“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
    you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
     which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and the glory of your people Israel.”

Luke 2:29-32

Years ago, back in the days when our children still lived at home, our son Andrew hatched the plan to buy me a Mont Blanc pen for Christmas.

Apparently, some kind of offer had come in the mail, advertising a fake – or faux – Mont Blanc pen, and I had been impressed enough with the idea that Andrew said to himself, “One day I am going to get my dad a real one!”

It sounds a lot like my dream of getting my dad a Jaguar. I’m pretty sure I wanted to drive home with an E-Type, but dad probably would have preferred the sedan.

Admittedly, I may have been a little ambitious. Time will tell.

The pen:

Andrew, on the other hand, tucked his intention away in the back of his mind until his generous heart was in a position to make it happen.

I never did, by the way, follow through on that mail-in lure of a faux Mont Blanc pen.

But I do have the real thing now, monogramed and sitting on my desk, encouraging me to put the same kind of commitment, and quality, and craftsmanship into my work as a writer. Thanks, Andrew, your generosity means so much.

My new Mont Blanc fits well with the Christmas ideals of new life, and belief, and hope going into 2022. Maybe the theological truth of “promise” should be the lens through which I look over the next few months?

But I may have to get back to you on the status of the Jag… – DEREK