Walking on Water: Part 4

"All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well. No matter what. That, I think, is the affirmation behind all art which can be called Christian. That is what brings cosmos out of chaos."


I remember a discussion we had in one of my college classes on the meaning of art. At first when the teacher asked us to share our definition of art, I thought it would be too complex to put into words. There are so many elements to art, so many things I could say. But after thinking for only a few minutes, I realized it's actually quite simple. For me, art is beauty. It's something created that is beautiful. That is art's most important feature, in my mind.

A lot of the people in the class disagreed with me, saying that beauty is subjective (and it is), so how can that be the common denominator?

But what is art, if not for transcendence and beauty? What is art, if not to "bring cosmos out of chaos"?

I've finished Madeleine L'Engle's book and can wholeheartedly recommend it. At times while reading it, it was hard to decide if L'Engle was talking about art or faith, faith or art. She writes about them as if they are one and the same--they are so intertwined in her eyes that it's hard for me to put into words exactly how L'Engle feels about their relationship and how they connect. But if I had to pick one passage, the one quoted above would be it. Art lifts us out of worldly chaos and into the peace of the cosmos, into a heavenly realm, where all shall be well.

Rainy Days

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Since I live in the South, but am through-and-through a Northern gal, I've had to get used to rain instead of snow during the winter (I'm still not used to it). We have had a lot of rain, and while I would prefer the soft, pure beauty of snow, I actually like the rainy days. I never liked them in New York City because you walk everywhere and there's never room for your umbrella on the sidewalk and the subways become mucky and smelly. And there's nothing cozy about that.

But here, the rain is cozy. The back of our townhouse has two large windows and two french doors, so when I'm downstairs I can look out and see and hear the drizzly, dreary day, while I'm warm and dry inside. If I do have to go out, I make a mad dash to the car and don't have to worry about trudging through puddles and dodging umbrellas that come threateningly close to my eye (I really do miss NYC--just not rainy NYC days).

Anyway, today is one of those dreary weather days and it got me thinking about the things I love to do on rainy days. I'll make a list and I hope you'll add your own thoughts in the comments.



Curl up with a good book and cup of tea.

Light a candle, or two.

Bake a batch of cookies.

Take a hot bath (if it's a rainy evening). 

Sit in a café and do some work on my computer.

Make a huge pot of soup. 

Play some moody music on the piano.

Watch a drama (again, if it's a rainy evening). 

Indulge in an extra-long morning shower.

Work on any kind of crafty project indoors.



When I was in high school (were we too old for this?) my best friend and I would put on old gym clothes on rainy Saturdays and run outside and go down the slide in my backyard. It sounds really silly but it was so much fun to let loose and allow ourselves to get soaking wet. It was exhilarating. But these days, as you can see, I'm a little more mellow.

What about you? Are you someone who needs the sun to shine to feel alive or do you appreciate a good moody day?

For The Love of Jasmine

I've discovered in the last few years how much I love jasmine. Is there a more heavenly smell? For Christmas, my little brother outdid himself and got me this jasmine scrub from my favorite NYC soap shop.

Jasmine Body Scrub

The funny thing is that he didn't know that jasmine was a favorite of mine. He knew that I loved Sabon and so went in and picked out the scent he liked the best. Lucky for me, Delicate Jasmine spoke to him!

I also recently began using this cleansing oil and one of the reasons I love it is because of the jasmine oil in it.

Bobbi Brown Soothing Cleansing Oil

Apparently, in addition to its divine smell, jasmine essential oil is a very good disinfectant and evens out skin tone. I'm loving jasmine more by the second.

When I discovered jasmine tea, I was pleasantly surprised at how yummy it tasted. It's not bitter, like some herbal teas, and of course it has the most gorgeous aroma. I really like Harney and Sons loose Jasmine Floral Tea.

Harney and Sons Loose Jasmine Tea

And these Jasmine Green Tea bags are yummy too. I always prefer loose tea but I found these on sale at TJMaxx and they're easy to use and very flavorful.

Touch Organic Jasmine Green Tea

Do you, like me, love the smell/taste/health benefits of jasmine? Do you have any favorite jasmine products? Which of these would you love to try? 

Kindred Spirits

Muir Woods. Isn't God's creation something else?

Today I want to share with you two essays--one is an article, one a blog post--on an issue that's very dear to me. One is by a man, and the other by a woman, and both of them write about something hard, something sensitive, a topic that is often isolating and certainly not popular. They've each written about it in their own way but they've both written fearlessly.

The article was shared with me by one of my lovely blog friends, Natalie from Chapter Twenty.  The piece is funny and bold and romantic.

The blog post is by one of my favorite bloggers. Hers is wise and thoughtful and lovely.

I hope you enjoy them and are inspired by them as I am.

The Master Speed

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I love this poem about marriage, which was written by Frost for his daughter on the occasion of her wedding. It's so beautiful. In fact, I once inscribed this poem on a book I gave my husband--before we were even engaged. According to the date in the inscription, we were engaged about 4 months later. I guess my husband took the hint!

