Inspired by a poem called You Could Build a World This Way, I decided on giving you, my gentle reader, a syllabus for this season of my life. The title of the class I’d be teaching is The Liminal. How do we understand moments that are, in a grand context, spaces between what we once had and what we will have later?
The Liminal: my syllabus
The quote at the top of aforementioned syllabus would be Hilary Yancey’s:
“A fallow field has not died. It is only being emptied for the fullness that is coming.”
Gather yourself with a cup of black tea and sugar.
Recommended Reading
Hilary Yancey’s blog
Preston Yancey’s Tables in the Wilderness – my 2nd five star read of 2022. I stand by the wonder of this book. This is a book that makes me want to write a book.
Still by Lauren Winner – a book on how to understand and grapple with the middle part of a journey of faith.
Addie Zierman’s Night Driving – a story on how to walk with God in the dark seasons.
Assignments
An assignment for a book crawl.
Pick a neighborhood and visit a bookstore there. Wander around. Find a few potential reads. Use Google Maps to find another one. Or even just wander around the neighborhood to see if you can’t find another bookstore that way.
My last blog post shows my friend Karen and I on our own book crawl.
An assignment to drive to your library.
Not the nearest one or the coolest, but the one that’s yours.
Creating a list of 12 words to meditate on for each month in the year.
I’ll give you my first five – hidden, timing, gifts, surprises, and release. It’s funny to see all the ways a word will pop up throughout the month. I highly suggest writing it all down!
A new hobby where you are working with your hands.
I’ve been knitting. Recently, I’ve realized that I need to undo some of my squares because they do not fit my vision. That’s a bummer. But it’s been really relaxing. I like to knit with a podcast. Right now, I’ve been listening to How to Eat an Elephant (a podcast on reading big books together). I’m listening to the War and Peace season.
Silence.
99.9% of the time silence is a time for me to be still and remain with 0 noise around me. Every once in a while, I’ll think of something in the silence that I’ll need to write down. I think it’s one of those practices where the benefits come in the long haul. You don’t actually see the benefit the 1st time you do it.
Try a new spiritual practice based on your spiritual pathway.
Silence and solitude is a good one if your pathway is ascetic. If you love the outdoors, spend your weekends outside. If you are a traditionalist, do the daily office. Just try a new way of connecting with God.
Do the thing you’ve been putting off.
For me, it’s job applications. But for you, it could be cleaning. Maybe it’s organizing those financial documents. Just do it so you can feel relief.
And that’s my syllabus.
I hope you enjoy this rather interesting post. And let me know what would be on your syllabus for this season of life. Would it be going to the park, watching a movie every week, or something else entirely. Comment down below!
Signing off,
Gigi
Even when one is retired, there are changes, fluctuations, surprises, and challenges. And blessings, can’t leave out the blessings.
Mine would be called, The Other Side of the Hill.
An assignment would be to create lists of things that must be done, and make a plan (with calendar dates) to complete them. Retirement often lends itself to the notion that one has all the time in the world to do whatever. Not so. There are still things that are important. Don’t make them less important just because you can.
I’d love to read that syllabus. Time definitely shifts depending on what season you’re in.