New Blog

Hi everyone—after some indecision, I’ve finally switched my blog from the WordPress platform to Blogger. My new blog is phillypowells.blogspot.com

Check us out!

 

 

Skiing Valley Forge

We spend a seriously inordinate amount of time romping around Valley Forge National Park, which is a glorious 1 mile down the road from our apartment. Here are some pictures from walks with friends, our cross-country ski adventure, and a recent attempt at tree climbing.

Snow hike with Anne and Ashton, friends from Seven Mile Road church.

Another snow hike with Dave and Eli Henninger, wonderful best friends from Messiah!

Skiing - Evening #1... finding the creepy stone edifice in the woods

Skiing - Afternoon #2... attempting a self-photo with the camera timer

Skiing - Afternoon #2... JP trying to ski down snow banks to parking lot

Finally a nice day in February! Let's climb a tree!

This was actually higher and scarier than it looked...

Let's try the camera timer again!

Coming up on 27…

For my birthday, I would like…

Kit Keller! Number 23! Strong right arm… sister got her into the league… mule!… and a scrappy fighter who occasionally needs to cool down in the shower…

Also for sale… T-shirts for “All the Way” Mae Mordabito (aka Nora McKellin) Dottie Hinson (aka Meg Neufeld) and Doris Murphy (aka, none of us… no one wanted to pretend to be her!)

http://mypartyshirt.com/tshirts/movie-jerseys/rockford-peaches-jerseys/keller-peaches-jersey

Review #1: “A World Lost”

Title: A World Lost, 1996

Author: Wendell Berry, b. 1934

Genre: Fiction, American

Themes: family, childhood-boyhood, death, sorrow, agriculture, and land

Review: I’m hooked up to Wifi, typing this review at our local Wegman’s supermarket/eatery/lounge… Jeremy is sitting beside me reading A World Lost and he’s laughing.

“Why are you laughing?” I keep asking him. Wendell Berry’s A World Lost begins with a death, a murder.

But Jeremy is right, Berry’s 104 page novella about the death of Andrew Catlett—beloved uncle, brother, husband, drifter, drinker, dancer, and farmer—in Port William, Kentucky, 1944 is as funny as it is sad and mournful.

A World Lost is narrated by 9 year-old Andy Catlett—Andrew Catlett’s nephew and #1 admirer. Andy recounts the way his Uncle Andrew talked (“Gimme one mo’ cup of that java, Miss Judy-pooty”), what he wore (“an old felt hat, corduroys, the tan canvas hunting coat”), how he smelled (“the mingled smell of sweat and pipe tobacco”), and how he behaved (like “some large male animal who might behave as expected one moment and the next do something completely unforeseen and astonishing”).

A World Lost is one of 8 novels and 32 short stories written by Wendell Berry about the Catlett family, their neighbors, and their hometown of Port William. I’ve read three of the eight novels so far, including A World Lost, and each gives me the distinct feeling of entering a material, living, flesh and blood world that is occurring right now and to which the reader is a distinctly privileged and welcomed visitor.

In A World Lost, we are Andy’s particular guest. He tells us everything he thinks, learns and remembers about his Uncle Andrew. He lets us see intimate moments, like his father breaking down in tears after Uncle Andrew’s funeral, and his grandmother mourning, years and years later, as she:

“came slowly up the stairs, the banister creaking under her hand as though now, alone with her thoughts, she bore the whole acculumated weight of time and loss. As she came up, she would be saying to herself always the same thing: ‘Oh, my poor boy! Oh, my poor boy!'”

But Wendell Berry and his characters are never without hope. As a Christian author, Berry tethers despair with love. My favorite part of A World Lost is Andy’s conclusion, now as an adult, about the nature of suffering:

“That light (the light of heaven) can come into this world only as love, and love can enter only by suffering.”

Love entered by suffering. Christ entered by suffering. Through Christ’s suffering, we can understand and grasp His infinite love—and likewise, in our own despair, we can experience His love again and again.

A PMS Production

I’ve been meaning to post this little gem… for Christmas this year, Jeremy and I worked together with Meredith, Kyle and Jenna to make a video montage of pictures and video clips around the theme of  “Sweitzer Family 2010” for my parents:

 

Read & Review – a new 2011 project

Over the past few months, a little idea has been forming in my mind… perhaps I can become like Tim Challies, the Christian blogger who reviews Reformed literature on http://www.challies.com/, and start my own project to review other forms of literature, specifically fiction, for Christians who seek to be discerning about what they read.

The idea came to me last August when Erica (my sister-in-law) asked if I could recommend a work of fiction for her to read…

Our one bedroom apartment is full of books. The ones belonging to me are mostly mysteries and historical fiction novels. Some I purchased and read during college, at a time when I was less discerning in my choices. Others are classic pieces of literature, and others  are more recent novels that I would consider “good picks”— but when Erica asked for a recommendation, I couldn’t think of what to suggest. I didn’t have a rubric or system to organize my thoughts about each book, or to categorize them appropriately.

Still wanting to be helpful, I did a google search for ‘fiction recommended by Christians’ and ‘Christian reviews of fiction’—but all I could find were lists and reviews of fiction in the Christian genre. I wanted what media websites like Christianity Today and Movieguide provide: intelligent reviews of all kinds of movies from a Christian perspective. But I could not find a comparable service for books.

To me, book reviews by Christians, for Christians are a much needed service. Personally, my eyes glaze over and the “little gray cells” slow almost to a halt when I cross the carpeted thresholds of Barnes & Noble or Borders, or log into Amazon’s mega store. There is an incredible amount of literature available. How can a Christian possibly know which book jacket contains ideas, characters and plots that will edify the mind and spirit, and which are contrary to The Spirit?

We need the measuring stick of Christ, and someone with wisdom and experience, to help us decide what is good for us. I am assuredly not the best person for this job. I am 26 years old and need God to teach/grant me more wisdom. But I’m interested in the task, and my goal for 2011 is to establish a rubric for book reviews and to begin reading and reviewing in my own rudimentary way. First up:

• Wendell Berry
• Dorothy Sayers

 

Christmas Reflections

“Comfort” Books

As Jeremy and I have been dealing with our unexpected loss over the past week and a half, there have been many people who have prayed for us. Thank you! There were times in my day when a sense of calm or feeling of hope would come over me unexpectedly and I knew God was delivering grace to Jeremy and I through your petitions.

Jeremy is at the point in his semester when everything seems to be due at once. Every night this week, he’s covered our kitchen table with textbooks and commentaries and proceeded to grind out long, detailed term papers. If you want to know anything about “The Sign of Jonah” in Luke 12 or the shema given by Moses in Deuteronomy 6, he’s now the man to call. 🙂

As for me, I’ve been passing the evenings after work reading what I call my “comfort” books—books of no great importance, except that I really enjoy entering the worlds they create. Since my body has been a little weak and fatigued, I’ve spent a lot of time wrapped up in a blanket on the couch reading Lord Peter Wimsey mystery novels by Dorothy Sayers.

During the day, however, I’ve been very busy at work. Two weekends ago, I hired our good friend Andrew Ray to come to my workplace to film a short video to promote Family Service. Drew is wonderfully talented and created this:

Who Dat?

Can you guess who this is? Hint: its TWO people you know.

New Digs

In September, we decided to make an important move from our third floor, 2 bedroom apartment in Plymouth Meeting to a 1 bedroom apartment about 8 miles south and west in Devon, PA.

All we really did is move from one side of the second largest mall in America to the other—but, in doing so, we cut out a massive amount of traffic in getting to and from work everyday. Plus, the new apartment is located in a much nicer community about 1 mile down the road from our favorite outdoor spot…Valley Forge National Park.

In an unfortunate turn of events, our camera broke after we moved, so we don’t have any pictures to show. But we really like our new apartment. We have a small patio, a washer/dryer, a fireplace to enjoy. The apartment complex is actually a condo community with private individuals owning each unit. The sense of ownership, community and home is strong. It is obvious that people value living here and our neighbors are friendlier and more outgoing than at our last place.

We also discovered a small arboretum about 1.5 miles in the direction opposite Valley Forge National Park, so we’re flanked on both sides by places to escape and take afternoon walks. All in all, we’re really thankful to the Lord for bringing us to a good place for this particular stage in life!