WWII, a little girl, and a father

  Our family has a friend who brings the kids books when he visits. He visits regularly and particularly brings books that help us educate the girls. The girls particularly love the Usbourne Flap books - we've been through large swaths of history using these books, and they make history memorable. Today, I was reading "See Inside The Second World War" to my oldest; she was impacted and I was impacted. I've read a lot about WWII over the years and heard a couple first-hand accounts, but reading through it summarized in a this way made an impression.

  Of course, she wanted to know about the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys,' and there were plenty of bad guys. Even she could understand the horror of people groups, cultures, and entire cities being wiped out, of people inventing so many ways to kill each other faster. It got overwhelming, so we quit for today. For her, things sank in when I told her that her great-great-uncle had been killed in WWII in an airplane; for me, the horror sank in as I calculated that the 60 million deaths that were cited were as if someone died from war every 3 seconds, for the six years of the war. For the equivalent of my daughter's life, every 3 seconds someone dying because of the hatred and greed and fear and ambition of humanity. When we finish reading the book, maybe we'll talk about some good guys - she had a great-grandfather who fought and quietly carried the scars for life, as well as another great-great-uncle who helped open the concentration camps.

  History is impacting, even for kids; these books are a great way to share the history of humanity good and bad.

The Closing Blessing's (Benediction's) ancient purpose

Regarding Israel's worship, during the Old Testament period:

A part of every gathering of the community was the blessing with which they were dismissed. This should not be thought of as merely a solemn concluding ceremony; the entire service of worship was concerned with blessing. When the priest at the conclusion pronounces Yahweh's blessing on the community, he does it so that all those who are scattering to their own homes may take with them the blessing of God that has characterized the entire sacred service. The psalms of blessing show this clearly.

- Claus Westermann,  Blessing in the Bible and the Life of the Church, pg 37.

  As I have studied, the biblical theology of blessing, Claus Westermann and James McKeown have been the two authors who have been most helpful to me in their various writings. This excerpt seemed particularly relevant and clear beyond it's context within the book.