Friday Five ~ now

Thanks to Jan in Texas, who provided today's Friday Five questions.

1.  Who do you think of for Father’s Day?

My son David is a wonderful father and grandfather.  The photo shows him coaching his 4-year-old grandson's ballgame in May.  I tell people, "My son's son had a son" — between the two generations pictured is my grandson, whose wife recently posted a picture on Facebook showing him mowing the lawn next door.  She wrote:  "This is one of the reasons I love this man.  He's mowing our neighbor's yard because the man broke his collar bone."  Therefore, I nominate my son for Father of the Year — because of the way he and his wife raised their children to be caring adults.  By the way, David's birthday is Sunday.  He'll be 52 years old, but he still looks like my little boy to me.

2.  What are you thinking about right now?

Rev. Dr. Anna Howard Shaw

I've been thinking about a new word I found while reading The Story of a Pioneer by Anna Howard Shaw, first published in 1915.  The author mentioned a man's "fimbriated face."  Fascinated by words since the age of two, I rarely run across a word that is totally new to me.  Two friends and I discussed the word over dinner at Applebee's last night, as they tried to help me figure out how to look up the word in the Oxford English Dictionary that came already installed on my new Kindle.  The word ˈfim brēˌātid means "having a fringe or border of hairlike or fingerlike projections."  I concluded that Anna Howard Shaw meant the man had a fringe of hair around his face, maybe a full beard that was continuous with his hair.

3.  What book are you reading or have just finished reading?

I'm also reading Discover the Power Within You by Eric Butterworth, 1968.  The author shares the greatest discovery of all time:  the ability to see the divine within us all.  Jesus saw this divine dimension in every human being, and Butterworth reveals this hidden and untapped resource to be a source of limitless abundance.  Exploring this "depth potential," Butterworth outlines ways in which we can release the power locked within us for better health, greater confidence, increased success, and inspired openness to let our "light shine" forth for others.

4.  What was the best movie you have seen in the past year?

I've seen only two or three movies in the past year, and the best was probably the one I watched a couple of weeks ago.  Still Alice is a 2014 drama based on Lisa Genova's 2007 bestselling novel of the same name.  I wanted to see this movie because my mother had Alzheimer's like the main character in the film.  Alice is very intelligent and tries to work around her own memory problems, but the disease makes things very difficult, thwarting her best efforts over and over.

5.  News in our world is overwhelming with politics, tragedy, dissension, and hope.  What current affairs are you thinking about?

I'm thinking about racism and violence, especially the madness of the terrorist who murdered nine people attending a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, shot because of the color of their skin.  I agree with Bernie Sanders, who said, "This senseless violence fills me with outrage, disgust, and a deep, deep sadness."  People all over the world are shocked at American violence and wonder why we think guns are going to solve anything.

This video of a prayer by the pastor who was killed also lists and shows all nine victims.