reading

Why I Can’t Stop Reading Good Books……..

November 30, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 13 Comments

“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become. In reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.”
~C.S. Lewis

After nearly two weeks of planning and baking and decorating and cooking, Thanksgiving seemed to blow in and out like a summer storm. It was wonderful and ever so brief. Lingering around the table with coffee and dessert never lasts long enough for me. The rest of the weekend, I spent playing board/card games and reading. My weekend reads consisted of a few exceptional blog archives from Conversion Diary (and some of her links) and the book Uncharted by Angela Hunt, along with some excellent Advent readings. My mind is still reeling. I approached this book with a healthy degree of skepticism when I read this on the back cover:

“…A blend of the movies Castaway and The Big Chill, with a touch of the television series Lost, creatively thrown together with the biblical story of the beggar Lazarus and C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce.”

I’m a huge fan of (have a serious literary crush on) C.S. Lewis….so when his name gets tossed around, I get defensive. I’ve read all but 3 of his books and most of them several times…..Mere Christianity maybe 6 or 7…..and he is in my estimation the most gifted christian writer of the 20th century….hands down. Steve and I plan to fight over who gets to have coffee with him first in heaven. The Great Divorce happens to be my 2nd favorite of his books. So I read….but with some skepticism.

I read the book in less than 2 days. It was compelling enough to keep me reading. I had to force myself to put it down…..to shower and such. I will give none of the plot away, but I will say that it is a book that will change me….that will change the way I think about the world…..that will cause me to ‘transcend myself’ and for that I am always grateful. It does not approach the genius of The Great Divorce but I can understand and appreciate the comparison. This book and the unrelated blog posts that I read this weekend have certainly ‘irrigated the deserts of my life’ and left me with the following observations that I want to share with you:

1. We often look/long for something to satisfy our souls that is unattainable. If we just had the right job/spouse/church /children/home/car/job/circumstances/camera….. then life would be what we have always hoped for. The perfect sublime will of God is right before our eyes and we miss it. Everyday. We long to do something important….. something that matters. His will…..his perfect will is exactly where you are….with exactly the people you are surrounded by….doing exactly your vocation….to the best of your ability and to the glory of God. Even if that means doing what I’m doing….playing a memory game with my girls while I fold a load of laundry and wonder aloud how this ghastly amount of dust by my fireplace escaped my swipe before Thanksgiving. The every-day, mundane, mind-numbing tasks of daily life were hardly the place I’d look to try to find this ethereal ideal of the will of God. But that’s His design of vocation. Help me to see where the mundane touches the divine, Lord and help me to ‘serve my neighbor’ (often my children) as I perform the tasks that my vocation requires.

2. We long to find a little time/space to ourselves. We hurry through our ‘chores’ and perhaps through the kids’ nighttime routine in hopes that we can secure a little something for ourselves…maybe a corner of our hearts where noone can invade. …or at least an hour on the computer….where the pull of impatient hands will not be felt. We hurry through a game of Sorry with the little ones to get to some ‘quiet’ time where we would surely suppress rage if they invade…..for another drink of water or another kiss goodnight. God says that I belong wholly to Him. All of my time is His. All of my heart is His. He entrusts me to be a good steward of this precious time He gives me to shepherd and nurture these little lives. Help me to not hurry them Lord. Help me to answer their questions with understanding. Give me wisdom to see that their ‘interruptions’ are Your divine will….that every circumstance that presents itself in my life……is a chance to serve You and teach them. And though I will certainly give thanks when the peaceful moments come, I will not seek those moments at the expense of my childrens’ discipleship.

3. Despite everything within our sinful nature that would like to take credit for any ‘good’ found in ourselves, we are in absolute and abject poverty without the grace of God at work in our lives. I cannot even take credit for the fact that I am a christian. It’s all His work. It is He that rescues and saves and redeems and loves. All good gifts come from Him and in Him we ‘live and move and have our being’. Why then do I find myself judging others and feeling ‘glad ‘I’m not like those people’? Lord, remind me of the complete and utter despair that exists outside You. Remind me that the very thing I could never earn…..You have freely given. Remind us of Luther’s words that, ‘We are beggars, all.’

