dual personalities

“Well done!” he said. “And remember: Worry about nothing, pray about everything.” He’d gotten this message from a wayside pulpit somewhere–a sermon and a half in a half dozen words, and a splendid exegesis of the Philippians passage.

Shepherds Abiding, Jan Karon

I highly recommend reading some Jan Karon during this holiday season. It has a calming effect. And it reminds us that we shouldn’t take everything quite so seriously.

I have been slowly but surely getting things done around my house.

After a few false starts my little tree is up. The old man and I could not, between the two of us, wrestle it into its stand. We gave up, amid a shower of pine needles and exclamations of “goddamit!”, convinced that we needed a new stand. So after work on Tuesday I stopped at our neighborhood hardware store and had a meaningful conversation with the man there. He advised me to wrap the trunk of my tree with electrical tape and try again. Which I did when I got home. I am proud to say that I got the tree in the stand (without the aid of Mr. Goddammit). Later in the evening I put the lights on and decorated it.

Pretty nice, don’t you think?

I wrote my Christmas letter and mailed it to my out-of-town friends and family this week. I also mailed my Christmas package to my dual personality. Check and check.

We are cooking with gas.