From Two Part Invention.

"In the French legal system a distinction is made between a murder committed in hot blood and one in cold blood.

"Coldness of heart has never been (or should never have been) a Christian attribute. It was coldness of heart that angered Jesus.

"Not that I am advocating violence, or excusing it. But I remember George MacDonald's writing that it may be infinitely worse to refuse to forgive than to murder, because the latter may be the impulse of a moment of heat, whereas lack of forgiveness is a cold and deliberate choice of the heart."

~ Madeleine L'Engle

I really love this quote, and I find it particularly touching at this moment in my life - where so much has happened to remind me (if I needed reminding) that life is too short to hold grudges; to remind me that nothing is more important than an open heart in the face of all challenges.

Madeleine L'Engle passed away at the end of last year. I have before, and must again, heartily recommend her writings to any and all takers. The woman was blessed with an astonishingly humane spirit, and she continues to be a personal inspiration.

Running the Gauntlet.

The past week has been a corker.

I took my Japanese language proficiency this morning, and I feel tentatively positive about it. All things considered, it could have been much, much worse. The test itself came wedged between a series of Japanese language tests - a classical Japanese exam on Monday, a modern Japanese exam on Wednesday, and a second modern exam tomorrow on Friday. I did fairly well on the classical exam, although I missed a couple points for a very stupid translation omission that will plague me for days, I know. The results of the modern exams remain to be seen.

I've been thrashing out my seminar paper ideas, and have gotten the structure of my "War" seminar paper pretty much down. Feedback from the professor thus far has been encouraging and helpful. Now I just need to find the time to read some things. The "Ritual and Death" seminar paper is also beginning to take a kind of shape. At least, after some discussion with KG I have begun to ask the right kinds of questions. Knowing what kinds of questions to ask is really crucial, and I feel that I am only now really beginning to learn that vital skill. We'll see where we end up on that.

In other news, my mother came up to visit for a long weekend. We had originally intended to go out of town, but I wasn't up to it - feeling tired, broken-down, and worn-out all over. We vegged out, watched three movies that for some reason all had Terajima Susumu in them, and did some projects around the house. I painted my living room, we framed and hung some art, and - after a minor catastrophe - had blinds installed in the living room.

In a totally "par for the course" fashion, a window got smashed during the course of blinds installation. I guess that was the next thing on the "soap-opera universe" list. [shrug]

And so it goes.