Bento Box in the Heartland: A Response

No, I haven’t finished the book yet, but I wanted to address the chapter about arranged marriages. Linda compares her two divorces that started as “love marriages” to her parents’ strong arranged marriage. Linda recalls her mother saying that love marriages weren’t popular in Japan because “… everyone knows they don’t work… always end in breakup.” She makes it sound as if the reason her attempts at marriage failed were because of — just that — the fact that they were “love marriages”. But I disagree.

Linda made it clear that had her mother not chosen to fight to make her arranged marriage work, and instead, had returned to Japan, she, along with her entire family, would have been disgraced.

I argue that it is not a question of whether the marriage is arranged or for love. The issue here is the mindset.

I remember reading an article on dressing modestly. It addressed the fact that sometimes, the definition of “modesty” is affected by the culture. The article gave the example that a woman completely covered up in one part of the world might be “modest” by the standards of the society in which she moves, where everyone well covered up is the norm; whereas the girl on the other side of the world who dresses scantily may be “modest” by the standards of her culture, because it is the norm where she lives; and no doubt if these two ladies were to exchange places, they would be shocked by the standards of the other.

In the same way, it is not whether it is a “love marriage” or an arranged marriage, but rather — is “giving up” a disgrace or not? If Linda’s standards concerning a “love marriage” had been the same as her mother’s — that it would have been a disgrace to not fight to make the marriage work — then what kind of marriage it was would have been completely irrelevant. The question is: Is divorce acceptable? A godless society as opposed to a God-centered one will have different standards, and they have been and will continue to shock each other. I, on some level, will never get over the fact that some people out there simply don’t get what I believe marriage is — indissoluble. And I’m sure those people think I’m crazy for not looking at marriage as just the same as any other stage of relationship — severable.

(Ahaha. WordPress thinks “severable” isn’t a word.”)

If going back to Japan would not have disgraced Linda’s mother in the eyes of the society in which she moved at the time, would she have left? It’s perfectly possible. But the standards that she chose to live by were that you only get one shot at forever and you work it out, period, no questions asked; standards that she apparently did not pass on to her daughter. What a pity.

stealing from kayla xD

to be fair, i’m putting big Xs for the ones i’ve read through, and small xs for the ones i haven’t finished…

BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up? Share with your fellow reader friends.

1 [X] Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
2 [X] The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien
3 [] Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
4 [X] Harry Potter series – JK Rowling
5 [X] To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
6 [x] The Bible
7 [X] Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
8 [] Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell
9 [] His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
10 [] Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
11 [X] Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
12 [] Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
13 [] Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
14 [] Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 [] Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
16 [X] The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
17 [] Birdsong – Sebastian Faulk
18 [] Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
19 [] The Time Traveller’s Wife -
20 [] Middlemarch – George Eliot
21 [] Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
22 [] The Great Gatsby – F Scott Fitzgerald
23 [] Bleak House – Charles Dickens
24 [] War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
25 [] The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
26 [] Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
27 [] Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 [] Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
29 [X] Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
30 [] The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
31 [] Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
32 [] David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
33 [X] Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis
34 [x] Emma – Jane Austen
35 [X] Persuasion – Jane Austen
36 [X] The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis
37 [] The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
38 [] Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres Mais
39 [] Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
40 [x] Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne
41 [] Animal Farm – George Orwell
42 [] The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
43 [] One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 [] A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving
45 [] The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
46 [X] Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery
47 [] Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
48 [] The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
49 [] Lord of the Flies – William Golding
50 [] Atonement – Ian McEwan
51 [] Life of Pi – Yann Martel
52 [] Dune – Frank Herbert
53 [] Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
54 [X] Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
55 [] A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
56 [] The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 [] A Tale Of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
58 [] Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
59 [] The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
60 [] Love In The Time Of Cholera – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 [] Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
62 [] Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
63 [] The Secret History – Donna Tartt
64 [] The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
65 [] Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
66 [] On The Road – Jack Kerouac
67 [] Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
68 [] Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
69 [] Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
70 [] Moby Dick – Herman Melville
71 [x] Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
72 [] Dracula – Bram Stoker
73 [X] The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 [] Notes From A Small Island – Bill Bryson
75 [] Ulysses – James Joyce
76 [] The Inferno – Dante
77 [x] Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
78 [] Germinal – Emile Zola
79 [] Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
80 [] Possession – AS Byattn
81 [X] A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
82 [] Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
83 [] The Color Purple – Alice Walker
84 [] The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
85 [] Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
86 [] A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
87 [X] Charlotte’s Web – EB White
88 [] The Five People You Meet In Heaven – Mitch Albom
89 [X] Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 [] The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
91 [] Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
92 [X] The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 [] The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
94 [] Watership Down – Richard Adams
95 [] A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
96 [] A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
97 [] The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
98 [] Hamlet – William Shakespeare
99 [x] Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
100 [x] Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

Thoughts on Boy Meets Girl

I finished reading Boy Meets Girl a few weeks ago, and Mum and I were talking about a certain section of it yesterday.

Joshua Harris [very wisely, on the whole] says that we shouldn’t go out into the world with a pre-conceived list of what we want our future spouse to be. He says that if we do this, we’ll be missing out on a lot than if we didn’t immediately eliminate people just because they don’t meet one or two of the expectations on our list.

To some extent, I do agree. I think it holds true for just basic friendship in the first place — if you go out into the world of pre-conceived ideas of what your friends should look like, should have accomplished by a certain point in their life, should believe in, should be, you’ll miss out on a heck of a lot of great friendships. I know I would have. If I’d tried to limit myself to just Catholic friends, or to handsome and dashing Prince Charming-looking guys, or to, I dunno, just Asian girls? or to just homeschoolers… what would I have been missing out on!!! I mean, c’mon. Seriously, my best friend? He has 10 piercings and a bunch of tattoos now and I don’t generally approve of that stuff, but what the heck? If I’d let myself get turned off by what he looked like at my first class (‘course, that was when there were only 4 piercings and no tattoos… but still), I would have missed out on a wealth of kindness, sincerity, encouragement, just plain hard tough brotherly love… so much, so much. And now? 4 years later, he’s still one of my absolute best friends ever, and I can’t imagine what life would be like without having ever met him. He’s had a hand in shaping who I am now. All of my friends have.

