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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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Old Journals: Notes to Self
While convalescing from illness, I picked up one of my old journals to read through. There’s something magnetic about revisiting words you yourself have written, especially what was written years ago. What’s different? What’s remained the same? This particular journal was given to me by my friend on August 1, 2001. I didn’t start writing in it until July 2002, and it covers the period when I was in seminary up to 2007, a year before I graduated. My friend died in 2006––the kind of death that makes anyone in the wake of tragedy both sad and mad. I wrote about my grief in a different journal. Throughout this journal,…
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Diamonds Are Forever and 007
Did Ian Fleming choose the emblematic moniker 007 for his character James Bond, knowing its relation to diamonds? Years ago, watching a History Channel program about diamonds, I learned that .007 ounces=1 carat. The fictional secret agent may not have been named with diamonds in mind, yet the stories Ian Fleming wrote and the character he created highlight Bond’s value to MI6 (British foreign intelligence). The Value of Diamonds “Diamond Cutting: How It’s Made” aired on The History Channel (cir. 2007). The maximum value of diamonds depends on Cut, Color, Clarity, and Carat. Cut is considered the most important of the ”Four C’s.” Diamonds are rare crystals, the hardest substance…
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What’s in a Name? Does Praying in Jesus’ Name Matter?
Shakespeare posed the rhetorical question he answered from the lips of Juliet. ”What’s in a name? That which we call a rose would smell as sweet,” no matter what we called that flower. Would it? Recently, I found myself drawn into a circle of women I do not know to pray for someone I also don’t know. These are women in a yoga class. The woman they prayed for was scheduled to have surgery that day. The one who asked us to pray then reached for hands. Among strangers, I held hands. Awkward. Not because I object to praying for people, but because in this context it was so unexpected.…
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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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“O Christmas Tree” and Me
Merchants are not the only ones who begin decorating in October. When I visited the Biltmore House and Estate in Asheville, North Carolina on October 19, Christmas trees had been decorated and set in nearly every public room of the 250 room mansion built in 1895. That’s right. 1895. Traditions around the evergreen tree and branches date back centuries to the Egyptians but became popular during the reign of England’s Queen Victoria who married Prince Albert from Germany. In the 1500s, Germany began bringing evergreen trees into homes at Christmas (“O Tannenbaum”) and in the 1800s, the decorated tree tradition made its way across the ocean to America. Here’s a…