A Place to Call Home

I found this lovely poem on Fanfiction.net yesterday, and I just had to post it here (with the author's permission, of course). It is a poem from Gimli's point of view, musing on the glittering caves beneath Helm's Deep. It's so rare to find good poetry that moves the heart to wonder and lets you see the beauty it describes; and, best of all, it rhymes and has a good rhythmic flow to it. So, here it is:

A Place to Call Home

by Kara's Aunty

'Twas on the day the Wall was blown

My eyes the joy of light were shown

As Horsemen fought their lands to save

There I beheld a wondrous cave!

Amidst the gore of battle fierce

Its beauty bright my heart did pierce

Beyond Deep walls by orc defiled

Its beauty ran untamed and wild

At battle's end when all lay still

This Dwarf returned to take his fill

Of columns yellow, white and rose

Ebony pools in sweet repose

Great caverns stretched both far and tall

And crystals lit the polished wall

With ceilings high and flowing air

Its beauty was beyond compare

Oh brilliant light! Beauteous gleam!

Bewitching sight! Enchanted dream!

Whose fair walls shine with gems and ore

These Dwarven eyes thy halls adore!

There is no land of Men so fair

As what my eyes have seen in there

No Moria, no Rivendell

Could e'er ensnare my heart so well

No golden hall with gilded dome

Could e'er aspire to be my home

For peace and joy my soul has found

In Nature's garden under ground

Her flowers line the soil of wall

Their colours bright the eye enthral

Her vines be sprawling veins of gold

That warm the heart when day is cold

Her silent lakes be pools of dew

Serene and calm their waters true

Her caverns deep within the earth

Give weary feet a homely berth

Oh splendour pure! Delightful place!

Enticing lure! Unrivalled grace!

Whose glory none could e'er ignore

I name thee home for ever more!

Now Elves may tend their forests green

And Nature's blessings may be seen

Wherever they imbue the grace

That lingers in their song's embrace

But Dwarven touch may too be kind

In passages that roll and wind

Beneath the mountain obdurate

Our hands may tend and cultivate

And mayhap Men may till their land

To see it flourish by their hand

Reward of all their hardened toil

May soon be seen on fertile soil

But Dwarven hands may labour too

In places where no others do

In stone and rock our fingers sow

As Dwarven lamps set caves aglow

Oh mighty halls! Glorious scene!

Bejewelled walls! Alluring sheen!

Whose beauty makes my spirit sing

No other home such joy could bring!

 http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4979097/1/A_Place_to_call_Home 

They'll Try Anything!

Phillip Pullman is the author of a trilogy of fantasy books which have been described by Christians as the exact opposite of the Chronicles of Narnia. His books, The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass, are quite popular and the first was made into a movie. Pullman absolutely detests Narnia and all that it stands for, and accuses it of many different things, including racism and sexism. I found a very good article on this by Michael Ward, who is very well versed, not only in Narnia, but in everything Lewis wrote.
Here is the article.
The thing that I find funny is how people are always trying to pin accusations of racism on everyone and everything. I once had a rather lively discussion on the Amazon comments with a lady who thought that The Horse and His Boy is racist. I attempted to show her that racism does not mean what she thinks it means. Nowadays, racism is thought to mean a negative portrayal of a colored person (usually black). However, that's ridiculous. Black people aren't perfect, and to portray one of them negatively is not racist.
The proper meaning of racist is someone who dislikes all blacks (or Hispanics, or Asians) merely and only because of their skin color and wishes that they did not exist. In this definition, it is impossible that Lewis was a racist, because he portrays dark skinned people (the Calormenes) as having both their good (Aravis and Emeth) and their bad (Rabadash and the Grand Vizier). This is something which Mr. Ward doesn't really touch on: that the definition of racist has been twisted, and no longer means what it's supposed to mean. That's why I've written this. However, the article itself is excellent.
They'll try anything to discredit Narnia. And while there are some legitimate criticisms of the series, because Lewis obviously wasn't perfect, the books are a testimony to (in my humble opinion) perhaps the greatest writer ever. And Phillip Pullman, with his anti-Narnia books, will probably (or at least, hopefully) be forgotten in a decade or so, while Narnia will continue it's popularity for hundreds of years.

Pastor Youcef

An Iranian pastor has been imprisoned since 2010 on charges of blasphemy and apostasy against Islam.

When asked to repent, Nadarkhani stated: "Repent means to return. What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?"