But then there is the other side of it. Yes, pre-conceived ideas are not always wise… but then it depends on what those ideas are.

Here is what I believe — I believe that one has to have standards. Now, what kind of standards? Well, not things like omigosh he has to be this much taller and that much smarter and he has to be Pinoy and… blah blah blah blah blah. BUT. He has to be Pro-Life, a committed Catholic, etc. I think the question here is, Are they my non-negotiables? or are they God’s?

If I base my standards on what I honestly believe are God’s non-negs, then I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I don’t think I’m closing myself to anything by God-centered standards.

I would love for my future spouse to have read and appreciated books like Sense and Sensibility, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Boy Meets Girl, Arms of Love, so on, so forth. It would be nice if they played some instrument very well. I would love for them to have an appreciation for martial arts. It would be cool if they didn’t mind my usually-leaning-towards-emo poetry. Basically, I’d like for them to like all the things I like, enjoy all the things that I enjoy, show some sort of mannish appreciation for all the things I squeal over… hahaha. And obviously I’d like him to be Pinoy so that my kids will speak tagalog, duhhhh… xD

But those aren’t God’s non-negs, and if I chose my friends by how many of them appreciate martial arts as much as I do? Whew. That’s a pretty darn short list compared to the one I am blessed to be able to write up with confidence and head “My True Friends.” I know it won’t work either when I’m 23-ish and possibly dealing with would-be court-ers.

I see it all now.

“May I have permission to court you?”
“Well, let’s see. What do you think of karate?”
“… Uhh…”
“Ok, how about Sense and Sensibility?”
“I… saw the movie…”
“Oh bleh. Which one?”
“…”
“Did you ever read Arms of Love?”
“… Never heard of it…”
“Ah. Of course. Never mind. Gee, I dunno, I really don’t think we could ever work out.”

:) But wow, wouldn’t that be a fun conversation, just for the heck of watching their face? Lalala… I’m evil… rotfl.

The Guillotine and the Cross is giving me nightmares.

If we were dealing with a 3rd grader’s Animorph-induced nightmares, Mum would take the books away and hide it in the basement/storage area until she got around to donating them.

I still resent that slightly. Possibly because I enjoyed the books a lot, and I honestly don’t remember getting nightmares.

Hahaha.

The point is, I am no longer in 3rd grade, and it is not merely a fantasy series, but rather my history textbook that is giving me nightmares. Or was it a nightmare? Was it a dream at all? Or have I simply forgotten where and when the conversation took place?

Basically, I dreamed of [or heard?] someone saying that “so-and-so are going to be killed for their Faith” which I clearly understood to mean that Catholics were being persecuted for their Faith and that I might, at any time, be next.

The plain fact of the matter is that Catholics in a few decades could be facing persecution worse than any in the history of the Roman Empire, whatever. It’s not a nice thought, and you might say “That’s insane,” but no, no it’s not. Just as this day and age is more racist than any particular period in history (Oho! You protest that remark?? Think about it.), what does “freedom to exercise religion” [or "freedom of conscience" as some people have preferred to call it since the Constitution was written] mean, nowadays? What is it interpreted as? Is not “freedom of speech” interpreted as the perfect right to persecute others for their religion, among other things?

This world is so twisted. Everything’s made to sound pretty darn good. Everything can be candy coated. Everything. ‘Mortal sins, pah! What nonsense!‘?

Sorry for the sarcasm. I just get disgusted sometimes. Yes, yes, I know I’m a hypocrite. We all are.

Happens I’m reading the perfect combination of books.

The Guillotine and the Cross being my World History textbook, Freedom; A History of US is my American History textbook, at present, and the first 3 pages gave me a sense of uneasiness. While the history of our country is very interesting, and there were most definitely truly amazing minds striving and working for only what they truly believed to the best, what I’m reading still bothers me.

I also happen to be reading Rediscovering Catholicism (I LOVE MATTHEW KELLY!!!!!!!! Hearts all over the place, God bless him! You’ve know idea how much I want to hear him speak again…). Yet again, God reminds me that He knows exactly what I need, exactly when I need it. (Please, I know this is a side-track, but I simply must include at this particular point in this paragraph that things have been happening and people have been saying things to me that have made me worry unnecessarily about silly things. And yes, I have had heart-to-hearts with my Mum about plenty, and she has put my mind at ease about a great deal, etc. etc. :D The point is, the last sentence before this side-track began the way it did because I particularly needed the reminder just now.) Rediscovering Catholicism is a perfect companion to Freedom; A History of US. Thank You, Lord, for allowing the book to enter into my possession through Tita Laura! She gave it to me at the GA two weekends ago.

At any rate, I strongly recommend RC to all my dear friends out there, whether you happen to be reading F;AHoU also or not. Hahaha.

Since I’m blogging about books I’ve read/am reading, I might as well mention that I [finally] read The Princess and the Kiss [on Sunday, after weeks and weeks and weeks of Yeni telling me to read it, and I'm quite, quite sorry I didn't do so right away, but now it makes for a good random post ending, you know? ...].

I think that The Princess and the Kiss would make a perfect summary after some point in My Life’s Book between Chapter 21 and 26. Don’t you?

Chapters 12 – 16

1. Because to give in and believe would be to acknowledge weakness and mistake. Orual feels it stronger to simply go through with the present disbelief than to say that she was wrong, that Psyche was telling the truth.

Jesus Freaks

Ok, so this is not quite a review… just some comments. I haven’t actually finished reading the book.

See, it was originally on my sched, but I switched that to The Authentic Catholic Woman, and I’ll just get around to finishing it when I can and when I feel like it.

Please don’t get me wrong — I think the some of stories shared here are of pretty awesome people, and I much admire their faith in Jesus. I guess what makes it appeal less to me is that it really is written from a Protestant point of view. upholding people in history that were persecuted by the True Church. It upholds people like Tyndale and Luther. Do you know the real story behind them? This book is controversial in itself, in that it upholds the True Church’s recognized Saints along with those who were persecuted by the True Church. It’s anti-Catholic and pro-Catholic by turns.

