i think a lot.

i'm kind of formulating my thoughts on basically everything right now. life, ministry, travel, occupation, enjoyment, music, literature, writing, etc. it's kind of all-encompassed. i am reading the Bible a lot, reading other things a lot, writing my own thoughts out a lot, formulating, essentially, my philosophy on Life And All That Pertains To It. so in case it seems like all i ever do is quote other things right now, it is and it isn't. there is much creative process, and refining of thought, and renewing of mind occuring. i'll keep you posted, probably.

current listens: 
radiohead: king of limbs, aphex twin, four tet, mogwai, björk; repeat. every day for a week.
somehow smetana is always floating around my head too.
actually currently i'm listening to ravel's mother goose suite on the SPCO's new website. i wanted to listen to mahler, but they didn't have him on there. actually i'm really enjoying ravel. especially when they do those nice zips up the violin strings, you know?

current listen/reads: this means piano [although i guess it could mean audio books].
sight reading hard classical piano music is good for my mind and my fingers, especially in this past month of mental fogginess. this year i've been playing a lot of chopin, schubert, schumann, mendelssohn, bach, grieg, mozart, etc. i'm appreciating more than ever before the romantic period of music [all of the above, excepting bach and mozart], and pieces with unthinkably hard key signatures, and dissonance, and emotion. for a long time i pretty much stuck with bach and mozart because they were so straightforward, but technically challenging. [i still play bach a lot. the man was, after all, a genius.] but i like the freshness of more recent music. ok, i really like pretty much all of it.

current reads: 
zinnser: on writing well [it's hilarious],
shakespeare: a winter's tale [just started it],
one hundred famous haiku [awesome],
lebrecht: why mahler? how one man and 10 symphonies changed our world [interesting perspective],
gaskell: cranford [amusing in a sleepy sort of way],
hugo: the hunchback of notre dame [just started, and it feels like deja vu- have i read this before?? first chapter anyways..]
spurgeon: morning and evening. [i read both at night]
cowman: springs in the valley [2nd year through it- love it- quote from it often]
there are 6 other books on my bedside table which i've also begun but am more or less ignoring at this point in time.
i also have goethe's faust and a book of essays on goethe [disappointment, i thought it was by goethe] in my library stack.

i read a bit from several or most of these every day. i tend to start a million books and finish about 1 every month or two, it seems. well, this month i've had more time and determination, so i've been a bit more avid at book completion.

as a side-note, going to the library is one of the most thrilling experiences in life, for you can have as many books as you like, order online the books they don't have, get the books you want for 3 weeks [and call to renew them for 3 more!], and if you don't like them, you just drop them back off. freeeeeedommmmm. it's economical, too. i do need to exhibit a bit more self control though; there is no way i can read all of the thousands of pages i check out each time. ps. my mother and 4-year-old nephew [probably my brother and almost 2-year-old nephew as well] are on a first-name basis with the librarians. i guess it runs in the family.

you know what else i love? that the library is directly across the street from the post office. besides work and church, those are the two places i visit most frequently. [the auxiliary thrift store and the doc's office are the other two places i go. aren't i exciting?] it's terribly convenient, and parking is an absolute nightmare. we're getting a new library, supposedly, so we won't always have it this good. also, our post office has a drive-through mailbox.

Bible reads:
psalms [david's wisdom],
proverbs [solomon's wisdom],
ecclesiastes [different side of solomon's wisdom],
matthew [Jesus' wisdom],
1 peter [disciple's wisdom].
kind of good for a person who is seeking to know wisdom, huh? it might seem kind of elitist to say that i'm reading out of 5 books of the bible on a daily basis- but it's not tons everywhere. and it all fits. and i love washing my mind with the Word. and i hope you do too. the wonderful thing about reading in a bunch of places on a regular basis is [ok 2 main reasons]: 1- you always know where to read [if you finish one book you start the next one], and if you don't have a lot of time you can just pick one of the areas to read from; and 2- it's unbelievable how well everything corresponds to each other and also to what you are thinking about. that, my friends, is the Living and Active Word of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

you know, i've been thinking lately about the security of believing in absolute Truth [namely, the Bible]. there are many people in this world who hop from one "truth" or "religion" or "experience" to another, or combine them all to formulate what "feels right for them." maybe that makes them feel nice, but it would make me feel a little nervous, wondering if i actually found the real truth this time, or if it's going to just be a phase that i'll come through in a few months. they are continually seeking, "always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" [2 tim 3:7]. i'm sad for those people who can't rest in the fact that the truth can be known, and that there are boundaries set forth for their good; for in them is significant and substantial freedom. The Truth Shall Set You Free, you know.

but... before honor comes humility. you can't have wisdom it until you ask for it.
bisous.