Finding Beauty in Life's Rhythms
Quill & Tweed: The Musings of Augustus Merriweather
🌅Musings on New Beginnings 📝
My cherished readers and fellow travelers on life’s winding road,
A warm welcome from my study in Palmetto Cove, where January’s chill presses against the windowpanes and my pipe smoke creates contemplative swirls in the winter light. My prolonged silence these past two months weighs upon me like an overdue library book, and I trust you’ll accept both my apologies and my renewed commitment to our literary fellowship.
🏈 Life’s Unexpected Turns 🌟
The new year arrived with both promise and disappointment - rather like our beloved Georgia Bulldogs’ showing in the national championship playoff. (Here’s to next season, when hope springs eternal between the hedges!) As Owen Barfield might observe, sometimes defeat serves as the best lens through which to examine our expectations. These moments of letdown often reveal what truly matters to us, beyond the scoreboard’s final tally.
In truth, these early January days have reminded me that life’s richest meanings often lie not in our triumphs but in how we face our disappointments. Just yesterday, my youngest asked why I still wore my Georgia cap after our loss. “Son,” I replied, “loyalty isn’t about winning – it’s about belonging.” The same might be said of all our deepest commitments.
⏰ Time’s Gentle Reminder 📅
The holidays, with their whirlwind of festivities, reminded me of something Richard Baxter once wrote about time being a gift we often mismanage until we feel its scarcity. How easy it is to let the urgent crowd out the important, rather like allowing weeds to overtake a carefully tended garden.
A close friend of mine recently observed over our morning coffee that time flows like the creek behind my house - steady and unstoppable, yet with deeper pools where one might pause and reflect. These past two months of unplanned silence have taught me the value of such pools, even as I regret missing our regular conversations here.
🌱 Cultivation Over Resolution 🌿
A dear mentor - whose wisdom rivals that of Russell Kirk - once observed that we frequently sacrifice the best for the good. This year, rather than penning a list of resolutions as long as a Faulkner sentence, I’m focusing on cultivation. Like tending to my winter garden, some efforts require patient attention rather than dramatic gestures.
The frost-covered ground outside my study window reminds me that even in apparent dormancy, important work continues beneath the surface. C.S. Lewis wrote that “friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.’” Perhaps that’s why relationship-building sits atop my list of areas for cultivation this year.
💫 The Art of Intentionality 🤝
As G.K. Chesterton might say, “The most extraordinary thing in the world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children.” Yet how extraordinary they become when given extraordinary attention! I’ve begun blocking out what my wife teasingly calls “sacred loitering time” - moments reserved solely for being present with those I love.
Just last evening, what started as a simple fireside chat with my eldest daughter evolved into a two-hour conversation about her hopes and fears for the future. No phones, no agenda, no rushing to the next task - just the kind of unhurried presence that allows hearts to unfold naturally, like flowers turning toward the sun.
🙏 Grace in Every Moment ✨
The Bible reminds us that “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies are new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23). What a lovely thought to carry into 2025 - each day arrives pre-loaded with grace, rather like a gift waiting to be unwrapped. In our rush to accomplish and achieve, we often overlook this daily miracle.
My morning walks through Palmetto Cove have become exercises in grace-spotting. The cardinal’s flash of red against winter-gray branches, the neighbor’s cheerful wave, the aroma of fresh coffee drifting from kitchen windows - each a small reminder that grace pervades our ordinary moments, if only we have eyes to see.
🌅 Moving Forward Together 🚶♂️
Dorothy Sayers once wrote about the importance of doing work worth doing. In 2025, I pray we’ll all find ourselves doing the work of relationship-building - the most worthy work of all. There’s something beautiful about beginning a new year with old friends and ancient truths, even as we step into unknown territory.
The morning light is strengthening now, and Mrs. Merriweather’s breakfast bell will soon summon me to another day of living these aspirations. May we all find the courage to prioritize what truly matters this year, trusting that grace will meet us in both our successes and our stumbles.
Yours in renewed commitment,
Augustus B. Merriweather III
Cultivator of Connections
Student of Grace
P.S. Should these reflections resonate with your own hopes for the year ahead, do share them with a fellow pilgrim on the path. You can find more of my musings here, where the welcome is always warm and the conversation always enriching.
P.P.S. As Lewis Grizzard might have quipped, “Life is like Georgia football – it’s not about whether you win or lose, but how many people you can hug after the game.” Though I suspect he’d have preferred we won that last one.