"The conservatory door was open and they passed out into the garden, breathless for a moment while the scents and sounds of spring broke over their heads like a wave. Jean was visited by one of her rare moments of happiness, one of those moments when the goodness of God was so real to her that it was like taste and scent; the rough strong taste of honey in the comb and the scent of water." (p.65)
" 'My dear,' he said, 'love, your God, is a trinity. There are three necessary prayers and they have three words each. They are these, 'Lord, have mercy. Thee I adore. Into thy hands.' Not difficult to remember. If in times of distress you hold to these, you will do well.'' (p.94-95)
"I had not known before that love is obedience. You want to love, and you can't, and you hate yourself because you can't, and all the time love is not some marvelous things that you feel but some hard thing that you do. And this in a way is easier because with God's help you can command your will when you can't command your feelings." (p. 140)
~Elizabeth Goudge, The Scent of Water
This, my friends, is why I love Elizabeth Goudge.
Enough said.
My Bookbag This Week:
Devotional: The Daily Office Lectionary Readings and Prayers from The Trinity Mission, The Cloud of Witness (Gell), A Sacrifice of Praise (poetry anthology, edited by Trott), The Rising: Living the Mysteries of Lent, Easter, and Pentecost (Wright)
Theological: Screwtape Letters (Lewis)
AO Book Discussion Group: Paradise Lost (Milton)
Personal Choice: The Clockwork Universe (Dolnick)
With my Hubby: Pride and Prejudice (Austen)
Family Read-Aloud Literature: The Wouldbegoods (Nesbit)
*I am also reading Scouting the Divine (Feinburg) with a women's group at church and Charlotte Mason's Volume 6 for a local CM book club, but these meetings are infrequent and so I just read the brief section assigned as our meetings come up. They aren't really part of my regular reading rotation as the rest of these are.
** Yes. My hubby is actually reading Pride and Prejudice with me. And enjoying it....
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Awww, and I have The Scent of Water too. (Small detail, should the first quote say rare and not rate?)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed The Clockwork Universe a lot. Are you loving it too?
You caught my typo! It has been fixed. :)
DeleteI haven't gotten very far into The Clockwork Universe yet, but am anjoying it so far. I think I picked it up on your recommendation. :)
*enjoying* it. Yeesh. This is what I get for trying to pop in quickly and reply to comments between lessons with the children. One thing at a time, Jen!
DeleteAwww, and I have The Scent of Water too. (Small detail, should the first quote say rare and not rate?)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed The Clockwork Universe a lot. Are you loving it too?
I REALLY need to read this book. Has been on my shelf for a couple years. Thanks for the inspiration. Now - you're going to find me the time next, right?
ReplyDeleteTime...ha ha ha. That's funny. :P
DeleteThanks for sharing, Jen! I have not read Goudge, so maybe I should pick one of her books up. (Any "first read" recommendation?) These passages you highlighted are inspirational! That last one really hit home for me especially.
ReplyDeleteI just discovered Goudge last summer - picked her up on a Forum recommendation last summer when we were so weary after coming back from overseas and I needed something that wasn't too heavy and yet would feed my soul. She totally fit the bill. I read the Eliot family series first - there are three: The Bird in the Tree, Pilgrim's Inn, and The Heart of Family which were all excellent. After three books about that family I felt as if I really knew them - she's a master at that. That said, I think you could easily start with this one too, which is a stand-alone. I've also read The Rosemary Tree which was another stand-alone, and also wonderful. Enjoy.
DeleteOh! And I'm so excited that I will get to see you again at the Conference this summer! :)
DeleteThanks for your reply ... and I, too, am looking forward to seeing you in a few short weeks :-) SO glad y'all are having a much-needed time of refreshment back Stateside.
DeleteI've been reading this book since before Christmas. It's slow going. I have it in ebook form and so it is one I read before going to bed. Sometimes sleep hits before I get very far into reading it.....
ReplyDeleteKaren