Compliments to the Weather & a Book

Sometimes, as in a great novel, you cannot see until you get to the end that God was leaving clues for you all along. Sometimes you wonder, how did I miss it? Surely any idiot should have been able to see from the second chapter that it was Miss Scarlet in the conservatory with the rope. -Lauren Winner

My coffee was perfect this morning. A satisfying mix of coffee and milk. I have been making my own coffee at home and bringing it to work. The chilled air stayed on my skin as I entered the office and headed up the stairs. Walking in boots and wearing a scarf around my neck is, at last, a pleasure. Pure happiness fills me as I walk outside. The clearing sky and clean air erases all the dullness that was ever-present in this place. I love the chilly breeze sweeping through my hair.
Here, at Hollis Garden, during my lunch break, it is 62 degrees. Perfection. The walk is about a half mile, and I sit here in the shade on a white stone bench. A tall scarecrow is standing on the corner of the grassy square, guarding the cabbage that grows behind him. This is bliss. Quiet. Chilly. Smells like fresh dirt and flowers. I cannot believe more people are not out here enjoying this glorious day.

I spend my lunch break here reading Girl Meets God, by Lauren Winner. This must be my fourth reading of this book. I read it when it first came out, in 2002. The whole book is like her journal, with the main plot being her conversion from being an Orthodox Jew to a Christian. I had never read anything like it before. It was like being in her thoughts as she journaled. It inspired me and is probably the catalyst that seriously got me dreaming about writing a book. Her writing is intelligent, informative, fun & serious, and thought-provoking. Before reading it, I knew almost nothing about Judaism, but after reading it I feel like I am familiar with the traditions and can appreciate what I have learned.

I read about the Christian traditions from her Jewish perspective, in which she presents what I have already known to believe, the Incarnation, and explains the Jewish beliefs that don't agree. Since I have been able to understand it, I have always just known in my heart that Jesus is the incarnate God and that His birth was prophesied in Isaiah and He walked here among us. But to hear it from the mind of someone who was taught that it was not true pacifies any doubts to its truth, for me. It is refreshing to read of someone discovering Jesus who would not normally have any reason to think about Him. It just proves, to me, God's omniscience. Jesus can find a gap in your heart, even if you aren't looking. Even if you are a Jew, living a committed life, as she was. But He can do so much more when you turn to Him.