So glad the ladies over at Signs+Seasons shared a link to this wonderful piece. It’s truly beautiful. Some sweet imagination and meaningful human connection can indeed help us bear living here.
Reminds me of Anne of Green Gables’ being able to bear living in pre-GG awful circumstances due to her imagination. Also Romans 4:17 ‘call things that are not as though they were’ and how that relates to faith and Hope -two indispensable ‘ holy strategies’
That segment about imagining restoration - especially the extinct species - brought tears to my eyes! And I am forever indebted to you for being Audrey Assad's song to my attention!
Thank you for these words. Connection, beauty, cakes, and imagination - what accessible comforts in the midst of suffering. I've never read the book, only seen the beautiful movie. I'll have to add it to my reading list!
Steph, hello! I'm grateful for the rabbit trailing that Substack provides because it led me to you. It made me so happy to see that someone else was talking about Frances Hodgson Burnett.
I too re-read The Little Princess recently and oh my goodness, I don't think my 12 year old self noticed any of the remarkable phrases in this book. ( I am now 71 :-)
I began my summer by re reading The Secret Garden and completed my FHB spree in September with Little Lord Fauntleroy. Her life indeed was fascinating; I'm trying to track down a particular biography of hers. Wish me luck!
PS I recently posted this quote from The Secret Garden:
"Four good things had happened to her, in fact, since she came to Misselthwaite Manor. She felt as if she had understood a robin and that he had understood her;she had run in the wind until her blood had grown warm;s he had been healthily hungry for the first time in her life; and she had found out what it was to be sorry for someone."
There's the illustration of empathy you mentioned and a reflection of Burnett's practice of finding the good in the very, very difficult circumstances of life.
Beautiful words here. I love ALP since I was a child, but I’d never connected its themes of hope and the power of imagination to Advent. What a wonderful connection. Thank you.
So glad the ladies over at Signs+Seasons shared a link to this wonderful piece. It’s truly beautiful. Some sweet imagination and meaningful human connection can indeed help us bear living here.
Reminds me of Anne of Green Gables’ being able to bear living in pre-GG awful circumstances due to her imagination. Also Romans 4:17 ‘call things that are not as though they were’ and how that relates to faith and Hope -two indispensable ‘ holy strategies’
That segment about imagining restoration - especially the extinct species - brought tears to my eyes! And I am forever indebted to you for being Audrey Assad's song to my attention!
Thank you for these words. Connection, beauty, cakes, and imagination - what accessible comforts in the midst of suffering. I've never read the book, only seen the beautiful movie. I'll have to add it to my reading list!
Steph, hello! I'm grateful for the rabbit trailing that Substack provides because it led me to you. It made me so happy to see that someone else was talking about Frances Hodgson Burnett.
I too re-read The Little Princess recently and oh my goodness, I don't think my 12 year old self noticed any of the remarkable phrases in this book. ( I am now 71 :-)
I began my summer by re reading The Secret Garden and completed my FHB spree in September with Little Lord Fauntleroy. Her life indeed was fascinating; I'm trying to track down a particular biography of hers. Wish me luck!
PS I recently posted this quote from The Secret Garden:
"Four good things had happened to her, in fact, since she came to Misselthwaite Manor. She felt as if she had understood a robin and that he had understood her;she had run in the wind until her blood had grown warm;s he had been healthily hungry for the first time in her life; and she had found out what it was to be sorry for someone."
There's the illustration of empathy you mentioned and a reflection of Burnett's practice of finding the good in the very, very difficult circumstances of life.
Beautiful words here. I love ALP since I was a child, but I’d never connected its themes of hope and the power of imagination to Advent. What a wonderful connection. Thank you.