Subtle thoughts for Sunday

I have been inattentive to my writing lately because I started to re-read Cold Moutain. I tend to re-read my old favorites when I become disenchanted with the current books. The last three I've purchased have far under-achieved any of their reviews.

I went to Boarders as recently as last week in search of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, but was heavily distracted by a ball of fire who believes that the only section in Boarders is the kid's section. At one point he actually started couting at me (one ... two ... you'll be in time out!) because I was taking too long in the science fiction section.

So I re-read. I finished Cold Moutain today while huddled on my couch during nap time -- his, not mine. I was struck by a passage that I had read before, but this time resonated with me a bit more. That's the thing I love about reading. A writer has to have a keen eye on the world to write about it. You can't say "Bob kissed Jane" and that's it. "Bob leaned in, eyes focused on her face. His hand reached up and brushed her cheek, the softest caress. He leaned in further until she could feel his breath on her face. She closed her eyes and slid into the sweetness that waited in his lips." You have to WRITE it like you've been there.

Today's passage was about heaven and earth and well, I can't do it justice.

"All of God's works but an elaborate analogy. Every bright image in the visible world only a shadow of a divine thing, so that earth and heaven, low and high, strangely agreed in form and meaning because they were in fact congruent."

I love the image that brings: That my greatest pleasures here are but a glimpse of what waits in heaven. Now that's a nice thought for a Sunday.