The Fog of Commerce: update on the Small Graces CD and a few random thoughts

Obviously, I got in over my head in offering those few remaining CD’s of Small Graces without capping the orders or otherwise establishing a system for determining who gets what when. But I’m scrambling, and I see a dim glimmer of light: it appears that I will be able to do a new pressing off the original, though the specifics are not yet clear. What is clear is that it will up the cost of the CD, delivered, to $30. If you are still interested, hang in there, and send me your name and I’ll put you on a list. Once I get more information I’ll post it here.

One thing I can say is that I listened to the CD today in the car, and I was stunned at how beautiful that little book really is. I had never given it much thought over the years. I’ve often dismissed it by saying, quite flippantly, that I set the bar low and cleared it admirably. But that’s not fair, and it’s not accurate. Small Graces has a spiritual gentleness and clarity to it that I had completely forgotten. It’s a book that observes the world through the heart, not through the mind, and truly illuminates the spiritual dimension of our everyday lives.

We are so emotionally cauterized by the jangling minutia and practicalities of life that we seldom step back to the place where Small Graces lives. It’s a place that we all have inside of us but can seldom articulate and manifest. I’m lucky to have caught it in the passing. It’s my best self — better in many ways that I reveal in my everyday life. But who among us does not have that secret self that sees the world with unprotected kindness but seldom speaks it out loud?

I’m glad to have rediscovered this book and to be able to pass it along. It feels fortuitous in these times of anger, cynicism, confusion, and, yes, fear. It was always meant as a gift book, but now I am seeing, for the first time, what a gift it really was. I’m excited to have it show its heart again.