"Language is wine upon the lips." -Virginia Woolf
This post is devoted to two short writings -- one prose, one poetry -- that I have recently found inspiring. My soul is moved more by beautiful words than beautiful music (though music is a very close second). If I read, however, a clever or provocative phrase, I feel giddy, like a little child who has found a precious new toy.
An excerpt from a reflection by Francois Mauriac, a Nobel Prize winning Catholic writer...
"We know that there is a difference between human hope and spiritual hope. We may lose all hope for the temporal salvation of mankind and still await the kingdom of God... But it must not be concluded from this that our hope concerns only eternity; it also concerns the dark world of the living. For the crimes of the will to power which sum up temporal history do not prevent the leaven of which Christ speaks from working tirelessly in the human mass. The fire which He came to cast upon the earth is always smoldering and the bloodiest years of history are nevertheless years of grace."
A poem by Marietta Martin, entitled "Poem of Hope"...
One day there will be no more unexpressed words of love,
There will be no more stifled desires,
There will be no more silent presences: all the voices will be heard,
The veil which the music lifts will never more be lowered,
There will be no more inaccessible space, and
the spool of time will unwind in the present,
All the sister particles of the soul will join together.
The sunsets will be explained,
Beauty will lose its anguish,
Creation will be the clear word of divinity,
One day, like a beautiful voyage toward the beloved dead.
"Words, like Nature, half reveal / And half conceal the Soul within." -Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Tea and Books
"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." -C.S. Lewis
It's a chilly Sunday afternoon, and I am sitting at my desk with steaming hot mint green tea in my roommate's pretty "Le Pear, Produit de France" mug and leftover pizza on a stark white plate. There must be some romance in that, and if there is, I'm sure the poets will find it. I write short stories.
The real issue is my reading homework and legal writing assignment and the many ways to avoid them. So far, I have watched a movie (One Night with the King, the Hollywood-ized story of Queen Ester), spent too much time on Facebook, revised an old short story to give it a new spin, and heated up my tea and pizza. Of course, my killer sore throat, hacking cough and inability to breathe are contributing factors to my unmotivated behavior. And -- contrary to friendly advice -- the copious amount of Vitamin C I have taken over the past couple days has not yet worked its magic.
I would, however, like to post one of my favorite poems for you. (I never said I do not read poetry.) It is simple and beautiful, though I may not agree with all of the author's politics.
"The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean -
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down -
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Now, I think, I will start a load of laundry.
It's a chilly Sunday afternoon, and I am sitting at my desk with steaming hot mint green tea in my roommate's pretty "Le Pear, Produit de France" mug and leftover pizza on a stark white plate. There must be some romance in that, and if there is, I'm sure the poets will find it. I write short stories.
The real issue is my reading homework and legal writing assignment and the many ways to avoid them. So far, I have watched a movie (One Night with the King, the Hollywood-ized story of Queen Ester), spent too much time on Facebook, revised an old short story to give it a new spin, and heated up my tea and pizza. Of course, my killer sore throat, hacking cough and inability to breathe are contributing factors to my unmotivated behavior. And -- contrary to friendly advice -- the copious amount of Vitamin C I have taken over the past couple days has not yet worked its magic.
I would, however, like to post one of my favorite poems for you. (I never said I do not read poetry.) It is simple and beautiful, though I may not agree with all of the author's politics.
"The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean -
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down -
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Now, I think, I will start a load of laundry.
Friday, January 7, 2011
A New Soul and a New Nose
"The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective." -G.K. Chesterton
This is a belated New Year's post, but here it is nonetheless, as I look forward to my second semester of law school and what 2011 has up its sleeves.
2010 was full of wonderfulness. Here are some of the highlights...
I'm excited, 2011. Let's do it.
This is a belated New Year's post, but here it is nonetheless, as I look forward to my second semester of law school and what 2011 has up its sleeves.
2010 was full of wonderfulness. Here are some of the highlights...
- Ringing in the new year at FOCUS Conference in Orlando
- Disney World with friends
- Living in the Treehouse with five of the most beautiful friends
- Spring break in Honduras
- Beach week in Destin
- College graduation
- Being accepted to my first choice law school
- Lazy summer at home with my family
- Harry Potter World
- Returning to my alma mater and favorite city for law school
- Living with two beautiful roommates
- Hiking and rock climbing in Fall Creek Falls
- Study parties at the Frassati House
- Friends' concerts galore
- Finishing (surviving?) my first semester of law school
- The weddings of wonderful friends
- Celebrating Christmas with my family
- Read regularly and get through those books on my bookshelf that have been on the "To Read" list forever, including The Kite Runner, All the King's Men, Catch-22, Lord of the Flies, Fahrenheit 451, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Well and the Shadows, and The Count of Monte Cristo
- Get back into my exercise routine
- Go to bed earlier and get up earlier
- Experiment more in the kitchen
- Practice and put my Spanish skills to use
- Study in a library/quiet/non-distracting place
- Drink less coffee
- Learn how to drive stick shift
- Learn how to play the guitar
- Start writing a book, screenplay and song with Jade
- Fall ever more in love with God
I'm excited, 2011. Let's do it.
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