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categories:
art, between you & me, children, creatures & creation, empathy fail, gospel, humorous, introspective, music, passages, quotable, social, tv & film, with those who
sister project:
January 28, 2012 from Leanna Jackson ...
Being a generally private person bordering on anti-social, I've never begun to comprehend why people try to talk to you in line at the market. I am shy and awkward, and I don't know these people.
Still, this guy in line in front of me, buying his booze, turned with that forced smile and asked me about my coffee. His daughter used to work at Dunkin Donuts, he said. He also promised I'd enjoy it.
January 25, 2012 I met Josh Evans during a Counseling Skills small group at grad school, and soon found him to be an empathetic and valued friend. Josh, who is one of the most dedicated husbands and fathers (to two young girls) I know, recently started a candid and compelling blog called The Daddy Craft. He hopes it will be "a resource for dads where they can go for the types of tips and pieces of advice I was searching for, and am still searching for," and writes: "I don’t ever want to pretend I have all the answers ... I think we can all learn from one another."
January 24, 2012 
(Igor Goncharenko/123rf.com)I worked at a home design store right out of college, actually for the next seven years as it turned out. While it was far from a good fit as far as my interests or personality was concerned, I did develop some moderate interest in the aesthetics of interior design. We carried a number of magazines, do-it-yourself and coffee table books on the subject, which we'd flip through when we were particularly bored, and one of the nicer titles which especially fascinated me was Small Spaces.
It had to do with creative design in physically tighter dimensions, but I resonated with the idea on an emotional plane as well. The wording stayed with me, so much so that I even wrote a short, rather awkward manuscript on loneliness and gave it the same title.
January 23, 2012 Methought that in a solemn church I stood.
Its marble acres, worn with knees and feet,
Lay spread from door to door, from street to street.
Midway the form hung high upon the rood
Of him who gave his life to be our good;
Beyond, priests flitted, bowed, and murmured meet,
Among the candles shining still and sweet.
Men came and went, and worshipped as they could--
And still their dust a woman with her broom,
Bowed to her work, kept sweeping to the door.
Then saw I, slow through all the pillared gloom,
Across the church a silent figure come:
"Daughter," it said, "thou sweepest well my floor!"
It is the Lord! I cried, and saw no more. (George MacDonald, "The Sweeper of the Floor")
(many thanks to my brother Josh for sharing this touching poem, which was especially meaningful for me to discover as a custodian at our own church; poem via The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century, ed. Alfred H. Miles (1907), posted at Bartleby.com; "Peasant woman, sweeping the floor" painting by Van Gogh (1885), via Wikimedia Commons)
January 21, 2012 Even though I didn't discover it until the year was just about over, "O Heart Bereaved and Lonely" was without a doubt my anthem for 2011. The profoundly relatable and compassionate hymn was originally written by Fanny Crosby (1820-1915), and set to a sober but beautiful new melody by Leigh Nash on a surprising collection of Hymns & Sacred Songs (Kingsway '11):
January 19, 2012 Christianity Today's Leadership Journal apparently dedicated their Fall '11 issue to 'Dark Nights of Soul,' a theme I commend them for being willing to draw attention to, especially in a context of Christian ministry and leadership. Pastor and therapist Chuck DeGroat wrote a noteworthy article for the issue, "Spiritual or Psychological: Dark Nights Often Have Many Dimensions," which wisely and compassionately touches on the physiological, emotional and spiritual aspects of many such seasons (of which I've had a few):
Though (John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila) lacked modern categories and definitions, they were some of the most adept psychological minds of their day. St. John taught that melancholia, or depression, would often accompany the dark night. For him, it wasn't an either/or, but more often a both/and.
January 17, 2012 Before we get too much deeper into 2012, I wanted to pass other favorites I discovered or re-discovered this past year, following up on the annual soundtrack posted a couple of weeks ago with some memorable books:
non-fiction
Craig Goodwin, Year of Plenty: One Suburban Family, Four Rules, and 365 Days of Homegrown Adventure in Pursuit of Christian Living (Sparkhouse '11) - I've posted a review of this very engaging and personal journey through more local, sustainable and simple living, written by a Washington state pastor. January 16, 2012 The first question that the priest asked, and the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But then the Good Samaritan came by, and he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"
Martin Luther King, Jr. offered this take on the parable in Luke 10:25-37 during his last speech, "I've Been to the Mountaintop," the day before he died on April 4, 1968. Apparently, he referred to the parable often, and a year earlier said the following in "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence":
January 15, 2012 A few friends have shared this music video for Josh Garrel's "White Owl," beautifully animated by Daniel and Arian Armstrong. It's quite moving to take in, visually and musically; and I find myself identifying with the experience personally, as well as thinking of a few friends who are going through quite a bit scarier journeys at the moment:
January 12, 2012 I'm making an effort to read through the bible in one year for the first time since my teens, or possibly my first year of bible college (I don't think I finished all the prophetic books toward my seminary O.T. survey course). I'm using a One Year Bible Online plan which incorporates a passage from the Old and New Testaments as well as Psalms and Proverbs into each daily reading. I really appreciate this format, similar to the one I used when I read through the entire bible for the first time in junior high.
