After last week’s pre-Kevin’s-birth story, I thought I’d tell a pre-Jeremy’s-birth story.
In the summer of 1977, Word Publishing (a local company that produced Christian books and music) put out a request to church choir directors.
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The Bible Tells Me
I’m not the Bible scholar I should be. I know some verses; not as many as I ought. Still, I find most of my experiences can be framed or underscored, explained or illuminated, by Scripture. Or maybe a hymn or a worship song, a devotional or a testimony. Frequently, I have those “Oh, yeah” moments when I see God clearly in an event. Or realized that I should have seen Him.
These are the moments of “The Bible tells me.”
These essays reflect that. Do know that I can proof-text as well as anyone. I have a concordance, and I know how to use it. Well, truthfully, I do all of that online now, where I can quickly find a passage, see it in many versions, and choose the one I like best. I try not to be narrow, but instead broad, as I apply Bible words to my experiences. I know that your interpretations and understanding may be different than mine. But I also know that our God is big enough for all of us.
I have a friend who, in her prayer time, likes to tell jokes to God. “I know He knows the punch line,” she says. “But I tell them anyway. He likes it when I laugh.”
He likes it when I laugh. I’m going to hang on to that. It’s Biblical. The Bible tells me.
Our mouths were filled with laughter then,
and our tongues with shouts of joy.
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord had done great things for us;
we were joyful.
Psalm 126: 2,3 (HCSB)
Thinking Back
Part of every Christmas, I think, is thinking back to —
“Remember the year that Aunt Olive forgot to take the lining paper out of the frozen pie crusts, and she made a bunch of custard pies with paper in the bottoms!” “Remember the year that we bought each other the same things for Christmas!” “Remember the year it SNOWED!!”
One of my most favorite Christmas Eve memories involves a boat, a starry night, and battleships. 1972.
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The GOOD Tissues
I don’t think physicians ever say, to an ailing patient, “You know, for your health, you should move to Central Texas.” We have acres of Cedar Juniper trees here, and lots of folks have allergy problems. I didn’t, when I was growing up here, but it seems like I do now.
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My Imaginary Childhood
When I was a little pre-reading kid, my parents read aloud to me, and some of those picture books were Little Golden Books. The only one I really remember well (and it’s somewhat because they saved that book) was A Day at the Playground, which I apparently called “Donny Donaldson,” after the book’s main character. The book was illustrated, as many of the Little Golden Books were, by Eloise Wilkin. And there was a standard sort of neighborhood depicted in those books.
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No Matter How Hard I Try, I’m Never Ready
2002–sitting on the FDR, waiting for the July 4 fireworks to begiin
The first time JoAnne and I went to New York, I got up early for weeks before the trip. I walked seven blocks from my house (uphill) and then back the seven blocks (now downhill).
“I’m walking every morning,” I said to JoAnne. “I’m parking the car at the far edges of the parking spaces when I run errands, so I’ll have to walk farther. And I’m making a conscious effort to walk around stores faster, instead of sauntering. I’ll be ready for New York!”
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I Got This Package
A couple of years ago, I got this package.
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- I love the Vermont Country Store catalog. But I hadn’t ordered anything.
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- This is what the attached note said. And I was mystified.
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- This is what was inside the box.
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the good chairs
A friend and I meet at Barnes and Noble most weeks, one evening, and read each others’ writings. Oh, we do talk about the families, her nephew, my grandson, what’s been going on, that sort of thing. But, our reason for meeting is the writing part of our lives.
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Hanging…without a Thread
I’m trying to be a good Earth citizen.
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- Right now, for example, I’m sitting in my chilly house, all bundled up, with the thermostat set at 69°.
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- We recycle the paper, the aluminum, the plastic.
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- I put my yard waste in a large, green bin, which gets picked up every other week and hauled to a city-wide, uh, yard waste place.
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- And I use recycle bags when I shop.
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Fun with Meg and Jo
A couple of Wednesdays ago, I went back to West Avenue Elementary School to start Reading Club again. 
I have two of the girls from last year, but the third girl is going to a different school (say the other two girls). The school people said that I could choose the book for us to read this year, and showed me, in their library, all the books that they have “classroom sets” of. (In other words, multiple copies of the same book, so that students in an entire class can have their own copy to read.) I selected several books for the girls to choose from.
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Kidneys, man. Kidneys!
There is an old joke whose punch line is “Kidney, man! Kidneys!” (And maybe I could have asked a dozen or so people and found out what the joke itself was, but just by typing in “kidneys, man, …,” Google instantly popped in the rest of the phrase and one click took me right to the joke.)
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