I’ve been reading a bit more than usual these last few weeks, mostly because I’m lonely.

I should say: I’m lonely, but I’m not corroding. Its not one of those destructo-spirals where I need to stop being lonely immediately, lest I be permanently pressed with a bit of loneliness forever. It’s not an emergency. It’s not even a problem, maybe. I feel the clunky weight of my By-Myself-ness, and, given the choice, I’d like to feel less of it. So I’m reading stuff. In these situations, a book is a fine companion, if you can find the right one.

Today, I’ve been self-medicating with the Dave Eggers classic, What is the What. It’s a wonderful, bizarre book that I’ve been carefully enjoying a bit at a time, pulling it from my book bag on sunny days and long bus rides home from work. Anyway, I came across a small passage that I think you should know about, for those moments when you’re feeling especially contemplative or thoughtful.

There is totally a relevant context for it, and you’re not getting any of it. Sometimes, an author pens something so exacting, so foundational and real, that it jumps right out of the story they were telling and into our own.

We thought we were young and that there would be time to love well sometime in the future. This is a terrible way to think. If I ever love again, I will not wait to love as I can. It is no way to live, to wait to love.

Dave Eggers, What is the What

The first time I read it, I didn’t get to read anything else for a half hour. I mean, I definitely tried, but the bus was bumpy and it felt better to slump against those words. Again:

We thought we were young and that there would be time to love well sometime in the future. This is a terrible way to think. If I ever love again, I will not wait to love as I can. It is no way to live, to wait to love.

Dave Eggers, What is the What

I could write lots about how this makes me feel, and maybe someday I will. But today, I’m being prescriptive. Make yourself a cup of Egyptian Mint tea, sit on your porch in the sun with your wicker and your goose down pillow and think about those words. Savor it all. Let it make a difference in you.

We thought we were young and that there would be time to love well sometime in the future. This is a terrible way to think. If I ever love again, I will not wait to love as I can. It is no way to live, to wait to love.

Dave Eggers, What is the What

Then, get up. Stretch your arms, toss away your teabag. And stop waiting.

Josh Norquist

Church Development Coordinator