You can expect a three-point outline jammed with historical insight, mined from biblical languages targeted at cultural context; all of it framed by a good joke at the beginning and an emotional poem at the end. Bible preachers, teachers, and readers tend to approach the Bible solely as a source of information, looking for instructions or directions. We employ a Google methodology, hoping for instant answers. That’s what we do, but there’s another way.  

Anne Lamott is a rare recipe that blends spirituality with laughter. She leans on Jesus and writes books that solicit insight with a chuckle. Consider this quote as an example. “My mind is like a bad neighbourhood. I try not to go in there alone.” In one sentence she admits a common struggle of the mind and our need for guidance.

Eye contact is an intimate act. If you intersect a passing glance with a stranger in a restaurant, it's cause for a smile. But if the stranger locks eyeballs with you and won't break the stare, you will get uncomfortable. Sustained eye interaction is reserved for people we know and even that is proportionate to how well we know them. Why? Because looking someone squarely in the face is an intimate act.

Miriam and I have purchased a travel trailer. It’s something that has been on our minds for a while. Those dreams recently found both the opportunity and ability - so we now have a trailer! Here is the irony. Before we got the trailer, we bought a small SUV, expecting it to tow our future trailer.  So imagine my surprise when I hooked the new trailer up to the new vehicle and discovered that this is not going to work!! So our hope arrived, but I have no way of moving it anyplace. I feel stuck up a blind alley. Trailer or no - you also have found yourself in a blind alley once or twice.