Everyday life is good.  Though using the word “good” to describe aspects of my charmed existence often feels inadequate.

But as I think back on the week and today in particular, I’d like to add at least  a “very” or a “really” to give my “good” a little extra ‘umph.’   But I won’t; if the word “good” was good enough for God in Genesis, then I’ll keep my good just as it is, unvarnished by fillers and exclamation points.  I think God only allow Himself one ‘very,’ and that was when he was describing how very good we, his people, were.

Sometimes I wonder about that ‘very.’  If I’m so ‘very’ good, why did it take me three months to make good on my final project for my spiritual direction coursework?    For now, I’m just relieved and happy that my obligation is fulfilled.  No longer must I avoid it, as I did last week.  It’s done and I feel good about what I wrote.

As I attached the file to the email this afternoon, I wrote a cover page thanking my instructors for the grace period they gave me after Daddy’s death.  Then I gave them permission not to read it.  I felt it more important for me to write than for them to read.  “Why drudge through reading this,” I wrote, “when there are far better works to read?”

It’s what I plan to do more myself — read for the pure pleasure of keeping company with the well written word — with no deadlines, no analysis and no expectation.

It won’t be too much longer before Sis’s farmhouse is finished too.  Then I’ll be reclaiming two more days to read.  And maybe if I play my cards well, as the days grow cooler, Sis will let me read on her front porch swing.  With a symphony of crickets to keep me company, this pleasure might rise to a very good.