Mysterious Books

I love reading. I love books. Even when I'm not going to take them home with me, I love to admire books and make mental "to-read" lists. I am always reading something new, and it is usually something unusual or thought-provoking.

On NPR's Morning Edition today, I heard this list of mystery novels that are under the radar, yet fascinating in their differences from the 10-cent mystery novel. I am particularly intrigued by The City & The City by China Mieville. If you love to read, check out this list on NPR.

Furniture Salvage

Several months ago, my sister introduced me to a furniture/home goods salvage store in the area. Chris and I love to browse the finds and dream up things for the house we don't have. We did find a fabulous and clean-lined bedside table the day we visited. Unfortunately, there was only one in the store, and we were sadly dissappointed. I went another time and was able to scarf up the same table when only 2 were availble. Yay! I LOVE finding great deals on really great and well-made items.

Turkey Stock Day

Apparently, I have been taking a brief sabbatical from blogging. And it's not very encouraging to say that there really is nothing interesting to report since the last time I posted (yikes)!

BUT today, I am making stock. When I was checking the foreign reaches of our freezer yesterday, I found the turkey carcass from last Thanksgiving! I was saving it for soup, so today, I'm making turkey stock with the bones and plenty of meat, onion, celery, carrot, bay leaves, and fresh thyme. I think I actually have enough meat to get two batches out of it, so round 2 will begin shortly. I'm so excited about having these to make soup with later on, and the apartment smells so amazing, I'm not convinced I can wait for the fall!

Futue summer cooking projects:

• Canning tomato pasta sauce for the winter using Barbara Kingsolver's family recipe from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

• Pickling banana peppers for sandwiches (the dill pickles were a huge success, btw)

Lauren Winner

Chris and I went to hear Lauren Winner speak Sunday morning at St. George's (because apparently I don't seem to spend enough time there already). She was engaging, interesting, and hilarious. She is actually currently a professor at Duke, and I wish I could take her classes! This is the link to hear her 40 minute or so lecture to the class that I attended. As I write this, it's not actually up yet, but as soon as it's edited, I'll put it up on the St. G's website. So check back if it's not available yet!

What I Don't Believe

Chris and I were on our way home from a shopping trip (the first one we've taken in about 6 months - it was fun to go and refreshing to realize that the act of buying things has lost some of its excitement) when we started up a conversation about religion. We get into deep discussions a lot, but not often are they about religion.

I have been a Christian since high school, when I really was first introduced to the faith by a great friend. Since then, while I have always known that I am Christian, I have been generally unable to name the beliefs that I have and whether they even align with any particular denomination.

What I took away from our conversation that night was that it is very easy for me to name things I do not believe in...for instance, I don't believe hell exists, and for very specific reasons. At the same time, I don't have a clear vision of what heaven is, or what heaven looks like. I know I don't believe in the infallibility of the literal transcription of the Bible. There are so many transcriptions and translations, I cannot believe that each of them (or one above all others) is literally true. Instead, I believe that through prayer and study, God can reveal the truth through any version of Scripture, and that truth may not be the same as the literal meaning the words represent.

But there are so many more things that I cannot say for certain! It is much easier to disagree with something than it is to articulate a belief, as least for me. I think I am in a place in life now where I am searching for these answers and for a little more clarity and certainty.

Homemade Pickles

Chris helped me make some homemade dill pickles yesterday with a recipe I snagged off of some website...if anyone's curious I could find it. They were extremely easy to make, with the exception of running out of the vinegar solution half way through and starting another batch. I have no idea how long these pickles will take to pickle, but I'm going to give them two weeks. So far, they look beautiful!

Intellectual Preaching

I am reading a book by Lauren Winner called Girl Meets God. When I first saw the title I thought it was yet another book about single Christians and purity. Turns out the author grew up in the orthodox Jewish faith, and as a young adult she converted to Christianity and became a member of the Episcopal Church. This quote comes from her book, while she daydreams about what it would be like to be a priest:

"I picture myself clad in a long, flowing chasuble, instructing my flock on the finer points of biblical interpretation, filling in on fuzzy historical details they might not know, inspiring them to lead a more committed Christian life."

What a great description of clergy! Sadly, I can only think of 2 ministers over my long history of church-hopping who have ever fit that description. Normally, I find that most are busy telling cute anecdotes about life that barely scrape the surface of depth and meaning in scripture.

Do you think most preaching falls this short of the mark in other places?