“O God, gather me now to be with you as you are with me.” I’ll be carrying this prayer from Ted Loder with me well into the new year.

Thanks be to God, I have come to understand that what I actually need is to turn to voices, practices, and rhythms that I know give life to my soul and engage them in ways that this specific season is asking for. For now, this looks like browsing my own library and pulling books that are familiar, or from familiar people, or on familiar topics.

We’re not comfortable with it, but we have to know when to put things to rest for a little while - even the things we are good at.