Domestic Monastery

 It arrived today, and by late afternoon I had read it!  Short and packed. 

Excellent in STYLE.  Encouraging in SUBSTANCE.

Style-wise, author Ronald Rolheiser writes gently.

I found myself underlining softly, 

writing faint notes in the columns--

whispering as it were in response to the firm, quiet wisdom contained on the pages.

Style-wise, the illustrations were also quiet.

Plenteous.  Well-placed.  Reverent.

Style-wise, Rolheiser skillfully strings together phrases for optimum impact.  

For instance:  "Monastic prayer is simple, often rote, has a clear durational expectancy, and is structured to allow each monk the freedom to invest himself or hold back, in terms of energy and heart, depending upon his disposition on a given day." p. 43

Style-wise, the author chooses excellent illustrations for clarity.

These include the piano keyboard and a woman who visits her elderly mother in a nursing home.

And what can I say about substance?

Whether a faithful young mother or an aging reader such as I,

here is an invitation to monastery 

("a place set apart, period...a place to learn the value of powerlessness 

and a place to learn that time is not ours, but God's.") p 18

While I read all ten chapters with interest, those dealing with prayer,

time, the tensions of life, and the seasons of life 

were the four most challenging to me in this initial reading.

Ritual, rhythm, and routine are explained and recommended as essential

to the sane, simple, and sacred life I desire.

I WILL be reading it again.

Thanks to Pareclete Press for my copy.

wwwparacletepress.com

 Following a lead in another book,

I ordered this through interlibrary loan.

 Today I read a bit more and

suspect I've read it before...

at least THIS prayer.
God has taught me WAY more
than two times that He is love!
When will I ever learn,
"miserable ingrate" that I am?

At This Late Stage

The book I might have written

if I was 50 or so.....

For now, I'm reading all I can

of lives of early church

 fathers and mothers

and asking the Lord

to use me as He can and will

at this late stage.

Senior Days

Our Senior Days go something like this...

 Jigsaw puzzles usually in some stage of progress...

 Saying "Good-by" to a sweet niece (and granddaughter)

ready to set out for new career in Atlanta...

 Reading - Warriors of God currently.

 Paragraphs like the ones above keep me plowing through this challenging book.

A stroll through the local County Extension Gardens.

Always a delight...currently wearing a wide variety of blooms.

And...

 drives through our beautiful Amish countryside.

Here we watched a hard-working threshing crew in motion.
Oh!

How I enjoy these Senior Days!

A Perfect Day For...

A trail walk before the heat of the day...

 admiring wildflowers...

 hand-holding...

 breaking old habits (like crossing one's legs)...

 doing something practical to meet the needs of another person...

staying current with one's plan to read the Bible through in the year...

 day-dreaming a bit...

 finishing a book...

folding a load of white wash...

Not about Christmas

I can't remember if it was free or cost only a dime or so...

but it came home with us amid a stack of books a few months ago.

I only recently picked it up and began to read.

Today I reluctantly finished it--

maybe the best book I've read in a l-o-n-g time!

In my opinion, the writing is superb.  

There is humor, suspense, information, and details

written so descriptively that they were simply delicious to my mind.

Whether your interest is whetted by the period in history (1930's), Africa,

horses, flying or remarkable women,

I believe you'd find this book totally intriguing.

What IS It About Books?

My husband is fashioning a WONDERFUL bookshelf!

I dream; he creates.

And this one is absolutely charming.

The legs are a very classy addition, in my opinion.

Its size makes it very versatile and extremely tempting to keep for myself.

Of my several acknowledged vices,

books are one of them!  

However, realistically speaking,

one house can only have so many bookshelves.

I finished a wonderful book:  Dorothy Day:  The World Will Be Saved By Beauty.

The author, her granddaughter, describes Dorothy's only daughter's house

in this passage that I could identify with only too well...

What IS it about books?

Anticipation

The past couple of days have been highlighted by noon lunches

with friends and a view of the beautiful harvest/hunter moon last night.

The weather has been rainy and cool today.

 A trip to the library an hour or so agao netted me these two books.

 After supper (crockpot sausage, cabbage and potatoes)

 and after game hour with my husband and father

 (dominoes and a card game we call "Baptist Rook"),

 I plan to open Karon's latest and dive in.

 Since it's an "express" loaner, it must be finished in a week.

 The other is one I'd placed a hold on after reading someone's review about another book

 (unavailable in our library system) by the same author.

 It's been awhile since I'ver read good fiction.

