My heart melts at the love of Jesus,
my brother, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh,
married to me, dead for me, risen for me;
He is mine and I am his,
given to me as well as for me;
I am never so much mine as when I am his,
or so much lost to myself until lost in him;
then I find my true [wo]manhood.
Let the mighty tide of his everlasting love
cover the rocks of my sin and care;
Then let my spirit float above those things
which had else wrecked my life.
If traces of Christ's love-artistry be upon me,
may he work on with his divine brush
until the complete image be obtained
and I be made a perfect copy of him, my master.
[Can I get a "WOW that is unbelievably articulate?!"]
Just a few more excerpts of another prayer that is in the Valley of Vision book that you've been hearing about... This one was called "The Love of Jesus."
You can buy this book for $14.99 at Schulers :)
Love.
Betsy
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Friday, July 27, 2007
anticipation!
Anticipation sums up most of the emotions at present:
I'm still waiting on a niece/nephew who is officially 3 days overdue. I can't wait to meet her/him! Any moment now. :)
Along those lines, I'm also anticipating the baby shower we're holding for Jane and the baby on August 5 at our house. What fun that'll be :)
My birthday is in just 11 more days, too. Woohoo! I'll be 20! (FINALLY!)
I've been seeing a lot of Calvin, lately, by visiting L-schel over in the Knollcrest East apartments, so I'm even more excited about moving in 3 weeks from tomorrow! It'll be great to be back on campus. I've missed it this summer.
I'm looking forward to the growth and adventure of being on the Barnabas team. I can't wait to meet "my girls" in Kals! I've become more aware of my "gauges"-- emotional, spiritual, physical-- and it's easier to know when I need to recenter myself. I don't feel guilty when I don't study a discipline like I've been trying to do, or when I skip a reflection, but I definitely feel a nudge towards those things. My conscience (and the Spirit) is gently bringing me back to the things that truly bring me peace.
Speaking of which, I'd like to share a little bit of another puritan prayer that I found a good reminder:
May I scandalize none by my temper and conduct, but
recommend and endear Christ to all around,
bestow good on every one as circumstances permit,
and decline no opportunity for usefulness.
Grant that I may value my substance,
not as the medium of pride and luxury,
but as the means of my support and stewardship.
Help me to guide my affections with discretion,
to owe no man anything,
to be able to give to him that needeth,
to feel it my duty and pleasure to be merciful and forgiving,
to show to the world the likeness of Jesus.
--Jesus My Glory (second half) from "Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions" by Arthur Bennett
And speaking of books, I would HIGHLY recommend The World is Flat: A brief history of the 21st century. It is unbelievable. I have learned so much. (And when I'm done with that one, it's on to Harry Potter :) Hehe)
Love,
Betsy
I'm still waiting on a niece/nephew who is officially 3 days overdue. I can't wait to meet her/him! Any moment now. :)
Along those lines, I'm also anticipating the baby shower we're holding for Jane and the baby on August 5 at our house. What fun that'll be :)
My birthday is in just 11 more days, too. Woohoo! I'll be 20! (FINALLY!)
I've been seeing a lot of Calvin, lately, by visiting L-schel over in the Knollcrest East apartments, so I'm even more excited about moving in 3 weeks from tomorrow! It'll be great to be back on campus. I've missed it this summer.
I'm looking forward to the growth and adventure of being on the Barnabas team. I can't wait to meet "my girls" in Kals! I've become more aware of my "gauges"-- emotional, spiritual, physical-- and it's easier to know when I need to recenter myself. I don't feel guilty when I don't study a discipline like I've been trying to do, or when I skip a reflection, but I definitely feel a nudge towards those things. My conscience (and the Spirit) is gently bringing me back to the things that truly bring me peace.
Speaking of which, I'd like to share a little bit of another puritan prayer that I found a good reminder:
May I scandalize none by my temper and conduct, but
recommend and endear Christ to all around,
bestow good on every one as circumstances permit,
and decline no opportunity for usefulness.
Grant that I may value my substance,
not as the medium of pride and luxury,
but as the means of my support and stewardship.
Help me to guide my affections with discretion,
to owe no man anything,
to be able to give to him that needeth,
to feel it my duty and pleasure to be merciful and forgiving,
to show to the world the likeness of Jesus.
--Jesus My Glory (second half) from "Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions" by Arthur Bennett
And speaking of books, I would HIGHLY recommend The World is Flat: A brief history of the 21st century. It is unbelievable. I have learned so much. (And when I'm done with that one, it's on to Harry Potter :) Hehe)
Love,
Betsy
Sunday, July 22, 2007
"Fullness in Christ"
O God,
Thou hast taught me
that Christ has all fullness and so all plentitude of the Spirit,
that all fullness I lack in myself is in him,
for his people, not for himself alone,
he having perfect knowledge, grace, righteousness,
to make me see,
to make me righteous,
to give me fullness;
that it is my duty, out of a sense of emptiness,
to go to Christ, possess, enjoy his fullness as mine,
as if I had it in myself, because it is for me in him;
that wehen I do this I am full of the Spirit,
as a fish that has got from the shore to the sea
and has all fullness of waters to move in,
for when faith fills me, then I am full;
that this is the way to be filled with the Spirit,
like Stephen, first faith, then fullness,
for this way makes me most empty
and so most fit for the Spirit to fill.
Thou hast taught me that
the finding of this treasure of all grace in the field of Christ
begets strength, joy, glory,
and renders all graces alive.