"To the religion of your ancestors, Islam," the judge replied, according to the American Center for Law & Justice.

"I cannot," Nadarkhani said.

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The courage of this pastor, this man, breaks my heart. Wow! To stand before a Muslim judge, knowing that a death sentence is hanging over you, and to still call Islam blasphemy? That takes a courage and a faith so strong that it could only come from God Himself. May God bless this man a thousand times over, and his dear wife and children. Please pray for all of them.

What should we pray? Of course, that his life will be spared, but most of all that he would continue strong until the end. An example and a witness. That a huge number of Muslims (and atheists, and others) would come to Christ because of this man's valiant stand. Also, pray for his wife, that her faith would continue as well. I can only imagine the fear and the grief and the doubt that she must be going through. And pray for his children, that God would bless them with saving faith, that they might follow in their father's footsteps and be courageous witnesses to those around them.

May God use Pastor Youcef to bless and encourage many other Christians also going through persecution in Muslim and Communist countries. 

Dear brother, you and your family are in our prayers. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. May God bless you, and keep you, and cause His face to shine upon you, and give you peace in this time of trial.

Updates on Pastor Youcef

Soup, and a Contest

I found this article for making different soups. I've only tried the Chicken, Leek and Potato Soup so far, with a few variations (such as adding carrots, and, today, rotini pasta noodles), and it's really good! I love soup on a chilly or downright cold day, and we're going to be having a lot of those for the next several months.

The contest is not held by myself, but by K. M. Weiland, who is trying to get publicity for her book 'Outlining your Novel; Map your Way to Success'.
If you buy her book (either Kindle or paperback), and email her the receipt, she will enter you into a contest to win either a Kindle (first prize) ten books on the craft of writing (second prize), and several other prizes, as well as an hourly drawing for an MP3 recording of one of her writer's craft books (this drawing doesn't affect your chances of winning the big prizes). You can visit her website here. And hurry, the drawing ends on Friday!

Waiting for Morning- A Book Review

Waiting For Morning
Karen Kingsbury

So, I want to say that first off this was the first book that caught my attention on the Blogging for Books list of books available for review. It seemed like all the others were either romance (which I can't stand) or else modern devotional books (which I have very little interest in, as a rule). Drunkeness angers me greatly, as I've heard too many stories of what happens when someone gets drunk. So, I was kind of interested in this book. It might not have been one I'd have spent money on, but it was one that had an interesting premise. And it was interesting!
It follows the basic formula of happy family suddenly torn apart by tragedy; anger against God by the main character; a little bit of silly 'romance'; and a happy conclusion. However, Karen Kingsbury is a good writer, and in the pages of this book she packs a lot of tense excitement and emotions. I did feel a few things were theologically shaky, but those things were few and far between. An example of this was when one character tells another character who has walked away from God that God loves her. My response to this would be, "How do you know that God loves this person, if they are showing absolutely no sign of truly being saved?"
But the basic messages in 'Waiting for Morning' are excellent. Christians do suffer, and they suffer terribly at times. Being a Christian is not being 'carried through the skies on flowery beds of ease'. It's a battle, and often times a very long and painful struggle.
At times, the book got a little too much for me, however. I found it hard that a woman like Hannah would completely turn her back on God and deny that He existed. But the last fourth of the book kind of convinced me a bit that it's possible, but that God will always bring His children back, using whatever it takes.
Actually, the last few chapters were the best, but the whole book was good. I could really feel for Hannah and her daughter Jenny, and even for Brian Wesley. I liked Mrs. Cummins a lot.
This book is very good in showing how the legal system works, and I enjoyed that. My heart sank every time there was a delay in bringing the case to trial. I liked how it showed the defense attorney, Mr. Finch, to be a dishonest sleezeball, knowing that his client is guilty but still trying to get him the very lightest sentence possible.
I also very much appreciated that, although forgiveness was emphasized, so was justice. The district attorney is a Christian, and when someone tells him that it doesn't sound very Christian to want to get someone a first degree murder charge, he responds, "My obligation to forgive doesn't erase my obligation to provide punishment. Without rules and penalties, this country would have fallen apart decades ago. I like to think that my job is actually quite Christian."
So, all in all, this was a very good book, which I give four stars out of five. I would love to read the next two books in the series, if at all possible.

I received this book for free through WaterbrookMultnomah's Blogging for Books program, and was not required to give a favorable review.