A Literary Hero (Part 2): Mother Teresa

"Lord, give me an open heart to find You everywhere,

to glimpse the heaven enfolded in a bud, and experience

eternity in the smallest act of love."

MOTHER TERESA

It was after attending a zoom event on the discussion of literary heroes that I stopped to consider who are my own bookish heroes. I always enjoy that kind of pondering, and it didn't take long for my list to form. 

In my first post on my literary heroes, I wrote about Lucy Maud Montgomery, so well-known for her creation of Anne of Green Gables. In my case, both Anne and Lucy Maud are literary heroes, Anne in my girlhood and LMM in my young adulthood. If you missed the post, you can find it HERE.

I should clarify what makes a literary hero for me. It's a person I met in a book, whether she/he is fictional or real life. These individuals made a difference in my life, and I looked up to them the way a child might look up to Superman. Through their lives, they showed me something about myself, something I needed to know. They showed me what a strong, courageous person looks like when they demonstrate selflessness and compassion amidst their own struggles, relationships, and disappointments. Usually their stories were unforgettable and stayed with me a long time, as I mulled their own discoveries about what mattered to them. I came to see that I wanted to emulate them in some way. 

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Today I want to share another heroine—Mother Teresa—whose photo hangs in my mind's literary hero gallery. For many, she is a spiritual hero, but I think of her also as a literary hero, because her story and wisdom came to me through the books I read about, and by, her.

As a young woman, I was in awe of her loving service to the poorest of the poor in Calcutta, a woman who identified herself with human suffering and privation, giving herself so completely to loving God and through him loving her neighbour. What often grabbed my heart were the words she spoke with such humility and grace. Many of those wise words were etched on my heart and still resonate all these years later. Not only had I come to appreciate the inspiring things she said, but through one story she told, I found the courage to fully step into my own life, doing so without guilt or fear.

A little background to the story of how she became a hero for me. I don't know about you, but in my lifetime, I came across people who believed so strongly in their own passion and calling for their lives that somehow they implied everyone else should take up the same worthy mantle and follow in their footsteps... and if you didn't, you couldn't be doing 'God's will'. Unsure of what I should do with my own life as a searching young woman, that message settled in my heart and it caused me to worry and fret in the secret places of my mind 'how will I know... what if I miss my path'.

I wondered if Mother Teresa would be such a person, but one little story* showed me something different. The anecdote, as I remember it, was about a woman who came to work for a season with Mother Teresa. It came time for her to return to her own life and work—I think she worked in an elite beauty salon in a large city in Europe—and she wondered if she should give up her life and come work with Mother Teresa. Mother Teresa recommended she return to her home and continue her work among the privileged... because 'they need love too'. The woman went back to her own life.   *I have no idea anymore of where I read this account to confirm the details, but it's how I remember it all these years, and maybe that's best.

Those words lifted that sense of guilt I carried, where I wondered if I was pursuing the life meant for me, always with that niggle of worry it wasn't worthy enough. I settled into my life—into the joy of knowing where I lived and worked, whoever I worked with, they needed love too. I aimed to live my best life, walking in the beauty and love as best I knew how. Right where I was.

And that's how Mother Teresa became a heroine in my life. After that, I was ever on the look out for other wise words from this humble and influential woman. I found gems that have kept me company along the way, including that lovely one at the start of this post which eventually became the cornerstone for this blog. Here are a few others that continue to shine light for me:

"Never worry about numbers. Help one person

at a time and always start with the person nearest you."

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"Not all of us can do great things.

But we can do small things with great love."

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"If you can't feed a hundred people,

feed just one."

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"I'm a little pencil in the hand of a writing God,

who is sending a love letter to the world."

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"Now let us do something

beautiful for God."

I am so glad the writings of Mother Teresa came to me at a time when I needed the courage to settle into my own life path. She could never have known that her advice to one woman would help another who lived far away on another continent, in another world.

If you are interested in reading something about her, I recommend the little book Something Beautiful for God by Malcolm Muggeridge. Although biographical, it's more a tribute to her and includes a transcript of his conversations with Mother Teresa.

To close, I want to share a line I recently read in Margaret Dulaney's collection of memoirs To Hear the Forest Sing: "I cannot imagine who I might have been without the encouragement of certain sources of light along my own night's journey." This is how I feel about my literary heroes, I cannot imagine life without them.

Who is one of your favourite literary heroes?

❦

Wishing you a beautiful week ahead,

Brenda

Photo credit:

Top photo by Annette Meyer from Pixabay

Floral graphic by antiqueimages.blogspot.com 

 

Daybook: February Edition

"All you need is love. But a little

chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."

