Chapter 3: Healed, Whole, and Holy
"Story was in no way an evasion of life, but a way of living life creatively instead of fearfully," L'Engle writes. She says that when she was younger and started writing stories, she wrote them to be creative and not be afraid. She wrote to escape the fear that might come. She wrote to bring creativity, and avoid fear. L'Engle speaks of parents who would not want their children to hear "fairytales" or "myths." However, some of the greatest Bible stories for children are those that emphasize things in a way that make kids interested. You have to make stories fun and lively in order to catch the attention of a 5-year old. So sometimes I think it is okay to exaggerate a little bit and make things more relatable.
I absolutely LOVE this paragraph from the book:
"We write, we make music, we draw pictures, because we are listening for meaning, feeling for healing. And during the writing of the story or the painting or the composing or singing or playing, we are returned to that open creativity which was ours when we were children. We cannot be mature artists if we have lost the ability to believe which we had as children. An artist at work is in a condition of complete and total faith."
I love the wording of the paragraph, and I feel like it explains me. I listen to music because it feels like my escape; it makes everything seem little and unimportant.
Chapter 4: A Coal in the Hand
"We are loved because we are his children, because we are." God loves us despite all the mistakes that we make. There is nothing I could do that would separate me from the love of God. God's love is constant, and He continues loving us through our mistakes.
"No matter how much we are hurt, God knows about it, cares about it, and so, through his love, we are sometimes enabled to let go our hurts." God knows when we are hurting. And he cares. So the next time you are hurting about something, go to God in prayer. You do not necessarily have to ask God to take the pain away, but just ask for understanding. Ask God to help you see positively. He cares, and he wants you to talk to him. But be careful to not only talk to God during the hard times, but also the good times. Thank God during the good periods of your life. He's not something you can place on the "back burner" only to be used when times are bad.
I think the purpose of chapter 3 is to get people to remember what it is like to truly feel fearless when creating art. L'Engle points out multiple times that in order to fearlessly create, we must be like little children [Matthew 18:3].
I think the purpose of chapter 4 is to show that God will always be there. He will be there in the good times, the bad times, funny times, happy times, weird times, exciting times. HE WILL ALWAYS BE THERE. But we can't just use Him when we need him. If he is always going to be there for us, shouldn't we act like it? Shouldn't we live everyday like He is right beside us? We need to make sure that we are making God a part of our lives every single day, and not just talking to Him when it's convenient for us.
"Story was in no way an evasion of life, but a way of living life creatively instead of fearfully," L'Engle writes. She says that when she was younger and started writing stories, she wrote them to be creative and not be afraid. She wrote to escape the fear that might come. She wrote to bring creativity, and avoid fear. L'Engle speaks of parents who would not want their children to hear "fairytales" or "myths." However, some of the greatest Bible stories for children are those that emphasize things in a way that make kids interested. You have to make stories fun and lively in order to catch the attention of a 5-year old. So sometimes I think it is okay to exaggerate a little bit and make things more relatable.
I absolutely LOVE this paragraph from the book:
"We write, we make music, we draw pictures, because we are listening for meaning, feeling for healing. And during the writing of the story or the painting or the composing or singing or playing, we are returned to that open creativity which was ours when we were children. We cannot be mature artists if we have lost the ability to believe which we had as children. An artist at work is in a condition of complete and total faith."
I love the wording of the paragraph, and I feel like it explains me. I listen to music because it feels like my escape; it makes everything seem little and unimportant.
Chapter 4: A Coal in the Hand
"We are loved because we are his children, because we are." God loves us despite all the mistakes that we make. There is nothing I could do that would separate me from the love of God. God's love is constant, and He continues loving us through our mistakes.
"No matter how much we are hurt, God knows about it, cares about it, and so, through his love, we are sometimes enabled to let go our hurts." God knows when we are hurting. And he cares. So the next time you are hurting about something, go to God in prayer. You do not necessarily have to ask God to take the pain away, but just ask for understanding. Ask God to help you see positively. He cares, and he wants you to talk to him. But be careful to not only talk to God during the hard times, but also the good times. Thank God during the good periods of your life. He's not something you can place on the "back burner" only to be used when times are bad.
I think the purpose of chapter 3 is to get people to remember what it is like to truly feel fearless when creating art. L'Engle points out multiple times that in order to fearlessly create, we must be like little children [Matthew 18:3].
I think the purpose of chapter 4 is to show that God will always be there. He will be there in the good times, the bad times, funny times, happy times, weird times, exciting times. HE WILL ALWAYS BE THERE. But we can't just use Him when we need him. If he is always going to be there for us, shouldn't we act like it? Shouldn't we live everyday like He is right beside us? We need to make sure that we are making God a part of our lives every single day, and not just talking to Him when it's convenient for us.
http://www.lovethispic.com/image/79250/life-is-good-because-god-is