Help me to delight more in what I receive from Christ,
more in that fullness which is in him,
the fountain of all his glory.
Let me not think to receive the Spirit from him as a 'thing'
apart from finding, drinking, being filled with him.
To this end, O God,
do thou establish me in Christ,
settle me, give me a being there,
assure me with certainty that all this is mine,
for this only will fill my heart with joy and peace.
~From The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers (Arthur Bennett)
Thou hast taught me
that Christ has all fullness and so all plentitude of the Spirit,
that all fullness I lack in myself is in him,
for his people, not for himself alone,
he having perfect knowledge, grace, righteousness,
to make me see,
to make me righteous,
to give me fullness;
that it is my duty, out of a sense of emptiness,
to go to Christ, possess, enjoy his fullness as mine,
as if I had it in myself, because it is for me in him;
that wehen I do this I am full of the Spirit,
as a fish that has got from the shore to the sea
and has all fullness of waters to move in,
for when faith fills me, then I am full;
that this is the way to be filled with the Spirit,
like Stephen, first faith, then fullness,
for this way makes me most empty
and so most fit for the Spirit to fill.
Thou hast taught me that
the finding of this treasure of all grace in the field of Christ
begets strength, joy, glory,
and renders all graces alive.
Help me to delight more in what I receive from Christ,
more in that fullness which is in him,
the fountain of all his glory.
Let me not think to receive the Spirit from him as a 'thing'
apart from finding, drinking, being filled with him.
To this end, O God,
do thou establish me in Christ,
settle me, give me a being there,
assure me with certainty that all this is mine,
for this only will fill my heart with joy and peace.
~From The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan Prayers (Arthur Bennett)
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Puritan Prayer: "Gift of Gifts"
O Source of all Good:
What shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts,
thine own dear Son, begotton, not created,
my redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,
his self-emptying incomprehensible,
his infinity of love beyond the heart's grasp.
Herein is wonder of wonders:
he came below to raise me above,
was born like me that I might become like him.
Herein is love;
when I cannot rise to him he draws near on wings of grace,
to raise me to himself.
Herein is power;
when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart
he united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreate and the created.
Herein is wisdom;
when I was undone, with no will to return to him,
and no intellect to devise recovery,
he came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost,
as a man to die my death,
to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,
to work out a perfect righteousness for me.
O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds, and
enlarge my mind;
let me hear good tidings of great joy,
and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,
my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,
my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father;
place me with ox, ass, camel, goat,
to look with them upon my redeemer's face,
and in him account myself delivered from sin;
let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child to my heart,
embrace him with undying faith,
exulting that he is mine and I am his.
In him thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more.
~From The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan prayers and devotions
Arthur Bennett
What shall I render to thee for the gift of gifts,
thine own dear Son, begotton, not created,
my redeemer, proxy, surety, substitute,
his self-emptying incomprehensible,
his infinity of love beyond the heart's grasp.
Herein is wonder of wonders:
he came below to raise me above,
was born like me that I might become like him.
Herein is love;
when I cannot rise to him he draws near on wings of grace,
to raise me to himself.
Herein is power;
when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart
he united them in indissoluble unity, the uncreate and the created.
Herein is wisdom;
when I was undone, with no will to return to him,
and no intellect to devise recovery,
he came, God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost,
as a man to die my death,
to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,
to work out a perfect righteousness for me.
O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds, and
enlarge my mind;
let me hear good tidings of great joy,
and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,
my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,
my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father;
place me with ox, ass, camel, goat,
to look with them upon my redeemer's face,
and in him account myself delivered from sin;
let me with Simeon clasp the new-born child to my heart,
embrace him with undying faith,
exulting that he is mine and I am his.
In him thou hast given me so much that heaven can give no more.
~From The Valley of Vision: A collection of Puritan prayers and devotions
Arthur Bennett
Monday, July 16, 2007
Oh look, more to say.
What has surprised me is how easily I am caught off guard with the truths in the books I've been reading. It's almost as though these things (celebration, or gratitude) that I thought I had figured out were an illusion, like the depth of water--I have so much more to reach in for than I thought.
Or you could think of it like the bike ride I took earlier today: a year ago for cycling class I could easily go 30 miles at the end of the semester, so I thought a nice, short bike ride would be nothing. I realized 5 minutes in that I was definitely out of shape, even though I had felt good before starting. But once I got going... feeeeeel the burrrrrnnnn. ;)
And yet, I know that if I dedicate myself to getting out and exercising a few times a week, that 30 miles isn't impossible to achieve again. Just like these disciplines. Sure, there have been times of joyful celebration that were more genuine than I can express, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm there now. I have some work to do when it comes to gratitude.
And, as for some of these other disciplines I've yet to encounter, I know that those will be learning new skills altogether.
My mom is learning to golf, and even though it's awkward for her to get started (and trying to remember the right positions and the correct way to swing) I know that if she sticks with it she can really enjoy this new skill to the fullest. And, overall, she's enjoying the learning process too. It's true that going to bed tired and exhausted can sometimes be an incredibly refreshing feeling.
So. Those are just a few of my thoughts as I get into these disciplines this week. I'm enjoying it, even though it can be tiring and I don't always like having to confront the truth about my ignorance or neglect. But CS Lewis says something wise in Mere Christianity that I thought was really true. He said:
"People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, 'If you keep a lot of rules I'll reward you, and if you don't I'll do the other thing.' I do not think that is the best way at looking at it. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowing turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow-creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other."
