Stories Shape Our Faith and Heighten Our Joy in Every Season

Every fall, when the school buses begin their appointed rounds and the very uttermost edges of the maple leaves begin to curl, I’m pulled into a scene from a beloved book – a college campus and a narrative arc that spans a generation’s worth of sorrow and rejoicing.  I’m pulled into the longing for a season’s essence. 

For me, it’s Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner that transports me into the feeling of autumn.  For C.S. Lewis it was Beatrix Potter’s Squirrel Nutkin:

“It troubled me with what I can only describe as the Idea of Autumn.  It sounds fantastic to say that one can be enamored of a season, but that is something like what happened; and, as before, the experience was one of intense desire.  And one went back to the book, not to gratify the desire (that was impossible – how can one possess Autumn?) but to reawake it.” 

(Surprised by Joy)

And so it is for me:

With Anna Karenina and the towering trees and frosty air of her vast land in winter;

With the heavy southern heat and a slammed screen door in To Kill a Mockingbird;

With a mid-western spring viewed through an open window as John Ames ponders his own mortality and the wonder of his young son chasing a ball in Gilead.

I don’t have nearly enough time to re-read all these books every year, but I really don’t need to because they have done their work, left their impression, and been joined by countless images from other worlds, other authors, and other observant and well-portrayed characters.

• I’ve found seasonal delight in novels (Jan Karon beautifully paints both scenes and seasons);
• in long-ago read-alouds with my boys (Cynthia Rylant takes her beloved characters through snow, mud, and tall green grass!);
• and in memoirs that feel like a conversation with a friend. (For several years, Sue Hubbell’s A Country Year was a fixture on my nightstand).

My enjoyment of every season is heightened by reading about its beauty.

As the squirrels start hiding their acorns, as my canning shelves begin filling up in the furnace room, and as the geese begin practice maneuvers over the pond, I’m wondering:

What books cause you to be “enamored of a season?”
I’d love to know! Be sure to share your own seasonal favorites in the comments!

What books speak to you of a particular season? #CrossingtoSafety by #WallaceStegner transports me to the feeling of autumn. #CSLewis said Squirrel Nutkin “troubled me with what I can only describe as the Idea of Autumn.”

Tweet

And Now Let’s Talk About a New Book…

Holberg discerned early on that God went with her into “whatever bookish land” she traveled. On that basis, she urges readers to bring imagination and delight to our reading life, to receive the gift of narrative beauty as evidence of “God’s loving generosity and our own ‘enoughness.'”

She’s a gifted storyteller herself, and I chuckled over the tale of her first foray into Hobby Lobby and was delighted by her memories of Mrs. Ash’s fifth-grade reading tub. Turning the last page, I realized that the force pulling me into the book was its strong memoir vibe, the fact that the author was employing the details of her own story to accomplish the goals she had set for her book!

Understanding genre is key to our understanding of Scripture, and this book serves up a buffet of wisdom to bring to our reading of novels, poetry, and short stories from a wide range of writers. As a woman of faith, Holberg offers biblical insight into friendship, the church, community, and vocation, all with humor, warmth, and candor. Her goal throughout is to consider how “narrative can make us more capacious in our approach to God and to ourselves.”

My copy of the book is abundantly highlighted and dog-eared, and I felt compelled to copy a few significant passages into my journal and into the pages of Eliot’s Four Quartets. Fair warning: I came away from Nourishing Narratives with a considerably longer TBR list!

Holding You in the Light,

“Story has the power to shape our faith and make sense of our lives.” #NourishingNarratives @JenniferHolberg via @ivpacademic

Tweet

Watch for the August Newsletter Tomorrow!

Every month I send a newsletter with biblical encouragement straight to my subscribers’ email inboxes. Frequently, I share free resources, and the newsletter is where everything lands first. I’m committed to the truth that women can become confident followers of God and students of his Word, and it’s my goal to help you along that path.

I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees. If you should decide to purchase any of the books or products I’ve shared, simply click on the image, and you’ll be taken directly to the seller. If you decide to buy, I’ll receive a few pennies at no extra cost to you.

Many thanks to InterVarsity Press for providing a copy of this book to facilitate my review, which is, of course, offered freely and with honesty.

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash