Reverend Billy, ice storms

January 2, 2009


It's Friday at the office--the boys are with Jeff & I'm here down in the old port studying. There's nobody here but me, and no internet. Nothing to feel for the moment but the aloneness! The hum of the computers. There's an overwhelming need to do something, connect with something, someone to feed the need for information. An agitation that is probably always there. The fear that I've torqued someone off by being offline — the fear!

Inspiration for taking on this challenge (in no particular order):

— Eckhart Tolle and reading about what takes us out of the moment; how the moment is the life.

— The ice storm last December and how it brought the neighborhood together. We have a gas stove and a woodstove for heat so were in a position to offer food and warmth to all our neighbors who were without power. People got outside and talked to each other in winter when normally we're squirreled away or the conversation gets drowned out by the snowblower.

— Reading Farmer Boy and Jeff saying how remarkably fast the world has changed since then and I said, yes but our basic human needs haven't changed — and are they still getting met? This is a complex answer because obviously many things have improved drastically. But how about the basic human needs for: connection, friendship, community, being outdoors in the fresh air, being of use?

— Film: What Would Jesus Buy? The Reverend Billy