Exquisite

ex·qui·site
adj.
1. Characterized by intricate and beautiful design or execution
2. Of such beauty or delicacy as to arouse intense delight
3. Excellent; flawless.



Thus I would describe the following paragraph. It's long, but well worth the read. The context: Suffering in this world--God is holy, God is love. How does all this go together? On John 3:16:



"And in what circumstances was this love displayed? When the world was in a state of rebellion against him,--when the human character had been totally changed from its pristine innocence, and had become the very reverse of his own,--when, instead of being the object of men's supreme reverence and affecti0n, he was the object of their enmity and dread,--when the holy attributes of his nature, and the moral principles of his government, and the righteous precepts of his law were all alike distasteful to their depraved minds,--when his sole prerogative, as the Governor and Judge of the world, had been carelessly forgotten, or daringly denied,--when the sublime temple of nature, at whose altar they should have worshipped the one living and true God, was filled with the shrines of idolatry, where his supremacy was virtually denied, or divided amongst a multitude of false gods,--and when the more sacred temple of the human heart, where God desired to dwell, and to be ministered unto by a train of holy affections, had become a chamber of imagery, filled with a host of wicked passions--a temple, indeed, of spiritual idolatry, where the best of all homage, that of man's affections, was rendered, if not to idols of gold and silver, yet to the wealth, and honours, and pleasures of the world,--when, in one word, God's character was hated by man, and man's character odious to God,--yet, even then, 'GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD.' Not surely because he could regard the character of men with complacency--far less because their conduct had deserved his favour, for their character was regarded by him with utter abhorrence, and their conduct had exposed them to his righteous judgment. But while he hated and condemned their sin, no malice mingled with that hatred, no revenge dictated that condemnation; on the contrary, he pitied their case, even while he abhorred their guilt, and, in the exercise of a free, generous, and sovereign love, he resolved 'to seek and to save that which was lost.' "



--Comfort in Affliction, by James Buchanan, 1837



Total bliss.



What language shall I borrow

To thank Thee, dearest Friend;

For this, Thy dying sorrow

Thy pity without end?

O, make me Thine forever,

And should I fainting be,

Lord, let me never, never

Outlive my love to Thee.



--O Sacred Head Now Wounded



Selah.

Yahooey!

The cold front's coming in tonight--O joy, o delight! My favorite part of the year. I would do well in England: I love gloomy, dreary weather. The Tigger-ness in me is starting to emerge. Bliss.

Happy Birthday to so many people this month, including CC tomorry and Mary yesterday!

And we continue to be blessed at our dear little church. Our pastor is a joy. He has helped me, and I venture to say ALL our church, SO much! And I have found my only satisfactory explanation for the term "We preached on...". And you know I love that.

Happy Week to all my bloggity friends and family. "To comment is to love," and you can go light on the Sonic ice now--time for HOT cocoa and Scrabble!

Yes, I may consider myself a hero...

...because I saved three lives today. I gave blood! Finally! I have been prevented the last few times because of my blood pressure, but now, with medication, I was able to give. AND I have the tee shirt (finally!) to prove it! It even says Super Hero on it. Jody always gets tee shirts and I don't, until today. Yes!

My fellow Aspiring Amateur Geek, Jake, took some great pics with my NEW camera (don't I trust him?!): Not bad. He definitely has potential. I do the uploading of sermons for our church, and Jake tapes and converts them to whatever and puts them on my flash drive. We aspire.

Thus ends an exciting day in the life of the Risse!

"The Boys"

We finally got a visit from "the boys" and the oldest granddaughter, and it was great to see them! After Firstborn conquered in pool and arm-wrestling (because, as we all know, where there are two or more Risses, there IS a competition!), we ate and visited. They sure like those cabbage rolls. Those healthy boys. Miss K, in 3rd grade, is almost as tall as I am! Sweet, sweet girl.