is where the Elk River falls
from a rocky and considerable height,
turning pale with trepidation at the lip
(it seemed from where I stood below)
before it is unbuckled from itself
and plummets, shredded, through the air
into the shadows of a frigid pool,
so calm around the edges, a place
for water to recover from the shock
of falling apart and coming back together
before it picks up its song again,
goes sliding around the massive rocks
and past some islands overgrown with weeds
then flattens out and slips around a bend
and continues on its winding course,
according to this camper's guide,
then joins the Clearwater at its northern fork,
which must in time find the sea
where this and every other stream
mistakes the monster for itself
sings its name one final time
then feels the sudden sting of salt.
("Elk River Falls", Billy Collins, printed in Nine Horses 2002)
Category: Bookish Thoughts (Page 6 of 43)
I have started One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp several times over the last few year (three to be exact), but inevitably, something would get in the way of me finishing it. I am a fiction reader; I love action and adventure, mystery and intrigue. So it takes dedication for me to want to finish a non fiction (even inspirational) book.
Well, now that I have have read (and finished) One Thousand Gifts, I must say I’m sorry I didn’t stick with it before.
The subtitle of the book pretty much sums it up: A dare to live fully right where you are.
Ann shares with readers how a seemingly simple challenge changed her life. But she doesn’t begin with the premise of the challenge. She begins with the heartbreaking tale of an accident that tore her family apart and plunged her deep into despair. Though she tried to fix it, then to hide it, she lived many years under a cloud of sorrow, anger, and bitterness.
Until her friend emailed her this challenge: create a list of one thousand blessings from God.
One thousand things to be thankful for.
One thousand gifts offered freely by the Father of Love.
As Ann shares glimpses of her list, she describes how she began to change. The active seeking of blessings in ordinary things changed the ordinary into extraordinary. The drivel of laundry becomes thankfulness for the husband and children who are healthy enough to dirty clothes. The always filling dish sink become thankfulness that there is plenty of food to go around. And these lay the foundation for her to say Thank You for the surgery because it will save the child’s finger. Forming the habit of thankfulness helps her get through hard things with the peace of knowing all things come from God even when we don’t know why.
As Ann searches for God’s gifts, she begins to see thankfulness throughout the Bible. She describes the greatest example of thankfulness: Jesus Himself. Every time Jesus sat down to a meal, the Creator of the universe gave thanks. Even as He sat at His last meal, with Judas his betrayer, Jesus gave thanks.
I was surprised that Ann’s full list was not given in the book until I got to the middle and she said she had long passed one thousand. But even after she quit numbering her list, she continued searching for moments in which to give thanks. She kept an open notebook with her at all times. She shared how her walk with God deepened when she began the journey of thankfulness. She found when giving thanks for every small moment the presence of God seemed to grow around her. Ann’s challenge to readers is not just to begin to live a life of thankfulness. It is a challenge to let God show Himself real in their lives.
I thoroughly enjoyed One Thousand Gifts. Ann Voskamp has a beautiful way of saying things, of describing things, that just pull you in. One of my favorite examples is that she calls her children love-children, and she calls her husband the Farmer. She is simplistic and real. She is like a cup of tea on a cool morning, refreshing and sweet. And while I bemoan the fact that I hadn’t finished it before, I know I needed to read One Thousand Gifts this year. I started reading it the day of my husband’s brain surgery. I took Ann’s challenge and kept a journal close to me every day in the hospital, the rehab, and the months of healing at home. I jotted things down like successful surgery, 2nd surgery moved from afternoon to morning, burned bacon and the hand that grasped min and eyes that softened and the words”I will love you eve if you always burn the bacon”, and quiet mornings for more than physical healing.
And I have seen my walk with God grow and strengthen as I’ve told Him “Thank you” over the last few months.
I’m going to challenge you now: read One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. Start your own list, and see where thankfulness will take you.
Dictum – an authoritative assertion; a saying; in law, a statement of opinion expressed by the judge on some point not vital to the principal issue of the case
“Everyone who contributes to the Dictionary will leave a trace of themselves, no matter how uniform Father, or Mr Dankworth, would like it to be. Try to take Mr Dankworth’s comments as suggestion, not dictum.”
Elsie to Esme, The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams
Codswallop – nonsense (Merriam-Webster online dictionary)
“I know it sounds like codswallop but there are [different ways of writing and spelling], and the smallest thing can cause the biggest arguments.”
Esme to Lizzy, The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams
Loquaciousness – loquacity (talkativeness; the habit or practice of talking continually or excessively)
“Mr Pope and Mr Cushing rose from their chairs every time Elsie, Rosfrith or I entered, and competed to help or pay the nicest compliments. Their loquaciousness was an irritation to almost everyone except Da, who rewarded their attentions to me with small smiles and nods. Dr Murray was not so encouraging.
“Gentlemen, the more words you employ to flatter the ladies the fewer you define. Your constant use of the English language is, in fact, doing it a disservice.” They quickly turned to their work.”
The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams
Catarrh – an inflammation of a mucous membrane, more particularly of the throat and nose, accompanied by an increased secretion of mucus
“You need to eat more fruit, Mabel,” I said. “Keep the catarrh out of your chest.”
Esme to Mabel, The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams
Prevaricate – to quibble; to shift or turn aside from or evade the truth; to equivocate or speak evasively
“[Da] opened the door of the Scriptorium. Instead of going in, he turned and looked up at me. I knew this look and waited for him to invoke Lily’s greater wisdom. She would know what to do, he would say, without offering his own encouragement or warning… But this time he did not prevaricate.”
Esme of her father, The Dictionary of Lost Words, pip Williams
I also defined Prevaricate here.
Fascicle – a small bundle; one of the installments of a book published in parts
“As we stood on the threshold, I felt all the responsibility of introducing Ditte to the pigeon-holes full of words and quotations, to all the old dictionaries and reference books, and to the fascicles, where the words were first published before there were enough for a whole volume.”
Pip Williams, The Dictionary of Lost Words
Provenance – derivation; origin
“You might be surprised to learn that some words take their provenance from nothing more substantial than a technical manual or a pamphlet. I know of at least one word that was found on the label of a medicine bottle.”
Aunt Ditte to Esme, The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams
Nonce – the present occasion; the time being
“I thought about the words in the trunk. Some I hadn’t heard or read until I saw them on a slip. Most were commonplace, but something about the slip or handwriting had endeared them to me. There were clumsy words with poorly transcribed quotations that would never end up in the Dictionary, and there were words that existed for one sentence and no other: fledgelings, nonce words that never made it. I loved them all.”
Esme, The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams
Hi! I'm Cadie. Welcome to my Collection of Bookish Thoughts where I will share with you everything I love about books.