**spoiler alert** My summary and notes from the book: Three acts of the world's drama: creation, fall, redemption. ***
Ch2 - Creation - Scripture tells...more**spoiler alert** My summary and notes from the book: Three acts of the world's drama: creation, fall, redemption. ***
Ch2 - Creation - Scripture tells us who created the wonders of the world and why. Study of these wonders tells us how God did his wonders, and when. Some people believe that the world drama is only about humans, but Plantinga argues that the Bible makes clear "the earth is the Lord's nd all that is in it." psalm 24:1. Also, in Genesis 9, God makes a convenant with Noah and every living creature. The initial command for us to be fruitful and multiply and subdue the earth is taken as God's command for us to work creating culture, etc. Part of this command also asks us to be image bearers of God, and this includes subduing the earth, but also filling it with God-pleasing cultural activity. Reformed Christians think a lot about the implications of the original creation. For example, they argue that the original goodness of creation implies that all of it, including any human being we meet, is potentially redeemable. Being created in the image of God also means that we must balance our individual and corporate identities. Creation also tells us our place in relation to God and the rest of creation. We are not God, but we do bear His image. ***
Ch3 - fall - If the falleness of creation extends everywhere, then it also extends into our thinking processes themselves (thus we have distorted reasoning with God's help). ***
Ch4 - redemption - Reformed Christians take a very big view of falleness. They argue that God doesn't just want to save souls, but to save bodies too. God wants to save social systems and economic structures. Calvinists want to reform the entire world using Scripture and relying on the Holy Spirit to determine what is the right way to reform things. ***
Ch5 Vocation in the Kingdom of God - God wants us to be a "prime" citizen of the kingdom and yearn passionately for the kingdom of God to come. Your college education is not just job training, but training to help you become a "prime" citizen. God can accomplish His purposes in the context of secular education, but it is more difficult because you cannot have conversations that include meta-narratives regarding humans being created in the image of God. Plantinga argues that it is very difficult for the committed Christian to thrive and learn how to serve in God's kingdom in a secular school of higher education. He also warns against going to a Christian school in order to prevent your beliefs from being tested. Each Christian must go through the hard work of thinking through his or her beliefs no matter where they are. (less)
**spoiler alert** My notes and summary from the book:
Introduction -Parents do not need to have a consequence for a child’s every misdeed. -Family fun s...more**spoiler alert** My notes and summary from the book:
Introduction -Parents do not need to have a consequence for a child’s every misdeed. -Family fun should not be contingent on child behavior. -Expectations are more effective and powerful than lots of rules. -Parents must decide what information is private about the child. -Hurt children get better when their pain is soothed, their anger reduced, their fears quelled, and their environment contained. CH1: Who is the hurt child? CH2: Dare to parent -Hurt children are sensitive their own vulnerability and perceived weakness. They act terrified of losing control and fearful of control by others. -Hurt children often have unhealthy fears -They have survivor’s mentality and deny their vulnerability (think nothing can hurt them). -Healthy fear eventually leads to respect, empathy and love, and a child cannot arrive at one stage without going through the prior stages. -Vulnerability and perceived weakness -Being cooperative , compliant, and receptive translates to losing. -For healthy children, control over them equates to love. They believe their parents are all-powerful and it’s okay for them to be vulnerable. They can be weak without being unsafe, and this helps them develop a conscience (internalize morals based on fear of disapproval). CH3: What doesn’t work -Nurturing vs. rewards – Nurturing happens whether or not the child behaves well; rewards are more like bribery to achieve a particular behavior. Children should not be reward for doing what they are expected to do. -Should never withhold affection/love towards the hurt child. It is impossible to make them feel worse than they already have been made to feel. -Punishment: empathy and consequences are much better teachers than lecturing/words -Hurt need time-ins with parents instead of time-outs. Instead of grounding, it is better to require permission for everything so there are no assumptions about what is okay to do. -Deprivation: Taking things way from hurt children (who are used to losing everything) is ineffective. Instead, if something is going to be taken away, it needs to be taken away forever so they learn to believe what you say. For example, if they continually fail to take care of a toy/s, you can let them know that you are going to give them to a child who doesn’t have any of those toys (and make the child’s life easier because it will be less for them to clean up and take care of). -Anger: Must remember that anger is a hurt child’s best friend. In fact, they are often the most unhappy when parents are joyful. Anger helps them feel safe and distant, and when he sees it in others, he feels powerful. It brings the level of energy the child is accustomed to. -Equality: respond with “We’re all different, and the world doesn’t always treat us fairly or equally. It’s much better to learn this at a young age than on your first job assignment.” CH4: What works -Authors argue that the most effective ways to achieve attachment is through touch, smell, speech, motion, warmth, and eye contact. -Best not to tell hurt child consequences of their behaviors, instead, parents should alternate responses so the child is always guessing as to what you will do. -Be very careful in offering praise, it can easily make them feel as if they’ve lost control; should offer praise indirectly (let them overhear it). Also, don’t offer praise for expected behaviors (like using manners) -Negative behaviors: turn all negative behaviors into something that you control (act like it is what you wanted them to do anyway). E.g., rating a tantrum, ask them to scream louder, predict their negative behavior. -Work on training degrees of bad and good (e.g., “behave” to them means being perfect). Given them a rating scale, such as down to neck is not so bad, below belt is really bad -Make very clear to hurt children expectations of your family – our family does “x”; for example, we are “truthtellers” in our family – don’t rely on subtle cues, use explicit ones CH5: Cinnamon on applesauce -Eye contact is very important, mimic the way that you spend a huge amount of time starting at an infant. P84 has a whole list of games/techniques -p90 has list of techniques on how to do movement together, activities, etc.; nurturing through food is also important – see p95 -Enhancing communication – tell adoption story over and over, past experiences with kids, etc. -p99 has several techniques for physical closeness with children CH6: The school dance -Teach children phrases to help them survive in school and practice them: e.g., I need help, I can do difficult things, I always have a choice, I can learn from my mistakes, I like to try new things, I like school, I can solve this, I know I can count on myself, I know where to get help, I can solve problems, I need your help to understand. -Make sure you establish communication lines with educators early and often CH7: Rough waters – all about getting your child unstuck and how to handle tough times CH8: Life preservers – Lists of resources to get help from others CH9: Finding useful help – how to find the best therapist CH10: Ask an expert – Q&A for the authors for specific children -kids may try to recreate sensory memories (like smell of urination) for comfort -kids’ life book must represent reality of why they were removed from parents -p203 has several techniques about how to deal with lying CH11: Parents and children talk back – testimonials from parents and adopted children CH12: Reprinted articles written by authors -p256 good article on importance of holding and touch (less)
**spoiler alert** My notes and summary of the book:
Kuyper spent most of his writings talking about how we are called to serve in God’s kingdom. He arg...more**spoiler alert** My notes and summary of the book:
Kuyper spent most of his writings talking about how we are called to serve in God’s kingdom. He argued that at the heart of our call to glorify God is our obedient service as God’s designated caretakers in the cultural aspects of created life. This implies that God had an original created “culture” that He intended. *** One of the pieces of evidence for regaining creation is from John 3:16 – the Greek word for “world” (cosmos) refers to all of creation. So reformed scholars argue that God wants to save all of creation, not just human souls. *** Kuyper advanced the idea of “sphere sovereignty” or that God created different purposes and order for every sphere of His creation (e.g., politics, education, business). He argued it was important to maintain the distinction between categories; creation suffered when these boundaries were blurred (e.g., the state interfering with the church). As part of this argument, Kuyper believed that even if there had been no fall, God still wanted man to create culture. Even more, Kuyper believes that governments would have still been necessary had there been no fall (thus, God has in mind what a perfect government would look like). *** Kuyper generally argued against the intervention of the state to alleviate poverty, although he did say that the government must step across spheres in cases where no help was available to the poor. ***One of Kuyper’s most important arguments was that a Christian should not shut off his/her Christian identify in the secular world. Instead, he thought Christians should come together within each “sphere” to form guilds, political parties, co-ops, etc. in order to properly confess God’s sovereignty in each domain. Kuyper thought that individual activities serving the kingdom weren’t enough – God calls us to work together within our disciplines to serve Him, no matter what the disciplines are. *** The author also tries to address whether there is any Biblical evidence for Kuyper’s distinctions. One of Kuyper’s arguments refers to the use of the term “kinds” in Genesis, to mean that just as God created a different purpose and function for each of the animal types, so did He create purpose for each of his cultural institutions/services. He also argues that there are many examples in scripture of different spheres interacting, such as when a prophet (religious sphere) commands a king (political sphere) to do something. The author concedes that there are several “leaps” in this logic, but still finds Kuypers distinctions to be very useful. *** One of the components of Kuypers expositions is that he often likes to think of what the world would have been like if there had been no fall (much like historians do “what if” exercises). This is what he uses as support of his belief that governments would still be necessary in a non-fallen world (e.g., traffic laws would still be needed). He also talks about each of his spheres as standing directly before the face of God – in other words, the church does not mediate between educators and God. *** Kuyper gave up his position as a pastor when he became a political leader because he did not want it to appear that his connection to one sphere would influence his decisions in another sphere. *** The Calvinist belief in the elect and reprobate had clear implications for the belief in the regenerate and unregenerate life, but Kuyper wanted to explain how the church often disappoints us in its regenerate works and the unbelieving world is often not as bad it one would predict. This is what prompted him to develop the concept of common grace. Calvinists argue that there is a difference between total and absolute depravity. Total means that it affects our total world, thoughts, etc., but it does not mean that absolutely everything we think and produce is depraved. This is where the possibility for accepting writing and thinking from secular thinkers comes in. Calvin himself described some pagan thinkers as benefiting from a “peculiar grace of God.” Kuyper extended this into the doctrine of common grace, saying God had “an attitude of favor toward the whole human race.” God uses common grace to advance his creational structure, even through the hands of the unbeliever. *** One of Kuyper’s contemporaries was Herman Bavinck. He was a full-time scholar (unlike Kuyper) and more moderate and kind to other points of view than Kuyper. *** Kuyper had several writings that indicated Africans were inferior to Whites; the author uses this is an example for the need for “neo-Kuyperism”. ***Speaking of neo-Kuyperism, Walsh and Middleton argue that in order to determine a worldview, one needs to answer: “Who am I?, Where am I? What’s wrong? What’s the remedy?” *** Mouw tries to argue that many approaches to Christianity and culture have taken the approach of keeping out of culture altogether or completely taking it over. He argues for reforming culture in each of our lives and professions. He equates this mandate with the instructions God gave his people during the Babylonian captivity. *** Mouw gives an example of how some spheres our shrinking in the modern age (e.g., civility) and what to do about it. For example, he bemoans the loss of the family meal, and points to how churches contribute to the lack of intergenerational contact when they support age segregated youth groups and bible studies. (less)
