Currently listening to The Last Chronicles of Barchester on the I-pod, an antique mechanism that is no longer made by Apple. Went down every Digital Aisle looking for new I-pods, found nothing but old ones refurbished. Then one day I came across the lifetime-warranty portable CD player distributed by Monodeal. If fully charged, it’ll long play during power outages. It’s elegant and well-made, and in its advertisement shows a fun video of its easy operation. I also bought a stack of recordable CDs to burn my own audio books. And began listening to the Last Chronicles on the player. Then I noticed a “Zits” comic in which Jeremy’s father was happily going out to exercise listening to music on his portable CD player (his teenager son mocking him). This was fun! In part because I love the funny papers, love virtually every character on that page in the regional rag.

I am still using my I-pod, and plan to as long as it lives. But in the meantime I am also listening to the Bible on CD narrated, in the New Testament, by James Earl Jones. Blessed voice. I listen virtually every morning on the portable CD player, in the dark, sipping hot coffee and watching the flame in the woodstove. Blessed time.

This morning I heard him reading in Philippians, chapter 4 verse 8: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.” 

It’s in the bag!