Joy & Suffering — Good & Evil

The Problem Was the House

Posted on October 25, 2018 by Karen Thomas Olsen

Part III: We left off here:

“The problem was the house. Now, the house becomes a main character in this real life story.”

If I were writing a book about my dad and his family (which I’m not), I could develop this “main character”, the house,  beyond the details I’ve been given. I’m thinking of houses as characters in literature.

I think of the professor’s house in C. S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  Or, there’s  221B Baker Street in London, the “home” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle creates for his character, Sherlock Holmes. Last summer, my first daughter visited a place in London, a museum, actually designed to match Doyle’s descriptions of Holme’s apartment! Continue reading →

Categories: Biography, Joy & Suffering -- Good & Evil, Moving | Tags: , | 2 Comments

From Whence Marion Came

Posted on October 12, 2018 by Karen Thomas Olsen

I began the story about my father in my last post, just a week ago. Since this is my father’s birthday month, and 100 years have passed since his birth, I want to post multiple times this October, narrating some of his story.

You may want to go back and read the previous post, if you haven’t, and enjoy the pictures.

So, I left you wondering,  what happened to Marion and his family when he was ten years old? To make sense of it, we have to look back further in time. Before Marion was born.

Continue reading →

Categories: Biography, Christian Reader, Joy & Suffering -- Good & Evil | Tags: | Leave a comment

Resurrection Day Resolve and Comfort

Posted on April 2, 2018 by Karen Thomas Olsen

I had an article to post last week but didn’t think it was appropriate for the Easter season. Actually, I am several weeks overdue.  I’ve been processing a very deep, wide, and lingering grief.  Yet, no sadness intrudes alone.  God consoles through continuous, “take for granted,” daily provisions. God comforts through His quiet presence. I breathe; therefore, I am thankful.

It is spring time. I love the increased conversation, both private and public during this rejuvenating season, about the life of Christ. So, I was anticipating Resurrection Day – Easter Sunday. While I knew I would not  attempt the Sunrise Service (at 7:00 a.m., long after sunrise), I did expect to attend the breakfast and worship service. Not so. Continue reading →

Categories: Joy & Suffering -- Good & Evil, Spiritual Growth | Tags: , , | 4 Comments

The Best and Worst This Season

Posted on December 11, 2017 by Karen Thomas Olsen

Charles Dickens gave us A Christmas Carol, and among many others, he also gave us  A Tale of Two Cities. I plan to to savor some Christmas literature this season, but first I’d like to consider Dickens’ opening to his latter tale, a fitting interpreter of our current year.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way — in short, Continue reading →

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Genre: Prayer: For Whom? Gabe

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Karen Thomas Olsen

My dear readers,

Today, I am supposed to address point two, Genre Identity, of our six points on The Reader-Navigator’s Map. Instead I’m going to ask for prayer. Yes, prayer is a genre, a category of communication both spoken and written. As a kind of literature, I can integrate it into our second point!

Prayer is a lifeline to the Lord. Like oxygen, we cannot live without it. Today, I want to ask you to pray for a 13 year old boy who is wasting away and will die without intervention — a miracle. This young man has dealt with neurological issues for years and has developed, probably from prescriptions, a disease called Akathisia, plus he has developed an eating disorder. Akathisia simply means” the inability to sit”; it is a movement disorder, an anxiety disorder. Combine this with an inability to eat or digest most foods, liquid or solid, and you can imagine the results. Continue reading →

Categories: Joy & Suffering -- Good & Evil, Parenting | Tags: | 2 Comments

A Good Friday to You

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Karen Thomas Olsen

And what is good?

I have the next post in our series ready, but today is not the appropriate day for it. I awoke this morning, meditating on the meaning of good in Good Friday. You have probably heard much on this theme over the years, but we can never get enough nourishment.

My mind traversed various verses on this good theme.  “The Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.” “No one is good but God.” “You are good and do good.” “O, taste and see that He is good.”*

I thought of the first usages of the adjective, good, in the opening chapters of Genesis which describe God’s response to His own work: “And God saw that it was good”, repeated after each day’s work, but after the sixth day’s work, God saw that it was “very good”. God is good and does good work.** I thought of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. I thought of pure goodness, as in God’s character and His work, in contrast to the more complex goodness expressed in a fallen world.

