Heidi > Recent Status Updates

So weird to read the UK edition as an adult 20+ years after I last read the US edition. It's the same book, but with a few unfamiliar glitches.

The more I learn about Old English language and poetic structure, the better Seamus Heaney's translation gets. Truly a work of art.

This might be better Lenten devotional reading than anything else I've ever picked up for intentional Lenten devotional reading.

My son has been less open to read-alouds than his big sister. With this one we've finally found a hit. Why it's less scary than the Hobbit is beyond me.

I cannot get over the fact that the Schumanns kept a joint "marriage diary" and alternated journal entries every week detailing how depressed they were. 100% a couple that would have had a shared Facebook account today.

"In a world of high anthropology , we get what we deserve, nothing more, nothing less. Reciprocity reigns. Fail to meet reasonable expectations, and it’s game over. In a world of low anthropology, grace always comes as a surprise. It upends the predictable economy of cause and effect."

Rarely have I read a book that made me wish so desperately to read it in the original language. I can't figure out whether this is due to translator word choices or just the specificity of Bonhoeffer's terminology in German.

Currently enjoying this book in slow, small chunks.

"When we think the law is obtainable, we think grace is excessive."

“We cannot manipulate God’s love through any of the disciplines. We cannot pray enough, fast enough, give enough money, or read the Bible in a year to earn his favor. No, those disciplines are there for us to understand deeper and wider, his love for us. Remembrance of this love is at the core of each discipline, and as we abide in that core truth, we are sustained by its power. “

“We cannot manipulate God’s love through any of the disciplines. We cannot pray enough, fast enough, give enough money, or read the Bible in a year to earn his favor. No, those disciplines are there for us to understand deeper and wider, his love for us. Remembrance of this love is at the core of each discipline, and as we abide in that core truth, we are sustained by its power. “

"Just as our pupils dilate to let in more light, to see more than we first thought we could, prayer adjusts our eyes to see God in the darkness."

This book should be required reading for all Lutherans and especially Lutheran educators. So good.

History seems to just be a series of epidemics. At least now we have epidemiology and not just a pile of doctors using brandy and leeches on typhoid patients.

This would be a good one to read alongside "The Bondage of the Will." We like to think we're free agents making individual rational decisions, but we are so predictable that our data and information can be weaponized for "perspecticide" and psychological warfare. Yikes.

Jesus and sociolinguistics are two of my favorite topics. I couldn't resist a book combining the two, and so far it's not disappointing.