Greetings for a bright(er) 2021! Today I have reached the end of my 5 year journal which has charted daily happenings 2016-2020. I started journaling in 1996 but have to admit that the journals only give 4-6 tight lines for each day. Sometimes (as in these non-happening Covid days) this is more than enough space! On other days I have needed to squeeze recording big moments. As I look back I realize several things:
- My handwriting is both appalling and small. Really bad. To read earlier entries I now often need a magnifying glass and even then cannot decipher some of the words. Clearly they meant something to me at the time. This is the most frustrating find.
- Nothing makes clearer the slowing of pace than to read of past life in a (Baptist) fast lane from early years at Spurgeon's College, through heady days in Chicago, to retirement in Cambridge. I cannot believe what we packed into consecutive days back then. A Wild 25 years!
- The jogging of memory that partially deciphered scribbles can still provoke - especially odd happenings of little consequence
- Overall, profound gratitude for the goodness of God shepherding us through these years and the kindness of friends who populate the pages.