Prayer and piano, gold and New Zealand

 Quick updates: 

1. Read Timothy Keller's Prayer. I imagine that I would go back to this yearly to remind my soul of the privilege of coming to God as one would to his own loving father. 

2. Reading The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton. Gold digging, a murder mystery, and New Zealand! Excellent writing, too. Catton is the youngest winner of the Booker Prize. She won when she was 28. 

3. Still on prayer books. Reading The Collects of Thomas Cranmer. The more I read the writers from the past—Augustine, Calvin, Luther, Owen, Edwards, and the Puritans—the more I realize their breadth of wisdom. It seems to me like no idea or philosophy can truly be called original. They can be challenging to read, but the effort of putting in the work is well worth it. Consider this prayer of Cranmer, which distills doctrines from Romans and the Gospel: 

Almighty God, give us grace, that we may cast away the works of darkness and put upon us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life, (in which thy son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility;) that in the last day when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal, through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the holy ghost now and ever. Amen.

4. Learning to play the piano. Our teacher is Ma'am Deborah, wife of Pastor Richard, who visits our church for missions. My recital piece is 'Tis So Sweet To Trust in Jesus. Reading music is a lot like learning how to read letters again. My goal, and my brother's (who also takes similar piano lessons), is to be able to play the hymnal. I'm looking for an upright piano. I have my mother's blessing that I can install it in the living room. Any leads?