I'm happy to report that the aliens who captured me finally returned me to earth. They left an avatar that was identical to my body to function in my place, but my true self was not here. I requested the ability to blog while away, but was refused. It is good to be back. Here are a couple of pictures of our reunited family.
“Woe to you, O land, when your kind is a child,and your princes feast in the morning! Happy are you, O land, when your kind is the son of the nobility, And your princes feast at the proper time, for strength, and not for drunkenness.” Ecclesiastes 10:16-17
Here we find three important qualities of good leaders:
1. Experience – It is better to have leaders who are not young and inexperienced (“a child”) but who have the proper background for their responsibilities (“nobility”).
2. Wisdom in timing – Timing is critical in effective leadership. There is a “proper time” to do things.
3. Right motivation and purpose – A leader’s reason and purpose for doing what he does is important, even if a particular action is right. It is possible to do the right thing for the wrong reason (“for strength and not for drunkenness”).
"If the iron is blunt,and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom help one to succeed."
Ecclesiasts 10:10
Geese in Bass Lake, Blowing Rock; Fall 2010
"You, my God . . . are the most hidden from us and yet the most present amongst us, the most beautiful and yet the most strong, ever enduring and yet we cannot comprehend you. You are unchangeable and yet you change all things. You are never new, never old, and yet all things have new life from you. You are the unseen power that brings decline upon the proud. You are ever active, yet always at rest. You gather all things to yourself, though you suffer no need. . . . You grieve for wrong, but suffer no pain. You can be angry and serene. . . . You repay us what we deserve, and yet you owe nothing to any. . . . Can any man say enough when he speaks of you? Yet woe betide those who are silent about you!" - Augustine, Confessions, 1.4
A couple of weeks ago our family enjoyed a walk at Bass Lake (Blowing Rock, NC), which has become somewhat of a Fall tradition.One favorite attraction is leaf sliding. Here's Nathaniel (4 yrs)
Hannah (6 yrs)
Samantha (4 months)
"The thought of you stirs [man] so deeply that he cannot be content unless he praises you, because you made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you." - Augustine, Confessions 1.1
We are reading Augustine's Confessions in the Medieval History class I am teaching high school homeschoolers. According to the Omnibus II textbook, Aurelius Augustine (354-430) was “one of the greatest minds of the ancient and medieval worlds (in a way he ends one world and begins the other ).” In the Middle Ages, “other than the Bible, the two [books] that were probably most read and influential were Augustine’s City of God and Confessions.” “Confessions is the story of Augustine’s journey from his rough and rowdy youth to his conversion.”
I was immediately gripped by the quality of writing and depth of understanding in Confessions. It is a worthy read. I will be sharing a number of quotes as I read it.