Fencing Bear at Prayer

I've been having hard time this past week or so thinking of things to write about. Doubtless this is partly an effect of finishing the draft of the second chapter of my book; partly also an effect of having my first blogging anniversary . It's all too easy to end up looking at my feet (metaphorically, as well as in yoga class) and starting to think too much about how to walk. I kept wanting to write something really profound for my year-and-a-day, but everything kept fizzling, feeling too stilted. And besides, I was tired. Where does inspiration come from? It's a good day to ask, eh? There they were, huddled together in the upper room, "together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus [very significant], and with his brothers [ditto]," devoting themselves to prayer. "And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed ...

"Dextre dei digitus uirtus spiritalis Nos defendat et eruat ab omnibus malis. Ut nobis non noceat demon infernalis Protegat et foueat nutriat sub alis." --The University of Chicago, Regenstein Library, MS 344, fol. 14 Finger of the right hand of God, spirit of strength*, Defend and rescue us from all evils. That the infernal demon may not harm us, Protect, cherish and nourish us under your wings. *Lit. "spiritual virtue" or "fortitude"

I stayed home from work today. I meant to go into my office after I voted, but when I got home from the polling station, I just couldn't get myself to pack up and get on my bike. Excuses, excuses. This morning I woke to the sound of helicopters hovering over our neighborhood. Obama's polling station (an elementary school) is right across the street and the news vans were already in place at 7am to catch his participation in our electoral process. My polling station was right around the corner at the high school (go figure, we live in a densely populated neighborhood). The line wasn't too long; it only took an hour to get to the booth. But by the time I finished, I knew my concentration was shot. So, instead of spending the day working on my chart of liturgical Uses for the Little Office of the Virgin, I've been reading Alan Jacobs' intellectual biography of C.S. Lewis. Oh, my goodness, did C.S. Lewis write a lot of books! After The Pilgrim's Regress , w...