Oy, I’m not supporting, say, the Portuguese Inquisition or something — I realize that that was wrong, and Catholics’ll say so. Forcing religion is never an option, and we’ll be the first to admit that that was not the way to go. But I guess what I mean is, for a Catholic who isn’t that well-read in their Faith, this book will lead to questions, which DO have answers, but will they do their research and seek the Truth or will they simply believe it because of the light this book throws those people in? Isn’t it the same with any book that attacks the Catholic Faith? We DO HAVE the answers, but will all Catholics bother to research?

This book was written to be an inspiration to teens in their Faith in Jesus Christ. That’s great, and I respect and admire that, and I know that teens need it. But do Catholic teens need this? I don’t like how one minute, a Catholic teen will think, “Ohey! This dude is a Catholic like me! Awesome!” and the next entry will make them think, “Wait… my Church did that?” and will they bother to try and find out why the Church did so and so?

Look, it quotes from Saint Thomas Aquinas!!! Yay! But then… but then it tells of Martin Luther and says “At his trial, corrupt church leaders tried to get him to recant, but he refused…” ‘Course if you hear his story from a Protestant view, it’s can be pretty convincing. I’m not saying I’m an expert at those things; I’m still learning, you betcha. But if you know that Martin Luther added to the Bible, it puts things in a new perspective. If you know what the Church had against his teachings, and you’re not hearing it from a Protestant, then of course you’re going to understand better. Ahh, we come to the biased opinion. Please don’t bring that in. We’re talking about facts, about Church dogma that’s written down and been handed down directly from Jesus Christ himself!! vs. facts about Luther’s doctrine and how it contradicts the Bible — that is, the Bible without his additions to it. Furthermore, if you know that Protestants follow the Palestinian Canon and Catholics follow the Alexandrian Canon, and you know why Catholics do what they do, then good. Do we have basis for that? ‘Course we do! Because the Alexandrian Canon is the one used by Jesus and His apostles, and the Palestinian Canon was the one put together by those who opposed JESUS, AFTER His death, because they feared the rise of His followers.

The thing is, I know that if my Faith is challenged, I WILL do all the research I can to find out what REALLY happened. I’m not putting down other teens, I’m just concerned that if they’re not like that and they read this book, then that’s… not good. They’ll be deceived. They’ll be letting themselves be deceived.

Ah, and Tyndale! Don’t get me started. Of course you’re going to sympathize with him if you read this book. Because it’s meant to put the Successor of Peter and the rest of his flock in a bad light. BUT DO YOU KNOW THE REAL STORY? Because you won’t find it here! Go do your research! Will Protestants criticize me for not writing longer comments? For not taking this opportunity to defend my Faith? That is, if I can, they ask? Oh, I can. I just don’t need to do it here. Partly because I won’t be writing a personal, biased opinion. I’ll be writing down facts that you can find elsewhere, anyway, so I think you can wait for me to have time for a post explicitly on what’s being uncovered before me every Monday night.

Another thing that I don’t like about this book; the take quotes from the Bible and so simplify the vocabulary to the point where it doesn’t sound like Jesus anymore. As in it’s been simplified to the point of extreme teen language that seems so… so… by heaven, irreverent. Here, take this for example:

“Count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens — give a cheer, even! — for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds.”

It says that was taken from Matthew 5:11 – 12. But does it sound anything like this? –

“Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Yes, yes, it more or less means the same thing. But there is a richness in the language of the Bible that just seems so horribly irreverent to take the words of Jesus and turn them into teen-talk. It’s like the whole controversy with the Latin Mass. Gosh, I can’t go into that right now, else this post will be as long as my Conference testimony… Besides, that is a promised post, since I’m writing it for the Catholic Teen Magazine. (Which, I might add, is running late…)

Hey, listen, I’m not trying to sound like I’m putting down Protestants. I’ve got super awesome Protestant friends, and I admire them for their firmness of Faith, and I’ll say so! And, as I’ve said before, I do believe there are some things Catholics can learn from Protestants. But I have reason to believe that extensive research could contradict some of the supposedly quoted conversations in this book. What’s the point of reading about the great deeds of Jesus Freaks if the facts aren’t straight? Heck, don’t you want to know how it really went? Don’t you want to be looking up to real people — no, I am not saying those people didn’t exist, what I mean by real is that you understand the real motives behind how both sides acted — and being inspired by the things that really happened to them?

No, I am not denying that Tyndale was refused permission by the Church to translate the Bible into English. But if I asked you, could you tell me why the Church did that?So there you have it. Some of my comments on Jesus Freaks. I’m very grateful to Kuya Vin and Ate Candice for lending this book to me, and I think that firm Catholics will be able to draw some inspiration out of it, but I think that it would be more useful to study their apologetics and read books that focus solely on the Saints. I really like the stories about Christians who faced (or are facing) Communist persecution, but I think that that is all that I really appreciate about this book. It’s fine for Kuya Vin and Ate Candice who are firm in their Faith to read this, but I would not give it to my little brother just yet, or not at all, even. There are better sources.

All the same, I mean to finish the book. But I would not recommend it just for anyone.

Here is what is going into ALIVE…

The final draft. :D I present….

A Book, a Song, and a Holiday

 

Have you ever heard that song, “The Trouble With Love” ? Well, I just heard it again recently, and the last time I heard it, I had a very different concept of love. Or… not different, as in a full 180-degree-turn, just different in the sense that it was not… fully developed. It still isn’t, but I daresay I’m a little farther along than I was the last time I heard that song. Anyway, the lyrics are as follows:

“Love can be a many splendored thing
Can’t deny the joy it brings
A dozen roses, diamond rings
Dreams for sale and fairy tales
It’ll make you hear a symphony
And you just want the world to see
But like a drug that makes you blind,
It’ll fool you every time

Now I was once a fool, it’s true
I played the game by all the rules
But now my world’s a deeper blue
I’m sadder, but I’m wiser too
I swore I’d never love again
I swore my heart would never mend
Said love wasn’t worth the pain
But then I hear it call my name

The trouble with love is
It can tear you up inside
Make your heart believe a lie
It’s stronger than your pride
The trouble with love is
It doesn’t care how fast you fall
And you can’t refuse the call
See, you got no say at all”

While I still like this song very much, for some reason or another, the difference in me now, as opposed to before, is that I can see now how sad the world has become in its view of what love is; this song illustrates it. ‘Tis a poor and depressing portrayal. How pathetic. If anyone were to hear it and believe in it heart and soul, they would be very, very unfairly deceived.

