sunday coffee with solomon

The morning of the Sabbath, hot coffee, no agenda, mind and heart set like a sponge. Stamped inside a life-giving book rests a book about life, death, and the tension therein.

The Sabbath is reserved for matters other than business, but Jesus healed then, too, and today he chooses word and Spirit.

At first glance, the word is riddled with contradictions, but the great magician slowly reveals his secrets. The audience of one applauds, stands in awe, then falls prostrate in fear, as properly instructed by the king. And he senses great meaning behind the meaningless.

chase all your romances,
while you can,
soon, we’ll be old,
going alone,
locked in our minds of regret,
how could I ever forget?

listen my friends,
listen my friends,
before you go on chasing,
these futile things,
diamonds and rings,
leave you restless, wishing,

you worked a bit less,
loved a bit more,
spent your time where life is,
the moth and the rust,
are bent to destroy,
all you worked for,

leave you,
empty,
wishing,
waiting,
gone.

booked

24 was the year I went from publicist to book critic and reviewed a book I'd previously promoted. It was the year I read a book about cynicism but remained (optimistically) cynical. It was the year I struggled with prayer and read a book called Prayer but still fell short, then realized I only needed to fall to my knees.

let us play

There is a game you should try:

1. Gather 4+ friends.

2. Slice up a ton of little sheets of paper (recommend size: 3 x 3).

3. Distribute paper: Each player receives the number of sheets equal to the number of players.

4. Every player writes a goofy phrase, such as, "Scientists prove halitosis can melt Nalgene bottles," or "Three-legged dog signs treaty with three blind mice." It can be a noun, a short story, a cliche, a fortune cookie proverb—rules are non-existent.

5. Every player passes his or her sentence to his or her neighbor to the right.

6. The neighbor must now draw a picture of the sentence he or she received.

7. The neighbor places the sentence face down, and the picture on top, and passes the stack to the right.

8. The neighbor then writes a sentence describing the picture they received.

9. The cycle continues all the way through (picture, sentence, etc).

10. After the last round round, players pass his or her stack to the right, back to the original owner.

11. The owner then takes the group through the evolution of the project in order.

12. Laugh heartily at the results. It is breathtaking. Repeat as necessary.