In his new book Practicing the Way, John Mark Comer writes:
The Finnish Orthodox writer Tito Colliander told a story about a monk who was once asked, “What do you do there in the monastery?”
The monk replied, “We fall and get up, fall and get up, fall and get up again.”
This is a lovely picture of the spiritual journey: falling and getting back up, again and again over the course of a life.
If you are up, keep going. If you have fallen, get back up. Take God’s hand. It has been extended. We all fall. You’re not alone.
Grace keeps us moving.
Grace picks us up.
Grace sends us on our way again.
Book Notes
I finished N. T. Wright’s Into the Heart of Romans: A Deep Dive into Paul’s Greatest Letter, Jonathan Auxier’s Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey’s Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier, Trevor Hudson’s Seeking God: Finding Another Kind of Life with St. Ignatius and Dallas Willard, Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt, John Mark Comer’s Practicing the Way: Be with Jesus. Become Like Him. Do as He Did., Jeff Tweedy’s World Within a Song: Music that Changed My Life and Life that Changed My Music, James Bryan Smith’s The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows, and one volume of Charles M. Schulz’s Complete Peanuts collection.
I’m reading David Michaelis’s Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography, Matthew B. Crawford’s The World Outside Your Head, and Paul Louis Metzger’s More Than Things.
My “to read” stack keeps growing.
Sights and Sounds
I’ve watched a lot of EPL games, mostly replays. In movies: Joe Kidd (1972), Meg 2 (2023), Blue Beetle (2023), No Escape (1994), Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), Silverado (1985), and Timecop (1994).
Of these movies, I enjoyed No Escape the most. I also watched the new Masters of the Universe animated series on Netflix and, of course, I loved it.
February tunes are here. And I summed up the movies we watched together as a family last year here.
Last Words
On the blog: books are like medicine, God needs our silence and we need silence, too, “self” is our greatest cross to bear, a recommendation to spend time reading the Gospels, the cross has transformative power, everyone is undergoing a spiritual formation, and encouragement to speak to God aloud.
I also had an article published by the Baptist Standard. And if you observe the season of Lent, Baylor’s Truett Seminary has made a devotional guide available here.
Before I go, standard copy.
If you are receiving this newsletter in your email inbox, great! If you are a reader who comes my way via social media but you'd like to subscribe, subscribe here.
Hit play on the tape with the appeal for social media followers, then: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. I’ve thought about shutting all these down. No follow through…yet.
I’m not checking those accounts, but content does push there. If you use social media as your news feed, follow there. Share my stuff, if you like. Maybe those services are for you. They are not for me. I’ve been a happier and less anxious person since I quit checking social media.
Publishers consider social media numbers when extending offers or invites to write. Likes, follows, etc. help a person like me make their way. Lastly, subscribe to the blog by submitting your email to the "Updates to Your Inbox" form in the sidebar. We're at 1,559 across platforms. Help me get to 1,600+.
That's the business.
If you like this post, click the heart and kindly share it with others. If you’re coming my way because someone shared this with you, subscribe.
Be well this week. Bless others.
Best,
BAS
P.S. - When I was a student I hung banners like this one on campus. Ropes were expected to be tight and the banner was to be wrinkle free.
David Argueta would not approve.