A Doggo Photo Series, A Transcendent Moment, A Banana Jumpshot, and the Perfect Words for All Of It
To say that it has been a week would be an understatement. I wish I could say that it was just because of busyness but it has been a lot more than that, and things that I don’t feel comfortable naming here. So as Scout and I headed out on Thursday morning, I felt like I needed to simply play a bit. So what better thing than a bunch of photos of an awesome dog wearing a fashionable purple bowtie? But then came a transcendent moment with a spiderweb then a jumpshot with a banana peel and finally the perfect words to bring it all together. Suffice to say, I’m pretty grateful for that needed morning.
The Doggo Photo Series
The Transcendent Moment
Towards the middle of our walk, we saw this stunning work of art glistening in the sun. It was around 2’ in diameter and was gently swaying with the breeze, eliciting waves of light upon the strands. The video is a bit blurry because I couldn’t get my phone to focus directly on the web. C’est la vie.
Like I said...transcendent...Oh and a bonus one of what looked almost like a heart in the illuminated mist…
The Banana Peel Jumpshot
So one of my “Ed things” is that I have never let go of my basketball dreams from back in the day that ended when I stopped growing at 5’7”. So, bottles into the recycle bin, poop bags into sidewalk trash cans, and a variety of other items - all of them can become basketballs (of a sort). Today, it was the peel from the banana I ate on my way to Planet Fitness which was a perfect swish (if there was a net) into this trash can from this distance outside PF. It’s the small things...
Speaking of Small Things...The Perfect Words
The book I continued reading a few minutes later while on the treadmill is Kate Bowler’s latest Joyful, Anyway. Like her other books, it is a beautiful, funny, honest, and deep read. It’s great. Well, one of today’s chapters was entitled “The Biggest Tiny Thing You Can Do” and it tells of a conversation she had with a colleague who helped her to see how she could focus on the small things that she had control over in her life that could elicit joy. There are plenty of things outside our control that sap our joy or can elicit joy but there are also plenty of small things that can do the same. Kate writes:
“Don’t think big! If you want to change, think small, start small,” he says. “Small is beautiful.”
Small is beautiful, I repeat to myself. I think of a couple I know and adore. Married and in their sixties, they recently lost both their adult sons, one to cancer, and one to the disease of despair. Now when this couple wakes up in the morning, they need to stay in bed for a few hours. They might do their devotionals, watch a television show, or call their therapist. Waking up to a world without your children takes the time it takes. But when they finally get out of bed, this is what they do: they make friends with strangers; they buy gifts for other people’s grandchildren; they swim in the ocean. They perform small miracles.
Thinking about them reminds me of something that writer and pastor Jeff Chu likes to pray: God, grant me appropriate smallness. In a world that is overwhelming and full of suffering, give me back the smallness that is mine. Small actions. Small attempts. Small miracles.1
And then the chapter closes with this...
“You want to be more joyful,” he says again, clearly. “Make a list. Keep it small. Ask for help.”2
I didn’t think about it this morning as another day in a rough week began, but each of these were small things - a bow-tie-wearing-doggo photo series, a spiderweb in the sun, and a jumpshot with a banana peel.
Grace, Peace, Love, Hope, and Joy,
Ed
PS - MaryAnn and I have our delayed Odyssey podcast this coming Monday on PCPH
PPS - If you want a Scout-based blessing (or any other), let me know. :)
Bowler, Kate. Joyful, Anyway (p. 223). Kindle Edition.
Bowler, Kate. Joyful, Anyway (p. 225). Kindle Edition.