Book Giveaway, Blue Field and a Little Grace
Many moons ago, I promised to gently exchange Links for Art. So today I'm delighted to share Rebekah's Blue Field (and add a permanent link in my sidebar). Rumor has it there is a story behind this field, or perhaps a little poetic love (tell us, Rebekah, oh do.) [UPDATE: Here is Rebekah's telling. Thank you so much for sharing, Rebekah.]
Similarly, I'm delighted to add a link to Laura Boggess, who is currently hosting a Stone Crossings Book Giveaway, 'til Wednesday evening (Is there a story behind those tiles? Not sure, but if there is, I invite a telling.)
And speaking of tellings, I wonder if you might have a poem or vignette lurking just below the surface, to offer for this week's Searching for Grace writing project...
Stories, pictures, gentle exchanges. How I delight in these little tastes of grace.
Stone Crossings in Field photo, by Rebekah Wagner
YOU TRIED IT (and this week's RAP):
Cricket's Searching for Grace
Bought As Is's Grace Found Me
Heather Owens (poem here in the comment box)
Teri (poem here in the comment box)
nAncY's A Random Act of Something That Could Be Mistaken for Poetry
Mom2Six's In Search of Grace
Laura's Searching for Grace
Eric's I Searched for Grace
Prairie Chick's Grace in Winter
Erica Hale's I went Looking for Grace
Teri's Grace, Where Are You...
Sarah's An Offering
LL's Communion
Laura's Shoots of Green
Laure's The 7 O'Clock Morning Hour
LL's daughters' Gold on the Forest Floor
Joelle's Snakeskin
High Calling Blogs' RAP: Color of Grace
Marcus's Myth of Grace
Elizabeth's I Found Grace
Ann's Open Your Hand to Take Now
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Labels: book giveaway, grace, links for art, Online Writing, Stone Crossings
posted by L.L. Barkat at 10:08 AM
16 Comments:
cool angles in the photo!
That is a wonderful picture. Love the perspective. I've seen Rebekah's work before. She's very talented.
Searching for Grace was just a wonderful Prompt for me, I am getting ready to post my offer in this week's Searching for Grace writing project.
Thank you for such a quick response, the exact URL is:
http://cricketssimplethoughts.blogspot.com/2009/03/searching-for-grace-writting-project.html
Many Thanks
Tessa
Below is my contribution to the ongoing search for grace. I'm not sure how well it incorporates the senses, but the ideas got away from me. I've included a few footnotes, but you may ignore them if you think they are distracting or unnecessary.
Grace
The poet seeks Grace
At the river Cephissus 1
Among her charming sisters.
But he finds, too often,
A tributary, the child Narcissus 2
Dabbling in his own reflection.
The child says grace
With scrubbed and ruddy cheeks,
Head bowed, fingers folded
But loses the words
And lisps,
“Bless...Thy bounty...Amen.” 3
The pastor speaks of grace
Starched and pressed, neatly packaged
Unmerited favor, God's riches, Christ's expense.
But even good words
Lose their listeners,
Nodding in sanctified rows.
I searched for grace
Googled it, actually,
Read the Wiki
And got nowhere.
Grace... What is grace?
Where to find it?
So I went searching for grace.
Flipping through memories
Like a stack of soft-edged photos
And found on a page,
Ms. Bishop's Filling Station 4
Grace in the doily, comic books, a begonia.
Downtown, I found a street woman
Arranging roses in a paint pail
Torn petals on cracked pavement.
And here at home, my little boy
Locks sun-laced with gold
Earth on his hands and heaven in his hair.
Grace glimpses,
Like Browning's burning bushes, 5
Abound
When
By grace
We know to look.
Heather Owens, March 2009
1. Cephissus—the river in Greek mythology associated with the three Graces or Muses, also a river god
2. Narcissus—son of the river god, Cephissus, and famous for his beauty. There are several versions of the story but the version I remember is that he is cursed and drowns after becoming obsessed with his own reflection in a stream.
3. From the traditional mealtime prayer: "Bless us, Oh Lord,and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ, Our Lord. Amen."
4. Refers to the poem, Filling Station, by Elizabeth Bishop
5. From the quote by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees, takes off his shoes - The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.”
Oh my goodness, Heather. That is fantastic!
"I searched for grace
Googled it, actually,
Read the Wiki"
That is truly wonderful.
Sadly, no story behind these humble tiles...
The books are simply perched on my kitchen island with its tile motiff. I thought it made a nice neutral background so the lovely earth tones of the book would stand out.
Just my unimaginative photography! Perhaps next time, I will consult with Rebekah?
nAncY... you've gotta wonder, right, how she took that picture... :)
Billy... she sure is!
Cricket... so glad you offered your work... thanks!
Heather... I ... love... this... poem. The allusions (fun and profound) and the sights. That woman on the street arranging roses... she has stayed with me all day.
Marcus... I do believe those are some of my favorite lines too. Unexpected. Almost whimsical.
Laura... oh... I bet if you thought about the vegetables you cut there, or the drinks you placed there or the people who have leaned on those counters with you.. why, you'd find a story you hadn't seen at first. I bet...
I don't know where to sign in to the You Tried it...so here is like the second poem I've ever tried.
Grace….where are you?
I never heard your name
I never knew where you lived
What you did, where you went
After the hymns were sung
The benedictions said and the
Lights go dark in the old church.
Life wounds me
Words hit me
The sacred purity
Is torn from my life
Too early, too soon
By the man, the men
Who tell me where grace lives
They hold it high above their heads
They toss it back and forth
Playing keep away from my grasping hands
I am locked out of the place where grace
Lives and breathes life giving breath
To the slowly dying who need it so.
I hear a whisper then a call
My name in the empty dark
“Look up, here I am”
His hand extends to mine
He is a warrior King and He sits tall on
A white horse. HE is breath taking
I hold on to HIM as we ride into
The light out of the dark mist
My LORD, my warrior, my King
HE brings me the grace I need
As I drink my fill under HIS beautiful
Loving gaze.
My Lover owns real grace
And HE gives it freely.
He washes my wounds, dries my tears
Kisses my head gently
Those that would not share
Never had it at all
But now I do and I will
Tell that it is for me
And you as well
My LORD has much to give
much to share
The truth HE tells me
the more you give
the more you care
It grows like wildflowers
There is plenty to spare
Teri
Thank you for such kindness. I needed kindness today. Even old scars ache like phantom pain when they haven't been exposed in sometime.
I pray it will all help other women understand that grace is not given by mere mortals.
Blessings and thank you for sharing your beautiful talent with words for HIS glory.
Teri
Yes, I still like the idea of trying to write a poem. But I have to keep working on a book review I've got to get done, and the book isn't easy, at least not for me! So must press on with that. But nice to hear of the giveaway, and what's happening over here. Good imagination and surely imagination in a sanctified sense is a part of faith.
Here is mine:
http://lauraboggess.blogspot.com/2009/03/searching-for-grace.html
slipped in right under the deadline, as usual!
It is such an honor to see my picture on your blog! And that you for the link!
I did finally write and share "a little poetic love" about my field. :)
You never fail to inspire me. I never leave here without a burning desire to put my pen to paper. I wrote about grace. I wrote about what grace looks like to me in this long northern winter that yet holds a month or maybe two of ice and snow. http://prairieprologue.blogspot.com/2009/03/grace-in-winter.html
Coming in late, but I finally did post something.
I had so much fun bouncing from blog to blog reading poetry! Maybe some day we can put together a book of Random Acts? Poetry and pictures....?
Thanks again for the inspiration!
Mine.
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