Seventh book in the wheel of time series, it begins with Rand's victory at Dumani Wells over the Shaido and Elaida's Aes...more**spoiler alert** My summary:
Seventh book in the wheel of time series, it begins with Rand's victory at Dumani Wells over the Shaido and Elaida's Aes Sedai who had captured him. Sevanna begins planning on how to capture Rand again with the help of Samuel and Graendal who promise to give her something to control him with once she succeeds. Elaida continues to plan on how she will use Rand once he arrives until she finds out her mission failed. Then she submits to Alviarhin (who is Black Ajah) in order to keep the rest of the tower from finding out and stilling her. Rand continues to face problems in Cairhen where he must retake the throne and reassert his power. He sends Perrin away as a result of a fake argument designed to throw everyone off. He sleeps with Min after he realizes he is in love with her and wants to send her away so she will not be hurt (but she refuses to leave). He meets Cadsuane, the oldest living Aes Sedai, and she begins working on his confidence in order to bring him under her control. Rand finally meets with the Sea Folk and obtains their allegiance to the Coramoor. He then goes into the heart of the Rebel Cairhens and Tairhens to try to get them to follow him as well. While he is there a bubble of evil appears and Padan Fain (now Mordeth) tries to kill him with his dagger. He cuts the same spot where Rand's old wound from the Dark One is and almost kills him except for the help of Cadsuane and one of the Asha'man. Meanwhile, Mat continues to watch over Elayne and Nynaeve in Ebou Dar where they are looking for the Bowl of Winds. While there, they discover "the Kin", a group of women who were made to leave the tower because they could not pass the test to become Aes Sedai. They also make an alliance with the Sea Folk so that together they could come together in order to use the Bowl of Winds once it is found. On the way to see the Sea Folk, Nynaeve is almost killed by Moghedian and is saved by Lan (who is now Myrelle's warder). She demands that he become her warder as soon as possible and they are married by the Sea Folk once they reach the ship. Once they find out where the Bowl of Winds is, they get there the same time as a number of darkfriends and a golam. Elayne is almost killed, but Mat gets the gholam to run away after using his medallion on it. They retrieve the Bowl of Winds and prepare to leave the city at the same time it is being attacked by the Seanchan. Before this, Morgase is transferred from being a prisoner to the Whitecloaks to being a prisoner of the Seanchan. She manages to escape, however, and heads for Andor. The book ends with Rand taking an army into the heart of Illian and confronting Samuel. He takes Illian easily and faces Samuel in Shadar Logath. He sees Samuel being enveloped by the fog of death and shoots balefire at him as well so he assumes he is dead. When he returns to Illian he is crowned with the Crown of Swords and becomes king of Illian.(less)
Sixth book in the wheel of time fantasy series. Rand has taken over Camelyn after killing Rahvin and is trying to set eve...more**spoiler alert** My summary:
Sixth book in the wheel of time fantasy series. Rand has taken over Camelyn after killing Rahvin and is trying to set everything up there. The forsaken continually plot against him together, although Samuel (ruler of Illian) tries to make a truce with him. Rand coordinates the army of Lord Bashere, from Saldea, with his new "Black Tower" of men who can channel. The men are called "Asha'man" or guardians and are trained by Masrim Taim. Rand keeps traveling between Camelyn and Cairhen and Tear in order to give orders to everyone. He gives orders to Mat in Tear to head toward Salidar where the rebel Aes Sedai are. He is to take Elayne to Camelyn so she can be crowed queen. While Rand is in Camelyn, Perrin, Faile, and Loial show up and join up with him. Min arrives before they do with the Aes Sedai representatives from Salidar. They accidentally get 13 Aes Sedai in Camelyn and Rand leaves and tells them not to follow unless there are less than 13. Meanwhile, Egwene is in Cairhen training with the Wise Ones and recuperating from her encounter with Lanfear. She finally tells them she is not really Aes Sedai and must let them punish her in order to remain friends after deceiving them. She is ordered by the Aes Sedai in Salidar to report there immediately so she travels in the flesh through the dream world to Salidar. In doing so, she figures out how to make a gateway and travel just as Rand does. Soon after arriving at Salidar, she is crowned the new Amyrlin for the exiled tower. Her first act as Amyrlin is to raise Nynaeve and Elayne to full Aes Sedai. During this time, Nynaeve figures out how to heal stilled women and gentled men. She heals Logain, the former Amyrlin, and Leane. Mat soon arrives in the camp with his army and accompanies the women to Ebou Dar to look for a bowl that can influence the weather. Rand keeps putting off the Aes Sedai sent by Elaida offering him alliance, but too late realizes that they were simply waiting for a chance to capture him and take him back to the White tower. He is captured and taken from Cairhen without anyone knowing. Perrin and the others gather as large an army as possible and follow the Aes Sedai. By the time they catch up to them, the Shaido attack Elaida's Aes Sedai in order to take Rand for themselves. While defending themselves, Rand escapes and starts to capture the Aes Sedai. They all seem to be ready to be overwhelmed by the Shaido when suddenly Taim shows up with the Asha'man and fight for Rand. They defeat the Shaido by using the one power and capture all of the Aes Sedai. The book ends with Rand forcing the Aes Sedai to swear loyalty with him. (less)