Valentine’s Day. I call it St. Valentine’s day. What it has become gives us another glimpse at what people think love is. Now, no offense to any of you who might call it this, too, but some of my friends say that Valentine’s day is Single Awareness Day, and frankly, I just pity them. Why on earth? Well, first of all… we’re teens! C’mon, people! Single Awareness Day??? That’s just sad.

Then again, what else can you expect? with songs like “The Trouble With Love” on the radio? Let’s take a look at it, shall we? Now, I know that most people don’t tear a song apart and analyze it like I’m about to do. And me, personally, when I pick this song apart, I hate it, but I still sing along when I hear it. Maybe it’s the beat, the tune, whatever; most of the time (and correct me if I’m wrong), we don’t really pay too much attention to the lyrics. But let’s just clear our heads for a bit and really dig into this one.

“… like a drug that makes you blind, it’ll fool you every time…“

WOW. We’re comparing love to a drug?? One good thing about this song; it’s putting down drugs. WHEE! But, seriously. What else do they do? (And let’s keep it in our heads that we’re talking the bad drugs.) Yes, they make you blind. They fool you into thinking that you’re doing something that will make you a better person. Usually we’re talking physically. But really, it’ll mess you up physically, and spiritually, and maybe give you suicidal thoughts? Sheesh. So love is now something that will mess you up physically and spiritually and maybe even make you suicidal?!?! That’s so… DEPRESSING! Blindness… foolin’ ya… mess up your life… grr! Don’t believe it. “Love is infallible; it has no errors, for all the errors are the want of Love.”

“… make your heart believe a lie, it’s stronger than your pride…”

Now, if you’re telling me that this line is true, I’ll agree with you on this one. Love is definitely stronger than pride. Sure, alright, it can make you believe what might turn out to be a lie. But is Love all lies? If you turn out to believe a lie, is it the end of the world? And I don’t mean this like when you’re guilty for sugar-coating what’s as plain as if it’s printed in black and white; I’m talking about when you honestly believe in something or someone that has never given you a reason to believe otherwise. Whose fault is it? Not yours; you’re not the liar. Right? Love in itself is not a lie, and no lie could be out of Love; Love is ultimate Truth. “Between whom there is hearty truth, there is Love.“

“… the trouble with love is it doesn’t care how fast you fall and you can’t refuse the call; see, you got no say at all…“

In short, you have no control over love. How horrible! Believe in this line and apply the “lesson” in it to your own life, and there’s no way that you could become more paranoid. No control over love! So, in short, it just happens to us and there’s no way to escape it and it is most definitely something that you want to escape? (Eh, sorry; not so short as I meant it to be.) Now, I would like to introduce the fact that I Believe That God Is Love. And from there I would like to continue to hold up as an example to all of us, Jesus Christ. He is the most perfect example of what True Love is. When He died for us, it was because He Loved us, wasn’t it? But was He forced to love us? Was love something that He fell into and could not escape though He tried? Well, for one thing, doesn’t that statement kind of take away from our belief that God is All-Powerful? He can do ANYTHING, right? And if love is something that one just falls into, doesn’t that kind of suggest that God’s love for us might be terribly unpredictable? So… if we believe that God is All-Powerful and that He can do anything He wants … then He must be able to escape from anything He doesn’t want to do, eh? And if He is All-Powerful, then nothing has Power enough over Him to make Him fall into something and have no control over it? Now… Do you think that Jesus wanted to Die? Of course, He wanted to save! us, but if it had been possible to save us some other way, without having to die, don’t you think He would have? For us, I’m sure we all have someone in this world that we feel we would do absolutely anything to protect, but I’m sure that doesn’t make us totally fearless of death, if that’s what it were to come to.

Friends, let us take our lesson of Love from our Savior. He chose to love us, when He chose to die because He wanted so much to save us. He did it out of True Love for each and every one of us. With that choice, Jesus shows us that we do have control over love. “But God proves His Love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.“ It may not be perfect love, because we are human, but all the same, we have control. Second… aren’t you glad that God’s love for you isn’t so unpredictable? (I think I’m quoting from a book right there. Sorry.)

“… I swore I’d never love again. I swore my heart would never mend. Said love wasn’t worth the pain…“

People, people. What made you so angry and so hurt? That you’d think love the most awful experience known to mankind? Well? If it’s as awful as all that we’re hearing in this one song, then what are all these other things we’re hearing in other songs about how beautiful it is?? Are they sure they’re all talking about the same thing?! Heh, first of all, swearing is bad. =) (I just had to put that.) “The Master, who Loved most of all, endured the most and proved His Love by His endurance.“ Love is what gives strength to endure the most pain, physical and spiritual, as when Jesus was tortured or when we choose to resist temptation and obey out of Love for Him. Haven’t we read/heard that the Saints felt pain because they felt that they could not love God enough? I don’t remember reading anything about them feeling pain because Love had hurt them in ways that would make them less holy. What pain they felt only purified them further. “Don’t hold to anger, hurt, or pain; they steal your energy and keep you from Love.“ If you get hurt by someone, of course there’s a natural fear that you’ll get hurt again. But if you fall down a million times trying to ride the same bike, usually you’d love it enough to keep going till you get it right? Again, hey! don’t be paranoid! If you’re going to go love a human then you realize that they are, just that — human. Being human means making mistakes. But it also means that, just because one human isn’t perfect, and is maybe even mean to you, doesn’t mean everyone else will be like that to you or twice as bad. Have some faith in humanity, my friends! When God made our first Parents, He called them good. Calm down. You’ll be fine. Especially if you’re fifteen, like me. You needn’t go traipsing about, mourning the fact that you’re all alone and wondering if you’re ever going to find the perfect person….. yeah. I’ll get to all that crazy stuff later.

