Vicarious

We have not had a very restful Holy Week this year. Sickness abounds in our kids lately. For the moment everyone is well so I wanted to pop in and wish you all a happy celebration of the Lord's Resurrection this weekend.

...we must not be content with a vague general belief that Christ's sufferings on the cross were vicarious.  We are intended to see this truth in every part of his passion.  We may follow him all through, from the bar of Pilate to the minute of his death, and see him at every step as our mighty substitute, our representative, our head, our surety, our proxy -- the divine friend who undertook to stand in our place and, by the priceless merit of his suffering, to purchase our redemption.  Was he flogged?  It was done so that "by his wounds we are healed" (Isa. 53:5).  Was he condemned, though innocent?  It was done so that we might be acquitted, though guilty.  Did he wear a crown of thorns?  It was done so that we might wear the crown of glory.  Was he stripped of his clothes?  It was done so that we might be clothed in everlasting righteousness.  Was he mocked and reviled?  It was done so that we might be honored and blessed.  Was he reckoned a criminal, and counted among those who have done wrong?  It was done so that we might be reckoned innocent, and declared free from all sin.  Was he declared unable to save himself?  It was so that he might be able to save others to the uttermost.  Did he die at last, and that the most painful and disgraceful death?  It was done so that we might live forevermore, and be exalted to the highest glory.

Let us ponder these things well:  they are worth remembering.  The very key to peace is a right apprehension of the vicarious sufferings of Christ.

-JC Ryle

Hey Rookie, You Were Good

My husband emailed me this link earlier this week.  Get out your tissues, Patriots fans.



And this of course summoned memories of one of the movie clips most likely to make David cry every. single. time.

Doc Saves Karin

Field of Dreamsat MOVIECLIPS.com

Brady really just wanted to know that he was good, just like Moonlight Graham. :-)

Nine

This boy:

• celebrated his second birthday two weeks after his little brother was born
• is the tallest
• is the loudest
• is the only one with freckles
• pulls his hair when he's nervous
• can make his mother feel better when she's stressed
• is almost done with third grade
• may get by without braces since he's missing two adult teeth
• was the most tiring newborn (he had terrible reflux)
• is one of four Bens in his cub scout den (including one leader)
• enjoys pretty much everything he does

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!  WE LOVE YOU!!

Once

Over the weekend David and I sat down and finally watched the movie that's been sitting on our TV cabinet for close to two months: Once.



It's a shame that the description lists it as a "musical," because the term summons up images quite different than what you get in this movie.  Yes, about sixty percent of the movie is music, but there are no spinning parasols or dance routines.

I can't stop thinking about it.  It's on my list of favorites for certain.

You probably know one of the songs from the movie, which won the Oscar for Best Original Song:  "Falling Slowly."



Disclaimer:  this is an Irish flick, and the language is pretty salty.

One Thousand Gifts 4.11.11

88. Finishing a book
89. Bird's nest in our tree
90. More dirt digging...seedlings in the ground
91. Laughing until my face hurts
92. New friends
93. Seeing my oldest serve his younger friend
94. Spring!  Always busy but so rich
95. azaleas aflame
96. teenage girls taking copious notes on my husband's teaching
97. new mentoring relationships
98. a wedding...a new family forged
99. Cabo Fish Taco and Amelie's with my date :-)
100. Faraway friends home for the summer

Happy Home Opener

Your Dose of Culture for the Day

Then You Have Reason to Tremble

The whole value of the meditation of the suffering of Christ lies in this, that man should come to the knowledge of himself and sink and tremble. If you are so hardened that you do not tremble, then you have reason to tremble. Pray to God that he may soften your heart and make fruitful your meditation upon the suffering of Christ, for we of ourselves are incapable of proper reflection unless God instills it.

But if one does meditate rightly on the suffering of Christ for a day, an hour, or even a quarter of an hour, this we may confidently say is better than a whole year of fasting, days of psalm singing, yes, than even one hundred masses, because this reflection changes the whole man and makes him new, as once he was in baptism.

-- Martin Luther

I came across it in Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross, edited by Nancy Guthrie.  

This is another book in the set alongside the advent edition that I quoted here.