Changing genres, it's like the story about the guy who doesn't like the lit= tle hut he lives in. He goes to the town elder and says, father, I hate it= . It's so small. It makes me so depressed. So the town elder says, okay,= go get your mother and bring her to your hut. The guy says, are you kiddi= ng? It's so small now. And the elder says, trust me, just do it. So the = guy does it and next week comes back and says, father, what'd you do to me?= She nags, she complains, it's worse than ever. So the elder says, go get= your brother and his family and bring them in. He does, and he goes back = to the elder and it's the same thing, only this time the elder says, go get= a goat and some chickens and bring them in. The guy is desperate by now b= ut does it anyway, and the following week he goes back and says, geez, I wa= s depressed and now I'm suicidal. So the elder says, okay, kick them all o= ut. The guy goes back and kicks them all out and comes back to the elder a= nd says, father, you're a genius. I kicked them all out and now the place = is so big. I'm so happy. Moral: Since things can always be worse, Jose loves you. -----Original Message----- From: JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx Sent: Feb 4, 2005 8:31 AM To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Fw: Re: Lighting Fools: Reflections on an Image in= Macbet... "She was always good company -- a little heavy with the lipstick maybe, a = =20 little less than choosy about men and booze, a little loud, but great at a = party=20 and always good for a laugh. Then the prophet Hosea came along wearing a = =20 sandwich board that read 'The End Is at Hand' on one side and 'Watch Out' o= n=20 the other. The first time he asked her to marry him, she thought he was = =20 kidding. The second time she knew he was serious but thought he was crazy= . The=20 third time she said yes. He wasn't exactly a swinger, but he had a kind f= ace,=20 and he was generous, and he wasn't all that crazier than everybody else. = =20 Besides, any fool could see he loved her. Give or take a little, she even= =20 loved him back for a while and they had three children whom Hosea named wi= th=20 queer names like =20 Not-pitied-for-God-will-no-longer-pity-Israel-now-that-it's-gone-to-the-dog= s so that every time the roll was called at school, Hosea would be=20 scoring a prophetic bullseye in absentia. But everybody could see the=20 marriage wasn't going to last, and it didn't. While Hosea was off hitting= the =20 sawdust trail, Gomer took to hitting as many night spots as she could squee= ze =20 into a night, and any resemblance between her next batch of children and Ho= sea =20 was purely coincidental. It almost killed him, of course. Every time he= =20 raised a hand to her, he burst into tears. Every time she raised one to h= im,=20 he was the one who ended up apologizing. He tried locking her out of the= =20 house a few times when she wasn't in by five in the morning, but he always = opened=20 the door when she finally showed up and helped get her to bed if she =20 couldn't see straight enough to get there herself. Then one day she didn't= show up=20 at all. He swore that this time he was through with her for keeps, but of= =20 course he wasn't. When he finally found her, she was lying passed out in = a=20 highly specialized establishment located above an adult bookstore, and he = had to=20 pay the management plenty to let her out of her contract. She'd lost her= =20 front teeth and picked up some scars you had to see to believe, but Hosea = had=20 her back again and that seemed to be all that mattered. He changed his=20 sandwich board to read 'God Is Love' on one side and 'There's No End to It= ' on the=20 other, and when he stood on the street corner belting out =20 How can I give you up, O Ephraim! How can I hand you over, O Israel! For I am God and not man, The Holy One in your midst (Hosea 11:8-9) =20 nobody can say how many converts he made, but one thing that's for sure is = =20 that, including Gomer's there was seldom a dry eye in the house. (Hosea 1-3, 11)" =20 "Peculiar Treasures", Frederick Buechner =20 Julie Krueger =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3DOriginal Message=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Subj: [lit-ideas] Re: Fw: Re: Lighting Fools: Reflections on an Image in = =20 Macbet... Date: 2/4/05 7:02:40 A.M. Central Standard Time From:=20 _aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) To: _lit-ideas@freel= ists.org_=20 (mailto:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) , _lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx=20 (mailto:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) Sent on: =20 -----Original Message----- From: JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx Sent: Feb 3, 2005 10:09 PM To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Fw: Re: Lighting Fools: Reflections on an Image i= n=20 Macbet... The God of the Old Testament needs to be understood with some semblance of= =20 cultural contextualization, a nod at least to genres, and mitigated by =20 Hosea. A.A. Amen. I'm all ears. Fire away. Andy Amago Julie Krueger =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3DOriginal Message=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Subj= : [lit-ideas] Re: Fw: Re: Lighting=20 =20 Fools: Reflections on an Image in Macbeth's "Tomorrow" Soliloquy Date:= =20 2/3/05 9:07:57 P.M. Central Standard Time From: _aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx=20 (mailto:aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) To: _lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx=20 (mailto:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) , _lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx=20 (mailto:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) Sent on: =20 -----Original Message----- From: Robert Paul <Robert.Paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Feb 3, 2005 4:35 PM To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Fw: Re: Lighting Fools: Reflections on an Image = in=20 Macbeth's "Tomorrow" Soliloquy On His Blindness When I consider how my light is spent =20 E're half my days, in this dark world and wide, =20 And that one Talent which is death to hide, =20 Lodg'd with me useless, though my Soul more bent =20 To serve therewith my Maker, and present =20 My true account, least he returning chide, =20 Doth God exact day-labour, light deny'd, =20 I fondly ask; But patience to prevent =20 That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need =20 Either man's work or his own gifts, who best =20 Bear his milde yoak, they serve him best, his State =20 Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed =20 And post o're Land and Ocean without rest: =20 They also serve who only stand and waite. =20 A.A. His God is loving, accepting God who demands little. Certainly not= =20 the God of the Old Testament. =20 Andy Amago ------------------------------------------------------ Robert Paul The Reed Institute ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html