A Couple More Selections from Silas Marner

--"In old days there were angels who came and took men by the hand and led them away from the city of destruction.  We see no white-winged angels now.  But yet men are led away from threatening destruction:  a hand is put into theirs, which leads them forth gently towards a calm and bright land, so that they look no more backward; and the hand may be a little child's."

--"Eppie was now aware that her behavior was under observation, but it was only the observation of a friendly donkey, browsing with a log fastened to his foot--a meek donkey, not scornfully critical of human trivialities, but thankful to share in them, if possible, by getting his nose scratched; and Eppie did not fail to gratify him with her usual notice, though it was attended with the inconvenience of his following them, painfully, up to the very door of their home.
     But the sound of a sharp bark inside, as Eppie put the key in the door, modified the donkey's views, and he limped away again without bidding.  The sharp bark was the sign of an excited welcome that was awaiting them from a knowing brown terrier, who, rushed with a worrying noise at a tortoise-shell kitten under the loom, and then rushed back with a sharp bark again, as much as to say, "I have done my duty by this feeble creature, you perceive"; while the lady-mother of the kitten sat sunning her white bosom in the window, and looked round with a sleepy air of expecting caresses, though she was not going to take any trouble for them."

-from George Eliot (Silas Marner)

-The first quote reminds me of Isaiah's verse, "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.  Isaiah 11:6

-I like the contrast between the donkey and the cat in the second selection.  The poor old donkey is striving for a just a scratch on the nose and the lazy cat just feels entitled to attention.

Different Perspectives on Child rearing

Silas Marner's determination to keep the "tramp's child" was matter of hardly less surprise and iterated talk in the village than the robbery of his money.  That softening of feeling towards him which dated from his misfortune, that merging of suspicion and dislike in a rather contemptuous pity for him as lone and crazy, was now accompanied with a more active sympathy, especially amongst the women.  Notable mothers, who knew what it was to keep children "whole and sweet"; lazy mothers, who knew what it was to be interrupted in folding their arms and scratching their elbows by the mischievous propensities of children just firm on their legs, were equally interested in conjecturing how a lone man would manage with a two-year-old child on his hands, and were equally ready with their suggestions:  the notable chiefly telling him what he had better do, and the lazy ones being emphatic in telling him what he would never be able to do. --George Eliot (Silas Marner)

Twelve

Ladybug's Picnic

One two three
Four five six
Seven eight nine
Ten eleven twelve
Ladybugs
Came to the ladybugs' picnic

One two three
Four five six
Seven eight nine
Ten eleven twelve
And they all played games
At the ladybugs' picnic

They had twelve sacks so they ran sack races
And they fell on their backs and they fell on their faces
The ladybugs 12
At the ladybugs' picnic

They played jump rope but the rope it broke
So they just sat around telling knock-knock jokes
The ladybugs 12
At the ladybugs' picnic

One two three
Four five six
Seven eight nine
Ten eleven twelve
And they chatted away
At the ladybugs' picnic

They talked about the high price of furniture and rugs
And fire insurance for ladybugs
The ladybugs 12
At the ladybugs' picnic
12!

some folks are so wise...

We heared tell as he'd sold his own land to come and
take the Warrens, and that seemed odd for a man as had land of his
own, to come and rent a farm in a strange place. But they said it
was along of his wife's dying; though there's reasons in things as
nobody knows on--that's pretty much what I've made out; yet some
folks are so wise, they'll find you fifty reasons straight off, and
all the while the real reason's winking at 'em in the corner, and
they niver see't.  - George Eliot's  Silas Marner

Easter scripture meditation

I thought of this verse today during worship.  I'm glad for the truth of this statement and the hope it gives to sorry sinners like me.  What a merciful and gracious God we serve!

 "The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."  1 Timothy 1:15-17

A time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted...