Fifth book in the wheel of time fantasy series. Rand is still in Aiel Waste in the city of Rhuidin. He is trying to gathe...more**spoiler alert** My summary:
Fifth book in the wheel of time fantasy series. Rand is still in Aiel Waste in the city of Rhuidin. He is trying to gather the clans together before he leaves the Waste. Coulidin has also proclaimed himself as He Who Comes With the Dawn so part of the Aiel follow him, and part of the clans are still deciding who to follow. Asmodean begins teaching Rand everything he knows about using the Power and the other Forsaken. Rand is attacked by Darkfriends while he is there and destroys them with balefire. They soon learn that Coulidin has taken his clan out of the Waste in order to attack Cairhien. Rand follows him all of the way there and engages him in battle. During the time it takes to travel the waste, Min and Siuan travel to the place where all of the Blue Aes Sedai are meeting. On the way, they accidentally burn down a barn and are indebted to Gareth Byrne. They break their oath's of obedience and escape and he follows them to the Aes Sedai hideout. There Siuan continues to plan on how to help Rand and get rid of Elaida as Amyrlin. The Aes Sedai enlist the help of Gareth Byrne to help them retake the White Tower. Elayne, Nynaeve, Thom, and Julius travel towards the meeting place of the Aes Sedai after their victory in Tanchico. Nynaeve continues to talk to Brigitte in the dream world and asks her to help her find Moghedian. Moghedian finds her first though and plans to enslave Nynaeve when Brigitte shoots her with an arrow. She sends Brigitte out of the dream world and Nynaeve escapes. Nynaeve remains scared of Moghedian for the rest of the journey to the Aes Sedai hiding place. On their way they travel with a menagerie in order to hide from Moghedian and the Black Aes Sedai who follow her. They reach the Aes Sedai and quickly are treated like Accepted and are made to teach the Aes Sedai how to walk the dream world. While teaching Siuan, Nynaeve sees Moghedian and fights her again. She is defeated but she is saved by Bridgitte again and manages to put a silver collar on Moghedian so she can command her. They then travel to Camelyn to help Rand fight Rahvin. Before this, Rand fights Couladin and uses the force with Egwene and Aviandra's help. Mat tries to run away but instead helps lead a force into battle and kills Couladin himself. Rand then prepares to go to Camelyn to kill Rahvin because he believes he killed Queen Morgase, Elayne's mother. Before leaving, Morraine takes him down to the docks where he faces Lanfear (because she finds out he was with Aviandra). He matches her strength but is unable to kill her because she is a woman so Morraine attacks her and they both fall into the Power-filled doorway and disappear (and supposedly die). Lan leaves to go be a warder for the Aes Sedai Morraine left him with. Rand takes an army of Aiel and goes to Camelyn. He is ambushed by Rahvin and his friends die, but then he fights Rahvin with balefire and with Nynaeve's help, defeats him. His friends are alive again and the book ends with Asmodean going into a room and being killed by someone unknown.(less)
Fourth book in the wheel of time fantasy series. The story continues with Rand governing Tear because he was able to pul...more**spoiler alert** My summary:
Fourth book in the wheel of time fantasy series. The story continues with Rand governing Tear because he was able to pull Callandor from the Stone of Tear proving he is the Dragon Reborn. The whole group (except Min) spends a little bit of time in Tear deciding where to go next. Egwene, Elayne, and Nynaeve try and question the Black Aes Sedai they captured, but get very little information out of them before Tear is attacked and they are killed. Rand meets Lanfear and learns that she wants him to join her in her quest for ultimate power. Rumors of whitecloaks in Two Rivers lead Perrin and Faile to journey there to fight them. Upon arriving they find out that Perrin's family is dead and Trollocs keep attacking Two Rivers. The Whitecloaks are there looking for Rand, Perrin, and Mat and they are lead by Dain Bornhald who believes Perrin killed his father. Padan Fain is also there leading Whitecloaks under his new name, Ordeith. Perrin rallies the people of Two Rivers to fight the Trollocs and becomes their leader. After turning back a number of attacks, Perrin believes they will be overrun so he sends Faile away to safety. They get married before she leaves, but then in the middle of the final battle she returns with help from the neighboring villages. Rand, Mat, Morraine, Lan, and Egwene leave Tear and take a Portal Stone to the Aiel Waste. Rand, Mat, and Morraine must visit Rhuidea and Egwene wants to learn how to walk the dreamworld from one of the Aiel Wise Ones. Rand learns the history of the Aiel people (they originally followed the Way of the Leaf) and Mat is almost killed when he walks through another Tangreal that he thinks will answer his questions. Rand comes out of Rhuidea with proof that he is "he who comes with the dawn" and is supposed to unite the Aiel people. He calls all of the tribes together to make his announcement. In the midst of announcing the news, he discovers Lanfear and she tells him that another of the forsaken, Asmodean, is trying to take a powerful Angreal from Rhuidea. Rand opens a gate using the power that allows him to travel across the vast distance back to Ruidea. There he fights with Asmodean for the angreal, finally winning by cutting the strings that tie Asmodean to the Dark One. After defeating him he takes him as a prisoner so he can teach Rand how to use the One Power. During all of this, Elayne and Nynaeve go to Tanchico to look for the Black Aes Sedai. Thom, Domon, and the thief catcher help them discover that they are in the Queen's palace. They sneak in and find the objects the Black Aes Sedai were going to use to control Rand along with a piece of heartstone. Nynaeve has to fight one of the forsaken who can force people to do things against their will. She wins and captures the forsaken, but she escapes while Nynaeve is fighting one of the Black Aes Sedai. Elayne releases the Queen by capturing one of the Black Aes Sedai. Min continues to work "undercover" at Tar Valon, but while she is there the Amyrlin is captured (alone with her First, Leane) and stilled. Min helps them escape with the help of Gawyne (who they find out helped kill the warders who tried to protect the Amyrlin). They leave Tar Valon with Logain, the gentled false dragon. Elaida was behind the coup because she convinces the Aes Sedai loyal to her that they had been deceived and assumes the position of the Amyrlin seat herself.(less)
