I am very excited! I just registered online tonight for two of the "interviews" at next month's Writers' Symposium by the Sea at Point Loma Nazarene University. Not only did I receive my undergrad degree in Literature at Point Loma, but I also taught there in my beloved Lit Department for seven semesters, plus several substitute jobs, in the years after receiving my Master's from USD.
When I spoke with one of my mentors, Dr. Maxine Walker, a few years ago, she told me that she was very desirous of getting Anne Lamott as our keynote speaker for the combined Writers' Symposium and Wesleyan Center conference. However, Lamott had been either unavailable or beyond her budget. So imagine my surprise to receive in Maxine's New Years letter a few weeks ago a flyer advertising Anne Lamott as the main speaker for this February's conference!
Tonight I made my online reservations for the conference. Anne Lamott has been one of my favorite Christian writers in the past few years. Her books Traveling Mercies and Plan B have encouraged, challenged, and galvanized my faith life.
And apparently she has a new book just coming out. I hope to purchase a copy and get it signed at the conference. Entitled Grace, Eventually, it looks very intriguing!
With a March 20 release date, this latest title probably will not be available. So I guess I'll slug along with my well-read (and somewhat tattered) copy of Traveling Mercies and have her sign that.
Also at the conference will be Eugene Peterson, the translator/paraphrasist (is that a word?) of The Message, a version of the Bible that I just love for its modern feel and fresh language. It's definitely not a version for deep study, but it sure brings the Old Testament especially to life (with the sorry exception of the Psalms -- didn't do so well there!) as well as cause me to see the New Testament from a more essential point of view.
So my money is paid for the conference (gotta love online registration) and I'm hoping to attend with friends Judith and Kitty (we saw Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz and my favorite Christian author, Frederica Mathewes-Green, of Eastern Orthodox persuasion, last year), and possibly with Kim, the "fearless leader" of our Tuesday morning Bible study.
If anyone is interested in attending, sign up NOW! Tickets are going fast!
Little thoughts from my mind to yours about living a contemplative life in a far too busy world.
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