Sabbath Snapshot : paterni-TEA

Until memories of Daddy flooded me as I was driving home this Father's Day, I had planned to do a non-fiction book review. But, somehow it didn't pan out. I didn't have the wherewith all to share a deep book based on the spiritual and political turmoil of Poland during WWII. My feelings needed refreshing instead.

I'm not the only one who has buried his/her dad. Some have never know their father or have never married and lived alongside the father of their children. K-Love suggested that everyone has some male in their life whom they could thank for mentoring them (at church, in scouts or a friend's dad) and coming alongside with encouragement and words of wisdom.

So, when I got home I picked up a "Father Tim" book and did a thumb-thru re-read. In the fictional "Mitford series" this small town rector became a mentor for many and a surrogate father as well. This simple book is one to peruse at leisure---no plot, just meaningful quotes that he might have collected in his years of ministry.

Patches of Godlight by Jan Karon is subtitled, Father Tim's Favorite Quotes. Although the book is without page numbers, the listings are somewhat random and there is no topical index, it worked for my mood today. Even the handwriting and old-timey typewritten varieties of entries were appealing to me. Sometimes that's all one needs when her heart is feeling heavy---some pithy reminders of goodness. Plus, there's a teacup on the cover----always a draw for this reader/reviewer.

A few gems from Father Tim's notes:

•  Faith goes up the stairs that love has built and looks out the window which hope has opened. (Charles Haddon Spurgeon)
• If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself. (St. Augustine)
• It is only the words, "Our Father," which make the prayer bearable. If God is indeed something like a father, then, as something like children, maybe we can risk approaching Him....(Frederick Buechner)
• You can't get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. (C.S. Lewis)
• You can not do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
• He is your friend who pushes you nearer to God. (Abraham Kuyper, 1837-1920)
• Where is human nature so weak as in a bookstore? (Henry Ward Beecher, 1813-1887) Where indeed?!!!