Saturday, April 24, 2010

"It's better for the heart to break than not to break."

The very best kind of books are the ones that crack your heart open and then fill it with beautiful things that you never thought of.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Go do!

"Tie strings to clouds
Make your own lake - Let it flow
Throw seeds to sprout
Make your own break - Let them grow

Let them grow (Endless summers)
Let them grow (Endless summers)

(Go do endless summers)

You will survive, will never stop wonders
You and sunrise will never fall under

You will survive, will never stop wonders
You and sunrise will never fall under
We should always know that we can do anything

Go do!
"


From Jónsi's new album, which I cannot get enough of.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

festival of faith and writing, day 3.

"I became a writer because I was born baffled."
Parker Palmer, "The Shadow of My Hand on the Paper: Writing and Living a Life."

"Faith is being willing to acknowledge the contradictions and live among them."
Parker Palmer

"In my experience at least, God does not tell me what to do but companions me in the darkest places."
Parker Palmer

"[poetry] offers us a way to be creative with our faith that sometimes we lose if we participate merely in the church side of our faith."
Rhoda Janzen, "Writing With a Poet's Eye: Rhoda Janzen and Thomas Lynch in Conversation"

"I wasn't trying to say 'this happened to me.' I was trying to say 'this happens.'"
Thomas Lynch

"In my relationship to nature I have chosen lust. I have chosen promiscuity...to love and to enjoy as many things as I can."
Kathleen Dean Moore, "Leaves and Bones: the Art of Spiritual Nature Writing"

"I truly believe that one of the most wonderful and reverent things you can say to another human being is 'look!'"
Kathleen Dean Moore

"The way to get rid of cliché in your writing is to be absolutely honest. Did the wind 'roar in like a lion?' Not really."
Kathleen Dean Moore

Friday, April 16, 2010

festival of faith and writing, day 2.

"I was flabbergasted to learn that thousands of women had burned their bras in public. I didn't even know you were allowed to say 'bra.'"
Rhoda Janzen

"This leap from captivity to restoration is the same leap we take to move forward toward the mystery of faith."
Rhoda Janzen

"This is our story and it isn't pretty but it can change."
Rhoda Janzen, "Memoir as Captivity Narrative"

"Not writing what I know but edging into what I didn't know."
Eugene Peterson, "Poet and Pastor on Patmos"

"You have to find a way to pull the readers through the pages - but not a cheap way."
Brady Udall

"Formal structure allows the emotional and creative mind to take over - readers need the formal structure to allow emotions free rein."
Brady Udall, "How to Build a Novel"

"If you try to work from the raw material of life you very quickly come up short."
Dara Horn, "Belief as a Generator of Plot in Fiction"

"Books are slow. They draw you into contemplation and solitude. Computers are for grazing and impatience."
Karl Pohrt, speaking on a panel entitled "the Case for Printed Books"


Today was, for the most part, more instructive. But everyone was still beautiful and eloquent and gave me so much to think about. Also, Rhoda is still fabulous.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

festival of faith and writing, day 1.

"The Holy Spirit doesn't seem to mind being embarrassed."
Eugene Peterson

"Poets are the high priests of language."
Eugene Peterson

"Food and healing often go together."
Sara Miles

"Prayer can't cure. Prayer can only heal. The difference is that God's idea of healing often doesn't match our own."
Sara Miles

"When we share that bread and wine we can't stay the same."
Sara Miles

"I think that I've seen miracles and the way that I could tell they were miracles is that it was different than what I thought should happen."
Sara Miles

"I hope you begin to experience abundant life - all of you."
Sara Miles


This conference is feeding my soul and creativity in ways I was not even expecting. Except Wally Lamb. He was boring.

Monday, April 5, 2010

This might seem trivial...

The very first time I prayed intentionally by myself I was sitting in our orange tree. Orange trees are the very best to climb. The branches are knobby, which makes it very easy to climb, even for a small five-year-old. In the spring, they grow very beautiful white flowers, which are lovely to smell even if you are allergic. The leaves are thick and very dark green, which block out the Arizona sun and create your own little world. And of course...there are oranges. The biggest, juiciest, naval oranges you have ever seen. What could be better than perching in a tree and eating oranges all afternoon long?

Friday, while procrastinating, I was on Google Earth. Since the town I currently live in is a green blur on Google Earth, I was looking at the Arizona house. Last time I did this, I noticed that they got a trampoline (which Dad always told us wouldn't fit). This time I noticed something more tragic than that: the orange tree is gone. I don't know if it got sick or if it just got too big. I know that it is silly to mourn a tree, but it really was a great tree.