Hope for those who have exhausted Jane Austen

I had thought there was no hope of finding an author I like as well as Jane Austen, at least in the same genre, place, and time, but I believe one Maria Edgeworth might be just such a worthy lady, though I had never heard of her previously, I have just finished two of her books (Belinda and The Absentee) and found both delightful!  She was a novelist that Miss Austen herself quotes in Northanger Abbey, upon the novel as the pinnacle of literary portrayal of morals, virtue, and human behavior, and I must side with Catherine and say that at least in Maria Edgeworth's novels, that is indeed true.  I had previously read Cecilia, by an authoress who very obviously inspired Austen, but found it long, sometimes tedious, and certainly sensational (Jane makes abundant fun of fainting in her 'Love and Friendship' but it is taken quite seriously in Cecilia!).  The best I can describe is that Edgeworth is like reading Austen, if Miss Austen wrote about scenes and society outside her country manors and genteel society, she possesses an equal depth and breadth of characters, the virtues and vices of society are explored, humor is rampant, and a happy ending lurks just out of sight.  So if you have run out of Austen, give Maria Edgeworth a try!

For all those who aspire to be Miss Austen's heir in the modern era, please read both Austen and Edgeworth thoroughly before you attempt it, make sure you 'get' Austen, it isn't a trashy romance, it is a witty social commentary disguised as a romance!  You can't be Miss Austen's heir without having her manners, virtues, and wit!

Chasing unicorns

I've wanted to get into astrophotography for some time (taking pictures of the night sky and its inhabitants), now that I have a camera that can handle low light conditions, but it was just one of those things that I never got around to.  Then I saw a little article on a comet that is in town for the weekend and decided it was time to dust off my tripod and give it a try.  Happily one of the perks of living in the middle of nowhere is you can actually see the stars without taking a road trip, though there are some rather significant obstructions on the northwestern horizon, at least from my yard, I thought I'd give it a try.  For two nights, I snuck out with my binoculars but to no avail and probably making the neighbors wonder what I was up to at night with my binoculars or camera!  Between said obstructions and low clouds, there was no comet.  I had read somewhere that it would appear right after sunset, and checked diligently every half hour thereafter for two nights and then went and set up camp, ready to take pictures on the third.  The sun set, there wasn't much for clouds, but still no comet!  I gave up on the dream, though I got to see two comets back in 1997, so I figured I knew what I was looking for, especially as this one was said to be less than those, which while interesting, weren't really all that cool to look at.  Instead I turned my gaze and spotting scope to the opposite horizon and did a little planet gazing, as Jupiter, and supposedly Saturn were rather prominent in the night sky as well.

I've never tried star gazing before, I took astronomy back in undergrad, but we never went out and actually looked at the stars, instead we just did more physics problems.  It was amazing to actually see another world (and 4 of its moons!) and then the rings of Saturn, amazing!  While I was busy trying to take a picture through my spotting scope, full dark fell, the stars came out in their myriad hosts, and glancing idly off to the northwest, there it was!  Wow!  I had given up, I was ready and accepting of disappointment, content with nothing or leftovers, but wow!  1997 had nothing on this baby, what a tail!  Then I saw a shooting star, and since I was already out there with all my gear, I finally got around to trying a shot of the milky way, which was actually pretty easy after Jupiter!

No wonder the psalmist proclaims, 'the Heavens declare the glory of the Lord!'  And in another place, 'taste and See that the Lord is good.'  Not just read about or watch on YouTube or inherently know, but rather taste, see, prove with your senses!  A dirty snowball, a lifeless rock, an incendiary ball of gas, all displaying His glory, His wonder, for me!  How much more can I do likewise in the lives of others?  Modern society is too much addicted to passive pursuits, ticking off things on the bucket list, watching it in HD, instagramming it instead of experiencing it.  We've lost our sense of wonder, our sense of humor, our humility, our joy!  We've become old, jaded, bitter, cynical, critical, not the immortal children of a boundless Kingdom as He intends us to be.

A friend of mine just went to Yellowstone for the first time, and gloried in the geological variety around her (she's a rock nerd!), astonished at the busloads of indifferent tourists that merely traipsed by, barely looking at anything, just taking in the requisite scenes and moving on or taking a selfie in front of some wonder or other, filling up most of the frame themselves rather than glorying in the sight itself or giving thanks to its Maker and theirs.  How very sad are such little lives!

May we lose the technology, the cynicism of our age, the hubris that easy access to seemingly limitless knowledge breeds, the jaded indifference of having seen it all, and reclaim the wonder of small children, who are delighted as much by the Morning Glory Pool as with the trash receptacle, who are very heirs to the Kingdom!  Go chase unicorns and dragonflies and rainbows, learn how to laugh, to sing, to dance and not care what anyone else thinks, learn to see the glory all around you, so much so thoughts of your own recede far from you (true humility)!  Lose yourself in the wonders of creation, rediscover your Creator!

Orphan no more!

Here's a great article to read if you just feel 'not good enough,' 'not accepted,' alone or unloveable.  I've been fighting that fight with myself, coming out of an abusive home, trying to convince myself that I am as worthy of dignity, love, and respect, the same as any other person.  Ironically, it goes on to say that God sees us as adopted children, children!  Beloved, accepted, blessed, giving pleasure to their Father!  I'm an adoptive parent of two amazing kids, most days I forget they are adopted, they're just my kids!  I can love and accept them, but I deny myself the same right?  I'm not doomed to ignominy, leftovers, wretchedness, and pity, as my upbringing has convinced me that I am, either in a current physical sense or in my eternal destiny, why can't I wrap my head around that?

He isn't a stingy, miserly, grudging God, it is His good pleasure to give ME the kingdom, really?!  He is excited about it, like a loving parent?  Like me giving my kids stuff they need and desire?  Unlike the mother who bought me Christmas presents because it was socially prescribed and handed me the dreaded birthday present like it was some sort of illicit deal she found degrading and hoped no one would discover the truth thereof, and it was always something she wanted, never anything I had a desire, need, or use for, and then I was never allowed to play with or even look at it, it had to be safely stored in the closet because it was 'collectible.'  I feel like that sums up my whole young life: put it away in a dark corner, where it will eventually fall apart and decay, never having meaning, purpose, or value and never having any enjoyment therein.

Then there's God, and His crazy call to come out of that unwitting tomb, there's more to life than dust and shadows, despair and sorrow and shame.  He made a whole brilliant world to explore and marvel at and delight in.  He sent His only Son to pay the price of sin and rectify the world's ruin, so I don't have to.  He's surrounded me with people, interesting, warm, loving, annoying people to replace the family I never had.  And this is only the beginning, only the title page!  Me?!  The little girl whose own mother didn't love her?  A beloved daughter, a part of a family, heir to a Kingdom?!  Talk about fairy tales, this beats an enchanted frog any day!  And the door is open, shed the orphan's rags and become the child you were meant to be!