A Book, Books, and THE Book: The Power of Words
I just finished reading The Little Paris Bookshop, an international bestseller. It’s a delightful novel about a man who sells books from his “The Literary Apothecary” located on a barge. He has a gift for “reading” people and presenting them with just the right book to meet their needs. The book is a love story on many levels as well as a travel book as the man makes his way through France. Any word-lover will savor the language in this book: “a man with a leathery skin like an iguana’s,” “the countryside beneath glittering stars and red summer moons,” “hair like coarse flax on a spindle,” cats’ “tails bristling like scrubbing brushes,” “weeping willows trailed their branches in the water like playful fingers,” “thinking felt like wading through treacle,” “wallowing in our happiness like roast beef in gravy.” The book conveys the lesson that books have the power to change lives. This lesson has been borne out in the lives of several notable people like Ignatius of Loyola. When he was a soldier recuperating from serious wounds, no romantic novels were available, so he read The Life of Christ and a book on the lives of the Saints. Those books set him on the path to being one of the greatest saints himself. A friend of mine became a Catholic after reading Thomas Merton’s Seven Storey Mountain. (more…)
Easter Eggs, Easter Candle, and Easter Joy
A few weeks before Easter, my mom melted beeswax in a coffee can lid. Then she dipped a straight pin inserted in a wooden matchstick into the wax and quickly made strokes on eggs the way her Polish mother taught her. The eggs sat in coffee cups overnight, soaking in vivid colors of Chick Chick dye. Then Mom scraped off the wax with a butter knife, revealing lovely white patterns.
Eggs are associated with Easter because they are a symbol of life. A chick pops out of a seemingly lifeless egg. And Jesus emerged from a tomb with a new and glorious life. His rising was more than resuscitation. Jesus came forth from the tomb no longer bound by space or time but with an entirely new mode of existence. More than 500 people saw him. Other Easter symbols stand for new life: the prolific rabbit, the rising sun, and spring flowers. (more…)
Eyewitness to the Crucifixion: Holy Week Reflection
Since this coming week is Holy Week, I thought I would offer for your reflection this excerpt from my book The Fisherman’s Wife:
The next morning Esther and I help Lydia clear breakfast. Tobiah and Seth are out for a walk. Then seated on pillows with the two women and Leah, I tell them about last night’s strange meal. I’m interrupted when the two men enter the house out of breath. Tobiah says frantically with a stricken face, “They’re going to crucify Jesus. Pilate condemned him to death. They have him carrying a cross out to Golgotha right now.”
My heart stops. “Why are they doing this?”
Tobiah said, “They accused Jesus of treason, saying that he claimed to be king. He was arrested last night, betrayed by one of his apostles, Judas.”
“Judas!” I fairly spit out the name.
“All night Roman soldiers tortured Jesus and tormented him. They shoved a crown of thorns onto his head to mock him. They whipped Jesus so fiercely that people don’t think he will live to be crucified.”
I’m horrified. Possessing a vivid imagination, I picture the violence Jesus endured and what he looks like now and I shudder. (more…)
Wait for Palm Sunday
This Sunday a post will appear here that I hope will be a good reflection for all of Holy Week.
Good Words Work Wonders
What we say can have a powerful positive impact on others, even though we might never know it—until we get to heaven. In the movie “Boyhood,” the mother comments to a young workman digging around a pipe in her yard that he should think about going to the Community College. She tells him that he is smart. Years later as she dines in a restaurant, a man approaches her table. He identifies himself as the young man she spoke to. He is now the manager of that restaurant as a result of her words. Yes, God speaks to us through Scripture and creation, but sometimes he also speaks to us through other people. I’ve been reviewing my life to see what words from others have nudged me along. You might do this exercise sometime too! (more…)
