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Showing posts from August 11, 2019

"The Second Mountain" by David Brooks. A Review

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The Second Mountain by David  Brooks My rating: 4 of 5 stars David Brooks, author, speaker, executive director of the Aspen Institute and launcher of the WEAVE program, has handed the American public something of a secular version of the biblical book of Ecclesiastes in his recently published "The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life". This 384 page hardback is clearly friendly to faith, family, community and conjugality. And it is filled with words from a man who has entered a new stage of life where he looks back over his years seeing that in some ways, much of it was vanity of vanities and chasing after the wind. Or, as he puts it, "For many, the big choices in life often aren't really choices; they are quicksand. You just sink into the place you happen to be standing" (108). But what matters most is enjoying your life, your wife, the sun and the night, the neighborhood wherein you live, and the people with whom you engage. But unlike Ecclesiastes,

"Not Forsaken" by Jennifer Michelle Greenberg. A Review

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Not Forsaken: A Story of Life After Abuse by Jennifer Michelle Greenberg My rating: 5 of 5 stars " When evil looms and darkness falls And tragedy is breaking When all that's good seems overturned By God I'm not forsaken For though I fall or wander far I'm not too far for saving And when my Shepherd seeks and finds How can I keep from singing " (229)? So cantillates Jennifer Michelle Greenberg, mother, wife, writer, musician and abuse survivor, in her new 240 page hardback "Not Forsaken: A Story of Life After Abuse". This volume is the tale of her terrors and troubles at the hands of an abusive father, and it is far, far more. It is truly a story of life after abuse, abundant life found only in the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. An easy to read book, it is ideally suited for those who have been traumatized and those who long to help the trampled! "I am not my abuser. I have a choice. I aspire to heal and grow by God's g

"O LORD, I Am Your Servant" Congregational Prayer - 11 August 2019

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“O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the LORD, ... Praise the LORD” (Psalm 116.16-19)! O LORD, we thank you for saving us from many dangers and devastations – known and unknown; for providing us with livelihoods and loves; for filling us with good things and being a God of steadfast love and faithfulness. Glory to you, O God Most High! Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name : O God, how we long to see you honored by all; to be reverenced and held in high regard by presidents and presidential candidates of all parties, constituents and denizens in all regions, by multiple Medias world over, family members, fellow workers, friends and foes. Since the fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure (Isaiah 33.6c), may the hallowing of your