Reading

We have just past the halfway mark of our two-week holiday.  We have actually not gone out that much.  We have seen a few people and spent time shopping but mostly we have read.  The forecast is for rain for the next few days and although we intend having a meal with some we know, most of the time will probably be spent reading.
The other thing we have done twice now is visit a bookshop we like up here.  We are known to the one in charge and are asked about our holiday which we responded to by saying how it has been.  It is an incredibly dangerous place to go as we so often see and get books we want to read.  Our pile is growing here.
I have also ordered one from overseas.  There is an English site that often has books that are out of print, and we can get them cheaper with freight than we could here if they were available.  When needed that is the way we go.
We both already have enough to keep us going.  Now have others we are looking forward to reading.
The one I am reading at the moment is called “Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy.”  It has been an eye opener and something I feel is very timely for me.
It is about really hard life questions and talks about what was commonly done in ancient times and that is lament.  The author lost their child and had things happen since that has rocked the boat of he and his wife.  Rather than bury his head in the sand and deny the existence of pain or wallow in despair, he confronted it and learned from it.
An illustration was used that I find really good.  The author acknowledges it came from someone who wrote to him and like me thinks it is great.  It talks about eclipse.  When there is an eclipse one celestial body is in front of another.  No one denies the one behind exists.  It just cannot be seen at the time.
He likens the body behind to the why and the body in front to the who. Lament is all about acknowledging the whys of life but putting at the front the who’s of life (he is a Christian and the who is God).
I really do like that.  I know life for everyone is not all rar rar and good times.  Sometimes I need to confront the fact I do not always understand.  That the arc of something is bigger than mine and only the big picture will give the why.
I can see applications in my own life and the lives of others.  The inclination when confronted with whys is to be glib.  I may be well meaning but so often what I have to say may be true, but it is not the right thing at the right time.  So often silent empathy is better than rout truths.
Anyway, great holiday stuff.  For me anyway.  Merril is into her own stuff.  We both want to spend our time reading.  We intend doing other things but right now this is what we both want.