CHARLES M. SCHULZ

The last few weeks I have been in the middle of an editing project for an anthology my writing fellowship plans to publish later this year. The day I finished my assignment, I looked up and realized January had melted into the past, and here we were in February—with it being nearly Valentine's Day. I weary myself to lament yet again 'where has the time flown?" so I'm trying not to say it aloud this time. I'd much rather note from my window perch staring into the snow-covered garden that the daylight hours have l-e-n-g-t-h-e-n-e-d and the sunsets are pushing themselves further into late afternoon. The chickadees have begun their spring singing, and Madam Downy Woodpecker pecks busily for supper. I feel the joy of it splashing over my heart.   

During this season, with a few bumps along the way and still dealing with some health issues, the Daybook edition I used to post monthly slid right off the radar—which means it's more than high time to dust it off for a meandering muse here on the blog. Without further ado, let's begin...

FOR TODAY

Outside my window... What a difference a day makes. Yesterday our corner of the world was settled in thick grey stillness with no sign of sunshine. This morning the heavy clouds are gone, the sky is awash in that February pale blue, and the sun makes the snow sparkle.

In the garden... Everything is covered in fluffy fresh piles of snow. Birds flutter in the branches looking for spots to sit and soak in the sunshine. No sign of anything else in the garden - far too early for snowdrops or anything springlike.

I am wearing... black jeans, a black and white floral blouse, with a spritz of Christian Dior's JOY Eau De Parfum, which I received as a Christmas present from a certain someone. Every morning I give myself a wee spritz to start the day. The scent instantly lifts my spirits.

I am thankful... that when I experience a technical difficulty, I can count on there being someone else 'out there' who is likely experiencing the same issue. For several days I had problems with my email—new messages wouldn't load, and outgoing emails had an error code saying the message couldn't be saved to the 'sent' file. I finally realized the problem was not going away; a quick Google search, with a tiny prayer for help, brought me a simple solution. Those other more tech-savvy people with the same issue offered solutions that worked for them. It was a simple change in the settings, and all was rectified. Only the Shadow knows for sure what made it go off the rails in the first place.

Women Holding Things

by Maira Kalman

One of my favourite things... this past week was the arrival of a book I've had in my shopping cart a long while. I finally ordered myself a copy of Women Holding Things. What a lovely collection—her artwork is whimsical and charming, her tiny essays poetic. As one reviewer noted, Ms. Kalman is "an extraordinary observer of people". Through her art and simple text she explores what women tend to hold: from the ordinary and mundane through to the hurt feelings and heartbreak in relationships to the joy and delight of holding vases filled with flowers.

A favourite quote... from Maira Kalman's book:

"What do women hold?

The home and the family.

And the children and the food.

The friendships. The work.

The work of the world.

The work of being human.

The memories

And the troubles

and the sorrows

and the triumphs.

And the love."

I am watching... an Agatha Christie film found on YouTube The Case of the Middle-Aged Wife. This is one I have enjoyed several times. Maria Packington notices her husband is taking a too-active interest in the pretty young typist in his office. Maria becomes so unhappy about it she responds to an ad in the newspaper to ask Parker Pyne for help. I love his advice to Mrs. Packington, and I love how the story plays out. This was the first episode in the 1982 TV series The Agatha Christie Hour. Gwen Watford plays Maria Packington - you'll probably recognize her as Dolly Bantry, alongside Joan Hickson, in the Miss Marple films from that era.

My favourite vlogger is... Miranda Mills who vlogs about country living in Yorkshire, UK. She is a passionate reader and creates 'content that fosters connection between literature, art and the natural world'. Not only does she chat about books, but she shares recipes of yummy things she bakes. And she takes her followers on vlogging outings to interesting bookshops, lovely teahouses, museums, and literary places like Jane Austen's home. She is the charming and insightful hostess, along with her mom, Donna, of the monthly Comfort Book Club. You can find the current book she is reading for the monthly discussion HERE. Miranda is all about living a beautiful life - a girl after my own heart. For more, check out her YouTube channel HERE. She is also in Instagram, if that's where you like to hang out.

I am listening to... Classic FM which streams my favourite classical music all the way from England. Loving all things English, this gives me a little heart connection to my favourite place in the world.

