Miss Ann Says

thoughts from everyday life
Miss Ann Says
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  • Daily Archives: July 4, 2012

    • what if…

      Posted at 1:08 pm by missannsays, on July 4, 2012

      This is really a continuation of my last post – Respect in the Real World -4th of July & book club.  At book club, one comment that was made more than once last evening was “I wonder what I would do if…?”. I don’t think we can know what we would do in any given situation until we are in that situation. Projecting what we hope we would do isn’t necessarily helpful. I feel knowing what we believe, what we cherish, what to us is not negotiable is of utmost importance. But until we are in a situation we can’t know what we will do or how we will react.

      I remember hearing a story about Corrie ten Boom about what if…. I don’t remember the whole story but the part that has stuck with me and I tried to instill in my own children went something like this: Corrie had asked her father “how will I know what to do when _____happens? How will I get through_____”. Her father told her a story. “When we are going on a journey by train when do I give you the ticket?” Corrie responded “when we start the journey, when we get on the train.” Her father stated “And God will give you what you need when you need it. He will give his grace when you need it.”

      I have a vivid memory from September 2001 of sitting on the floor of my living room with my daughters and sister and asking them “Where do you think daddy is right now?” And they answered “in heaven”. I said “it is time to plan a memorial service”. And then I said something like this “I have no idea how we are going to get through this but if a week ago someone had told me we would have to go through what we have already gone through, I never would have believed them. God has gotten us through the last week and we had moments of sadness but we also had moments of peace and even laughter. And He will give us what we need when we need it.” And He has.

      Posted in books, faith, memories, September 11 | 1 Comment | Tagged following Jesus, prayer, September 11
    • Respect in the Real World – 4th of July and book club

      Posted at 12:13 pm by missannsays, on July 4, 2012

      Last night I attended my monthly book club at the public library. Our book  for the month of June had been The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway. What an amazing book and what a wonderful discussion. “The Sarajevo in this novel is only one small part of the real city and its people, as imagined by the author. This is above all else a work of fiction.”  It is fiction set in a real event in the recent past and that may be what makes it so chilling. More than once during our discussion last evening someone commented “why, don’t I remember this. why wasn’t I aware of this.”  I defaulted to “maybe the media wasn’t reporting it. Maybe it wasn’t in front of us.” But that isn’t a reason not to be informed. There was also discussion about what it must be like to live with war waging around you. We shared stories of images seen during childhood that shaped us today. We also wondered what would we do in those circumstances would we be brave, would we be our “brother’s keeper”.

      “The city he lives in is full of people who will someday go  back to treating each other like humans. The war will end, and when it’s looked back upon it will be with regret, not with fond memories of faded glory.  In the meantime, he will continue to walk the streets. Streets that will not have dead and discarded bodies lying in them. He will behave now as he hopes everyone will someday behave. Because civilization isn’t a thing that you build and then there it is, you have it forever. It needs to be built constantly, re-created daily. It vanishes far more quickly than he ever would have thought possible. And if he wishes to live, he must do what he can to prevent the world he wants to live in from fading away. As long as there’s war, life is a preventable measure.”

      I have been pondering that quote in light of today being the  4th of July – America’s birthday.  I am grateful to the men and women serving in our military  whether at home or overseas. I am saddened that their families will have empty chairs at the tables due to deployment or even worse due to the ultimate sacrifice. I also feel that as a nation there are “wars” waging within our borders – poverty, unemployment, healthcare reform, care of the aged, immigration, religious freedoms,etc… Mr. Galloway, I hope you don’t mind but I  tweaked Dragan’s thoughts on page 151 of  The Cellist of Sarajevo for the 4th of July, 2012 – “The country she lives in is full of people who will someday go back to treating each other like humans. The issues/problems will be resolved and when they are looked back upon it will be with regret, not with fond memories of faded glory and which party won. She will behave now as she hopes everyone will someday behave with respect for her fellow countrymen. Because civilization isn’t a thing that you build and then there it is, you have it forever. It needs to be built constantly, re-created daily. It vanishes far more quickly than she ever would have thought possible. And if she wishes to live, she must do what she can to prevent the world  she wants to live in from fading away. “

      Posted in books, daily life, respect in the real world | 0 Comments | Tagged reading list, respect
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