“… this sad story always ends the same – me standin’ in the pourin’ rain. it seems no matter what I do it tears my heart in two…“

This line feels so… cold. This suggests that the person fell in love (and I say fell, because if that was their concept of it when they were doing it, then, naturally, I’ll use their terms) with several different people, who all turned out to be total losers, and left them “standing in the pouring rain.” (Yes, I know some people love getting caught in the rain. But let’s stick with the story, here. :D) I feel horribly sorry for whoever wrote this… because, it’s either that they’ve got an AMAZING imagination (and also rather dark, at that), or they really did have a horrible love-life that taught them a lesson that they are now trying to teach to everyone else, and that is that love-life is a dismal, misery-filled experience, and certainly not worth having. Lies! But of course, whoever wrote this is simply trying to help people by doing the great, good, wonderful deed of warning damsels before they become damsels in distress-es and before the princes become princes in… whatever? (How about ‘pickles’? No… it isn’t nearly tragic/poetic enough.)

Please! Don’t go thinking that one or two people that hurt you are an example about what the rest of the world is like!!! Surely you’ve had good times with friends and family? No, no, don’t go saying that isn’t the same thing. Family, and also good, real, honest friends are yet another example of the beauty of Love. You figure you’ll love that perfect someone out there “differently,” but the sibling/cousin/parent/friend who respects you, who is kind to you, who does you no wrong and is honest and open and always there for you is a great example of true, honest, beautiful Love. That perfect someone out there, once you find them, should be your best friend! next to God. So they just better make a good friend in the first place, and good friends don’t hurt each other. (Again, we’re human. So if we hurt our friends and family, we try again, right? And we never really mean to hurt them? Smile!)

Ok, ok. Enough about that song. (Personally, now that I’ve written all this, I don’t think I’ll be caught singing that song anywhere outside of my house anymore! Sheesh. I might have a bad influence on someone.) Now… to move on to the holiday part of this piece, and to introduce the book. (If you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about, it’s probably ’cause you skipped the title. Rule #1 in How to Read a Book — or any other literary masterpiece, for that matter – is read the title. So be a good… person… and go read it. [I was going to say "child" but I thought that might look offensive in a magazine for teens, unless you happen to know me very well and know that I don't mean any offense whatsoever.])

So. Valentine’s Day. Ahem, St. Valentines Day. I was invited to an event that is(was) worldwide, and took place on Valentine’s Day. It was called, “Day of Purity.” Everyone goes and wears all white to symbolize purity. How lovely! Doesn’t that make your face light up? It’s just so appropriate. Love is supposed to be a beautiful thing that brings much joy, it is pure, clean… Ahh I’ll just go quote St. Paul on this one. “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongduings, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all this, endures all things.“ So basically, I didn’t need to put in all those other quotes, because this one passage addresses all of the misconceptions about Love in that song… but I’m too lazy to go and re-write everything. *a wink and a grin*

I guess what I’m trying to say is, if people are going to be celebrating Valentine’s Day as a holiday of love, then we might as well be celebrating Real Love, else we’ll be wasting our time, celebrating something that we think is only nice at certain times, and not nice at other times. It’ll be a celebration some times and close enough to a funeral at other times. (Especially if it gives you suicidal tendencies.) St. Paul sums up what Love is; all in all, Love is Pure, in every sense, in the deepest sense, of the word.

As for “Singles’ Awareness Day,” aware of what? The fact that you’ve no one to go to the movies with as more than just totally awesome friends? Ack. Hey, listen. Single-ness is a gift from God.

Now, that last sentence, I’m not going to go into detail about. What I would like to do instead is to recommend a book to you that will explain that last sentence better than I ever could, and also a whole lot of other stuff that, ten to one, will make you happier when you read it. Don’t judge a book by its cover, and same thing goes for the title. (Did you judge this by its title? Well, you shouldn’t have. The only reason you’re supposed to follow Rule #1 in How to Read a Book is because, from the title, you’re supposed to try and determine what the rest of the piece is about. No, you are not supposed to read the whole story within the title. It’s just supposed to help you guess what I’m writing about. So. Did I meet your expectations?)

The book that I would like to recommend, the one that inspired me to pick this song apart and look at all the wonderful things that Love really is, is an awesome book titled I Kissed Dating Goodbye and it’s by Joshua Harris. Hey! Give it a chance, alright? I promise you’re not going to get bombarded with stuff like “If you date, you’re a horrible, ridiculous, incredibly sinful person…” so on. Not at all! One of the things that Harris explicitly states is that he does not believe that dating is a sin. That, in itself, especially if you happen to be one of those people who think dating is awesome, should comfort you. :D (Besides. If you like this magazine and like what you’re reading from other people, then keep in mind that at least three people on this staff have read that book. *nods* ;-)

So, to wrap up… First of all, if you guys have read this far, then I applaud you! Heartily! And I thank you for your open-mind-ness and time. Second, if you found this interesting and would like to further develop your understanding of Real Love, I’d like to recommend a few books. The first of these is, of course, the Bible, which was written by awesome dudes who just opened themselves up to God and let Him work through them. The second book that I would like to recommend is the one I mentioned in the previous paragraph, which would be I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris. And finally, the third book would be How to be Really Really Really Happy! But first let me introduce you to my uncomplicated God. by Bo Sanchez, which I haven’t exactly mentioned in this article, but his book was also a wonderful inspiration. (Don’t worry; one of these days I’ll get around to reviewing that book, too.)

So, chin up, my teenage Catholic friends (I do hope we’re friends. =), and trust in Him to give you all that you seek.

Quotes taken from A Little Inspiration for a Love-Filled Day, a book of quotes on Love taken from many different sources.

 

A book, a song, and a holiday.

