My pastor's wife lent me a book the other day. Donald Miller's A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.
I would be hard-pressed to choose whether I prefer him or Anne Lamott as my favorite faith essayist. Probably both.
In this book, he recounts some life lessons he learned while turning his memoir (Blue Like Jazz) into a movie. Paragraphs like this are what I like about his writing:
The thing about trying to remember your life is it makes you wonder what any of it means. You get the feeling life means something, but you're not sure what. Life has a peculiar feel when you look back on it that it doesn't have when you're actually living it.
Last month, in dog days of winter, I mentioned I have recently had a series of events cause me to think about the late Professor Jiggs.
Those thoughts have been underlined this week with news from Wyntopia that his dog is entering her final stages, and news from a friend in Morelia that she had to put down her dog.
Life is complex. Sunday morning my friend Cor pulled me aside at church and told me he had a gift for me.
And this is what he pulled out of the bag he was carrying.
Those thoughts have been underlined this week with news from Wyntopia that his dog is entering her final stages, and news from a friend in Morelia that she had to put down her dog.
Life is complex. Sunday morning my friend Cor pulled me aside at church and told me he had a gift for me.
And this is what he pulled out of the bag he was carrying.
It is a painting of the photograph that accompanied my post about Jiggs.
Cor has painted several murals around town and is well-known in the local art community for his paintings. But he is better known, to me, for being one of the kindest souls I have ever met.
His wife, Marie, died this past year (marie greive). She was incredibly fond of Jiggs.
For me, the painting is a perfect expression of my love for Jiggs. But I also think of it as Marie's love for Jiggs, Cor's love for Marie, and Cor's Christian love for me.
As I looked at the painting, I realized Gloria, a periodic commenter, had suggested that Jiggs's photograph was worthy of a painting. It turns out she was correct.
In one of the lessons he drew from his own life, Donald Miller concluded: "You get a feeling when you look back on life that that's all God really wants from us, to live inside a body he made and enjoy the story and bond with him through the experience."
If that is true, I can feel that bonding through this painting.
Thank you, Cor. It is more than kind. It is love-ly.
Cor has painted several murals around town and is well-known in the local art community for his paintings. But he is better known, to me, for being one of the kindest souls I have ever met.
His wife, Marie, died this past year (marie greive). She was incredibly fond of Jiggs.
For me, the painting is a perfect expression of my love for Jiggs. But I also think of it as Marie's love for Jiggs, Cor's love for Marie, and Cor's Christian love for me.
As I looked at the painting, I realized Gloria, a periodic commenter, had suggested that Jiggs's photograph was worthy of a painting. It turns out she was correct.
In one of the lessons he drew from his own life, Donald Miller concluded: "You get a feeling when you look back on life that that's all God really wants from us, to live inside a body he made and enjoy the story and bond with him through the experience."
If that is true, I can feel that bonding through this painting.
Thank you, Cor. It is more than kind. It is love-ly.
4 comments:
Gracias Senor for another uplifting post to begin my day. Takes some of the sting out of the cold dreary weather here in Michigan.
Saludos,
Francisco
Our low 60s this morning is hardly the cold you are facing. But I almost stayed under the covers.
Gloria was indeed correct. That painting deserves a place of honor in your home.
And it is going to get one.
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