posted April 06, 2009 09:09 PM            

I'm reading:

An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison

The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawence

posted April 06, 2009 10:41 PM            

Concerning the Spiritual in Art
by Wassily Kandinsky

posted April 07, 2009 02:12 AM            

492The love of our Mother will be the breath
that kindles into a living flame the embers of virtue
that are hidden under the ashes of your indifference.

544The Communion of the Saints. How shall I explain it to you?
You know what blood transfusions can do for the body?
Well, that's what the Communion of the Saints does for the soul.

~ from: "The Way" by Josemaria Escriva

posted April 07, 2009 03:18 AM            

When we speak of the aim and Art observable in Shakespeare's works, we must not forget that Art belongs to Nature; that it is, so to speak, self-viewing, self-imitating, self-fashioning Nature. The Art of a well-developed genius is far different from the Artfulness of the Understanding, of the merely reasoning mind. Shakspeare was no calculator, no learned thinker; he was a mighty, many-gifted soul, whose feelings and works, like products of Nature, bear the stamp of the same spirit; and in which the last and deepest of observers will still find new harmonies with the infinite structure of the Universe; concurrences with later ideas, affinities with the higher powers and senses of man. They are emblematic, have many meanings, are simple and inexhaustible, like products of Nature; and nothing more unsuitable could be said of them than that they are works of Art, in that narrow mechanical acceptation of the word.

posted April 07, 2009 03:37 AM            

Right now I am trying to finish the Book Thief before I go on holiday. I want to send it to a friend, chances are he has read it already, but I can afford the postage, so it's worth the chance.

Death narrates and describes the sky a lot. "The clouds were dirty, like footprints in melting snow," he says as he takes a soul in the seige of Stalingrad.

The story is set in Germany in the 2nd World War, so death distracts itself by looking at the colours in the sky quite often. Even the clouds want to look away in one passage. Guess where that part took place.

The experiences of a young girl is a large part of the book. She's the book thief of the title.

Blue heart here out of respect for the subject matter. Lot's of untimely death in this book.

posted April 07, 2009 04:12 AM            

quote:

---

Oh, this is where we compete
about who is reading the most
deeply meaningful spiritual book?

I am going to be such a disappointment.

---

A disappointment to whom? Not to me, blue moon, though I understand your feelings. Of course, it would be nice if we didn't see it that way, but I suppose people will always compete, or feel as though they are being competed with. So, I guess, if we must compete, there are plenty of worse things to compete over, than the appreciation of saints and saintly things. Yes? But, for the record, I am not competing with you. I'm competing with people who make us both look like hell. Its the only way to stay humble and keep things in perspective, as far as I can tell. And, as you may know, I have a tremendous need of that.

"The clouds were dirty,
like footprints in melting snow,"

posted April 07, 2009 04:20 AM            

I got this book out of the charity shop, I was after a break from my normal book (history, I didn't quite do it, did I?). It gripped me from the start. Recommended for anyone who wants to read something that is neither frivolous nor brain-aching.

posted April 07, 2009 04:30 AM            

We all need an escape once in a while,
or something perfectly middle-of-the-road,
but its nice to reach for the stars, too, sometimes.

"It is better to aim at a lion and miss,
than to aim at a jackal and kill it."
~ hindu proverb

I do not see it as judging people, but,
I do see a place for exercising judgement.

There is indeed a hierarchy of interests.
And we ought not to sacrifice discrimination
for the sake of making everyone comfortable.

I will admit to watching dumb romantic comedies,
but only as a break from more profound and enlightening fare.

The world being what it is,
it can sometimes seem as though
anything besides a deep treatise
on the love of God is frivolous.

Sometimes.

quote:

---

Learning, escapism or spiritual quest, it all serves a purpose.

---

Yes, but not always the highest purpose.

Often, it just serves to keep us comfortable,
locked into bad habits that serve neither us, nor others.

Often it is just a way to kill time,
when we have lost our way, and forgotten
that there are better things to focus on.

We can all help to remind one another of this,
since it is something we all tend to forget regularly.

posted April 07, 2009 04:45 AM            

One book I enjoyed was Women Who Run With the Wolves - Clarissa Pinkola Este. I just want the viewpoint of someone who has thought about something they experience.

I can't 'do' spiritual at the moment. Spent years doing that.

posted April 07, 2009 04:51 AM            

One of the books on the shelves was a bit explicit, edging towards porn. The visiting librarian said: we'll take it, put it in the box. If that gets people in the library and reading, it's a start.

Another librarian said about a rather graphic biology book: we'll have that for the nurses.

I loved working there.

Just a little anecdote, on a tangent. Good job Lara isn't on board yet, it is a habit she finds most annoying.

A bit of escapism isn't a bad thing, is it? There is such a thing as thinking too much, as I know well. It can be hard to switch off sometimes.

posted April 07, 2009 04:54 AM            

quote:

---

I haven't been able to read anything for months. I don't know why. It really bothers me.

---

I went through that, wheels. But it lasted years!! I was once an avid reader. Loved reading. I don't know what's happened. My interest has really changed over the years.

posted April 07, 2009 04:59 AM            

When we are thinking too much,
there are other ways to search.

(I had to practically burn my mind up,
before I began listening with my heart.)

But junk food is junk food,
for the body or for the soul.