Inspirations and Illuminations

This morning, my work monitor started acting up.  Suddenly, the screen went dark and I got an error message having to do with the resolution, which I had not changed.  This happened twice, so I called tech support, and a guy came over and looked at it.  Of course, while he was in the office, the problem fixed itself, so it's kinda like taking the car in for a knock, and the knock doesn't happen while it's in the shop.   While I was waiting to have it looked at, I had to figure out what I could work on that didn't require my monitor.  For the record, there were two free computers in my outer office, as well as my laptop, so it wasn't like I would completely run out of things to do.  But I had planned to get certain things done first, and had to adjust the sequence of things in order to stay at my own desk. Thankfully, it was only out for about ten minutes, and I was able to resume what I'd intended to do, but in the interim, I was able to clear a pile f...

 I was listening to Cathy Heller's Don't Keep Your Day Job  podcast, as I do all day, almost every day, at work.  In June of 2020, she had Jason Mraz on the show, talking about his career and offering words of wisdom in the midst of the beginning of the COVID pandemic.  Something he said triggered a thought:  the fact that so many people are dissatisfied with the way things are right now is proof that there is hope.  Stay with me for a minute.  Dissatisfaction is an indication of hope, hope that things can actually get better.  If we have no hope, we may be disillusioned or resigned, but if we're dissatisfied, we know that improvement is a possibility.   If we find ourselves dissatisfied with a purchase, we ask to talk to a customer service representative, in the hope that they will make it right.  The fact that we don't just throw away the item and buy it elsewhere or do without means we have hope that there is a solution.  If...

I never know where inspiration will come from.  I love watching things like The Waltons  or Little Women  or anything with Anne Shirley (the Anne of Green Gables film series; Anne with an E) , because of the insight I derive from seeing where writers, mostly of memoir, as it happens, get their ideas.  John Walton, Jr. (aka, John Boy) is the characterization of Earl Hamner, Jr., who wrote the stories that became The Waltons (and who, by the way, is the narrator for the show).  Jo March is Louisa May Alcott herself on paper, also writing the stories that became Alcott's most famous work, about herself and her sisters.  Anne Shirley, though fictional herself, is really a depiction of writers in general--avid readers, lost in imagination, writing what they know.   I'm also drawn to read memoirs.  Not autobiography, which is a more factual account, but memoir, which may or may not be chronological, but is more concerned with themes than a timeline...

This morning, my Bible reading included a passage from 1 Kings, in which the prophet Elijah is in a cave on a mountain, waiting for God. There is a terrifying wind, tearing apart the mountain and breaking rocks, but God is not in the wind. Then there is an earthquake, shaking Elijah's surroundings and knocking him to the ground, but God is not in the earthquake. Following the earthquake is fire, consuming everything in its path, but God is not in the fire. Finally, all was quiet, so still Elijah could hear God's voice, soft and soothing, reminding Elijah that amid the chaos and upheaval, God is there, present and speaking. This reminded me of a story I heard once. The sun and the wind were having an argument about which was more powerful. Not being able to settle the question, they looked to earth and saw a man walking with his coat on. The wind, confident of his powers, said, "See that man down there? Let's see which of us can remove the man's coat." ...