Son Chris sent us a gift, a book by John Eldridge, The Utter Relief of Holiness. It arrived yesterday, which was his birthday. Our gift to him, I suppose, would be to read it. I know that is my hope when I give a book as a gift. Right now, however, I have three non-fiction books going plus a novel that I read at night.
Sometimes I think I am a little crazy, but I love learning. I appreciate the way people are able to analyze the working of things such as how social systems interact and impact one another, how inner realities drive outer realities, or how the physical things serve as metaphors for those things spiritual.
One book I am reading right now is Prosperity Without Growth by Tim Jackson. This morning I read about economic systems and it felt much like I was reading for a master’s level course. Grasping new concepts is a feat in itself for my aging brain, but then holding on to those concepts into the next chapter where they are referenced again is nearly impossible. I have to go back to find that spot where the concept was first introduced, where it was underlined and annotated, where I drew little pictures or wrote in the margin about something in my real life that looks a little bit like what the author is trying to explain.
This is the learning I am talking about above. It is not an easy learning, but it is very satisfying to me.
Today is Valentines Day. Bernie and I will be going out a dinner hosted by the Exchange Club to which he belongs. My hair is wound into little curls and pinned against my scalp by “bobby” pins. This is the way my mother’s generation of house wives used to do it. While their husbands were off to work each day, they would walk around with their hair pinned up and undo it before they came home. If they had to go anywhere during the day they would cover their concoction with a scarf which they called a “babushka”. I am hoping for a good outcome when the pins come out.