Book — God Laughs and Plays

A few days ago, Justin and I found ourselves in Portland, on the way back from a wedding in Bend. We're not in Oregon often, but fellow bibliophile friends told us: "If you're ever within 50 miles of Portland, you HAVE to go to Powell's Bookstore. It's like Mecca."

We liked Mecca, a.k.a. Powell's City of Books.  It's literally a city block of books. More than a million of them.

I'd like to return to Mecca again sometime when I'm not almost 7 months pregnant and grouchy due to poor sleep. We almost didn't stop. But I can tell you, the 2 hours we spent there were well worth it.

I spent all my time in The Blue Room (Literature and Poetry), and as I was perusing, a curious title jumped out at me from the shelf. God Laughs & Plays by David James Duncan.

Huh.

Enough friends have recommended David James Duncan's work to me, especially The Brothers K, that I know of him and respect him (I really gave it a good shot with Brothers, but I couldn't see past the baseball.  I may have to give it another try).

I flipped it over, and here's what I read on the back:
"In this multiple award-winning and bestselling diagnosis of the contemporary American spirit, David James Duncan suggests that the de facto political party embodied by the so-called Christian Right has turned worship into a self-righteous betrayal of the words and example of the very Jesus it claims to praise. In a bracing and often hilarious response to this trend, God Laughs & Plays offers churchless sermons, stories, memoir, conversations, and cosmological reflections that scorn riches and embrace the poor; bless peacemakers, not war-makers; celebrate creation, diversity, empathy, playfulness and beauty; and insist that Divine Mystery is indeed mysterious and compassion is literally compassionate. The spiritual kingdom described by Jesus, this unusual book reminds us, is located not "in the Sky" or beyond a disastrous future, but within us, to be sought and embodied in the here and now."
Churchless sermons?  I'm in.  It's how I've felt about all of what I call my kindred-spirit authors... Anne Lamott, Fred Buechner, Annie Dillard, Thomas Merton, Robin Meyers, Philip Yancey.

The prologue, entitled "Bush Administration Sacks Narnia," didn't disappoint.  While reading this together a couple nights ago, Justin stopped after this section and just said, "Wow. Beautiful."  I happen to agree with him.
"Intense spiritual feelings were frequent during my boyhood, but they did not come from churchgoing or from bargaining with God through prayer. The connection I felt to the Creator came, unmediated, from Creation itself. The spontaneous gratitude I felt for birds and birdsong, tree-covered or snowcapped mountains, rivers and their trout, moon and starlight, summer winds on wilderness lakes, the same lakes silenced by winter snows, spring resurrections after autumn's mass deaths — these became the spiritual instructors of my boyhood. In even the smallest suburban wilds I felt linked to powers and mysteries I could sincerely imagine calling the Presence of God.

In 15 years of churchgoing I did not once feel this same sense of Presence. What I felt instead was a lot of heavily agenda-ed, fear-based information being shoved at me by men on the church payroll. Though these men claimed to speak for God, I was never convinced. So on the day I was granted the option of what our preachers called "leaving the faith," I did leave — and increased my faith by so doing. Following intuition and love with all the sincerity and attentiveness I could muster, I consciously chose a life spent in  the company of rivers, wilderness, Wisdom literature, like-minded friends, and quiet contemplation. And as it's turned out, this life — though dirt-poor in church pews — has enriched me with a sense of the holy, and left me far more grateful than I'll ever be able to say."
Anyway.  I know these kind of kindreds can be few and far between, so if you're interested, pick up a copy. Just be forewarned — if the marriage of fundamentalism and political conservatism bothers you even one iota, this book will also get you dangerously fired up between lovely nature passages . . . I think I accidentally started a flame war on Facebook within hours (outlined my reasons for thinking Glenn Beck is destructive, had an acquaintance from my hometown church call me an angry offensive liberal, among other things).

More on Bush sacks Narnia in a future post.  Duncan's exploration of Narnia and our current nationalist + religion blend was brilliant.

