Grandmother's Little Books


I got this little book from my grandmother's library last Christmas.  She has a lot of these.   When she passed away, I asked my Mom if I can take some.  This was one of the books I got (amongst others).  I love the old leather binding.  The typeface and her cursive script.  I love old things and their meaning and I love how I remember all these things on a Sunday.  

I read chapter 1 again to myself.  Out loud.  Softly.  Imagining if St. Thomas were to read this to me, how would his voice sound?  Would I be changed in an instant?  Would I embrace the truth he provokes me to believe?  
The road that stretches before the feet of a man is a challenge to his heart long before it tests the strength of his legs.  Our destiny is to run to the edge of the world and beyond, off into the darkness: sure for all our blindness, secure for all our helplessness, strong for all our weakness, gaily in love for all the pressure on our hearts.
In that darkness beyond the world, we can begin to know the world and ourselves, though we see through the eyes of Another.  We begin to understand that a man was not made to pace out his life behind the prison walls of nature, but to walk into the arms of God on a road that nature could never build.  
Life must be lived, even by those who cannot find the courage to face it.  In the living of it, every mind must meet the rebuff of mystery.  To some men, this will be an exultant challenge: that so much can be known and truth not be exhausted, that so much is still to be sought, that truth is an ocean not to be contained in the pool of a human mind.  To others, this is a humiliation not to be borne; for it marks out sharply the limits of our proud minds.  In the living of life, every mind must face the unyielding rock of reality, of a truth that does not bend to our whim or fantasy, of the rule that measures the life and mind of a man.

It's timely that I read this today after having faced quite a challenging week in the work place.  I have found new strength to continue my resolve of remaining a follower of the faith.  Docile to the Spirit's ways.  Even when my cheek has been struck, I am learning how to turn the other gracefully.

Comments

  1. Gosh that excerpt is so beautiful Katie!
    However your own words of "docility to the Spirit's ways" brings some much needed wisdom to me today.. thank you!

    All the best and more in Christ!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your kind words Sofia. :) Godbless!

      Delete
  2. Ah dear, please please forgive me for using the wrong name! How embarrassing! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I once found a copy of Francis Bacon's Essays in the back of an antique shop. It is from 1923, and is one of my favorite things on my book shelf.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's enchanting. :) Do you read a lot of antique books?

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Art and Business

Lectio Divina | A Reflection on Yehuda Amichai's "The Amen Stone"

Receive Grace to be Graceful