Tag Archives: reflections on the psalms

I’ve reached my Goodreads Challenge reading goal for the year!

Actually, I’m one book ahead! I set a goal for 20 books this year, which was fewer than what I hoped to read but which I thought was actually attainable. BUT, we’re less than halfway through the year and I’ve already read 21, which I’m super excited about. My list of things to read is ever-growing, so I’m interested to see what count I get to by the end of the year.

Here are the cover shots from Goodreads of all the books I’ve read. I seem to remember last year it let me make a collage, but maybe that feature is only available at the end of the year? If I’ve written a review, images link back! Looks like I’m behind on my reviews (no surprise there) and like I’m really into romances this year…blame it on pregnancy hormones making me sappy?

Colorado Summer Stars by Jill Haymaker   Little City by the Lake by Celia Wilkins   Stay with Me by Carolyn Astfalk   Wild Things by Bruce Handy   Letting Go and Letting God by Kathleen Atkinson OSB   The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan   Marta's Ride by Gordon L. Rottman   The Hardest Ride by Gordon L. Rottman   The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway   Rejoice and Be Glad by Pope Francis   The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin   Twenty-One Trees by Linda Cousine   Sora's Quest by T.L. Shreffler   When I see your Face by Devika Fernando   The Alcatraz Coup by Patricia Loofbourrow   Sweet Masterpiece by Connie Shelton   The Becomer by David Michael Miller   Reflections on the Psalms by C.S. Lewis   F in Exams by Richard Benson   Spaghetti Head by Sarah Tyley   Prairie Girl by William Anderson

Book Beginnings and Friday 56: Reflections on the Psalms by C.S. Lewis

So I just realized that my last post for Book Beginnings (hosted over at Rose City Reader) and Friday 56 (hosted at Freda’s Voice) was also a C.S. Lewis book. What a lovely coincidence!

       

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you might remember that my daughter gave me Reflections on the Psalms as a birthday present last year — an incredibly thoughtful birthday present at that! I love C.S. Lewis, but I’ve found this one a little hard to get through, unfortunately. It’s full of genius, as are all of his books that I’ve read, but this one puts me to sleep a bit. That said, I’m highlighting it this week because 1) I’m almost done! (half a chapter left), and 2) Despite it’s slowness, I have learned a lot from it and I’m still glad I’ve read it; you might find it worth your time as well!

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Here goes:

Beginning:

This is not a work of scholarship. I am no Hebraist, no higher critic, no ancient historian, no archaeologist. I write for the unlearned about things in which I am unlearned myself.

Page 56:

There is a stage in a child’s life at which it cannot separate the religious from the merely festal character of Christmas or Easter…But of course the time will soon come when such a child can no longer effortlessly and spontaneously enjoy that unity. He will become able to distinguish the spiritual and festal aspect of Easter…And once he has distinguished he must put one or the other first.

The opening lines are a little off-putting if you don’t recognize Lewis’s genius; it is precisely this “unlearned-ness” that makes his writing approachable and understandable to so many. My excerpt above from page 56 is just one example of his ability to speak spiritual truths in a straightforward manner. This one happens to be timely, too, given that Christmas just recently passed!