tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post2730625667597623095..comments2023-12-09T00:33:24.572-08:00Comments on Novel Matters: Inspiration Born on Skellig MichaelBonnie Grovehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11377519561074174038noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-22102356484142286012009-03-13T07:25:00.000-07:002009-03-13T07:25:00.000-07:00There is a place in Christian disciplines (the har...There is a place in Christian disciplines (the hard day to day work of living out our faith) that is reflected in the idea of monasticism. The denying of one's self is a very Biblical call, from taking up our cross, the adjunct of Jesus to abandon family, to fasting. We learn through this that we are not slaves to our bodies, to sin, but bond servants of God. That is the value. As Janet mentions, the extremes (and there are always extremes) is where we and "religion" gets whacked out.<BR/><BR/>My inspiration is in my garage working with wood. I don't do it nearly enough, but it energizes me, and that is the focus here. Paul says in a neat verse in Philippians that he is pursuing all that Jesus pursued him for. Jesus grabbed hold of us for a unique reason in a unique way. For most on this blog it is writing (or maybe reading the writing). Whether you find it in a monastery and I find it in a garage and "she" finds it in a chair writing about faith in the lives of people, it's all good.Steve Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02332880875202358601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-68170042085375813412009-03-12T05:51:00.000-07:002009-03-12T05:51:00.000-07:00Sharon, thank you dear sister for the tribute to m...Sharon, thank you dear sister for the tribute to my friend Randall Steele who did indeed go into an involuntary social isolation -- from family, most friends, and the church he once loved when he left Mormonism. Truly a hero for our times. But you're certainly no lightweight, Sharon: You are tackling the big issues in proxy for so many through your thoughtful writing.<BR/><BR/>One thing about sacred places was shared with me by my spiritual mentor who taught me the idea of containment. That is the concept of an area of space being set aside for a purpose. For instance, when an architect decides to design a building, he sets aside, or contains, the space it will occupy -- horizontally and vertically.<BR/><BR/>God Himself did this. He gave a pattern for the tabernacle to Moses. Wherever the Israelites travelled, the space that the tent would enclose became holy, a containment so to speak of His presence. And Temple Mount has become a containment for all the temples that have been built and destroyed there. The containment is still sacred even without the walls and roofs. I have heard people say they felt the long-absent but very real presence of the people who once ministered, walked, and worshiped there.<BR/><BR/>One of Katy's points, I believe, was that when God's people occupy certain spaces, those places become holy. I hope you readers don't mind me inflicting a poem I wrote years ago, about the idea of containment:<BR/><BR/><BR/>BECAUSE YOU ARE STILL<BR/><BR/>Because you are still<BR/>The substance of every breath-taking view of heights<BR/><BR/>Because you are still<BR/>The sweetness of the persistent melody that will not leave my mind<BR/><BR/>Because you are still<BR/>Like faith, both substance and evidence<BR/>Even when unseen<BR/><BR/>Because these things are true<BR/>Truer than before<BR/>Truer than ever<BR/><BR/>I yearn to reclaim your presence<BR/>By walking through the rooms you were in<BR/>By trying to be<BR/>In the spaces you indexed<BR/>In the containment of you<BR/><BR/>Latayne C Scott<BR/>www.latayne.comLatayne C Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04308600868561805601noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-26684440142294422772009-03-11T16:29:00.000-07:002009-03-11T16:29:00.000-07:00I'm like Bonnie. Nature magnifies God's voice. For...I'm like Bonnie. Nature magnifies God's voice. Fortunately, I live in Colorado, not on the mountaintop but down in the valley with its traffic and rush, rush here and there. It takes some, not much, effort to leave the noise behind to be still and know that He is God. It doesn't have to be a mountaintop or a prolonged encounter with a redwood forest, either. A simple walk through a burgeoning orchard, or a desert trail of pinion and juniper, or with my dog along a dirt road with the mountains in the distance. It's all good.<BR/><BR/>Janet, we share many of the same concerns, but I can also see myself resisting what must have seemed like the bastardization of my faith during those heady days of the "church" all-powerful. Each age gives us new challenges when it comes to the faith walk, doesn't it? <BR/><BR/>For instance, I am tired of having so much to manage. I'm not ready to live on a rocky island in the North Sea, especially not to sleep on a slab of rock (oh my), but I wouldn't mind a shoe box of a house with tile floors the color of mud. And one bathroom to clean! Just think of the freedom...time to hike, contemplate, write, give, encounter, love. <BR/><BR/>Katy, as always, you've given us lots to think about. I love you for that.Patti Hillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07575415697841348226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-81339356438191260202009-03-11T15:23:00.000-07:002009-03-11T15:23:00.000-07:00I was born and raised in Alberta. I've sat beside ...I was born and raised in Alberta. I've sat beside mountain waterfalls and heard God thundering into the canyons. When I would return home from these trips, I would picture the spot I had visited and be reminded that the water still flows over those rocks when I am not there to witness it. God still thunders His voice to the canyon perhaps for only the deer to hear.