Something Bigger Than the World

 

"Once in our world, a stable had something in it that was bigger than our world."

-C.S. Lewis, "The Last Battle," 1956

As quoted on www.deseretnews.com

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A manger is a small wooden object that is used to feed animals. Often there is hay placed in the middle of it so that the animal can eat. But there was one night when a manger was much more than a simple device for feeding cattle and oxen. The night our Lord and Savior was born in a stable and placed in a manger was the most important night in history, for it gave us a reason to live, a reason to keep on trusting His Word, and a reason to love others. While we don't know the exact date of this occurrence, we celebrate on December 25, and this day means different things to different people. To some, it's a time to shop, decorate, attend holiday parties, make donations, and eat, but to others it is so much more. For these things are the world's secularism raising its head, and yet many of us just go along with it. We can get discouraged during this time of year because we can't possibly live up to the commercialism that we are told is a part of Christmas. What if we don't get invited to a single holiday party? What if we have no one to buy a gift for, and we don't receive any gifts? What if we don't decorate at all? What if we don't have any family to share the day with? These things can make us depressed, but that's not what was intended for us when Jesus was born that dark, cold night in Bethlehem. So please, please, please...ignore what society "says" you must do this holiday season, and do what you choose to do, in faith. The joy comes in knowing that the birth of this little Jewish baby changed the world forever. His birth gives us hope, joy, and a timeless quest to love others unconditionally. This little baby was so much bigger than political elections, crime, hatred, commercialism, violence, poverty, and injustice. Jesus was the Prince of Peace, the One we worship on December 25. Thank you, C.S. Lewis, for always reminding us of how big Jesus is and how small the world is.

 I listened to a good historical novel recently, Lilac Girls: A Novel by Martha Hall Kelly. I have been studying the Holocaust and World War II for many years now, but I learned a lot from this book that I read for my book club this month. I checked on the historical accuracy of the book, and I saw that the essential details are indeed accurate. I can't name all of the books that I've read on this topic, but they include Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl, Night by Ele Wiesel, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, War Brides by Helen Bryan, and All the Light We Cannot See. I've also seen several movies on this topic, movies such as "Schindler's List," "Playing for Time," "The Hiding Place," "The Diary of Anne Frank", "Sophie's Choice," and others.

Lilac Girls: A Novel is about women who lived during the Holocaust. The main characters are Caroline Ferriday (American), Kasia (Polish), and Herta (a Nazi doctor). Caroline was a former actress and socialite who helped the Polish women who suffered unspeakable abuse at the hands of the Nazis in the Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. Kasia was one of the young Polish women who was imprisoned. She endured horrific leg surgeries by Nazis such as Herta. Herta was sort of "pulled in" to working for the Nazis, but once she was hired she didn't feel she could leave. She became just as evil as all of the other Nazis. She served prison time after the war was over but later was found practicing medicine, a fact that disgusted Kasia who was one of Herta's many victims. Kasia, her sister, and other Polish women who were operated on at Ravensbruck were known as "The Rabbits" because they were merely guinea pigs to the Nazis who believed that they were helping Germany by conducting these "experiments." Eventually some of The Rabbits were saved by the Swiss Red Cross, and a few wound up in the U.S. and were able to get medical help due to the efforts of Caroline. You see, The Rabbits were left with disfigurements and could not walk properly, so Carolina was able to get them help to try to reverse some of the problems they had. Sadly, many of The Rabbits did not live to receive this help because they died after the surgeries due to infections, disease, or starvation. This story reminds me that there is still much love in the world, even though the media would have us believe that hatred, injustice, and racism always win. On the contrary.

Another book that I've been enjoying is A Kentucky Christmas, edited by George Ella Lyon. It was published in 2003. The book is a collection of short stories and poems, so it's fun to read during this time of year. As many of you know, I consider Kentucky to be my home, so these stories come alive for me. The contributors to this book are people such as Loretta Lynn, Wendell Berry, Jesse Stuart, Janice Holt Giles, and Thomas Merton. As I read some of the stories, it reminded me of the time when we used to visit my grandparents on both sides of the family. The Cruse side lived on a farm outside of Sonora, Kentucky, the town where the first African American Navy Seal, Carl Brashear, grew up. Dad's family lived in a small house with an outhouse down the hill, and I'm sure they didn't get a lot for Christmas. But there sure was a lot of laughter and joy. I still remember sucking on the honeysuckle that grew down on the front fence area. On my maternal side I remember the country store in Pembroke, Kentucky where my grandparents often took us. As I read this book I could easily envision what a country store looks like because of my past. Grandad would let us get any sandwich we wanted, and the lady would slice off the balogna or whatever we wanted. We probably got a bottle of coke, and nothing tasted better. We also got a Hostess cupcake of some kind, and deciding on just one was always a problem. In those days we didn't get sweets as often as kids today get them, so it was a real treat. These vivid memories are very special to me even to this day, and they help me to appreciate what I have. 

