Rae: Odds and Ends

First of all, thank you for your responses re non-fiction. I will try harder to make the topics more user-friendly and relevant. Because I have such a large and varied collection of non-read non-fiction (I seem to collect them), I rarely go to the library anymore. I forget sometimes that other people do not always have access to the books or the time to read that I do. I will try to keep that in mind as I choose directions for us to go in our reading.

Lynness...I really appreciated your post. I think we all, as members of the church and as Christians, face some of those same issues. In our primary, we actually voted for Obama because we are unaffiliated and wanted to vote against Hillary. I personally feel that as liberal as he is, he is the lesser of two evils. And we are so tired of the Clintons. Can you imagine Bill in the White House again...and with so much time on his hands? Scary. I would be most interested to hear your conclusions and ideas re illegal immigration. I continue to vacillate and to study the issue. I certainly haven't reached any solid conclusions. I think it's an extrememly volatile issue...not unlike the secession of southern states that led to the Civil War (I am taking a class...). We are counseled here in Utah that if we really loved Nephi then we would care about his posterity. I do, but the Gadianton robbers had posterity also!

Lulu...I started Gone With the Wind a few years ago and wasn't in the mood. I would like to know what you think about it. I should probably get back to it. After giving The English Patient a try (35 pages or so) and not enjoying the writing style or the language (and it's a Booker Prize winner), I have picked up Wuthering Heights as my February read. I have seen the movie and disliked it, but I have never read the book. Maybe I will have a different opinion of the story now that I'm an old married lady.

Mim...I'm intrigued that you are intrigued again with that pesky Wilson Poulter line. I have been thinking a lot about our family on the other side lately because of the death of Ivan's mother and the upcoming death of our own. Thinking about who they will visit with. Mom and I had a wonderful conversation about foreordination the other day. She was pondering the fact that Prez Hinckley had been reserved for this day. And she realized...so had she. It made her so grateful, she said, to be able to live here and now and know who she knows. Yesterday we talked about whether we would care (on the other side) about some of the things we care about now in this world. I was telling her about my Civil War class and how I wanted to ask Franklin Spencer so many questions about his experiences early on in the war...and how and why he ended up fighting for the Confederacy for a while. Being able to talk to someone like that would make the history so much more relevant. The conclusion we came up with was that if we care about it here we will most likely still care about it there...but with a few differences because of the thrust of our work there. It made me hopeful that I can continue my intellectual growth as well as my spiritual growth on the other side. And on another school note, I have started my intimidating math class now. It occurred to me, after reading a Joseph Smith quote (I am slowly working my way through TPJS this year in conjunction with the RS manual) about our intellects being created for enlargement, that I can pray for understanding and enlightenment re those mathematical issues. If I am to co-create with my husband one day...I better understand some math!

I also wanted to report on a book I read this past week for Maren's book group. We read A Thousand Splendid Suns by the author of The Kite Runner. My goodness. Wow. It's about two Afghani women who are thrust together by culture and marriage. It's a dark and rough read that made me so so so grateful for the blessings of living in a free land. Ivan and I had a discussion about how the gospel could possibly be taught in that culture. Very difficult. I can't say that I enjoyed the book because it was so tough to read. But I found it well worth my time. I recommend it.

Happy reading!