Tasks on the Shortest Day: Grocery Stores, Sermon Writing, and Wonder

It's another day where my morning has gotten a bit ahead of me--but for good reasons!  I'm in the middle of rethinking my Christmas Eve sermon.  Let me capture a few details here.

--Yesterday, I went for a walk with a pastor friend and mentor who lives in the neighborhood.  She told me about some ideas that her pastor son presented to the University of South Carolina students, where he is campus pastor.  The Greek word for inn is actually much closer to guest room.  If we say there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the guest room, does it change our understanding of the Nativity story in the second chapter of Luke?  I'm going to write a sermon suggesting that it does, and I'll post it next week.

--It's the Winter Solstice.  From here, we have more light each day:  small dribbles at first, but then more and more.  By the end of January, I expect to be surprised by the amount of light each day contains.

--Today is also the feast day of Saint Thomas.  I wrote a blog post about the juxtaposition of this feast day with the Winter Solstice.

--I read this article in The Washington Post about trees and what their rings tell us about the changing climate. I love the term "latewood," a term I hadn't known before today. I started thinking about my own bones, and what they might tell a researcher. I created some lines that might become a poem. Later today, on my neighborhood walk through the church camp Lutheridge, I will look at trees differently, with a new sense of wonder.

--I made this recipe for salmon rillettes in the way that Dorie Greenspan showed us how to do.  Yesterday I was at the grocery store, and the herbs looked fresh, and they had scallions and shallots.  Smoked salmon was on sale, so I took it as a sign.  It is so good.  Why do I only make it around the holidays?  It's probably healthier than the cheese and crackers I often eat for supper/evening snack.  I am hereby resolving to make it more often.

--Sadly, my dumplings yesterday did not turn out as delicious as the last time they made them.  Not horrible, just not as good as in November.  Hmm.  I did look up the online recipe to make sure that I had the measurements correct.  Hmmm.

--I strung colored lights across the window of the bedroom where my writing desk currently resides.  They delight me.  After Epiphany, perhaps I'll string the white lights up, if I can find them.

--Let me get to the grocery store one more time--and maybe plan ahead for Christmas Day.