As the Cicadas Sing

After morning coffee on the back patio, after puttering with the flower pots, and after a walk around the ponds, the sun’s height begins to heat up this part of the world sending folks like myself to benches situated under the deepest shade or to comfy chairs in cozy air-conditioned spaces, anticipating the company of a good book.

Summer reading lists are iconic. Schools require them. Libraries endorse them. Newspapers publish them. Book sellers advertise them. Readers eagerly share them and scour the titles of favored choices for the season. 

Still preferring the real-deal hard copy to hold in my hands, 

these are some of the books in this month’s stack:

1. Wearing God by Lauren Winner. I really loved this fascinating exploration of the metaphors found in scripture that are used to describe God. Some were the familiar “clothed by God” and God as "the bread of life", other’s were much more surprising for instance God as “a sweet smelling savor” and as a laboring woman. Would love to read this one as a book study to discuss with others.
2. In the Sanctuary of Women by Jan L. Richardson. Written in a combined format of a daily devotional and as an informational text of historical accounts about the lives of notable Christian women including Eve, St. Brigid, Hildegard of Bingen, the Desert Mothers and others. This book has succeeded in capturing my heart for these sisters of faith. It requires a leisure pace and has been a reading in progress for several months. 
3. Eyes of the Heart by Christine V. Paintner.  The photographer in me is relishing this discussion of photography  as a spiritual practice. The work has opened my thinking to many new insights and practical suggestions to implement photography as a contemplative practice. 
4. No Man Is An Island by Thomas Moore. No doubt you will have heard of this classic and the renown Trappist Monk who wrote it. Although I was aware of the remarkable history of Moore’s devotion to a religious life of service, teaching, and writing; nothing compares to reading his own words. 
5. “Artful Blogging”, a magazine by Somerset Studio features the photographic beauty of several blogs in each issue. Pure eye candy for artistic photography and an interesting mix of tales about the blogging experience. Light and engaging creative inspiration.

Summer’s traditions include uninterrupted hours spent with well loved books. May you be blessed by an inspiring read as the cicadas sing and the porch swing glides.

~

Linking with Still Saturday, Weekend Brew, Sunday Stillness, Coffee for Your Heart, & Tell His Story. Click on the buttons below to read other posts in these communities.

The Cusp of a New Year

Teetering on the edge of a year, 
on the end of another 365 days, 
a brisk glance back brings a few thoughts to mind;
some are simply musings.
Others, really essential.

1. It’s beneficial to record a list of the Books I’v read. For one thing, I surprised myself by the shear number of titles that I’v poured through this past year. 34 books, from several genres, on multiple topics, with faith, art, writing, and strong female characters being predominant themes across nonfiction and literature. Another benefit of the list are the cues offered in remembering titles and content, not to mention insight as to the ebb and flow of my interests, and finally, it makes recommending books easier. 
2. Fiction that taught me the most: Orphan Train and The Invention of Wings.
3. Memoir that made the most indelible impression: Lit by Mary Karr and The Sacred Journey by Buechner.
4. Writers greatly entertain me when they write about writing, such as The Memoir Project by Marion Smith and Pat Conroy’s, My Reading Life.  
5. Talking to my Pastor is something I’ll do more often. Especially when a well known, highly respected, Bible curriculum writer puts forth an interpretation that resonates badly with one’s heart. A good conversation on theology with a compassionate and learned pastor is enlightening, not to mention, good for the soul.
6. Being the Nana of 4 year old  twins is even better than being the Nana of three year old twins. Four year olds send you a hand signed Christmas card. Four year olds remember those swimming lessons that you and grandpa took them to. Four year olds ask their mother if they can call Nana (well, of course!). Four year olds ask “Can we make muffins?” and “What project did you bring for us to do together?”. 
7. Reflections are a second chance to see the wonder. I have taken to noticing the myriad of images that are reflected in our immediate environment. I wrote about it over here. It’s magical to consider the optical science at work in this often missed mirrored world that we pass through every day. It has become one more of those spiritual practices that I weave into my living in order to attend more closely to God’s complexity and awe.
8. Have no doubt. In the midst of wrapping worry around the world’s ongoing traumas and raging atrocities, I wrote here about those three words that rose to my attention last summer. Three words that remain bold within my heart, a bold proclamation of God’s Time regardless of what new year may be marked by mankind.
9. Time is rolling waves of blessed potential. Truly. Capture its gift with hungry hearts. This post last December recalled the words from the 90th Psalm. 
10. The New Year bells come faster across a lifetime; ringing out that snowy year in the seventies just old enough for the first toast with champagne, ringing out in ’81 with a newborn at my breast, ringing out in ’97 newly remarried walking home in the starlight and glitter of softly falling snow, ringing out in 2010 grateful for husband's restored health and the birth of infant grandsons, ...and here they are again, ringing out in 2014. 
11. God's blessings are abundant. Every season, every year. More on abundance over here. With vigilance the reward is sacred. Warm your soul in the abundance of God's grace this year and every year!

