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Jayber Crow: The Value of a Small Life
Intrigued by the words “the value of a small life,” which I heard on a podcast in January, those words refer to this book. Jayber Crow : The Life Story of Jayber Crow, Barber of Port William Membership, as Written by Himself (published 2000) is actually a novel written by Wendell Berry as if it is a memoir written by the character the author created. Timely and timeless, Jayber’s story transported me to an unfamiliar setting, a bygone time, and describes people I know. Including myself. An excerpt: “If you could do it, I suppose it would be a good idea to live your life in a straight line––starting say,…
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Expectations Rob Us of Joy
Another journal, another entry, a note to self revealed that my expectations of other people presents a recurring problem for me. [1] But what if the person of whom I have expectations is the person who raised those expectations in the first place? What if a failure to meet those expectations undermines my trust in that person’s word? Someone I trusted either forgot what they said or else changed their mind. Does this call into question their character? Anyone in whom you or I place confidence can fail to meet our expectations. It could be a teacher, a doctor, a friend, a spouse, colleagues. Confidence begins to corrode. Like most…
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New Year’s Solutions and High Hopes
Resolutions don’t work. If 41% of Americans make New Year’s resolutions and fewer than 9% achieve their goals by year’s end, how many people will move to Montana this year? Statistics often make absurd connections. Correlation is not causation. Causes of problems are usually much deeper, going far beyond observation. Dictionary definitions: New Year’s resolution: promise to do something different in the New Year resolve: to deal with successfully solution: an action or process of solving a problem The difference between promising to do something to create change and actually solving a problem lies somewhere between a person’s ears. A wise teacher said to me many years ago, “You behave…
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A Few Good Friends
If you live long enough, you will lose more than a few good friends. Some while you live and others when they die. Ironically, funerals bring together family and friends who you and I may have gone years without seeing. Losing a friend, we press the pause button long enough to reflect on the way friend connections keep us going till we’re gone. Consider how God uses friends to shape our lives, as someone described friendship. “Friends for a season Friends for a reason Friends for life” F*R*I*E*N*D*S If you watched the sitcom Friends when it was the number one show on TV during its ten years, 1994–2004, Matthew Perry…
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Read a Book in October: National Book Month
Who knew? I didn’t know until yesterday there’s a National Book Month. “Since 1950, the National Book Foundation has highlighted the best fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and YA literature. In 2003, the organization created the first National Book Month.” [1] That month, October. “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” Anne of Green Gables I’m so glad to read books that arouse my imagination. While walking my dog Kona, I’ve been listening to Rachel McAdams read Anne of Green Gables on Audible. Rachel’s narration is rapturous, positively and elegantly expressive. One characteristic of this classic novel relates to Anne’s extraordinary imagination, her ability to…
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Not All Who WONDER Are Lost
On August 15, 2022, Frederick Buechner died at age 96. My daughter said, “I thought he died a long time ago, like Shakespeare, or some of the other people you quote.” I laughed. “Authors pass but books persist.” [1] And books offer a window into the soul of their writers. Introduced to Buechner’s writing while I was in seminary, God has used his writings to help me think. About life. About doubt. About how Christians fear the challenge of thinking deeply about their faith and default to letting others think for them. Frederick Buechner, author, preacher, and theologian, shared life-giving words through books and sermons that conveyed deep faith underlying…
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Develop Discernment by Reading
C.S. Lewis wrote in The Screwtape Letters how devils would plot strategies against a newly converted Christian: simply keep him from reading. Or at least keep him from reading and learning things written in the past. “Great scholars are now as little nourished by the past as the most ignorant mechanic who holds that ‘history is bunk.’ . . . And since we cannot deceive the whole human race all the time, it is most important thus to cut every generation off from all others.” C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters Reading Between the Generations Is it enough to simply read old books, as if referencing and then checking off a…
