Happy New Year

Just popping in to say hello! I hope everyone had a delightful, peaceful Christmas. Ours certainly was. I had a lot that I wanted to share today, but I've been cleaning all weekend, buying groceries, etc., in preparation for my in-laws' arrival tonight from Ohio, and I find myself a bit brain-drained! I will mention, though, that I've finally made a good dent in Acedia & Me by Kathleen Norris. (excerpt here) (In case you are not familiar with her, she had several books on the bestseller lists a decade or so ago, mostly dealing with religion and, a personal favorite topic of mine, living in western South Dakota.) Acedia & Me was a bit slow to get into, but now I'm finding myself absolutely fascinated by the connections she's making between acedia and so many of the issues in our society. I'm sure there are other interviews out there, but you can find one here. I'm marking lines on nearly every page and will likely read it again soon so I can more fully grasp the concepts. So much of what she writes is resonating with me, although she does write from a somewhat different tradition of Christianity than I am in.

I was blessed with many thoughtful gifts this Christmas. One I want to mention for my Orthodox friends is Mary the Mother of God: Sermons by Saint Gregory Palamas, edited by Christopher Veniamin and available from Mount Thabor Publishing at St. Tikhon's Monastery. I began this book this summer while visiting friends (who subsequently sent it and two other books from the series for my gift!) and found it insightful, entralling, and well translated/edited. I am eager to complete the book and the other ones that came with it. I read so much fiction this fall that I decided to force myself to return to non-fiction for a time.

I will be back next week with more photos and more to share. I wish all of you a wonderful beginning to 2009!