22 days to 40...sometimes what we want doesn't exist

I went looking for a poem that matched my thoughts for today, but could not find one. I even tried googling "poems for when other words aren't quite right" (and variations on that theme) but while I came across many lovely poems, none were what I wanted.

But of course, what we want doesn't always exist.

I want to pretend that is a lesson I don't have to keep learning over and over, but honestly....no matter how many times I have learned it in the past 40 years, I keep stumbling over the fact that sometimes what I want does not exist. Given that Ecclesiastes says there is nothing new under the sun, I am constantly surprised when I run up against this limitation of the universe. How can it be that in 2020, the thing I want for today is not readily available? (#firstworldproblems)

When Amy and I were in the earliest stages of writing a book, this was actually one of the reasons we decided to do it: because the book we wanted to read and teach from and recommend to friends did not exist. So we worked to bring it into existence. (earlier this month it was in my Facebook memories, in fact, that I held that book in my hands for the first time in September 7 years ago!)

I am no poet, so I will not be bringing a poem into existence to meet this day's needs.

However.

I will note that sometimes....perhaps oftentimes?...when we are longing for something that does not exist, that is a nudge from the Spirit about our calling. Because we live in this place and time in between the vision of God and its realisation, and sometimes it's our creating that brings the kingdom a little more into existence. 

Maybe through poetry. maybe through compassion. maybe through big acts of justice. maybe through writing a book or building a new community or lobbying our government or whatever it is...

it might be yours to do.

or mine.

or ours, together.

photo from the very first time I held the book...on a train, thanks to Anita!

Friday Five: fall books!

I haven't played the FF in a long time, but today I can't help myself. I've been daydreaming about books, using my library card more than I have in a long time, and today is the kind of sunny breezy autumn day that makes me want to curl up under a blanket next to an open window (yes, I'm that girl) with a stack of books.

This desire is not mitigated by the fact that I really need to do some other things (some work, deal with the apples I picked last weekend, etc).

So I'll play the Friday Five instead, because it's about books! And then I can pretend that I did something, while thinking about reading. ;-)

Share with us some of your favorites:

A cookbook....well, I confess to rarely using recipes, because I find them kind of restrictive. lol. But I do have a couple of favorites that I go back to for different things. Of course there's the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, full of standards. And the Teen Vegetarian Cookbook, which has a chart of nutrients and three different columns of how to get them (i.e., "don't like this? try this. Don't like that either? try this.")

A novel...Just one favorite novel? oh my. Let's go with relatively recent reads...Most of a year later, I am still gushing about The Undertaken Trilogy, which may be the best fiction I've read since The Goldfinch (which was amazing). Don't be fooled by the young adult label, this is a book(series) for all ages.

A nonfiction book...I always have a hard time when asked about nonfiction. Once I responded to someone with "I don't really read nonfiction" and they stared incredulously at my office bookshelves. I had to say "oh, I mean...besides church books." I don't really read non-theology/churchy non-fiction.   If pressed I would probably say something like the Lonely Planet guide to whatever next place I'm going....or maybe the book I co-authored, since it needs some promotional love! :-)

A well-thumbed book to which you turn often, or with affection, used in your profession...besides the bible or hymnal? I just yesterday got out Christianity for the Rest of Us again, to use the hospitality chapter in the new member class. That book gets a workout for sure.

An author you recommend frequently to others... After myself (heh), probably Jane Austen. Because I come across a SHOCKING number of people who have not read Pride and Prejudice, and I just don't think that's okay.

Bonus: what are you reading now? ...Goodreads says I have 7 books going. haha. I am most invested in Original Blessing at the moment, plus We Make The Road By Walking for our current adult-ed class, and also Emotions and the Enneagram. I have plans to stock up on novels for an upcoming vacation though!

I keep trying...

...and failing to write a blog post. I've started several and deleted them, or they're just languishing in my drafts. Sorry for the blog silence. It's not even for any particular reason, other than that I suppose I don't have much to say.

However, I did get a book contract from Chalice Press to write a book with my best friend Amy, so we are now feverishly writing a book! Sometimes drafts or sections of chapters may make appearances here for feedback, so watch for that.

The working title of the book is And Then We Just Got Really Busy: spirituality for a new generation. Send us good writing vibes!