(Later, in the same chapter)
"One last point. Remember that, as I said, the right direction leads not only to peace but to knowledge. When a man is getting better, he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. This is common sense, really. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping."
[pp 86-87]
The point here, with its relationship to the spritual discplines, is pretty self-explanatory. It's a process-- a "straightening out," as Lewis calls it, of a central part of the self which has gotten bent up through sin. And this process is also recognizable in 2nd Peter 1:3-8: (line breaks to emphasize each significant phrase)
"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness
through our knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises
so that through them you may participate in the divine nature
and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your FAITH goodness;
and to GOODNESS, knowledge;
and to KNOWLEDGE, self-control;
and to SELF-CONTROL, perseverance;
and to PERSEVERANCE, godliness;
and to GODLINESS, brotherly kindess;
and to BROTHERLY KINDESS,
LOVE."
(NIV)
Processes. A constant straightening out; innumerable decisions. Step-by-step journeys that lead us one way or another.
But are our lives are creating who we are more than we create our lives?
Betsy
Or you could think of it like the bike ride I took earlier today: a year ago for cycling class I could easily go 30 miles at the end of the semester, so I thought a nice, short bike ride would be nothing. I realized 5 minutes in that I was definitely out of shape, even though I had felt good before starting. But once I got going... feeeeeel the burrrrrnnnn. ;)
And yet, I know that if I dedicate myself to getting out and exercising a few times a week, that 30 miles isn't impossible to achieve again. Just like these disciplines. Sure, there have been times of joyful celebration that were more genuine than I can express, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I'm there now. I have some work to do when it comes to gratitude.
And, as for some of these other disciplines I've yet to encounter, I know that those will be learning new skills altogether.
My mom is learning to golf, and even though it's awkward for her to get started (and trying to remember the right positions and the correct way to swing) I know that if she sticks with it she can really enjoy this new skill to the fullest. And, overall, she's enjoying the learning process too. It's true that going to bed tired and exhausted can sometimes be an incredibly refreshing feeling.
So. Those are just a few of my thoughts as I get into these disciplines this week. I'm enjoying it, even though it can be tiring and I don't always like having to confront the truth about my ignorance or neglect. But CS Lewis says something wise in Mere Christianity that I thought was really true. He said:
"People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, 'If you keep a lot of rules I'll reward you, and if you don't I'll do the other thing.' I do not think that is the best way at looking at it. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowing turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow-creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other."
(Later, in the same chapter)
"One last point. Remember that, as I said, the right direction leads not only to peace but to knowledge. When a man is getting better, he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. This is common sense, really. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping."
[pp 86-87]
The point here, with its relationship to the spritual discplines, is pretty self-explanatory. It's a process-- a "straightening out," as Lewis calls it, of a central part of the self which has gotten bent up through sin. And this process is also recognizable in 2nd Peter 1:3-8: (line breaks to emphasize each significant phrase)
"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness
through our knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises
so that through them you may participate in the divine nature
and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your FAITH goodness;
and to GOODNESS, knowledge;
and to KNOWLEDGE, self-control;
and to SELF-CONTROL, perseverance;
and to PERSEVERANCE, godliness;
and to GODLINESS, brotherly kindess;
and to BROTHERLY KINDESS,
LOVE."
(NIV)
Processes. A constant straightening out; innumerable decisions. Step-by-step journeys that lead us one way or another.
But are our lives are creating who we are more than we create our lives?
Betsy
Newly metamorphed bookworm ;)
If you notice the list of books I have below, you'll also notice that it's longer than it was been and that quite a few books have been getting crossed off this summer. Woo! I'm finally able to indulge in one of my favorite luxuries-- the written word.
And it's not just novels, even though there have been a couple of those. No, my tastes are expanding to the great authors of CS Lewis (I'm almost done with Mere Christianity--can't wait to cross that one off down there!) and to books that deal with very relevant issues in our world today (Nonviolence, or Serve God Save The Planet, and others) and I love it. I just love it. I feel my worldview transforming into something that I have a better grip on. I am preparing to live a lifestyle that I've always wanted to, and it's starting to happen. Now is the right time (nearing the end of college) and the right circumstances (in a place of leadership where I am compelled to know where I stand and my own identity) that I can really dig into all of these resources and understand them. It's pretty exciting. :)
I can't read enough, either! I have such a stack of books that I would love to get to. Which brings me to this next point:
In a sermon I was listening to a few days ago, Rob Bell talked about Sabbath--the whole 6-1 rhythm. That's something I'd like to really establish for myself this coming fall. (Right now I'm getting it pretty well, with working 5 days and 2 days to do the things I love with few other obligations!) My goal (key word) is to set aside Sundays as my true day of rest. Granted, being a Barnabas, I'll always be "on-call" of a sort, but I can do so much for myself by getting reading and homework done ahead of time and taking Sunday to spend time with my friends, church or family, or--- reading!
I would love to take a few hours on Sunday just to read my favorites and to get into some new stuff. After all, the best asset a teacher can have is an attitude of continued learning. Teachers are much more interesting and seem to have more authority in the classroom when it's clear that they're in the same boat you are-- curious, working through complex ideas, and bringing in relevant ideas to contribute. :)
I am so excited about the prospect of being in a classroom. Today at work (I'm in a "shared values" orientation class) someone noted my spelling abilities (apparently) and leaned over to ask "have you ever considered tutoring?"
