Being a part of the Catholic Mom contributor family definitely has its benefits. And if the great articles, the daily scripture reflections, the community support and prayer weren’t enough, there’s the cherished opportunity to preview books, movies, and other forms of Catholic art and media, and share my humble opinion with the world (while supporting fellow writers and artists…who will be there for me when I finally finish my next book! (My two previously published books pictured below, available on Amazon.)
Recently I reviewed the above-mentioned book, The Work of Our Hands: The Universal Gift of Creativity. This was an easy book for me to admire and appreciate!
I did not grow up in a creative environment. Think of “The Scream,” by expressionist artist Edvard Munch, and you’ve got a pretty good idea of the chaos in my young life! No one had the time or energy for encouraging creativity (unless you count my Spirograph). My parents both worked all day, and my elderly grandmother cared for me. By the age of 12, I was caring for her. Fortunately for me, my parents somehow, miraculously chose to have me baptized as an infant, so I received the Holy Spirit, and with it came the inspirations of that same Spirit. “Our very word, ‘inspiration’ comes from the word ‘spirit.’” (pg 61, The Work of Our Hands: The Universal Gift of Creativity).
As a youngster, my creativity manifested itself in the form of a well-developed sense of humor, and later on I learned that I had a great gift of storytelling in written word. However, I was lazy and undisciplined, so my skill lay unused until I started homeschooling my children (and taught yours truly self-discipline, which is a hard-won acquisition for a grown-up!). What a great blessing this book would have been to me in my teens and twenties.
By way of 31 reflections, Patrice encourages our creativity in all inspired and “life-giving” pursuits, be it parenting, crafting, drawing, painting, gardening, care-giving, baking, etc. It works perfectly as an at-home, “mini retreat.” There are inspirational quotes for every day, beautiful illustrations, and trustworthy encouragement from the author. (One of my favorite quotes that Patrice uses in her book is from St. John Paul II, in his “Letter to Artists,” featured below.)
If you’re like me (especially now, after almost a year of increased exposure to the interiors of our homes…), and you’re in need of a lovely challenge to get your creative juices flowing, with your mind and hands at work accomplishing something worthwhile and lasting, this is it!
This would make the perfect gift for newlyweds, graduates, moms, empty-nesters, a friend in need of encouragement, and any coffee-table-book enthusiasts you might know (which ought to cover just about everyone on your gift list!). It’s a book that will inspire again and again!
I recently found myself wondering what all of these beautiful, one of a kind snowflakes in my front yard would say, if they were little microorganisms with brains, instead of just frozen crystals of water? (Strange, yes, but when you’re cooped up in the house for too long, your thoughts begin to wander in strange directions!) I decided they would say this, “Why all this creativity and amazing design to make each of us wonderfully unique, and then pile us all up together when we fall to earth so that no one can see us?!” Yep, for sure, that’s what they’d say, until they melted away and went silent.
I think that God, with His attention to beauty and design in the lowly snowflake, is “speaking” to us (by way of analogy) regarding the uniqueness of each individual, and each one-of-a-kind snowflake. For thousands of years, mankind likely noticed little about snowflakes, except that they were really cold, and the more you saw, the harder it was to travel and to stay warm. But, on occasion, a single snowflake would fall on the shoulder of a dark colored horse, or on someone’s moccasins, or on a tree branch, and someone (i.e., someone who pays attention to the world around them, someone who is always open to wonder and beauty) would notice the beautiful shape and design of snowflakes.
It probably wasn’t until 1885 when snowflakes found just the right guy to share their well-hidden secret with the world – an American farmer by the name of Wilson Bentley. Here was one of those rare humans (rare, at least, in our “modern times”) who was paying attention to the little things in life, the gifts that nature shares with the observant and patient ones. After attaching a camera to his boyhood microscope, it took Bentley two years of experimenting with just the right conditions for getting a clear image of snowflakes on a microscope slide (learning to hold his breath for a long time while he worked with the snowflakes was one of those “conditions!). He also had to perfect the lighting, exposure, and depth of field setting, in order to capture his images.
Bentley saw in these individual beauties the story of a God who creates purely from His extreme love, Who provides unique properties to the animate and inanimate as a herald of Who He is, and a sign that all of creation is tenderly made by the touch of His hand. All of the natural world, from the biggest star to the tiniest organism, fulfills its purpose in God’s intricate design. Apparently, Bentley was encouraged by his faith as he pursued his goal of catching these fragile, frozen formations on film.
Wilson was divinely inspired to share his secret with the world. He said, “snowflakes are miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design; and no one design was ever repeated. When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind. I became possessed with a great desire to show people something of this wonderful loveliness, an ambition to become, in some measure, its preserver.” Bentley also had an ambition to share how God speaks great and deep convictions to our souls through the intricacies of His creation. Many of the thousands of snowflake images he captured were originally sold for 5¢ each.
In 1904, The Christian Herald ran an article called, The Wonders and beauties of snow, for which Wilson Bentley penned the following words, “The snow crystals … come to us not only to reveal the wondrous beauty of the minute in nature but to teach us that all earthly beauty is transient and must soon fade away. But though the beauty of the snow is evanescent, like the beauties of the autumn, as of the evening sky, it fades but to come again.”
Mr. Bentley got it right, that’s for sure. That’s why you’ll find me giddy with excitement when snow is forecasted. This year, I even had to put my Christmas lights up earlier than I usually do, because we had a forecast for our first, significant snowfall. Even though I prefer to keep the liturgical seasons in their proper place (and we are now in the season of Advent; Christmas doesn’t “officially” begin until Christmas Eve!). Even though I was tired the day after Thanksgiving, my “child’s heart” managed to inspire me sufficiently to get my slow self moving and set up my modest outdoor light display. When I was a kid, I always begged my dad to put up Christmas lights outside, but he never would. I had to make do with the lights I installed myself on the inside of our windows (using lots of tape!), and a few fake candelabras added to the windowsills. The first year that my husband and I moved into our house, I started an outdoor Christmas display. The hubsters has no interest whatsoever in decorating, either, so I keep it pretty simple. One year I did get carried away and tried to string lights across the gutter in the front. I used those trendy “chaser lights” (remember those?). It was a cusser of a job, and the lights quit working less than a week later. I’m over 60 now, so these days I toss light “nets” on our sorely outdated landscaping shrubbery, and wrap string lights in a few other locations, polished off by two lighted, spiral trees.
Yesterday we woke to 2 ½ inches of snow coating my lights and transforming my yard into (what I see as) a child’s winter wonderland. I just decided to add another item, a wreath that I ordered as a splurge, but it needs more lights. I’ll finish that up today, get that installed, and start praying for more snow in southern Ohio. In the meantime, I wish you a happy, holy, and healthy Advent. May this time of reflection leading to Christmas draw you closer to the The Light that brings joy, redemption, and meaning to our own, unique lives
grandma's coffee soup 