Dear Friends,
These last few months as a newbie to blogging have been a wonderful, rich time for me. I am grateful for the opportunity to explore and discuss themes of faith in relation to my beloved pieces of literature. It has been a tremendous privilege to hear your comments, make meaningful connections and participate in conversation with many of you. Thank you for joining me, and for the community of prayer and support here.
For the next blogging season, I will be “formally” posting once a week, aiming to continue on Tuesdays. I look forward to starting a new series entitled “Reading, Faith and Culture.” I may post content and/or announcements on other days outside of this series, but I wanted you to know when to expect a regular posting and focus from me.
I have decided to commit to a single posting a week for now, given the impending arrival of two big events in my “creative” life.
First, the manuscript for my book entitled “The Gift of the Present” with Intervarsity Press is due in a few weeks. I will need to hunker down and really focus on completing this project and then preparing it for press. I am excited about it, and will be bringing you a full description shortly, along with release information, I hope, as confirmed by the publisher. I have a sequel to Surprised by Oxford in the works too, along with a few other upcoming projects, so I will be sure to post those announcements as they come into better focus. Thank you for your continued encouragement and support!
A second (pro)creative project will be here before we know it, I am sure: the arrival of our fourth child this summer (aka our “dessert baby”). While we are definitely more “laid back” when it comes to preparing for the fourth … I am hoping to take a nap or two before the arrival and all that comes with it! This has been a more troubling pregnancy, and with all my heart I thank those of you who have prayed over it and this new life.
In the meantime, then, I would like to raise for our weekly consideration issues related to the intersection of reading and faith in our culture today. I am intrigued to explore what our relationship to words as followers of the Word should be. How do we as Christians translate Scripture into living? How do we model Christ to others through the “speech” of not only our mouths, but our actions and silences? How is “reading,” in all its multifarious forms, part of our calling, duty and joy as believers? What is the future of reading and what should we be upholding in our society today, for our children, for our fellowship, for our critics, for our own amelioration – and – most importantly – for our Lord?
I welcome any suggestions for the series that you may have: questions you wish to explore about the act of reading itself and faith; issues you wish to share or debate; concerns or suggestions you have about helping to make our faith more thoughtful, engaging and substantive – and spreading this to a larger culture much in need of it.
I look forward to a wonderful journey ahead, through babes, books and betterment in Christ!
God bless,
Carolyn
Photo Credit © Dmitriy Melnikov – Fotolia.com
Lover of God, happy wife, mama to 4, writer, teacher, author of 
I’m a new reader, and I wanted to let you know that I’m enjoying your work. I took my last literature class over 10 years ago, so reading your blog is like brain exercise, the good kind, with spirit exercise thrown in. Thank you!
Thanks, Carrie! How lovely to have you here. Being in the company of both God and book lovers is the best kind! :)
First, so excited to hear more about your upcoming book and that there will be a Surprised by Oxford sequel. Second, I love the idea of this new series! There’s so many directions you can take it and I’m very curious how you’ll respond to the questions you’ve noted above. One thing that I would be interested in discussing has to do with my parent’s approach- that all things are permissible but not all are beneficial- when it came to what I was allowed to read. Though, let me be honest. When it came to books, I pretty much read whatever I wanted and just didn’t tell them about it. I think it is both permissible and beneficial to read books that are not categorized as Christian and that have, shall we say, edgy material. However, my parents would disagree. When and how should faith inform what we read? Third, I hope the rest of your pregnancy goes well and that a happy, healthy baby joins your family soon.
I am excited about Carolyn’s new book. I loved Surprised by Oxford and look forward to reading the new book as well.
I’m so glad, Jeannie, and hope it doesn’t disappoint. Thanks for the encouragement!
Thanks, Leigh, for the kind wishes and your continued support. You are always so lovely. You raise a great topic for consideration – I find students have faced this dilemma. It was an interesting contrast in this regard teaching on both secular and Christian campuses. Now that I’m a parent, I see how I will struggle with this more myself … and would certainly appreciate others’ advice on how they’ve approached it. I know I tend to be open-minded toward reading everything and anything, and yet I know (as with film) that sometimes I find it far from edifying … even hauntingly disturbing (in the bad way) in the long run. Hmmm. Let’s put this one up for discussion soon! Thanks again.
I agree with Leigh. I’m excited about your new books and I’m glad you still plan on blogging too. I look forward to reading your words. I also agree with Leigh’s question. My son LOVES Grrek myths (since age six he’s now 8). We’ve tried to downplay it and wait for it to pass by; it didn’t work. Every time we are at the library he gets more. He loves to read so any guidance thoughts, suggestions would be helpful. In Christ, Jaime
I’ve given this a lot of thought, too, Jaime, especially as I think there is much to be gleaned from classical literature for children. I have some ideas in mind, and look forward to bouncing them off of folks here soon! Hope you are doing well – God bless!
