I spent most of today struggling over a review of Philip F. Esler’s New Testament Theology: Communion and Community, a book that impresses me a lot, both positively and negatively. I’m trying to hit the correct balance between appreciating the book’s insights and identifying the book’s flaws, a job made trickier by the fact that the flaws seem to stand in painfully prominent contrast with the insights (indeed, they undermine the insights). As the day wore on, more of my time was devoted to sentences that I typed, then deleted. I haven’t written anything for the past ninety minutes.
So, I think I have officially given up trying to finish the review tonight. I wouldn’t mind so much, except I have to preach Wednesday morning, so I need to compose a sermon tomorrow; that may interfere with finishing the review, darn it, and then the rest of Wednesday is devoted to an all-day faculty meeting followed by Richard Kieckhefer’s inaugural lecture as John Evans Professor of Religion at Northwestern, so I may not be able to finish the review Wednesday, either. We’ll see.
I found two more hearts yesterday: one in a notebook, and one in the box of frozen veggie burgers. Sooner or later, I’ll run out of hidden hearts — I haven’t found any today, but then I have hardly stirred from my chair except to go to chapel and fix dinner. Oh, and go to Greek reading group, where Brooke and Beth and I had a great time tackling Hebrews 8. But now I’m shutting off my brain till tomorrow morning.
Is that really “shutting down” your brain, or putting it in “sleep” mode?
Sorry. The screen was begging for a pun 🙂