“Human beings may separate things into as many piles as we wish — separating spirit from flesh, sacred from secular, church from world. But we should not be surprised when God does not recognize distinctions we make between the two. Earth is so thick with divine possibility that it is a a wonder we can walk anywhere without cracking our shins on altars.” — Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World, page 15
How many altars will I bump into today? And of that universe, how many will I note? And what about the notables that have already happened? Like…
Those first words penned at five a.m., while sitting in my favorite chair by candlelight with a cup of cappuccino nearby….
Immunizing myself with a shot of ‘spiritual’ words — today’s booster, courtesy of my second read of An Altar in the World, Chapter 3, “The Practice of Wearing Skin” — Incarnation…
Eating brunch at a busy local diner full of of good smells and conversation, many all at once, against background chimes of forks and spoons and knives and china being set and removed by hard-working servers helping us to enjoy their Sunday best…if not our own…
And what about these to come — do they count?:
Reading more of my second Ernest Hemingway novel for the month — this one, A Farewell to Arms — and losing myself in its unfolding story and restraining myself from counting the author’s many use of ‘and’ and wondering if I’ll love it as much as the first one completed last week, A Sun Also Rises…and the next one coming up, The Old Man and the Sea…
Cooking an easy supper, then baking two dozen chocolate chip cookies before…
Parking myself in front of the television to watch the Super Bowl — and if not the game, then at least the commercials and half-time entertainment…
But before all that, what about now, what about while writing this, weighing whether or not I should instead pet poodle fur of one who wishes me not to write
an everyday life 
Interesting potpourri of thoughts… You’re right in pointing out how often we compartmentalize our life. It’s one thing to categorize things and events, but when it comes to people, we (well, me at least) tend to do the same too… they’re grouped according to their function. And Hemingway using too many and’s … mmm … I need to check that out.
Did I say too many? Perhaps, by implication, I did — but no, I favor Hemingway’s heavy use of ‘and’ how he relies on it to string pearls of thought together. The use of ‘and’ in the first chapter of A Farewell to Arms beats like a drum — that its used against a background discussion of the battlefield and military makes it all the more poetic. Taking a step back, Hemingway’s writing reminds me of the Gospel according to St. Mark — the words of both story-tellers rush out in sort of a breathless way — in large part through their abundant use of ‘and’ — which keeps me turning pages to see what will happen next…
As for that list of altars, I ran into words of George Eliot yesterday, which serve as a nice benediction to this piece —
“If we had a keen vision of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow or the squirrel’s heart beat, and we should die of the roar which lies on the other side of silence. As it is, the quickest of us walks about well-wadded with stupidity.”
Madeleine L’Engle {Herself}, page 56
There is one reminder I need to hear over and over, and you just provided it with this:
“What about now, what about while writing this, weighing whether or not I should instead pet poodle fur of one who wishes me not to write?”
I looked at Dixie Rose and thought, “She’s so quiet, she’s so patient, and she’s about given up on hoping for attention because it’s so easy for me to sit here and write, while she waits…”
It’s time to make some real adjustments around here – even a half-hour more each day would make a big difference in her life. I have so many things that provide pleasure in my life – she has me. She’ll be surprised when I pull out the toys tonight.
I hope you and Dixie Rose enjoyed your play together last night.
Your last line about making ‘real adjustments around here’ is something I’ve been doing here too. As much as I enjoy being on the computer, too much of it zaps my energy. With the extra change, I’m trying to live as deep and wide as I can.
Good luck with your new rule of life. So hard to make new habits of being.
Janell