 I'm looking forward to it!

Reading is Fundamental

I carried this book upstairs to one of my stashes of children's books.

(Looks like it could use a little organization!)

The Babar books are among my favorites.

I found it in the Little Library I may have blogged about another time

(not sure).

 I believe it is the only one in our small town.

 Well landscaped and maintained, the only thing it lacks is SHADE.

Since we lost our library branch several years ago, 

I'm particularly pleased to have this placed in our community.

Reading really IS fundamental!

As Busy as I Care to Be

I have time to work on jigsaw puzzles...

"You must be very busy," they say.

A statement with an implied question.

Curiosity-laden.

And I struggle to respond.

Fact is, I'm as busy as I care to be.

It's all relative, I believe.

...and I have time to read.

***

And you? 

Are YOU "busy"?

Summer Reading

 After reading The Surreal Life of Leonora Carrington, by Joanna Moorhead,

 I decided I wanted to read The Hearing Trumpet.

 So, I placed a hold on it at our library, and received a notice that it had arrived.

When I got to the library, I noticed THIS book

by one of my very favorite authors.

I'm reading it first since it is a 7-day loaner.

Loving every page!

The late Maeve Binchy was another favorite author of mine.

I'm sorry that I've read my last of her books.
By the way....
these lines from The Surreal Life intrigue me..

See what I mean?!? 
(It might help you to know that I have a couple of bedrooms
with books.  Shelves and shelves of them!)

I Enjoy Being a Girl

My quest to find appealing (to me) books to read rested recently on

The Lady of the Limberlost:

The Life and Letters of Gene Stratton-Porter

by her daughter, Jeannette Porter Meehan.

If YOU enjoy being a girl,

you may enjoy this except from a letter Gene wrote to a young friend, Cosie.

Begin on the page to the left at the paragraph beginning, "My idea of a dress"

and continue through most of the next page.

So much goodness in this book!

In this age of gender confusion with what I've currently read

includes from 63-90+ possible gender identifications,

I return to the Genesis account of creation

and the old-fashioned belief that there are only two.

Led Astray

Last Wednesday evening, I led a half-hour "singspiration" from the piano

at our weekly prayer meeting gathering at church.

During the afternoon, I'd jotted down some numbers and titles,

having grabbed the first writing surface I could find  beside my chair--

an old greeting card.

That evening I began with (what I thought was) the first one on my list.

To my surprise, number 5 was NOT "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing"
as I'd expected!

I puzzled my way through the rest of the evening
finding NONE of my numbers corresponding with the hymns I'd selected!

When I got home, I went straight to the hymnal I thought was the same

as the one we use on Wednesday evenings.  It WAS!

What then was the explanation?

I was quite perplexed.

Finally, I turned the card over and then realized my error.
To my chagrin, I realized the list that wasn't working

contained the numbers of pages in the book I'd been reading.

(I do this frequently, returning when I reach the end of the book
to copy significant lines into my journal.)

I had been led astray by referring to the wrong side. 
Do you do that (make notes while reading on random pieces of paper)?
I chuckled at myself in relief at having solved the situation.
I also made note of the potential to be led astray by inadequate, false,
and faulty information on subjects with far more serious consequences
than the one I'd just experienced!

Don't be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings; 

for it is good for the heart to be established by grace and not by foods, 

since those involved in them have not benefited.

Hebrews 13:9
 

Tweets I Like

Well, ONE tweet anyway...
Upgrade your interior world & conversations. 

Read wisely & widely- 

history 

poetry 

theology 

 artistry... 

We were created to learn & grow.

(Patsy Clairmont, Twitter)

Here was a haven...

"I realized Granny’s life was predictably orderly and quiet, and appreciated the resulting calm. 

 I liked the tantalizing aromas always hanging heavy in her kitchen,

and how cookie jars (one in the kitchen, one in the dining room) 

were dependably full of spicy molasses cookies.

 There was something unique about all of that that made the world secure and right."

To Beth's words, I responded:  

"Those words reminded me of MY grandmother's life/home! 

Now I wonder if SHE realized how orderly, quiet and calm it was....

And more importantly, I wonder if ANYone feels that way about MY space..." 

Oh, how I wonder!

And how much I long for my space to be a quiet and calm place

for the vulnerable and innocent--.

for EVERYone , really, who steps inside our home.

As I settled into new, blue recliner a bit later to pick up my reading,

I found THIS paragraph--a parallel of sorts to Beth's words...

I closed the book, mused a bit,

and prayed for a quiet spirit.

