Washing the Feet of the Saints...

Most of the lovely finches - including the painted buntings - have left their Pollywog Creek home for a season, and the larger and louder red-bellied woodpeckers and bluejays - with a cacophony of caws and kwirrs - have moved into their place. A variety of woodpeckers are often found here, but this is the first year that I've seen them at the feeders, and I'm amused by their clumsy attempts to hang on. I'm not particularly delighted at these changes. Not only will it be months before I can hope to see the buntings again, these are harbingers of the warmer and humid days to come. For now, I am soaking up all the backyard swing time I can manage. The long summer days indoors will arrive much too soon, and my hours on the swing with coffee and a good book will come to an end. I recently finished reading Peace Like A River by Leif Enger. I am a voracious reader, but I seldom choose to read contemporary fiction. To be honest, there are not many contemporary writers of fiction that I enjoy. I simply do not have time to read the poorly written, shallow and boring fiction that is often mass produced and marketed today. When John Piper recommended Peace Like a River, I knew it must be worth my time - and it was. Enger's prose is rich, his characters are deep and intriguing, and the story captivates to the very end. If I could summarize the theme of this powerful story, I think it could be found in I Peter 4:8:

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

I'm presently re-reading Same Kind of Different as Me, by Ron Hall and Denver Moore - a book I read before our trips to New York City, Atlanta and Nashville this past year. The limited resources in the rural communities that surround Pollywog Creek do not attract the homeless. I'm reading Same Kind of Different as Me with a different perspective on homelessness this time. With a sense of urgency, I've also been devoting more time to "Washing the Feet of the Saints" - the work I alluded to when I wrote the following here:

...there's not enough time for me to elaborate at the moment, but finding this from Dr. Mohler in my reader this morning made my heart race. It is my passion and my burden. It is the one place I know God has called me to use what ever gifts He has chosen to grant me, and I could use prayers that I will remain focused to the task. ("Do Not Cast Me Off in the Time of Old Age," Part One.)

With neither an agent nor an editor, it seems rather presumptuous of me to say that I am writing a book, but there it is - I'm writing a book. And I've pitched the idea to Mary DeMuth (a fabulous contemporary author of fiction and non-fiction - which is why I respect her opinion), who promises to critique it (the pitch) the first of May here.

I've dabbled with this project much too long, but with my writer's group encouragement and persistent Holy Spirit nudges, I'm determined to quit dabbling and to focus. I began Washing the Feet of the Saints almost three years ago, but I've neglected it for over a year until today - when I posted Chapter I - Part I. Part II is scheduled for tomorrow. If you have time and interest, I'd love to know what you think - really.