diff --git a/libmuguile/mu-guile-msg.c b/libmuguile/mu-guile-msg.c
index bc691dce..9db5e219 100644
--- a/libmuguile/mu-guile-msg.c
+++ b/libmuguile/mu-guile-msg.c
@@ -488,11 +488,39 @@ define_symbols (void)
 }
 
 
+gboolean
+mu_guile_msg_load_current (const char *path)
+{
+	MuMsg *msg;
+	GError *err;
+	SCM msgsmob;
+	
+	err = NULL;
+	msg = mu_msg_new_from_file (path, NULL, &err);
+
+	if (!msg) {
+		g_printerr ("error creating message for '%s'", path);
+		if (err) {
+			g_printerr (": %s", err->message);
+			g_error_free (err);
+		}
+		g_printerr ("\n");
+		return FALSE;
+	}
+	
+	msgsmob = mu_guile_msg_to_scm (msg);
+	scm_c_define ("mu:current", msgsmob); 
+
+	return TRUE;
+}
+
+
 void*
 mu_guile_msg_init (void *data)
 {
+	
 	MSG_TAG = scm_make_smob_type ("msg", sizeof(MuMsgWrapper));
-		
+	
 	scm_set_smob_mark  (MSG_TAG, msg_mark);
 	scm_set_smob_free  (MSG_TAG, msg_free);
 	scm_set_smob_print (MSG_TAG, msg_print);	
diff --git a/libmuguile/mu-guile-msg.h b/libmuguile/mu-guile-msg.h
index 856fa627..e69b095d 100644
--- a/libmuguile/mu-guile-msg.h
+++ b/libmuguile/mu-guile-msg.h
@@ -27,15 +27,28 @@
 extern "C" {
 #endif /*__cplusplus*/
 
-/** 
+typedef void* MuGuileFunc (void*);
+	
+/**
  * register MuMsg-related functions/smobs with guile; use with
  * scm_with_guile
- * 
+ *
+ * @param data
  */
 void *mu_guile_msg_init (void *data);
 
 
-/** 
+/**
+ * set 'mu:msg:current in the guile env
+ * 
+ * @param path path to a message
+ * 
+ * @return TRUE if it worked, FALSE otherwise
+ */	
+gboolean mu_guile_msg_load_current (const char *path);
+	
+	
+/**
  * create an SCM for the MuMsg*
  * 
  * @param msg a MuMsg instance
diff --git a/toys/muile/muile.cc b/toys/muile/muile.cc
index 880651ef..f9bd33d3 100644
--- a/toys/muile/muile.cc
+++ b/toys/muile/muile.cc
@@ -21,29 +21,106 @@
 #endif /*HAVE_CONFIG_H*/
 
 #include <mu-runtime.h>
+#include <glib-object.h>
 
 #include <libguile.h>
 #include <libmuguile/mu-guile-msg.h>
 #include <libmuguile/mu-guile-store.h>
 
+struct _MuileConfig {
+	const char *muhome;
+	char *msgpath;
+};
+typedef struct _MuileConfig MuileConfig;
+
+
+static MuileConfig *
+muile_config_new (int *argcp, char ***argvp)
+{
+	GOptionContext *octx;
+	MuileConfig *opts = g_new0 (MuileConfig, 1);
+	GOptionEntry entries[] = {
+		{"muhome", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_FILENAME, &opts->muhome,
+		 "specify an alternative mu directory", NULL},
+		{"msg", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_FILENAME, &opts->msgpath,
+		 "specify path to a message to load as (mu:msg:current)", NULL},
+		{NULL, 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, NULL, NULL, NULL}/* sentinel */
+	};
+
+        octx = g_option_context_new ("- muile options");
+	g_option_context_add_main_entries (octx, entries, "Muile");
+
+	if (!g_option_context_parse (octx, argcp, argvp, NULL)) {
+		g_option_context_free (octx);
+		g_printerr ("muile: error in options\n");
+		return NULL;
+	}
+
+	if (opts->msgpath)
+		opts->msgpath = mu_util_dir_expand (opts->msgpath);
+	
+	g_option_context_free (octx);
+
+	return opts;	
+}
+
+static void
+muile_config_destroy (MuileConfig *conf)
+{
+	g_free (conf->msgpath);
+	g_free (conf);
+}
+
+
+static void
+usage (void)
+{
+	g_print ("usage: muile [--muhome=<dir>] [msgfile]\n");	
+}
+
 
 int
 main (int argc, char *argv[])
 {
+	MuileConfig *opts;
+
+	g_type_init ();
 	
 #ifdef HAVE_PRE2_GUILE	
 	g_warning ("Note: muile will not function correctly unless you have a "
 		   "UTF-8 locale.");
 #endif /* HAVE_PRE2_GUILE */
+
+	opts = muile_config_new (&argc, &argv);
+	if (!opts) {
+		usage ();
+		goto error;
+	}
 		
-	mu_runtime_init (mu_util_guess_mu_homedir());
-		
+	if (!mu_runtime_init (opts->muhome /* NULL is okay */)) {
+		usage ();
+		goto error;
+	}
+
 	scm_with_guile (&mu_guile_msg_init, NULL);
 	scm_with_guile (&mu_guile_store_init, NULL);
 	
+	if (opts->msgpath) {
+		if (!(gboolean)scm_with_guile
+		    ((MuGuileFunc*)&mu_guile_msg_load_current, opts->msgpath))
+			goto error;
+	}
+
+	
 	scm_shell (argc, argv);
 
 	mu_runtime_uninit ();
+	muile_config_destroy (opts);
 	
 	return 0;
+
+error:
+	muile_config_destroy (opts);
+	return 1;
+	
 }