Cloud of Witness

When Charlotte Mason, the British educator whose philosophy and methods I subscribe to, said good-bye to her student teachers as they graduated from her teaching college, she gave them a delightful parting gift.  It was this charming book titled The Cloud of Witness, A Daily Sequence of Great Thoughts from Many Minds Following the Christian Seasons by the Hon. Mrs. Lyttelton Gell.  It is a lovely book, small in size yet packing over 500 pages.  It was yet another way that Miss Mason was able to solidify a bond among all her teachers – a bond that they carried throughout their lives.

scan of actual page from Cloud of Witness

I have been enjoying something similar – At the Still Point: A Literary Guide to Prayer in Ordinary Time.  While The Cloud of Witness covers the main Christian seasons – Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and a few others, At the Still Point covers Ordinary Time from Pentecost to Advent.  Each week begins with a theme and opening prayer.  Each day has scripture reading and a reading of literature or poetry.   I love how the compiler, Sarah Arthur, describes how a piece of fiction or poetry might move our hearts towards God when we are least expecting it.

“Spiritual insight, wrapped in the cloak of fiction or poetry, slips inside the back door of the imagination; and suddenly there it is, nonchalantly sipping coffee at the kitchen table.  It pours another cup, invites us to have a seat. Well, it seems to say, and what will you do with  me now?  We were not expecting a spiritual moment because we didn’t think we were reading a spiritual book.  Our defenses were down.  The bolt was unlocked.  So the intruder gets further, pushes much deeper than if we, bristling with suspicion, had been expecting a salesman proselytizing at the front door.”

I can’t recommend this book enough, especially for my literature-loving friends.

Warmly,

Nancy