technology technology

How creepy is this?! Brandon went to the County Clerk's office today to register our car, and they have a webcam in the waiting room. It is updated every five minutes, and these are the two pictures that I saw with my husband front and center. Look how studious he is--that's his Greek book he's opening. Oh, and notice his nice haircut; I did that myself!

The Inheritance of Loss

Whenever I finish a good book, I always feel a little bit of a loss, something like saying “Goodbye” to a friend—though not as drastic. When I truly enjoy reading a book, I think during the day about what I have already read, and then when I get home, I can’t wait until I am finally able to sit down and continue reading. I love the way so much can happen in the few short hours required to read a book. People’s lives unfold before you as each word passes through your eyes, into your brain, and sometimes sinking down into your heart.
Just yesterday I read the last few pages of Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss. This book was masterfully written. It begins in northern India with a crises faced by the main character, a retired judge, his cook, and his orphaned grand-daughter, Sai. The book then goes back about 40 years, giving the reader glimpses into the lives of the characters and how they all came to be together on that fateful day. Once Desai has brought the reader back to the “beginning”, she propels forward into a rebel movement that deeply affects the characters as well as the entire region around them. Let me not forget the cook’s son, whose life as an illegal alien in New York is interspersed and connected back to his father in India throughout the book. There were a few violent episodes, but they were not out of character for the nature of this particular book. Post-colonialism, nationalism, modernism, and globalization are all elements which are explored by the author and her characters. Love, life and the fragile nature of relationships are also addressed.
Now that I have finished (and am, by the way looking for another book to read), I am left with the impression that life is a bitter reality apart from Christ. An attempt to find meaning often leads to a shallowness and brutality based on the idea that the “self” is the ultimate good and of ultimate value. Without finding something beyond ourselves (or the “self” of others even), emptiness and loss are the only sure expectations. However, when we learn to look beyond, to look to Christ, there is a deep-rooted, indestructible joy that does not necessarily lead one completely away from the bitterness of this life, but makes it far less bitter by the realization that this life is but a breath. Eternity is a reality, and the hope of eternity with Christ brings an inexplicable peace and joy to the most bitter of times, even the most bitter of losses.