I'm not sure what I'm going to read next, but I'll probably keep reading the stories in A Kentucky Christmas. I hope you have a blessed week. I know you're making the most of every day.

-Melissa Cruse Hill
Book Blogger
www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com

Don't tell Nilla, our 10-year old beagle-mix, that this is what Santa is bringing her!

 

Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: A New Historical Novel

"I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend." 

Jefferson (writer's relief.com)

-Thomas Jefferson (brainyquote.com)

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America has changed. History was made last week as we held an election in which a woman represented a major political party in the run for the presidency for the first time. History was made in other ways as well, but I don't want to spend time here debating all of the important issues facing our country. I will say though, that I agree with the sentiment behind what Jefferson is saying - we can disagree with each other and still be friends. I would say that most Americans have an opinion about the election and the results, but we can still get along. In the end, we all want what is best for our country. I hope you haven't lost any friends over this election. 

This week I'd like to discuss a new historical novel that I read recently. The book is called Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings: A Novel by Stephen O'Connor. The book was published just this year, so you probably have not read it, but it's a good book and I think it will hold your attention. The book's retail price is $28, so be thrifty as I am and just get it at the library. I enjoyed the book very much, even though it is over 600 pages in length. Many of the pages are not full, so you aren't actually going to be reading 600 full pages. The book focuses on the relationship between Jefferson and his servant, Sally Hemings.

According to the novel, Hemings was a mulatto slave girl who was born to Elizabeth Hemings, one of Jefferson's slaves. (Sally's biological father was white). Although only a small percentage of Sally's bloodline was actually African, she was treated as a slave as were all mulatto people of that era. The first time that Jefferson had sex with Hemings when she was only 16 years old. They were both in Paris as well as two of Jefferson's daughters. After Jefferson took advantage of Hemings, she remembered the warning that her mother had given her about white men and she knew she did not have a say in what was happening to her. Through the years she gave birth to several of Jefferson's children, although only four of them survived to adulthood. In this book you find some of the thoughts that Hemings must have had each time he approached Sally for "favors," and you may even wonder if she enjoyed her relationship with Jefferson. Did he actually ask her opinion about various topics when they were together? Did she actually open up to him at times and speak about her feelings? We will never know for sure, but the book gives us some suggestions as to what might have been going on in the minds of these two people. 

In the book, Jefferson and Hemings often meet in the old hunting lodge on the grounds of Monticello. They tried to keep their affair a secret, but apparently they didn't do a very good job because people seemed to be aware of what was happening. We don't have any written evidence that they knew, but this novel hints at the fact that they did know. The story obviously was passed down through the years because most of us are aware of it. This brings me to a story that my great uncle used to tell us. He said that some of Jefferson's descendants are buried on his land in Western Kentucky near the Tennessee line because he had to get them out of Virginia as his fame spread and he became the third president of the U.S. I will find out the last name of the descendants that are buried there and insert them here for those of you who might belong to ancestry.com or something else like that. We may never know how many children Thomas Jefferson actually fathered.

The other book that I'm reading is Lilac Girls: A Novel by Martha Hall Kelly. I'm reading this one for my reading group and I'm enjoying it. I'm listening to it in the car because all of the library copies were checked out. It's a historical novel about three women during World War II and how their lives were changed during this turbulent time in history. I'm looking forward to the conclusion of this book and I'm hoping that it ends on a high note for all of the characters.

I hope you're enjoying this Fall season and all of the colors along with the cooler temperatures.Have a great week, and...

Read on,

Melissa Hill

Book Blogger

www.onegoodbookblog.blogspot.com

Sally Hemings (alchetron.com)