Wow, wow, wow! Your essay is quite deep on many levels. I don’t have the expertise to delve into an explanation of the multiple waves of your tangled literary conversation. However, I do know you have a unique talent to blend, stir & bake the English language into thought-provoking prose. I specifically loved this statement in your opening paragraph — “You set out on the big world, the sun rising over the horizon of possibility and the truth, and it blazes so bright you can hardly look at it.” Bravo! You have a gift. I sincerely wish I could express a similar sentiment with your degree of intrigue & clarity.
The only true grace for any and all of us is through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:16-17) And then, Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us that we can do nothing to earn this grace and salvation, "God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it." But as human beings in this world for a short time, we want to control things over which we have no control, thus addictions to the various worldly offerings are inevitable. This then is where God's grace comes in to say in effect that in His grace as we are one with Him through salvation, there is nothing we can do will take away His grace. But it is not license to do as we please. The goal is to His will on earth as it is in heaven.
Whoa, I don’t know what to say. You populate the hard places. I’m so glad you’ve made friends of these authors, some of them outside my reading. I love the constant search for grace, if that’s what it is, whatever that is. Is it absolution or communion?
Thoughtful piece Jenna. I can't say my little puzzle box understood most of it, but I hope it means we'll get more from you! Thank you for sharing you life and thoughts with those blessed enough to have found you.
Maybe we are meant to live with one foot in Ecclesiastes "For everything there is a season" and "was it ever less than a treason to go with the drift of things" from Frost.
Another great essay. It brought back something I read. A healthy and prosperous New Year to you and your family!
"There is a place called ‘heaven’ where the good here unfinished is completed; and where the stories unwritten, and the hopes unfulfilled, are continued. We may laugh together yet." - J.R.R. Tolkien
Brilliant piece. Bravo! Just Restacked...
Jenna,
Wow, wow, wow! Your essay is quite deep on many levels. I don’t have the expertise to delve into an explanation of the multiple waves of your tangled literary conversation. However, I do know you have a unique talent to blend, stir & bake the English language into thought-provoking prose. I specifically loved this statement in your opening paragraph — “You set out on the big world, the sun rising over the horizon of possibility and the truth, and it blazes so bright you can hardly look at it.” Bravo! You have a gift. I sincerely wish I could express a similar sentiment with your degree of intrigue & clarity.
Please — keep writing.
The only true grace for any and all of us is through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:16-17) And then, Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us that we can do nothing to earn this grace and salvation, "God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it." But as human beings in this world for a short time, we want to control things over which we have no control, thus addictions to the various worldly offerings are inevitable. This then is where God's grace comes in to say in effect that in His grace as we are one with Him through salvation, there is nothing we can do will take away His grace. But it is not license to do as we please. The goal is to His will on earth as it is in heaven.
Whoa, I don’t know what to say. You populate the hard places. I’m so glad you’ve made friends of these authors, some of them outside my reading. I love the constant search for grace, if that’s what it is, whatever that is. Is it absolution or communion?
Thoughtful piece Jenna. I can't say my little puzzle box understood most of it, but I hope it means we'll get more from you! Thank you for sharing you life and thoughts with those blessed enough to have found you.
Maybe we are meant to live with one foot in Ecclesiastes "For everything there is a season" and "was it ever less than a treason to go with the drift of things" from Frost.
Thank You!
Lovely. What an inspiration.
Another great essay. It brought back something I read. A healthy and prosperous New Year to you and your family!
"There is a place called ‘heaven’ where the good here unfinished is completed; and where the stories unwritten, and the hopes unfulfilled, are continued. We may laugh together yet." - J.R.R. Tolkien