Deepening personal humility and the amazing bounty of God

by chuckofish

August continues to wind down. I have been thinking more about small joys and I ran across this quote from Pilgrim’s Inn, which I have quoted before:

“…Hilary enjoyed himself, just as he had enjoyed himself drinking the port. Increasingly, as he got older, he enjoyed things. As his personal humility deepened, so did his awareness of the amazing bounty of God…so many things…The mellow warmth of the port, the pleasure of the game, the sight of Lucilla’s lovely old face in the firelight, and David’s fine hands holding the cards, his awareness of Margaret’s endearing simplicity, and the contentment of the two old dogs dozing on the hearth…One by one the small joys fell. Only to Hilary no joy was small; each had its own mystery, aflame with the glory of God.”

I can really relate to this, can’t you? Coffee with a friend, a glass of wine with my daughters and joking about New Jersey “Charbonnay”. The satisfaction of filling in a hole in the driveway with Quik-crete (just add water!) with the boy.

Along those lines, daughter #1 and I went to a good estate sale on Saturday. It was at a big old, well-maintained three-story house in the old neighborhood where I grew up. We got a few books and some pretty blue juice glasses and Lamar gave us our usual discount. We drove by the old manse on Westgate and it was good to see it totally renovated and looking good. Interestingly, it is owned now by a law professor who is also a faculty fellow with the Carver Project. The world is more than we know.

Meanwhile the twins went to the farmers’ market out in their neck of the woods. And the prairie girls got ice cream.

After church on Sunday, daughter #1 and I went to our favorite winery in Hillsboro for the first time this year!

We had a lovely time sitting outside listening to live music on a really lovely day.

So remember, no joy is really small, after all, and all are aflame with God’s glory.

And don’t miss this:

Go Mizzou! What?! (Not a joke.)