Bittersweet Farm Journal (Number 62) In My Cozy Corner of the Room

I do much of my writing on the second floor at a wooden desk flooded with soft light up in the corner of our little house. I have a window beside me where I can keep track of the night and day, the changing weather, and the coming and going of the seasons.

According to my faithful little weather app the temperature is going to drop into the 40’s overnight. I should have more sense, but I’m glad to hear it. It’s been warm and beautiful, but in these parts this time of year it’s supposed to be crisp and cool. The wind is picking up outside tonight. You can hear it in the trees. It sounds like an October night in Michigan is supposed to sound.

When people ask me what I love to do, my answer sounds kinda’ boring, I think, but I have always been a word guy, so I love to read, I love to write, and I do a fair amount of speaking. When I’m reading I always feel like I should stop and write. When I’m writing, things always come to mind to read. I wonder sometimes if I’m a writer who speaks, but I’m pretty sure I’m a speaker who writes. At night I am always reading until the very last minute I need to close my eyes to sleep.

Outside the room is a landing and a staircase. The landing is wide enough to accommodate a nice personal library where I have shelved some of my most treasured books to keep them near at hand.

Tonight I have a copy of Hannah Coulter, a novel by Wendell Berry on the desk beside me gently calling my name. Today I spent some time re-reading a couple books in preparation for my message Sunday; The Sacred Romance, by Brent Curtis and John Eldridge, and Life With a Capital “L” by Matt Heard, which is a pretty good book with a not-so-poetic name. I’m enjoying a collection of sermons by the late Eugene Peterson called When Kingfishers Catch Fire. (Matt Heard should have consulted with Eugene for help with a more poetic title for his wonderful book).

Anyway that is what is running though my brain among the flotsam and jetsam of a busy day this evening. I will do some storytelling at Jackson Christian School in the morning. Saturday I will have breakfast with the Bethel men and I will speak later in the day to the Bethel women. Sunday, of course I will teach my class and preach and in the evening we my little brother will come to Bethel to lead us in a hymn-sing followed by a variety of home-made pies and ice cream.

I hope my ramblings have been of some interest to you. I’d love to know all about your life if you have the time to tell it soon. Eugene Peterson wrote some wonderful books on being a pastor. He wrote that a pastor is not just a talker, a preacher, but he is a contemplative. He is a listener. He is a man of prayer.

These are among my ambitions, too.