"God grant that the law may cure and not crush him." Beautiful.
Neil, Your post made me want to go Ice skating! We used to skate a lot in Grand Rapids. There was a beautiful outdoor rink, in skirt of the city. Ugh! I would love to see that place again. ...and you know...Grand Rapids is known for having a huge Dutch population (Calvin College is a Dutch reformed school as is Dort which is an hour away in Holland). What I wouldn’t give to see old friends lacing themselves around the rink...especially if they wore traditional Dutch costumes!

Edelheid, what I wouldn't get to see you "lacing yourself around the rink at Forest Park" especialy in a traditional dutch costume!

Hum? I'll see what I can do. Mission one: Find a pair of wooden skates.

Doe voorzichtig (take care)!

i was talking with some friends about the reaction of the amish community after the murders of several little girls in their family. all of these donations were pouring in, so they set up a fund for the family of the man who committed the crimes and said that they wanted to extend forgiveness and mercy in response, rather than retribution.

isn't that disarming love, the kind that transforms hearts and reflects the love and mercy of God? i think about that story and think how much i have to learn about forgiveness when it is not the "sane" or "just" thing.

That is, indeed, disarming love. And, honestly, I am not entirely sure what to make of it. The core of the issue for me is whether Christians are called to be pacificists and work for complete non-violence in the sphere of civil punishments.

Those are very vexed questions. Currently, I suppose, my answer to both of those questions is a qualified "No." On a personal level of retribution vs. forgiveness, I want to strive to make my answers "Yes." But then I am left with the creation of this huge gap between the private and the public, between religion and politics, and I am not sure whether either of these gaps or contradictions should exist or be quite so large.

I am not sure I am saying this quite right.

Also, the question of how much the OT civil code should inform our civil code is still an open one for me. I am not sure I want to give up my notions of justice. And that may or may not be a good thing.

I loved this book when I read it growing up. Remember the 'where they are now' part in the last chapter? About Katrinka's future, the author writes:
"The lady is not quite so merry as formerly, and, I grieve to say, some of the tinkling bells are out of tune...I wish she would be in earnest , just for a little while, but no; it is not her nature. Her cares and sorrows do nothing more than disturb the tinkling; they never waken any deeper music." I was a little haunted by that.

Rachel, yes, the author is quite direct about the the consequences/effects of pride and vanity. There are others in that chapter who also end up rather poorly because they did not check these character traits. She does mention one girl, Rychie, who does change:

Rychie's sould has been stirred to its depths during these long years. Her history would tell how seed carelessly sown is sometimes reaped in anguish, and how a golden harvest may follow a painful planting. If I mistake not, you may be able to read the written record before long; that is, if you are familiar with Dutch language. In the witty but earnest author whose words are welcomed at this day in thousands of Holland homes, few could recognize the haughty, flippant Rychie who scoffed at little Gretel.

I just finished rereading the book last night and it has enough coincidences and happy endings for three books, and despite its somewhat moralistic tone, I enjoyed it a lot, partly because the author has some deeper insights than one normally finds in a children's book.

It is moralizing, yeah--but just about as much as LM Montgomery is, I think. They're both a little gentler than they should be, for Victorian lady writers!