A bit of a rant.

The denial of one's own free will and the insistence that one did something because they "had to" or "had no choice" is no more than a cowardly attempt to shrug off both the reality of responsibility and the just feelings of culpability that wrongdoing inspires.

Reporter Lisa Ling was on today's episode of Oprah, reporting on the "residents"--not inmates apparently, because this place is not a prison--of an island where certain sex offenders live--some indefinitely--because, although they've served their prison sentence, they're judged unfit to live freely in society. Ling interviewed some of these people, and I was shocked by how loathsome they were.

Why should I be shocked, I wonder? I know they have committed heinous deeds, perhaps some of the worst imaginable. But wouldn't you like to think that after so many years in prison and on this island, that they would have repented, that they would be fixed, that they would feel remorse and swear to never "re-offend" as they so delicately put it.

But no, far from it. One of the men in particular said that if given the chance, he would "re-offend." Oprah called him "enlightened" for knowing his weakness. I call him simply weak for not even attempting self-control.

But...thanks be to God for loving us and offering us grace so that we can be saved and have a new, perfect nature, rather than our old, fallen one. Psalm 36:10 says,

"For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light."

It is wonderful that we should not be trapped in the darkness of wickedness, which so obviously exists, but that we should have such glorious light available to us.

Speaking of light, in lighter news, I have been reading a fascinating biography on John Adams. It's by David McCullough and is extremely interesting and well-written. I find a poorly-written biography to be so tedious, but this one is very engaging.

Adams was an amazing man: very intelligent and very human. In his thirties, I believe, he pondered, in a journal entry, his goal in life. "To what object are my views directed?" He reflected upon his ever-growing and beloved library: "Fame, fortune, power say some, are the ends intended by a library. The service of God, country, clients, fellow men, say others. Which of these lie nearest my heart?" Interesting that the search for self-knowledge and a path is timeless, and that the best men seem to feel it, as well as the lowly, like myself.

Speaking of Adams, I read in Adams park today. Adams park is a lovely place, lush with vibrant, twisted magnolia trees spilling perfume from their thickly petaled flowers; inhabited by fat self-important robins and saucy black-capped chickadees; and enlivened by the tinkle of the fountain and the gurgling laughter of children. I learned today that this park I have been enjoying is, in fact, named after John Quincy Adams--not the sixth President, but a fourth cousin twice removed of the sixth President, bearing the same name. Now the President John Quincy Adams was, as I am sure you know, the son of John Adams, the second President, and Abigail Adams, of whom I am now reading. Interesting how it all intertwines, no?

And in closing, I finally cleaned my moldy shower curtain and registered for fall classes at NIU. I am excited.