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Re-reading for what must be the thousandth time the story of the Finding in the Temple in the Gospel of Luke, I notice for the first time that the young Jesus's wisdom is noticed, not in what He has to say, but in what He does not. "They found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard him were amazed." (Luke 2:46-47) How often do we feel the need to be heard, hoping to seem thereby as "wise", rather than by just listening?  I know this is something I myself badly need to learn.  Sometimes the right question is more revealing than the right answer. Amazing that, no matter how many times you read the Scriptures, there's always something new to learn from them. The well is deep, and it will never run dry.
 As the new year begins, I've decided to keep track of everything that I'm reading. I have the (sometimes) bad habit of reading multiple books simultaneously.  Often the number rises so high that a few titles fall off the edge of the universe, never to be finished. As of January 2nd, I was reading: Post Captain , Book 2 in the Aubrey/Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brian.  Since the complete set of novels is more than 6000 pages long, I'll likely be at this one for years to come. The Coming of Galahad by Charles Williams. A collection of poetry concerning the Arthurian legend. Magnus Ridolph by Jack Vance. Short stories about the exploits of a private detective in the far distant future, set amongst exotic planets and imaginary cultures. Blown to Hell by Walter Pincus. A concise account of the nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands, and its impact on the islands and their inhabitants. Cove Point on the Chesapeake by Carol McCabe Booker. The history of a small Maryland