way leads on to way

yesterday i told you about Marianna; today, let me tell you about one of her books.

a few months ago, she recommended Walking a Literary Labyrinth: a Spirituality of Reading by Nancy Malone.  a book about reading written by a nun?  yes and yes!  i enjoyed Nancy’s book and finished with a lengthy list of new authors to look up–among them, the wonderful and wise Catholic academic Elizabeth Johnson.  she also recommended Take and Read: Spiritual Reading, and Annotated List by Eugene Peterson.  i was absolutely taken with the title.  a play on the invitation of Jesus (our true word) to his friends to take and eat the broken bread.   but our library didn’t have it, so i waited a few weeks for an inter-library loan.

(an aside–Ann is talking homeschool today.  and really i can think of no better reason to school at home than this: following the lines on pages, the connections, the recommendations, leaving a trail of pages.  sharing my discoveries with my children and getting a chance to share theirs.  it’s good work indeed.)

in his introduction, Peterson invites each of us to read his list, but more, to start our own lists.  to keep a record of which books speak to us, to trace our spiritual development through our book lists.  i was immediately intrigued and interested in beginning my own list.  i read alot.  and often the words flow through my hands without much response from me.  i merely consume.  and that leaves me feeling empty and not quite satisfied.  it keeps me always moving on to the next book.  i’m still working out what my responses look like….and if they’re something to be shared in this space.  but it’s a good idea, and one i wanted to share with you.