One of the most inspiring and creative artists I know, Margaret Smith, seems to have some new and exciting chapter in her life opening up every time I talk with her.
But this week, she’s blogging about having made a remarkable decision. She’s become a Benedictine oblate novice. Ahhh, following in the footsteps of the great Kathleen Norris.
As far as I’m concerned, Margaret’s poetry and perspective qualify her as part of an elite community of Christians who have extraordinary insight into matters of faith and art. She’s carrying on the tradition of Norris, Dillard, Shaw, Buechner, L’Engle, O’Connor, Sayers, Lewis, and Macdonald. And I’m making her blog a regular stop on my weekly circuit.
Oh, I love this memoir so much that a part of me does not even want to see it being turned into a film. Though I have seen some “moments made eternity” in film, I am not convinced that those of this books will survive the transition, after, as it seems this is the way with films, it goes through so many hands. And will the depictions of the glory of “the pagan love” and the laying down of it, or rather the taking up of it into the life of Christ, be depicted well, especially as many films and many of our contemporary sensibilities militate against that thought? I could go on and on about things I fear may not survive the transition. Still, here hoping that it will be a great film of beauty and truth, a worth Davy to the Van of the book.
Also, Jeffrey, though initially I missed the colors and layout of the old page, this new format is certainly growing on me, and having had to get a WordPress account, its layout and functions are very appealing.
This fills me with an immense amount of dread. I think I’d rather puncture my ears, pluck my out eyes, and peel off my skin before subjecting myself to someone else’s translation of this book. I selfishly hope this movie never happens, but if it does happen, the only thing that will get me to the theater is a sky high tomatometer that defies all the odds against the enormous obstacles that lay ahead for Ms. Nicolosi.
God be with her.