Most mornings I wake, struggle out of bed, put some clothes on and make my way downstairs.
I turn right at the bottom of the stairs and pick up a couple of things from the study. Crossing the hallway I make my way into the lounge where I sit in an armchair.
Once in the armchair I’ll open up a book or use an application on my phone to focus my thoughts.
I’ll then place the book or my phone onto the windowsill and pick up a black moleskine notebook and pen. Feeling for the marker ribbon I’ll open the notebook to the point where I left it the day before.
My normal routine is to write the date in one corner and to copy something out of the book, or from the application, into the notebook. This is be followed by some of my thoughts and prayers.
Most days I’ll only use a single page of the notebook; on some days I’ll have more to say. Having captured my thought and prayers I’ll sometimes read through them. Reaching for the marker ribbon I’ll replace it into the completed pages and close the notebook.
The routine is then to sit for a bit longer and ponder with the notebook on my lap. Sometimes I listen to a spoken prayer or some quiet music.
I call this time my 15 minutes in a chair because that’s my aim, to stop at the beginning of each day, for 15 minutes.
Picking up the notebook and the other things around me I return them to the study and get on with the rest of my day.
This week, though, I did something different. This week was a milestone. This week I closed the notebook, thanked it for its service, and returned it to the shelf. It’s accompaniment on my journey was over. It had served its purpose and now it was time for another to take its place. All of the pages were used, each had been written upon, each had captured my daily thoughts and my prayers. It’s two years of service were over and it was time for a new notebook to take it’s place.
One of my Christmas presents had been a voucher which I’d used to purchase a new black ruled moleskine notebook. This young upstart was sitting waiting patiently on the shelf ready to serve. I unwrapped it, said “see you tomorrow” and placed it back on the shelf next to its predecessor.
The new notebook still feels new, but soon it will know my ways and open naturally in my hand ready to capture more thought and prayers. It will be my accompaniment on the journey.
Who is more important, the one who sits at the table or the one who serves? The one who sits at the table, of course. But not here! For I am among you as one who serves.
Graham Chastney 