<BR/><BR/>Moments (days even) of stillness bring clarity of thought for me - suddenly deep things feel shallow, and wells of need bubble up in my soul - and I write.<BR/><BR/>But we are only allowed a small pocket in which we can tuck away these experiences - when they are empty we must go and fill them again.<BR/><BR/>When I am very alone with God is when the inexpressable finds a voice.Bonnie Grovehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11377519561074174038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-72691417891761258782009-03-11T13:15:00.000-07:002009-03-11T13:15:00.000-07:00The idea of taking an extended retreat to push asi...The idea of taking an extended retreat to push aside the world for a period of time to reach that point of total immersion in God is intoxicating. I can see how that setting intrigued you and prompted you to write "The Feast of St. Bertie". It evokes feelings of an almost a mystical passion for God. I think the setting works best, even becomes a character, when strong emotions are attached and another place could not be easily substituted. Like Oz, or the farm in "Anne of Green Gables." As actress Tina Fey's TV character says, "I want to go to there." Too bad there isn't a literary travel agency that can set up a tour!Debbie Fuller Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09174333267329587740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-45252015385752301232009-03-11T11:52:00.000-07:002009-03-11T11:52:00.000-07:00Yes, I've read Brother Lawrence's book, although i...Yes, I've read Brother Lawrence's book, although it was many years ago.<BR/><BR/>A simplified lifestyle I think is wonderful. The excesses of the prosperity gospel made me ill. A retreat from the world as a time of renewal also makes sense to me. A permanent retreat, much less so.<BR/><BR/>Sleeping on a stone cold slab makes no sense to me at all. I'd be so busy thinking about the discomfort, I wouldn't have time for God. When I was younger, mind you, I could sleep on a concrete floor, but with my arthritis now... Oy.<BR/><BR/>I'm not trying to be flippant with this. The whole "mortification of the flesh" thing too often led to a fixation with the flesh, much like a concern with modesty can translate to a constant surveillance of women's hemlines. Add to that the classic confusion of the body and the flesh, and you've got a mess.<BR/><BR/>Please note I'm not slamming the premise of your book, especially since I haven't read it. And quite honestly, I have the temperament to find the idea of the contemplative orders very attractive, so it's not a natural aversion to it that makes me question the wisdom of this kind of withdrawal. But ultimately, each person answers to God, not to me. And my understanding of things is not perfect, so I'm content to leave it that way.Janethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04600030574995481267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-31426167995096643432009-03-11T09:47:00.000-07:002009-03-11T09:47:00.000-07:00Janet, I understand your reservations about the mo...Janet, I understand your reservations about the monastic lifestyle, and I share some of them. Remember though, there were 12 or so of these guys on the island. They weren't loners. <BR/><BR/>As I understand, the monastic tradition began after the Emperor Constantin converted and placed the church into the center of power. Before, Christians had pooled their resources, and lived communally. The first monastics deplored the changes brought by the church's new status (it's a long road from martyrdom in the Coliseum to The Inquisition), and determined to go back to the old way of living. <BR/><BR/>The thing that strikes me is the simple, pure wisdom that has so often come out of people who live this way. Ever read <I>The Practice of the Presence of God</I>, by Brother Lawrence? I also highly recommend <I>The Way of the Heart</I> by Henri Nouwen.Kathleen Popahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03682046279211463305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-53853524586060699172009-03-11T09:29:00.000-07:002009-03-11T09:29:00.000-07:00I am personally not at all convinced of the value ...I am personally not at all convinced of the value of this kind of retreat. Our most potent temptations rise from within us. And what are we telling the world about victorious Christian living if the only way we can manage it is to withdraw from the world? And God did not create us to be alone. Although peer pressure can be a terrible things when misapplied, it is also a wonderful thing in preventing us from going off the deep end. Ponder just briefly the truth that serial killers, celebrity killers, indeed, many killers, are known as "loners". It is so easy to blow things out of proportion when you don't have people close to you giving you reality checks.<BR/><BR/>None of which has to do with a sense of place. Sorry about that.Janethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04600030574995481267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6360410252358941163.post-48071118872266234282009-03-11T08:44:00.000-07:002009-03-11T08:44:00.000-07:00Katy: That's a fascinating story. I came across a ...Katy: That's a fascinating story. I came across a similar "monastery" in Moldova while researching Unraveled, (which I hope will be my next release). <BR/><BR/>I can't help think that chosing/living such a lifestyle creates its own harsh and unrelenting temptations, but I marvel and respect more than I can say the devotion to holiness that drives a man or woman to give up everything to pursue it.<BR/><BR/>And yet others give up everything in other ways, as Latayne's letter today describes about what it cost a man to leave Mormonism after reading her Mormon Mirage.<BR/><BR/>I feel like such a light-weight Christian at times.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com