December 31, 2012
I’ve been glancing through all sorts of “Best of 2012” lists this week. And it got me thinking about what I’ve read, watched, and listened to this year. Some favorites quickly rose to the top of my head. But then I thought, why stop there? Why not just compile a list of all of my favorite things from 2012? So here it is, my friends: the almost-all-inclusive-but-subject-to-change-if-I-feel-like-it Best of 2012.
December 18, 2012
“All is not well. All is broken, ruined, and wears the stain of our whoring. The earth groans, vacant eyes haunt would-be lovers, lead silences mere children—and we, clueless and helpless, fiddle as our city burns. Sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, doomed in the dark to grope about for another apple. Truth and light have run and now taunt us, always beyond our grasp, while half truths wait in shop windows for any who like things wrapped in pretty boxes.
It is not right. It is not well. How long, oh Lord, how long?”
I scribbled an earlier version of that a little over a year ago, and it feels especially poignant tonight. News of the worse kind has been ringing in our ears since Friday: 20 children murdered. I have no words, only the groan in my chest that echoes the Psalmist’s question: how long?
December 4, 2012
Yesterday I spent 45 minutes staring out the window, just letting my mind wander. It was glorious. I guess the idea of sitting in one place with only your own thoughts to occupy you is a nightmare to some, but I’ve learned that I need intentional times of doing literally nothing in order to live well. (I actually happen to be an expert in sitting and staring. By the way, if you’re one of the countless people who’ve thought I was staring at you, forgive me. I promise I was just lost in thought.)