Walking on Water, a book in review

"I'm a writer. That's enough of a definition. (I infinitely prefer to say that I am a Christian than to mention any denomination, for such pigeonholing is fragmenting, in religion as in art.) So. I am a Christian. I am a writer. When I am grappling with ideas radical enough to upset grown-ups, then I am likely to put these ideas into a story which will be marketed for children, because children understand what their parents have rejected or forgotten." L' Engle, Walking on Water
I recently finished the book, Walking on Water by Madeleine L' Engle. It wasn't on my booklist for 2014 (but nothing I have read so far has been, so at least I'm being consistent.) I picked it up after it was recommended to me by this girl...and since she wrote a book I LOVED, I thought it was a safe bet to start reading.
Walking on Water is a book about faith and art, two things I don't often give the same space to in my thinking; but, while reading this gem, I realized how absolutely intertwined and dependent they are on one another. L' Engle pours her thoughts onto the pages like it's just a chat with a friend~ but it reads like profound revelation; and I love that. In fact, I'd say the wide umbrella theme for the book is art and faith; but everything from Bach to physics is touched on~ which made it especially wonderful to me; since I have a background in math and science, but love art equally as much.
There is so much grace between the pages. So many nuggets of beauty and theology~ and it all feels like you've already thought it before; but lost it somehow as you grew up into a busy, needed, scheduled adult. I loved to grab a hot coffee and settle down into my chair, just to feel the same excitement I did as a kid~ not bound by worldly (or even "Christian") expectations... Just given the freedom to think about my Creator, all boundaries and limits off. As a homeschooling parent, especially, this call to freedom- to learn and love Jesus as He is, not how I imagine Him to be- is critical and precious. (I also loved her view on what constitutes 'Christian art' or a 'Christian book'; so, so good!)
I know I will forever be returning to the underlined and dog-eared pages of Walking on Water. I get excited over books that are true treasures~ for certain, this book is almost too full of goodness. If you want something short and sweet to read this summer, that might just be totally amazing, you need to grab this book.

"All that the new discoveries of science can do is to enlarge our knowledge of the magnitude and glory of God's creation. We may, and often do, abuse our discoveries, use them for selfish and greedy purposes, but it is the abuse which causes the conflict, not the discoveries themselves. When they upset the religious establishment it is not because they have done anything to diminish God; they only diminish or- even more frightening- change the current establishment's definition of God...(But) Our fear and our rejection do not take away from the truth, and the truth is what the Bible instructs us to know in order that we may be free."
For a list of my favorite reads in the past year, click here.