By Howard Thurman
Grant that I may pass through
the coming year with a faithful heart.
There will be much to test me and
make weak my strength before the year ends.
In my confusion I shall often say the word that is not true and do the thing of which I am ashamed.
There will be errors in the mind
and great inaccuracies of judgment...
In seeking the light,
I shall again and again find myself
walking in the darkness.
I shall mistake my light for Your light
and I shall drink from the responsibility of the choice I make.
Nevertheless, grant that I may pass through the coming year with a faithful heart.
May I never give the approval of my heart to error, to falseness, to vanity, to sin.
Though my days be marked
with failures, stumblings, fallings,
let my spirit be free
so that You may take it
and redeem my moments
in all the ways my needs reveal.
Give me the quiet assurance
of Your Love and Presence.
Grant that I may pass through
the coming year with a faithful heart.
--------
Swiped from Velveteen Rabbi.
We spent the first afternoon of the new year at the US Botanic Garden and walking around the US Capitol. It was drizzling when we left, but the sun was out by the time we got downtown. The lines for the annual holiday train exhibit were very long so we skipped it and went straight to the main conservatory, which always has miniatures of DC buildings made out of natural materials and lots of poinsettias. There's also an exhibit on how plants are used around the world, including lots of herb and spice samples to smell. We left a bit before sunset, when there were dozens of seagulls and some ducks in the Capitol Reflecting Pool and around the Grant Memorial.
This year's new structure in the display of landmark DC buildings is the Bartholdi Fountain which stands in the park next to the US Botanic Garden.
The Botanic Garden conservatory itself has been recreated in miniature...
...as has the White House, complete with Sasha and Malia's swingset.
The Jefferson Memorial, topped by a large gourd, is one of my favorites.
And I love the little bark Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial.
The National Museum of the Native American has the most unusual architecture on the National Mall and in miniature as well.
And I love the little glowing windows of the Smithsonian Castle.
The Washington Monument is not to scale but it is still the tallest of the sculptures.
In the evening we watched Sherlock's "A Scandal in Belgravia," which I disliked only marginally less than last season's episodes and found just as misogynistic as ever. As I've said before, I can put up with women being stereotypical in stories set in the Victorian era, but when a show has been updated to include text messages and mobile phone cameras, there is no excuse for creating an Irene Adler who's much less clever than the one in Guy Ritchie's over-the-top movies and for using cheap sex (visually and in terms of the plot) to sell an episode. I loathe bromance when the male bonding results from treating all women as unworthy of the glorified men, and this show brings that to a level not seen in the old TV shows from which slash was born.
We had dinner with my parents and I half-paid attention to the football games. The Ravens have won the AFC North and will host their playoff game after a week off! The Redskins ended their season terribly, but no big surprise there...all I cared about was that even if the Eagles won, they couldn't make the playoffs. Now I don't have to see Michael Vick for months, though I shall have to root for the Steelers against Tim Tebow.
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