The truth is, we had talked about marriage together quite a bit before our engagement so I don't think my inscription was too bold. In fact, the book I wrote it in is a wonderful book on marriage that gets its title from Frost's sonnet. It's called Wing to Wing, Oar to Oar: Readings on Courting and Marrying, and it contains essays and excerpts and poetry by Aquinas and Rousseau, Rilke and Shakespeare, Tolstoy and Tocqueville, and many more. My parents owned a copy and gave it to me to read, and right around the same time I found a used copy of it in the Strand Bookstore in New York for about two dollars, so I bought a copy for my beloved too. 

I admit I haven't read too much of this book so far--it's an anthology, so it's not necessarily the kind of book you read straight through--but the parts of it I have read I've found incredibly inspiring and have really stuck with me. And as you all probably know by now, I'm passionate about marriage, and reading great writing on love and commitment is something I enjoy very much. I've re-discovered this book among our collection and have decided to leave it out on our coffee table and make an effort to read an essay or two from it regularly. I imagine that also means that I'll be inspired to write some posts on what I read, so I hope you'll join me in my discoveries.

Now I have a question for all of you who are engaged or married--did you discuss marriage with your significant other before becoming engaged? Was it important to you to talk about what marriage meant to you before taking the next step? If you are not engaged, would you gift a book like this to your boyfriend before he becomes your fiancé?

Sunday Currently: Volume 4

My husband asked me to text him a picture after I got my hair cut last week. This is what he got.

Reading Edith Wharton, Madeleine L'Engle, and also my Cook's Illustrated magazine that my parents gave me for Christmas. I made the Wild Rice and Mushroom soup from the February edition and it was divine.

Writing lists with my husband. Mostly thoughts and questions and plans.

Listening to the dishwasher running. We started it last night, turned it off because it's so loud and we couldn't hear the music we were playing, and then forgot to turn it on again until this morning. This seems to happen to us occasionally--are we alone in this?

Thinking about one of my new readers who is from Upstate New York, near where I grew up, and who was diagnosed recently with breast cancer. Please pray for her and her sweet family.

Smelling fresh coffee and a sesame seed bagel.

Wishing my husband and I had a church here we loved. When the time comes for us to relocate, we're very excited to church-shop. Hopefully we'll have some options and can find a church that will really nurture our faith.

Hoping for good tidings, always.

Wearing a soft cotton green cardigan I bought when shopping with my sister-in-law a few months ago. She bought the same one in taupe, which is funny because I'm a neutrals girl and she loves color. We mixed it up!

Drinking coffee. I've limited myself to drinking a full cup only about once every few days, and drinking tea or homemade lattes or plain steamed milk on the other days. I don't think the caffeine or the acidity in coffee are good for me, but I do love the taste, so I indulge every so often!

Loving my husband! We had such a fun day together yesterday. We went out to lunch, went on a long walk in a beautiful park nearby, stopped at the drugstore to get some Valentine's chocolates and shared them in the movie theater (we saw Silver Linings Playbook, and we both really liked it). We had leftover soup and bagels with smoked salmon for dinner and then had a "jam session." My husband learned the words to Neon Moon and he sang it while I tried to imitate a country guitar on the piano. It was so funny and so much fun!

Wanting to buy some lavender essential oil. I've recently completely changed my skincare regimen and have started using mostly natural products. My new moisturizer is jojoba oil (which I love so far) and I've read that it pairs beautifully with lavender, which is not only lovely-smelling but is apparently very good for your skin.

Needing not much, at the moment. I feel quite content.

Feeling very blessed. After a few weeks of dwelling on the imperfections in our lives, I've arrived at a place of peace and calm, and am trying to focus on the many gifts God has given us. This is a never-ending journey, isn't it, counting blessings instead of shortcomings?

Clicking on these quirky, colorful homes. I admire the boldness of these homeowners!



(Linking up with Lauren--and do check out the other Sunday Currently posts!)

The Four Chords Song

A few days ago, I sent this video to one of my students. Silly YouTube videos are not typically part of my modus operandi when it comes to teaching, but sometimes you have to lighten things up, don't you think?

This student of mine is an adult beginner, and I give him so much credit. It is much more difficult to learn an instrument as an adult than as a child, and he's not just learning how to play the piano--he's learning how to read music, he's learning some music theory, and we've just begun some ear training too.

Last week, I gave him a simple introduction to three chords that are hugely important in all music (I, IV, and V) and mentioned that almost every pop song out there includes this chord progression. Of course these chords are foundational in classical music too, but it's much easier to hear the progression in pop songs because of the relative simplicity of the music.

So I found this video which displays just how prevalent this chord progression really is--the band jokes (in a live version) that you can't write a hit single without it! The progression actually contains four chords in this order: I, V, vi, IV (and I promised my student I'd explain to him what the "vi" was next week). The other three chords we'd already talked about and played together, so I thought this would be a fun way to show him how they are used in songs he's heard before. Listening to these four harmonies over and over is also good ear training for him.

Since it's pretty entertaining I thought I'd share it here on my blog today! I hope you enjoy it.

(Please ignore the one or two curse words.)