Well, yes. It's sort of what I want to do with the rest of my life... :) Hopefully I get a niche to volunteer this fall, too. I might look into some community development opportunities, or see if the school I am assigned for my Educ classes could use some extra voluteers. I like being plugged into a reality where people who need help are able to receive it.
I love that being a Christian is essentially a call to live an imaginative life. And not just with one creative idea, but with a lifestyle that catches other people off guard with the love and innovative ways to contribute that we can offer.
~Time to study my next discipline: Gratitude. :)
Betsy
And it's not just novels, even though there have been a couple of those. No, my tastes are expanding to the great authors of CS Lewis (I'm almost done with Mere Christianity--can't wait to cross that one off down there!) and to books that deal with very relevant issues in our world today (Nonviolence, or Serve God Save The Planet, and others) and I love it. I just love it. I feel my worldview transforming into something that I have a better grip on. I am preparing to live a lifestyle that I've always wanted to, and it's starting to happen. Now is the right time (nearing the end of college) and the right circumstances (in a place of leadership where I am compelled to know where I stand and my own identity) that I can really dig into all of these resources and understand them. It's pretty exciting. :)
I can't read enough, either! I have such a stack of books that I would love to get to. Which brings me to this next point:
In a sermon I was listening to a few days ago, Rob Bell talked about Sabbath--the whole 6-1 rhythm. That's something I'd like to really establish for myself this coming fall. (Right now I'm getting it pretty well, with working 5 days and 2 days to do the things I love with few other obligations!) My goal (key word) is to set aside Sundays as my true day of rest. Granted, being a Barnabas, I'll always be "on-call" of a sort, but I can do so much for myself by getting reading and homework done ahead of time and taking Sunday to spend time with my friends, church or family, or--- reading!
I would love to take a few hours on Sunday just to read my favorites and to get into some new stuff. After all, the best asset a teacher can have is an attitude of continued learning. Teachers are much more interesting and seem to have more authority in the classroom when it's clear that they're in the same boat you are-- curious, working through complex ideas, and bringing in relevant ideas to contribute. :)
I am so excited about the prospect of being in a classroom. Today at work (I'm in a "shared values" orientation class) someone noted my spelling abilities (apparently) and leaned over to ask "have you ever considered tutoring?"
Well, yes. It's sort of what I want to do with the rest of my life... :) Hopefully I get a niche to volunteer this fall, too. I might look into some community development opportunities, or see if the school I am assigned for my Educ classes could use some extra voluteers. I like being plugged into a reality where people who need help are able to receive it.
I love that being a Christian is essentially a call to live an imaginative life. And not just with one creative idea, but with a lifestyle that catches other people off guard with the love and innovative ways to contribute that we can offer.
~Time to study my next discipline: Gratitude. :)
Betsy
Sunday, July 15, 2007
celebration :)
So today happens to be my 6 month anniversary with Eric. I can't believe it's been a half a year! seems like just yesterday that i was smitten with him at dinner. he he :) And yet, things have been better than I'd ever have imagined. God is good.
God is good. He has been teaching me and guiding my heart-- which is a good thing since I want to be His tool for guiding other people's hearts this coming school year. My soul is at peace; I am no longer incredibly intimidated at the task before me. I'm even growing more and more excited about the future-- about being a Barnabas but also being able to grow in other ways-- like serving and even teaching(!)
It has been on my mind for a long, long time to study the disciplines. I made an attempt my Freshman year as a result of the "Dinner and a Discipline" dorm events, and was introduced to Richard Foster's book Celebration of the Disciplines then, as well as to The spiritual Disciplines Handbook (introduced to me by Heidi, my now-amazing-mentor) and I struggled to get into it on my own in Yellowstone last summer. Then, in Scotland, I read The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard, and though it was an amazing and convicting book, I still haven't quite gotten as far as you'd think I'd be after all of this prompting! (I think it's pretty obvious that God has been nudging me in this direction, eh?)
So, today, I finally had an hour or so of quiet time to myself while mom and Jessey were off at church, and I gathered together my Bible, the handbook, and a journal I had begun last summer about the disciplines. I didn't know quite where to start, so I thought I'd read the intro and just jump in by learning about all of them, without necessarily committing to practicing them right now. The first chapter was about celebration.
You see, I consider myself to be pretty content and pretty celebrative. But when I started reading about this discipline, it hit me how much I've been slacking on being in the moment and enjoying what is at hand. It's not that I resent these moments, but rather, I'm usually caught up in anticipating the 'next big thing'.
I also realized how much more I celebrate when I am in nature. (I was sitting outside while reading the chapter, after all!) something about the natural rhythms of the earth and the beauty that is undeniable draws me into a spirit of celebration. And yet, so far in 2007, I've spent hardly any time outside. (Working in GR and commuting doesn't help.) Last year, in 2006, I was in Yellowstone for 3 months and then in Scotland for 3 and a half, and in both circumstances I was left without a car-- meaning I did a LOT of walking. And even in the huge city of Glasgow, I walked through beautiful parks every day, and there was so much to notice and enjoy. I miss that. I really ought to be out going for a walk or bike ride for the sheer joy of it. This next year, I want to make that a goal: spending more time in nature, over in the preserve or paying attention to the world around me just going to class. :)
Thank you, Jesus, for reasons to celebrate. Thank you for filling this world with beautiful things that catch my attention and toss it up toward heaven. I love you.
Bets
God is good. He has been teaching me and guiding my heart-- which is a good thing since I want to be His tool for guiding other people's hearts this coming school year. My soul is at peace; I am no longer incredibly intimidated at the task before me. I'm even growing more and more excited about the future-- about being a Barnabas but also being able to grow in other ways-- like serving and even teaching(!)