Third book in the wheel of time fantasy series. The story progresses with all of the characters eventually making a jour...more**spoiler alert** My summary:
Third book in the wheel of time fantasy series. The story progresses with all of the characters eventually making a journey to Tear where Rand will take the sword Callandor because he is the Dragon Reborn. The book begins with Rand, Perrin, Morraine, Lan, and others at the camp of the Drgaon Reborn. Rand is still learning to channel the one power and is worried that he will hurt others. He decides to run and go to Tear so he can obtain further proof about whether he is really the Dragon (by taking Callandor). Perrin, Morraine, Lan, and Loial follow him through many towns on his way there. On their way they meet Faile, a girl from Illian hunting for the horn of Valere. Perrin is charged with looking after her while she is with them. Meanwhile, Mat is taken to Tar Valon by Egwene, Elayne, and Nynaeve. They heal him from the evil dagger and he figures out that he has really good luck in all games of chance. Egwene and the other two are told by the Amyrlin seat that they are to search out the Black Aes Sedai. They send Mat to Camelyn to deliver a letter to Elayne's mother, the queen; while there he meets Thom Merrylin again. They continue onto Tear to warn Elayne that her mother's advisor is trying to have her killed. Egwene, Elayne, and Naynaeve all go towards Tear. At one point they are caught and then freed by female Aiel warriors. Once they get to Tear they hire someone to find the Black Aes Sedai, but they are found first and captured. By this time everyone is in Tear, including Rand, who is trying to get to the heavily guarded sword. Rand and Mat both sneak into the fortress, but soon after entering the Aiel attack. During this time, Egwene manages to subdue the Black Aes Sedai through the dream world so they can escape. Mat comes and helps them escape at the same time. By this time Rand has made it to sword room, but is then attacked by one of the forsaken, Be'lal. Morraine comes in and uses balefire to destroy the forsaken but is then knocked unconscious by the Dark One. Rand manages to grab the sword in time and begins fighting the Dark One again. He chases him around for a while but finally "kills" him with the sword. The book ends with Rand being the new king of Tear and the Aiel claiming he is the "one who comes with the dawn" that they had been waiting for. All of the main characters are in Tear, except for Min who is on her way to Tar Valon to give the Amyrlin a message from Morraine.(less)
Second book in the wheel of time series. Continues the story of Rand, Perrin, Mat, Egwene, and Nynaeve (all from Edmonds...more**spoiler alert** My summary:
Second book in the wheel of time series. Continues the story of Rand, Perrin, Mat, Egwene, and Nynaeve (all from Edmonds Field). Rand and the others are all in Fal Dara after recovering the Horn of Valere. While they are there the Amyrlin seat and other Aes Sedai come to see Morraine. Rand tries to leave when they arrive because he discovers at the end of the first book that he can channel the one power. Aes Sedai usually "gentle" men who can do this because they will eventually go mad. Morraine and the Amyrlin seat, however, don't wish to do this to Rand because he is the Dragon reborn and is supposed to defeat the Dark One. While they are in Fal Dara, the Horn is stolen and the darkfriend, Padan Fain, escapes from the prison there. The warriors of Fal Dara quickly form a party to recover the horn, including Rand, Perrin, and Mat (who must recover the dagger that was stolen or he will die). Egwene and Nynaeve go with the Aes Sedai to Tar Valon in order to receive training. Nynaeve becomes one of the Accepted because she is older while Egwene becomes a Novice. In Tar Valon they meet Elayna and her 2 brothers. They are later convinced by a Black Aes Sedai to follow her through the Ways and into a trap laid by the Seanchan army (the lost army of Artur Hawkwing). Egwene is captured and enslaved through the use of a silver collar that forces her to use her powers as commanded. Nynaeve and Elayna escape and plot how to free Egwene in Falme. Meanwhile, Rand, the Ogier (Loial), and Hurrin (the sniffer) get separated from the rest of the party when they travel to a parallel world through a portal stone. There they meet Selene, a beautiful girl who tries to convince Rand to seize the horn for the glory it will gain him. They travel back to real world ahead of Fain and the Trollocs and manage to steal the horn from them. They go onto Cairhien (where Selene is from) and wait for Ingtar (the leader of the hunting party). While they are there they are enveloped in a world politics among the nobles of the city for status and power. Shortly before Ingtar catches up with them, the horn is stolen and they are forced to follow Fain again. They try to follow him through the Ways again, but the Black Wind guards the gate. They head for another waygate at a Stedding, but that one is also blocked. They then use a portal stone to get to Falme to meet Fain. Once there they send 5 people (Ingtar, Mat, Perrin, Rand, & Hurrin) into the city to try and recover the horn. After getting the horn, Rand must face the leader the Seanchan in a sword fight. After defeating him they try and escape right at the same time Egwene is being rescued by Nynaeve and Elayna. Rand spots Egwene and knows he can't leave, plus they run into Whitecloaks attacking the Seanchan right when they are trying to leave. Mat blows the Horn of Valere and the heroes from the age of Legends come back to fight the Seanchan and all else who oppose the dragon reborn (Rand). As they advance, Rand must fight the Dark One in a battle with the outcome of his friends on the line. He finally allows the Dark One of stab him so he will have a clear shot to kill the Dark One. He defeats him and later finds out that his battle took place in the sky above the city so everyone knows that the true Dragon has returned. The Seanchan retreat across the sea and the Rand begins to understand he is the Dragon reborn.(less)
First book in the wheel of time fantasy series (currently 9 books total). The book begins in a small village in a "middl...more**spoiler alert** My summary:
