guidance unity discipline

One of the stray things I came across when I was thinking about converting was the eager testimonial that Catholics were always celebrating something, and they do celebrate quite a bit. There really is generally speaking, a party on the horizon most of the time. I like that. I don't participate as much as I should, but it's nice to know it's there. Catholics also celebrate some things that don't seem like holidays, at least not at first, but I'm discovering they grow on you.
My favorite example is Lent. As a Christian who studied her Bible I always knew that fasting was to be part of my spiritual practice, but guided practice was nearly non-existent. I worried that I might go too far or do it the wrong way, and the books I picked up worried about that with me. So fasting became an emergency procedure instead of being as reasonable and comfortable as devotional reading and prayer. Then I converted. Lent has clear guidelines, a clear time line and in general all the help you need to get the season right. It is also the kind of thing you grow into. My first year I gave up hot chocolate. This doesn't sound like much unless you know me. The next year I went overboard and gave up more than I was ready to. This year I think I've got it right.
As we all streamed out of church this morning with ashes on our foreheads, I got to thinking about the blessing of going through Lent together. The few fasts I did as a Protestant I did alone and in secret. If you're Catholic it's hard to disguise Lent. It's encouraging to hear other people's ideas for what to give up and to know that you are not alone in your struggles. There is the real beauty of knowing that all around the world today my fellow Catholics are accepting the ashes and watching their meals. Unity is one of the things Christ put prominently on the agenda for Christians. It is one of my favorite things about Catholic life.
This year was the first time I got into the spirit of Fat Tuesday. I'm beginning to see it as a way of celebrating the things that are good before we give them up for something better. Before I'd always thought of those goods as less-thans but there is good in chocolate. It's not as good as Jesus, but the world he created for us still retains some of its charms. I've been gaining weight for a lot of reasons, and I have been too tired to do anything other than note the new number on the scale. It had started to feel impossible until Lent came over the horizon. "Ah, my friend, here is help known and proved." Like a big brother Lent put its arm around me and offered to shoulder some of my burden. A Catholic life is a disciplined life that slowly weaves the strength of Jesus into and around us one small choice at a time.

Happy 3/5 Birthday to Harriet!!!

I just finished up the third section of Harriet. My mind is beginning to turn to the style and content of the book though I still need to keep trucking with the basic framework of characters and plot. Feels good to be done. I thought I had another couple weeks, but suddenly the last words were being said and the curtain fell. It has potential. I'm really pleased.

It's the little things

I always wanted an electric toothbrush. To my eyes it was the height of luxury to have the toothbrush brush your teeth for you. Most Christmases I buy the kids one of those cute cartoon character versions, but I never bought one for me, until a month ago, when Kurt went with me to Sam's. A joint trip allows me to run ideas and non-budgeted purchases by him. I jokingly pointed out the adult motorized toothbrushes and he put it in the cart. Sometimes these things are better in one's imagination than they are in reality--not so the toothbrush. I love the luxury taking my time to allow each tooth their spin. What other stuff did I want as a kid?

My mother called wanting to know what I wanted for Christmas. I knew exactly what I wanted, right down to the personalization. There are certain splurges I struggle to fit into the budget and a fancy pen is one of them. A Christmas or two ago Mom and Dad bought me an ivory Levenger Truewriter. I asked that it be inscribed, Truth Alone, because I intended to (and still do) use it to do my creative writing. It's a great reminder to stick with what I know and what I know is true. I wanted another pen to use for my reading. I'm filling a commonplace book with all the great stuff I'm pulling out of the Great Books. That's a lot of writing and while I do my best to write "Truth Alone," I know that most of the time it's just my best guess. I think it's fair to assume that that was truth for these others who pushed us forward one idea at a time, so I asked for an obsidian, true wrtier engraved "Best Guess."

I'm not a big music person. I enjoy it, but I don't spend money on it--etc, so when Kurt passed down his ipod I couldn't find a purpose for it. I put some German tapes on it for the trip to Munich, but mostly it laid around looking for a reason to exist. Now, I've found it. Dance music is one of my loves, so I've put all my favorite songs that cause spontaneous dancing on that little white stick. It should be great for my workouts at the Aquatic Center, but it doesn't matter it lifts my mood and makes chores into workouts.