It has been on my mind for a long, long time to study the disciplines. I made an attempt my Freshman year as a result of the "Dinner and a Discipline" dorm events, and was introduced to Richard Foster's book Celebration of the Disciplines then, as well as to The spiritual Disciplines Handbook (introduced to me by Heidi, my now-amazing-mentor) and I struggled to get into it on my own in Yellowstone last summer. Then, in Scotland, I read The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard, and though it was an amazing and convicting book, I still haven't quite gotten as far as you'd think I'd be after all of this prompting! (I think it's pretty obvious that God has been nudging me in this direction, eh?)
So, today, I finally had an hour or so of quiet time to myself while mom and Jessey were off at church, and I gathered together my Bible, the handbook, and a journal I had begun last summer about the disciplines. I didn't know quite where to start, so I thought I'd read the intro and just jump in by learning about all of them, without necessarily committing to practicing them right now. The first chapter was about celebration.
You see, I consider myself to be pretty content and pretty celebrative. But when I started reading about this discipline, it hit me how much I've been slacking on being in the moment and enjoying what is at hand. It's not that I resent these moments, but rather, I'm usually caught up in anticipating the 'next big thing'.
I also realized how much more I celebrate when I am in nature. (I was sitting outside while reading the chapter, after all!) something about the natural rhythms of the earth and the beauty that is undeniable draws me into a spirit of celebration. And yet, so far in 2007, I've spent hardly any time outside. (Working in GR and commuting doesn't help.) Last year, in 2006, I was in Yellowstone for 3 months and then in Scotland for 3 and a half, and in both circumstances I was left without a car-- meaning I did a LOT of walking. And even in the huge city of Glasgow, I walked through beautiful parks every day, and there was so much to notice and enjoy. I miss that. I really ought to be out going for a walk or bike ride for the sheer joy of it. This next year, I want to make that a goal: spending more time in nature, over in the preserve or paying attention to the world around me just going to class. :)
Thank you, Jesus, for reasons to celebrate. Thank you for filling this world with beautiful things that catch my attention and toss it up toward heaven. I love you.
Bets
Thursday, July 12, 2007
holy spirit power
I witnessed one of the most powerful testimonies I have ever heard, and probably ever will. I had no idea what kind of persecution happens in our world, in our country, in our very neighborhoods. It brought tears to my eyes. This dear sister in Christ has inspired me further to pursue an uncommon life. I want to live as she does--on the verge of packing bags to go wherever my Father leads me.
Afterwards, I went up to her and before I said anything, she told me that she could see that God was going to do things with me. She could see a beautiful quiet spirit even though she didn't know me. (I was blown away. This is the second time a stranger has said something like that about my future.)
I wanted to remind her how God has a name for her that will never change and that He is a Father who will never deny His baby girl. We had a good chat in the short time we had, and she welcomed me to email her with more thoughts and questions.
I feel like I love her as though she were my sister, or at least a cousin. I've only listened to her talk for 3 hours, and I hardly know her story, but I am still so filled with love.
Oh Lord. Draw me near to you with a passion and fire that cannot be quenched by our bland mediocrity of culture. Empower me. Make my life radical. May the uncommon be daily life for me.
Afterwards, I went up to her and before I said anything, she told me that she could see that God was going to do things with me. She could see a beautiful quiet spirit even though she didn't know me. (I was blown away. This is the second time a stranger has said something like that about my future.)
I wanted to remind her how God has a name for her that will never change and that He is a Father who will never deny His baby girl. We had a good chat in the short time we had, and she welcomed me to email her with more thoughts and questions.
I feel like I love her as though she were my sister, or at least a cousin. I've only listened to her talk for 3 hours, and I hardly know her story, but I am still so filled with love.
Oh Lord. Draw me near to you with a passion and fire that cannot be quenched by our bland mediocrity of culture. Empower me. Make my life radical. May the uncommon be daily life for me.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Saturday, July 7, 2007
not sure what to make of this
lately i've found myself more prone to emotion. i have found myself in tears at church overcome with feeling during a song or thinking of a memory of worship in yellowstone or scotland. i've found myself nearly nauseous thinking about the poverty and need in this world. i've become more passionate about my dreams-- even if the joy of my relationship with eric is coupled with an increased longing to travel abroad and serve. and i've felt hungrier for more of jesus and thirstier for more knowledge about christianity and world issues. in fact, i'm starting to see how it is when people say they've fallen in love with Him. i never knew what that really felt like, but one day i just discovered it was there.
interesting. perspective is good.
betsy joy
interesting. perspective is good.
betsy joy
Friday, July 6, 2007
a prayer of mine
Lord, let me explore your world. I don't want to be oblivious to your glory and wonder that is found in every part of your Creation. Thank you for the adventures I've already had (and at such a young age) and I ask that you would never let this curiosity fade. Thank you for walking alongside of me wherever I go, and bringing me back safe and sound. I honor you, Lord, with all of this. My passport is Yours.
I found this on an older post, and it still rings true.
I hunger, and I thirst for the Living God more truly than I have truly felt in a very long time.
Betsy
I found this on an older post, and it still rings true.
I hunger, and I thirst for the Living God more truly than I have truly felt in a very long time.
Betsy
Thursday, July 5, 2007
How well does 'SiCKO' stand up to the facts?