First book in the wheel of time fantasy series (currently 9 books total). The book begins in a small village in a "middle earth" time period full of myth and legend. The main characters from the village are Rand (overall main character), his father Tam, Mat (the practical joker from the village), Perrin (the blacksmith apprentice), Egwene (the wisdom's apprentice), and Nynaeve (the town wisdom). The village has had one of the hardest winters in history and are preparing for their spring celebration when Morraine (a Sedai, like a wizard that can channel the "one power") and Lan (a Warder, a protector and soldier) come to town. A gleeman (entertainer) named Thom also shows up. Soon after a horde of Trollocs (beastlike troll creatures) attacks the town along with a Fade (powerful phantom-like creatures). Morraine and Lan defend them, but let them know that the dark creatures were after 3 boys in the village. They decide to leave to go to the Sedai city of Tar Valon. They must initially run from the dark creatures and make it to the city of Baerlon. There the town wisdom catches up with them and remains with them for the rest of the adventure. They continue on and hide in an ancient city which contains evil that even the dark creatures are afraid of. There Mat takes a dagger from the evil city and becomes connected to its evil so he cannot be separated from it. They must split up and run in order to get away, with Thom, Rand, and Mat in one group, Nynaeve, Morraine, and Lan in another, and Perrin and Egwene in the last group. They all try and make their way to Caemlyn and all have their own adventures. Perrin and Egwene meet a man in the wilderness who can talk to wolves and Perrin finds out he has the ability to talk to Wolves also. They are later captured by the Children of the Light (a fundamentalist group that hunts darkfriends and persecute many innocents in the process). Morraine and Lan rescue them and they all make their way to the city. Meanwhile, Thom is believed to be killed when he sacrifices himself to stop a fade so the two boys can escape. They have to scrounge their way along the road to the city, half-starving most of the way. They are attacked at least two more times by darkfriends before they reach the city. There Rand has a run-in with the queen's daughter and son at the palace while he is trying to catch a glimpse of the recently caught false-dragon. He is finally released and makes his way back to the Inn (owned by a friend of Thom's). There he meets Morraine and the others and they continue on their journey. An Ogier (tall ancient creature that builds things) Rand met also goes with them. They are forced to take a shortcut through "the ways" (ancient "worm-tunnels" that link distant places) even though they are very dangerous. They make their way through and meet a king on the edge of the "blight" (the place where the dark one taints the world). He and his soldiers protect the border of the world from dark creatures. Morraine takes the others to see "the eye of the world" (a tree-like green man) in order to stop the dark one who is breaking free from his bonds. Once they meet him two powerful dark friends break free of the dark one's bonds and attack the group. The green man kills one, and Rand kills the other one by calling upon the "one power" (which men aren't supposed to use because they go insane, which is what caused the "breaking of the world" many years before). He then confronts the dark one and defeats him by calling upon the one power. The book ends with Rand wanting to go into isolation in order to keep his loved ones safe from him. Egwene and Nynaeve and Perrin and Matt plan to go to Tar Valon with Morraine. (less)
**spoiler alert** My summary and notes from the book: ***The author goes through several examples of how water is treated in different parts of the wor...more**spoiler alert** My summary and notes from the book: ***The author goes through several examples of how water is treated in different parts of the world, different cities, and in difference situations. Overall, he argues that our water supply is in such danger in so many places because people take water for granted. They don’t even think about it despite it being one of our most basic needs. This leads us to waste it, mismanage it, and fail to put resources into maintaining our water supply for the future. Only once crisis hits to we finally start to pay attention to how we use water and where it comes from.
***Chapter topics: In “Dolphins in the Desert”, Fishman covers the evolution of water policy in Las Vegas. Despite being in the middle of the desert and full of water extravagance, it has developed some of the most sophisticated water reusing systems in the world. - In “Water Under Water”, Fishman explains the complexity of making water supplies disaster proof as he profiles Galveston, TX, after Hurricane Ike. - In “The Money in the Pipes” he profiles several large companies that are at the forefront of water conservation and reuse because they use it in such a large scale. – In “The Yuck Factor” he profiles how important changing attitudes toward water can be when trying to implement new water reuse methods. One city in Australia nearly ran out of water because its citizens couldn’t accept the idea of reusing treated sewer water. – In “Who Stopped the Rain” he talks about Australia, which has been going through a great drought in the last decade or so. This has precipitated several water crises from farming to urban supply. The primary problem is overuse of its rivers and planning based on high-water years instead of the contemporary average. – In “Where Water is Worshipped, but Gets no Respect” he talks about India and how atrocious their water situation is for nearly everyone, rich and poor. Very few cities have 24/7 water supplies, even for well-off people, and the majority of the country suffers from huge productivity and education losses because so much time is spent hand-carrying water for daily needs. He also goes into the major health problems that result from contaminated water and ink-black rivers. E.g., There is so much dangerous bacteria and pollution that one eye-dropper of water from the Yamuna or Ganges River put into six bathtubs full of water would be enough to make it unsafe to sit in. – In “It’s Water. Of Course It’s Free” he summarizes the problem with most attitudes toward water. Unless we start to recognize it as a real resource that requires respect and serious attention, we will continue to stumble into major shortages and conflicts over water. Water is not a global problem in the sense that you can influence water problems across the world, but it is the combination of a million different local problems regarding water that makes it a global concern.
