Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Raindrops like Stars
I sat here this morning as the light fell in slanted and shadowed with a cup of coffee and silence. Everyone else was sleeping. I pulled a book off the shelf and started reading it -- a book that someone sent me long ago that I would say falls into the Christian literature genre -- maybe even Christian self-help. It's by Rob Bell and called Drops Like Stars. I had shelved the book when I got it, after a quick and cursory look-through, lots of pain and suffering, the man on the cross, the agony, etc. Lots of inspiration. But this morning, I opened it halfway through and started reading it, only a few words on a page.
So in the end of every major disaster, every tiny error,every wrong turning, every fragment of discarded clay, all the blood, sweat and tears -- everything has meaning. I give it meaning. I reuse, reshape, recast all that goes wrong so that in the end nothing is wasted and nothing is without significance and nothing ceases to be precious to me. (the character Harriet March, a sculptor in a novel by Susan Howatch)
My coffee steamed in my face as I read on, illuminated by chance.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Lovely. And I love that cozy chair in the corner with the sunlight streaming in. Read on!
ReplyDeleteSweetness. And coming from you, truly sweet with no sap.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Susan Howatch is one of my all-time favorite authors of INTELLIGENT, historically and spiritually invigorating fiction (I know that sounds like an impossible combo, but it's true). I normally avoid fiction, but she is worth reading.
I LOVE this excerpt. I really do.
ReplyDeleteAs I sat in your house the other night, I felt such peace. Your home exuded this warmth and safety. Hard to explain, but in that moment, on that evening especially, it was a thing of beauty.
Can I come back soon, please??
Sounds a bit like instructions for memoir writing.
ReplyDeletethat corner, that comfy chair are seriously seductive.
ReplyDeletei have a few spiritual-with-intent books in the bathroom, mostly thich nhat hanh. every once in a while, a random opening offers up just the right amount of enlightenment, at just the right time.
i love how that happens, the exact passage you need, in a perfect chair in the dappled morning light. this makes me exhale.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful.
ReplyDeleteI wrote something about you on my blog today. Don't be embarrassed.
" I reuse, reshape, recast all that goes wrong so that in the end nothing is wasted and nothing is without significance and nothing ceases to be precious to me. "
ReplyDeletethank you for this. so very much. i'm copying this one down, too.
A very potent reminder of being open to the moment and what it brings.
ReplyDeleteI dreamed of you and yours last night, Elizabeth. It was sweet.