He seemed so natural and gifted in so many area; Talented musician and public speaker.
I found it interesting that one could not be ordained until they were 25 years old.
Twenty Five sounds both old and young at the same time to me.
What do you think of setting an age limit on becoming a pastor?
Learning about Luther and the Jews was especially interesting and distressing to me.
Metaxas lets Luther off a bit easily saying his vile comments about the Jews were the rants of a sick, old man. (Comments an even sicker man took and used against the Jews.)
Metaxas writes that Luther spewed hateful things against many other groups and did not just target the Jews.
Did you know this about Luther?
I did not know any of this until my friend Linda mentioned it to me a few months ago.
I was very curious to see if it would be covered in this book. And it was.
Do you think the fact that Luther was sick and constipated is a reasonable excuse to explain why a man who stood up for the Jews when he was younger would turn against them later in life?
Please feel free to share your impressions about these chapters.
I didn't care for the questions again so I just shared my own thoughts.
Next Week: Chapters 7 & 8
It's a little longer...but we can do it.
******
Call the Midwife returned last night. It was the first episode of season two.
Feel free to chat about Call the Midwife on Mondays as part of Masterpiece Monday's.
*****
Katie and I visited Emma for her birthday. We went to the beach. The dog beach.
It was bright and crowded on Michigan Ave.
Big letters spelling out Picasso can be found at Daly Plaza.
Patrick came down on Saturday.
We had fun.
Thank you for the encouraging comments while I took my little break.
You are dear and lovely friends.
Love. Love. Love.
Donna
love love love Patrick's photo!!!!
ReplyDeletePatrick is funny! I heart urban pics.
ReplyDeleteAgreed - Patrick is a stitch! Somehow he reminds me of my husband, I'm not sure why.
DeleteLOVE the photos of the fam. Where are you Donna? Stay in the picks, babe.
Love that last picture of your girls. Just beautiful!
ReplyDeleteSo, just asking, and perhaps you could do a post on this some day...do you have lots of photos hanging in your house? A mix of new and old? I find that I tend to keep up just recent pictures -- I switch them out all the time. But you have so many great images -- do you choose a few to put up because they are your favorites? I think about these things a lot because I take so many pictures and I'm always trying to figure out -- do you keep the old up? Which ones will be the family classics?
Just a few thoughts on this Easter Monday morning. :)
Hello from Zurich - your Swiss Miss is back home.
ReplyDeleteI sadly am behind on my reading. I have not finished reading about Barcelona or about Luther. But from what you mentioned, Donna, the bits about Luther's ranting will be hard to digest.
Have I mentioned that my husband is Jewish (yet came to be a believer in Jesus while in college, before he ever met me) - so these matters strike a little close to the bone.
I will read the comments about these chapters with interest.
Thanks be to God for your trip and your return safely to Zurich. love and prayers, jep
DeleteAmen to that - thanks jep :-)
DeleteVery interesting about your husband's change. I would think that would be a hard sell if he grew up in a practicing Jewish home. If we lived closer, I would have enjoyed sipping a cup of decaf green tea while you shared more. But, for now, I'll just say I'm glad you are safely "home".
DeleteAwake in the wee hours - jet lag is messing me up a bit. Usually I can blame it on my dog, but not this time. My husband's story is a great one, but it is mainly about the basic questions we often ask ourselves. "there has to be more to life than this" type of thing. Certainly a good conversation for a big mug of tea or coffee.
DeleteMaybe decaf on both counts, since I'm up at 3:20 a.m. ;-)
While I haven't read the book, I am an avid Call the Midwife fan! The show last night was fantastic. Seeing Trixie and Sr. Evangalina have to work it out was very funny. And the story line with the abusive husband was disturbing but well done. **Spoiler Alert** Can't say I was terribly shocked when I found out he was also her pimp. Yikes. Scary stuff! Well done, though, for sure. I also DVRed "Mr. Selfridge" and the hubs and I will watch that tonight. Did anyone else watch it? Looks like it's going to be pretty risque, but entertaining!
ReplyDeleteBeth, I am new to Call the Midwife. Our local PBS station ran the 6 episodes of Season 1 before the first episode of Season 2, so I taped them and starting watching at about 4:30 yesterday afternoon. I was up very late by the time I made it through all 7 episodes plus Mr. Selfridge after. I think watching all the episodes strung together like that made a big impression on me about the realities of life in the East End (and how women were often cowed into submission by men and/or the system). As Jenny and Trixie commented multiple times through these episodes, I have so much respect for the people in that area, especially the women.
DeleteI will probably watch the next episode of Mr. Selfridge before deciding if I will continue. Downton Abbey is much more my cup of tea; Selfridge seems heavy on the womanizing and I'm not sure I want to watch that week after week. The sets and costumes were fun to see though. Does anyone know how many episodes there will be for Selfridge (that may help determine my dedication)?
Hi Beth,
ReplyDeleteI didn't really understand what the wife was....didn't really understand what they were up to. Weird. Then I was totally shocked by the young girl on the boat! Holy cow. To think a girl had to live like that. One of the worst stories I have ever heard. ew. I was glad Trixie was kind to her.
