While Waiting For Inspiration

I recently read something Corey Doctorow said in an interview:
It’s not that you can’t be a great writer who only writes when inspiration calls, but you’ll never be a happy writer if you only write when inspiration calls. Inspiration is unpredictable. And if writing is the thing that makes you happy and sane—or it’s one [...]

Go Slow in Snow

We had planned on attending the Good Friday Service this evening.
The snow, however, had started at 2:00 PM and was still going strong on into the evening.
It took more than an hour for me to drive home from work–a drive that normally takes only twenty minutes. The speed on the highway, because of the snow, [...]

Pagedropping

PAGE DROPPING
in conversations.what have I learned?what am I wondering?what strikes me as funny?what moves me to tears?
what kind of knowledgecan bend theconversation
in some new direction–not spinning–but challengingthinking seeingfeelingnewlydifferently
And then going back againfor a reassessment
growth is recursive

Working from the Notebook

Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
I didn’t wear green today. I forgot, actually. I wasn’t the only one.
I’ve been composing most of my entries in a notebook. My intent, of course, is to post them later, although most of what I’m writing these days should be left in the notebook. It’s either too personal or lacks sufficient [...]

On Writing in a Journal

Ernst Junger On writing in a journal:

“I would advise anybody who takes part in a war or any other unusual experience for a long period, to keep a consecutive diary, if it be only a succession of jottings which serve later on to give memory its clues. [...] They force the writer of them to [...]

Changing Stuff

Looking for some kind of rhythm-change after the 1st of year forces one to make adjustments in the way things are done. Every transition brings a new pattern, a new rhythm. Putting the mind in the background becomes uncomfortable because all the markers have changed, all the landmarks have been re-painted. The body cannot just [...]

From The Notebook

Here are some seasonal things written but never finished. Just cleaning out the notebook. The germs of finished-ness are contained within each piece:

Just So You Know…

In case you watched the Buffalo-Pittsburgh game on New Year’s Day and couldn’t get enough of outdoor hockey, the U. P. Pond Hockey Championships will be held in St. Ignace in late February. Make plans now!
(What am I thinking? Most of my readers don’t watch hockey.)
MORE LATER….
[UPDATE]: Watching the game brought back memories [...]

A Response to ‘Church Innovations’

Fajita posted this question on his blog:
“What innovative things are churches or ministries doing?”
His question got me to thinking about the church I attend. Like blogging about work, I’ve not blogged very much about my church. The “no blogging” policy is more to protect them from any kind of unsavory reaction to what I might [...]

Bah!

Before I wax poetic and dive headlong into a pool of bliss and sentimentality, I must say something:
Christmas sucks!
There, I’ve said it! I feel a bit guilty, but at the same time, liberated.
Maybe this statement amounts to nothing more than a good old-fashioned spleen cleaning, but you know what I’m saying, don’t you?
“Peace on earth, [...]

From Under the Tracks

The train tracks at the Ledges.

Advent: Joseph and the Angel

Who told Joseph Mary was pregnant? Was it Mary herself? Was it Heli, Mary’s father? Maybe a combination of the two?
I’m not sure it really matters. All we know is that Joseph learned of Mary’s condition and he took it hard, really hard. Think of the worst emotional moment of your life and you can [...]

Advent: Joseph and the List of Names

Most people, I’ve noticed, begin their Advent meditations with Zechariah or Elizabeth. I’ve chosen—because the story so stokes my imagination—to begin my meditations with Joseph, the husband of Mary. His story is told in the opening lines of the Gospel of Matthew. My meditation does not proffer answers as much as raises possibilities.
The Biblical narrative [...]

Catching Up Again

I haven’t posted here in a while. Not only that, I haven’t even touched a computer since late last week.
Thanksgiving went well, although it was very cold. When I woke up Thursday morning, it was only 11 degrees with a wind chill well below zero. As I write this today, the wind is still [...]

Catching Up

What’s today?
Tuesday. Two days before Thanksgiving.
Just getting my bearings.
It has been busy for me since last week. I’ll summarize:
Last Wednesday: I drove home from a meeting in Midland during the season’s first snowfall. Lots of cars in ditches along US 10, I 75 and I 69. I made it home safely, though it took some [...]

Be Ye Perfect

We decided, in our Home Group meetings, to use Conrad Gempf’s book, Mealtime Habits of the Messiah as a discussion starter, a point of departure. We were discussing Gempf’s take on Matthew 5:48 where Jesus says, “Be perfect, therefore, as you heavenly Father is perfect.”
This is a hard saying. Gempf’s idea is that, because it [...]

Purging the Violence Fantasy

I think the fiction writing exercise over the past couple of days has produced, at least, something of value. The pages generated are trash: there’s no doubt of that.
Long story short: I don’t think the movie will ever happen nor will the book upon which it was based. It’s not that I don’t have any [...]

Imagination: The Organ of Meaning

I’m a C. S. Lewis fan.
My son and I have been reading the Chronicles of Narnia so we can be prepared for when the movie comes out. It’s his first time through the books. It’s my tenth, I think. My girls have both read through the series. Sarah read them herself. I read the stories [...]

Necessary Translation: House of the Interpreter

“CHRISTIAN: Sir, said Christian, I am a man that am come from the city of Destruction, and am going to the Mount Zion; and I was told by the man that stands at the gate at the head of this way, that if I called here you would show me excellent things, such as would [...]

Necessary Translation

It is a good and positive and necessary thing to be “translating the gospel” into the vernacular of the modern culture to reach those who have no tradition. It is good for us to remember that this “translation” does not imply “negotiation.” The Spirit of God sets the tone and the agenda for the communication [...]