Ever heard that song, “The Trouble With Love” ? Well I just heard it again recently, and the last time I heard it, I had a very different concept of love. Or… not different, as in a full 180-degree-turn, just different in the sense that it was not… fully developed. It still isn’t, but I daresay I’m a little farther along than I was the last time I heard that song. Anyway, the lyrics are as follows:

“Love can be a many splendored thing
Can’t deny the joy it brings
A dozen roses, diamond rings
Dreams for sale and fairy tales
It’ll make you hear a symphony
And you just want the world to see
But like a drug that makes you blind,
It’ll fool you every time

 

The trouble with love is
It can tear you up inside
Make your heart believe a lie
It’s stronger than your pride
The trouble with love is
It doesn’t care how fast you fall
And you can’t refuse the call
See, you got no say at all

 

Now I was once a fool, it’s true
I played the game by all the rules
But now my world’s a deeper blue
I’m sadder, but I’m wiser too
I swore I’d never love again
I swore my heart would never mend
Said love wasn’t worth the pain
But then I hear it call my name

 

The trouble with love is
It can tear you up inside
Make your heart believe a lie
It’s stronger than your pride
The trouble with love is
It doesn’t care how fast you fall
And you can’t refuse the call
See, you got no say at all

 

Every time I turn around
I think I’ve got it all figured out
My heart keeps callin’ and I keep on fallin’
Over and over again
This sad story always ends the same
Me standin’ in the pourin’ rain
It seems no matter what I do
It tears my heart in two

 

The trouble with love, yeah
It can tear you up inside
Make your heart believe a lie
It’s stronger than your pride
It’s in your heart
It’s in your soul

 

You won’t get no control
See, you got no say at all”

While I still like this song very much, for some reason or another, the difference in me now, as opposed to before, is that I can see now how sad the world has become in its view of what love is; this song illustrates it. ‘Tis a poor and depressing portrayal. How pathetic. If anyone were to hear it and believe in it heart and soul, they would be very, very unfairly deceived.

Valentine’s Day. I call it St. Valentine’s day. What it has become gives us another glimpse at what people think love is. Now, no offense to any of you who might call it this, too, but some of my friends say that Valentine’s day is Single Awareness Day, and frankly, I just pity them. Why on earth? Well, first of all… we’re teens! C’mon, people! Single Awareness Day??? You can start talking like that when you’re 30 for all I care, but at fifteen? That’s just sad.

But what else can you expect? with songs like “The Trouble With Love” on the radio? Let’s take a look at it, shall we? Now, I know that most people don’t tear a song apart and analyze it like I’m about to do. And me, personally, when I pick this song apart, I hate it, but I still sing along when I hear it. Maybe it’s the beat, the tune, whatever; most of the time (and correct me if I’m wrong), we don’t really pay too much attention to the lyrics. But let’s just clear our heads for a bit and really dig into this one.

“… like a drug that makes you blind, it’ll fool you every time…“

WOW. We’re comparing love to a drug?? One good thing about this song; it’s putting down drugs. WHEE! But, seriously. What else do they do? (And let’s keep it in our heads that we’re talking the bad drugs.) Yes, they make you blind. They fool you into thinking that you’re doing something that will make you a better person. Usually we’re talking physically. But really, it’ll mess you up physically, and spiritually, and maybe give you suicidal thoughts? Sheesh. So love is now something that will mess you up physically and spiritually and maybe even make you suicidal?!?! That’s so… DEPRESSING! Blindness… foolin’ ya… mess up your life… grr! Don’t believe it. “Love is infallible; it has no errors, for all the errors are the want of Love.”

“… make your heart believe a lie, it’s stronger than your pride…”

Now, if you’re telling me that this line is true, I’ll agree with you on this one. Love is definitely stronger than pride. Sure, alright, it can make you believe what might turn out to be a lie. But is Love all lies? If you turn out to believe a lie, is it the end of the world? And I don’t mean this like when you’re guilty for sugar-coating what’s as plain as if it’s printed in black and white; I’m talking about when you honestly believe in something or someone that has never given you a reason to believe otherwise. Whose fault is it? Not yours; you’re not the liar. Right? Love in itself is not a lie, and no lie could be out of Love; Love is ultimate Truth. “Between whom there is hearty truth, there is Love.“

“… the trouble with love is it doesn’t care how fast you fall and you can’t refuse the call; see, you got no say at all…“

In short, you have no control over love. How horrible! Believe in this line and apply the “lesson” in it to your own life, and there’s no way that you could become more paranoid. No control over love! So, in short, it just happens to us and there’s no way to escape it and it is most definitely something that you want to escape? (Eh, sorry; not so short as I meant it to be.) Now, I would like to introduce the fact that I Believe That God Is Love. And from there I would like to continue to hold up as an example to all of us, Jesus Christ. He is a most perfect example of what True Love is. When He died for us, it was because He Loved us, wasn’t it? But was He forced to love us? Was love something that He fell into and could not escape though He tried? Well, for one thing, doesn’t that statement kind of take away from our belief that God is All-Powerful? He can do ANYTHING, right? And if love is something that one just falls into, doesn’t that kind of suggest that God’s love for us might be terribly unpredictable? So… if we believe that God is All-Powerful and that He can do anything He wants … then He must be able to escape from anything He doesn’t want to do, eh? And if He is All-Powerful, then nothing has Power enough over Him to make Him fall into something and have no control over it? Now… Do you think that Jesus wanted to Die? Of course, He wanted to save! us, but if it had been possible to save us some other way, without having to die, don’t you think He would have? For us, I’m sure we all have someone in this world that we feel we would do absolutely anything to protect, but I’m sure that doesn’t make us totally fearless of death, if that’s what it were to come to? Friends, let us take our lesson of Love from our Savior. He chose to love us, when He chose to die because He wanted so much to save us. He did it out of True Love for each and every one of us. With that choice, Jesus shows us that we do have control over love. “But God proves His Love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.“ It may not be perfect love, because we are human, but all the same, we have control. Second… aren’t you glad that God’s love for you isn’t so unpredictable? (I think I’m quoting from a book right there. Sorry.)

