Because My Brain Isn't Functioning

I've been seeing the world in little snippets. Steve has been home two nights out of the last eight and so, as a result, I think I am becoming a bit brain-dead. Ha!! We're just mid-semester for A & M which means loooong, hard assignments and Steve had to attend a conference for work last week, so it's been busy. I also, for some reason, had the good fortune to visit our pediatrician's office three times for a total of five appointments (three were well-child checks). It's a good thing I like the guy! So I've also been running around like a crazy chicken. However, the really good news is that we got out with some of our bests this weekend for a little dinner. So incredibly yummy and recharging. And of course, I do not have a single picture of the event. Boo! Oh well.

But I don't think that I could write a cohesive post about really anything right now. The brain is mush. However, there are some things that have been swirling around in my mind as a result of some things I've been reading. I picked up Les Miserables after watching the movie this weekend. I read it in high school...700+ pages or so. I actually probably didn't really read it all in its entirety but rather skimmed some parts. It was still on my bookshelf so I decided to crack it open again since the story is one of the best ones I've ever heard. And I've had a lot of free time to myself in the evenings. Les Mis is such an amazing story of redemption and how the law, by itself, is a dead end-literally death. Incredible.

The Bishop, who ends up saving ValJean from re-imprisonment, even after ValJean had robbed him of his only earthly possessions that had any value-his silver and candlesticks, has some very choice things to say about life. These quotes totally spoke to my heart.

"We must never fear robbers or murderers. They are dangers from outside, small dangers. It is ourselves we have to fear. Prejudice is the real robber, and vice the real murderer. Why should we be troubled by a threat to our person or our pocket? What we have to beware of is the threat to our souls." Monseigneur Bienvenu, Les Miserables, Victor Hugo, pg. 42

Ummm...I'm always troubled by a threat to my person and my pocket. And I rarely have a look at the vice in my own heart which is far greater than any damage a real robber could do to me.

" 'Do not forget, do not ever forget, that you have promised me to use the money to make yourself an honest man.' ValJean, who did not recall having made any promise, was silent. The bishop had spoken the words slowly and deliberately. He concluded with a solemn emphasis: 'Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to what is evil but to what is good. I have bought your soul to save it from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God.' "
Monseigneur Bienvenu, Les Miserables, Victor Hugo, pg. 111

I have nothing to say about this quote/scene. The beauty of this exchange is such a poignant reminder of God's lavish grace. I can't say much more than that.

These little snippets have been getting my brain, my heart and soul pointed in the right direction amidst the hustle and bustle of the last week or so. It's not been bad...just heavy...lots to carry. In my mind, that's what good literature, a good story, does. It speaks to the heart in such a dramatic and universal way and helps to peck away at the busyness of life to unearth what is really important. There's always hope and redemption. God's mercy is ever-present and ready for me to reach out and grab onto long after my brain is gone. And I have nothing to fear. God's will forever triumphs over all...good, evil, the wayward, the sinner, the pious and saved...even my trivial, little load here.

It always feels good to know, that He does triumph over all. Over all.