Before 2016, much of my car-time involved taking a girl or two to an activity. For me relaxing in the car means talking about whatever’s on my mind. Or her mind, or whomever else’s mind. My nest is empty; no one’s in my car. But my musing doesn’t quit just because of that. So now you’re the one “Driving With Daughters!”
Fighting acedia with a focused, intentional stability was considered [..] vital in maintaining a good relationship with God and one’s fellow monks[…]. [One elder] counseled, “Go, eat, drink, sleep, do not work, only do not leave your cell.” […A]nother elder advised, “Don’t pray at all, just stay in the cell.” —Kathleen Norris, Acedia and Me, […]
For it is clear that [Christ] did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect […]. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. –Hebrews 2:16-18 I wasn’t expecting […]
It occurs to me, as I’m sitting in traffic, that older teens may be an under-researched factor in middle-aged weight gain. I’m stalled out, you see. It could be just me…multiple months of being hungry on purpose takes a toll on the prefrontal cortex, I’m sure. But there is a LOT more food laying around […]
Because Jen Louden is a generous person, and shares thoughtful questions each week for fun & profit as part of her Oasis. I’ll spend max three minutes on each of these… Because I can handle what life brings, this week I want to be sure and take action on… I have been forgetting how resilient […]
Is acedia depression? My answer is No, not exactly, but I must struggle to articulate the difference with precision. —Kathleen Norris, Acedia and Me, p24 Emphatically not the same. I can tell from the inside. When I observe the outward signs (including struggling to get out of bed, not tackling even the smallest of house-tasks available, human […]
Having experienced both [depression and acedia], I think it likely that much of the restless boredom, frantic escapism, commitment phobia, and enervating despair that plagues us today is the ancient demon of acedia in modern dress. —Kathleen Norris, Acedia and Me, p3 I mention this to demonstrate my earnestness: see, I am now reading That […]
7. Rain THE RAIN is raining all around, It falls on field and tree, It rains on the umbrellas here, And on the ships at sea. —Stevenson, Robert Louis (1850–1894). A Child’s Garden of Verses. 1913. So I memorized something in my childhood, my protests to the contrary. The Seventies were truly a low point in the annals […]
Memory is one of my favorite games. Today I’m heading home through the drizzle (Water? From the sky? In AUGUST?), radio cruising along, and a long trumpet G — it is a G, isn’t it? — swells through the car’s cabin. “Short Skirt, Long Jacket” by Cake, of course. One of my favorite-favorite songs, because […]
Yeah, I don’t know what it is…took a nap yesterday, slept long and late overnight, quiet day today and I’m STILL sleepy. And (more to the point here) unfocused. B is at work, My Sweetie is work-ing, and I’m listening to the inside of my ears hum.
When I sketched this post in the car, it was going to start with a definition set off in quote-format. Bourgeoise: from the French. A well-to-do woman, conforming to the visual and behavioral standards of her class. See bourgeoisie. I had to make that up. None of the dictionary sites have a definition of bourgeoise. […]
