The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis

John Baillie's A Diary of Readings is a banquet of great devotional writers. I would recommend it highly.

Here is a portion of what I read this morning:

ALL HOPE AND TRUST ARE TO BE FIXED IN GOD ALONE

THE DISCIPLE

WHAT, Lord, is the trust which I have in this life, or what is my greatest comfort among all the things that appear under heaven? Is it not You, O Lord, my God, Whose mercies are without number? Where have I ever fared well but for You? Or how could things go badly when You were present?

I had rather be poor for Your sake than rich without You. I prefer rather to wander on the earth with You than to possess heaven without You. Where You are there is heaven, and where You are not are death and hell.

You are my desire and therefore I must cry after You and sigh and pray. In none can I fully trust to help me in my necessities, but in You alone, my God. You are my hope. You are my confidence. You are my consoler, most faithful in every need.

Book Three, Chapter Fifty-Nine

The Work of Writing

William Boyd, Scottish novelist and playwright, said about his work habits:

"I try to put in a good eight hours a day. Often I write in libraries. I don't have to be inspired. I don't need total silence. I don't worry about writer's block, which I think is a self-fulfilling prophecy. ... I do enjoy writing. I know some writers enjoy the invention but find the writing an endless night of the soul. I don't."

Homemade Potato Chips

No recipe earlier this week, because every 3rd week our friend Steph gets the Fairview share.

But 4605 Granada Circle is not living without Fairview produce, no sirree! We just made our own potato chips - baked. And we used one of Fairview's purple potatoes, which are so pretty.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Use a big grater or a food processor (or a really sharp knife - but I don't trust myself) and slice the potatoes very thin. You don't want to see through them, but maybe a little.

Spray a cookie sheet with olive oil spray, then lay out the potato slices. Spray them lightly again, then sprinkle Lawry's Seasoning Salt, or garlic salt, all over 'em.

Bake for 15 minutes. Nice and crunchy. Much lower in fat. Unless you dip them in ranch dressing.

Empty Hands

It's unkind to a poet to only insert a stanza of their work, but due to the general lack of patience that most of us have with poetry, here is only one from a poem I read this morning. It is my prayer during these "what's next?" days.

My spirit bare before Thee stands;
I bring no gift, I ask no sign,
I come to Thee with empty hands,
The surer to be filled from Thine.

Dora Greenwell

When Do I Pray?

Read this slowly, once or twice, for its truth to sink in. Be patient with the language - it's a little fancy-shmancy because it was written in the 18th century -- but it's worth your concentration.

"Are we not of the number of those who... have no object in their prayers but temporal benefits, those who pray earnestly for the fatness of the earth but never ask for the dew of heaven?

Events & circumstances awaken our religion, as though there were no need to pray to God except in illness & sorrow. As soon as affairs take a turn for the better and the danger is past, our devotion vanishes; the most we think of doing is to thank God for the successful end of our troubles; after a short act of gratitude we forget Him, and think of nothing but our pleasures....

God is forgotten as soon as our needs are supplied, as soon as our evils are averted and our blessings secured.

Jean Nicolas Grou
1795


How much do I pray about my life in Christ vs. the concerns of my everyday life? Ouch.

Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Psalm 34:8

The Privilege

During my sabbatical I was able to read read read, to my heart's content. Now that my sabbatical is over and I'm back to "work" (yeah, ok, so I'm not really sure what 'work' is yet, but I manage to keep very busy...) I still want to be reading.

The other night, while cleaning out my bedside table, I found a book I haven't looked at in years. It's a treasure. I'm sure you can still find copies on Half.com. It's titled A Diary of Readings by John Baillie. It's a collection of longer quotes, one for each day, "gathered from the wisdom of many centuries... suited to engage serious thought." Baillie also wrote A Diary of Private Prayer, a wonderful devotional.

Here's a portion of today's reading. It's lovely.

I have known what the enjoyments and advantages of this life are, and what the more refined pleasures which learning and intellectual power can bestow; and with all the experience that more than threescore years can give I now, on the eve of my departure, declare to you... that health is a great blessing, competence obtained by honorable industry a great blessing, and a great blessing it is to have kind, faithful and loving friends and relatives; but that the greatest of all blessings, as it is the most ennobling of all privileges, is to be indeed a Christian.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

New Music Monday

I got some Amazon gift certificates for my birthday, and I'm finally getting around to spending some of 'em!

About 3 months ago I discovered how great it is to download music from Amazon instead of iTunes - it's cheaper and Amazon doesn't put the lame whatever-you-call-it limitations on the way the music comes to you. It's easier to transfer between cd's and computer and iPod and all that yada yada. (Now mind you, I don't buy music and give it to others, if that's what yer thinkin...)

ANYWAY, on to my new purchases that I am just loving....

M. Ward "Hold Time" http://www.myspace.com/mward
I came through the back door to M. Ward. I liked what I had heard on a Paste sample CD of this new little group called She&Him about 8 months ago, and got their CD. Then Justine Wieland, one of my favorite music junkie pals, got tickets to a She&Him concert and let me join her and then BAM I was hooked. And then I lamely figured out that um, M. Ward is WAY more talented than just this little side act thing he was doing with Zooey Deschanel...

So discover M. Ward if you haven't already. Check check check out these lyrics from "Fisher of Men" off his new album. They are so great and complicated and not predictable. How refreshing. And get over it if you don't like the jangly Johnny Cash sound. The lyrics are crazy wonderful.

He tied a feather to the hook for to get you to look
And by the time you know what took you, you already took
He's got a line in the water, he's a fisher of men

He put the thorns on the rose for to get you to bleed
And by the time you know what stuck you, the pain's in deep
He's got a line in the water, he's a fisher of men
He's got a lot on the line, he's a fisher of men

He's a fisher of men and he's wise as a prize fighter
He's like a soul miner mining souls on down the great divide

He put his name in my verses and his name in the hook
Before I knew what I was cooking, it was already cooked
He's got a line in the water, he's a fisher of men

And he put his name in my chorus like the dark before the dawn
So that in my hour of weakness, I'd remember it's his song
He's got a line in the water, he's a fisher of men

You can also get a live concert of this album on one of my favorite podcasts, Live Concerts of All Songs Considered http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15681603 Which you should be taking advantage of if you aren't already.

Bon Iver "Blood Bank" http://www.myspace.com/boniver
Just like M. Ward, and let's be honest, almost all music I listen to, I discovered Bon Iver (pronounce "bone ee-vare") through Paste magazine. I fell in love with "Skinny Love" and "Flume" immediately. Check out the full first album if you haven't - "For Emma, Forever Ago." his first album.

I don't want to say much about it. It's just like soup and warm bread - Bon Iver music is comfort food. Dense music, layered harmonies, acoustic and electric - not too much of either, complicated but intriguing lyrics... the music just sort of wanders around the house and makes it feel relaxed and restful. I like it. Nuff said.