Minutes – December 3

::faithful

Praying for

• a friend whose husband is entering hospice care, for her strength in the days to come, for grace and love in these enddays.

Blasted pie – I finally weighed in and found an extra pound.  Pfffft!  This week will be spent with extra exercise and plenty of veggies and lean protein.

::creative

Absolutely nothing!  Seriously!

::delicious

• Turkey Soup Part II, fresh-baked bread
• Spaghetti Squash with Meatballs and Marinara
• Blackened Tilapia, Green Beans and Salad
• Roast Beef Sandwiches
• Spinach and Cheese Enchiladas with Black Beans
• Ratatoulli and Cornbread
• Grilled Chicken, Spinach Salad, Roasted Corn with Hatch Chilies

::fun

I had a wonderful bike ride Saturday with Roxie and Talia. It was tremendously windy, but an absolutely beautiful morning.  We were wondering at how much easier this ride was than the last time we rode this particular trail back in the summertime when it was a bazillion degrees!  The fall colors were spectacular and the company exceptional.

Princess Pea and the Tiger – sounds like a new fairy tale!

::pondering

Mr. Pea and I saw “Life of Pi” this weekend, yes, it was very, very good.  The book was required reading for our older kids’ theology classes a few years ago, and I had read it then.

“There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence, were something weak and helpless. These people walk by a widow deformed by leprosy begging for a few paise, walk by children dressed in rags living in the street, and they think, “Business as usual.” But if they perceive a slight against God, it is a different story. Their faces go red, their chests heave mightily, they sputter angry words. The degree of their indignation is astonishing. Their resolve is frightening. These people fail to realize that it is on the inside that God must be defended, not on the outside. They should direct their anger at themselves. For evil in the open is but evil from within that has been let out. The main battlefield for good is not the open ground of the public arena but the small clearing of each heart. Meanwhile, the lot of widows and homeless children is very hard, and it is to their defense, not God’s, that the self-righteous should rush.” – Yann Martel, Life of Pi

and

“‘So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can’t prove the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?’ Mr. Okamoto: ‘That’s an interesting question?’ Mr. Chiba: ‘The story with animals.’ Mr. Okamoto: ‘Yes. The story with animals is the better story.’ Pi Patel: ‘Thank you. And so it goes with God.'” ~Yann Martel, Life of Pi

Here, I think, is the sublime secret of faith, the pure reason behind Pascal’s Wager, the crux of C.S. Lewis’ and Chesterton’s philosophical writings.  If there is no way to prove that God’s existence is true or untrue, and if the assumption of the truth either way in no way makes a factual difference, then why not choose to believe “the better story”- that God exists?

::looking ahead

Sons are preparing for mid-terms, daughters for finals. Then everyone will be home together for Christmas!

Linking up at Suscipio – come join us!