Not Quite What I Was Planning

Not Quite What I Was Planning
(a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

I've been rereading "Not Quite What I Was Planning," that wonderful little book of six-word memoirs edited and published by Smith Magazine. These short summaries range from the ridiculous ("I was a Michael Jackson impersonator.") to the sublime ("Learning disability, MIT. Never give up."), from the humorous ("Catholic girl. Jersey. It's all true.") to the heart-breaking (Hemingway's famous six-word story: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."), and just about every thought in between.

This little tome is packed with such bon mots as comedian Tracey Morgan's self-descriptive phrase ("At the end of normal street" ) and Janelle Brown's confession ("My second grade teacher was right."). There is bathos ("We were our own Springer episode.") and there is pathos ("I still make coffee for two."). There are commentaries on life ("It's like forever, only much shorter.") and on its absurdities ("Time to start over again, again.").

It is one of those little books that, every few months, just seems to call to me; and I find I can't resist taking another dip. I always find one I missed (or, at this age, may just have forgotten), and I always come away from the experience somehow bettered, happier with my life as it is.

After reading this week's Lectionary passages, I wondered if we might wish for some of those phrases as personal memoirs; something like: "Sowed in tears, reaped with joy" or "Gave a garland instead of ashes." Perhaps "Came to testify to the light" or "Gives thanks in all circumstances; still." Or consider "Filled the hungry with good things" or "My spirit rejoices; God my savior."

"What would you write," he asked?

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Third Sunday of Advent (December 11, 2011)
Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Psalm 126 or Luke 1:46b-55
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
John 1:6-8, 19-28

As usual, if you are in Waco on Friday morning, you are invited to join us at Cafe Cappuccino (downtown, near the Courthouse, on 6th) at 8:00 for breakfast and some fun with scriptures ;-)