A Single Layer

2013 is fast approaching, and with it the recollection that resolutions are in order. Who doesn't hope that each new year might bring with it some kind of change, however insignificant? I have a few ideas for new year's resolutions, one of which would go something like "read the books you already own." Most years I make some resolution regarding books. This past year was 1) to read more and frivolously, and 2) to blog about it . I have a very bad habit of buying more books than I can read, and then going out and getting even more at the library. 2012 has been a year of reading as much as possible, however ridiculous the material - and in the first part of the year I took that very seriously, reading through about thirty young adult novels, among other things, at a remarkable pace, on top of my usual editing load. I flagged off a good deal this fall, and I'm now about ten books behind my goal for the year. But this is not a resolution to get anxious about. Now

And on a completely unrelated note, there's an interview with Madeleine L'Engle biographer Leonard S. Marcus on Omnivoracious . Whatever you think or feel of Amazon, you gotta love their book bloggers.

" The good news of Christmas is that the atmosphere of fear and hostility isn’t the natural climate for human beings, and it can be changed." - Rowan Williams ,  courtesy of Ayjay

If blog posts were articles, I'd wait to write this till I'd done some research. But I've been thinking about this topic a lot lately, and that will have to do for now. The topic being, as the title suggests, the relationship between freedom and safety. I was thinking about this a lot during the election, as I tried to mentally sift the different parties into their fundamental ideals. There being so little harmony between parties, it seemed like a helpful exercise. Why is it that we are so divided? What values are so conflicting that they can create such dissension? Recent events have brought the two to mind again. I'm not going to give any space here to the massacre at Sandy Hook, because enough has been said and enough can never be said, and that's the way it is with tragedy. I am not ready to attempt to do justice to it. So, moving slightly through that, I was struck by how quickly people responded to the horror with a call to metaphorical arms against...w

Featured this morning in our church bulletin, a recent Advent poem of mine. Though the version for the service had one line adjustment for the sake of its context; this is the original. More often than not they arrived on foot,  like travelers come a long distance. Think of the three at which Sarah laughed. Think of the one standing in Balaam’s path. The shepherds, aghast at the one, then suddenly surrounded face to face with a host,  looked angels in the eyes. Scattered among the sheep— not suspended—stalking toward them purposefully  with peace to those on whom . The shepherds were not the first. All of Israel followed the angel to Canaan, and it was the angels who brought fire to Sodom. An angel alone led the ram to Abraham. And we haven’t yet mentioned the cherubim, divine dragons, guardians of the throne, strange beasts. This is the company the angels keep. The messengers say do not be afraid , and often lift men from prostrate prai

"What if—the basis of all story. The small child asks all the what ifs. All of life is a story, story unravelling and revealing meaning. Despite our inability to control circumstances, we are given the gift of being free to respond to them in our own way, creatively or destructively."

Grace Bonney over at DesignSponge posted Sugru's "Fixer's Manifesto" on the blog today. Which got me thinking about manifestos in general, and resolutions, especially as we're nearing a new year. The blurry weeks of late December and early January are when so many people make resolutions they fail to keep and (usually) fail to try to keep. But there's value in developing a set of guideposts for each season of your life, standards if you will, to help you develop yourself, your work, or your relationships in ways that are important to you. Bonney also linked to 99U's 5 Manifestos for Art, Life & Business , which include such notable resolvers as Steve Jobs, Leo Tolstoy, and Frank Lloyd Wright. All this is leading to the obvious questions: What is your manifesto? What are your resolutions? What is your set of standards for the season?

I've come across a few new musical experiences lately I thought I'd share. What with holidays and all, it's a good time to be introduced to new songs - and singers. Maggie Ritchie and I went to college together, but I'd buy her album Something Wonderful whether I knew her or not. I don't know the first thing about reviewing music, though, so I won't tell you much about it. Just sample the songs yourself and tell me what you think. Several musical people from my church put together an album of songs we sing a lot. Which is a lame introduction to a beautiful collection, Songs of Grace . If you like what you hear, the doors are open at 9:30 every Sunday.

Both—one at the oven in the square, one at the sawhorse— build from the warm earth, shaping with calloused hands. Joseph in the woodshop,  always a quiet man, now grave in upturned admiration, guides the hands of the boy  (the one who caused such a stir and set the town fathers talking and the unwise wives clucking) bearing the sharp blade over the wood. The boy says, ‘teach me,’ and the quiet father steps back in fear. The man has lost a finger in his day— and almost lost a hand. There was a Sabbath when the boy returned from the Rabbi (the unleavened bread sat cold in the corner). The father thought to ask the son for healing— it had been a helpful finger. But by the time the sun had set, the father had forgot the need— and though his faith  (hidden as it was on the edge of Nazareth) was firm and sure, he was a man of simple plans and could better bear the weight of a cedar branch than aspire to miracle. Not so with

I will definitely be visiting this every day.

God With Us:  Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas , edited by Gregory Wolfe God is in the Manger , by Dietrich Bonhoeffer Advent and Christmas Wisdom from Henri J.M. Nouwen Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas Advent Conspiracy: Can Christmas Still Change the World?  by Rick McKinley, Chris Seay, and Greg Holder Preparing for Jesus , by Walter Wangerin Jr. Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent , by Enuma Okoro