Just Courage, Gary Haugen's new book will be excellent, needed. It's his encouragement to the church to choose courage rather than safety in a world intended for perfection, but marred by injustice. You can listen to him talk about it here.
Showing posts with label readings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label readings. Show all posts
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
I Love Luci
Lately I have finished Water my Soul: Cultivating the Interior Life, a spiritual devotional based upon the imagery of cultivation, by poet Luci Shaw. Shaw's writing style is quite close to the "Christian Living" writings of Madelience L'Engle. The two, in fact, were great friends and often conducted writing seminars together.
An excerpt from th chapter, "Growing in the Light":
"I join in our universal human longing to be with God, to have all my unsatisfied longings fulfilled:
Unless I am mistaken
'All of us wait for this--
To jettison the grasping hands
To lope through new-created lands
Where hope and have may kiss.'
Perhaps the growing seed wonders if it will ever pierce through the skin of soil and sod and burst into the light. This is, for me, a parable of the life of faith. It is across the gulf between the wanting and the having that faith carries us. Our belief in a God who is good, who understands our yearnings, who teaches us much by making us wait, and who will untimately reward our upward struggle, allows us to persevere, to persist. As the author of The Cloud of Unknowing challenges us: 'Smite upon the thick cloud of unknowing wth the sharp dart of longing love; come what may, never give up.'"
Delighted sigh.
An excerpt from th chapter, "Growing in the Light":
"I join in our universal human longing to be with God, to have all my unsatisfied longings fulfilled:
Unless I am mistaken
'All of us wait for this--
To jettison the grasping hands
To lope through new-created lands
Where hope and have may kiss.'
Perhaps the growing seed wonders if it will ever pierce through the skin of soil and sod and burst into the light. This is, for me, a parable of the life of faith. It is across the gulf between the wanting and the having that faith carries us. Our belief in a God who is good, who understands our yearnings, who teaches us much by making us wait, and who will untimately reward our upward struggle, allows us to persevere, to persist. As the author of The Cloud of Unknowing challenges us: 'Smite upon the thick cloud of unknowing wth the sharp dart of longing love; come what may, never give up.'"
Delighted sigh.
Monday, March 10, 2008
A Belated Memorium, and the Promise of an Introduction
Did you know that author Madeliene L'Engle died this past fall? Apparently this wasn't a happening that made the radio, but for those of us who have been shaped by her writings, this is indeed news-worthy!
Hmm... for those of you with a pull toward the creative, read Walking on Water if you've not yet. Madeliene takes on faith, art, the work of the Spirit in and through us...
I mean it! For those of you who don't already love her works, be inspired to discover the gift that her writing is!
Here is a better source of inspiration-- a beautiful NY times obit. I mean that seriously. It communicates something of the honor due:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/08/books/07cnd-lengle.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=books
My first reading recommendation is Walking on Water, then A Wrinkle in Time and its companions, then A Circle of Quiet. Actually, those are the only books of hers that I have read, so to be honest I guess that isn't a very encompassing recommendation. What I've read, I've liked, and perhaps if you choose something of hers, you will enjoy it, too...Read! Read the NY Times piece, then one of Madeliene's books. At a future meeting, I will acquaint you with a dear friend of hers and mine, Ms. Luci Shaw...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)