A Confession

I'm going to begin this Holy Week with a confession: I really, really enjoy watching TV.  Or more specifically, TV shows on Netflix and/or Hulu, without all the annoyance of commercials and with all the convenience of being able to choose what and when I want to watch.  For example, I am currently really into Doctor Who (the updated BBC version).  I like having the TV on during my day off, when I relax by messing around on my computer, or when I'm putting away the dishes, cleaning, etc.  TV is enjoyable to me -- I love a good story, and it allows me to disengage my mind (which is surprisingly helpful sometimes).

But is it really ok to enjoy watching these shows so much?  I've known Christians who feel strongly that TV is a big waste of time, that Christians would be much better off reading and not owning a TV.  There are a very limited number of things I truly enjoy right now: spending time with my husband at home, watching TV while multitasking, eating...  those are the main things I enjoy.  I do enjoy time with friends, but most often (if I'm honest) I would rather be home than out with friends.  I worry that I'm turning into a hermit...  and a lazy hermit at that!  I do enjoy reading, but not as much (right now) as watching "Doctor Who."

As I approach ordination (two weeks!), I'm wrestling with this issue more and more, and I wish that I found "nourishing" activities as enjoyable and relaxing as the combination of internet + Netflix.  So I don't know...  I don't know how to evaluate the fact that I truly enjoy watching TV shows.  I don't know how to evaluate the fact that there aren't a lot of things I truly enjoy right now -- and several of the things I truly enjoy make me feel guilty (eating being a prime example).

I'm sure it's not as simple as a matter of what's "right" and what's "wrong".  Lord, give me wisdom about how to spend my time.  Release me from false guilt and fill me with hunger for GOOD things.

Catching up

Ok, it's been awhile...  So here's a bit of catch-up since my last post.

I read and finished One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  I didn't like it very much. Not at all.  But I think that if I had studied this book in school, I might have liked it better.  There were moments in the book where the eloquence of the writing swept me away, even in translation.  However, the story is just too sordid and depressing!  I think that's part of the point -- this particular family spirals down and down -- but still, it seemed senseless to me.  I would not have wanted to live in this book, that's for sure!

So after that depressing story, I decided I needed to find something a bit lighter from the BBC list.  So I read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which was a lot of fun -- although I was reading out of a collection of the whole series (by Douglas Adams), and all of a sudden, the first book was over!  And I wasn't prepared for it.  My husband is a big fan of the book, and I enjoyed it too -- although not enough to join the fan cult or anything.  Adams is clever, no doubt!  And there are some awesome quotes -- my husband's favorite is, "Curiously the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias, as it fell, was, 'Oh no, not again.' "  I also have the tiniest bit of insight into the mind of a friend of mine who alludes to this book in his email address -- via the number 42.  Read the book if you don't get that.


I'm now in the throes of The Grapes of Wrath, and I'm really enjoying it -- although I'm not really enjoying reading as much right now as I did a couple of months back.  I'm "slightly" addicted to Grey's Anatomy...  But anyway, I totally get why The Grapes of Wrath is a classic.  But more on that to come...


In other news, I have given up alcohol for Lent... well, mostly.  I've indulged a few times here and there -- like tonight (Saturday night almost counts as Sunday, right?) -- but mostly in the company of other people.  Tonight I'm sipping bliss Yellow Tail Cabernet -- cheap but delicious.  Wine can truly be salve for the soul!  The other thing I'm *trying* to give up (with the Lord's help) is self-hatred.  Slightly more difficult.


But in a month, I'm going to be ordained as a deacon in the Anglican Mission!!  Crazy!  I would never have guessed that this would be the path I'd end up walking -- but I'm excited.  I ordered my first clerical collars the other day -- weird!  But I can't wait to try them on!


So that's the latest, I think.  My copy of The Grapes of Wrath is already overdue at the library, so I guess I have incentive to finish it soon!