Just A Nerdy, Old, Retired Guy

By Paul Roberts

A few weeks ago - New Year’s Day, to be exact - I wrote about the idea of synchronicity, and shared from two of the Christmas gift books that had been feeding my soul since Christmas morning. The blog post was illustrated with the picture you see above, and I am still finding a great deal of pleasure and inspiration from each one of those books.

My morning habit right now is to spend an hour or so reading before I write in my journal for the day. Coffee cup on my right, highlighter and pen on my left, stack of books in random order on a chair in front of me, I spend time being just a nerdy, retired, old guy. This retired life is suiting me just fine.

Take a closer look at the picture above (took it myself, I’ll have you know; then asked Carol how to post it on my blog). It’s your visual outline for the rest of this blog. Mind if I share one intriguing gem from each book? Of course you don’t.

The Wounded Healer, by Henri Nouwen

Pg. 77 - The tragedy of Christian ministry is that many who are in great need, many who seek an attentive ear, a word of support, a forgiving embrace, a firm hand, a tender smile, or even a stuttering confession of inability to do more, often find their ministers distant people who do not want to burn their fingers.

Scripture quotes the Apostle Peter saying “Silver and gold have I none, but what I have I give thee.” Thanks, Henri Nouwen for sharing a specific list of things I do have and can give.

The Creative Act: A Way of Being, by Rick Rubin

Pg. 101 - It’s helpful to continually challenge your own process. If you get a good result using a specific style, method, or working condition, don’t assume that is the best way. Or your way. Or the only way. Avoid getting religious about it.

That’s Rick Rubin telling me he likes this part of my focused approach in 2024: calibrate upward.

Quiet: The Power Of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain

Pg. 140 - In our culture, guilt is a tainted word, but it’s probably one of the building blocks of conscience.

Bless me father, for I have sinned, missed the mark, failed…to give myself a forgiving embrace.

Hot Sauce Nation: America’s Burning Obsession, by Denver Nicks

Pg. 161, where this morning I found the author quoting Viktor Frankl’s work, Man’s Search for Meaning: In some ways, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of sacrifice.

How strange that I’ve noticed one of the themes of the novel I’d like to finish someday through this circuitous route: my mother bought Tabasco sauce when I was a kid; my older brother Kent challenged my machismo by using five drops of the sauce on his taco; now I love spicy food; fifty years later a relative gives me a book, which leads me to reading Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl for the first time. Wow.

How Writing Made Us Human, 3000 BCE to Now, by Walter Stephens

From Part II: Holy Writ; pg. 109 - Believers consider both the Old and the New Testaments inspired, that is, messages revealed by God to humans, who wrote them down. The writers are not authors but mere amanuenses, or scribes, who recorded God’s revelations. 

As a believer in the Creator, I’d really love to have some extensive conversation about the degree to which mankind was, or still may be, mere amanuenses, without the concern of being accused of blasphemy. I think there is a lot of writing, art, creativity, that can be described as “inspired” that is not in the canon of scripture. I’ve been reading quite a bit of it the last few weeks.

Thanks for letting me share. Like you could have stopped me.

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Pick a quote from one of the books, write about it, share it, and tell me which book you want to borrow when I am done.

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