pondering:

1) Being Slow to Speak & Quick to Listen (James 1, Proverbs 10):  Sometimes I find myself just saying stuff...just saying words.  Then I try to find my way back to the origin of my point, and I get so lost on the way, that I end up just saying more words!  This truth in Scripture is a great challenge for me to not only speak slower or speak less, but to begin with listening more.  Changing my listening to speaking ratio, and my giving advice to asking questions ratio, will be a starting place to help me speak with more intentionality.  As Proverbs notes, transgression is not lacking when there are a multitude of words - which stirs in my heart a greater desire to be slow and thoughtful to speak so as to avoid sin in this. 

2) Speaking with Wisdom (Proverbs 31):  Besides the quantity of my words, I want to be careful with the quality of my words as well.  Thinking, for example, about the significance of my words and not just saying what I've always said in response to frustration, or to express awe, or gratitude, etc.  Speaking should not be fruit of a habit, but an intentional, thoughtful social practice.  To grow in my intentionality, I am attempting to use specific words in their appropriate context instead of overusing them as most of our culture does (me included).

Here are two words I am purposefully starting with:

awe·some

[aw-suhm] adjective

1. extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear 

Awesome -  There are things in the world that may cause awe in my heart, but I want to attribute the word to the Creator, not the created.

love 

[luhv]  noun

1. an intense feeling of deep affection

2. a great interest and pleasure in something

Love - if I "love" everything, essentially I love nothing.  This word I want to reserve for the people I truly love and am committed to - like the Lord, my husband, my family, my friends.  If I use this word to express my feelings of them to them and then use it toward something like: my purse, or my phone, then I'm essentially detracting the value from "love" because it would be a very shallow love, if actually love at all, if I "love" my things the same way I "love" the people I care about.  But in fact, I care about my Lord and the people in my life much more than my stuff...so one way I can display this truth is by my words. 


These are the ones I am consciously going to implement to be intentional in my day-to-day conversation.  I know there are many approaches for bettering the discipline of speaking, but as I reflect, the Lord has shown me personally that for me to become more like Him in this aspect of my life I can be more intentional both with my words and with how many of them I use.  The goal: not perfection, for my husband helped me conclude that Scripture does not tell us that every instance of using many words is a sinful thing.  The true goal: to glorify God by speaking with wisdom and speaking wisdom.  Both of which, only come by His grace and power. 

Don’t use words too big for the subject. 
Don’t say “infinitely” when you mean “very”; 

otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.

- C.S. Lewis, C.S. Lewis' Letters to Children

Travel Bucket List #1: Ireland

Drumroll, please...Behind door #1 for the Travel Bucket List: IRELAND.

I have to admit that even upon thinking of writing this entry, tears come to my eyes.  I do not know if there is one solely amazing thing that captivates me about Ireland, but I do know that the sum of the things I admire about her makes me deeply captivated.  So, I will attempt to express my admiration in this entry...and maybe sell you on a  trip there yourself.

  

(*Note: To make my blog more legit, I want to note I wanted to visit Ireland before P.S. I Love You came out :)

The main reason I want to visit Ireland is for its Beauty in Serenity.  It goes back to the very first blog entry I posted regarding simplicity.  When I look at pictures of Ireland and look at their culture, it exudes serenity, or simplicity.  Green grass, open meadows with a single shed, sheep and cows roaming everywhere, and stillness.  In this, I see much beauty.  Creation untouched by industry, life uncomplicated by busyness & high expectation, space and time uninterrupted.  I hunger for these things.  And while people who live there may say my perception is not reality as they walk in the day-to-day there, the amount of time I would spend there would be just enough to taste these things I perceive before reality would make it seem ordinary or mundane.  Of course, I have lived life long enough to know that the grass is indeed not greener on the other side and things will be different than I see them now at a distance (for example: I think of walking across a perfect meadow, but when I get there the grass will probably actually be very itchy and have bugs...blah)...but, there are many things that I think would be just as I imagine them to be, if not better, there in Ireland.

Here is an example of the Beauty & Serenity of Ireland:

Cliffs of Moher

(Photo courtesy of my friend T.Er.)