The movie presents a series of heart-rending anecdotes meant to illustrate systemic failures and foul-ups under the US' insurance industry - even if many of the major pieces of evidence have already been widely reported elsewhere
By Kevin Lamb
NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE, DAYTON, OHIO
Tuesday, Jul 03, 2007, Page 16
Filmmaker Michael Moore is shown on the poster for his documentary, SiCKO, an indictment of health care in the US that taps into widespread public concern over the system, which does not work for millions of Americans.
PHOTOS: AP AND REUTERS
In making SiCKO, his new documentary about US health care, Michael Moore assumed the public knows it needs improvement but doesn't fully realize why. So he argues that the US' health care suffers badly in comparison to other countries - costing twice as much for results that are no better and often worse - and basically asks, "Don't we deserve better?"
"I really want to make a contribution to the national debate on this issue," Moore said. The movie's national release Friday was limited after it sold out in all 44 of its previews.
Moore's audience is likely receptive to his diagnosis, if not his prescription "to take the profit motive out of health care." In a CBS News/New York Times poll last year, 34 percent said the health care system should be completely rebuilt and 90 percent wanted at least fundamental change. In last month's Kaiser Family Foundation poll, health care was the top domestic priority for presidential candidates, second overall to Iraq.
SiCKO already has spun off Scrubs for SiCKO, with doctors' and nurses' groups advocating universal, single-payer health care (www.guaranteedhealthcare.org), and www.FreeMarketCure.com, with articles and short films favoring private-market solutions. YouTube, Oprah.com and other sites are soliciting tales of woe.
Moore has been rave-reviewed on foxnews.com, pirated on the Internet and warned of possible federal prosecution for taking Sept. 11 rescue workers to Cuba for medical care they couldn't afford at home.
Even many of his allies have bemoaned the Cuba trip for hurting their cause more than helping it. As always, Moore exaggerates, overly generalizes, ignores opposing viewpoints and raises doubts about how much he should be believed.
Several years of solid research on US health care can help viewers draw their own conclusions about Moore's contentions.
Do we really spend twice as much on health care as the rest of the developed world?
Not twice as much as everyone. But at a per-capita cost of US$6,102 in 2004, US health care more than doubled the expenditures in 19 of 29 other developed countries in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCED) data.
On the individual level, health insurance premiums rose by 58.5 percent, after inflation, from 2000 to 2006, while wages increased by just 1.7 percent.
That extra spending often doesn't even improve health, said Mark McClellan, who directed the Food and Drug Administration and then Medicare-Medicaid in 2002-07. "We know that much of the spending is going to treatments that are unnecessary or lead to medical errors, so we're not getting nearly as much value as we should."
But don't the high taxes in other countries cancel out the differences?
Those figures include both private and public (tax) expenditures. Americans even spend more tax dollars on health care than the other OCED countries, where taxes pay for universal coverage. We spend 10 percent more than high-taxing France and about US$10 for every US$7 in the OCED median.
Does the US health system really rank 37th in the world, as Moore says?
Only in a seven-year-old report by the World Health Organization. It ranked the US first in the health services it delivers, but below 50th for overspending and making those with low incomes pay so much.
OCED comparisons are more useful. The Commonwealth Fund regularly compares six countries - the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Germany - and consistently ranks the US last overall.
Ailing system
In the 2007 report's nine categories, the only US ranking above fifth was number one for the "right care," reflecting American superiority in acute illness and injury. But five US rankings were last - access, equity, efficiency, safe care and "long, healthy and productive lives."
For example, 34 percent of sicker Americans reported medical, drug or lab errors in the last two years, and the New England Journal of Medicine has concluded Americans get the recommended treatments only about half the time.
Even a UnitedHealthcare ad in March conceded the US health system "that was designed to make you feel better often just makes things worse." As Ezekiel Emanuel wrote in the May 16 Journal of the American Medical Association, "If a politician declares that the US has the best health care system in the world today, he or she looks clueless."
Is Cuba's socialized health care as good as Moore makes it out to be?
Not at all. It puts a relatively high priority on health, and prevents infectious diseases well for a resource-poor country, but the resources it lacks are basic. Shortages of syringes, antibiotics, aspirin, latex gloves, even light bulbs are widely described.
Although true of Cuba, "socialized medicine" is far more rare than the term is used. The UK is the only large, wealthy country where the doctors and other providers work for the government. Germany and others with universal coverage don't even use single-payer, where government replaces insurance companies.
Are Americans' life expectancy and infant-mortality rates as bad as Moore says?
They're well below average. Defenders of for-profit medicine point out that much of the problem is social justice rather than medical, since US rates are worst among minorities and those with low incomes.
Even so, Americans ranked 40th in 2005 with 6.4 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, nearly double the rates of France and Iceland. White infants alone wouldn't make the top 30.
Raw death rates aren't as useful as an OCED stat that asks, how many deaths would ideal health care have prevented? The US tied for 15th out of 19 countries in nine-year-old data, 53 percent behind France.
Costs are too high, but aren't most Americans happy with health care quality?
Health Affairs found 40 percent of Americans satisfied with their health care system in 2000. Seven countries were over 70 percent. Polling suggests the numbers haven't improved.
In a 2004 Commonwealth Fund survey, patients ranked US doctors last among the five English-speaking countries for listening, explaining and spending enough time with patients.
One problem is that doctors are rewarded "in our market-based system for a visit or a procedure, not for patients' health," said Carol Diamond, who directs the philanthropic Markle Foundation's health program. Moore said his biggest surprise was that other countries reward doctors for "keeping people well."
