Some decisions are tough to make. I've been pondering one of those tough decisions now--and have been for awhile--without making much progress. I realized recently, however, that my lack of progress is probably due to the fact that I've simply been ricocheting back and forth between choice A, which is what I feel I want to do, and choice B, which is what I feel obligated to do. (Important to note: both choices are completely moral and reasonable.) It has occurred to me that if I inform my decision with only these two criteria--desire versus obligation--it will be impossible to choose one without thinking and feeling that I forsook the other. At least for this decision these are poor criteria. So I'm thinking about other criteria. And the one that popped into my mind and then popped in front of me in devotional reading and multiple e-mails on the same day (multiple and almost simultaneous "poppings" of the same message seems to me to be a sign to pay attention) was the concept of "Seek ye first the kingdom of God..." (Matthew 6:33). Trying to focus on this as the primary (dare I say sole?) decision-making criterion hasn't exactly caused an immediate course of action to crystallize in my mind, as it's not necessarily easy to determine which course of action best fulfills that directive. It has, however, stopped, or at least slowed, the bouncing of thoughts between desire and obligation. These two poles have lessened as motivators and some new options have come into my mind. The urgency to choose has been at least partially replaced with some degree of patience and curiosity about the choice and its triggering situation. I'm feeling less a victim forced into a decision I didn't ask to make and more like a chess piece waiting to see where she best fits into the winning game being played by the Master.
Not to be found in a can of Campbells
Fruit soup is a classic Swedish dish, particularly the "winter" version when made around Christmas. Whether you are Swedish or just wanting to expand your repertoire of international recipes you might want to give it a try. Here's my recipe, the result of some tweaking of other recipes I've tried over the years. I made a batch just yesterday.
Swedish Fruit Soup
1 1/2 c. dried apricots (California are best)
1 1/2 c. dried apples
1 1/2 c. dried prunes (bite-size if you can find them)
1 c. dried cherries
2 sticks cinnamon
7 T. quick-cooking tapioca
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 c. sugar (to taste)
2 T. currants
1/3 c. golden raisins
Cut each of the apricots, apples, and prunes into thirds. (Using a scissors works well.) Place the apricots, apples, prunes, and cherries in cold water in a large pan. Let dried fruit soak in water for about 30 minutes. Add the cinnamon, tapioca, and sugar. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cover the pan. Simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring often with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking to the pan. Add the raisins and currants. Simmer for about 10 minutes more. Let cool. Refrigerate overnight. Serve cold or slightly warmed.
Poetry as pain reliever
I read this morning that Simone Weil, French philosopher and mystic (1909-1943), battled the pain from frequent migraine headaches by reciting over and over again the poem "Love" by George Herbert (1593–1632).
LOVE bade me welcome; yet my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lack'd anything.
'A guest,' I answer'd, 'worthy to be here:'
Love said, 'You shall be he.'
'I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,
I cannot look on Thee.'
Love took my hand and smiling did reply,
'Who made the eyes but I?'
'Truth, Lord; but I have marr'd them: let my shame
Go where it doth deserve.'
'And know you not,' says Love, 'Who bore the blame?'
'My dear, then I will serve.'
'You must sit down,' says Love, 'and taste my meat.'
So I did sit and eat.
The book in which I read this (Remarkable Women, Remarkable Wisdom: A Daybook of Reflections by Mary Frances Gangloff) said that in the recitation "she experienced the mystical presence of Christ's love in her affliction."
Colorful alternative to the Dewey Decimal System
Beauty is a worthy element to look for in life, to build into one's life. A few posts early in the life of this blog were about keeping one's eyes open for beauty. Chris Cobb, a visual artist, chose to fill a cramped and musty used bookstore, Adobe Book Shop in San Francisco, with beauty by arranging all the books by color rather than by author or title or topic.
"To your left, just past the old desk that serves as a counter, is an entire case of red volumes -- cherry next to coral, lipstick next to blood. Ceiling to floor, red. Your eyes wander toward the rear of the store, and the red shifts almost imperceptibly into orange (tangerine, construction cone, sunset) and then into yellow (school bus, egg yolk, smiley face). As you step back and take in the whole room, the spectrum running red-orange-yellow-green-blue-purple-brown on the left and white-black-gray on the right, the sheer audacity of the project takes your breath away. It makes perfect sense, and yet it makes none."
The chromatographic cataloging isn't intended to be permanent, just a short-term virtual art show for the sake of beauty called "There Is Nothing Wrong in This Whole Wide World". Cobb says, "With so many negative things in the world happening, it's important to remember that there's still beauty."
