Ten thousand charms

by chuckofish

Have you been watching the Olympics? Me neither. Every night I try, but it is just so uninspiring, and, I’m sorry, I do not want to watch women’s curling! No one does, outside Canada. Ugh. If they showed a replay of the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, I would watch that…or the ones in Lillehammer–they were great! I have no doubt that the ratings would be much better. Well, I’ll just keep watching Lonesome Dove from back in 1989.

Meanwhile I am reading this biography of William Tecumseh Sherman…

It is “popular” history and therefore quite readable, and I am enjoying it. The author understands context and does not judge his subject by 21st century standards. I have always liked Sherman. He hated politicians and journalists and he was fiercely loyal. I can relate to that.

I am also reading this…

…which is also very interesting. The emphasis is on Sarah Edwards, the “godly wife”. By all evidence, Jonathan and Sarah Edwards had a very happy marriage and 11 children, all of whom lived to at least young adulthood–an amazing thing in the early 18th century. Noel Piper wrote this long article about the book and the impressive couple.

I couldn’t have said this better: “The church has always lived in changing times, even if today’s changes might feel more aggressive and chaotic than before. But our hope has never rested in the stability of society. It rests in the stability of God: ‘I the Lord do not change'(Mal. 3:6). The world may reinvent itself every decade, but God does not evolve, and His truth does not expire. It does not need updating. It does not need rebranding. Truth that shifts with the culture isn’t truth at all—it’s marketing.”

And here’s a new rendition of one of my favorite hymns:

Read some history and stand fast.