frigatetoutopia-Christian-Science-Monitor

2Co 1:3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
2Co 1:4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

I want to express my deepest appreciation to all those who said they'd be praying for my cousin as he went through surgery to remove a brain tumor. I was so touched to hear from complete strangers and people who'd never even commented on my blog before. I know the family also appreciated every prayer.

I'm happy to say my cousin came through the seven-hour surgery. The doctors believe they got the tumor out entirely. It was on the brain stem, so there had been concerns about possible paralysis or brain-damage. But while still groggy and drugged out, he's known his name, moved his limbs, and even asked for a shower and his glasses to read! (Not that he was able to do those things!)

While he's doing better than expected, there's still a long recovery and lots of stress ahead. I'm praying the experience will draw his family closer to God and to each other. It's certainly reminded me of the important things in life.

Thanks again for the expressions of support!

I know all my blog-readers aren't necessarily Christian and I even confess that as a Christian I usually see prayer requests like this and think "Lord be with them," and promptly forget about other people's problems. But I've been cut to the quick by some news tonight and I'm trusting that just a few more of those quick "Lord, help them," prayers might "avail much".

After months of debilitating headaches, nausea and fatigue, my 17 year old cousin - only a year younger than me - has just been diagnosed with a severe brain tumor. Apparently it's the size of a small mandarin orange. The surgery will be Friday morning.

It's easy for me to be philosophical in my Christian faith when I hear about others' experiences, but when it happens to the "baby" among the cousins, not yet out of high-school, it's frightening and horrifying and reminds me why this earth is not our home.

If my Christian readers could take a moment to pray for God's presence, strength and courage to be with the family right now, I'd really appreciate it.

(Isa 43:1-7) But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.

Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.

Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;

I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;

Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

P.S. I originally posted this a couple days ago, and then felt shy asking for prayers from people I don't know "in real life", so removed it. However, Adriana @ Classical Quest had already seen the title and assured me of her prayers. Thanks so much, Adriana!

After a mentally, physically and emotionally hectic month ("those Israelites were such complainers - I wouldn't have complained so!") I have more to be embarrassed about than the fashionable lateness of this post. I don't have many or long reviews to post, because I didn't complete many books.

Uncle Tom's Cabin was going good until a post at A Classic Case of Madness sent me searching for a word coined by Sam that I was sure I would have noticed. It turns out that the 450 pages James Daugherty Edition I'd been reading was abridged. Allow me to vent: GRRRRRRRRRRRR! Finishing online is proving more distracting.

Lady Susan by Jane Austen (reread, epistolary novella)

It seems that the message of LS is that the only proof against calculated charm is deep-seated resentment incurred by a personal slight. For of all the characters who meet Lady Susan in person, it is only her sister-in-law Mrs. Vernon who never falls prey to her charms. And while it is obvious that Mrs. Vernon is intelligent and kind, I am convinced that she remains suspicious of Lady Susan only because she knows Lady Susan had opposed her marriage.

Love, Kirsten by Rainey H. Park (biographical true story, 120 pages)

The true story of a student missionary murdered on the Micronesian island of Yap in 2009. While the story was touching and inspiring, I must risk sounding calloused by saying I was most impressed by the Yapese government's inability to spell or write in clear English.

Flush by Virginia Woolf (biographical novel, 110 pages)

I must confess this minor work is the most delightful work by Woolf I've read yet. From its intimate descriptions of the Brownings' virtues and failings to its sympathetic fascination with dogs' preoccupation with smell, it is redolent, warm and humorous.

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (Re"read", audiobook)

My thoughts on another year's reading of S&S may illustrate the several ways in which I am a Janeite. Reading it during a stressful move that I unabashedly compared to the Dashwood's expulsion from Norland (and Jane's own painful removal from Steventon to Bath) I gained comfort and courage. Comfort from the familiarity of the beloved story and the moments of losing myself in Austen's incomparable characterization; Courage from emulating Elinor and knowing that my beloved Jane Austen had been through something worse. So there are aspects of escapism and inspiration in such a reading of Austen. And, yes, I join with more subversive, feminist Janeites in my outrage at Elinor and Mrs. Dashwood's feelings that they have any right to grant Marianne as a "reward" to Colonel Brandon. So which Janeite school have I not included in this reading? Irony? God forbid!

Now I'm sitting in bed shaking my head over this meager list, wondering if I missed a title. However, I did read other things, including:
~blogposts (like this old one on Robert Browning and the Irony of Humility)
~powerful paragraphs and pages from old favorites (like Mindy - as this blogger has pointed out, one of the few "good old Adventist" books to have the emotional complexity of "worldly novels")
~ sentimental short stories (like the one in Joe Wheeler's Great Stories Remembered collection about the danger of female musical ambition when there are heathen to save, clashing with my sympathies with George Eliot's ambitious singing heroines)
~ and far more fanfiction than anyone should read in a month