Random thoughts rambling around my head
It's been quite a while since I've written anything. My mind and my time have been occupied with other things. While we were traveling in and around North Carolina, we listened to a book by T. Davis Bunn called Florian's Gate. There wasn't a lot of exciting stuff happening, but I really enjoyed it. It's about some antique sellers. There are details behind many antiques that are accurate. Sometimes there are selling prices given (we're talking 10s of thousands in British pounds!!!) and I recently learned that those prices are based on actual recent selling prices of those antiques! Anyway, what I really enjoyed about it was the abundance of history woven throughout the book. Besides the history of the antiques, there is a GREAT deal of history about Poland and Germany from the end of WWII through the falling of the Iron Curtain and even a little bit beyond. Of course, since this is a fictional novel, the history sometimes comes in the lives of characters in the novel. Each of the stories is based on something that actually happened or probably happened to someone during that time. Now, I'm listening to the sequel, The Amber Room. It has a little more action in it, but I've really enjoyed some of the Christian stories in it. At the end of the first book, (I'm going to ruin part of it for you, but you probably won't read it anyway!) some of the main characters become Christian. This was expected since it is a Christian author! These same characters often ask for stories of faith as they go around buying and selling antiques in the 2nd novel. My favorite has been from a German priest. He spoke about being a Christian in Germany during the war. He mentioned how persecution of that kind will cause us to put aside our preferences in worship, our ideas on mysterious doctrine (i.e. free will/predestination), and our petty differences to be united. Many, many times Christ calls us to unity and while we may be mostly unified in our own Rocky body, we aren't unified with other churches. It seems that we tolerate other churches, but it seems to me that we think we know more or are more spiritual. We certainly don't snub individuals from other churches, but there still is the occasional offhand comment about this church being this way or that church believing that. What it all really boils down to is Christ. If we all believe in Him and are trusting Him with our lives, then we have a common bond that should draw us together. Anyway, I could ramble on about this all day.
This post is getting longer than I intended! I took a fun quiz today
Your Gemstone is Amber
Creative, happy, and logical.
You shine in any intellectual endeavor
What Gemstone Are You?
I'm amber -- like the Amber Room! Did you know that amber is actually hardened tree sap. There are many different shades and while we pay a lot for just a milligram of it, there was a time when it was used by the pound. In fact, one of the Russian tsars was given an entire room made of amber! Apparently, when the light hits it, the amber looks alive -- as if it is swirling and moving. Can you imagine stepping in a room with every wall made of different shades of amber? It would be incredible. Apparently, this amazing room was lost during WWII. In my book, they are trying to find it, but I don't know if it was ever really found. It sure would be neat to see! Anyway, I'd better go get my sweet boy up (it's way past his breakfast time!). Have a great day!
This post is getting longer than I intended! I took a fun quiz today
Your Gemstone is Amber
Creative, happy, and logical.
You shine in any intellectual endeavor
What Gemstone Are You?
I'm amber -- like the Amber Room! Did you know that amber is actually hardened tree sap. There are many different shades and while we pay a lot for just a milligram of it, there was a time when it was used by the pound. In fact, one of the Russian tsars was given an entire room made of amber! Apparently, when the light hits it, the amber looks alive -- as if it is swirling and moving. Can you imagine stepping in a room with every wall made of different shades of amber? It would be incredible. Apparently, this amazing room was lost during WWII. In my book, they are trying to find it, but I don't know if it was ever really found. It sure would be neat to see! Anyway, I'd better go get my sweet boy up (it's way past his breakfast time!). Have a great day!