[Housekeeping - I’ve made a couple changes to the layout this week. First, I’m trialling recommending a book every other week, rather than once a month. Second, I’ve added a small linked exercise. Let me know what you think of the changes.]

Hey

My daughter has utter faith that I make pain better. The unshakable belief of a two and half year old is a powerful thing. Each bash, bang or trip turns her to me for a cuddle, the world realigns. she ‘Wakes up’ (her words) and the pain is gone. How far I am from such transient pain. I cling to my hurts like a blanket, stewing through the long winter nights. Jesus said to ‘be like little children’ (Matt 18:3). The more I watch my daughter, the further I see I’ve fallen.

Fiction Bite - Rotten to the core 

‘Will it hurt, Daddy?’

‘You’ll be asleep. You won’t feel a thing.’

‘I’m not sleepy.’

‘They’ll give you special medicine.’

‘I like my teeth.’

‘We do too, but one of them is poorly.’

‘I’m poorly, will you remove me?’

‘No, sweetie. You’ll get better.’

‘Does my tooth go to heaven?’

‘Pardon?’

‘Or does it go to hell because it’s been bad?’

‘They just go in the bin.’

‘Oh... Daddy?’

‘Yeah.’

‘I’m scared.’

‘I know, but I’ll hold your hand the whole way through.’

‘Even when I’m asleep?’

‘Even when you’re asleep.’

Quote of the Week

“What makes life worth living? No child asks itself that question. To children, life is self-evident. Life goes without saying: whether it is good or bad makes no difference. This is because children don’t see the world, don’t observe the world, don’t contemplate the world, but are so deeply immersed in the world that they don’t distinguish between it and their own selves. Not until… a distance appears between what they are and what the world is, does the question arise: what makes life worth living?”

— Karl Ove Knausgård

Book recommendation - Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood

Atwood crafts a gorgeously dark and disturbing dystopian world. She drip feeds two timelines of the protagonist's life, unfurling both the cause and the ramifications of civilisations' destruction. It is the first of a trilogy, but the ending completes the book's story enough that you could read it as a stand-alone.

An exercise

Have you ever taken a toddler exploring? They have uncanny vision that seems to catch interesting minutiae everywhere, spotting flowering weeds in the pavement, a stray insect or shapes in the shadows. As you walk today, forget where you’re going, slow down and look around you expecting to be surprised by joy with what you find. What did you see?

Final Words

As I study, striving for wisdom, I am often reminded how far I have to go, how I am just a tiny child in the grand scheme of things. This bruises my ego, but probably pushes me forward. So as I go through this week, my aim is to let my daughter tutor me in embracing life, because I could always use a bit more childlike joy.

With Love

Joe

P.S. What did you think of this week’s email? Which was your favourite bit? Hit reply and let me know.

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