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I will no longer be posting on the Blogger page. Now blogging here: Counselor Inklings

The Long Stay

I am in the book of Proverbs for six months. I know - sounds like a long time. But lately I have become dissatisfied with my personal bible study. It's that word "study." I read my Bible - I read through the Bible. But, I desire more. The people that I counsel desire more. "How can I help?"

"When the student is ready, the teacher doth appear" -- old, ancient saying. The Holy Spirit is near to answer the question for me and for the people I desire to help.

I want to KNOW the Bible - to KNOW the author - my God. I want the Bible to read through me. Change me. Extend motivation in me. Equip me to move others toward Jesus.

Therefore, a new plan - stay in one book for six months. I started Proverbs in July. I have a notebook and Proverbs and for now, that's it. A commentary later, but much later. I am outlining the chapters at the rate of . . . it's slow. But that's good for my soul.

I know - six months IS a long time to spend in one book. But, I figure if I study two books a year, in 33 years I will have studied the Bible. Studied. Thought. Chewed. Reflected. Know Jesus better.

Do you know that feeling of having arrived at a good friend or family's house? Greeting scene. Lugging suitcases. Unpacking. Settling in. And that feeling of euphoric joy that you are at the BEGINNING of a weeklong stay with someone that you completely love and cherrish. That was the feeling overwhelming me on day one, Proverbs one. Settling in with my Bible, a "wild exposition into the heart of God" --Dan Allender.

Why Proverbs. I don't know. Just seemed like a good place for me to start.

Prov. 1.1 These are the wise sayings of Solomon,
David’s son, Israel’s king—
2 Written down so we’ll know how to live well and right,
to understand what life means and where it’s going;
3 A manual for living,
for learning what’s right and just and fair;
4 To teach the inexperienced the ropes
and give our young people a grasp on reality.
5 There’s something here also for seasoned men and women,
6 still a thing or two for the experienced to learn—
Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate,
the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women. (MSG)

Sisters in the Rain

A glorious sight: The sisters dancing about in a summer afternoon thunderstorm.

"Is there anyone here
who yearns for life and
desires to see
good days?

-St. Benedict quoted in "A Good Life: Benedict's Guide to Everyday Joy" by Robert Benson
Art by Melanie Weidner

If I Only Had a Brain (a heart, the noive)

Lori and I were able to watch an outdoor theatre presentation of "The Wizard of OZ" last night. Forgive me dear reader, but you know how I am and I how I am a bit quirky . . . but I felt as though I had three hours of personal therapy while watching the characters and the story unfold. I had actually been humming "If I Only Had A Brain" for the past week. The goofy (free I would say) Scarecrow is a humble soul . . . I love him!

I could while away the hours
Conferrin' with the flowers
Consultin' with the rain
And my head, I'd be scratchin'
While my thoughts were busy hatchin'
If I only had a brain.

I'd unravel ev'ry riddle
For any individ'le
In trouble or in pain
With the thoughts you'd be thinkin'
You could be another Lincoln,
If you only had a brain.

Oh, I could tell you why
The ocean's near the shore,
I could think of things I never thunk before
And then I'd sit and think some more.

I would not be just a nuffin'
My head all full of stuffin'
My heart all full of pain.
I would dance and be merry
Life would be a ding-a-derry
If I only had a brain--Whoa!

Alice, Keeper of Books

My friend Alice is a keeper of books. Not a bookkeeper (the recorder of financial affairs). She is a librarian? Yes, that may be the professional name for what she does day in and day out at a local high school library. But, I am not really talking about that.

I spent the past week in her Florida home. A few miles from the Atlantic coast. Ocean breezes - salty. Palm trees - coconut and that other kind (I can't remember). Soothing. Appealing. I would be able to rest here.

Alice is one of my old gal pals, and I hope you won't mind that I call her "Al the Pal." I always knew Al loved books. She has taught me how to handle books carefully and to sniff them, too. [ahhhh, to nuzzle one's nose in the middle of an old book and whiff the pages. This is extreme literary appreciation].

Walking into Al's house is to walk into a reader's land. Shelves with lots and lots of books. And not only shelved volumes, but stacks of books on ottomans, tables of any type, and on the floor. Paperbacks and hardbacks, old and new, dog-eared, marked, and underlined. Some standing, others leaning or laying flat. Inviting. Classics. Culture. Children. Fantasy. Suspense and mystery. History. Memoirs. Even books on how to train a dog.

And, here's more: Rocking chairs. Several. Comfy and deep. Places, near the books, to stop and read a few lines or the whole volume.

One night I asked Al to tell me about what she has been reading lately [as we have always done for many years]. She talked and I took notes! [ha ha] She would read paragraphs and sentences out loud to me [not too long though, because she knows I have a short attention span]. Most of our conversations revolve around God's truth and how it permeates the pages of books she has read.

Al is the Keeper of Books. God has given her an honorable charge of treasuring the written word - past and present. She has volumes and volumes hidden in her soul. Yes, that's right, she is a gifted storyteller, too. I trust her to tell me about what books are true, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy (Philipppians 4.8). My Lori Beth calls her "Madame Librarian" because she trusts her, too.

Since we have been friends, I have accumulated lots of books of my own. I love books and would almost rather spend my pennies in a bookstore than any other place.

Thanks Al, my pal, for the influence and the experience.

Secrets

"We are cradlers of secrets. Everyday [people] grace us with their secrets, often never before shared. Receiving such secrets is a privilege given to very few... Sometimes the secrets scorch me… other secrets pulsate within me... still others sadden me. Being a cradler of secrets has, as the years have passed, made me gentler and more accepting"

Irvin Yalom, M.D. The Gift of Therapy.