Lee > Recent Status Updates

Surprised to hear this author claiming Daniel had sons. I always thought he was a eunuch.

Good discussion of delighting in scripture, but what made me LOL was this quote -
“This desire for something new, exciting, and entertaining stands behind the adjective contemporary, which is stuck like a leech to the word worship.”

Quote from Gut Feelings:

Repeatedly choosing to eat foods that don’t love you back is like staying in a toxic relationship and wondering why you are still miserable. Choosing not to eat foods that don’t love you back isn’t restrictive – it’s self respect.

Finally reading the book I meant to get in the first place. 1890s London ladies who discuss literature.

I accidentally put this book on hold at the library when I was trying to reserve The Secret Book Society. So far it’s not bad.

It’s already different from the movie

What’s just as bad as junk food for causing inflammation? Chronic stress, toxic productivity, perfectionism and trauma.
It makes for “shameflammation” 🙄

I have to stop reading because it is overdue at the library and someone else has it on hold so I can’t renew 😭😭😭

Rob Reimer’s Soul Care was published the same year this book was. Reimer would fall under the sweeping generalization of American Christianity, yet he cautions against things like legalism and he champions the work done at the cross (outside our hearts) and the free gift of grace and the fact that our feelings don’t determine our salvation.

Stress hormones hijack our analytical ability. Instead we OVER analyze under stress. We analyze life within the emotion we’re currently experiencing keeping us locked in past emotions; stuck in a box. Impending emergency isn’t a time to entertain new possibilities or ideas or to trust. Analytical mind works best when calm to choose options and evaluate and discern.

“In reality, genes contribute to our characteristics but do not determine them. The tools of our consciousness- including our beliefs, prayers, thoughts, intentions, and faith - often correlate much more strongly with our health, longevity, and happiness than our genes do.”

Thoughts are the language of the brain.
Feelings are the language of the body.
How you think and feel create a state of being.
A state of being is when your kind and body are working together. So your present state of being is your genuine mind-body connection.

So far the funniest of the series. Quoting and misquoting Hamlet at random times.

Presidents, Supreme Court justices, foreign ambassadors, and military leaders. Mr Washington born in slavery was a living example of the same truth he constantly told his students - “anyone regardless of color, will be recognized and rewarded just in proportion as he learns to do something well - learns to do it better than someone else- however humble the thing may be.”

“If the placebo effect is a function of how a thought can change physiology - we could call it mind over matter - then perhaps we should examine our thoughts and how they interact with our brains and our bodies.”

A study is mentioned in the book - The conclusion is that in exactly the same environment, those with a positive mindset tend to create positive situations, while those with a negative mindset tend to create negative situations

two groups - optimists, pessimists. Given placebos the pessimists got sicker, the optimists had better results. Same description of the “drug”

The number of people who stand ready to consume one’s time, to no purpose, is almost countless.
- Booker T Washington

The number of people who stand ready to consume one’s time, to no purpose, is almost countless.
- Booker T Washington

It is a very long book to tell about a very short incident.
It’s also confusing because Kate Quinn’s book The Serpent and the Pearl, from 2014, is also about a young Italian noblewoman with floor length golden hair whose life is in danger, and a side character named Leonello.

As I hear the end I am getting more and more discouraged at how unattainable the soil inputs are to a home gardener who doesn’t have access to high powered microscopes, kilns for making biochar, or 40kg of fresh cow manure.

Frustrating how poorly the index and glossary are. Constant use of abbreviations that are never explained.

“…great men cultivate love, and only little men, cherish a spirit of hatred. Assistance given to the weak makes the one who gives it strong; and oppression of the unfortunate makes one weak.”
Booker T Washington

I’m not sure what to think about this book so far. It’s another 13 yr old boy suddenly thrust into another unbelievable situation, but the exciting adventurous adult in this one pulls out a deck of Tarot cards like it was a commonplace item, and the evil nemesis is quite demonic and has put a curse on the boy already. Hoping it gets less creepy soon.

This is a really good book. I love the old fashioned language and also Washington’s straightforward perspective.

This book is so poorly edited it is hard to comprehend some sections that seem more like rough drafts than finished cohesive material.

This 2005 book says the era of Western Christendom’s preeminence is passing away. He quotes predictions that by 2025 Europe will be in third place behind Africa and Asia. In 2000 there were 360 million Christians in Africa. I just looked up numbers and as of 2024 there were 734 mill in Africa with 2.6% growth rate. Asia is 415 mill with 2.1% growth rate. Europe is 537 mill and falling