This Pilgrim's Progress

"Back in Action"

"Back in Action" by Captain David Rozelle is a inspiring biography of this young officer's career up to the present. He loses a foot from a land-mine during the Iraq war, and the last half of the book tells about his struggle to recover and rehabilitate himself to return to duty in the Army. While an inspiring story, I felt he could have used an editor to clean up his language and tone down some of the over-the-top, gung-ho flavor of his writing. I would recommend this book as an interesting look at one man's career in today's army and his experiences in the Iraq war. I only wonder if he decided to write this too soon and maybe should have waited until after his next tour of duty in Iraq. But time will tell, and I pray for his safety and for his family as he bravely serves our country like so many others of our military.

Death, be not proud

I ran across this poem by Donne yesterday while perusing his works for my daughter's literature curriculum.  Truly a calvinist's outlook.....

HOLY SONNETS.    X.

By John Donne (1572-1631)

Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so ;
For those, whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy picture[s] be,
Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou'rt slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke ;  why swell'st thou then ?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more ;  Death, thou shalt die.

John Donne is an interesting man. He was raised a Catholic, well-educated and talented, but led a mis-spent youth and wasted his fortune. He later converted to Protestantism and joined the church as a cleric.  He had a sensual nature, as well as a deep spiritual sensitivity...quite an interesting combination in one man. Luminarium has a very good site on him including biography and works.

William Blake

Some of my vast reading public might have noticed that I've changed the profile picture on the blog from an old family camping picture to this engraving/water color by William Blake. This picture is Christian reading (his Bible I think) while still carrying his "burden".  Blake created a whole series of these engravings for John Bunyan's work, but they were never published in his lifetime. Blake  (1757-1827)  was an  artist, engraver, painter  and poet who often illustrated his own works. His visionary  style is quite unique and striking as is his poetry. Check this site out for some more Blake biography and examples of his art:

http://www.mcs.csuhayward.edu/~malek/Illusions/2cross-view/Vieux/Blake/Blake1cv.html

There are many other sites on the web about Blake that you can google if you are interested.