“… I swore I’d never love again. I swore my heart would never mend. Said love wasn’t worth the pain…“

People, people. What made you so angry and so hurt? That you’d think love the most awful experience known to mankind? Well? If it’s as awful as all that we’re hearing in this one song, then what are all these other things we’re hearing in other songs about how beautiful it is?? Are they sure they’re all talking about the same thing?! Heh, first of all, swearing is bad. =) (I just had to put that.) “The Master, who Loved most of all, endured the most and proved His Love by His endurance.“ Love is what gives strength to endure the most pain, physical and spiritual, as when Jesus was tortured or when we choose to resist temptation and obey out of Love for Him. Haven’t we read/heard that the Saints felt pain because they felt that they could not love God enough? I don’t remember reading anything about them feeling pain because Love had hurt them in ways that would make them less holy. What pain they felt only purified them further. “Don’t hold to anger, hurt, or pain; they steal your energy and keep you from Love.“ If you get hurt by someone, of course there’s a natural fear that you’ll get hurt again. But if you fall down a million times trying to ride the same bike, usually you’d love it enough to keep going till you get it right? Again, hey! don’t be paranoid! If you’re going to go love a human then you realize that they are, just that — human. Meaning they make mistakes and that just because one human isn’t perfect and maybe even mean doesn’t mean everyone else will be just as mean or twice as. Have some faith in humanity, my friends! When God made our first Parents, He called them good. Calm down. You’ll be fine. Especially if you’re fifteen, like me. You needn’t go traipsing about, mourning the fact that you’re all alone and wondering if you’re ever going to find the perfect person….. yeah. I’ll get to all that crazy stuff later.

“… this sad story always ends the same – me standin’ in the pourin’ rain. it seems no matter what I do it tears my heart in two…“

Now, with this line… eh, I’m just gonna leave it. But first… I’d like to know how old this person was and what on earth they were doing and how could they have been so unlucky as to fall in love (and I say fall, because if that was their concept of it when they were doing it, then, naturally, I’ll use their terms) with, apparently, quite a few different people, who did them no good, but only proved to strengthen their opinion of how dismal love-life is, and of course they’re only trying to do great, good, wonderful deeds, by warning damsels in distress-es and princes in… whatever? (How about ‘pickles’? No… it isn’t nearly tragic/poetic enough.)

Ok, ok. Enough about that song. (Personally, now that I’ve written all this, I don’t think I’ll be caught singing that song anywhere outside of my house anymore! Sheesh. I might have a bad influence on someone.) Now… to move on to the holiday part of this piece, and to introduce the book. (If you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about, it’s probably ’cause you skipped the title. Rule #1 in How to Read a Book — or any other literary masterpiece, for that matter – is read the title. So be a good… person… and go read it. [I was going to say "child" but I thought that might look offensive in a magazine for teens, unless you happen to know me very well and know that I don't mean any offense whatsoever.])

So. Valentine’s Day. St. Valentines Day, ahem, ahem. I was invited to an event that is(was) worldwide, and took place on Valentine’s Day. It was called, “Day of Purity.” Everyone goes and wears all white to symbolize purity. How lovely! Doesn’t that make your face light up? It’s just so appropriate. Love is supposed to be a beautiful thing that brings much joy, it is pure, clean… Ahh I’ll just go quote St. Paul on this one. “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongduings, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all this, endures all things.“ So basically, I didn’t need to put in all those other quotes, because this one passage addresses all of the misconceptions about Love in that song… but I’m too lazy to go and re-write everything. *a wink and a grin*

I guess what I’m trying to say is, if people are going to be celebrating Valentine’s Day as a holiday of love, then we might as well be celebrating Real Love, else we’ll be wasting our time, celebrating something that we think is only nice at certain times, and not nice at other times. It’ll be a celebration some times and close enough to a funeral at other times. (Especially if it gives you suicidal tendencies.) St. Paul sums up what Love is; all in all, Love is Pure, in every sense, in the deepest sense, of the word.

As for “Singles’ Awareness Day,” aware of what? The fact that you’ve no one to go to the movies with as more than just totally awesome friends? Ack. Hey, listen. Single-ness is a gift from God.

Now, that last sentence, I’m not going to go into detail about. What I would like to do instead is to recommend a book to you that will explain that last sentence better than I ever could, and also a whole lot of other stuff that, ten to one, will make you happier when you read it. Don’t judge a book by its cover, and same thing goes for the title. (Did you judge this by its title? Well, you shouldn’t have. The only reason you’re supposed to follow Rule #1 in How to Read a Book is because, from the title, you’re supposed to try and determine what the rest of the piece is about. No, you are not supposed to read the whole story within the title. It’s just supposed to help you guess what I’m writing about. So. Did I meet your expectations?) The book that I would like to recommend, the one that inspired me to pick this song apart and look at all the wonderful things that Love really is, is an awesome book titled “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” and it’s by Joshua Harris. Hey! Give it a chance, alright? I promise you’re not going to get bombarded with stuff like “If you date, you’re a horrible, ridiculous, incredibly sinful person…” so on. Not at all! One of the things that Harris explicitly states is that he does not believe that dating is a sin. That, in itself, especially if you happen to be one of those people who think dating is awesome, should comfort you. :D (Besides. If you like this magazine and like what you’re reading from other people, then keep in mind that at least three people on this staff have read that book. *nods* ;-)

So. #1 book I recommend is the Bible, which was written by awesome dudes who just opened themselves up to God and let Him work through them. And book #2 that I would like to recommend is “I Kissed Dating Goodbye” by Joshua Harris. Book #3 would be ” How to be Really Really Really Happy! But first let me introduce you first to my uncomplicated God.” by Bo Sanchez, which I haven’t exactly mentioned in this article, but his book was also an inspiration…. don’t worry; one of these days I’ll get around to reviewing that book, too.

If you’ve read this far, then I applaud you! heartily! and I thank you for your time and open-mind-ness.

- Ais

p. s. I apologize for my sarcasm. If you don’t know me, maybe you weren’t able to pick it out; then again, maybe you were, and you were most offended by it. :P *sniff* (that was sarcasm right there. in case you didn’t know.)

