The Joy of Anticipation

My elated anticipation of the day ahead is most often experienced at dawn just before the sun breaks on a distant mountain.

What will the day bring?

Joy is my hope.

I find joy in recognizing God's beauty throughout His creation.

~Dwayne K. Parsons

He Is Your Strength and Your Stronghold

In Him I find life.

The power of self is no match for the power of God.

Believe in His power.

Walk with Him, believing, and He will give you His strength.

###Zippendale

A Hopestone Book Review

No Mind

Greater rewards come for me when I create with no mind. I just create. Whether it's piano or sculpture, photography or writing, the effect is the same: the greatest return comes when I am not thinking logically.

Can you write like that? Come on.

Of course you can. But you have to practice doing so. Playing freestyle piano has taught me that. Call it the Zen of writing. That works. It's a flow. Playing freely through hours of music without trying to determine where I'm going or what I'm trying to play has taught me that I can do the same with words.

But you need logic, you say.

I'm not sure. Logic plants itself inherently in words because words go together in that manner. So I'll give you that. Let logic be an issue if you must. But I'm not suggesting you deny logic. I'm writing about letting the words flow and trusting the flow. Call it "rivulating."

I'll coin that word and introduce it here first to the language. It means, flowing like a river. Does a river think when it flows? No. It flows. It flows over and up against obstacles, turns corners and always takes the easiest route, ever descending to the waters below wherever that might be. But the river does not think. It is acting according to God's laws of gravity. Stimulating, I hope. I find it that way, to think of the flow of writing or freestyle piano, or artwork of any sort to be stimulating like the thought of a river flowing: rivulating.

It's a state of no mind. I first found it when I was fishing a river one day years ago. I was fly fishing and a period of time happened when I entered an incredible hatch on the river. I became one with the hatch and the trout and the catching and releasing. I was part of the life of the river for a period of time, not injecting thought, not imposing my interpretation. Later I realized I had not thought about it. I had become quiet, utterly still inside. The river happened. The river flowed. I was as much a part of it as were the bugs and the trout and the sounds of riffles breaking over freestone rock.

This phenomenon happens to golfers on occasion too. I know some who have told me so. They enter a period of time when they stop thinking about results, stop thinking about strategy. They are just there being part of the golf course, being part of the ball and the clubs and the grass and the distance. They, like me, learn later that the incredible game of golf that just took place occurred because they had stopped thinking.

It's something to ponder, isn't it?

###Zippendale

The Why, the Where and the When

Walk On In
Every good book is a trail into insight.

Do you suppose every path walked is a path worth taking? Depends on where you want to go, doesn't it?

Is the book you hold worth reading? If so when you're done, send it on. You might facilitate a divine appointment for someone waiting. You might provide the monentous dawn of another's awakening. Better yet, you might just delight their fancy!

Release one and follow its journey. Bookcrossing shows you how. The path can lead anywhere. You might even find a friend or two along the way.

This blog is about trails of books and treasurable finds. It's about the why, the where, and the when. You'll find some book reviews here as well, and you just might learn "who dunnit!"

###Zippendale