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27 weeks

Too early to say I'm in the homestretch?
Nah.
Hey!  We're in the homestretch!
One last trimester, three quick months and we'll be meeting our little man.

The least of these

It almost doesn't surprise me anymore that I feel like I get more truth out of comedians than I do out of the people who most claim to be truth-tellers.

Bless you, Stephen Colbert.

His in-character testimony before Congress got a lot of headlines, but a lot of people missed what he had to say afterward (when not in character). Check it out...

httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=cu9SSxe5bz0

Almost to 3rd trimester — heck yes!

It is 6 a.m. and I am blogging to (at?) you from the most comfortable chair in the whole wide world. Check out the majesty.

I like our couch, but knew we'd need something to rock Little Man in when he gets here... that, and in the meantime, I need something to relax in (and sleep in, when the heartburn gets too bad). It is heaven. And it arrived 2 weeks early, much to my delight... our couch took the full 8 weeks, so I didn't have high hopes. I am a far happier preggo woman than I was a week ago!
Ok. Enough with the excessive chair praise.
At 25 weeks, I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, though that light is still 3 1/2 months away. It really helps, though. A few notes from the pregnant front:


I'm sporting a very round, unmistakeable belly, but other than that I don't look very different (which is good for that itsy bitsy COMPLETELY VAIN part of me that hoped my face wouldn't double in size 5 seconds into my pregnancy). 6 months in, I've gained 9 pounds, which seems like it's on track for what my doc and I planned for (I was overweight to start, so we're trying not to go crazy... with how sick I've been, this hasn't been hard — but baby is gaining just fine).


Baby L is kicking away, and I love it... when I can, I stop and talk to him as he's kicking. (I also stop and watch my belly... it's SO weird to see him move from the outside!). I feel such a cool bond with this little guy, and it's such a nice daily assurance that he's growing and healthy. He's inching his way ever closer to my ribs, however, so we'll see how we feel about it in a few weeks!


Still puking. The pills help, but "morning" sickness has shifted again. Originally I could take the pill late morning and it would work through dinnertime... lately I've been sick as soon as I'm awake, and the pill won't last long enough to keep me from being sick at night. I'll see if I can get a slightly larger prescription. (They dole these meds out like they're gold... 12 pills at a time. They charge enough for them, they might as well be gold... thank goodness for good insurance and a $5 copay!)


I should've bought stock in Tums. I keep on looking at the bottle, going, it can't possibly be empty already. The upside is that EVERYTHING gives me heartburn, so there's no point in avoiding my favorite spicy foods!


Justin, as always, is a total champ. Never complains about last-minute changes in what we're going to eat because all of a sudden something is unpalatable to me, cheers me on, gives appropriate amounts of pity, helps keep the laundry going... he's such a rad husband. And with how busy my work has been lately (fall is my very busy season), it's been a huge help to know I can rely on him.


Justin keeps stopping to look at me, saying, "Whoa, Buddy.  You are PREGnant!" His grin makes it a compliment, however.

Most of the big stuff is done. Stroller/car seat: check. Crib: check. Pack n' Play: check. Registering: check. Doula hired: check. Birth classes signup: check.

We have a chest of drawers that we need to assemble out in the garage, but that's really the last thing on our to-do list for a while. It feels good to have these things done. My little business will keep me quite busy for the next few months (my clients are allowing me to write ahead on projects that will come due while I'm on maternity leave)... so it'll be nice to feel like I can relax once work is over for the day.

We still have some things yet to add, but here's the nursery preview... I'm kind of in love with it! The wall hanging, Pooh Bear and blanket were all purchased on Ebay for super cheap, so I'm feeling good. (Click on pic for a larger view). I've since added a smaller Tigger and Eeyore plush, also from Ebay.

Now just imagine our computers and desks in the "office" half of the room, and you'll get a good idea of its interesting ambiance.  :)
Til next time the heartburn wakes me early, friends!