Linking with others pondering the New Year over at Emily's blog. Join us.
 We would be please to have you stop by!

Sizing Up the Highlights

Sizing up the month's highlights once again. These bits of thought come to mind... 

1. We all relearned the two faces of March. 

I remain partial to the fragile blooming, bright, crisp air version. And have risked planting flowers in the front porch pots. During the final days of the month I'll learn if that was a smart move or not. Fingers crossed.


2. I was just sort of visually stunned to peruse the Google data center . Take a look at the artistic  innards of what is basically today's version of the blended, global library and post office.

3. I'm discovering HGTV. {Geez, you're thinking, where have you been?} Never the less,  House Hunters International is new to me. I so admire the various motivations that people have for moving beyond their native country. One woman was a food blogger moving to a small city in France to immerse herself in local cuisine to better inform her writing. A couple, after years of working in the hospitality industry, was looking for an island resort of their own, to live in and manage. Making dreams like these a reality takes courage and creativity. Not to mention the fascinating diversity of design and architecture of housing around the world.

4. I hit a jackpot of good reads this month and was introduced to two authors. One, Christian poet Jane Kenyon wrote a delightful collection of essays that were published in A Hundred White Daffodils {must love that title!}. See a post about her writing and excerpts from her poems over here. 

Next up, I courageously ventured through Mary Karr's memoir, LIT. I will admit to skimming the harsh early chapters. It takes a stout heart to read authentic struggles. BUT, the remaining story of hard sought scratching toward survival through faith and her eventual conversion to Christianity was stunning. Her writing is gifted while shirking no realities. In an interview about her work memoirist Mary Karr stated:

"That’s what’s so gorgeous about humanity. It doesn’t matter how bleak our daily lives are, we still fight for the light. I think that’s our divinity. We lean into love, even in the most hideous circumstances. We manage to hope." The Paris Review, 2009.

Swan Thieves was fiction to curl up and get lost in. It wrapped me in the painter's life and art history with a compelling psychological mystery woven through two parallel plots. To be savored.

5. Encountered several beautiful unknown words recently. I favored this one: numinous - spiritually elevated, mysterious.



6. Walking in early spring twilight is heavenly. 
Even as solar beams slip low on the horizon the senses remember heat and light.

                                            ~

Venture over to What We Learned to share the humorous and the quirky of fellow writers in Emily's community. You'll think, "Really? I did not know that!"

Favorites from the Arctic Months

Loved:

the pared down, bare beauty of limbs exposed against winter skies.

Loved:
the iced creations that glistened in the slipstream of the massive arctic vortex that blanketed the continent.

Loved this tea:

Finally, with decided intent, we’ve kicked colas to the curb. Replaced them with various blends of black and green tea; pour on the antioxidants and chase down cortisol. {A go-to favorite, Constant Comment Green tea!}

Loved this recipe:

High volume, colorful vegetables, mouth watering turkey sausage, warm comfort that boasts nutrition!

http://www.tasteslovely.com/italian-sausage-and-vegetable-soup/

Loved this writer's wisdom...

"Life is big like God’s Kingdom. But relationship is small town with Jesus. He knows your name and what you will say before you utter it. His couch is always available and bread never runs out despite circumstance." http://redemptionsbeauty.com/2014/02/05/small-town-living-teaches/

Loved these reads:

Fredrick Buechner’s Sacred Journey, The Hungering Dark & Magnificent Defeat. Three slim volumes with mind stretching insights and spirit stretching reflections.

