Habits

Writing is a discipline that requires a certain amount of planning, but sometimes it just takes on a life of its own. When I wrote a weekly column, it wasn't until crunch time that the creative juices finally started to flow. I would like to begin this new year by writing every day. Some days, no doubt, will be the result of thoughtful planning (like maybe a miniseries), and some days, even though it is crunch time, I'll probably sit at the keyboard with nothing to say and wait and see what happens.

It has been a quiet day, punctuated by the purchase of a few new fish for our tank, and a trip to the local coffee shop for quiet conversation. I have been reading a most thought provoking book entitled "Irresistable Revolution", which was a Christmas gift (actually for P, not me). I was telling P about it, over a cup of carmello, and it wasn't really until that moment that I realized that the passion of the writer is having a profound impact on me...now that's good writing. But beyond the author's engaging style, it is his message that grips me. It's one of those things that keeps popping up and hitting me (I'm starting to feel like a whack-a-mole) in various situations and contexts. Okay, God, I'm listening! I think this will be a good place to process the thoughts that are *percolating* (well, we were drinking coffee...), and to see where they lead.

And so, until tomorrow, I'll leave off with the first *uh-huh* moment (that's a head nod, as opposed to an *aha* light bulb moment) that came with the description of "spiritual bulimia", a gorging on all things Christian followed by vomiting them up before they have a chance to digest. Claiborne writes: "I was marked by an overconsumptive but malnourished spirituality, suffocated by Christianity but thirsty for God."