I am thinking... about the books I have currently lined up to read. Just a little stack (😉) out of the couple of hundred shelved and also awaiting their turn in my lap. Books truly beguile me. Can one ever have too many books? I don't think so. Although I can hardly be tempted to the usual human vices, just mention books and reading, and I'm instantly in the line up. Of all the interests and passions I have enjoyed over my lifetime—many have come and gone—books remain the constant. I hope my home in the next life has a comfy, cozy, library with nooks and crannies stuffed to the rafters with all the books I never had a chance to read in this life. Plus, all the favourite volumes of which I never grow tired. That would be paradise for me. And to make it perfectly perfect, all my loved ones would be nearby, each one following pursuits for which their own hearts beat rapturously.

PS... I just love the photo above. The afternoon sunshine was streaming in on my bedroom floor. I gathered up the books I wanted to share and set up the scene. I am quite pleased with how it turned out. 

A list of the titles and authors in the photo above (in case it's hard to read):

The Country Child by Alison Uttley (children's);

The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr (novel - Scotiabank Giller Prize winner);

Pictures at an Exhibition by Sara Houghteling (novel);

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (novel);

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (novel - Winner of The Booker Prize);

Women Holding Things by Maira Kalman (art/essays);

The Bird in the Tree by Elizabeth Goudge (novel);

Snow Road Station by Elizabeth Hay (novel - coming of age middle-age story);

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard (biography/autobiography/literature);

Apples on the Windowsill by Shawna Lemay (meditations on still life, photography, beauty, marriage);

To Hear the Forest Sing, Some Musings on the Divine by Margaret Dulaney (memoirs);

A Rhythm of Prayer, A Collection of Meditations for Renewal edited by Sarah Bessey (prayer);

Square Haunting, Five Writers in London Between the Wars by Francesca Wade (biography/literature); Thin Places, a natural history of healing and home by Kerri Ní Dochartaigh (memoir/nature);

Windswept, Life Nature and Deep Time in the Scottish Highlands by Annie Worsley (nature/memoir);

Mrs. Van Gogh by Caroline Cauchi (novel).

I am hoping this week for... some nice weather, a continuous supply of small treats, joy in my work, and good things to laugh about with friends and family.

I am learning... it is best to take things one day at a time. As a Facebook friend, Colleen, often mentions: "Stay in the day. Just do the next right thing with love."

In the kitchen... Saw this little menu on social media attributed to Whitney Gaskell and her book Table for Seven. My mouth waters at what sounds like a delicious dinner to make and share with special people. It would be perfect for Valentine's Day. No recipes were given but I'm sure a Google search could come up with something similar:

"WARM GOAT CHEESE SALAD WITH PEARS AND WALNUTS

INDIVIDUAL FILETS EN CROÛTE

PARSLEY LEAF POTATOES

ASPARAGUS

CHOCOLATE POTS DE CREME"

- Whitney Gaskell, Table for Seven

Closing notes... I was Guest Blogging over on InScribe last week. I wanted to give you a chance to read my little post titled We Nourish Others in case you haven't seen it. I'd love to hear from you if you enjoyed the piece.

 

Too much of a good thing can be wonderful."

SUSAN BRANCH

❦

Wishing you a heart-happy week,

Brenda

Photo credits:

- Top Image by boaphotostudio from Pixabay

- Tulip Image by TheGraphicsFairy.com

- Valentine Image by The GraphicsFairy.com

- The book photos are mine

Acknowledgement with thanks to Peggy at

The Simple Woman's Daybook for some of the prompts used in this post.

Quotes that Resonate this January

"A commonplace book is a highly personal anthology,

and part of the joy in creating one is that it gives a

deeper sense of self: by selecting fragments of language

that speak to you, you become more aware of your

own taste, beliefs and judgement."

MIRANDA MILLS, YouTube vlogger

Posted here are a few lines that I have gathered into my journal these beginning days of January. Each quote for me has meaning and brings a little something to the table while I dreamily mull what 2024 might look like—what I wishfully hope for in real life as the days unfold.

Perhaps you will find words that resonate with your own soul as you start a new week. I hope so.

🎔

December 29th

(As a writer I want to bring these words with me into the New Year)

"Because right now, there is someone

out there with a wound in the exact

shape of your words."

SEAN THOMAS DOUGHERTY, The Second O of Sorrow

🎔

January 1st

"What a wonderful thought it is

that some of the best days of our

lives haven't even happened yet."

ANNE FRANK

"Make something you

can give away."

SUSAN BRANCH

🎔

January 2nd

"I'm getting better, happier, and

nicer as I grow older. So I would

be terrific in a couple hundred years."

MAEVE BINCHY

🎔

January 3rd

"Because even with the dark parts and

the light parts and the good parts and the

bad parts, dinner must still be served."

PATTI CALLAHAN, Once Upon A Wardrobe, p. 102

🎔

January 4th

The word 'restoration' has been singing in my heart of late.

