A fence is like a hug for your house
Our fence is finally finished. Believe it or not, our big fence building weekend was in late April, until we were stopped by the president of the local board who told us we needed a permit to build across our side yard (we’re on a corner). So, we finished 3/4 of the fence, leaving the side yard with just a line of wood posts, like some kind of memorial art installation.
Almost three months later, we got out permit and have been able to finish it. Or, I should, my husband Adam and our good friend John White finished it! Let’s just say, because of my struggles with hand and eye acuity, I’m not allowed to hold a nail gun.
After our realtor Natalie Clayton built a fence around her front yard, she remarked on social media, “A fence is like a hug for your house!” She lives along a busy sidewalk and her new chain link fence provided more of a boundary and well, an intimacy. It’s a cliche: “Good fences make good neighbors,” per Robert Frost. But it is healthy to define and see where your space ends and the space of another begins.
Still, I feel sheepish that we spent thousands of dollars on this fence. Privacy is a privilege — to have enough space and money that you can secure space for yourself that you do not have to share with others. I mean, Adam would add that it’s a big yard and wood prices were out of sight when we bought materials. But our big yard needed a “hug,” a way to feel like the space was ours, that kids and dogs could run around and feel safe, that we can sit on the deck without feeling as though we’re on stage.
I’m so grateful for this fence - to Adam, John, Dan, and Diana for planning and building it.
Meanwhile, I’m busting my butt to finish the second volume of Everyday Connections, which is weird, since the first volume doesn’t even come out until September. I’m so looking forward to this resource being available to you: readers, pastors, lay leaders, church groups, or anyone looking for a way to connect more personally with the lectionary readings each week. My book offers you lots of options and pathways to locate yourself and the questions you may be asking about God or your life each week. A buffet bar for spiritual reflection, I want to say.
Available for pre-order! It’s a big price: $40, because it’s a big ol’ doorstop (568 pages) and has a fancy leatherette cover. Preorders make a big difference in algorithms and for publicity - click here to preorder from Bookshop (currently cheaper than Amazon) or order from any book retailer.
Question: Would you be interested a fancy bookplate sticker signed and inscribed by me, and mailed to you to place on the inside page your copy? More info soon. . . !
SOME THINGS I WROTE
Letters and the Gospel, Gather magazine — "What if the entirety of the gospel is a letter, written to each one of us, inviting us to be transformed by God’s love and affection for us?” On Paul’s brazen letter to Philemon.
Drawing close to Howard Thurman, Christian Century — “Thurman’s words and voice were like none I’d ever heard—and yet, they were somehow so familiar. I shared a sentiment about Thurman that Parker Palmer describes in Anchored in the Current, the feeling that ‘I knew him well, and he knew me.’”
LISTEN TO ME BLATHER ON
The Fertile Soil of Solitude, PODCAST: Messy Jesus Business — “I think what I’ve learned is there’s great fruitfulness in messiness…you need dirt to grow things.” Sr. Julia Walsh invited me to talk about solitude on her podcast, “Messy Jesus Business.” Julia is a delightful, visionary Franciscan sister who lives in an intentional community house in Chicago with both religious and non-religious women. She’s also a writer and spiritual director. Check her out!
ADVENT IS COMING…
If you or your church are making Advent plans, consider Advent in Narnia: I wrote it for adults and older children, a way to walk through Advent with some meaty theology and also wonder and fun. There’s a curriculum in the appendix for a four-session series for adult small groups and an outline for a “Narnia Night” of activities and prayer for kids or families. Let me know if you have any questions, or if you’d like my recipe for The White Witch’s Hot Cocoa — fun to serve alongside Turkish Delight!
SOME THINGS I’M READING
The Anthropocene Reviewed, by John Green — Green is teaching me how to live in Indianapolis, through this book, his podcast (on which this book is based), and his fiction. This book “reviews” Indianapolis as well as the Indy 500, but also things like Wintry Mix, Diet Dr. Pepper, the Yips, Piggly Wiggly, and the song Auld Lang Syne. My friend Katherine wrote a wonderful review for the Century, here.
Lose, Love, Live, by Dan Moseley — This month is the fifth anniversary of my mother’s death, and I’ve become a collector of books about grief. This one is blessedly short but so beautiful and so insightful, I can’t quite explain to you how resonant it has been for me. The grief he explores is not only for lost loved ones but careers, dreams, and anything we can lose. Seriously, this is a good one - and a good gift for anyone you know who has lost someone or something profound.
WHAT I’M WATCHING
Ted Lasso, on Apple+ — It’s back! Want to make the shortbread cookies in the show? I love this recipe by Deb Perelman.
Ugh, so many typos. Sorry guys!