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almost normal…whatever that is

I went to bed relatively early, and got up, if not quite making it at 5 AM, well, closer to dawn than I have in weeks. Tomorrow, God-willing, I return to work, and perhaps more important for me, I return to some good habits I let fall by the wayside. It’s a new day, as they say.

Who are they, anyway, always putting in their two cents where my life is concerned?

Well, one of them is St. Paul, and his advice is clearer than anything I’ll pick up from the anonymous they:

…it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness (and) put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day….But put on the Lord Jesus Christ….(Romans 13:11-14)

So I sit in the silence of my kitchen, enjoying an aromatic cup of fresh-brewed hazel-nut coffee with a splash of cream, staring out the window at the stubborn remnants of a crazy little snow storm.

My backyard, full of unmelted patches of snow, reminds me that perhaps I am like that. It’s just a regular yard — perhaps a little in transition. We fenced it for our dog, starting a continuous project of clearing and cleaning and prepping that seems endless.

This morning, I see it as a metaphor for my life — each season has wreaked havoc on the yard, bringing with it the dramatic changes that ultimately renew it and give it beauty, repeated again in the new seasonal changes. It’s always the same yard, right? But also new and different.

These days it’s looking a little tattered and in need of some work and we’re not even done with winter yet! The snowy blanket that covered my yard for almost a week changed the landscape, though. It didn’t really change anything about the yard — it’s certainly the same one, but made so much more beautiful — so much more gentle and inviting. It didn’t fix the places that need my attention in the Spring, but it softened them, drawing attention to the need but at the same time, gently re-forming it so that the entire effect is dazzling.

I thought about what Paul might have meant about putting on the Lord Jesus Christ and how He can transform us.

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what inning is it?

I admit that I probably spend too much time on Twitter. It is a vast sea of ridiculosity, sometimes empty and sometimes fun. But generally, it’s a time suck.

Generally.

Other times, though, it can be a great source of news and even education. It reminds me to pray. It invites me to reflect on some deep thoughts. It has gently and rather casually linked me to scripture and spiritually uplifting articles and blog posts that have made me a better Christian, and subsequently, I’d like to think, a better person.

It has provided me with a vast playground of like-minded people, which more often than not, in small spurts of 140 characters or less, makes me think.

I won’t delude myself into thinking that this can be a substitute for healthy personal relationships, which requires a different kind of intimacy, but in today’s vastly changing world, it is one window into a new kind of dialogue, and as it happens, it has turned out to be quite engaging, and a lot of fun.

I invite you into that little virtual world via Katharine Grubb’s blog, 10 Minute Writer, where she hosts a little virtual play-off party, no doubt inspired by some of the playful banter that gets thrown around the twitterverse.

Come to the party here.

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