Come, thou Fount of every blessing

"Come, thou Fount of Every Blessing."

It is, quite simply, my favorite hymn. Spiritual, beautifully written, simple and direct in its meaning. I'm listening to it as I begin to write this. One day -- long from now, I hope -- it will be sung at my funeral.

But this blog isn't about something so deep, spiritual or religious. It is about words. In particular, one word.

Now as a writer, I love words, of course. But there are some words I just love more than others. For example, there's both loquacious and logorrhea. Anyone who has actually spoken to me -- or, more correctly, who has listened to me -- would certainly say both can be applied to me, particularly when I'm nervous.

Then there's serendipity. I love the meaning but it's the wonderful sound of the word that truly touches me.

Serendipity.

And, of course, there's callipygian.

I started with the word callipygian in mind when I wrote an entire Kendall Hunter murder mystery story. It was my sole inspiration. (You can find my story titled Callipygian in The Fine Art of Murder, a short story anthology published by Blue River Press for the Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime.) Plus, those who know me well will certainly testify as to why I love this adjective.

All this gets me to the single word I am thinking about today.

Fount.

It is such a niffy little word. Middle English, I think.

Although I am sure I have heard or seen it used before, I don't remember the word fount used in any context other than in the hymn, "Come, thou Fount of Every Blessing." It means source, of course, so in the hymn, the source of every blessing refers to Jesus.

Like I said, a niffy little word.

But I need to correct something. I didn't remember seeing the word used other than in the hymn until I ran across it last week while reading Rhys Bowen's newest book, In Farleigh Field. And when I read it, I sat up and poked my wife. She knows how much I love the hymn.

A character in Rhys' novel used it to describe his father as being a fount of knowledge about history. And he was right. The old man was.

So there you have it. A word I love. A word I find inspirational. A word I will probably start randomly dropping on people.

Now go forth and be a fount of knowledge about something.

And thanks for reading.

      



  

Bestselling British author Rhys Bowen

I am truly looking forward to the Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime hosting renowned British author Rhys Bowen this coming Saturday, Feb. 25.

Rhys will speak at our monthly meeting at about noon at Barnes and Noble in Indianapolis, before heading over to a tea we are sponsoring in her honor from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., at the College Park community clubhouse in Indy and then back to B&N for a book fair and book signing at 5 p.m.

A portion of the proceeds from sales at B&N that day will benefit the programs of the Speed City SinC.

Rhys is a wonderful award-winning writer -- and a prolific one. Below is a list of her titles, not including In Farleigh Field, which comes out next week.

 Royal Spyness Series In Order:

Her Royal Spyness (2007)

A Royal Pain (2008)

Royal Flush (2009)

Royal Blood (2010)

Naughty in Nice (2011)

The Twelve Clues of Christmas (2012)

Heirs and Graces (2013)

Queen of Hearts (2014)

Malice at the Palace (2015)

Crowned and Dangerous (2016)

On Her Majesty's Frightfully Secret Service (August 2017)

Molly Murphy Series In Order:

Murphy's Law (2001)

Death of Riley (2002)

For the Love of Mike (2003)

In Like Flynn (2005)

Oh Danny Boy (2006)

In Dublin's Fair City (2007)

Tell Me, Pretty Maiden (2008)

In a Gilded Cage (2009)

The Last Illusion (2010)

Bless the Bride (2011)

Hush Now, Don't You Cry (2012)

The Family Way (2013)

City of Darkness and Light (2014)

The Edge of Dreams (2015)

Away in a Manger (2015)

Time of Fog and Fire (2016)

The Ghost of Christmas Past (November 2017)

Constable Evan Evans Series In Order:

Evans Above (1997)

Evan Help Us (1998)

Evanly Choirs (1999)

Evan and Elle (2000)

Evan Can Wait (2001)

Evans to Betsy (2002)

Evan Only Knows (2003)

Evan's Gate (2004)

Evan Blessed (2005)

Evanly Bodies (2006)

Hope to see you some time on Saturday.

Thanks for reading.