The topic of this week’s post has absolutely nothing to do with staking out a political position. Certain things are, or used to be, bedrock American principles regardless of whether one stands on the right or left sides of the aisle.

One thing has become infinitely clear however, giving lip service to the principles of liberty isn’t really enough anymore. Being willing to put our inconvenience where our mouths are demands action. Which is why it is important that we be willing to unplug. This post, of course, refers to word as defined by the Urban Dictionary:

Unplug: To take yourself off any social media outlets, such as Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc. for a few days. To unplug the computer and enjoy real life interactions with live people such as your family and friends. To live life without computer related devices.

Of course, the unplugging I’m referring to is the kind that lasts much longer than a few days. It’s a willingness to recapture the saner parts of life as it was lived before, even if those parts were far less convenient.

Calling your distant Aunt Gertrude at least once a month, rather than depending on Facebook as a means of connection. Sending photos to you family either hard copy, or even via text message. Of course, this necessarily means that only the people you care most about will view your personal photos, but isn’t that better anyway?

The Instagram app that I kept for the sake of viewing pictures of distant relatives? Off the phone. I can always use the browser on my computer every couple of weeks to catch up, but no more free data mining for Facebook. I have been suggesting to people that they direct message all of the contacts they’ve developed a real relationship with on social media, trade contact info, delete those accounts (or at least drop the apps), and start communicating via email or even -gasp!- voice calls and snail mail!

For me, the biggest hindrance to cancelling my Prime account was the notion of 1) having to wait more than two days to receive certain items, and 2) paying for shipping. But you know what? The advantage of refusing to support mega corps that wage political warfare, destroy vendors as well as small brick and mortar businesses and screw print authors is that I’ll shop less. Additionally, the $12 a month I’m saving on the Prime membership will pay for shipping on the vastly reduced numbers of items I’m ordering.

Again, this is not a matter of taking sides politically. Either the “American Dream” which prioritizes free speech and the flourishing of the individual, and encourages entrepreneurship, is worth paying a few extra pennies to encourage, or it isn’t.

In the current zeitgeist, voicing my support for the things that matters means I need to unplug.

Since yesterday was the 12th day of Christmas, and today is known as Epiphany, I thought I’d use this occasion to discuss the holiday as well as the evolution of epiphany over time.

How often have you thought you had an epiphany? Was it a great idea? Was it the crystallization of a concept you hadn’t quite understood before? Whatever it was, something was unveiled that you hadn’t seen before. And that, my friends is exactly what happened on the first Epiphany, also known as Three Kings Day, which is commemorated as the first time that Jesus the Messiah was revealed to gentiles.

When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way. Matthew 2:9-12.

As Protestants, our family rarely gave deep consideration to the Feast of Epiphany. However our school, being a Christian classical school, educates its students on the significant events on the liturgical calendar.

If this is a new revelation to you, consider yourselves so educated.

As a result of the original unveiling, we have all come to use the word epiphany as Webster defines it:

1) : a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something

2) : an intuitive grasp of reality through something (such as an event) usually simple and striking

3) : an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure b : a revealing scene or moment

So there you have it, both the holiday and the vocabulary of the word Epiphany!

Happy New Year folks!

I’m not among the crowd approaching 2021 with boundless optimism. I’m eagerly hoping for a bounty of blessings, the fruition of moderate dreams and the accomplishment of measured goals. You know, the typical things we contemplate as the clock strikes 12:00 between December 31 and January 1. However, since the crazy that characterized 2020 shows no signs of dissipating, my expectations are appropriate to that reality. Nevertheless, I’ve set goals relevant to this little blog, and I’ll share them with you.

2020 was not a productive reading year, as evidenced by the grand total of 17 book reviews posted for the entire 12 months. This was largely due to succumbing to the countless distractions we were all assaulted with this year. From pandemics to social unrest and election drama, I found myself spending many more hours on current events than I would typically allow. Even with the increased time at home this spring, the effort to read more deeply was short circuited.

However, I did review short stories and poetry, which is also atypical for me, and I enjoyed those a great deal. I enjoyed them so much that I look forward to exploring more of those genres in the Reading Room this year. With those retrospective thoughts, I have established some reading and blogging goals for 2021. They include both personal goals and plans to help me keep this blog consistently updated with new content. Some of the things that really worked, I’ll continue to do.

• Read and review more books than in 2020. No matter what is happening in the broader culture, it’s no excuse to get sucked into the pixels and away from books.
• Blog with a strict plan and categorical pattern to  stay focused and writing regularly. With exceptions for liturgical calendar breaks such as Lent and Advent, as well as family vacations, I plan to post three times a week, as follows:
• Continue to post Word Nerd Wednesday posts, but with more regularity. As it becomes increasingly apparent that George Orwell’s 1984 with its eerie exploration of language manipulation, was more prophetic than fiction, it’s vitally important that we remember the power of words. To that end, I will strive to consistently add installments to the Word Nerd category.
• Weekly book reviews: This is going to be a challenge for me, but one I will to rise to. Reviewing and discussing books is important in a world with an increasingly short attention span. Not all of my reviews will be of full length books, as I have really enjoyed our short story discussions this year, and the variation will keep things fresh. Also, including short stories offers greater opportunities for you all to read a story, then come back here to offer your thought.
• Friday Favorites with a wide range of topics will be revived. The topics will vary from education to nature, food, health and everything in between. The world is filled with wonder and beauty and everything around us conspires to shield it from our view. One of my goals here is to do a little bit to push back against the beast of digital domination and cultural discontent.
• The first half of this year will find these goals easier to meet than the latter half, and none of us knows what insanity might be awaiting us either collectively or individually, as the year unfolds. Nevertheless, without a goal and plan, it’s much easier for the time to slip away from us having accomplished nothing.

I’m also interested to know what kinds of things my readers are reading. I have a reading queue a mile long, but I’m always tweaking it, and dropping titles to the bottom of the pile as I discover more interesting reads. So feel free to offer suggestions of books I might read as you encounter them along your bibliophile path.

One of my first reading goals of this year is to settle in and finish The Brothers Karamazov.  I’ll jump right back into it; just as soon as I finish Live Not By Lies. I’m not sure I’m off the best start, but we’ll see.

Happy New Year, All!

What are your plans as the new year begins?