Sydney Avey's Blog, page 7
February 28, 2017
The Story God Tells: A Lenten Observation
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well, ca. 1420, gold leaf, painting, etching on glass
My brain started buzzing when T.M. McNally used the Trinity as an illustration for story structure in a Lyrical Fiction writing seminar. In the creation story, he posited, Father is the subject, Son is the plot, and Holy Spirit is the metaphor. I am meditating on that.
It is a passion story filled with love and pain. He invites us to enter his story and experience his love and pain. To what purpose, we...
February 7, 2017
Book Review: Zelestina Urza in Outer Space
Zelestina Urza in Outer Space by David Romtvedt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Author and poet David Romtvedt details the immigrant experience of an unremarkable Basque woman’s journey. In doing so, he draws a larger point. Merely because we exist on planet Earth, we are remarkable.
Romtvedt writes “…the human world we’ve made often ends up diminishing our humanity.” This is not true of Zelestina. She is as fully human as Adam and Eve. Like them, she will find the strength to live out her days in a...
January 16, 2017
Book Review: Faithful
Faithful by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I can’t help but compare Alice Hoffman’s Shelby Richmondto Lee Chandler, the self-hating protagonist in the film Manchester by the Sea. Both have caused misery to themselves and others. Both have had their hearts ripped out, but in Lee’s case, most of his soul died too. Not so with Shelby. As despairing as thefilm is, thisnovel is filled with hope.
We don’t all grow up, but most of us grow older. Maturityand an indomitable spirit are Shelby’s...
January 5, 2017
Those Pesky New Year’s Resolutions
New Year’s resolutions? Don’t ask! But writers tell all.
These days,inquiringabout a person’s New Year’s resolutions seems akin to asking how they voted. Some grimace, some growl, many abstain. Not so with writers. We tell the world what our intentions are for the coming year.
In our journals,we scribbleour desiresto improve ourselves, our writing, our communities, our world. We organize our thoughts on 35 cards or in apps. Nextwerewrite for clarityandedit for punch. Then wewritememorable man...
December 27, 2016
Book Review: Girl Waits With Gun
Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I am developing a fondness for this type of historical fiction–plucky girl defies stifling mores of the day to seek justice and self-fulfillment. That it is set in my favorite time period, the early twentieth century, is even better.
I read this book with a smile on my face.The sweet relationships between the sisters; how they accommodate each other’s eccentricities; their resolve to be independent; the way they handle the weapons at...
November 29, 2016
The Great Giveaway is gone–time to celebrate!
The Great Giveawayis over and gone.Gone in 365 days–365 personal possessions;that was the goal. Buthow wasI torid myselfof stuff when the majority of it lives in the mountains and I have retreated to the desert for six months? On October 31st I treatedmyselfand tookthis self-imposed duty off my To Do list. (Yes Virginia, I see that smile on your face.)
I have achieved my fundamental goal. I feel lighter for living with less, purged of possessions (physical and mental) that outlived usefulne...
November 22, 2016
Mystic Sweet Communion: When the saints go marching in your psyche
The communion of saints comprises more than this present generation. I pulled this quotefrom the November 1 entry in Listening to your Life:Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner.
Memory is more than a looking back to a time that is no longer;
it is a looking out into another kind of time altogether where everything that ever was continues not just to be, but to grow and change with the life that is in it still.
What an amazing thought!I can’t imaginea better playground for a novelist....
November 7, 2016
Joy for the Journey: A bit of serendipity
Joy is a moment Happiness is a state of being, but joy is amoment.We can work ourselves into a happy place, butjoy is an unsolicited moment of grace, independent of the place we find ourselves, happy or sad. In the happy chances we call serendipity, joy might bea tiny seed buriedin themoment.
Last week,I struggled with an email to someone I don’t know who wants to collaborate on a project. It seemswe are at cross purposes. I looked for a way to sign off without offending. I chose the words Be...
November 3, 2016
Book Reviews: A steal, a deal, and a struggle for truth
I stolesome time to finish some books on my night table this week. I’m fudging a bit.Stolen Postcardsis the type of book you set down and pick up again and again–unless you are a greedy reader whowants all the goodies in one sitting! Lightning Strikesintroduced me to the writing of a local author of promise, and The Explanation of Everything prompted livelydiscussion about science vs faith here in our little desert hideaway.
Stolen Postcards
October 28, 2016
Heritage Sunday: Wear your colors?
The Israeli scarf I will wear for Heritage Sunday, which is also Reformation Sunday for Presbyterians.
Heritage Sunday at Christ Presbyterian Church in Goodyear, AZ is coming up. Next Sunday we are invited to wear something that represents either the heritage of the Presbyterian church (Scottish) or our own native country.
On first consideration, this seems like simple fun. If you’re a Scot, wear your tartan. Of course, showing your colors back in the day was not only about clan pride. Tartan...