St. Francis by G.K. Chesterton

This book is very heavy reading. It is definitely more of an essay than a story. I don’t mean to discourage you from reading it; I loved it. But it’s definitely high school material (and up, of course).

The Shadow of the Bear by Regina Doman

This story is Snow White and Rose Red retold, in modern New York. Blanche and Rose are sisters, a senior and a junior, living in New York with their mom; their father is dead. Previously homeschooled, the girls now go to a Catholic school. There is a story about the wreck of the church connected to the school, of how the pastor was shot in a robbery and strangled afterwards. The murderer was never found.

The girls and their mother become acquainted with a boy who introduces himself simply as Bear. The meeting was pure accident, when Bear catches their mother before she crashes on the icy road one cold winter night. Bear tells that he was in jail for drug possession. Blanche is sure that she’s seen Bear hanging with the druggies around school. What on earth was wrong with her mother, letting him into the house?!

But her mother, a nurse, is pretty sure that Bear’s telling the truth when he says he’s not using drugs. She invites Bear to visit whenever he pleases. Blanche is exasperated when her sister seems quite happy about the whole thing.

Bear comes more and more often, and soon, Blanche is quite comfortable with him. Bear doesn’t talk much about his past. Life goes all to pieces when Bear says he can’t come back. Why on earth? Blanche goes to Sister Geraldine at the school, and learns of Bear’s past from her. It turns out that Bear’s real name is Arthur. He and his younger brother, Benedict, knew and loved the priest who had been shot. He was like a father to them.

When Blanche, Rose, and Sister Geraldine realize that Bear is looking for the murderer of the priest, the two girls get caught up in the mystery, and find themselves looking death in the eye, along with Bear and his brother, Fish, aka Benedict. What a blow to all when they find that the priest’s murderer is the brother of the principal of the school… and he is also behind the druggie gangs.

Catholicism all the way!!! Though it doesn’t center around Catholicism itself, all the morals and such are based on the Church’s teachings, and this book rings with God and truth. I definitely want to read more of Mrs. Doman’s books.

Voyage of Slaves by Brian Jacques

Once again, a total masterpiece. Each book Brian Jacques comes out with is always the best yet, for me.

I always used to wonder how the curse on Ben and Ned could be bearable, but this book, I think, eases the curse a bit with its story. And I’m NOT GOING TO DO A SUMMARY!! How could I possibly ruin it for you people?? But you MUST READ IT. Honestly, he never runs out of adventures to tell. For one to have written so many books and for me, who has read all of them, to not be able to detect a single similarity among them, WHEW! Hats off to Brian Jacques! This book was absolutely beautiful.

There are more references to religion and holy places in this book than in the other books, considering that beyond the command of God, there wasn’t much else in the other books in the Castaways. Perhaps that’s why I found this one to be the most enjoyable. I do love books that have such references.

The Cat of Bubastes by G. A. Henty

I absolutely loved this book! Definitely a keep.

This book is detailed enough to be a textbook on Egypt, but Henty presents the information in a way that makes it necessary to the story, and interesting at the same time, which must have been very difficult, considering everything that was covered! I learned about, in extreme and wonderful detail, things such as hunting techniques and the weapons they used, I learned about their methods with farming, their strategies in war, the races they conquered, and I learned about the life of the Egyptians in all the different classes. The fact that it’s a story and not a textbook made all the information more interesting than anything I’ve read up on Egypt so far, and I’ve learned so much! Ancient Egypt truly comes alive in this book.

I was very pleased with all the references to religion. I think that if you’re not into religion and God and stuff, the long passages on the subject might seem somewhat boring… but for me, it was captivating, and while it’s not that obvious, the way the book ends makes me think that religion was a huge point in the book, in terms of worshipping one God, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

I think that the story is appropriate for all ages, but the actual reading might be a bit heavy for middle school, down. Junior high and up should be fine with it, though. And since the story is not centered on just one boy or just one girl, I’m pretty sure both boys and girls will like this book.

Overall, great find!!!!! I’m so glad this caught my eye when mom asked if I wanted to read it.

Maia of Thebes by Ann Turner

I think this book was great, and the plot is interesting, but while there was nothing inappropriate and Ann Turner is a good writer, I’d still pick a different book. Only because, I think there are better books out there. This book was kind of short, and I think if it was told in more detail, I would have liked it better. It kind of… minced… on stuff. I wouldn’t rate it high school material… I think it’s the kind of story I would’ve enjoyed better when I was, say… in elementary school? Out of five, I’d rate it a.. 2.5? 3? Somewhere in there…

God King by Joanne Williamson

Taharka is God and Pharoah of Egypt. But it was a mistake.

Tarkaha was always happy to be the least important of the Pharoah’s children. He felt that living in the palace was as good as being in prison. Tarkaha cared for the people, and has always had an interest in healing. He was glad that he would never have to be Pharoah; that dull task would fall to Shabataka. But when his father, the God King, dies, he points the wand of succession at Tarkaha with his last breath. Everyone knows it was a mistake, and that the king’s hand had merely slumped as he died. But the damage is done, and Tarkaha is the new Pharoah.

Tarkaha is a kind ruler. He eases the punishments on the people, and they are happy under his rule. But the priests are not. At first, Shabataka helps Tarkaha, and teaches him how to be a good ruler, but Tarkaha senses that his brother is bitter over the mistake, and when someone tries to poison Tarkaha, he wonders if his brother could possibly be behind it.

Joanne Williamson is an amazing writer, and I got pulled into this book. I read it in one day. ;-) Couldn’t stop. It’s great reading material for high school, but the story itself is perfectly suitable for children; it just might be a bit heavy for them. But there is nothing inappropriate whatsoever, and I don’t think it’s necessary to put an age line for this one. I loved this book!

Flower Fairies of the Autumn; A Celebration by Cicely Mary Barker

I absolutely adore this book!!! The illustrations are gorgeous. The fairies are so cute! and the poetry is lovely. Ms. Barker actually completed the illustrations before writing the songs for each fairy. I think my favorite one is of the crab-apple fairy. I’m definitely checking out her other books!!!