Rediscovering the Joy of Reading, especially Jane Austen

"Because they neither flattered herself nor her children, she could not believe them good-natured; and because they were fond of reading, she fancied them satirical: perhaps without exactly knowing what it was to be satirical; but that did not signify."
~Sense and Sensibility, Vol. 2, Chapter XIV, pg. 201.

This satirical self-consciousness is one of the reasons why I have had such an enjoyable time reading Sense and Sensibility. Although I had read Pride and Prejudice in high school, I don't think I understood Austen's wit and satire, which now makes me laugh out loud, making my family give me strange stares. I think I'm also drawn to her protagonists, who I, along with so many others, feel like we can relate to.

It now makes sense why so many people love her. I think Jane Austen brings the world together. haha.

I also like how Austen upholds virtue, while making a mockery of pride, foolishness, emotionalism, and impropriety.
It's quite refreshing reading well-written satirical fiction. And she "keeps it real" without having to indulge in crude sensuality. It's all good, clean fun.

An article on Crosswalk talks about how Austen's sense of right and wrong which stemmed from her faith is what draws many people in.
http://www.crosswalk.com/books/11552212/
The fact that people are drawn to her writing, I believe, shows how people innately have a higher sense of morality, attributing to a higher moral order.

After not having read a work of fiction for a semester since I graduated, and after not having read a work of fiction for fun since I don't even remember, it's quite exciting being able to enjoy fiction again and being able to choose what I want to read, instead of forcing myself to analyze a piece of literature for a class.

Oh, Reading! How I've missed you! It's like seeing a long-lost friend again. :)

(These last two posts have shown the extent of my English-major nerdiness...haha)

Compound Gerunds...How Many Can I Use in One Entry?

i am such an english nerd. haha.

GERUND PHRASE
Gerunds, verbals that end in -ing and that act as nouns, frequently are associated with modifiers and complements in a gerund phrase. These phrases function as units and can do anything that a noun can do. Notice that other phrases, especially prepositional phrases, are frequently part of the gerund phrase.
Cramming for tests is not a good study strategy. [gerund phrase as subject]
John enjoyed swimming in the lake after dark. [gerund phrase as object]
I'm really not interested in studying biochemistry for the rest of my life. [gerund phrase as object of the preposition in ]

(http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/phrases.htm#participle)

How do I describe my first semester at seminary? It's definitely been:

life-challenging
mind-stretching
heart-wrenching
soul-searching
God-wrestling
love-filling
Spirit-experiencing
ministry-giving
grace-receiving
community-building
direction-changing
fear-facing
music-making
spontaneous-singing
joy-fulfilling
vision-adjusting
Truth-learning
Gospel-centering
season-grieving
present-embracing
future-surrendering
motivation-processing.
Christ-praising.

The more I learn about God, the more I realize how much I don't understand, and how His grace is truly sufficient in my weakness.

O Heart Bereaved and Lonely

So I discovered another group of musicians who put old, unfamiliar hymns to modern music called Indelible Grace Music from one of my friend's facebooks.
I downloaded their latest album, "Wake Thy Slumbering Children."
It's such a good album! Amazing lyrics and sweet music. I'm a big fan.
I like all of the songs, and it's hard for me to decide which is my favorite right now, but here is one of the songs I thought had beautiful lyrics.

It's a hymn written by Fanny Crosby called "O Heart Bereaved and Lonely." Fanny Crosby is one of the greatest hymn writers. She wrote familiar hymns such as "Blessed Assurance," "To God Be the Glory," and "Jesus Is Tenderly Calling You Home."

"Fanny Cros­by was prob­ab­ly the most pro­lif­ic hymn­ist in his­to­ry. Though blind­ed by an in­com­pe­tent doc­tor at six weeks of age, she wrote over 8,000 hymns. About her blind­ness, she said:

It seemed in­tend­ed by the bless­ed prov­i­dence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dis­pen­sa­tion. If per­fect earth­ly sight were of­fered me to­mor­row I would not ac­cept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been dis­tract­ed by the beau­ti­ful and in­ter­est­ing things about me.

In her life­time, Fan­ny Cros­by was one of the best known wo­men in the Unit­ed States. To this day, the vast ma­jor­i­ty of Amer­i­can hymn­als con­tain her work."

(http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/c/r/o/crosby_fj.htm)

Wow! What an inspiration! This lady is one of my heroes. :)

O Heart Bereaved And Lonely

1. O heart bereaved and lonely,
Whose brightest dreams have fled
Whose hopes like summer roses,
Are withered crushed and dead
Though link by link be broken,
And tears unseen may fall
Look up amid thy sorrow,
To Him who knows it all

2. O cling to thy Redeemer,
Thy Savior, Brother, Friend
Believe and trust His promise,
To keep you till the end
O watch and wait with patience,
And question all you will
His arms of love and mercy,
Are round about thee still

3. Look up, the clouds are breaking,
The storm will soon be o'er
And thou shall reach the haven,
Where sorrows are no more
Look up, be not discouraged;
Trust on, whate'er befall
Remember, O remember,
Thy Savior knows it all