"...because (by) God's nature he will not let even death separate us from him finally... In love he will have us his true sons before he is through, and in order to do that, one life is not enough." The Hungering Dark, p.78

Loved this study...

The Psalms of Ascent. There was pure warmth as I gathered with several other sweater bundled women this winter to study the Psalms. A deeply reflective and spiritually healing study written by Beth Moore.

Loved this word: 

slipstream; an example,

“Reading numerous posts in the blogging sphere allows one to  travel in the slipstream of words, opinions, ideas of multiple writers.” 

Delighted to be able to indulge in these pursuits, very aware of blessings beyond deserving.

Back to yet another cup of tea in this real feel, 9 degree  day.

                                ~ ~ ~

If you are inclined to read further...
here are some thoughts about time in the New Year and then there are some words in appreciation of walking in winter's sun. 

Always,
I'm humbled to have visitors pause
to read a bit here 
Beside Still Waters.
Lisa

Summer's End, August Learning

August, its a milestone month. 

The final warmth of summer in some regions; 

the final weeks of vacation too. 

The last vestiges of free schedules, sandals, lingering morning coffee by the pool. 

Even we bloggers feel the shift in season and time as the writing glances back at summer's inspiration before stepping into themes for the season ahead. 

In that over-my-shoulder glance, I've noted some things I've learned  like...

Bold summer nail color is way fun... 
(specifically Unfor-greta-bly Blue from OPI)

... then I can link up with Chatting at the Sky 
'cause the community over there likes to share these things.

Things I Learned This Month ~

Gutsy female characters catch my attention every time...
Reading Geraldine Brooks' Caleb's Crossing, a  gorgeous and captivating historical story of a brilliant heroine, Bethia in 17th century Pilgrim New England. I totally curled up for the entire weekend to read this exquisitely written book straight through, that kind of good! Learned a lot, such as: Harvard, the new world's first university in 1650 had an original charter that describes its missions as "the education of the English and Indian youth of this country". Much food for thought in this riveting portrayal [in part] of 17th century education; who gets it, who doesn't, and to what ends.


Repurposed architecture fascinates me...
Fabulous new library rises from the bones of an abandoned Walmart. What do you think of that?


Still have a fascination with words...
Just let this one spill from your tongue, quotidian.  
A mere four syllables, but don't they sound like you must have some intellectual moxie?
Here's the irony. The word means "occurring every day; belonging to the every day; commonplace, ordinary. To my mind, so not ordinary.
Then I read Kathleen Norris' discussion of the "everyday" and this makes it all better:

It is a paradox of human life that in worship...it is in the routine and the everyday that we find the possibilities for the greatest transformation...what we dread as mindless activity can free us, mind and heart, for the workings of the Holy Spirit...  The Quotidian Mysteries, p.82

It appears that I'm officially an introvert...
Susan Cain's bestseller Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking...well it just rings true. And I'm humbled to join the good company of fellow introverts like Eleanor Roosevelt, Madeleine L'Engle, and Rosa Parks. And then the Huffington Post ran an article with this list. So really, I feel better about the strengths that folks like me bring to humanity, such as, in the hunter -gather era, being "geared to inspect" we were more likely to do surveillance, scan the field under cover while the extroverts brashly stepped out in the open, serving themselves up to predators. Thus the introvert's skills of keen observation and data gathering have survived evolution. Something empowering about that.

I love lively, dynamic conversations...
We met for coffee and more than an hour went by as we wildly gestured and parlayed back and forth probably running off more than one adjacent java soul. I'm still an introvert.

How to create Art from Words ...
This nifty site helps you create art work gifts from any collection of words that you like. There are dozens of applications. The one I have seen is a beautiful pastel handprint created from all the names of the staff at our church preschool and given to them as a Back to School gift. Delightful.

A new recipe... 
CLEAN {healthy} Prosciutto Chicken. Easy, fast, low fat, yummy...I'm in. 

September looms with all its seasonal tradition and glory! 

Really hope Emily continues this link up next month. 

Fall has such possibilities! 

Blessings,

Lisa

Curious about other posts in this Link UP? 

Here's the JUNE and JULY lists.