The bible teaches that God sets the boundaries where people live and sovereignly orchestrates the movements of people through many different means, like famine, war, exile, persecution, mass exoduses, etc.  Here is an interesting quote from Victor Hugo's The Toilers of the Sea, written while the writer was in exile on the Isle of Guernsey for his political views.

     "It is probable that she was French [the mother of the main character].  Volcanoes cast forth stones, and revolutions cast forth men.  Families are thus sent to great distances, destinies are expatriated; groups are dispersed and crumbled to pieces: people fall from the clouds, some in Germany, some in England, some in America.  They astonish the natives of the country.
     Whence come these strangers?
     That Vesuvius smoking yonder has spit them out.  Names are conferred on these aerolites, on these expelled and lost individuals, on these people eliminated by fate; they are called emigres, refugees, adventurers.  If they remain, they are tolerated; if they take their departure, people are relieved.
     Sometimes they are absolutely inoffensive individuals, strangers--the women at least--to the events which have driven them forth, cherishing neither hatred not resentment, greatly astonished and involuntary projectiles.  The take root again as best they may.  They have harmed no one, and do not understand what has happened to them.  I have seen a poor tuft of grass dashed wildly into the air by an explosion in a mine.  The French revolution, more than any other explosion, was characterized by these distant projections.
     The woman who was called "la Gilliatt" in Guernesey was, perchance, such a tuft of grass."

Mr. Jaggers: A delightfully serious lawyer [Great Expectations]

You wouldn't want to stand before Mr. Jaggers in a court of law.  He is no nonsense.  He could get a confession out of anyone.  He is one of the most famous lawyers in London and feared by many.  He and Pip are just finishing a dinner with Miss Havisham, a wealthy old spinster who has taken a peculiar interest in Pip.  Jaggers is Pip's guardian until the day he can inherit his "great expectation" of a  fortune from a mysterious benefactor.  And so...

"And when he and I were left alone together, he sat with an air upon him of general lying by in consequence of information he possessed that really was too much for me.  He cross-examined his very wine when he had nothing else in hand.  He held it between himself and the candle, looked at his glass again, smelt the port, tried it, drank it, filled again, and cross-examined the glass again, until I was as nervous as if I had known the wine to be telling him something to my disadvantage.  Three of four times I feebly thought I would start conversation, but whenever he saw me going to ask him anything, he looked at me with his glass in his hand, and rolling his wine about in his mouth, as if requesting me to take notice that it was of no use, for he couldn't answer."  Charles Dickens

The Lord's Supper - A prayer

From the Valley of Vision

GOD OF ALL GOOD,

I bless thee for the means of grace;
teach me to see in them thy loving purposes
and the joy and strength of my soul.
Thou hast prepared for me a feast;
and though I am unworthy to sit down as guest,
I wholly rest on the merits of Jesus,
and hide myself beneath his righteousness;
When I hear his tender invitation
and see his wondrous grace,
I cannot hesitate, but must come to thee in love.
By thy Spirit enliven my faith rightly to discern
and spiritually to apprehend the Saviour.
While I gaze upon the emblems of my Saviour's death,
may I ponder why he died, and hear him say,
'I gave my life to purchase yours,
presented myself an offering to expiate
your sin,
shed my blood to blot out your guilt,
opened my side to make you clean,
endured your curses to set you free,
bore your condemnation to satisfy
divine justice.'
O may I rightly grasp the breadth and length
of this design,
draw near, obey, extend the hand,
take the bread, receive the cup,
eat and drink, testify before all men
that I do for myself, gladly, in faith,
reverence and love, receive my Lord,
to be my life, strength, nourishment,
joy, delight.
In the supper I remember his eternal love,
boundless grace, infinite compassion,
agony, cross, redemption,
and receive assurance of pardon, adoption,
life, glory.
As the outward elements nourish my body,
so may thy indwelling Spirit invigorate
my soul,
until that day when I hunger and thirst
no more,
and sit with Jesus at his heavenly feast.