Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8
Each Monday, a small group of ladies participate in the meme Sleeping with Bread, started by Mary-Lue and based off the book and on the Friday before that, I post something I call Flashback Friday (today on Saturday) as part of that. The meme is based on the Examen as practiced by St. Ignatius of Loyola with two questions as seen below.
For what am I least grateful this week?
1. Wasting time: Specifically wasting time on a book, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and in general on books that don’t do anything for me. As of last night, I was three-quarters the way through the aforementioned book but after talking with my wife about it, I’ve decided not to finish it. Why? She reminded me of the verse above, and I guess you could say I felt convicted by the Holy Spirit not to read it. Specifically, the graphic nature of the novel and the promiscuity of the lead character led me to think this really wasn’t something I needed to read.
This said, I don’t believe everything I read has to be of a didactic nature or spiritual or even “Christian.” On the flip side, I don’t believe everything I read has to be meaningless and just a means of escape, although that’s all right from time to time. I have classics sitting on my shelves unread.
Life is too short to waste on the passing fads, so why not delve into the classics? I already am doing that to some degree with the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge and the Baker Street Challenge with Arthur Conan Doyle books. However, I need to read more of the classics.
I also do have a shelf of spiritual classics from St. Augustine to the Dalai Llama that I also would like to read. A year or two ago I had a plan to read those kind of books on Sundays. I think I will return to that practice.
2. The cycle of which I have discussed previously here and in which sometimes I feel stuck: It’s not only the revision of my blogs, over and over again, but also other aspects of my life from my diet to my exercise regimen, among them.
For what am I most grateful?
1. Breaking that cycle to some degree: This week I consolidated three twitter accounts into one and narrowed my blogs to primarily two here and at Unfinished Rambler. Breaking the cycle, like my life, is a work in progress and never will be finished in this earthly life. As a Christian, though, I have faith that it will be completed in the next.
2. Readers of my blogs: Last week I had the oddest of experiences. A young man with whom I am acquainted on Facebook came up to me while my wife and I were at dinner at a local restaurant. He told me he appreciated me a recent post on my becoming an oblate at Mt. Savior Monastery in Elmira, N.Y. He said that he would like to go on a retreat there sometime, that his mother and father had gone there years ago and talked about it and talked about it, and this post reminded him of that. This past week, another Facebook friend started following this blog and a supplement to this blog, An Unfinished Person II on Tumblr, and a fellow book blogger whose blog I read from time to time also contacted me on Facebook to discuss the same post about becoming an oblate.
The point is you never know whose life you may affect, for better or for worse. Don’t worry, I won’t say “for richer or for poorer” (sorry, I’m not giving away money here). This isn’t marriage after all. However, blogging is, or can be, anyway, a bond, I believe, between you and the reader, some of which others are struggling with efforts like Blog With Integrity. While I have not (yet) signed any pledges along these lines, I do believe in some of the ideas behind such efforts. This is why I try to be honest with you how I feel, as much as possible, with the exception of what leave for a priest in the confessional or a trained counselor at his or her office.
A quick aside: This is why I will be changing the themes of Unfinished Rambler in the near future to no themes (which I know is a theme in itself, but anyway…) to reflect myself more honestly and also be a counterpoint to the more ordered structured in themes here.
The bottom line is I have two sides to me: ordered and disordered. How do I balance the order and the chaos as it is within my daily life? Maybe that’s part of the problem. I don’t have the strength on my own and need the help of a Higher Power to find this balance, and balance, period, in my life.
This post also can be found at my spiritual blog, Journeying with the Saints. If you only are interested in spiritual-related posts, you can subscribe only to that blog, if you so choose.
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Wow! I related to quite a bit of this post… especially the diet/exercise thing.
I love the idea of reading certain books on Sundays. I may have to give that a whirl.
Thanks for sharing. Like you, I hope that my contact with other bloggers, people on facebook, etc., has an impact on others. I KNOW that many of them have an impact on me!
Oh how we touch lives, sometimes completely unaware.
It’s always humbling for me to be handed that, to be made aware.
The camera is rolling–people watch. G-d watches.
And perhaps that book wasn’t a ‘waste of time’……afterall, it brought you to ‘here’, eh?
Blessings to you and yours……..
Interesting post.
I am reading Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and I am loving it. I am opposite of you in that I like that they have used the dichotomy in the story- the two seemingly unrelated and yet completely intertwined. Of course, I am one of those who gag reading books that are “Christian fiction” (at least the ones I have picked up, mind you) because they are sappy and completely unrealistic to me.
But I agree 100% that life is too short and books are too plentiful to waste time on any book that you aren’t completely enthralled with! If this book doesn’t do it for you, there will always be another one waiting for you that will! That is one good thing about so many books available! (The downside being deciding which to read next!)
Please don’t get me wrong. I did like the two stories intertwining. It wasn’t that. It was the lack of morals in the book, and again, I’ve read, and will continue to read, books without morals. I’ve read books about assassins by Frederick Forsyth and the like. However, just something didn’t sit right with me in this one. The lead character, Mikael, just seemed to sleep with whoever was handy, and the torture of Lisabeth didn’t seem to be necessary to the story, although I realize it’s probably setting up something later.
Also morals and all that aside, I thought it was taking too long to get to the point, and then from what I saw it was getting to, didn’t seem all that interesting to me.
As for Christian fiction, I’m not a fan of them either, for exactly, the reasons you stated. I consider myself a Christian, but that doesn’t mean I have to listen to “Christian” music or read “Christian” books. I believe that God can speak through a variety of mediums…and again, not that I have to hear “God speaking” either when I read or listen to music. I don’t.
As for the next book, I’m already on to The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle and just picked up a fresh batch of Agatha Christie novels.
Very interesting post today. As I read I was thinking that we are changed by what we read. Those choices, what to read, and also what to write about, affect you and everyone who stops by to read your blog.
My most recent book, still in editing, is about a woman who is a militant environmentalist. One of my editors called me the other day to say she found herself more conscious of recycling and waste. This sort of thing encourages me to continue writing purposeful books and suggests to me that your putting down that book this week wasn’t such a bad idea.
Thanks for the interesting post.
CJ
It ‘s not just what we read, but also what we watch and to what we listen. It’s not that I’m a prude and don’t enjoy the nonsensical silly escapist art too (see books above that I mentioned and, for the record, I love Monty Python and They Might Be Giants, speaking of nonsensical), but there’s a time for everything under the sun. Sometimes you have to choose not to read, watch or listen to some things too. It might not be that those things are intrinsically evil or bad, but they might not be of benefit to you, where you are. That’s where I am, I guess.
Life is too short to waste on books that are just okay. I no longer feel bad about putting a book down at halfway through, because there are too many other good books out there.
I’ve known this for a while, but it’s only now that I’m beginning to practice it. Like you, I don’t feel bad about putting a book down…that said (my pet phrase of the day), I’m looking forward to the publication of your book and not putting it down.
I also want (need) to pick up Mark Rayner’s latest book too, but don’t have Canadian money. At least, you’ll take good old American dollars for your book. 
For those following this conversation, not knowing about either of these authors, please check them and their latest books out:
http://mercuryfalls.net/
and
http://markarayner.com/marvellous-hairy