As I ponder what I yearn for in my life words begin to flow;

I write them down:

Restored health for my body,

Restored joy in my writing,

Renewed hope in God's goodness,

Hope and healing for our world,

My dreams and purpose restored,

A restoration of true hospitality with ease and grace,

Order, simplicity, and beauty in my home.

My own thoughts

🎔

January 5th

"(The) world remains 'bent' and smudged by generations

of the sins of humanity, but it is, deep down, still fresh

and radiant with the unquenchable glory of God, made

manifest to those with the eyes to see."

JANET MORLEY, Haphazard by Starlight, p. 142

🎔

January 7th

"But there always have been and always

will be people who are . . . starved for

nourishment. I am one of those readers and I am

also one who can occasionally provide this food.

That is all that really matters to me this morning."

MAY SARTON, Journal of a Solitude, p. 68

🎔

January 10th

"Always be on the lookout

for the presence of wonder."

E.B. WHITE

"It is no bad thing to

celebrate a simple life."

J.R.R. TOLKIEN

🎔

January 12th

"Let go of old and tired things."

As seen on Instagram

🎔

January 15th

"Because you see so much

to make you sad, that doesn't mean

it is your duty to be unhappy."

HELEN MACINNES, While Still We Live, p. 228

🎔

January 19th

"I'm beginning to suspect that the second half

of life is about learning to let go of everything

I feverishly collected over the first half that

wasn't loving or human."

MICHAEL XAVIER

"If a book is well written,

I always find it too short."

JANE AUSTEN

🎔

January 20th

"Snow had fallen, snow on snow."

CHRISTINA ROSSETTI

🎔

January 22nd

"I scribble my list of promises.

The ways I hope to be kind.

To be gentle. To forgive.

To try and try again."

BARBARA MAHANY, The Stillness of Winter

"It was her habit to build laughter

out of inadequate materials."

JOHN STEINBECK, Grapes of Wrath

❦

Wishing you dear friends a beautiful week,

Brenda

Photo Credit:

Image by Nennieinszweidrei from Pixabay

A Literary Hero (Part 1): Lucy Maud Montgomery

"I'd like to add some beauty to life," said Anne dreamily.

"I don't exactly want to make people KNOW more... though I

know that IS the noblest ambition... but I'd love to make them

have a pleasanter time because of me... to have some little joy or

happy thought that would never have existed if I hadn't been born."

L.M. Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams

Recently I attended an online Afternoon Tea event with Hayley Solano at The Enchanted Book Club and author-artist Susan Branch. Their discussion was about literary heroes, in which Susan shared the book people who were her inspiration over her lifetime, people like Mark Twain, Beatrix Potter, Gladys Taber, and characters like Pollyanna who gave the world her glad game idea.

At the top of my list would be Lucy Maud Montgomery. For so many girls in my generation, it was almost a right of passage to be introduced to Ms Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. I remember the thrill of learning that both Anne and her creator were Canadian. Just like me. And I grabbed hold of that beloved phrase 'kindred spirits'. Even at an early age, I longed for that special kinship, and I recognized that it could happen even with someone found in a book. They were, after all, real people. In my formative years, it was the storybook heroines like Anne and Emily who captured my imagination. Later it was Lucy Maud herself who became my inspiration as I began to make my way in life, trying to figure out how to live a beautiful life. I loved learning that Lucy Maud and I shared interests in things domestic, gardens, kitty cats, beauty in nature, and books. I think she gave me permission to allow myself to take pleasure in the beauty of the world around me, that it was okay to enjoy what I loved doing, to know myself better and like who I was. I appreciated knowing that Lucy Maud loved solitude but also truly enjoyed the society of others. I felt a kinship in that. Both her novels and later her published journals drew me into her world, a world that even helped me understand a little of my grandma's era who was born in the mid-1890s. I could picture things in my mind by her descriptions.

Eventually I found myself wanting to emulate Lucy Maud: I developed my letter writing skills; I took a more active interest in reading poetry and trying my hand at writing it; and I undertook what would become a life-long joy in journaling. All because of her. My hitherto hidden interest to write surfaced - I yearned to write, just like LMM (my nickname for her). Looking back I can trace how LMM influenced my life:

- She gave me heroines in my girlhood who were so real and alive to me. From Anne Shirley and Diana Barry to Emily of New Moon, I learned about friendship and getting along with people, dealing with life's disappointments, and taking joy in the little things around me.

- She gave me words and lines on which I could pin some of my own thoughts and desires, like the familiar, hopeful words, "Tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it...yet." Written directly into a notebook for future reference, I cannot recall how often those words comforted me at the end of a day or week fraught with mistakes and missed opportunities. I was ever grateful for Anne's Shirley's optimism.

