Wordy Wednesday: Cerulean Surface of the Sea

More from Carolyn Weber’s new book, Holy is the Day.  I loved this book.

One of my favorite sentences. Ever.:
“All of a sudden, without warning, an enormous pewter arch breaks the cerulean surface of the sea.” pg 107

No one had warned me just how truly power-full you became when filled with the love of God. Well, I guess the prophets had. And the apostles. And my pastors. And, well, Christ himself, among us.  But who really listens?

This first calling to follow Christ breaks us in as believers. Once we step over the line, we gain the perspective, and then we have ample opportunity to keep growing from there.  And thus the beautiful gyre into the abundant life begins: to keep on converting–turning around, as the word implies, deeper and higher and greater, all through the various presents of this life.

The second calling pushes us further, challenges us more profoundly, and then rewards us far more richly than any reality we could have imagined for ourselves, on our own. The roots spread deeper, the seedling unfurls higher. And so it goes. Shoot upon shoot coming out new. The growth comes fast and furious: thick and green and lush.  The result glories with sheen bright–a verdant life of the soul.

(page 62)

My favorite concept from the book.  I’m trying to figure out how to hang it in my house:

Perhaps the answer lies in when carpe diem evokes worship, whenit is a form of honoring the God who is honoring us with his presence. Put another way, when carpe diem becomes carpe Deum, or, translated loosely for our purposes here, “seize God!” Scripture constantly reminds us to seize God.

(page 97, italics hers)

“Grace is no nibbler. It swallows and carries us whole.” (page 111)

“I am harried and hurried. I keep time with adrenaline rather than affection.” (page 148)

OK, I always wonder how much quoting is too much. This is a small sampling of what I marked and hoped to note. Wonderful book at just the right time.