Skip to main content

Friday Five: It is Well With my Soul Edition

Over at RevGalBlogPals, kathernnzj writes:

There are many perks in my life for which I give thanks and then there are some that make everything right in the world during the moment I am enjoying them. I'm wondering what a few of those things - five to be specific - are for you.
1. Hot water. Oh, how I love it. I can camp. I can go a few days, a week. But the glories of hot water. If I had to add a fourth to the Trinity, it would not be Luther. What's better- a hot bath or a hot shower or a hot tub or a sun-warmed ocean? I can't choose, for they each have their own glories. There is a special kind of giddiness, especially now that I am a mom, in closing the door and having my own steam haven. In those moments, all is well with my soul. (At least until I start making a to-do list in my head or I finish my book before I'm completely shriveled.

2. I love my family- my husband, our son, and our dog. When I come home and there are arms to greet me, tails wagging, a chorus of "Mamamamamama"- everything slides into place for me. Too often, I let the tasks of home immediately intrude, but I try not too- throwing myself onto the floor in the piles of Cheerios and dog hair to feel the love.

3. Romance novels. I cannot deny the giggly feeling of finishing a romance novel that had snappy, witty dialogue, well-written characters and a believable plot line. Oh, I read my theological books, my well-researched biographies, thick volumes of scientific research and slim volumes of poetry or essays on whatever, but occasionally a pink-covered novel with something purple (ahem) on the cover slips into the "to read" pile. I know I should demur and acknowledge a guilty pleasure, but I only feel guilty if I finished the book and it sucked. A well-written novel makes me glad I can read, just like good writing in any other genre.

4. Communion hymns. The swell of a congregation singing a song together, with heartfelt voices, stirs me like so little else. When people sing "It is Well with My Soul", "Precious Lord" or my two favorites "Give me Jesus" and "Jesus Loves Me", I feel overcome by the presence of the Spirit. I don't belong to a tradition in which people are too frequently "slain in the Spirit" (pity), but I think many of us have been struck and hard during a well-timed communion hymn.

5. November foods. One of the exchanges for living in Alaska is that we have a gorgeous fall that lasts about 2.5 weeks, somewhere at the end of August to the end of September depending on where you are in the state. Then begins the holding patterns until winter weather. Nevertheless, we still get the *harvest foods* of November, which I love. Mmmmmm. I SO heart turkey, potatoes, cranberry sauce, apples, green bean casserole, variations on stuffing, and wild rice. I love egg nog with Thanksgiving. By Christmas, my head is full and food becomes a necessity, but in November, it's still a luxury and I still have time to enjoy it.

Comments

kathrynzj said…
Great list, I love that your family centers you. And the well-written romance novel - good one!

Thanks for playing!

Popular posts from this blog

I'm In

A few weeks ago ,  I was using voice-to-text to compose some prayers. After I was finished speaking the whole list, I was proof-reading the document and   realized that everywhere I said “Amen”, the voice-to-text wrote “I’m in”. “Amen” essentially means  “may it be so”,  but what would it look like to end our prayers with “I’m in”. What would change if we rose from our knees, left our prayer closets, closed our devotionals, and moved with purpose toward the goals for which we had just prayed.  Lord, in your mercy:  Grant justice to the oppressed and disenfranchised (I’m in) Cast down the mighty from their thrones (I’m in)  Console the grieving and welcome the prodigal (I’m in)  Welcome strangers and attend to the marginalized (I’m in)  Grant the space for the silenced to speak… and listen (I’m in)  Fill the hungry with good things and send the rich away empty (I’m in)  Forgive others as I am forgiven (I’m in) Be merciful as God in h...

The Reign of Christ and the Long Defeat

At one point in The Lord of the Rings, the royal elf Galadriel describes her life and experience and says, “… we have fought the long defeat.” Galadriel, like other elves and the Hobbits and many others, is depicted as being on the right side of things in the books. The Company of the Ring (the Fellowship) wins and defeats the forces of evil. Why would she consider this a “long defeat”?  Furthermore, why would J.R.R. Tolkien, the author, apply the same term to himself. He wrote in a letter, “Actually, I am a Christian, and indeed a Roman Catholic, so that I do not expect ‘history’ to be anything but a 'long defeat’ – though it contains (and in a legend may contain more clearly and movingly) some samples or glimpses of final victory.” (Letter #195) Tolkien, a Brit, fought in World War 1. Though he was on the side that “won”, he saw the devastation following the war on all sides- how the “winners” struggled with what they had seen and done and how the “losers” were galvanized to see ...

What is Best (Sermon)

Pentecost 15 (Year A)  Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9; Psalm 15; James 1:17-27;  Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 I recently read a novel set in a post-pandemic, apocalyptic world. In the book, people were working to re-establish pockets of society. A traveling symphony moved from town to town in caravans- performing music and works of Shakespeare. Early in their travels, they had tried other plays, but people only wanted to see Shakespearean works. One of the symphony members commented on the desire for Shakespeare, "People want what was best about the world." As I read and since I finished the book, I kept thinking about that phrase.  People want what was best about the world. People want what was best about the world. That is true even when we’re not in a cataclysmic re-working of what we’ve always known. The very idea of nostalgia, of longing for what once was, is about wanting what was best about the world or what seemed like the best to us. One of the massive tension...