share the confusion

A quote from yesterday’s installment of “A light blazes in the darkness” -

It’s funny how relatively minor inconveniences can make us
see the whole world as a gritty, greasy, grotesque mess. The slightest
glitch in our plans, the smallest break in our established routine, can
render us almost incapable of seeing anything good about life – or
even about God. We might cry out to God from our dark places, but
singing praise often seems beyond us when things are going wrong.

Having talked about blessings after reading another splendid installment from the same book,  I had a day of those relatively minor inconveniences after writing it.  Reading the quote above is helping me keep a healthy sense of balance, especially as the author then goes on to say -

More often, though, what we get is the little, ordinary
things: the perfect sunrise over the ocean, the sparkling beauty of the
first snowfall of winter, the simple joy of a cup of great coffee, the
warm melting sweetness of a chocolate-chip cookie just out of the
oven, the much-needed embrace of a friend, the cool relief of running
water. We might wish for big miracles, dramatic signs of God’s
presence and help in our lives, but most of the time, God chooses to
work in and through the small things. From these seemingly ordinary
events, God pieces together a world that, from time to time, causes us
to sing a new song to the Lord.

Inconvenienced by the minor things, finding joy and pleasure in the simple things. I’m glad I’m not the only one. I get confused by a lot of things, but one thing I do know is that I’d not swap seeing blessings in the small things for the price of getting better with the small inconveniences. I hope in time to get better at not sweating the small stuff. The grace of blessings in the small things is something to be grateful for.

Merry Christmas and Yuletide felicitations to all.

Back from Church, so now I’m settling for a simple and quiet family Christmas with much reading, online and dead tree.

Plenty of time for me read 2005:Blogged a splendidly topical present indeed.

When the online interweb is used to put cool free stuff out there for people to use it gives me the warm fuzzies. In the face of the rampant commercialism of, well, everything, its inspiring to know that some people would rather pass out the warm fuzzies than chase after money.

I was delighted to find these free paper bookmarks online today, via Moleskinerie. Not only a good and practical idea, but nicely designed and would even make a nice and simple gift, you know, in case you were planning on giving out any gifts in the next fews days or something.

A wonderful description of Advent from “A light blazes in the darkness” yesterday -

Maybe this is why I love Advent so much, maybe even more than Christmas. The Lofty and the Ordinary aren’t married yet, but they’ve started dating.

If you are attempting to pull on a jumper and wondering why, after 3 attempts to do it right you still don’t seem able to get the v neck at the front, before realising that’s because the jumper has a round neck, its a pretty good bet your mind is on other things.

Present in the moment? Erm, not quite.

Brain even switched on? Doesn’t look likely, does it?

Something I’ve just realised – I’m the same age now as when Jesus was crucified.

Sobering stuff in itself, but when you have an over active imagination then it gets worse.

I remember in school one of the “things about Jesus” that was pushed a lot was how he knew what it was like to experience what we experienced, because he’d grown up, been there, done it. Now that’s kinda comforting when you’re a teenager and seemingly incapable of stopping looking at girls, but now I’m 33 its placebo-like comfort seems to have worn out.

What happens next year when I’m 34? Jesus didn’t experience being 34. Does that mean I’m on my own now, making it up as I go along? Do I get a shrug of the shoulders from the son of man, saying “Don’t ask me, I didn’t do 34″?

Can’t decide if this means that I’ve struck on a theological problem that wouls stump all theologians from Anselm to Bonhoeffer, or that I really am as utterly self-obsessed as I sometimes think I might be.

I love bookshops, especially small independent sellers. The disintegration of the net price book agreement really is killing a lot of, which makes those that remain shine out even more.

I’ve got my favourites I’ve been to and a long list of ones I’d love to visit. Quite a lot of them feature in Jeremy Mercer’s top 10 bookshops in this article on the Guardian website.

Bookstores are sanctuaries. Places to lose yourself, escape the harsh demands of daily life, find new ways to dream and new sources of inspiration. I love all booksellers; anybody who helps spread the word is doing noble work. But my favourite bookstores are the small eccentric independents run by passionate and usually slightly mad book lovers.

It looks like Jeremy thinks the same about bookshops. Nice to see the top of my list to visit, Shakespeare and Company, featuring on his list. I hope I get the chance to visit, but until I do at least I can read Jeremy Mercer’s book about Shakespeare and Company, Books, Baguettes and Bedbugs, and dream large.