Last night, my mom reminded me…nineteen years ago today, my father died. My sister called me that afternoon (or was it morning), a call that was not unexpected, seeing as how I’d said my good-byes to him a couple of weeks earlier. Jimmy Joe Berryman (1934-1988) suffered from leukemia, and I’d been called to Texas [...]
Entries from July 2007
July 20, 2007
Ponette
The house was quiet, the work of the week was done, and Sabbath lay just ahead. After days of beautiful, hot weather, outdoors turned blustery, rain occasionally beating on the south-facing window of my office. I wandered downstairs, wondering when I might get started on a much needed work-out regimen to get a little extra [...]
July 20, 2007
The Subtle Knife
I didn’t laugh as much as I plowed through this one. I mentioned that I laughed a bit during The Golden Compass because it was so obvious what Philip Pullman was up to according to quantum physics and the psychology of Jung, James Hillman and Thomas Moore. In The Subtle Knife, Pullman gains steam and [...]
July 16, 2007
Sabbath Practice
I’ve been selling people on this idea of Sabbath, lately, having just experienced yet another day of stoppage from the rat race. Last night, a friend of mine asked me what I was did on Sabbath, what the experience looked like. Truth to tell, I’m just feeling my way along based on a couple of [...]
July 15, 2007
The Golden Compass
When Amy and I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last week, there as a very cool trailer for a movie coming out in December called The Golden Compass. Based on a book by Philip Pullman, this is a story that has been on the edges of my radar for [...]
July 13, 2007
Drips and Ripples
The world out my window is still this morning. No wind at all, which means the cool air out there just won’t come in. My office and bedroom are hot, humid with malaise and early reluctance. It’s like that sometimes; just through the portal there, there’s relief from the sweaty doldrums, but nonetheless, there’s work [...]
July 12, 2007
Joy Sneaking Up On Us
In this morning’s chapter of Secrets in the Dark by Frederick Buechner, he relates his memory of a trip to Sea World during which he and his family were surprised to find themselves moved to tears by the killer whale exhibition. I’ve seen what he’s talking about–the sheer beauty and grace of these massive sea [...]
July 10, 2007
Up to Speed with Harry Potter
I just finished Harry Potter #6 (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) after finally finishing Harry Potter #5 (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.) Amy told me I needed to finish the sixth book before we go to the movie tomorrow in case I were to overhear some plot spoiler, even though [...]
July 8, 2007
Too Busy for Beauty
I came across an absolutely stunning article a couple of days ago that produced an odd reaction me, a response completely surprising. It’s a long piece, and about 2/3′s of the way into it, I discovered I was choking up. “Pearls Before Breakfast” by Gene Weingarten of The Washington Post actually made me cry. It [...]
July 6, 2007
Hope Alone
I guess I thought I’d always find it. “It” being the thing I’m looking for as the protagonist in my own life movie. What I want as I open the packages of the day: graduation, marriage, children, career. In the classic, proto-typical story, the hero overcomes the obstacles and at great cost wins [...]
