beth0329

There's a bit of a twist though...it's in ASL... Those who know me well know that something I've done since I was a teenager is to learn various songs in sign language. It's a beautiful form of communicating and I enjoy it because it's a challenge for me. I have to practice like crazy to make my hands do what they have to do to make the signs even though my left hand is my dominant hand. I was wonderfully surprised to find this particular video. I've loved Christy Nockels' voice since I first heard it years ago. She's done some work with the Passion band and she and her husband Nathan make up the band Watermark. "Knees to the Earth" has always been a favorite of mine. It's a beautiful song and it's even more beautiful to see it in ASL. Enjoy!

Grace and Peace

Today begins the season of Advent. A time of joy and expectant waiting. At the end of Advent we will celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world It's also(for at least the next week and a half)going to be a time in which I have to work hard to remember the reason that this is such a joyful time of year. It will be a struggle to be joyful in the midst of finals but I can do it. Thanksgiving was wonderful and I've read 6 books in less than a week. It's been a good few days off. Now, I wait with expectancy and excitement for the birth of my Savior. Hope all is well and you all have a wonderful Christmas season.

Grace and Peace

I'm relaxing in Tallahassee and thinking about home and the awesome times and food I'll be missing. I'm thankful to God for so many things this year. These are but a few:

This has been a really rough semester and on this Thanksgiving Day I can see the end of it. For that I am very thankful.
It's been a great semester full of great old friends and wonderful new ones. I have amazing friends here and I'm so blessed to have them. Thank you all for your craziness!
I'm not the new guy around anymore and that's a really great feeling. It also gives me a lot of empathy for the new guys.
Again, this year I really wish I could be home but Christmas break is coming soon and I'll home for a little while. I can't wait!
I'm thankful for my family, what they mean to me, and how much they love me. I miss them more than they know.
I love my roommates! There was a point where we were sure we'd never find a house for us all, but we have and it's been a great experience. 6 guys and a dog..it's good times.
My LaTech experiences that prepared me for where I'm at now in all sorts of academic and social ways. I'll be forever tied to Tech. I lived on campus my entire time there and I miss pretty much everything about it. I had the most vivid dream last night. It was an almost full length British History lecture from one of my favorite professors. Very cool!
There is so much more but I'll end with this..

Thanks be to God for his love endures forever.

Grace and Peace

Amazon's Page for The Liturgical Year

As someone who did not grow up in a Christian tradition that was liturgical lately I have become more interested in the liturgy of the Church and the impact that it has on the lives of believers. I wanted this book as soon as I saw it. I hoped that it would increase my knowledge of the liturgical calendar and the hows and whys of the various seasons. I wish the book had included more historical information on the seasons, more practical how to information on each of the seasons, and had been more ecumenical in certain ways these are small complaints about a good book. The book greatly expanded my scant knowledge on the topic of the liturgical calendar. I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is a book that all Christians can learn from and enjoy.

This book is written by a Benedictine nun named Joan Chittister and it is evident that she is knowledgeable about this topic and that the liturgical calendar means a lot to her. Her goal here is to share her knowledge and passion for the subject and she does so admirably. She asserts that "every year is a distinct growth point in life, the shedding of another shell of life." This quote illuminates one of the major points of the book that spoke to me which is the idea that the liturgy is alive because each time we interact with the liturgical calendar it affects us differently because we are growing and we are different. The calendar gives us a holistic view of Christianity. Chittister spends a significant portion of the book talking about the two major seasons around which Christianity is fashioned. These are the Advent-Christmas season and the Lenten-Easter season. She spends time laying out historical arguments for why we worship on Sunday as opposed to Saturday. She also explains that calendars are not uniform which is why the East and West celebrate the feasts on the liturgical calendar at different times. She states that it is the event not the date that is important therefore it does not matter whether you celebrate Christmas in December or January. Whether in the waiting of Advent or the joy of the birth of Christ at Christmas, the penance and self denial that comes with accompanying Christ to the cross during Lent, the celebration of the risen Christ at Easter, or the other 2/3rds of the year which are set aside for ordinary contemplation and perfecting the art of the Christian life, the liturgical calendar is meant to exponentially deepen the faith of the believer through repetition and constant reflection. The liturgical calendar is evidence of the ongoing work of God because we can see how we, individually and communally, have changed from year to year.

Grace and Peace