A second thing that allures me, are Ireland's array of incredible castles.  I'm fascinated by most architecture, particularly anything of archaic nature.  I want to visit Ireland and see as many castles as I can - whether they are renovated to fancy hotels, or they are eroding from war and weather over the centuries, or if there is essentially nothing left of them but a stone and a story.  These castles have character and history which add a captivating uniqueness to Ireland in and of themselves.

Top castle on my list to visit:

Dunluce Castle

As I mentioned above, there are things about Ireland that I hunger for.  It is important to note, however, that though I long to visit Ireland because of what I see in her, I believe I have a hunger that would not be satisfied solely by visiting.  I desire to visit Ireland, but the hunger I have runs too deep for anything in this world to satisfy.  This goes back to what I wanted to shed light on in at the origin of this series, "I submit that it could also be because we are all sojouners of this life, and are on a journey to find the remarkable."  Why do we seek to find the remarkable, the things we are in awe of?  Because Ecclesiastes 3:11 says "God has put eternity into man's heart".  Our hearts know that there is something greater because God has put in our hearts the desire for it.  Ultimately, we will never find this in the world because it is a longing for eternity, something we can not quite comprehend but something we long to have secure.  However, people spend their lives trying to find eternity in everything but the source.  Let me tell you, although Ireland is amazing and I deeply want to visit, because I have a relationship with Jesus Christ I get to see glimpses of eternity often and can rest assured that if I never travel anywhere again I get to spend eternity seeing things that are glorious compared to things in this world. 

 "The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.” 
- C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."
- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Travel Bucket List #2: Israel

Welcome, 2012 - - Hopefully you will be the year in which I post more often :)

I am going to continue on with my Travel Bucket list as I am super excited to get to #1...and even more excited to start writing about more things I have been learning/observing lately. 

Here we go: Travel Bucket List #2 - Israel the Holy Land.

In all honesty, the main reason I want to travel to Israel, is to see the things that I have been reading and learning about in Scripture.  From what I do know, I would not personally be interested in going for the food or smells (like I did for Italy) or for the architecture (although the obvious conflict and history within the architecture would be well worth the trip)....it would be to understand the culture Christ grew up in and to see where He walked when He was on earth.  The times that the Jewish culture has been unfolded for me to help enlighten me to something in Scripture, it makes me want to see it in real life even more.  Not only that, but to see things with my own eyes that I am reading about - it only makes sense that it would connect dots that could not otherwise be connected without seeing them - it would be life-altering.

Walking where Christ Himself walked would add so much to my personal walk with Him I think.  There are things the mind can imagine when you read them in Scripture, but again, seeing it in a tangible form would bring it to life in a new way for me.  I think the best way to go would be to go with someone who could explain what we see in great detail corresponding with Scripture references.  To note things like "Here's the Sea where Peter and Jesus walked on water" and to walk the road Christ walked would just be awesome. Truly, awesome.

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.  - Saint Augustine

Travel Bucket List #3: Greece

Confession :: I love the movie Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants... I have 3 best friends that I've known since Freshman year of college or longer, so I feel a kind of kindred connection to the movie.  4 friends, 4 different personalities, all figuring out life together.  I love that! 

So, am I inspired by the friends in that movie and by Lena's trip to Greece?  Maybe.  Yes.  All 3 of my friends and I have planned to visit Grece together sometime in our lifetime and what's crazy is that one of our dear friends is much like Lena in that movie and has Grecian heritage!  It's a cumulative bucket list item for all of us.  

Have you ever imagined doing or seeing something, that turns out to be kind of disappointing?  I would say that Greece is probably the only country on my bucket list that I am a little concerned about being that way.  Mainly because it isn't known for its many attractions - it seems people mainly visit Greece because of the beauty and serenity of the country itself.  Which in the end, I'm alright with...I don't think I would be disappointed if I went in with that mentality.  It is easy for me in my human nature to get a fantastical view of how something will be, making it is impossible for it to live up to my expectations.

So, with Bucket List item #3, I will resolve to go with only the expectation of seeing it's beauty and serenity, and let Greece surprise me if she wants to.  Hopefully I'll be going with my friends and we'll make it a trip to remember no matter what!  

My reminder to myself and you out there today: make time for friends & memories with them.

"Friendship, I have said, is born at that moment when one man says to another 

'What! You too? I thought that no one but myself...'"

-C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Island of Santorini