Daybook for November 7, 2011

outside my window . . . it's dark. It's after four'o'clock: of course it's dark.

I am listening to . . . This. You're welcome. (the line that totally makes that song is, "I'm not jokin' any more, girl . . .")

I am wearing . . . My Birch Vest! It's finally cold enough that walking around all day in wool is appropriate. Or at least not wildly uncomfortable.

I am so grateful for . . . not being sick. We were sick here for two weeks straight, and it just wasn't any fun.

I'm pondering . . . I just finished The Curse of Chalion (again) and I'm pondering what it had to say about saints. In that book, the saints are those who open themselves completely to the will of the gods, and the gods pour through the open portal of the saint's person in order to accomplish their works. And the saint sits back and watches in astonishment at what his own hands accomplish when hands other than his are guiding them. He is in the company of his god, and it is enough.

            That is it, that is the theme - and I think it's a true (as far as it goes) reflection of Christian life: that God is enough. He, Himself, is our peace.

            The Christian life is, over and over again, surrendering ourselves to God and finding ourselves again in that place of profound peace (“His will is our peace," as Dante said). And I wonder if that’s not what I’m meant to write about, in the end. But I can only write it if I live it.

I am reading . . . Not Chalion, sadly, having just finished it. I'm in the middle of several nonfiction books, but I'm dithering about a bit for a novel. I might start West Oversea or The Hawk and the Dove, which comes highly recommended from a friend.

I am creating . . . my novel! Which is going swimmingly, just as it's supposed to (my hero and heroine touched for the first time today and I cackled like an old matchmaker at how giddy it made them both), and that unexpected trilogy is getting plotted too, just as it wasn't supposed to (I'm the one getting a bit giddy in that case - it's turning into just the sort of story I love most: "Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles...")

("Doesn't sound too bad. I'll try to stay awake.")

I am thankful for . . . Adam.

around the house . . . getting everything shaken back to rights after two weeks of being sick.

from the kitchen . . . my grandma's persimmon cookies!

real education in our home . . . Bess and I are reading Mandy together. It's just about the perfect story for any girl of any age. In making her home, her home finds her. It's very good.

the church year in our home . . . still collecting gifts for the kids for the Twelve Days of Christmas. Pondering what I'm going to do for the Advent fast. (See, that's the fun of being Anglican. If I was Eastern Orthodox, I'd just know.)

recent milestones . . . got the novel to 15,000 words today!

the week ahead. . . I'm having my tooth pulled tomorrow. No, it doesn't sound fun to me either. But I'll be very glad to have it out. It's not where it's supposed to be (and never has been) and it's been a minor irritation for over a decade now.

Can I add that I'm also grateful for dental insurance?

picture thought . . . Here is my terribly blurry proof that I've figured out how to knit cables:

It's a hat for a friend, just before the ends were woven in. Adam obligingly tried it on for me so that I could make sure it'd fit the friend, and now it's in the laundry, waiting to be washed and blocked. But - cables! I'm so chuffed. I love learning new things.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell