My Fellow Pilgrims: Stiff-necked: a prayer

Tuesday, 21 June 2005

Stiff-necked: a prayer

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Lord,
In Scripture, stubborn, obstinate, hardened people are described as stiff-necked.
These people ignored your love and power,
ignored the obvious direction you wanted them to go.
I was always curious about this.
This analogy seemed a strange one.

This morning I woke up and can barely move my neck on one side.
I am, literally, stiff-necked.
I am cross and cranky.
I am not happy and let my wife and dog know it.
Petty? Probably.
Obnoxious? Ask my wife.
Lord, could it be that our body affects our mind more than we want to admit?
It was nothing I did intentionally to cause this,
and I KNOW that I will have to live with it.

If this is how I act when I am literally stiff-necked,
I cannot imagine how annoying I am when I am
spiritually stiff-necked.
You do.
Forgive me.
Forgive for complaining this morning.
Forgive me for when I am stiff-necked and not conscious of it.
Forgive me for not being patient with those that are in pain,
and I have no patience for them. Whatver their pain.
Lord, thank you for your patience.
Thank you for your forgiveness.
Thank you for hearing my rants.
I love You.
Amen.

Tuesday, 21 June 2005 in Prayer | Permalink

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Books I've read in 2006

Christopher Paolini: Eragon
Too predictable, the boy saw Star Wars too many times, and rehashed the same plot. Well written for a teen, but expected more from all the hype. (***)
Donald Miller: To Own A Dragon
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Gregory Maguire: Wicked
Insightful and and inciting. A tough but eminently readable look at the Wicked Witch of the West from Oz. (*****)
Elisa Carbone: Blood on the River: Jamestown 1607
Our whole school is reading this over Winter Break. It will be fun for the boys, and oh so timely! Recommend it for kids wanting to get in on the 400th anniversary. (****)
Dave Barry: Peter and the Starcatchers
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Trudy Knowles: What Every Middle School Teacher Should Know:
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Daniel Keyes: Flowers for Algernon (Bantam Classic)
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William Goldman: The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure (The 'Good Parts' Version)
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Gary K. Wolf: Who Censored Roger Rabbit
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Christopher Marlowe: Dr. Faustus
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Jon Scieszka: Guys Write for Guys Read
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Donald Miller: Searching For God Knows What
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Dan Brown: Angels & Demons
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Ray Bradbury: The Martian Chronicles (The Grand Master Editions)
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Carl Hiaasen: Hoot
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Charlaine Harris: Dead as a Doornail (Southern Vampire Mysteries)
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J. R. R. Tolkien: The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings, Part 1)
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Victor Hugo: Les Miserables
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Walter Wangerin, Jr.: The Book of the Dun Cow
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J.R.R. Tolkein: The Lord of the Rings
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Richard Adams: Watership Down
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Aldous Huxley: Brave New World
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Dallas Willard: The Divine Conspiracy
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Etienne Wenger: Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity
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C.S. Lewis: Mere Christianity
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Yann Martel: The Life of Pi
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Frank Herbert: Dune
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John Irving: A Prayer For Owen Meany
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Brian D. McLaren: A New Kind of Christian
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Fellow Pilgrims