Would you try this at home? I think it sounds like a fun idea. Currently, the books that live here are either shelved in bookcases or in stacks on the floor awaiting the building of two bookcases we recently bought at IKEA. The shelved books started out many years ago in a somewhat logical order but after periodic purging and purchasing, combined with ongoing removal and reshelving by my sons when they were little so that the books could be used to anchor blankets for basement forts and to fashion GI Joe outposts their order no longer looks as logical as it once did. All that is to say that little in terms of organization would be sacrified by keeping my blue books separate from my red ones. And think of the beauty to be gained.
It would make sense that finding a book with this system in a bookstore would be difficult. For one's personal library, however, the task may be manageable as it is more likely that the owner could picture the book sought and so know exactly where in the rainbow to look. Interestingly, the owner of the Adobe Book Shop says that sales have increased since the rearrangement. Although some customers have been frustrated by the difficult navigation of the system, owner Andrew McKinley says that people are impressed with the beauty and "it has forced people to look closer at what's on the shelf."
Read the story by James Sanders from sfweekly.com.
David Brooks on John Stott in "The New York Times"
Raise your hand if you've read Your Mind Matters by John R. W. Stott. It's a very short book that I commend to you all. I first read it years ago and it further fueled my long-standing interest in the balance and coexistence of faith and reason, heart and mind, emotion and thought which ultimately culminated in the writing of my comparatively humble book.
I bring it up today because in this morning's "The New York Times" David Brooks has an excellent commentary on John Stott and how he is a more realistic representative of a Christian evangelical and a person who tries to apply Christian faith to public life than the stereotypical extremists that are usually presented to us by the media.
Here is an exerpt from Brooks' commentary:
"There's been a lot of twaddle written recently about the supposed opposition between faith and reason. To read Stott is to see someone practicing "thoughtful allegiance" to scripture. For him, Christianity means probing the mysteries of Christ. He is always exploring paradoxes. Jesus teaches humility, so why does he talk about himself so much? What does it mean to gain power through weakness, or freedom through obedience? In many cases the truth is not found in the middle of apparent opposites, but on both extremes simultaneously."
I recommend you read the entire piece. Here's the link: Who Is John Stott? By David Brooks. If you don't already read "The New York Times" online, you'll have to register but it's free. If you'd rather not register or have trouble getting to this, send me an email and I'll email it to you.
C. S. Lewis born on this day in 1898
In recognition of the 106th anniversary of the birth of C. S. Lewis, here is an exerpt from his classic, Mere Christianity. (For those of you who are fans of the band "Sixpence None the Richer", this is source of their name.)
"Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given to you by God. If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service you could not give Him anything that was not in a sense His own already. So that when we talk of a man doing anything for God or giving anything to God, I will tell you what it is really like. It is like a small child going to its father and saying, 'Daddy, give me sixpence to buy you a birthday present.' Of course, the father does, and he is pleased with the child's present. It is all very nice and proper, but only an idiot would think that the father is sixpence to the good on the transaction. When a man has made these two discoveries, God can really get to work. It is after this that real life begins. The man is awake now."
Furthering an interest of a friend
While on a work-related trip to Barcelona a couple years ago, I fell in love with the mosaic tilework in the architecture of Antoni Gaudi. The picture you see here is a close-up of the tiles in the curving benches of Park Güell.
Fast forward to last week.
My friend and I went to an open house at a center for artists. I'm not sure what to call the place exactly. It was a large warehouse sort of building that is being refurbished into separate artist studios. During the open house, people could roam from one studio to the next looking at each artist's work and what he or she had for sale. The studio that most intrigued me was that of an artist who decorated tables, frames, pots, and bowls with mosaic tiles. She told us how she scours flea markets and yard sales for dishes with interesting features and desired colors and then breaks them up with a hammer.
As much as I like mosiac tilework, this is not the point of this post.
The point of this post is what just arrived in my mailbox. My friend, with whom I'd gone to this artists' open house, sent me an envelope in which she had included an article on mosaic tilework. How to do it. Specifically, how to transform an old table or pottery pot into a mosaic masterpiece. She had written a quick note on the article, something to the effect that she knew she had seen an article on this recently and here it was. This isn't the first time this friend has done this. She has often sent me articles or copies of something that she knew I'd be interested in. What a gift, to get a tangible piece of paper in the mail that acknowledges and furthers a personal interest. That's part of friendship, part of the concept of "iron sharpening iron" between people.