4. This was a weekend of reaffirming why it is that I decided to homeschool. This online article articulates what I’ve often wanted to tell those who are curious whether or not my children will turn out to be social misfits with little to no impact on their culture for Christ. I am more motivated than ever to create a culture in our home of learning and faith and serving my family. When I was an active volunteer at my childrens’ school in the past, I felt a certain ‘pouring out of myself’ to the multitudes with little to nothing left at times to ‘pour out’ on those I am called to serve the most……my own family. Sally Thomas said it marvelously:

“The challenge for homeschoolers, then, is not to embrace a kind of spiritual Marxism, in which a limited amount of parental nurture and Christian witness is redistributed, in diluted form, to the masses—or to feel guilty if they don’t—but rather to bear persistent witness to the worth of children, the rewards of family life, and the hope that lies in nurturing culture on a small but potent scale, soul by soul by soul.”

It has been a much needed ‘filling up’ of my tank and this rich reading….along with the Advent readings will take me a while to process.

And that’s why I can’t stop reading good books…and good blogs!

I’ve missed you this week girls!

I almost forgot…..

August 30, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 4 Comments

to take a picture of my bookclubbers, but at the last moment with only 8 of us left, I remembered. Sorry for the poor quality photo and sorry to all you bookies who left too soon! We had a marvelous time discussing Pride and Predjudice (which we actually did discuss) and we enjoyed some good food and coffee and fun fellowship. This is phase one of my “Keeping My Sanity” strategy while I’m homeschooling. I am one of those types of people who is energized by the company of others, by cooking and seeing lots of people enter my home. Next months’ read is Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. I’m on chapter 3 and love it already. I’ll leave you with this quote from the book about Aunt Chloe that seems to be my mantra in life, “The arrival of company at the house, the arranging of dinners and suppers “in style,” awoke all the energies of her soul; and no sight was more welcome to her than a pile of travelling trunks launched on the verandah, for then she foresaw fresh efforts and fresh triumphs”.

My Bookclub debuts this week….

August 26, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 6 Comments

I came across this book this summer when I was tirelessly searching and reading in preparation for homeschooling. The same author wrote “The Well-Trained Mind” which we are using to give our kids a comprehensive classical education. This is her answer to, “How do I give my children the classical education which I never had?”. Besides being a great start on ‘books every educated person should have read’ , this is an excellent tutorial on how to properly read a book. Since I’m a “bookie” of sorts, reading this book made my heart flutter and gave me a renewed sense of structure and purpose to my own reading. Of course, I then wanted to share my new enthusiasm with everyone, so I started a book club, using this book as a guide for how and what to read. A few upcoming titles on our list are “Pride and Predjudice” , which we will discuss this week, “Madame Bovary” , “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, “One Hundred Years of Solitude” just to name a few. I couldn’t be more excited; reading with a purpose, friends and coffee, laughing and visiting. I am also determined that this will be a “real” bookclub where people actually read the book. So far, I’m encouraged. Of the 17 people who have RSVP’d yes, they’ve all mentioned how hard it has been to get through the 19th century language of Jane Austen. Because I’m a C.S. Lewis buff, I’ve had a little practice in reading the style and vocabulary of well-educated English writers. It’s like any other exercise….very hard at first but the practice pays off. It’s not the book I’m worried getting through at this point; it’s trying to come up with discussion questions that don’t bore me and everyone to tears. Any suggestions? The first question on my list, “Are you a Jane or a Lizzie?” and “Are you married to a Mr. Darcy or Mr. Bingley?”

Thoughts from the lake……

August 7, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth 1 Comment

This was our view from our little lake cabin that Steve’s family owns on Lake Louise in Alexandria Minnesota. It is a darling little place and we cozied in together and had a jewel of a time. We spent lazy mornings in our PJ’s and sweatshirts reading C.S. Lewis and drinking way too much coffee, followed by swimming, floating, playing games, more reading, knitting; in essence a whole lot of R-and-R. Steve’s mom made lots of amazing food which I ate a hefty amount of and then polished that overindulgence off with a scarce amount of exercise. So, I was in fact a vacationing fool. Did I even shower? Maybe twice. But I was in water, technically. And we follow the lake tradition of shampooing our hair in the lake so as to truly justify our lack of shower taking. My kids love this. They rejoice as if they are getting away with crimes against each other. I will list other things of interest in no particular order.

