The Wall

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“What a dear old wall that is that runs along by the river there! I never pass it without feeling better for the sight of it. Such a mellow, bright, sweet old wall; what a charming picture it would make, with the lichen creeping here, and the moss growing there, a shy young vine peeping over the top at this spot, to see what is going on upon the busy river, and the sober old ivy clustering a little farther down! There are fifty shades and tints and hues in every ten yards of that old wall. . . . It looks so peaceful and so quiet, and it is such a dear old place to ramble round in the early morning before many people are about.” Jerome K. Jerome, “Three Men In A Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)” Ch. 6 (1889)

Anti-Book Review

One downfall to being a bibliophile and active reader is that I like to read what others are reading because I have developed this strange desire to know what shapes thought. Reading becomes quite enjoyable, yet reading can become overwhelming--especially when I encounter a good quote, such as the twoI am about to share. Footnotes, bibliographies and "for futher reading" sections can be are quite destructive to my personal reading list. I don't even know why I have one as it keeps growing and growing and growing . . .

Regardless, here are a couple of thoughts that are going to drive me to pick up yet another book, hence the name of this post "Anti-Book Review." Perhaps the best name should be "Book Anti-review" because I have not read the book yet. I am not anti-books, just the ones that increase my "to read" list. ;-)

Here's the book I've yet to read: "The Divine Conspiracy" by Dallas Willard.

Here are the two quotes driving me to it:

"Jesus knew how to suspend gravity and eliminate unfruitful trees without saw or axe. He only needed a word. Surely he must be amused at what Nobel prizes are awarded for today. He knew how to transform the tissues of the human body from sickness to health and from death to life. In fact, he knew how to enter physical death, actually to die, and then live on beyond death. Forget cryogenics!"

"He also lived with authority. He didn't teach chemistry; he turned water into wine. He didn't teach weather patters; he calmed a storm. He didn't teach medicine; he healed hurting people and instructed his followers to heal in his name. He didn't teach moral philosophy; he forgace and enabled us to forgive. He didn't teach a course on world hunger; he fed the multitudes and commanded his followers to feed them also. Jesus fired on all pistons."

I gotta see what happens next. Would'nt you?

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