Oh, sweetie. You’ve got your work cut out for you – on all fronts! Praying for health for you and babe #4, for wisdom in parceling out your time and energy as you settle into life with a newborn once again, for good bonding with older sibs. Wonderful topic to pursue here on the blog, and I’ll be interested to hear what you have to say in response to questions like those Leigh has posed. Although my mother heartily recommended books to me as a child and young adult, my parents never censored my reading. I think they trusted my own judgment and they trusted Truth to win. I’ll admit to some concerns over a grandson’s primary reading material this last week, especially in light of his own particular journey just now – but it would not occur to me to say, “Don’t read that.” I might suggest some other authors, but this whole parents-as-censors idea makes me uncomfortable, especially for kids who are bright, inquisitive and eager to learn. Age-appropriate selection is one thing; censorship is another. So…what say you? Curious minds want to know. :>)
Thanks, Diana! We are so thrilled over this “dessert baby”, but it has been a ride … anyhoo, I would agree with your approach to the reading. I don’t think we can censor without simply making things “worse” … and kids can often digest far more than we think. But I’m also trying to discern how best to steer content in a faith-building way for younger readers without clipping their wings. This is a good topic to continue further. Our love to you and yours!
I am so excited for you! Wonderful news. Praying for you all.
Thank you, Pilar. I hold all of you in my prayers, too.
Carolyn, I am so happy to hear that the fourth and much wanted child is on the way. My prayer is that you will have a blessed delivery and health for all of you. I miss our times togetehr and look forward to your blogging. Peace and blessings to you.
How lovely to hear from you Jo! I miss you so much :) Truly glad you are here with me in spirit and reading … much love to you and your beautiful family!
So excited about all your upcoming birthing projects, your gifts bless us all so much, will hold you and all that spring fom you in prayer!
Your words are so sustaining, Faith. Thank you (and apt name :)
Carolyn… Just returned from my vacation where your book, “Surprised by Oxford,” was my companion. There were many “Aha!” moments. One that is still challenging me as I try to live it is moving my light from the bottom tier to the top tier, because of God’s grace. Still trying to grasp the full significance of such a reality. I look forward to your blog and the light it sheds on God’s creativity through art and literature. One of my favorite quotes is from C.S. Lewis: “Literature adds to reality. It does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.”
Ahhhh, beautiful Lewis quotation, Dorothy. Thanks for sharing! I would definitely encourage you to light your candle on the top rung along with mine. That’s what Jesus came to assure for us. Light it with His flame and admire its beauty! :) Thank you so much for writing and joining us here. I look forward to more!
I am looking forward to your new writing projects, and I am delighted that you will continue to blog. I may not always leave a comment, but I do read them all! Your new blog topic is so timely. I recently attended a women’s conference on Loving God With Your Mind with speaker Dr. Rosalie de Rosset, a professor of literature at Moody. She challenged the room full of women to read rich, complex literature and to avoid shallow “chick lit” which could lead to a shallow or even misunderstanding of what it means to live a Christian life. She shared adult and children’s book lists broken down by category of literature, and she even briefly touched on the issue of censorship. When driving in my car last weekend, I heard two authors discussing the same topic as it relates to children–how to select books, whether to censor books, how to determine when a book is age appropriate, etc. I am sure there will be much to discuss regarding faith, reading, and culture. I am looking forward to it! (And I should probably confess up front that while I love to read rich, complex literature, I do occasionally like to indulge in the “mind candy” of a shallow romance or formulaic mystery. It’s sort of like dark chocolate without the calories!)
You are so terrific, Cheryl! How interesting, all that you’ve shared above. I have to admit, too, that I love my classics, but I also need a good magazine to unwind at times, or a fun novel. However, I have found myself losing patience with much modern literature unless it strikes some profound chord. Maybe I’m a prude, or boring, or whatever, but I just can’t get carried away and challenged and changed by cheesey prose and bad sex scenes. Alas. Maybe it’s like degrees of chocolate versus just eating a bowl of grease. ha! Great analogies here – sure wish we could share some chocolate and a good conversation together in person! God bless.
Very excited about your 4th baby! I look forward to reading your weekly posts. I pray you get a few naps before the all-nighters begin–not that they ever stopped with three small kiddos :)
Thanks so much Alisa! kind of you to say, and so glad you have joined us!
Carolyn,I must tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed “Surprised by Oxford”. It was so refreshing and edifying to hear of your journey to faith in Christ. I am looking forward to the sequel. I am a nurse by profession and I’m always searching for a great book to read and was so pleased to find yours. I am a little further down the the path of life than you but can totally relate to having a “dessert baby”. My kids are 27, 24,22 and 16 and now expecting my first grandchild. The blessings abound with the challenges. Praying that the rest of your pregnancy goes well and that you will be able to keep writing.
Blessings,
Debbie