trip reading

I am as rich as the words and books I carry with me...

"...Plough deep in me, great Lord, heavenly Husbandman,
that my being may be a tilled field,
the roots of grace spreading far and wide,
until Thou alone art seen in me,
Thy beauty golden like summer harvest,
Thy fruitfulness like autumn plenty.
I have no Master but Thee,
no law but thy will,
no delight but Thyself,
no wealth but Thou givest,
no good but Thou blessest,
no peace but Thou bestowest.
I am nothing but that Thou makest me,
I have nothing but that I receive from Thee,
I can be nothing but that grace adorns me.
Quarry me deep, dear Lord,
and then filling me to overflowing
with living water."
- "The Deeps" The Valley of Vision:
Puritan Prayers and Devotions


"At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of the morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in."
- C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory


The Only Day in Existence
by Billy Collins

The morning sun is so pale
I could be looking at a ghost
in the shape of a window,
a tall, rectangular spirit
peering down at me now in my bed,
about to demand that I avenge
the murder of my father.

But this light is only the first line
in the five-act play of this day--
the only day in existence--
or the opening chord of its love song,
or think of what is permeating
these thin bedroom curtains

as the beginning of a lecture
I must listen to until dark,
a curious student in a V-neck sweater,
angled into the wooden chair of his life,
ready with notebook and a chewed-up pencil,
quiet as a goldfish in winter,
serious as a compass at sea,
eager to absorb whatever lesson

this damp, overcast Tuesday
has to teach me,
here in the spacious classroom of the world
with its long walls of glass,
its heavy, low-hung ceiling.

bay area

three of my favorite things... favorite italian coffee shop in Palo Alto (this would be a great spot for a date, all you couples out there). Fisherman's wharf in San Francisco (got stuck in a Cable Car yesterday, which afforded me the grace to walk the hills for a while), and my very favorite part of this leg of the trip - is my brother, whose emplyoyer bought me lunch. Yummy!

calvin crest

These are good peeps. I thoroughly enjoyed afternoons of weeding during the work party, hiking through the sequoias, visiting my old house (the red one pictured here) and looking out of the view I used to wake up to every morning where the Lord met me again and again in our time together. Thank you for the hospitality and the wisdom and the indominable joy that the staff there displayed in caring for me. There is the strongest sense of redemption wafting through those woods, so intense and so full of grace it brings me to my knees...

yosemite

california

my backyard

It's so beautiful outside!

one man, one guitar

An open stage, one man, one guitar.

• June 18, 1976
• The Man in Me (Dylan)
• Big Trucks
• Harmless Sparks
  
• Fewer Moving Parts
• I Do
  
• Options
• S**t Talker
  
• Selling Advertising
• Transcontinental
• Of Minor Prophets and Their Prostitute Wives
• Bad Things to Such Good People
• Cold Beer and Cigarettes
• Hallelujah (Cohen)

Those of you waiting for this show to come to your city are in for a treat.

furled fern

One of my favorite parts of spring is when the ferns burst out of the ground outside my window well. Everything looks dead until out of these brown stumps, God births small furled ferns which prepare to extend to the sky and feather the yard, just eye level outside my window.

He does it every year, even though I always forget it is coming. What is it about them that looks so intimate, like glorious secrets tucked and away and protected? They will flourish, the wind will pass over them, and they will be gone, and their place will remember them no more. But until then, watch for the unfurling of what is soon to be revealed.

show etiquette

I have this philosophy with going to shows, that people should not go unless they want to. Don't go because you want to please someone, or because you pity them, or whatever. Go because live music is good and beautiful and makes life bearable and reality seem clearer. Go to some shows of bands you have never heard of or are not sure if you like, just because you trust the friends who invite you. Say no to some shows and sell some of your internal organs in order to go to the really good ones. I had some other thoughts, but I think they were too hypocritical so I will stop here.