I Haven't Forgotten My Blog

No, really, I haven't forgotten to write here. I have just had so many ideas about so many things tossing around in my head that I have become immobilized!

The election is over--thank goodness! I appreciate John Kerry's gracious concession rather than dragging it out. I do hope that we will all continue to keep informed of the issues and watch the events unfold. The more informed the populace, the better. And we are free to contact our representatives at any time to inform them of our views. How many of us do that? I know I haven't. And let the leaders of your political party know what ideas you have for improvement--they need feedback, too.

Aside from politics, from which I am ready to take at least a brief vacation, I have been continuing to read Early Christian history. I have had some questions in mind as I read. For example, did Greek philosophy cause the apostasy or did it come into play later? Why did the church oppose translating the scriptures into the common languages so that people could read them for themselves? Why was the Mass in Latin, which few people understood well, if at all? How many different types of Christianity were there and what did they stand for? What events led to the Reformation?

I also continue my study in medieval history. It is so easy to characterize that entire period as the Dark Ages, but, in fact, there was a lot going on. I like to try to follow the various political upheavals and migrations and what they meant for the ordinary person. I am interested in finding out how information was disseminated in the face of widespread illiteracy. In what areas were discoveries and inventions made? Agriculture? Education? Mechanics? I also like to ponder what led to the Reformation and the Renaissance. When did global exploration get started? When and how did the universities get started and what did they study there?

I have some general answers to many of my questions. After all, I did go to school! But I am looking for more detail and more precision. I am wanting to fit the pieces of the puzzle into the whole more than I have in the past. I think that as I get older I see more of the big picture and wonder more about it.

There are a couple of things that frustrate me in my quest for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. First, that darn daily life keeps intruding! I have to go to work. I have to clean house. I have to do the laundry. I want to be Samantha from Bewitched and be able to twitch my nose (lips, actually--have you ever watched her?) and have it all done instantly! The second thing is that I am interested in way too many things. I enjoy working with the computer. I want to develop my writing. I want to learn languages. I want to improve my grasp of math and science and philosophy. Then, to top it off, there is my beloved history. Oh, and piano. And chess. And....

And I haven't even mentioned the gospel--living it and learning it! So that means I have to greatly improve my time management and prioritization. And money management. And health, as some of my earlier posts alluded to. And then there's remaining alert and aware where politics and current events are concerned. Those things become projects in and of themselves.

I really am pleased to be a person with so many interests, but it does present problems. So I continue to plug away at it all and hope that some of my musings here are of occasional interest to some of you. And if anyone has solved the problem of having time for all these things, please, I beg of you, let me know!