A Hole is to Dig

Well, school is nearly finished. Now that the reality is setting in, I'm starting to realize freedom from school will have its own unique blessings and curses that I am perhaps not quite ready to face. For all my whining, I've become very attached to the simultaneously blessed and cursed lifestyle of an urban post-secondary student hermit. Now I am transitioning from a life of thinking to a life of doing. What will it be like to live life experientially? I can't imagine. One last paper due Monday morning. One last presentation on Wednesday. Both require me to summarize in slightly different ways where I have come from, where I am presently, and where I am going. I can answer the first question, but the other two will be a little more difficult. I feel very...pulled apart...at present. Not fragmented. Fragmentation suggests a state of brittleness, irrepairability, and probably lost pieces. I'm still all here, I'm just not so sure where here is, or who I am, let alone where I'm going next. I trust God will put me back together eventually (albeit a little differently than before), but in the meantime I'll be sifting through prophecies, memories, theories, passions, promises, and feelings the way young children sift through wet sand at a beach, looking for treasures from the sea. So while I sift, I'm leaving you with this nursery poem by Ruth Krauss I fell in love with this year.

A Hole is To Dig: A First Book of First Definitions

Mashed potatoes are to give everybody enough A face is so you can make faces A face is something to have on the front of your head Dogs are to kiss people Hands are to hold A hand is to hold up when you want your turn A hole is to dig The ground is to make a garden Grass is to cut Grass is to have on the ground with dirt under it and clover in it Maybe you could hide things in a hole A party is to say how-do-you-do and shake hands A party is to make little children happy Arms are to hug with Toes are to wiggle Ears are to wiggle Mud is to jump in and slide in and yell doodleedoodleedoo Anh-h-h! Doodleedoodleedoo-oo! A castle is to build in the sand A hole is to sit in A dream is to look at the night and see things Snow is to roll in Buttons are to keep people warm The world is so you have something to stand on The sun is to tell you when it's every day When you make your bed you get a star Little stones are for little children to gather up and put in little piles Oo! A rock is when you trip on it you should have watched where you were going Children are to love A brother is to help you A principal is to take out splinters A mountain is to go to the top A mountain is to go to the bottom A lap is so you don't get crumbs on the floor A mustache is to wear on Halloween A hat is to wear on a train Toes are to dance on Eyebrows are to go over your eyes A sea shell is to hear the sea A wave is to wave bye-bye Big shells are to put little shells in A hole is to plant a flower A watch is to hear it tick Dishes are to do Cats are so you can have kittens Mice are to eat your cheese Noses are to rub A nose is to blow A match is to blow A whistle is to make people jump Rugs are so you don't get splinters in you Hunh! Rugs are so dogs have napkins A floor is so you don't fall in the hole your house is in A hole is for a mouse to live in A door is to open A door is to shut A hole is to look through Steps are to sit on A hole is when you step in it you go down Hands are to make things Hands are to eat with A tablespoon is to eat a table with A package is to look inside The sun is so it can be a great day A book is to look at