Luke > Recent Status Updates

The awakening of the fury of Treebeard.

Greatly annoyed. Agreeing at points, but critical of the author’s framing, as well as data/references used. Case in point, she expresses frustration at automakers for not designing vehicles for women’s bodies, but then misrepresents the spokesperson who says that women and elderly are predisposed to significant injury due to their inherent vulnerability. She claims that’s a statement of being less than human.

Pausing the reading, there are other books that seem more worth the time/effort.
Tripp’s writing lands flat for me in this book as he moves into various Comfort related to the gospel, unfortunately. There was a bright paragraph urging the reader to not let suffering become one’s identity as doing so limits both one’s potential and related actions (pg. 133).

A few more traps: Doubt, Denial and Discouragement.
Of the three Discouragement and its connection to complaint connected the most. Tripp states that discouragement readily yields to moral paralysis, not feeling our actions matter and therefore rationalizing spiritual inaction or worse callousness to sin (my interpretation).

The chapter “The Fear Trap” rang hollow to me, and also repeated earlier work. The relevant part was on “meditation” of the heart, which I would restate as attention, and how that contributes much to one’s suffering. But even secular authors write well on that.
The chapter “The Envy Trap” is hitting more squarely. Envy into anger, bitterness, self-pity.

We never suffer just the thing we’re suffering, we also suffer the way we’re suffering it. Our expectations, our defenses, histories, losses.

Returning to this.

Got to the personal finance part.
Been a helpful read, easy to understand and practical.

One positive note (which was already familiar to me) about energy abundance available from solar. We just don’t prioritize it the way other countries do. And now back to dismal accounts of ridiculous (and expensive) bureaucratic challenges to building high speed rail.
Still hoping the book will get to Abundance.

Not sure I’m the target audience, yet. Currently focusing on short-sighted policy development of both Republican and Democratic parties.

Thrown back by the mountains. So under them they go.

Ah, Rivendell and reunions. An oasis in a darkening world. What courage has guarded the heart of Frodo.

How can I sleep after visions of Weathertop?

The House of Tom Bombadill is always a re-enchanting event.

Not the first read-through, but it’s been far too long since the last read-through. This time with an audiobook reading.

Re-reading to keep the sci-fi flow.

Intense, dark and creative. It took some time to get used to some of the novel ideas.