Expensive health
The result, as Jack Wennberg's Dartmouth University research shows, is that higher amounts of medical service generate not only higher costs, but also worse health. Giving the medical care to people who don't need it removes the benefit from risk-benefit equations.
"Up to one-third of our health care dollars are squandered on ineffective, sometimes unwanted, often unproven procedures," Wennberg told Maggie Mahar in her recent book, Money-Driven Medicine: The Real Reason Health Care Costs So Much.
Don't other countries have long waiting lists and rationing?
Yes, most other countries have longer waits to see specialists and have elective surgery. On the other hand, patients elsewhere are more apt to see doctors promptly when they're sick.
Cost tends to be the main US rationing tool. In the six-country study, sicker Americans were most likely to forgo medicine, doctor visits, tests and medical treatments because of cost. Most of the 51 percent who skipped at least one in 2005 had insurance.
Moore praises Canada, but aren't they always coming here for better health care?
Anecdotes aside, a 2002 Health Affairs study found "barely detectable" numbers of Canadians going to US border cities for treatment. In a 1996 Canadian survey, only 20 of 18,000 respondents crossed the border specifically for care.
Research comparing their quality favors Canada just slightly, Open Medicine reported in April. Even so, "Nobody in the US seriously proposes recreating the British or Canadian systems here," wrote The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn, author of Sick: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis - And the People Who Pay the Price.
Do insurance companies really cancel sick people's policies?
California officials recently fined Blue Cross of California US$1 million for just that, and is investigating other companies.
It found violations in each of 90 randomly selected cancellations, of about 1,000 a year. But California insurers can't cancel policies without proving intent to deceive, which Money magazine said is not true of Ohio.
Is it true that in Canada, France and Great Britain, "Anyone can go to the hospital, can go to a doctor and never have to worry about paying a bill," as Moore says?
No. Even in the socialized UK, there are some out-of-pocket expenses, but Americans have more than most.
Americans spent US$5 out of pocket for every US$3 spent in OCED's median country in 2004. In 2005, 34 percent of sicker US adults spent at least $1,000 out of pocket, more than twice the percentage anywhere else in the six-country study.
The insured family selling all its possessions to pay medical bills in SiCKO is also extreme but plausible. "Medical debt is surprisingly common," Access Project officials wrote last year in Health Affairs, "affecting about 29 million nonelderly Americans, with and without health insurance." That's roughly one in six, and medical bills sent 44 percent of them through all or most of their savings.
As Cohn wrote in his review, "SiCKO got a lot of the little things wrong. But it got most of the big things right."
here's the link to another review at NYTimes
http://movies2.nytimes.com/2007/06/22/movies/22sick.html
The movie presents a series of heart-rending anecdotes meant to illustrate systemic failures and foul-ups under the US' insurance industry - even if many of the major pieces of evidence have already been widely reported elsewhere
By Kevin Lamb
NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE, DAYTON, OHIO
Tuesday, Jul 03, 2007, Page 16
Filmmaker Michael Moore is shown on the poster for his documentary, SiCKO, an indictment of health care in the US that taps into widespread public concern over the system, which does not work for millions of Americans.
PHOTOS: AP AND REUTERS
In making SiCKO, his new documentary about US health care, Michael Moore assumed the public knows it needs improvement but doesn't fully realize why. So he argues that the US' health care suffers badly in comparison to other countries - costing twice as much for results that are no better and often worse - and basically asks, "Don't we deserve better?"
"I really want to make a contribution to the national debate on this issue," Moore said. The movie's national release Friday was limited after it sold out in all 44 of its previews.
Moore's audience is likely receptive to his diagnosis, if not his prescription "to take the profit motive out of health care." In a CBS News/New York Times poll last year, 34 percent said the health care system should be completely rebuilt and 90 percent wanted at least fundamental change. In last month's Kaiser Family Foundation poll, health care was the top domestic priority for presidential candidates, second overall to Iraq.
SiCKO already has spun off Scrubs for SiCKO, with doctors' and nurses' groups advocating universal, single-payer health care (www.guaranteedhealthcare.org), and www.FreeMarketCure.com, with articles and short films favoring private-market solutions. YouTube, Oprah.com and other sites are soliciting tales of woe.
Moore has been rave-reviewed on foxnews.com, pirated on the Internet and warned of possible federal prosecution for taking Sept. 11 rescue workers to Cuba for medical care they couldn't afford at home.
Even many of his allies have bemoaned the Cuba trip for hurting their cause more than helping it. As always, Moore exaggerates, overly generalizes, ignores opposing viewpoints and raises doubts about how much he should be believed.
Several years of solid research on US health care can help viewers draw their own conclusions about Moore's contentions.
Do we really spend twice as much on health care as the rest of the developed world?
Not twice as much as everyone. But at a per-capita cost of US$6,102 in 2004, US health care more than doubled the expenditures in 19 of 29 other developed countries in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCED) data.
On the individual level, health insurance premiums rose by 58.5 percent, after inflation, from 2000 to 2006, while wages increased by just 1.7 percent.
That extra spending often doesn't even improve health, said Mark McClellan, who directed the Food and Drug Administration and then Medicare-Medicaid in 2002-07. "We know that much of the spending is going to treatments that are unnecessary or lead to medical errors, so we're not getting nearly as much value as we should."
But don't the high taxes in other countries cancel out the differences?
