Silent Retreat Feb 2014

It was cold, alternating between sleet, rain and snow.  And I was tired.  So, so tired.  It has been incredibly hard lately.  So i did what anyone would do when facing a warm, cozy bed and dark silence.
Slept and read.
I choose books mostly by the cover, and oftentimes they have an unintentional theme.  Last year, when getting to the third book i had picked out at the library that week, i realized they all had some type of fence on the front. We don't have a fence and i really really really wanted one.  I still do.
This particular time, all the books i read involved a character who deceived those around him and then did horrible things.  They were all excellent books.
Rivers: Michael Farris Smith
Pilgrim's Wilderness: Tom Kizzia
Bonhoeffer: Eric Metaxes

Another thing i read is by Madeleine L'Engle, in a conversation between a daughter and her widowed father.

He has been having a hard time and says, "That will pass too.  Do you know how apple jack is made?"
For a moment she thought he must have made himself another drink.
"No."
"You put apple juice in a keg and leave it outdoors all winter and let it freeze.  Almost all of it will turn to ice, but there's a tiny core of liquid inside, of pure flame.  I have that core of faith inside.  There's always that small searing drop that doesn't freeze.  Don't worry about me, my darling.  I'm all right.  And you must get some sleep."