- She gave me a glimpse into a writer’s life - her struggles as well as her triumphs. This ignited something within me. I wanted to sit on the back step on a summer's evening and muse over lines of a would-be poem that described what I saw and how it captured my soul's imagination.

- Through her words, LMM let me delight in her discovery of beauty around her. Anne continued to be a shining example of someone ever seeking for what was good and lovely in the world. As Anne, via Lucy Maud's pen, described the joy of apple blossoms in spring, the full moon in a winter sky, or the softness of a kitty purring on a lap, I knew that's what I wanted for myself.

- LMM showed me how she felt about her own life and place in the world. She was clear in her own mind and heart. Which I believe helped me to come to some understanding of my own place in it. "The work for which we are fitted — which we are sent into this world to do — what a blessing it is and what fulness of joy it holds!" From The Selected Journals of Lucy Maud Montgomery, Volume II, 5/23/1910

- She showed me how to journal. I was so excited to find her first journal, published in 1985, at the library. I chomped at the bit until the next one was edited and released. As a writer, LMM knew her journals eventually would be available to the public. My own first attempt at journaling started out chunky and choppy but as I matured, thankfully, so did my writing. Even when it was for my eyes only. It became good practice for when I'd write for a wider audience. And what fun to reread something I'd described in an old journal of mine and discover that it wasn't half bad. In her journals, LMM strove to write out her feelings both glad ones and sad ones as well as her thoughts and beliefs, her friendships, struggles, and experiences of the late 1800s and into the early 20th century. She wrote in such a way that sparkled with truth and creativity. I was inspired to describe my own life and the era I lived in, discovering how I felt about it all.

- Then I found out LMM was a keen letter writer. Of course, that was the way people stayed connected back in the day. Writing letters in my youth was still important, and it was through Lucy Maud's published collections of correspondence that I began to see how I could be more creative and interesting in my own letter writing efforts. I enjoyed reading about her literary friendships over several decades with her Scottish pen friend, George Boyd MacMillan, and with Ephraim Weber, who was a struggling young writer living in Alberta, Canada, when he began corresponding with LMM.

"... nothing gives me such a sense of life still being worth while

as to receive a letter from one of the  'kindred spirits' of the

leisurely old days. For a moment or two I find myself back there

in the unhurried years and emerge from my brief communion

with the past refreshed as if I had drunk a rejuvenating

draught from some magic spring."

L.M. Montgomery, Letter to MacMillan, August 26, 1924 

All these years later, Lucy Maud Montgomery remains my favourite literary hero and mentor from afar. I hope to meet her one day in the wild blue yonder so I can say thank you for her gentle guidance and influence over my life. She holds a special place in my heart.

There are others whose photos hang in my literary hero gallery, and I hope to write about two in the near future: Emily Dickinson and Mother Teresa. Now, who would you consider a literary hero—that special person you met through a book?

❦

Wishing you a pleasant bookish day,

Brenda

Photo credit:

Image by Pat_Photographies from Pixabay

My One Weakness... Or Two or Three

"I should warn you, I am far from perfect.

I have many, many weaknesses."

Miss Dorcas Lane, Lark Rise to Candleford

The other morning Lorrie on her Fabric, Paper, Thread blog pondered what she feels she cannot resist. I enjoyed her list and was immediately reminded of Postmistress Miss Dorcas Lane on the well-loved PBS television series Lark Rise to Candleford. She was often known to mention something she considered her 'one weakness'. A person didn't have to watch long to realize that Miss Lane had a number of these little harmless weaknesses she couldn't resist.

It turns out, I have more than a few myself. And in making my little list, I realized several are food-related. Here are some things I cannot resist - the list is by no means exhaustive (wink):

1. Tea sandwiches. A plate of tiny sandwiches and I'm in seventh heaven.

2. Cake. A slice of delicious layer cake.

 

3. Chocolate. Jacek's bar of dark chocolate with sea salt. A single square smoothly satisfies. These are made from a local award-winning chocolatier.    

4. Cheetos Crunchy Cheesies. These are my favourite salty treat with Miss Vickie's potato chips a close second.

5. Stationery. I am beguiled by pretty book covers, well-designed notebooks, and artsy greeting cards.

6. Books. Mysteries, memoirs and biographies, historical novels, art books, to name a few. I never tire of books or reading. Seeing a used book store and my feet go there automatically.

 

What do you find hard to resist?

❦

Wishing you a beautiful day,

Brenda

Photo credit:

Top Image by Erika14666 from Pixabay