the scriptorium

Thursday, November 28, 2002

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Boy, I'm moving slowly this morning! I went with Brian to see the Harry Potter movie last night, and got home about 12:30. I'd love to just sleep in and lay about today, but I'm heading up to Mom and Dad's in Powell County (Stanton), which is about an hour drive from here. Mom wants me there before noon, so I need to get it in gear before long. At least I don't have to cook anything. I actually volunteered to make my sweet potato casserole, but she said she had plenty of food, so I'm off the hook. It just looks so cold outside; it'd be nice to hang around here all day. But there is the food (the food!), so you know I'll be there. I think I'll be fine once I get some coffee in me. I should go make some.

OK, the coffee's brewing.... I started a book yesterday that I think is going to be very interesting. I got it from the library, but I think I'm going to end up getting my own copy so I can mark it up. That's what I dislike about getting really good non-fiction books from the library--you can't highlight or make notes in them. Anyway, the book is Thomas Merton's "The Springs of Contemplation". It's actually sort of a transcript of a retreat he led in 1967, I think, with a group of contemplative nuns. The part about the nuns coming to Gethsemane for a retreat with Thomas Merton got my attention, because I just don't usually connect Merton (being a contemplative monk) with contact with women. I've only just begun the book, but I'm already finding pithy stuff to remember in it. I'll probably make notes here, since I can't in the book. Here's a quote from the first chapter:

"An important key word is presence. We want to be present to each other and then trust what happens.... Presence is what counts. It's important to realize that the Church itself is presence.... Community is presence, not an institution. We've been banking on the ability to substitute institution for the reality of presence, and it simply won't work."

Sounds like Merton might have made a good house church planter. Well, the coffee's ready, so I think I'll go have some and read some more.

posted by #Debi at 8:10 AM | permalink | 0 comments