fading flowers

My favorite local bookstore is closing. (sigh) This has happened before. I found a bookstore. Liked it. Shopped there. Got used to it. Then it closed.

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Today I sat in shock as a friend spoke of the erosion of traditional publishing. He also said that when Guttenberg invented his press, that people were afraid of losing oral dialog. (We didn't totally lose it, but I doubt that people today can tell oral stories as well as they did before.) Canadian Marshal McLuhan said, "We shape our tools and afterwards our tools shape us.

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What's next? How do we roll with these changes? How do you purchase and read books? Do you buy online or at a brick and mortar store? Do you borrow from the library or buy your own. Do you read books cover to cover or skim? How much does Google or Wikipedia change the way you get your information? Have you tried new technologies like Kindle?

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In other words, do you think this flower is fading, and what do you suppose we'll see blooming next?

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By the way, we had some major glare off of that storefront's window, but a polarizing filter made it disappear.

book marked

Tagged by LL Barkat and Pete Juvinall.

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Pick up the nearest book

(of at least 123 pages).

Open the book to page 123.

Find the fifth sentence.

Post the next three sentences.

Tag five people.

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Page 123 was the start of a new chapter. It began with a poem and had a lot of white space. The fifth sentence was on the following page.

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Worst of all, I watched as his loving communication slipped farther and farther away.

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There was a time when he had greeted me with a happy smile saying jubilantly to the nurse, "Well, look who's here!" Or, "There she is!" But now his words were few, his eyed more shadowed and his manner alternately withdrawn and extremely restless.

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from Also My Journey by M. A. Atkins (p. 124)

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This is a second-hand book that someone put on a giveaway table. I picked it up because my dad and I were just talking about Alzheimer's that weekend. I think there is a possibility that I may end up taking that journey. My parents are fine for now, but who knows...

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Now, who to tag... 23 Degrees, imac, Mrrrr, Ornery by Nature and Ozlady.

incredible

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There was a scene at the beginning of The Incredibles where a man sued because he had been rescued from an attempted suicide. My reaction when I saw it, was that it was unbelievable to think that a suicidal person had a legitimate complaint on the grounds that he did not want to be saved.

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Last night I was browsing through a book that should have never been published. In it, the author said:

"But it (irresistible grace) may also be seen negatively because it involves nonconsensual control; the will of one manipulates the will of the other."

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So, as I understand it, this person has the audacity to suggest that God has done wrong in saving some without receiving their permission first.

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This author, in the same book, asks:

"If God is all-knowing and all-powerful, can he in any way be vulnerable to his creation?"

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Well, yes. After all, Jesus died on the cross, right? But what I think he means is, can the omnipotent and omniscient creator be vulnerable

against His will to his creation? I don't see how that is possible. Not the God who has revealed Himself in the Bible, who is real, who's attributes are not subject to the creature's misconseptions.

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My reaction to this book: That's incredible! This person claims to be a Christian, and yet, does not seem to know and fear God. For his sake, I hope I am mistaken.

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Image by Javaburst