Growth

Spent Sunday afternoon finishing up my first "read" for 2017.
Incidentally, I keep a log of books I read under the tab "reading" below my header.

I can't remember how this particular title came across my radar,

but I read it with great interest.  

It was a somewhat sad but stimulating read about life in Europe in the 20's--

feuds and friendships, successes and sorrows.

After I finished, I typed out at least 45 quotations from the book

from page numbers I jotted down while reading.

(Not sure WHY I do this; I just do.)

I also thought of an empty Bible cover I had and pressed it into duty

as a carry-all for pen, notecards and my current read.

It's serving me well.  I'm glad I thought of it! 

This morning I ran into a tweet by Patsy Clairmont:

"We can grow as long as there is breath in our bodies and an earnest will to learn."

Growth is my current and conscious pursuit in 2017--

particularly in grace and the knowledge of my Lord Jesus Christ.
I want to keep expanding my reading horizons, too.
 

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

2 Peter 3:18

Page Eleven

I love the way this book is covered and bound!

The pre-Christmas day had come to a peaceful end.

Winter solstice with its long, dark night accentuated by lunar eclipse

offered the perfect opportunity to begin to read in earnest.

Anticipation had been building all day.

I propped the pillow just so under my head, opened the book

and began to read.

My reading came to a halt on page eleven.

I found it FULL of wonderfully descriptive words and phrases,

Without pen and paper, I feared waking in the morning 

and not being able to remember them all.

So reluctantly, I closed the book and went to sleep.

~Sarah was tall and gaunt, with gray hair strained back from a grim, determined countenance.  She had a heart of gold, though she kept it hidden, and her preference was for the gloomy side of life

rather than the sunny one~

~she exclaimed sepulchrally~

~The temptation to annoy Sarah by taking an optimistic view was 

one he had never been able to resist.~

~Not a very beautiful collection, perhaps, but part of Grandmother and therefore priceless.~

This morning while the men of the house work to install a bathroom heater/vent/fan

(an early Christmas present),

and while the rest of you are probably busy with last-minute shopping, decorating, 

wrapping, cooking and baking,

I will resume reading on Page Twelve after I look up the definition of sepulchrally

(although I have a general idea of what it means).

And Read

Having seen this book mentioned on Sally Clarkson's blog 

(George MacDonald’s Diary of an Old Soul), 

I am officially on the hunt for it!

If you should have a copy or run across one at a reasonable price, I would love to purchase it.

And THIS one also:  Bandersnatch by Diana Glyer.  

No doubt I've come late to Lanier's blog.   

After reading this post, I'm adding one more book to my reading list as well 

as a determination to return to her blog and read more of her story/

Her writing captures my imagination.

I have entered a new season of life and have a new phone to accompany me.

I know how to use its camera - just can't figure out how to send the photos back to myself/

Sigh.  Soon I'll have photos again.  Until then, I shall read.  

Plan and prepare meals.

Continue to organize and enjoy our home.  

And "do life" with my father who has come to live with us.  

And read...

Infinite Possibiities

"But at least it made one realize that life still held infinite possibilities for change."

My kind of book, this one...

Descriptive, well-developed characters, bloodless, believable and gentle.

An old book by an author suggested by one whose taste in books 

runs in the same channels as my own.

Its last line, quoted above, is an example of many

sweet, memorable ones scattered throughout the story.

The title is a reference to the four main characters,

all of whom are in the autumn years of life.

I have another Barbara Pym book lying by my chair ready to be read--
Excellent Women.

Not So Sure

 

After several of my blogger friends cited this author as one of their favorites,

I put a request in for Pilgrim's Inn from the main library and awaited its arrival at our local branch.

I struggled to finish it -- almost didn't!

(Lately, I've not been OCD'd about finishing books that I started if they didn't hold my interest.)

This one didn't.  For many reasons.

Maybe the biggest was the print and layout.

This edition was published in 1948 (the year of my birth, incidentally).

 This (above) was a typical page.  

If I were editing it today, I'd find a way to break up the print.

More white space, etc.

The setting and medieval references in it were confusing to me also.

This is a reflection on ME - not the book.

I soldiered through it to the end, though,

because there WERE some great lines in it

as indicated by the page numbers I jotted down on a paper I used to mark my place.

 I think I'll post a few of them another time.

I found many thought-provoking and insightful enough to revisit them...

I'm not so sure that I'll read another of her books.
****

If  you've read Elizabeth Goudge, what is YOUR favorite title?