I confess that it is insanely cold outside, -8 degrees at my house last night, and yet still I love winter. When I start to think it’s too cold, I just imagine how cranky I would be if it was 110 degrees outside today (the summer equivalent to our current cold snap). Then I remember how much I love winter, and I find myself thankful for the cold. At least with the snow and the cold there’s a bit of excitement and even joy involved (especially when the kids learned school was cancelled for today).
I confess that even while I’m enjoying the winter, I have been worrying about those who are a part of our Redemption Church family who are living off the grid. I hope you guys are safe today, and at least relatively warm. I confess that I’m grateful for those who took people in, or made sure they had a hotel room for a couple of days.
I confess that there is something deeply spiritual and important about learning how to hold the hand of people who are so broken that they will probably never get fixed this side of forever. It reminds me of how utterly broken I am, and how I’ll probably never get totally fixed this side of forever, either. It also does something very important in our own character as disciples. We need the poor much more than we realize. We need to know their names and hear their stories and care about them, even if they are perishing under the weight of their own lives. This is an important part of our discipleship, the chief impact of which will not be upon their lives, but upon ours.
I confess that I went to turn the water on in our church kitchen just now and nothing came out. I’m assuming this means that pipes are frozen somewhere, and that this is not an issue that is free or cheap to fix. I confess that I’m thinking that putting an “out of order” sign on the faucet is not a long term solution… no?
I confess that I’m drawing to the end of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s new book, Bully Pulpit. What a good read this has been. I’ve been thinking about how many similarities there are between the world of 100 years ago, and today’s world, especially in regard to income inequality and the power of corporations. I confess that as I’m reading this book, I’ve wondered what happened to the good progressive republicans like Teddy Roosevelt. I don’t see any today. This can’t be good.
I confess that I’m getting itchy to go on a trip. I think that the earliest I’ll get to go exploring will be a family trip to Sunlight Mountain for spring break. I’m already getting excited about it.
I confess that my friend Chaim is reading Jayber Crow right now. He joins the small ranks of friends who have jumped into the Port William membership, which is small… really small. Mostly I’m talking about Kate, Chaim, Savage & me. That’s not enough. I’m wondering if there might be a few I’ve missed? I think that I might be ready to say that Jayber Crow has officially moved into a tie with Owen Meany for fictional people that I wish were actually real. The problem is that with Jayber, of course, you’d have to bring that whole town to life… which is, after all, part of Wendell Berry’s point.
Okay friends, that’s my confession for this Monday. Time for you to make yours:
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