When I checked my email this morning, the seductive subject heading that caught my attention first was this:

First Time Ever! 50% OFF ANY ITEM — 1 Day Only!

Normally, I’d think, “Whatever,” and hit the delete button. But this one-day-only 50% off coupon was being offered by Borders.

That’s right. The bookstore. (You think I’m a sucker for typewriters? You should see how many books I own.)

So, since there’s a Borders in walking distance of my office, I made a beeline after work. I wandered the aisles, trying to find something worthy of cashing in my big savings. And maybe I was projecting, but I noticed others who seemed to be doing the same slightly aimless browsing, and I couldn’t help but wonder if they were there, not because they were looking for something in particular, but because the idea of a one-day-only 50% discount was irresistible.

In the shopping version of Murphy’s Law, inevitably, when I have gift cards or coupons like this, I can’t seem to find anything I’m interested in. Maybe I’m just not in the mood to shop, or I’m not finding just the right thing. And a part of this might be the Kindle, which I bought back in June before going on vacation. I still love the look, smell, feel of actual books, but now I relegate books into categories—those I would like to read in “real book” form, and those I’d prefer to download (i.e. mass market paperbacks that I’m likely to read only once).

After about 20 minutes of browsing, I found it: Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoro. The daily readings start on December 1. Perfect timing to introduce a new discipline in my life: from daily blogging* to daily praying.

*The blogging will continue, but probably not daily. God bless your crazy discipline, Lucy March!