***The 300,000 gallons of water used during a space shuttle launch is not for cooling, but for sound dampening. Otherwise the sound shock waves would tear the shuttle apart.
***The biggest use of water in the home is toilet flushing. We flush on average around 5 times a day which is about 18.5 gallons
***The fundamental problem with water is that it cannot be used up, but it is not equally available in all locations. How and where it is available in usable form varies dramatically and can be very unpredictable. So what this means is that all water problems are local in the sense that saving water in your home isn't going to directly help water-started villages in India. This is very different from many other environmental issues, like carbon footprints or gasoline use.
***Patricia Mulroy (the Las Vegas water czar) suggested to Obama a huge public works program to create a series of canals to capture and divert Mississippi floodwaters so it would both reduce natural disasters and send excess water to places that need it.
***At IBM Burlington, they create what is known as "ultra-pure water" which is hundreds of times cleaner than distilled or purified water. They use complex filtration systems to remove every molecule from water so that the pure water can pull microscopic particles from microchips. The smaller the chip, the more pure the water must be. It is very expensive to create, and in fact, would be dangerous to drink in large quantities. Water is such a good solvent, its molecules are filled with all kinds of minerals, etc. If you remove the minerals, etc. it will try to pull molecules out of anything it comes in contact with, including the nutrients in our body.
***Celebrity Cruise ships have a huge ice expense to create enough ice to cool all of the food/beverages on a typical cruise. One way they have reduced the cost is to no longer use ice, but to cool rocks that retain temperature well enough to cool the food.
***The author details an economic model for water designed by Mike Young to better allocate water resources. In the shape of a water glass, each layer of water is designated for a particular purpose. The first layer is “maintenance water” that is just enough necessary to maintain the environmental system. This is already a problem in many rivers where dams have to be built to keep ocean water from heading back up dry river beds. The second layer of water is “critical human needs” such as drinking, bathing, and basic water services. These two layers are guaranteed, but the next two layers are determined by economics. The first is the high security layer, which demands a high premium cost, and the second is low security, which costs less. Then it becomes a risk calculation process about how much you want to invest in water and whether you want to take the risk that your water layer might run out. If water runs low, the low security customers lose it first, then high security. (less)
**spoiler alert** MY SUMMARY AND NOTES: The authors replicated Mischel’s marshmallow study and taught some participants to use distraction and distanc...more**spoiler alert** MY SUMMARY AND NOTES: The authors replicated Mischel’s marshmallow study and taught some participants to use distraction and distance techniques and showed that self regulation scores changed tremendously. They have footage of their experiments on changeanything.com/exclusive website.
***The authors argue that there are six sources of influence: 1. Personal motivation – interrupt your impulses by connecting actions to goals during crucial moments. 2. Personal ability – learn new skills to change persistent and resistant habits 3. Social motivation – if those around us model and encourage bad habits we are likely to maintain them; turn accomplices into friends 4. Social ability – deeply entrenched habits require real support from others (e.g., a coach). 5. Structural motivation – Make use of things; directly link short-term rewards and punishments to new habits 6. Structural ability – small changes in your environment can have a surprising effect on your choices; add a few visual cues that help you focus on your goals
***Social science of personal change: 1. Identify crucial moments – focus on the handful of moments when you’re most at risk; where do you face the most temptation 2. Create vital behaviors – create rules to follow when temptation pays you a visit (e.g., implementation intentions and contingencies for when you fail). 3. Engage all six sources of influence 4. Turn bad days into good data – use failure as a learning experience – note what happens when you fail and adjust methods accordingly (START TAKING NOTES).
***The authors mention the benefit of a “motivational interview” asking a person the future he/she would like to live, how they were going to get there, and so forth. This requires the person to create the default (where you’ll end up if you keep going this way) and desired futures.
***1. Personal/motivation: Visit your default future (how you will end up if you continue in this direction 1. Tell the whole vivid story - be descriptive about where you will end up so it sticks in your head 2. Use value words - connect your goal with a really important "why" for what standard you are adhering to 3. Make it a game - set up a time frame or small milestones or make it a competition 4. Create a personal motivation statement - during crucial moments reconnect with your motivation through your statement that incorporates all of the previous parts of your personal motivation
***2. Personal/ability: Do what you can't: 1. Start with a skill scan – figure out what skills you do have, and if you have the ones necessary to complete your plan 2. Employ deliberate practice – what are the component parts of the skill you are learning; break them down and practice each deliberately 3. Learn the will skill – determine your tempting scenarios and discover how to avoid them and practice withstanding them.
***Another famous obedience study: Orne & Evans (1965) JPSP – social control in the psychological experiment
***3.&4. Social motivation/ability: Summary of turning accomplices into friends: 1. Be aware of who is going to help encourage vs. discourage you towards your goals. 2. Redefine "normal" to fit with your new goals. 3. Hold a transformation conversation with close others about your new goals. 4. Add new friends, 5. and distance yourself from the unwilling.
***On loss aversion - study done by authors on iPhone - if you just bought one, it would take $1218 more than purchase price to sell, but if they hadn't bought one yet, they would only pay $97 more than purchase price in order to make sure they got one.