I too taped Mr. Selfridge and have watched a few minutes of it.
I wonder if I will like it.
You know, I felt the same way about the girl on the boat. Shocked and sickened. Glad she stood up for herself and her baby in the end, though. I liked how she put it, "My baby will grow up with grass." Like just that fact alone would be a wonder.
DeleteLike Susan, I am behind on my reading and have finished Chapter 6 only. I am also reading at this time a book about Happiness and what it means to humans. I would have to say that so far DB seems like a happy person in the sense that he knows who he is and what he can do and how it makes him feel. He is able to work with the priest there in Spain who doesn't want him to do too much, so that the priest will be expected to continue the work. I have had experiences like that where co-workers have suggested I not work so hard. Always made me wonder why those folks were teaching school if they did not really want the children to learn no matter what you had to do to help them learn. I did not know the parts about Luther and find it hard to understand how anyone could hate or condemn the Jews. I grew up in a big port city with all kinds of cultures and ethnic groups and learned so much from friends who were first generation Americans with parents from China, Mexico, Africa, Germany, Greece, oh so many others. My best friend in grade school was the daughter of two Jewish Holocaust survivors. What a dear family and so very kind to a skinny little half this and that kid who had two working parents and loved to be in their stay home mom house where we baked unleavened bread and I learned how to sew. So yes, I would think that Luther was sick at the time of his rantings or he would not have done it. At least that is my hope. Love, love, love the photographs. love and prayers, jep
ReplyDeleteLUTHER???? As in MARTIN LUTHER, nailing the thesis to the doors? That Luther?????? WOW, sounds really off, have NEVER heard anything like that before??????
ReplyDeleteLove the pictures and I can see how much enjoyment Patrick gets out of being your muse! Karen F.
I wondered the same thing. Is the Luther who is being refered to here?
DeleteYes. This is why it is so shocking. It was our Luther. (I grew up lutheran)
DeleteWe are not taught this but he did write against the Jews and Hitler used it against the Jews.
It is historical fact. Why Luther would write thus treatise after standing up for the Jews is a puzzle.
Metaxas feels it is because he was old and sick.
Yep - this is 'our' Luther. It seems like many of the historic theologians and hymn writers had a bit of a 'dark side' that came to light near the end of their lives.....
DeleteDonna, you have such a beautiful family (inside and out); I love to see your pictures here. Glad you were able to spend Emma's birthday together.
ReplyDeleteHope you feel refreshed after being away from here a few days.
I have been reading Bonhoeffer tonight and was so touched by his humility when dealing with the little boy who cried over his dog dying. Working with little children as I did for the last years of my career, I too felt their simple faith overwhelm me. Jesus talks about having faith like children and yet we try so hard to understand and question when really it is such a gift...a sacrifice for us...a love divine that is beyond question and only needs our open hearts to receive. Certainly Bonhoeffer says it better than I do. And, it seems like Metaxas got it right when he said Luther "unraveled along with his health." jep
ReplyDeleteLOVE these pictures! So glad you had nice weather for your visit! We got to the city a couple times over spring break last week, but both days were gloomy and cold. :(
ReplyDeleteI haven't read these chapters yet, so I can't add a peep to the discussion at this point.
Mary Z
I have read the books "call the midwife" by Jennifer Worth. very good reading!
ReplyDeleteThere were many details about his time during this year that helped bring both Dietrich and his experience in Barcelona to life. Metaxas says that the Spanish women who ran his boarding house "made an impressive effort to pronounce 'Dietrich.' They failed." I laughed out loud at that. I can picture them trying so very hard, him correcting them with a smile, them trying again. He had to have laughed. Again and again, his sense of humor is referenced. That is a huge draw for me. I picture him smiling a lot, even as serious and intense as he was.
ReplyDeleteThis was a clever turn of a paragraph (and maybe it was an accidental cleverness...I have no idea): "He wanted to be effective in his role as pastor, and he knew he must enter the lives and, to some extent, the lifestyles of the people he was charged with serving. [New paragraph] As in Rome,..." "As in Rome," hahaha! It seems that he was able to strike a balance and enter their lives/lifestyles in order to serve without entering their lifestyles such that who he fundamentally was changed. He seems so wise for someone who is so young, at this point. When I think of myself at age 22, I remember someone who was earnest, but very silly in many ways. His self-awareness and theological bearings testify to his upbringing, yes, but also to what seems to me almost a supernatural ability to discern well. His work with children is especially endearing.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is at the beginning of chapter five, from Bonhoeffer's diary, January 22: "Where a people prays, there is the church; and where the church is, there is never loneliness."
I love your pictures of you family, Donna. They are so lovely, always. :)
"your family"...ugh! I hate it when I make mistakes. :P
DeleteHe was an amazingly gifted man.
DeleteHe burned bright, that is for sure!
I love seeing the girls together. Love it so.
ReplyDeleteAnd Patrick? He is absolutely, positively, ALWAYS a highlight.
A handsome highlight.
: )
I'm gone to say to my little brother, that he should also visit this webpage on regular basis to take updated from newest news update.
ReplyDeleteMy site ... diets that work for women