I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord; “plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
THE CULTIVATING
JOURNAL
In the seven ways that we approach practices for cultivating, Reading is listed first because it is the primary way for most of us to feed our capacity to think, to reason, to know, to discern, and even to remember. We do not only read words, though words are essential. We also read between the lines. We read times, faces, seasons, hearts, meaning, and spaces. We read. Reading is the process of synthesizing meaning out of forms into coherent understanding and thought.
Reading is the wellspring of learning, expanding our worldview, and affirming all the truth revealed to us. It gives us direct interaction with The Word and with all the other little words that spring from Him. Cultivators tend to be readers, even those of us who serve principally in visual or musical arts. Certain lines of thought, certain ways of remembering, become a kind of DNA that is passed on from one person to another to another, from one age to the next. Reading is a map, a portal, a passport, and a marker that allow to carry forward key ideas and concepts and share them anew with each other. It is the venue of language that reaches across time to one another and binds us together.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” ~ John 1.1-5
READ
What is
“But in reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself. Like the night sky in the Greek poem, I see with a myriad eyes, but it is still I who see. Here, as in worship, in love, in moral action, and in knowing, I transcend myself; and am never more myself than when I do.”
~ C.S. Lewis, Experiment in Criticism
recommended READING
recommendations
LITERARY LIFE
PLACEMAKER – Cultivating Places of Comfort, Beauty, and Peace
Christie Purifoy drew her readers into a sanctuary for the soul in her debut book Roots and Sky, a memoir about her search for home and reaching it in Maplehurst - an old farmhouse in Pennsylvania. In Placemaker, Christie’s newest release, she builds a deeper foundation on the story of Maplehurst for creating places of incarnational beauty and peace. Placemaker acts as a lens or prism for every reader to find the truth about their own places to tend on their way home.
Christie’s voice is like no other voice in literature – beauty seems to roll off every word and invite us to consider a whole new way of seeing our lives and purpose. My own copy of Placemaker is already dog-eared, underlined, and noted in the margins. It is a book I will go back to many times. It is available today for pre-order and will prove to be one of this year’s best books. Give yourself a gift of quiet and get yourself a copy. (Lancia E. Smith)
Malcolm Guite, Chaplain at Girton College continues to enchant and illuminate his readers with this delicious column that runs each week on the back page of the Church Times. Delightful, thoughtful, and insightful – each week the reader is offered a glimpse in to life in various corners of England, as well as Malcolm’s own wealth of observations about modern life intertwined with our literary foundations. As a renowned poet, each week’s post is dipped in a perfect dose of poetry letting the reader come away with something as beautiful as it is anchoring. Many of these exquisite little essays have curated into a lovely collection published by Canterbury Press under the title In Every Corner Sing.
Literary Life is an uncommon feast for literature lovers. It is the single richest resource we know online for a daily, steady diet of pure, true, soul food from the best of literature coupled with stunning photography. Deeply steeped in the Word, Lit Life presents thoughtful, short selections for their readers to consider, and incorporates salient introductions to each author, with commentary and options for digging deeper. The book studies are a treasure. Do not miss it!
MALCOLM GUITE – IN EVERY CORNER SING
It was my great privilege to be interviewed by Christianity Today to discuss their remarkable work in Beautiful Orthodoxy, Christ-Centered journalism, and how those two intertwine with the work we are doing with Cultivating. Christianity Today has been my hero in publishing for as long as I have been a Christian and it is an honour to help let others know about their magnificent work.
CHRISTIANITY TODAY – TENDING A GARDEN IN THE DESERT
Sky Meadow
The Shepherd’s Life
The Shepherd’s View
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