***When creating rewards for yourself when working towards a goal, make sure the rewards come during the pursuit (after achievement of small goals) rather than a reward for your final goal.
***5. Structural/motivation: invert the economy: 1. Use carrots and the threat of losing carrots, 2. use incentives in moderation and in combination (so you aren't doing it solely for the rewards), 3. and reward small wins (i.e., don't just have a reward for at the end of the goal, they are much more effective is used throughout).
***6. Structural/ability: control your space: 1. Build fences - set rules to keep you acting in healthy ways. Don't use fences as sole source for change or you will relapse when they are gone. 2. Manage distance - remove bad things from your immediate environment and keep good things closer. Your physical space determines a lot of how you behave. 3. Change cues - reminders for things you want to be doing and remove reminders of bad behaviors. Especially important where you crucial moments take place. 4. Engage your autopilot so the positive path is the path of least resistance (ie, it would take more effort not to follow the path). 5. Use tools like electronic reminders, etc. to help you stick to your goals. (less)
**spoiler alert** My notes and summary: ***He begins with references to other books that have dealt with the issue of colleges with Christian heritage...more**spoiler alert** My notes and summary: ***He begins with references to other books that have dealt with the issue of colleges with Christian heritage such as James Burtchaell's "The Dying of the Light: The Disengagement of Colleges and Universiteis from Their Christian Churches" and Hughes and Adrian's "Models for Christian Higher Education: Strategies for Success in the 21st Century".
***He distinguishes three domains that dictate the relationship of a college with its Christian roots: Persons, Ethos, & Vision. Persons regards the makeup of the student body (there are few examples of Christian colleges that maintain a dominant population of their specific denomination as students). This also relates to the denominational requirements of faculty and administrators. For ethos, it is referring to things like required chapel attendance and behavior rules for the students and faculty. Lastly, vision refers to the purpose and mission of the college and how closely it relates to a Biblical/denominational purpose. This has always been the weakest of the three at many institutions, and often contributes to the degradation of the other two domains.
He briefly explains the impact of the Enlightenment on religious thought. Specifically, the epistemological disagreement about how we know the religious and moral truths that guide us. The Enlightenment claimed it was not through revelation, but through reason and science. This created a path that put the pursuit of Truth in the hands of man instead of relying on Holy Scripture.
***He mentions the LCMS and the Concordia system a few times, but it sounds like Burtchaell talks about them more at length in his book. Burtachaell states: “As regards right doctrine (the Missouri obsession), conformity was traded off heavily against energetic articulation or exploration, so although theology was the premier discipline at the colleges, it was not particularly biblical in its development or scholarly in its outcome.” P45
***Benne uses the framework of three factors to assess the trajectory of six different schools: a Reformed college (Calvin), an evangelical college (Wheaton), two Lutheran schools (St. Olaf – ELCA; Valparaiso – closest to LCMS), a Catholic university (Notre Dame), and a Baptist university (Baylor).
***More detail regarding the history of the Missouri Synod. Founded in 1847 by two separate groups of German immigrants – one group from Saxony (Walther) and one from Franconia (Loehe), it has grown from the original 12 congregations to 2.6 million members. One of the reasons it generated so many parochial schools was to maintain German heritage and orthodoxy. He describes it as having “a sharp and clear identity and sense of mission that has made it a strong tradition even after it shed some of its strong German ethnicity.” As the church acculturated, however, there was a reactionary quasi-fundamentalist movement in the late 60’s that led to the big split in the 70’s. The denominational bureaucracy was taken over by the successful quasi-fundamentalist movement. They then purged the schools and churches of outspoken dissenters who formed the Association of Evangelical Lutheran Churches (which eventually joined the ELCA in 1988). Valparaiso, despite being an LCMS school, has weathered these storms because it is an independent Lutheran institution. They continue to have an uneasy alliance with the LCMS.
***The Reformed worldview states that all human faculties have been affected by the fall, including human reason. While non-Christian learning can contain truths about the world, there is a strong tendency for it to be distorted by human fallibility and sin. Thus, it cannot be taught without a Christian critique to young Christians. It is assumed in this "Reformed epistemology" that the biblical worldview, interpreted by Reformed theology, is true. So any conflicts between secular knowledge and the Christian approach must be "redeemed" by Christian scholarship. So, in theory, each field of learning can be transformed into genuine Christian knowledge (such as Christian sociology and Christian economics). This worldview analysis is what goes on in the classroom at Reformed colleges. It requires an examination of the underlying assumptions of many fields of study (e.g., views on free will) in order for the knowledge to be "claimed for Christ".
***For an analysis of of the social sciences as anti-theologies see John Milbank, Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason.
***One of the reasons the Lutheran schools he profiles are reluctant to codify a detailed blueprint of the Christian life is because Lutheran theology is more focused on justification than on sanctification. ***Benne describes the LCMS system as having too much sectarianism to support schools like Valparaiso.
***Some of the more "general Christian" colleges sometimes criticize places like Calvin college for not respecting any kind of secular learning. But these differences are what prevent all Christian colleges from moving towards complete secularization. C.S. Lewis argues that Christianity is like a great central hall in which we meet Christ and witness the spectacular work of God. Around the side of this grand hall are smaller rooms in which meals are served, wounds healed, skills taught, and friends made. Don't stay long in the great hall, he said; find a smaller one where there is nourishment for the mind and soul. Without that smaller hall, the great hall lacks Christian texture and specificity. p184-185.(less)
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