the twenty-second formica friday

It's that time again, after a three week hiatus while I was away in the UK, it's another Formica Friday, a treasure trove of hodgepodge, random tidbits, and a bit of this and that. In particular, it is the place where I can celebrate the best posts I read this past week and want to share with you. What exactly is Formica Friday, you ask? Check out the tongue-in-cheek, I got away with this?, definition from the first post.

A quote:

True theological discourse, true theology, asks Christ to come and abide with us, [to stay a little while at our table].

-- Peter Candler, Professor of Theology, Baylor University's Honors College

A list:

• returning to my roots: poetics, creation, and Word
• realizing the unspeakable joy in a simple table, set at the end of the world
• copper wash tubs, glass milk bottles, ginger jars, and icons
• celebrating the abundance enjoyed by others, especially friends
• text messages, email, and leaps of faith between sentences
• proper coffee, at last
• early mornings, common prayer, and uncommon people of prayer

Posts, websites, trinkets, and the Internet week in review revue (after the jump):

• It's funny, how some people can in the simplest ways put the most fundamental roots of all that we hope in and trust. This is a gift, not simply to write, but to behold Mystery and articulate Wisdom. I am so overjoyed to know Max's words, words that will not always treat you kindly with their truth, but haunt you, like the face of Christ, demanding that you make a confession for or against it all. "Your best life isn't now. The best is yet to come."

• The outcome of this post from Micha is the exact reason why, come October when I head to Austin for the film festival, I desperately want to have coffee with her. "He was still thinking about it Saturday night. 'Mommy,' he said, interrupting my prayer, my hands still tucking the sheets around him as the words came out. 'Mommy! But I can’t see God!'" This post is a song waiting to find its melody.

• "To remain, to be remembered is a desire common among humanity; to cease to exist, to be forgotten, a common fear." Tamara knows how to keep such a delicate hold on certainty, only to offer back the most grounding absolutes. You could number the stars by her words.

• "and as it fell, i heard the thud of memory fall against the Cross." This is the most beautiful line I read all week. How appropriate it came from Elora, who is one of the most beautiful writers I know.

• Alece, oh, Alece. Her sentences are often short, her words are often small. They are metered forms of prosody, a poetry all their own, a narration of grace, a challenge to be. "Jesus didn’t avoid the appearance of evil. He ran straight into it."

• Here in the middle of all these links to specific posts, I'm going to tell you, rather simply, that you should be reading Cory Copeland. You can thank me later.

• It is only into His hands, if we commend ourselves, that we come to find the beauty of being within the folds of His grace, live in our everyday. Thank you, Haley, for a wonderful reminder. "You cannot live a Christ-like life unless you make Christ-like choices."

• This week, Emily Wierenga left me aching with the overwhelming beauty of her words. Goodness, she knows how to reach down deep into the earth and pull up the hidden things into the Light. "'he said your words would be like the seeds of this dandelion, blowing far, and planting thick, and growing many... ' and i cried."

• We are told in the church, over and over, that Jesus loves us. It's a shame when this becomes too common, too expected. It is rare to find someone who accepts the premise and then pulls at it with curiosity, returns to the Scripture, and finds there the wealth of what it means to be loved. Well done, Amy. Very well done. "If Christ came so we would become His temples then it is almost too much to fathom how much He cares about our lives."

• I am still green to Stephanie's words, but I am each time grateful for the grace she builds with them. She offers just a bit of herself each time, taking your hand gently and asking you to consider the deeper things in the ordinary moments. This, too, is a great gift. "How often are we so unknowingly close to eternity?"

• And this, my friends, is just sentimental joy. Ally Spotts, whom you may recall has guest posted here and I over at her space, is on a journey with a pretty amazing guy, Darrell Vesterfelt. So they might date for awhile. Or something. Whatever. The point is, I am breaking all kinds of gender rules and self-consciousness and declaring this absolutely precious. You can read all about it, in their own words, through Ally's reflections on taking a leap and Darrell's reflection on learning to jump. I am so happy for them both!

And, as always, an old post from me:

• an acceptable time

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Have a post from the week you'd like to share? What was your best post this week? Or did you read someone else you just have to let us know about? Leave me a note in the comments below!