Those figures include both private and public (tax) expenditures. Americans even spend more tax dollars on health care than the other OCED countries, where taxes pay for universal coverage. We spend 10 percent more than high-taxing France and about US$10 for every US$7 in the OCED median.
Does the US health system really rank 37th in the world, as Moore says?
Only in a seven-year-old report by the World Health Organization. It ranked the US first in the health services it delivers, but below 50th for overspending and making those with low incomes pay so much.
OCED comparisons are more useful. The Commonwealth Fund regularly compares six countries - the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Germany - and consistently ranks the US last overall.
Ailing system
In the 2007 report's nine categories, the only US ranking above fifth was number one for the "right care," reflecting American superiority in acute illness and injury. But five US rankings were last - access, equity, efficiency, safe care and "long, healthy and productive lives."
For example, 34 percent of sicker Americans reported medical, drug or lab errors in the last two years, and the New England Journal of Medicine has concluded Americans get the recommended treatments only about half the time.
Even a UnitedHealthcare ad in March conceded the US health system "that was designed to make you feel better often just makes things worse." As Ezekiel Emanuel wrote in the May 16 Journal of the American Medical Association, "If a politician declares that the US has the best health care system in the world today, he or she looks clueless."
Is Cuba's socialized health care as good as Moore makes it out to be?
Not at all. It puts a relatively high priority on health, and prevents infectious diseases well for a resource-poor country, but the resources it lacks are basic. Shortages of syringes, antibiotics, aspirin, latex gloves, even light bulbs are widely described.
Although true of Cuba, "socialized medicine" is far more rare than the term is used. The UK is the only large, wealthy country where the doctors and other providers work for the government. Germany and others with universal coverage don't even use single-payer, where government replaces insurance companies.
Are Americans' life expectancy and infant-mortality rates as bad as Moore says?
They're well below average. Defenders of for-profit medicine point out that much of the problem is social justice rather than medical, since US rates are worst among minorities and those with low incomes.
Even so, Americans ranked 40th in 2005 with 6.4 infant deaths per 1,000 live births, nearly double the rates of France and Iceland. White infants alone wouldn't make the top 30.
Raw death rates aren't as useful as an OCED stat that asks, how many deaths would ideal health care have prevented? The US tied for 15th out of 19 countries in nine-year-old data, 53 percent behind France.
Costs are too high, but aren't most Americans happy with health care quality?
Health Affairs found 40 percent of Americans satisfied with their health care system in 2000. Seven countries were over 70 percent. Polling suggests the numbers haven't improved.
In a 2004 Commonwealth Fund survey, patients ranked US doctors last among the five English-speaking countries for listening, explaining and spending enough time with patients.
One problem is that doctors are rewarded "in our market-based system for a visit or a procedure, not for patients' health," said Carol Diamond, who directs the philanthropic Markle Foundation's health program. Moore said his biggest surprise was that other countries reward doctors for "keeping people well."
Expensive health
The result, as Jack Wennberg's Dartmouth University research shows, is that higher amounts of medical service generate not only higher costs, but also worse health. Giving the medical care to people who don't need it removes the benefit from risk-benefit equations.
"Up to one-third of our health care dollars are squandered on ineffective, sometimes unwanted, often unproven procedures," Wennberg told Maggie Mahar in her recent book, Money-Driven Medicine: The Real Reason Health Care Costs So Much.
Don't other countries have long waiting lists and rationing?
Yes, most other countries have longer waits to see specialists and have elective surgery. On the other hand, patients elsewhere are more apt to see doctors promptly when they're sick.
Cost tends to be the main US rationing tool. In the six-country study, sicker Americans were most likely to forgo medicine, doctor visits, tests and medical treatments because of cost. Most of the 51 percent who skipped at least one in 2005 had insurance.
Moore praises Canada, but aren't they always coming here for better health care?
Anecdotes aside, a 2002 Health Affairs study found "barely detectable" numbers of Canadians going to US border cities for treatment. In a 1996 Canadian survey, only 20 of 18,000 respondents crossed the border specifically for care.
Research comparing their quality favors Canada just slightly, Open Medicine reported in April. Even so, "Nobody in the US seriously proposes recreating the British or Canadian systems here," wrote The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn, author of Sick: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis - And the People Who Pay the Price.
Do insurance companies really cancel sick people's policies?
California officials recently fined Blue Cross of California US$1 million for just that, and is investigating other companies.
It found violations in each of 90 randomly selected cancellations, of about 1,000 a year. But California insurers can't cancel policies without proving intent to deceive, which Money magazine said is not true of Ohio.
Is it true that in Canada, France and Great Britain, "Anyone can go to the hospital, can go to a doctor and never have to worry about paying a bill," as Moore says?
No. Even in the socialized UK, there are some out-of-pocket expenses, but Americans have more than most.
Americans spent US$5 out of pocket for every US$3 spent in OCED's median country in 2004. In 2005, 34 percent of sicker US adults spent at least $1,000 out of pocket, more than twice the percentage anywhere else in the six-country study.
The insured family selling all its possessions to pay medical bills in SiCKO is also extreme but plausible. "Medical debt is surprisingly common," Access Project officials wrote last year in Health Affairs, "affecting about 29 million nonelderly Americans, with and without health insurance." That's roughly one in six, and medical bills sent 44 percent of them through all or most of their savings.
As Cohn wrote in his review, "SiCKO got a lot of the little things wrong. But it got most of the big things right."
here's the link to another review at NYTimes
http://movies2.nytimes.com/2007/06/22/movies/22sick.html
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