Daily writing prompt

What have you been putting off doing? Why?

View all responses

I have put off going to the dentist. It makes me anxious and very stressed. Yes, there is pain, but I remember the negativity from the dentists of my youth. I guess my doctor constantly reminds me I need to take my medication to stay balanced, which is sort of the same. But a numb face, an aching jaw, and someone telling you what you do wrong simply do not make a pleasant experience. I have found one that is not too bad. Hasn’t said anything about my “brushing habits” yet but has mentioned it as a future discussion. But, to be honest, I would do just about anything than go to a dentist.

Anyway…

Daily writing prompt

What is your favorite hobby or pastime?

View all responses

Can a vocation be a hobby? I like reading. I especially like things that make me think. Maybe that should be broader: things that make me think and feel. I try (very hard) not to rest in one area. I am reading, among other things, Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus which is as far away from my natural “feel” as possible. (But I am reading the parallel German-English version!)

So I read fiction (Daniel Silva’s The Order), literature (I love a good short story), philosophy (some I would not naturally read), theology, spirituality, history, and random things I find online. I do have areas which I use to relax. At the moment it is Nietschze. Otherwise Kierkegaard or any item related to anchorites in medieval England. Or anything related to religious life within Anglicanism. I do like Michael Yelton”s Anglican Papalism as a general distraction from life. I have gone through an Oscar Wilde stage. I really enjoyed The Picture of Dorian Gray. And Virginia Woolf (her short stories), Albert Camus (The Stranger), Kafka (the diaries and The Metamorphosis), Merton (especially the Journals), Desert Fathers and Mothers, and various random topics. All now add to the mix of my interests.

Oh wow that all sounds so pompous!

Daily writing prompt

Tell us about a time when you felt out of place.

View all responses

To be honest, I feel “out of place” all the time. I should have been born 100 years ago in a country far far away. But I doubt that would be the answer. No change of circumstances, culture, or religious group will magically fix my sense of alienation. Trust me, I have tried!

Experience has taught me that every person, no matter how kind and loving, has their own baggage. We have within each of us a point of privacy we call “me” – no connection to the outside, completely cut off. And this point of “me” is always alone, “out of place”, an alien. (Or, as Augustine says, is out of place until it finds a place in Jesus.) Maybe I simply profoundly feel that “me”!

Daily writing prompt

What skill would you like to learn?

View all responses

I would like to learn real silence. Not the absence of noise. But the single focus on the Other. Not my option or view, not my “answer, but simply to listen to Jesus in the moment. I am not sure that is a skill or a divine grace but I can start by being less involved. That is, less involved in my misguided world and open to the holy in the other person.

Most of all I need to learn to not want to be listened to. To become irrelevant. To be the person with the answers and knowledge. I want to learn how to be forgotten!

Sorry if that sounds a little airy-fairy, self-indulgent, or even a “backhanded” boast.

Daily writing prompt

What details of your life could you pay more attention to?

View all responses

Solitude and prayer!

I could pay more attention, become more intentional, concerning my periods of prayer. In the past, Anchorites had a book of people they prayed for daily. In some monasteries, it is part of the liturgy to read these names everyday. I could have more time for mental prayer during the day.

And maybe be a little more protective of my solitude. To be open to periods of silence and simply “be” in the moment. Not to worry about being “productive”. Not to chase the next “book high”.

To wait for the Lord in hope. Not to rush or seek to do it myself. To listen to myself and do what I preach.

Anyway, I have a doctor’s appointment so …

Daily writing prompt

List three jobs you’d consider pursuing if money didn’t matter.

View all responses

I am delighted where I am “at” right now. I like the context for my “vocation”. So no changes are necessary at the moment!!!!!

But I have thought about “going into the desert”. Could I live completely off the grid? Without contact, without modern communications. I often feel I am still way too much in the world – still too entangled. I have absolutely no idea how that would happen. And I am certain it would be a real struggle for me physically and emotionally. But sometimes I wonder!?

Daily writing prompt

What’s your all-time favorite album?

View all responses

This is pretty easy – Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here. It is the first album I purchased with my own money on cassette. It was in the original blue case, and I played side 2 nonstop. But I remember being absolutely freaked out by Welcome to the Machine.

I still listen to it most weeks. Now, it’s on some streaming service, and I still like the second half better. And I am still completely freaked when I hear the lift open.

Holy Days are celebrated with Te Deum at Morning Prayer and Second Evening Prayer.

One of the things about living alone – being solitary – is that days fade into each other. So I am glad for the liturgical year that reminds me of important events and people. I like that time is regulated by Jesus.

Daily writing prompt

How often do you walk or run?

View all responses

My current circumstances mean that I walk everywhere. The shops, church, and medical appointments are all within walking distance. I should walk more and sit less.

When do I run? Only when chased.

Daily writing prompt

Do you see yourself as a leader?

View all responses

I am no leader. I lack the interpersonal skills, the confidence, the insight, and the prudence to lead. My thought pattern is too confusing, And let’s face it: a little on the eccentric side. My emotions get involved too quickly and everything becomes a reflection of “me”.

That does not, however, mean that “others” do not see me as a leader. It is a position that I have been pushed into through circumstances – a completely unwarranted and unwanted position.

So …. no!