Category: Uncategorized
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The Princess and the Goblin, Curdie and Faith
George MacDonald’s The Princess and the Goblin and his sequel The Princess and Curdie are beautifully crafted fairytales. The language, the setting, and the characters delight the mind, but as in all great fairy tales, they also touch important truths. Throughout the books, MacDonald provides a picture of the nature of faith. Really, he provides…
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Book Review: The Aroma of Beauty
“Beauty could not rebuild our cities, but it helped to rebuild our humanity and to bring us closer to one another. Beauty could not bring back family and friends, but it helped us weep for them, remember them, and celebrate them,” Aroma of Beauty, pp.138 What is the role of art in the midst of a…
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People in A Story: How Book Characters Teach Us to Love Well
“I wish we could sometimes love the characters in real life as we love the characters in romances. There are a great many human souls whom we should accept more kindly, and even appreciate more clearly, if we simply thought of them as people in a story.” ― G.K. Chesterton, What I Saw in America Loving characters…
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The Giver: Choosing to Live In Color
“Sometimes I wish they’d ask for my wisdom more often–there are so many things I could tell them; things I wish they would change. But they don’t want change. Life here is so orderly, so predictable–so painless. It’s what they’ve chosen.“–The Giver, Lois Lowry (pp. 130). If given the choice between a life that’s painless…
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Learning to Empathize with Hedda Gabler
“It’s a liberation to know that an act of spontaneous courage is yet possible in this world. An act that has something of unconditional beauty.”― Henrik Ibsen, Hedda Gabler Reading a play produces a very different experience than seeing it performed before your eyes. In a play, every detail adds layers to the words–the subtleties of tone,…
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Puddle Pug: A Picture Book On Mud and Friendship
Puddle Pug by Kim Norman was originally published in 2014, but I only recently came across it. This precious gem of a picture book is now a top favorite of mine. Not only is the story utterly adorable, but it’s also a lovely reminder of the wonder of friendship. A Quick Summary Percy the Pug…
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Pygmalion: Fairness and Kindness
“The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she’s treated. I shall always be a flower girl to Professor Higgins, because he always treats me as a flower girl, and always will; but I know I can be a lady to you, because you always treat me…
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Book Review: Kingdom Above the Cloud
“Not so long ago—a little less than fifty years ago—everyone lived above the clouds on the squat Mount Lemuel to the northeast oftheir valley. Adwin made that mountain and oversaw everything and everyone on it. He was kind and peaceful and taught the people to be kind and peaceful as well. However, his benevolence did…
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East of Eden: Choice and Responsibility
“We have only one story. All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil.” –East of Eden, John Steinbeck A friend and I decided to read East of Eden by John Steinbeck together. When we finished, she commented on how she felt she had lived a whole life…
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The Making of Us, Part 2: Unraveling Calling and Identity
“The Celtic idea of pilgrimage was different. . .They set out directionless into the wild or let their coracles drift wherever the currents took them. Pilgrimage for the Celt was an act of voluntary exile, leaving the comfort and security of home to be in complete abandonment to God. Any benefit to them wasn’t waiting…