I thought of the cross as the ultimate expression of that good-bad goodness.

I’d like to present a few quotations, Continue reading →

Categories: Christian Reader, Joy & Suffering -- Good & Evil | Tags: | 2 Comments

The Declaration of Glory

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Karen Thomas Olsen

We have entered the monsoon season here in the highlands of central Arizona. It is another season within the summer. The broad, naked blue skies, vibrant with sunlight, have been overtaken by vast, billowy clouds and gentle hues of blue, violet, and gray with patches of pink, peach, and orange. Entranced by the skies, I walked the house-less circle behind our cul-de-sac yesterday evening. “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1), and as the sun fell behind the mountains, the misty sky busily declared and declared. I did not have a camera with me, but if I did, the glory would have refused to be reduced to pixels.

Standing in place, I slowly circled and circled, eyeing the beauties a full 360 degrees. Continue reading →

Categories: Joy & Suffering -- Good & Evil, Spiritual Growth | Tags: , | 2 Comments

Balancing the Teeter Totter: Two Taxonomies

Posted on May 29, 2016 by Karen Thomas Olsen

It’s time to turn a corner. Will you turn it with me? I know. Who knows what’s around it? (God.) Well, I’ll tell you what’s up. I would like to share my biblical research with you and others. With the Lord’s help, I plan to look for an agent and a publisher to help me transform my doctoral research project into useful material (spiritual nutrition and exercise) for the Body of Christ. That’s you (and me too!) .

I’d like to use this blog to find other people who are interested in my research topic, so I’m going to share the heart of the research with you. I’d like to ask you to forward my blog to everyone you know who may find meaning and blessing through this research. My topic, suffering and joy, is relevant to everyone.

I’ve worked on this project for three years, praying, searching Scriptures, evaluating life, and seeking God’s leading in my researching and writing. The product is a theology of suffering and joy: the doctrine of the dance between suffering and joy. (The title of this post employs a different metaphor.) I use some some special vocabulary which I will share with you, but don’t let words become walls. I’ll break terms down through meanings and usages.

I have constructed two taxonomies. Taxonomies are filing systems — ways of categorizing and organizing things. The color wheel categorizes colors. Your pantry organizes your food supply. The Plant Kingdom and Animal Kingdom with all their sub-data are taxonomies that help us identify and understand plants and animals.

This study’s first taxonomy, The Taxonomy of Suffering, names our pains. A corresponding Taxonomy of Joy responds to each kind (taxon) of pain. Here is the title of my doctoral research project:

A TAXONOMIC THEOLOGY OF SUFFERING AND JOY

DESIGNED TO ASSIST IN CHRISTIAN GROWTH

Would this interest you or anyone you know?   Continue reading →

Categories: Joy & Suffering -- Good & Evil, Spiritual Growth, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | 4 Comments

Reflecting Back, Treasuring Forward

Posted on February 21, 2016 by Karen Thomas Olsen

Hello! I have not forgotten you! I wrote a long post in January, and then set it aside to think on it. Do I really want to share this? I see I never posted it and haven’t posted anything since before Christmas! If I were to treat my blog like Facebook, I would post lots of pictures of our three week trip to the Midwest in December and January to visit family and friends in Chicago, Indiana, and Ohio. ‘Twas grand. 

But I always develop a topic or thought. So, the following includes the first part of what I wrote last month. Reflecting on the last few years, I observe in my rear view mirror some rays refracting toward the future, encouraging me that some changes I’ve made have improved my life and hopefully, my future. I hope the same for you.  Continue reading →

Categories: Being Like Jesus, Joy & Suffering -- Good & Evil, Spiritual Growth | Leave a comment

Anticipating the Future Via Treasures from the Past

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Karen Thomas Olsen

It can’t be avoided. The older we get, the more that life is behind us rather than in front of us.  Often I wrestle with this blinding, “under the sun” perspective. I miss much of my past: the chatter of two, little girls and all their activity in our house, the planning of family gatherings, the greatly anticipated arrival of grandparents accompanied by a trunk full of garden goodies, homemade berry and cream pies, and ranger or chocolate chip cookies. Continue reading →

Categories: Joy & Suffering -- Good & Evil, Spiritual Growth, Uncategorized | Tags: , , | 2 Comments

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