Truly excellent writing causes us to think deeply.
It is the sort of writing that can raise as many questions as it answers; prompting questions and promoting thought.
“Mind appeals to mind and thought begets thought and that is how we become educated. For this reason we owe it to every child to put him in communication with great minds that he may get at great thoughts; with the minds, that is, of those who have left us great works; and the only vital method of education appears to be that children should read worthy books, many worthy books.”
-Charlotte Mason, from the Introduction: Towards A Philosophy of Education, Book 1 (1922)
This “vital method” is employed with great enthusiasm and exceptional results as I curate my own children’s education at home. Many worthy books and things cross my desk as I prepare an educational feast for their studies. Regretably I don’t often have the time to personally read all the lovely things I collect and arrange for my children to enjoy. However, today was a ‘reading’ day for me. Which means that I took the day to lounge at my computer and peruse a few favorite websites gleaning goodness as I read one delightful article after another. From e-books to e-zines as I grazed and gazed on lush writing I happened upon this excellent piece of writing by Amy Lepine Peterson over at the Curator. I thought I would pass it along. You may read it by clicking the link below:
Speaking Faith as a Second Language
This article is an example of just such worthy writing. It promoted lovely thought and prompted me to ask several questions…
How fluent is my own faith?
Is the Gospel of Grace I hold so dear clearly articulated through my “body language” when words fail me?
Is my heart continually communicating in the universal language of heaven, the language of love?
These questions beg my heart and mind for answers. And how shall I answer them? What can I say? How does one become fluent in Faith? How do we best express Hope? Because yes, I want to declare it, but I also want to demonstrate it with a living Love language.
I will let these words answer for me:
© Una-Melina // Worthy Books & Things, 2012.“If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal… I would have gained nothing.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
…Speaking in unknown languages… will become useless… But love will last forever!
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”
–1 Corinthians 13 (or this version perhaps)
Intentional Living 