Occasionally the signs align perfectly, and an idea comes to me for a new online event.

Today is July 1, and I went out to my garden and began harvesting from my garden this morning.

As I set my newly gathered vegetables on my porch table, I noticed nearby my new copy of Anne Lamott’s book about prayer: Help, Thanks, Wow. I had just finished making the following video about having noticed what I call “God’s Light” hitting my garden:

It might be hard to believe this, but immediately after having made the above video about God’s Light, I opened my brand new book, and the first words I saw were:

“So prayer is our sometimes real selves trying to communicate with the Real, with Truth, with the Light It is us reaching out to be heard, hoping to be found by a light and warmth in the world, instead of darkness and cold. Even mushrooms respond to light–I suppose they blink their mushroomy little eyes, like the rest of us.

“Light reveals us to ourselves, which is not always so great if you find yourself in a big disgusting mess, possibly of your own creation. But like sunflowers we turn toward the light, Light warms, and in most cases it draws us to itself. And in this light, we can see beyond shadow and illusion to something beyond our modest receptors, to what is beyond us, and deep inside, [Lamott, pg. 7]

i often write about Light.
Beginning with God’s creation of the world, Light is a major theme in the Bible:

I have recently begun a new focus on prayer–for my own life, and among other celebrations of light, I watch the following video every day. It is part of my daily prayer routine:

I am telling you all this to make it clear that several of my interests and concerns had arisen before today, when I opened Lamott’s book about prayer, and I realized that this is a great time to share Help, Thanks, & Wow via my social media.

Allow me to backtrack a bit more. During the first weekend of October, my church is sponsoring a workshop study of Lamott’s book Help, Thanks, Wow, which is a short book. During October, the entire nation begins to celebrate Harvest. I am also involved in an effort to maintain a daily prayer habit. I have decided that during the months of July and August and September, I’ll prepare for harvest by sharing Lamott’s book about prayer bit by bit. Today is July 1 and we have talked about Light. I look forward to seeing what else will evolve from our study–from our Preparation for the Harvest.