The Privilege of Writing

    The 107th Psalm--part of my scripture reading for today--says four times: "Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and for his wonderful deeds for men." (Vv. 8, 15, 21, 31)
    So I pause a minute to record some of God's blessings.  I have food to eat, classes to teach, time to write, and freedom to think, speak, and love.  Naturally, life is not all home run trots and high fives.  God has sustained Karen and me as we fought through some thorny patches in life, and we may expect other hard things: aging and death.  But hard things in my life are vastly outweighed by good things.  Yes--I give thanks "for his wonderful deeds for men."
    Notice the connection with this blog.  Significant among the "wonderful deeds" of God for me is the privilege of thinking and writing.  I actually get paid money to teach philosophy!  Today I received a check for doing a series of philosophy and theology talks at a local church, a thing that I could easily do just for the delight of it.
   And writing . . . well, the truth is I would have starved long ago if I had to live off my books.  But that humbling truth doesn't detract from the privilege at all: I get to write stories!  Some people even like them, probably the people who read this blog.  I thank God for the gift of time and freedom that is reflected in these words.
   
    I've started a new novel, and I've decided to publish it myself.  Without waiting to finish it!  Approximately once a week, for at least a year, I will post chapters of my new story on this blog.  I haven't invented the title yet, so we'll have to make do with the label on the folder on my desktop, Castles.  I'll post the first chapter later this week.