1. I love the new word I learned from Julie and Sophie. “Bojangles- definition…jewelry–cheap jewelry. I love the word and I can’t stop using it. I even bought some bojangles in the Mall of America just so I could say “bojangles”. Go ahead. Use it in context. They won’t mind.

2. I have fond memories of our “Little House on the Prairie” extravaganza. We watched the whole season one while we were gone. I’ve always secretly wanted to be Laura Ingalls. I guess every girl who grew up in the seventies did. Now my girls can share the magic. Even Caiti (my 15 yo daughter) watched it with us…..and loved it. What’s not to love, why there’s handsome, perfect “paw” and gnarly Nellie and that bump music which is permanently ingrained in all our brains……da da da da……da da da da…….

3. There is something strangely fantastic about being in a town with so many Lutherans and so many Lutheran churches. You have this feeling (probably misguided) that people just “get” you. Living in the south and being a Lutheran is lonely proposition. At least Stevie and I have each other and of course our precious “Issues”. We couldn’t survive the parched south without Todd and Jeff.

4. People are so blasted crafty in Minnesota. There’s quilt shops and yarn shops galore. The atmosphere makes one want to crochet…..or knit…..or sew something. You feel like such a schlep if you don’t have crafting skills. I’m learning but southern girls are raised on being good cooks and hostesses and always having your lipstick on. That’s what we’re good at. But I just down right admire a girl who can piece a quilt. It’s on my bucket list.

5. Possibly my favorite thing about visiting MN is having the pleasure of seeing Stevie laugh like he laughs at no other time. His dad and his brother Jeff can just get each other going. They are a funny bunch.

June 30, 2008 by Edie Wadsworth Leave a Comment

So, the little girls amused themselves by making real “stick” people…and by that, I mean paper dolls attached to “sticks”. They named them “little sister” and “big sister”. I suggested “thing one” and “thing two” but I lost. They also can’t stop talking about the new American Girl moving that opens this Wed. July 2nd about the story “Kit”. I bought that doll for Caiti when she was 9, I think. I have such fond memories of lying in her bed with her reading about Kit. Maybe she will join the little girls and I for the movie. It’s fun to see Emme and Elea now going through the same stages…..they just came to ask me to bake Kit a birthday cake. It’s apparently her birthday today. Who knew?

Steve chose “The Great Divorce” as his read for the day which is a masterpiece by C.S. Lewis about the great divorce or chasm between heaven and hell. To wet your appetite, “…life is not like a river but a tree. It does not move toward unity but away from it and the creatures grow further apart as they increase in perfection. Good, as it ripens, becomes continually more different not only from evil but from other good.” Great read, one of my favorites. Then I haphazardly picked up Craig Parton’s book(that brother Jeff gave us, I think) and started perusing. Before I knew it I was hooked and in about 3 hours I finished it. It, also, is a great read. And there is something marvelous about finishing a book. I have several started right now….Pilgrims’s Progress, Don Quixote, Thomas a’ Kempis, ad lib ad nauseum, and I am bleeding from the eyes from all the curriculum reading……so to actually start and finish a book in one evening….now that is closure. The literary equivalent of running a 10K and the antithesis of having 10 half finished books staring at you on your nightstand, which is my MO.

I pondered reorganizing the laundry room which looks like this when you read a whole book in one day. But I didn’t.

I turned my attention to the soon-to-be schoolroom which was recently painted(floor, walls, and trim) by my mom, myself, my son and Andrew. Yep, this is them “working”. Take careful notice of the pink bedazzled cowgirl hat and the colorful, gardening/hiking boots. These are your tax dollars at work(they both attend the local public school). So, I…….

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